Pulp Free

The geek in me likes to keep track of numbers, charts, bandwidth, speed, etc. You get the idea (yes - charts too!) So in the past few months I’ve found a few Web sites that let you test your bandwidth speeds as many times as you want. I hit them every once in a while if it seems like my Charter broadband is acting up again… (which - cross my fingers - hasn’t happened since Charter replaced all of our outside cable lines!)

There are two that are pretty easy. Speedtest & Speakeasy.

Just for grins - here is what I’ve been able to do today:

I've been tossing around the idea of doing Top 10 lists for some time now and figured now was as good of a time as any. Most will probably be around music or other such topics… and I'm starting out with one of my favorites - Cinematic Scores. I've long enjoyed a good cinematic score and actually went to the Conservatory of Music - Kansas City in hopes of getting there. I did finish - but as you can probably tell - I didn't make it into the movies. While making this list - I had to find a few ways to limit my scope. If you call them "soundtracks" you end up getting a lot of competing choices. I'll actually come back to some of those other categories - but these are limited to selections that are usually composed for a specific movie and are mostly instrumentals (doesn't that describe a score?). What you'll see below represents the movie, composer and a musical selection. I've also included a 30 second sample for you to enjoy. You can download, stream, or listen to a lofi version by clicking on each of the icons next to the name. I now bring you…

1. - Armageddon - Trevor Rabin & Harry Gregson-Williams (Armageddon Suite)
   - Armageddon - Trevor Rabin & Harry Gregson-Williams (Theme From Armageddon)
2. - Batman - Danny Elfman (Suite From Batman)
3. - The Last Starfighter - Craig Safan (Main Title)
4. - The Rock - Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams (Fort Walton, Kansas)
   - The Rock - Nick Glennie-Smith, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams (Hummell Gets The Rockets)
5. - Unbreakable - James Newton Howard (Unbreakable)
6. - Air Force One - Jerry Goldsmith & Joel McNeely (End Credits)
7. - The Beastmaster - Lee Holdridge (Main Theme)
8. - Speed - Mark Mancina (The Rescue)
9. - Mr. Holland's Opus - Michael Kamen (An American Symphony)
10. - A Beautiful Mind - James Horner (Creating "Governing Dynamics")

I thought long an hard about some of the classics - Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars and Star Trek… But everybody knows those songs. And I can't really sit down and listen to Star Wars… It's pretty much overdosed into my brain already! I'll probably end up doing a Top 10 list on John Williams tunes…