John Lennon £5 coin

A commemorative £5 John Lennon coin had been released by Royal Mint. The limited edition coin shows Lennon with long hair and sideburns and his trademark round glasses. It will have a face value of £5 and the coin is priced at £44.99. Only 5,000 will be offered for sale. Struck in sterling silver to Proof quality, the coin comes in a splendid display case complete with a Certificate of Authenticity guaranteeing the specifications of the coin and paying tribute to the genius of John Lennon.


Lennon won the Royal Mint's public vote for the next "Great Briton" to be immortalised on a limited edition coin. Other names on the shortlist were Jane Austen and John Logie Baird. The Beatles singer, assassinated in 1980, now joins William Shakespeare, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin and Florence Nightingale in the series.

Dave Knight, director of commemorative coin at the Royal Mint, said: "It's entirely fitting that John Lennon has been chosen by the public in what would have been his 70th year.

"The massive proportion of the vote he received shows clearly just how much his untimely death still resonates with the nation.

"He ranks alongside, and even ahead of, some of the greatest names in history and the Royal Mint is proud to commemorate a genuine British legend."

Lennon fans launched Facebook and Twitter campaigns to ensure the Liverpudlian legend came out on top. A total of 27,874 people, 92% of those who voted, nominated Lennon for the £5 coin. Only 5,000 of the coins, issued as Alderney tender, have been minted. A one off 24carat gold version of the coin will be given to the John Lennon Estate.

Specification:
Denomination: £5
Alloy: .925 sterling silver
Weight: 28.28g
Diameter: 38.61mm
Designer (Reverse): Danuta Solowiej-Wedderburn
Designer (Obverse): Ian Rank-Broadley FRBS

Source: BBC, Yahoo News.

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TOP 10 POP CHRISTMAS ALBUMS OF ALL TIME

The best in pop Christmas albums. Top pop stars frequently record holiday songs or complete albums. These 10 are classics and the perfect place to start any holiday music collection.

1. Various Artists - 'A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector' (1963)

Courtesy Sony

At the peak of his success on the pop charts with his trademark "wall of sound" production technique, Phil Spector put together this Christmas collection by four of his top recording acts. The Crystals, Ronettes, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans each contributed their versions of mostly secular Christmas songs. The album had the misfortune of being released the same day as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was a relative failure upon initial release peaking at #13 on the album chart. However, over time it has been recognized as perhaps the top Christmas album and one of the top overall pop-rock albums of all time. Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" is particularly revered.

2. Various Artists - 'A Very Special Christmas' (1987) Courtesy A&M

This was the first in a series of Christmas albums put together to benefit Special Olympics. The overall series has raised over $55 million for the cause. Artist Keith Haring contributed the cover art to this first collection. The overall project was overseen by producer Jimmy Iovine. The collection features a significant number of the top pop artists of the 1980's. Among the most celebrated recordings here are the Eurythmics "Winter Wonderland," Whitney Houston's"Do You Hear What I Hear?," Sting's "Gabriel's Message," and Run-D.M.C.'s "Christmas in Hollis."

3. Vince Guaraldi Trio - 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' (1965) Courtesy Fantasy

Lee Mendelson, producer of the A Charlie Brown Christmas TV special heard a recording of "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Vince Guaraldi's Trio while riding in a taxicab in San Francisco. Mendelson was put in touch with Guaraldi and he made the proposition that Vince Guaraldi create the score for the upcoming Peanuts special. The results were such a success that Guaraldi ended up composing scores for 16 Peanuts TV specials. Among the legendary songs created are "Linus and Lucy," "Christmas Time Is Here," and "Skating."

4. Josh Groban - 'Noel' (2007) Courtesy Reprise

Pop-classical singer Josh Groban had already released three multi-platinum top 10 albums before putting together Noel, his first Christmas collection in 2007. The result was the sleeper hit album of the year. It was produced by David Foster, known for his big pop productions with such stars as Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.Noel hit #1 on the pop album chart in the US seven weeks after its initial release. It became the first Christmas album to ever spend five weeks at #1 on the album chart. By the end of 2007, the album had sold over 3.5 million copies making it the biggest selling album of the year.

5. Mariah Carey - 'Merry Christmas' (1994) Courtesy Sony

Mariah Carey had released three multi-platinum albums and was riding high with the success of Music Box that spent eight weeks at #1 on the album chart and ultimately was certified ten times platinum when she decided to record a Christmas collection. Mariah Carey worked with a variety of producers, and, in the album's first run on the charts, it peaked at #3. The album includes the song "All I Want for Christmas Is You" which is considered a contemporary Christmas classic. It is the first holiday song to sell a million digital downloads.

6. Mannheim Steamroller - 'Mannheim Steamroller Christmas' (1984) Courtesy American Gramaphone

Producer and

composer Chip Davis first became known in the music industry for helping create the musical personality C.W. McCall for singer Bill Fries. C.W. McCall went all the way to #1 on the pop singles chart with the CB radio themed song "Convoy." Davis put together his own record label, American Gramaphone, to release a combination of classical music and light jazz under the pseudonym Mannheim Steamroller in 1975. The album was Fresh Aire and became one of the prototypes for new age music. In 1984 Mannheim Steamroller released this Christmas album, its first holiday collection, and found its true niche as a recording act. Mannheim Steamroller has now released eight platinum certified Christmas collections.

7. Elvis Presley - 'Elvis' Christmas Album' (1957) Courtesy RCA

Elvis Presley was the hottest recording artist in the US having released nine #1 singles and three #1 albums in two years when he put together his first Christmas album. The collection spent four weeks at the top of the album chart and, with sales of nine million copies, it is considered the bestselling Christmas album of all time in the US. Songwriter Irving Berlin stated that Elvis' recording of "White Christmas" was a profane parody of the song, and it was ordered off a number of radio stations. Elvis Presley's version of "Blue Christmas" on this album is considered a holiday classic.

8. Nat King Cole - 'The Christmas Song' (1963) Courtesy Capitol

Nat King Cole first recorded "The Christmas Song" in 1946. However, it is his 1961 recording that was later added to a holiday album of the same name that is best known. The song and album became even more popular following Cole's death from lung cancer in 1965.

9. Bing Crosby - 'White Christmas' (1945) Courtesy MCA

Bing Crosby's recording of the song "White Christmas" is considered the bestselling single of all time having sold over 50 million copies worldwide. This album was first put together in 1945 when it was released as 10 songs on five 78 rpm discs. The album was released as a standard vinyl LP for the first time in 1955. It has remained in print ever since and is considered the longest in-print album in the US except for the original cast recording of the musical Oklahoma!which was first released in 1943. The album first became available on compact disc in 1986.

10. The Carpenters - 'Christmas Portrait' (1978) Courtesy A&M Records

The Carpenters' popularity was definitely beginning to fade by the time they put together this first Christmas collection. They would only have one more top 40 pop hit after release of Christmas Portrait in 1978. This album includes the duo's classic "Merry Christmas, Darling." The album has sold over a million copies and today is one of the best loved Carpenters albums.

By Bill Lamb, About.com Guide

Blu-ray Releases: The Week of Nov. 1st, 2010 - Andy Goes to College!

Well Pixar fans, this is THE week you've been waiting for. You can finally get your ugly mitts on the most beloved animation movie franchise in motion picture history, on high-definition Blu-ray no less. Yes, folks, Toy Story 3 will be released this Tuesday (Nov. 2nd) and I'm sure parents will be making a bee line to the store to pick it up, either for their kids or most likely, for themselves! How can one not love Woody and the gang? For its Blu-ray debut, Toy Story 3 is coming to stores in more than one flavor and I'm here to sort it all out for you. So let's get to it, shall we?

Here's a look at all of this week's notable releases:



This week will be tough for collectors' wallets, which is not to say last week was not bad enough, what with the Alien Anthology and the Back to the Future: 25th Anniversary Trilogy releasing together. With Christmas approaching, I guess the studios are trying to milk every hard-earned penny out of us consumers.

So, the big one this week is obviously Toy Story 3, where Woody and the gang befriends a cute pink cuddly bear named Latso at a toy's paradise called Sunnyside Daycare or so they think. Even a children's animation film can turn a little dark every once in a while and this third installment is much darker than its predecessors. But no matter, if the ending doesn't bring tears to your eyes, you'd better check for a pulse. I deem it the perfect ending to an almost perfect movie franchise. If my generation still speaks nostalgically about "Star Wars," the Toy Story Trilogy would be the talk of this generation 20 or even 30 years from now.

There are actually 5 (yes, count them, 5) Blu-ray packages to choose from if you are shopping for Toy Story 3, three official packages and two exclusive packages tied to specific retailers. Let's first talk about the official ones. First up is a 4-disc package, which includes 1 Blu-ray disc of the movie, 1 Blu-ray disc of extras, 1 DVD of the movie plus extras and a disc that stores the Digital Copy. This package is going for $24.99 at Amazon. For $19.99, you can purchase the 2-disc package, which eliminates the DVD and Digital Copy. Now, if you do not have the first two movies (on Blu-ray, of course) in your collection yet then this would be the best opportunity to purchase all three movies in a massive 10-disc set for $64.99. You can own the trilogy and it comes in the following configuration:

Toy Story: 1 Blu-ray disc of the movie, 1 DVD version of the movie plus the Digital Copy (3 discs)
Toy Story 2: 1 Blu-ray disc of the movie, 1 DVD version of the movie plus the Digital Copy (3 discs)
Toy Story 3: 2 Blu-ray discs of the movie plus extras, 1 DVD version of the movie plus the Digital Copy (4 discs)

As for the video and audio quality, what else is there to say but this: it will be Pixar-perfect! Video is presented in 1080p resolution with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which is a slight alteration of 1.85:1 from the original theatrical ratio. Disney does this with most of their animation films in order to maximize your widescreen (16:9) home TV screen. As for the audio, expect crystal clear quality with the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (for Toy Story 3 only) and 5.1 mixes (for all three movies).

Now for the exclusive packagings:
From Best Buy, you can get the 4-disc set with a free special collectible case (no extra charge). Here's how it looks like:

From Target, the 4-disc set comes with your very own Space Ranger toy. It retails for $32.99. Here's a look:

So there you have it, all the different configurations that you can purchase Toy Story 3. Phew!

Also releasing this week is HBO's high acclaimed World War II mini-series, The Pacific. If you loved its companion series, Band of Brothers, you'll definitely love this one as well. Most reviews that I have read scores The Pacific almost perfectly on story, video and audio quality. From HBO, I expect nothing less but top quality storytelling and production. The Pacific is uncompromisingly violent, profane and ultimately, tragic, pulling no punches in depicting the realities and the evil of warfare in the Pacific theater. The Pacific comes in 6 Blu-ray discs with 10 episodes on 5 of those discs plus a full disc of compelling extras (all in HD). Video comes in 1080p (1.78:1) and audio is presented in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

Moving on, what's a week without more movie classics coming to high-definition Blu-ray?

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?" asks Mother Abbess, lamenting about the free-spirited Maria (Julie Andrews) in the 20th Century Fox classic, The Sound of Music. This Oscar winner (for Best Picture) is releasing on its 45th anniversary, having been released on DVD in various incarnations, including a well-received 40th anniversary edition. This week--like Toy Story 3--The Sound of Music comes in several packaging options as well. The first is a 3-disc set: 2 Blu-ray discs (movie plus extras) and a DVD of the movie (with extras). I'm guessing the DVD will be identical to the 40th anniversary DVD edition. Then there is the much larger Limited Edition Collector's Set, which consists of the 3 discs that I mentioned above plus the movie's soundtrack, scrapbook and various collectibles. A must-have for big fans of the movie. Oh, did I mention that the soundtrack of the movie has been remastered into DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1? Should make a world of a difference. Oh, there is also an exclusive release of this movie from Target that pairs the 3-disc set with a collector's book (see below).

Next up is The Bridge on the River Kwai, the true story war film about captured Allied soldiers forced to build a bridge for their captors in horrific conditions and it stars William Holden and Alec Guinness. Early reviews reveal significant upgrades to video (1080p) and audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) quality. This is a 2-disc set with 1 Blu-ray disc plus a DVD of the movie as well.

Now if you grew up in the 80's, I'm sure one of your favorite movies from that era is 1985's The Goonies. Written by Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus and directed by Richard Donner, The Goonies is an entertaining children's adventure film. Among the more notable child actors that appeared in this film are Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee from "LOTR"), Corey Feldman and Jonathan Ke Quan (who went from being so popular as Indy's cute sidekick "Short Round" to oblivion in a blink of an eye). This is the 25th anniversary edition and early reviews only grades the video (1080p) and audio (DTS-HD Master 5.1) upgrade as good but not great.

Finally, another blast from the 80's is Highlander, the action-adventure fantasy film that stars Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery about the centuries-old battle among a clan of immortals. With a soundtrack that includes songs contributed by the rock band, Queen (most notably, "Who Wants to Live Forever"), Highlander can be termed cheesy by today's standard. But there is something remarkably romantic about immortals living in this world and fighting one another with broadswords. Highlander was not a hit during its theatrical release and only found success on home video. It spawned a slew of sequels plus a TV series but this original is by far the superior one. This Blu-ray release is labeled a "Director's Cut" and reviews are only so-so on audio and video quality. Maybe that's why it is only priced at $13.99 on Amazon. Oh, Highlander 2 also gets a Blu-ray release this week as well. There can only be one!

Enjoy adding these Blu-rays to your collection and I'll see you next week where we'll look at a bunch of new releases plus a couple of classics. Happy viewing!