Nicki Hicks is a Search Engine Marketer at a local Web Design/Internet Marketing firm, flyte new media, and writes for their Maine SEO blog. She's also practicing yogini, a wannabe artist, and has recently acquired a taste for the Twilight series.

As Justin is out for a few weeks, I figured I would throw a little female intuition into the mix, as well as add to the movie theme Videoport Jones has going.

With $70 million in its first weekend at the box office, the much-anticipated Twilight rivaled other romantic films of its kind (Sex and the City coming in the closest at about $60 million).

So first: how's the movie? It lived up to the hype. It follows Stephanie Meyer's story, as best it can for a 500-page novel anyway, including all of the major points you'd expect. There were a few interesting twists, keeping even the most avid (read: obsessed) fan on the edge of their cushioned theater seat.

The real story though? The Harry Potter-esque hysteria and fan base. (Speaking of Harry Potter, did you know Robert Pattinson played Cedric Diggory in the 'Order of the Phoenix'?) While the series and movie have not gotten quite the same reaction from the male population, women have been flocking to the theaters. What's more: the film seems to have closed the generation gap.

In my movie-going group alone, we had women who were 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and 40-somethings; along with a few teens (maybe even preteens) that dotted the theater in an effort to ditch school on the first Friday it was out. This reaction has caused Pattison to share in interviews that, to paraphrase, the fans flocking to him have been both teen girls and their mothers alike.

So ladies, this is the perfect female bonding flick - a love story to bridge the years between you and your Mom or daughter. And good news - 'New Moon' is officially in the works!

Guest Blogger Lauren Wayne is local music fan, a marketer for Live Nation, on the Board of Directors of the Portland Music Foundation, is a Civil War buff, likes adobe bricks and is a hard-hitting journalist on the blog, Karma Beat Down.

We're going to kick the weekend off a little early since, um, well, I always kick my weekend off on a Wednesday.

Wednesday

• Spencer Albee and the School Spirit Mafia perform The Beatles' 'White Album' in its entirety at The Asylum tonight. This is a 21+ show and you get $2 off the door cover if you wear white, which is awesome because everyone knows you shouldn't wear white after Labor Day.

• An Evening With is a band. They are playing with The McCarthys at Empire Dine and Dance. An evening with An Evening With with The McCarthys. Whatever. All you need to know is that you should only go to this show if you like good, honest music.

• Milled Pavement hosts its monthly at The White Heart with Jonecat and Moshe dropping some dubstep and down-tempo.

• You know what impresses me? Yes, being able to eat an industrial-sized container of cheese balls in one sitting. Do you know what else? A band who knows how to market themselves online and who tours regionally. Lady Lamb The Beekeeper do both well. Go hear them at Flask Lounge. Their music is even better than their new media skills.

Thursday

After you cram your gut full of Tofurkey and tempeh stuffing, but right before you hit your brother over the head with a PBR empty, you should get out of the house to dance:

• Styxx is open from 9pm # 1am with DJ Rob.

• A Band Beyond Description plays all your Grateful Dead favorites at The Big Easy.

• Or, just put this band on your ipod at home and drink some whiskey in your underwear: The Pine Hill Haints

Friday

• The The Mystix kick it roots-style down at One Longfellow Square. This band has an impressive history of performing and recording with some of the country's top artists including Taj Mahal, John Hammond and, um, Mary J. Blige, of course.

• You know what you need more of in your life? Music of the Southern Appalachians and the deep South played on the fiddle, guitar, banjo and mandolin. Well, what a coincidence # OLD RED is playing at the Blue tonight.

SATURDAY

• Tree by Leaf plays the Dogfish Bar and Grill tonight.

• Three local bands + one alternative arts gallery + 67 cases of PBR for the crowd = Metal Feathers CD release show at SPACE Gallery with Gully and Brenda.

• It's a down and out Tarpigh music festival at the Meg Perry Center for Peace tonight with Crank Sturgeon, Big Blood, Micah Blue Smaldone, Chriss Sutherland, Michael Gallant, Amos Libby, Longfellow Kucz, Vince Nez, Karl Greenwood and George and Mary.

SUNDAY

• And my finally, Huak, Cougars Kill Cobras and Cinema Cinema end the weekend right at Geno's Rock Club.

MONDAY

• The return of Justin Ellis! Parades and speeches will ensue.

Hey gang, Videoport Jones here, alone again for the third week in a row. Justin's off having the time of his life, perfecting his long-awaited recipe for Baconbrau, so, once more, it's me alone, running down the week's new releases at Videoport. So if you want sane, reasonable rebuttals to my scattershot ramblings and ad hominem personal attacks, you'll just have to supply them yourself.

Hancock: "Will Smith is here to save us all again! How many times is that now? Five? Six? I mean, we really owe him a fruit basket or something. This time, Smith's a superhero with an issue or two, what with being drunk, and misanthropic, and just generally a d-bag. Routinely racking up millions of dollars in property damage whilst boozily foiling crime, Hancock is largely hated until a PR man (played with trademark deadpan brilliance by Jason Bateman) takes it upon himself to repay some nearly-inadvertent heroism by giving the grumpy hero a PR makeover. Sure, it's high-concept (and avoid the schizophrenic trailers which alternate between giving away a MAJOR plot point and misleading you into thinking that the movie's a wacky spoof), but 'Hancock' is actually pretty darned affecting. Smith remains effortlessly charismatic, with his titular anti-hero revealing a few more layers than you'd expect, Bateman is money, as ever, and Charlize Theron is...um pretty, and doesn't mess things up too badly. An oddball, surprisingly successful superhero flick. Points off, however, for the most egregious product placements in a decade."

Meet Dave: "And then there's Eddie Murphy. Sigh. He, too, was once the most magnetic, respected comic action hero in Hollywood, effortlessly holding the screen by virtue of his natural talent and charisma. Remember that? It wasn't just a dream, right? Sigh. Well, Eddie's back, and this time, instead of farting in a series of fat suits, he's making dumb poop jokes as a human-sized robot spaceship, captained by a tiny little Eddie inside. Sigh. Will Will Smith ever resort to this sort of thing? Would he want us to kill him if he did. Probably."

Fred Claus: "I seem to be sighing a lot this week. Sigh. Well, the holiday season marches on, leaving its traditional filmic droppings behind, and Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, and Kevin Spacey are the overqualified actors cashing in that plummy Xmas paycheck in this tale of Santa's underachieving brother...Fred. Claus. From the title. Sigh. I'm tempted to say that the combined and undeniable talents involved will make me check this one out at some point, but...well, it's not the time of the year for lies. I'm not risking any coal..."

Christmas on Mars: "Now this is the kind of holiday flick I can get behind. A weird, campy, would-be cult sci-fi film created by and starring alt-rockers The Flaming Lips. Shockingly, you can find this in the Incredibly Strange section at Videoport."

Space Chimps: "Wait, what was this one about again? It'll come to me... Oh, yeah...chimps! In space. It's a tough world for any animation company not named Pixar, and this one, voiced by Andy Samberg, Jeff Daniels, and Larry's wife from 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' smacks of second-rate-ness. Monkeys are cute, though."

A Man Named Pearl: "Sweetly-angry documentary follows the titular Pearl, a now-elderly black man who, when originally unsuccessfully dissuaded from buying his home with the comments about how "blacks don't keep up their lawns", chose not to get overtly angry, or even punch some patronizing suburban whitey in his fat face, but to transform his lawn into a delightful, intricate, racist-shaming wonderland. I probably would've gone after the jerks with a driveway-edger, but..."

And, in art film news, I'd like to self-indulgently announce that two of my favorite films of all time are getting the deluxe Criterion Collection treatment at the same time this week, with Wes Anderson's first feature 'Bottle Rocket' and Wong Kar-wai's 'Chungking Express' hitting the shelves. I love these movies already more than I can express intelligently, and heap on some juicy commentary and extra features and I'm in film geek heaven.

While Justin's on vacation, our guest bloggers are picking up the slack. Today's guest: Lauren Wayne, local music fan, with a preview of this weekend.

A big shout out to Justin -- hope you're having an excellent hiatus adventure. If you find any really strange snow globes out there, please bring me one back and I will slide you some cash.

Ok, onto some events this weekend:

Thursday

• Velvet, an annual fundraising event, will hold a "Green Tie Ball" at the Portland Expo to raise money for the youth development organization Rippleffect and its Cow Island campus. $75 will get you into the Gala, and $125 gets you a VIP ticket to include the Gala, a private early reception, oyster bar, private bar and a gift bag. Music provided by Grupo Esperanza and DJ Jon. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.velvetgala.com.

• Folk-rockers-indie-poppers MARION GRACE play Flask Lounge.

• Geno's Rock Club hosts CARPE DIEM with DJ DB and others including Nocturnal and Sarah Lynn.

Friday

Holy weekend of great music. If you are feeling lazy and like you need to stay at home, you need to stop being such a portlussy and get out to see:

• Dominic & The Lucid are live at Empire Dine and Dance playing their usual stream of dreamy indie rock with openers The Sea Captains and All the Real Girls.

• Get your dance on (or off) at The White Heart with ATOMIK: DJs Jason Keith & Matty.T as they show you why house music is not just for breakfast anymore.

Saturday

• SPACE Gallery celebrates its 1000th event with SPACE1000, a shiny dance party where you bring your bling. DJ Jon on the ones and twos. If you didn't go to the SPACE Homecoming Dance this year, you more than likely regretted it. Don't make the same mistake twice.

• Parker House and Theory return to Portland after their tour with O.A.R. to play The Big Easy. Be sure to wear your dancing armor. Elbows are sharp.

• Self-described as "punk-classical-hillbilly-Floyd", Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is at One Longfellow Square tonight. If you're a fan of Americana, folk or, well, talent, you'll want to plunk down your change for this one. I don't mean to get all Harry Potter on your ass, but their lives shows are magical and enchanting.

And hey - all you local music fans and musicians: the Portland Music Foundation is having a mixer on Tuesday, November 25 from 5pm # 7pm at the Freaky Beanat 740 Broadway in South Portland. This is a great time to socialize and network with like-minded individuals, artists and musicians, so bring your CDs, cards and ideas and get a'mixin.

Lauren Wayne is local music fan, a marketer for Live Nation and Board of Director with the Portland Music Foundation, a Civil War buff, an adobe brick fan, and a hard-hitting journalist on the blog,
karmabeatdown.wordpress.com.

So, a second week without Justin here to volley wit and keep me on the windy side of care, as someone once said. It's like I'm alone in an empty theater...ECHO......Echo....echo...

While Justin takes a well-deserved vacation, several guest bloggers are filling in for him. Today's guest: graphic designer/music evangelist Michael Gregoire.

Each month when preparing the next compilation for the website I run,
I scour the internet for shining examples of music that's released
under a Creative Commons license. I always find plenty of excellent music from all over the
world that meets that criteria. Each time I look for these musical
gems, I quietly hope that one of the artists I discover will be from
my home state of Maine (there's nothing I'd love to do more than to
promote bands from here). Alas, after 18 of these compilations, I've
yet to find one Maine music artist utilizing this important tool
that's so easily at their disposal.

Greetings NXT readers, my name is Calvin Gilbert and I am writing a blog post for Justin while he is away.

I use to log in, post my status and accept friend requests on four different social networking sites one at a time. I can honestly say, I lost three to four hours a day checking to see if I had new friends on Facebook or what others were doing on Twitter. Once you master these free tools, social networking becomes painless and productive.

ping.fm

ping.fm is a website service I use to post to social networking sites. Basically, I log in and write my status then hit "ping it". The website will then distribute my status update to my social network sites. What drew me to this site first, was the easy navigation and clean layout. As an added bonus, this service can be accessed from your phone to update on the run.

If you belong to three or more social networking sites, and hate constantly updating them one by one, definitely incorporate ping.fm into your social posting routine.

Digsby

I use Digsby to monitor all of my social network sites. Digsby is a download available from Digsby's website, and gives a great overview of what is happening on facebook, twitter, and myspace. An definite plus is, you can link all of your email accounts and instant messaging names to truly make it an all in one application.

The best parts of Digsby is the pop up notification balloon so I do not have to continually check my social sites or email, and it allows me to chat with my facebook friends directly from the Digsby application.

I admit, Digsby can be a little overwhelming to set up, where it has 100's of bells and whistles thrown at you like color, sound and account options. But once I got it up and running, I never had to log in to a social network site or my email until it told me I had to.

Hope this helps keep social networking fun and make it easier for everyone. What other types of sites and applications do you use?

Calvin Gilbert is a graphic designer / web developer from Portland, and posts regularly to his blog www.calvingilbert.com and on Twitter.

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