CSI: The anatomy of an Uber Franchise

The CSI formula seems very simple: film noire with copious violence mixed with high brow techie detective work. Part Quincey, Part X-files, CSI has become an international phenomenon spawning a host of extracurricular projects including two highly successful spin-offs - Csi Miami, and CSI NY. Looking back over the success of CSI, it’s hard to imagine that it wasn’t a hit from the beginning; none-the-less, the show that came to be the yard stick for police procedurals struggled in the beginning to secure a place on the top ten in its freshman 2000 season. Just two seasons later, CSI landed in the top three most watched for the season with a staggering 26.2 million viewers; a number not so uncommon in short run high-profile reality shows like American Idol, but completely unparalleled for a drama.
Part of the CSI phenomenon has been its social impact. Suddenly millions of viewers found themselves deluged with what they thought were the essentials of crime solving. Few other shows purported to educate viewers more on crime solving than CSI. Surprisingly though, the techniques and procedures shown on CSI are far removed from the real world of crime investigation. In fact, a lot of the technology used on CSI doesn’t even exist! This fact was so prominent in the show that the Saturn Awards, the Sci-Fi world’s equivalent of the People’s Choice awards, nominated CSI as a science fiction show at its 2004 awards ceremony (it lost). Crime fiction purists have used CSI as a punching bag since it was released, pointing out numerous flaws in its portrayal of crime scene investigation. The most prominent is the fact that in CSI, the Crime Scene Investigators actual participate in disseminating the information gathered from the crime scene in solving the crime. In real CSI’s, the team merely captures and catalogues the information which is then given over to detectives.
Regardless of whether CSI serves as a visual text book for crime scene investigation, The dynamic, percussive filming style of CSI, seemed to educate an entire generation of film makers looking to make a stylistic splashdown. CSI’s staccato cutting, skewed frame rates, chiaroscuro lighting, and destabilized hand-held work fuse into a visual styling that has proliferated onto the big screen.
The subject matter cannot be discounted though, CSI is more than just a light show. Edgy plots that push the envelope of what is acceptable for violence and sexuality are the hallmark of the CSI motif, making CSI one of the most watched shows at the FCC offices as well. On many occasions, CBS has been admonished about the shows frequent place at the edge of acceptable broadcasting.
None-the-less, the CSI producers, and CBS, have remained true to the CSI formula. In 2002 the first attempt to replicate the CSI formula was a grand success when CSI: Miami, resurrecting a triumphant David Caruso, debuted to universal praise. While not the gate crasher that its progenitor was, CSI: Miami opened in the top fifteen and has remained in the top ten since its debut. The second attempt, CSI: New York, has yet to break the top twenty but continues to add in excess of fifteen million viewers per season to the CSI coffers.
How long can it last? Will CSI eventual succumb to the implosion of its formula ala ER and settle into an admirable, yet degrading holding pattern? While CSI, and its offspring, don’t seem to be slowing down, one can only remember that timeless aphorism that eventually… all good things will come to an end.

So if you want to find our more about CSI New York or even about CSI Miami, you should visit this website CSI Crime Scene Investigation

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Animal Spirits: Power Animals And Guides

We shamans are a strange breed...

Often we tend to isolate ourselves from those around us. However, this does not mean we don't have relationships...

In fact we often have too many to handle at any one time. You see, we are connecting to many levels of reality and inter-relating with all of them at the very same time. So while we are in a group of people...

We are also talking to the spirit world and often the animal guides all at once. It's a difficult balancing act, to say the least.

Often we must decide which is the most important communication at that point in time. Sometimes the animal spirit guides are giving us very critical data, so we choose to stay focused on that for the moment.

Each animal comes to us with it's unique spirit focus and usually shows up when we need their perspective. They may appear in spirit form, in a dream, vision ...or in the flesh!

About the Author: Jerry is a professional shaman, business intuitive and men's life coach. He publishes a free online magazine dealing with shamanism and holism as they apply to life and business. You can reach the publication at this address: www.jeremiahhuck.workzsites.com/page/page/1034002.htm

U.S. Ends Oil Dependency; Turns B.S. Into Fuel
While America is experiencing a gasoline shortage, the nation’s dependence on foreign oil is about to end.

A researcher at The Department of Energy, from which breakthrough ideas emanate on a regular basis, noticed that Americans, along with most people who ever lived, have a virtually unlimited and renewable supply of B. S. He wondered if it might be turned into fuel.

The hypothesis proved so promising that his work produced a marvelous result in as short a time as it took to record some B. S. from a wonderfully fertile colleague and wire it to a refinery. He calls the new potion Bio-Super.

“It’s the most concentrated fuel in history,” he tells us, “with an octane rating of 99.9. I figure we’ve got enough of a supply to meet our total energy needs for the foreseeable future. All we have to do is keep B. S.-ing the way we do, and we’ll have all the Bio-Super we and our children need.”

The product is ready for mass production. The technique calls for the collection of B. S. from all over the country by having the most irrepressible exponents of it talk into microphones. The B. S. is then broadcast to the closest refinery.

Bio-Super also has an advantage over other fuels in terms of pollution, because the process actually takes a lot of it out of the air.

Since the B. S. is so highly concentrated to begin with, the production of Bio-Super is quite a lot more efficient than the manufacture of biofuel from corn or woodchips. Just a hundred words of good old American B. S., particularly from people who like to hang out at bars after work and talk their heads off, can produce enough to fill up the gasoline tank on a Hummer.

The only negative aspect is the product’s exceptional volatility. Once you pump it into your tank, you have to slam the gas cap shut instantly or it will all evaporate. Motorists are also advised only to remove the cap when the gauge is nearly on empty and to stand aside; otherwise, there is the risk of being knocked out with a force that scientists have calculated is equivalent to six airbags.

Tom Attea, creator of Newslaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway and has written comedy for TV. Critics have called his writing ""delightfully funny" and "witty" with "good, genuine laughs."

Curb The TV Habit In 3 Easy Steps
So you're not quite ready to throw the TV away, but you're limiting the time spent viewing television in your home? Here are some easy tips that have worked for me.

1) Identify when and why you watch and change your habits

Do you usually turn the tube on when you get home from work? Why? Do you turn it on in the late afternoon when the kids get home? Why?

Sometimes the TV goes on when we're tired or bored. If you're tired, you either need to: get more sleep or get more exercise. So instead of automatically flipping on the television, why not go for a 10 minute walk to refresh yourself? Or, take a nap!

If you're turning on the TV to "zone out" and decompress after a busy day, try developing a new, healthier habit.

Some examples:

Brew a nice cup of hot tea and drink it slowly.
Write in a journal.
Put your feet up on the couch and listen to music.
Do crossword puzzles (a recent study showed that people who do crosswords on a regular basis are less likely to get Alzheimer's disease.)

2) Make TV watching inconvenient.

A TV does not belong in the bedroom! Keeping one there is bad for a marriage and bad for your love life! It also contributes to insomnia. Put the television in an inconvenient place like the basement. Unplug it. Cover it with a blanket.

3) Give up cable.

I decided a long time ago that I would never have cable. I can think of about a thousand other ways to spend $50 a month (Starbucks, anyone?) plus my husband would probably spend all his time watching the Discovery channel instead of talking to me!

If you live in a semi-rural area, you might not even get any channels if you cancel your cable service. But that would be a good thing if you're trying to limit TV! You can use the TV as a "movie machine" and rent DVDs so that you can at least control the content better.

Here's to turning off the TV and turning on life!

InsteadofTV.com is a valuable resource for families wanting to kick the TV habit. Sign up for your free "101 Things To Do Instead of TV" at www.InsteadofTV.com

Poetic Love versus Commercial Love
Am I the last romantic? This is a very tough question for me! I remember the times when love seemed more pure and diaphanous. A boy saw a girl, he liked her, she smiled shamefaced at him, giving him hope. Desire was fed by hope, and time was the perfect cook for a romantic love recipe. It all continued with peaceful thoughts at night, while looking at the stars and making wishes, sweet love wishes! Days were passing, the boy can’t get his thoughts back on the track, charmed by his beautiful princess. Another glimpse, a few days after, would keep the fire burning, until the boy can’t take it anymore, and moves to the next step:a romantic poem and roses, maybe even chocolate candy. Beautiful! I’m not going to exaggerate this, by inserting a balcony in this act.. But let’s admit it, those were the good old days of love and poetry.

Today, everything seems so empty and meaningless. The media is always showing us more and more violence and sex, pushing love away from our lives, replacing it only with desire. Now women are more and more interested of the bank account and limousine the boy drives, and probably would take poetry and candy as an offence or as unimportant; they would very much rather an expensive perfume or necklace. The boy, on the other hand, doesn’t have that shiver anymore in his voice, he’s a stable person that shouldn’t let loose his lack of confidence. He’s driving his luxury car, dressed up after the latest fashions, perfumed and everything, with sunglasses to give himself a superior attitude. He goes to her home, gives a horn and then takes his partner to the most expensive places to impress her. And he probably succeeds in most of the times. Very beautiful, some may say.

Well, I am very sorry, but I am one of the fellows who won’t give into this „new era love”. I stick with the poetic love that used to be once upon a time, the incurable romantic. You may contradict me if you wish, everybody’s free to have an opinion, but I remain the last mohican stuck to the idea that love and poetry come together as a blessing, and shouldn’t be torn apart.

By Alexandru Ionescu - If you feel that you have something to say in poetry, just join this love poem contest - If you join this poetry contest, you could get your poem published!