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Netflix, the online movie rental service, has been around for a few years now. They provide unlimited rentals delivered free to your mailbox. I have been a very satisfied customer for 3 years now. But whats making me more excited is a new service that they are offering. In answer to customer requests, Netflix has begun providing a service that lets you download unlimited movies directly to your television for only $9.99 a month! And better yet, they offer you a FREE trial! This is actually a very new technology and only Netflix offers this service. This will enable you to watch any movie at any time, if youre a Netflix member. No more waiting in the mail for your DVD. You can purchase the converter box called Roku for just $99.00.

Or if you dont want to pay additional for that service, you can get the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray player which allows Netflix subscribers to stream more than 12,000 standard definition TV and movies. After logging in to the Netflix website, members can add movies or TV shows to their individual queues. With the use of the BD300s remote control, members can browse movies, make selections, rate movies, fast-forward or rewind video streams and even read synopses. Movies will start playing within 30 seconds after being selected from TV.

Your XBOX 360 also will allow you to stream Netflix movies! All you need is an Xbox LIVE Gold membership and a Netflix unlimited plan. All of this for just $9.99 a month! The Roku is available to use right now but the Blu-ray player and XBOX service will not be available until September.

Dating back to between 4000 and 5000 BC, dragons have been an integral part of our history. From mythology to architecture to collectibles, dragons are magical beings that may or may not have roamed the earth in actuality but have left gigantic footprints in our sensibility.

These extraordinary reptilian/serpentine creatures are found in many different cultures, and each of those dragons is as different as the culture itself. Some live in the center of the Earth, others live in the ocean. Some have wings, some dont. Some have hundreds of legs, some have four. Some have nine heads, others have one. Some have five claws, most have less. Some are friends and others are fiends. All are a symbol of awesome strength and power.

Studies suggest that the Tiamat, a goddess that personifies the sea, in ancient Babylonian and Assyrian text is the first reference to the existence of dragons. However, scholars argue about whether or not she truly was a dragon, as we define it. It is not believed that most dragons throughout history can be linked to the Tiamat myth.

Perhaps the best documented dragons come from the Chinese culture. These creatures are said to be made of parts from nine different animals: the body of a snake, talons of an eagle, antlers of a dear, head of a camel, belly of a clam, ears of a cow, soles of a tiger, 117 scales of a carp, and eyes of a demon. Dragons in Asian cultures are believed to be benevolent beings who control the water, including the rain, and have the power of transformation. They are forces of nature and the universe; protector of Buddhist law. The dragon is the symbol of wisdom, luck, good fortune, nobility, and divinity.

Western culture introduced us to a different kind of dragon: the malevolent, aggressive dragon. These dragons are like those Hercules battled and Beowolf waged war. In northern Europe, Thor battled the Jormungandr (the World Serpent). West dragons are fierce creatures that guarded (and horded) treasure and that heroes would have to slain to protect helpless maidens (acts that often ended in marriage). These were fire breathing dragons, more like the modern American dragons we are familiar today. Battles with these horrifying creatures became symbols of the battle between good and evil.

In the book of Revelations, Satan is referred to as a “great dragon.” Stories tell of people who are turned into dragons as punishment for greed. Others tell of dragons eating children and even the sun and moon, causing eclipses.

Today, dragons are the symbol of power, of supernatural abilities, and of protection. People adorn their homes and their bodies with representations of the mystical creatures. Movies portray dragons as magical imaginary friends to fantasy adversaries. While we no longer talk about heroes fighting dragons, the creatures are still prevalent in our culture, for better or worse.

Inspired by the novels of Ian Fleming, a series of British spy films were released in the 60s are still being produced. They are the James Bond movies. They are about the fictional M16 agent by name James Bond, his code name being 007. This is one of the longest running film series in the history of cinema with an ongoing production from 1962 to 2008, with a short hiatus between 1989 and 1995. It was EON Productions that produced 22 films in association with Pinewood Studios and the films have grossed more than $10 billion in box office. There were also two other independent productions and an American television adaptation of the first novel of Ian Fleming.

One Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the EON James Bond films till 1975 and in 1975, Broccoli became the sole producer. Broccolis daughter, Barbara and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson started co-producing the films since 1995.

Till now, six actors have donned the role of James Bond in the EON series. Broccolis family through EON and United Artists co-owned James Bond film series since the middle of the 1970s though distribution was done by various other companies like MGM, MGM/UA Entertainment Company, UA solely and Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment now owns MGM and is the parent company of Columbia Pictures).

1980s saw the end of the common creative team that had been working on the Bond films since the beginning in 1962, including Albert Broccoli as producer. Broccoli died soon after Brosnons film was released. He had produced or co-produced 16 Bond films. For 14 Bond films, title sequences were designed by Maurice Binder, Richard Maibaum had scripted or co-scripted 13 films, John Barry had scored for 11 and Ken Adam had designed sets for 7. Terence Young directed 3, Guy Hamilton, 4, Lewis Gilbert, 3 and John Glenn, 5 Bond films, while “On Her Majestys Secret Service” was directed by Lazenby.

Martin Campbell directed Golden Eye and Casino Royale. Neal Purvis wrote screenplays for 4 films during the period from 1995 and 2008, collaborating with Robert Wade. During this period, five films were scored by David Arnold.

Except Marc Foster, who is a German-Swiss, all other directors of Bond films were either from Britain or from a Commonwealth country. In the late 1970s, Steven Spielberg attempted to win direction of a Bond film, but due to commercial reasons, the attempt did not bear fruits.

The early Bond films were made on the story-lines of Fleming but later films bore only the titles of Flemings novels or short stories but character names, locales or locations were borrowed from Fleming.

Original titles of Fleming were used for the last Dalton film and all four Brosnan films, leaving only four Fleming titles unused. License to Kill and The World Is Not Enough are phrases from Ian Fleming novels. Golden Eye was the name of Flemings estate in Jamaica and an operation he was part of, during World War II. The only film titles that have no link to Fleming are Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day and Never Say Never Again. The 22nd Bond film released in 2008 was titled Quantum of Solace.

Writers have already been hired in 2009 for the 23rd Bond film and it is due to release in 2011. Daniel Craig is returning as James Bond. Peter Morgan is co-writing the film with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. This 23rd film may borrow the name from Flemings unused 4 titles, Risico, The Hildebrand Rarity, The Property of a Lady and 007 in New York. Craig and Barbara Broccoli expressed hopes that they would be having great fun in producing this 23rd Bond film.