multimedia_paradise 1.1.314

data/lib/multimedia_paradise/yaml/movie_reviews/the_hateful_eight_september_2016.md

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+I finally got around being able to watch "The Hateful Eight" in September
+of 2016. Took me a bit longer to write a review afterwards.
+
+At any rate - this review is of considerable length, so I have split
+it up into "The Good" and "The Bad" parts respectively (no ugly parts,
+these may be found integrated into "The Bad" subsection). It also is my
+first review, so who knows whether I will do more of these reviews
+or not. This review may not even be published, but instead reside as
+a blueprint here in this directory.
+
+I won't go into the storyline much at all since I do not want to
+include too many spoilers.
+
+The movie can perhaps best be described as "a western detective 
+storyline", a hybrid movie. I recall that I read somewhere that
+Ennio Morricone said that he could not produce the same music
+for this movie that he once did for Sergio in the old
+spaghetti-western movies era, and Ennio actually was right when
+he said that in retrospect.
+
+Quentin may not have realized it back then at that moment in time,
+but that was the correct answer by Ennio to give, because the movie
+Quentin directed is very different from what Sergio created. So
+the music would not have fit 1:1, hence why the music is a bit 
+different and more gloomy compared to Ennio's musical score for
+other western movies.
+
+I also think that the music score that Ennio created fit to the
+movie "The Hateful Eight" perfectly well, even though I happen
+to believe that it was not Ennio's best music score either - but
+he deserved the award for his earlier work anyway, and the music
+for the movie is not bad at all. It is a fitting music, sort of
+like Hans Zimmer is doing for the movies he acts as audio chief
+in charge. Even Hans Zimmer does not always produce great scores,
+but he does usually create music that fits very well to the movie
+at hand. At any rate, back to the movie The Hateful Eight itself.
+
+I believe that the name for the movie was in many ways inspired 
+clearly from "The Glorious Seven", so Quentin did a slight mockery
+here, even more so as "The Glorious Seven" was based on the older
+"The Seven Samurai" movie from Japan.
+
+Quentin put characters into the movie that people could hate, though
+also perhaps understand at the same time, given their background.
+None of the main characters is a truly lovable or very likeable
+person, not even the gallows dude and neither that dude from
+England.
+
+They are all sort of villains, all of them, combined to meet at
+the same location - some more villains than others. But no real 
+hero as such. In some ways this was true of the old movie "The
+Good, The Bad and The Ugly" as well - all three were 
+ultimately criminals or at the least ruthless killers.
+
+This part of the movie "The Hateful Eight" is pretty nice and
+was very well done - the character development part was a success.
+Sure, there are some flaws here and there; the mexican guy was a
+bit odd, then some other characters were a bit ... off too, over
+the top. A jamaican accent? Seriously? In a tavern far, far away?
+Come on now ... that was more an attempt to spice-it-up a bit by
+Quentin. And the crazy lady that was chained by the sheriff was
+also a bit over-the-top; I'd almost call it overacting.
+
+But if we look past these points, I think that the set of
+characters was good and well-developed. Here Quentin deserves
+some praise for the plot.
+
+My favourite two characters played in the movie were actually
+played by Samuel Jackson (no surprise, he is a genius in just about
+all movies directed by Quentin; my favourite two performances
+from him still came by Pulp Fiction, which I think is Quentin's
+best movie, but also Jackie Brown, where Samuel convincingly
+played a drug dealer pimp); and the other character I liked
+was portrayed Kurt Russel. The accent was just awesome. The
+performance was also one of his best, in my opinion. He really
+made me believe that he was a ruthless sheriff from the get
+go - in some ways lawful, but also brutal. An evil lawful
+sheriff so to speak.
+
+Granted, beating up his female prisoner in every third or fourth
+scene was a bit excessive in regards to violence, but hey - that
+is Quentin's style. A bit over the top, as always. Perhaps there
+could have been fewer violent beat-up scenes, but we can expect
+this from a Quentin movie in many ways and I don't hold this quite
+against him.
+
+I absolutely loved the way he integrated the landscape into the
+movie. This reminded me of the initial scenery in The Shining.
+I think he could have integrated more of this, because once
+the movie played in the tavern, it was like a repetition of
+the older movie he did called "Reservoir Dogs". Which was a good
+movie too - not as good as Pulp Fiction, but a good movie
+nonetheless. It would have been interesting if he could have
+played more landscape-like plots perhaps before everyone would
+meet in the tavern. Because once they were in the tavern, they
+were kind of "locked in" until the movie would resolve.
+
+Now, I will rate the movie "The Hateful Eight" as a 5 out of 10,
+perhaps a 6 out of then, which isn't that great but it is still
+quite fair, in my opinion. A bit above average. (Addendum:
+currently, in 2021, the movie has a rating of 7.8 on IMDB, so
+perhaps my lower score of 6 was indeed a bit too low.)
+
+So then, why would I not rate it above 6?
+
+The thing is that the movie also had some serious shortcomings,
+much more so than in others Quentin did - yet at the same time,
+I also think that the movie had a LOT more potential than it
+achieved, and I think that this can be explained because
+Quentin did a few mistakes.
+
+Most of these have been mentioned before on IMDB reviews; the
+awkward narration in the middle of the movie was really really
+AWFUL. Someone else explained that it was for in-move pause
+between coffee break or toilet break, so I can understand this
+a bit, but even then, it could have had some more visual effect
+and someone who has a better NARRATIVE voice than Quentin.
+
+It really sort of cheapened the whole movie - but even that
+isn't the main problem with the movie. It is just one more
+element where the movie really did not live up to its full
+potential.
+
+The movie draws some inspiration from The Good, The Bad and
+The Ugly too, because if you think about it, in Sergio's older
+movie all three are actually evil dudes. Even The Good played
+by Clint Eastwood. I mean he sort of tortures The Ugly (Eli
+Wallach, who I think was actually the key character in that
+movie and also the best performance IMO, even though both
+Clint and Lee van Cliff were awesome too). Also note that in
+The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, all of them also had a slight
+"softer" side. Sure, The Bad is really mean but even he does
+not kill everyone at plain sight. For instance, he once 
+calls that fat big dude to stop slapping The Ugly with a
+"That's enough.". And he also does not torture The Good,
+even though it is explained that he knew that The Good 
+would not talk when tortured; if he were fully evil he 
+may have tortured anyway just to make a point. But he was an
+"evil" person with a purpose and a goal so that was his softer
+side.
+
+The Good is semi-good, like when Clint Eastwood claims to want to
+hang The Ugly but then shoots him into freedom from the gallows,
+so he is really the good guy clearly, even though he is also
+mean and evil. And even the Bad is not the most evil ever, just
+corrupt and greedy.
+
+Now, in "The Hateful Eight", I think they are all pretty evil 
+folks. Perhaps the Sheriff is not so evil initially but he
+quickly gets corrupted as the movie drags on. Samuel Jackson
+is pretty evil and a liar; in some ways he is actually the
+main actor or in-movie narrator, which is interesting.
+
+There are a lot of small ideas that partially make up for some
+of the other problems in the movie. For instance, I think
+that Quentin had a great idea there with the whole scenery
+of the movie.
+
+The icy landscape is really beautiful. The various other settings
+are nifty as well - the big wooden house which gets "split up" into
+different sectors inside, once the actors are in the main room.
+The stable is quite some way away from the main house, which 
+adds to the creepy atmosphere; the whole movie is both a western
+but also a detective story of some sort.
+
+The wide angle of the camera was nice too, you really get to see
+a lot in great detail here. So for this alone, that is actually
+worth 2 of the points here. Granted, in the second half of
+the movie you no longer see any of the scenery; Quentin could
+have perhaps integrated more scenery from the outside into the
+storyline, to really make best use of the ... 35mm camera or
+whatever he was using there.
+
+In one scene, Samuel Jackson notices some red drop on the ground,
+a candy. Why the candy is on the ground is explained in another
+part of the movie, which fits together decently well.
+
+The action scenes, while not that many and typically Quentin's 
+style is over-the-top, are ok too. It's a bit too much drama
+for my taste, with the wounded actors slowly dying away but I
+guess this is his trademark.
+
+I also think that the plot is ok in principle. The main scene
+initially is Kurt Russell being the bountyhunter and dragging
+his prisoner about. It makes some sense that he is anxious
+that someone will try to free his prisoner.
+
+Samuel Jackson is also a great storyteller in the movie, I
+found the story where he would kill the son of someone else
+quite curious - everyone could see that it was a made-up
+story crafted in order to provoke the listener but it still
+was a good idea in my opinion.
+
+The music was ok but Ennio did better scores really. Ennio 
+explained that he did not want to copy his work for Sergio,
+which I can understand; still, the music was not as good as
+he did when he was younger. I think that Ennio Morricone is
+awesome but it was not his best work. Ennio explained that
+he wanted to do another style too, and I understand the
+explanation but still, I can see that Quentin was not 
+completely convinced. Then again, the movie is also not 
+an oldschool western either with the detective component,
+so I guess that goes both ways; it definitely was not an
+italo-western, also not an US-western, it was more a 
+Quentin-Detective-western mixed with Reservoir Dogs and
+Pulp Fiction.
+
+The actors were all good - I don't think there was anyone
+who was really bad. Samuel was the best by far in my opinion;
+Kurt was good too. The noble englishman was ok; a bit 
+over-drama but ok regardless.
+
+Anyway. I will now come to the parts of the movie that do not
+work:
+
+There are quite some weaknesses in the movie, some minor ones,
+some larger ones.
+
+For instance, Samuel so happens to shoot down someone else.
+
+Shortly afterwards, nobody else minded this. Uhm ... now
+excuse me but why did not even the coachman mind this?
+
+Or the Sheriff??? I mean, seriously? What the fuck??? Someone
+who is supposed to uphold the law?
+
+They all pretended as if nothing happened!
+
+I understand that the thugs did not care, no problem here,
+but the other folks? Hmmmmm. Perhaps the Sheriff was a huge
+thug too, but it wasn't as obvious. Sure, he beat up a 
+woman but a Sheriff who does not uphold the law is already
+such a huge thug that you wonder why he'd still be Sheriff.
+
+You need to keep in mind that they would not know Samuel's
+character before that - but the new Sheriff instantly accepts
+it when Samuel's character provokes someone else into shooting 
+at him and then killing the one who tries to kill him? Without
+saying ANYTHING? Come on ... you could well be the very next
+person who gets shot down. I would have at least expected SOME
+kind of other reaction than the blanket ... zero reaction.
+This is as if Quentin just wanted the scenery, and did not
+care about the plausability of reaching it.
+
+A lot of the movie reminds me of Pulp Fiction and especially
+Reservoir Dogs. If you saw both, but in particular the latter,
+it is VERY much similar. The Reservoir Dogs is also shot in
+a somewhat similar way - like one room, or few rooms where
+the action all takes place. And lots of talking, too.
+
+The action is a bit from Kill Bill over-the-top. It's not
+bad IMO but sometimes it just is over-drama. Like the female
+prisoner, after the 5th time of getting blood splattered
+all over her, it sorta was too much really. How much more
+blood do you have? 10 liters? 50? I mean, really.
+
+The narrator in the middle of the movie destroyed a lot too.
+
+I think it would have been better if Quentin would have used
+another way to get the storyline going forward.
+
+Another problem I would make out is the frequent use of the
+word "nigga". Ok, I get it, Quentin likes to dramatize with
+racist dialogue and we can assume that this was more frequent
+in the old days of western-movies, the secession wars and so
+on. This part is "fine" in the sense of a movie and narration.
+Slaves and abusing them as cattle.
+
+But - the other part is the DELIBERATE use of the word to the
+point of where the whole scripted dialogue revolves around that
+single word, more or less. And I feel that this just
+distracts rather than really add much at all to the scenes - after
+the 20th use of the word itself, I wondered a lot. What is the
+point of the word if it distracts so much and destroys any
+dialogue or monologue?
+
+I think for me one big problem really was that so much reminded me
+of Reservoir Dogs. I actually think that Reservoir Dogs also
+was the better movie here, simply because it was original
+back then and did not try to incorporate so many different ideas.
+
+It is much closer to Quentin's real "original" way to create
+movies.
+
+I am somewhat disappointed with the last ~10 years from Quentin,
+his older movies were really much, much better - Reservoir Dogs,
+Pulp Fiction in particular, but also Jackie Brown. Sure, Jackie
+Brown isn't as great as Pulp Fiction, but I think that it was
+a really, really nicely made movie, with characters that are 
+all somewhat believable. The character development still is
+an area where Quentin is good.
+
+In many ways, while he still tries to bring in new concepts,
+and he did (Django - black actor as the hero of a time where
+racism was massively integrated into the southern US society,
+good idea for that; Grindhouse the scenery was nice in particular
+for the blood scenes, which in some ways can also be seen
+in The Hateful Eight in the initial landscape scenery), there
+is sort of the "big picture" lacking. Something that would
+allow Quentin to leave behind the flicks and transcend into
+his own style. Nothing wrong with homage to good old movies,
+don't get me wrong but after a while, Quentin should really
+get to define a style that uniquely fits to him AND to the
+movie itself too. Just like he did with Pulp Fiction, 
+Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown.

data/lib/multimedia_paradise/yaml/music_genres.yml

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+# =========================================================================== #
+# === music_genres.yml
+#
+# This listing is not necessarily complete, but the functionality was 
+# needed for a GUI in November 2020, hence why this file was created.
+#
+# For a list of all genres have a look at wikipedia here:
+#
+#   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ID3v1_Genres#Specification
+#
+# =========================================================================== #
+
+- Alternative
+- Anime
+- Austropop
+- Blues
+- Classical
+- Classic rock
+- Comedy
+- Country
+- Dance
+- Disco
+- Easy Listening
+- Electronic
+- Eurodance
+- Fitness and Workout
+- Grunge
+- Hard rock
+- Hip-Hop
+- Industrial
+- Instrumental
+- Italian
+- Jazz
+- Karaoke
+- Metal
+- New Age
+- Oldies
+- Opera
+- Other
+- Pop
+- Rap
+- Rave
+- Reggae
+- Retro
+- Rock 'n' Roll
+- R & B
+- Ska
+- Soul
+- Soundtrack
+- Trance
+- Vocal

data/lib/multimedia_paradise/yaml/playlist.yml

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+---
+- "/home/x/songs/Greenday_21Guns.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Greenday_Holiday.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TonyDiBart_TheRealThing.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Paradisio_Bailando.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/HansZimmer_TheDarkKnight_Concert.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/ZackHemsey_TheWayInstrumental.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Kickboxer_Soundtrack_PaulHertzog_TheEagleLands.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DJ_Quicksilver_HeartOfAsiaRemix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Energy52_CafeDelMar.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/HansZimmer_TheDarkKnightMix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/YoungMC_BustAMove.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Nto_Trauma_Worakls_Remix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Loft_HoldOn.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Desireless_VoyageVoyage.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DeLaSoul_AllGood.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/StarTrek_FirstContactIntro.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Starship_NothingsGonnaStopUsNow.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/2Raumwohnung_MucchioSelvaggio.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/2Unlimited_NoLimit.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/ChakaKhan_AintNoBody.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/EnnioMorricone_Concerto_TheEcstasyOfGold.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/RJD2_Ghostwriter.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/EricBAndRakim_PaidInFull.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/SimplyRed_Stars.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/2Pac_FakeAssBitches.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Clock-OhWhatANight.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Love_Train_TheOJays.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/The_xx_Intro.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/UtahSaints_SomethingGood.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BBE_SevenDaysAndOneWeek.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/MichelTelo_AiSeEuTePego.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/AlvaroSoler-Sofia.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Vivaldi_Concerto8.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/RussianRedArmyChoir_SmuglyankaMoldavanka.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/SoulsOfMischief_93TilInfinity.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Tribe_Koke.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/JohnDahlback_HustleUp.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Intermission_PieceOfMyHeart.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Intermission_SixDays.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Seiler_und_Speer_Ham_Kummst.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TheEagles_HotelCalifornia.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Elan_VodaCoMaDrziNadVodou.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TheMichaelZagerBand-LetsAllChantExtendedMix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TheShamen_PhoreverPeople.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DJ_Pablo_OneBboy.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DuranDuran_ComeUndone.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DuranDuran_WildBoys.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Moby_ExtremeWaysInstrumental.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/ChineseTechno_AiJin.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/ChineseTechno_LeeJungHyun_Enraptured.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DeadOrAlive_YouSpinMeRoundRemix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/3DoorsDownHere_WithoutYou.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/SpecialEd_ComeOnLetsMoveIt.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/PeterPaulAndMary_Hangman.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/MenAtWork_LandDownUnder.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/JeanClaudeVanDamme_Highlights.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DJ_Tonka_SheKnowsYou.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DJ_Quicksilver_Free.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DaftPunk_GetLucky.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Moby_NaturalBlues.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/KoolAndTheGang_SheSFresh_Remix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BeachBoys_HelpMeRhonda.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/PatrickHernandez_BornToBeAlive.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BoneyM_Rasputin.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Unique2_Loveline.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/OstbahnKurti_57er_Chevy.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Ottawan_DISCO.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/LadyGaga_BadRomance.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/LadyGaga_PokerFace.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/MaggieReilly_MoonlightShadow.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Bboy_Ivan_versus_Bboy_KMel.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BeatSystem_Fresh.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Amadin_feature_JessicaFolker_YouMakeMeFeelAlright.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/SequentialOne_MyLoveIsHot.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Enigma_TNT_for_the_brain.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Twenty4Seven_WeAreTheWorld.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/AmiiStewart_KnockOnWood.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/SAY_MusicTakesYouHigher.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DestinysChild_Bootylicious.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/AlanWalker_Spectre_NCS_Release.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Gala_LetABoyCry.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BandAid_DoTheyKnowItsChristmas.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/EnVogue_DontLetGo.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Black_and_White_DoYouKnow.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TH_Express_Im_on_your_side.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BandAid_DoTheyKnowItsChristmas.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Patric_LoveMe.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Faul_Changes.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Technotronic_MoveItToTheRhythm.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/RealMcCoy_AnotherNight.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/FutureBreeze_WhyDontYouDanceWithMe.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TheBlackEyedPease_TheTimeDirtyBit.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Sumo_Knockouts_2018.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BillyOcean_RedLightSpellsDanger.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/The_Kiffness_Ievan_Pollka_featuring_Bilal_Göregen_Club_Remix_2020.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Madonna_Hung_up.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/TheOffspring_SelfEsteem.mp4"
+- "/home/x/songs/Mariana_TalkAboutLove.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BOTY_KaitenNinja.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Sirius_TheAlanParsonsProject.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Noir_Strong_And_Boogie_Belgique.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Bboy_crew_Jinjo_2018.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/LinkingParkClassic_Remix.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Usura_OpenYourMind.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Il_Volo_Grande_amore.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DiePrinzen_AllesNurGeklaut.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/EnnioMorricone_IlBuonoIlBrutooIlCattivo_Venezia_Concerto_10.11.2017.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/EpicFifaSoccerTheme_2020.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DaHool_Meet_her_at_the_Loveparade.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Hiroyuki_Sanada_Tribute.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Imperio_Atlantis.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/666_Paradoxx.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Veracocha_CarteBlancha.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/PPK_ResuRection_Space_Club_Mix_2001.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Hoorah_by_Decap_and_Phillip_Drummond.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Overwerk_Daybreak.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/BizarreInc_Playing_with_Knives.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Haddaway_FlyAway.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/VincentDeMoor_EternityForever.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Friendships_PascalLetoublon.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/DJ_Quicksilver_NewLife.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Masterboy_PorqueTeVas.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Nightcrawlers_PushTheFeelingOn.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Technotronic_Recall.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Nickelback_SheKeepsMeUp.mp3"
+- "/home/x/songs/Cu_Chill_Thoi_DJ_TuSo_and_LEA_remix.mp3"

data/lib/multimedia_paradise/yaml/radio/README.md

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+This directory contains a few radio-links. These can be obtained from
+other sites, such as shoutcast, but I wanted to also have a few of
+these available in a .yml file, which can be used by ruby to
+autogenerate other files or be used embedded in a ruby-gtk application,
+which would allow us to stream from these remote resources.