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For a 60's era movie, this is funny, hip, daring, topical, and satirical...traits that are commonplace today but not that common when this daring film was made.
One of the reasons that I'm not a fan of Woody Allen (besides that the sicko impregnated his adopted daughter) is that I don't appreciate the whole nebbishy, neurotic, lack of physicality, Jewish stereotype. I'm Jewish (albeit a "big" Jew) and that persona does nobody any good.
However, in 1969, when this movie was made, that negative caricature, was not really utilized in the movies. Taking that stereotype and coupling it with that of a ruthless and bold criminal was unique. The notion that the viewer saw the caricature as always failing, yet the charactor himself did not perceive himself that way, was a refreshing way of telling a story. The story and narrative was so odd that I find the movie [still] refreshingly funny.
Favorite scene...when Virgil is frisked at the prison and cracks up because he's ticklish. | 1 | neutral | [
"For a 60's era movie, this is funny, hip, daring, topical, and satirical...",
"traits that are commonplace today but not that common when this daring film was made.",
"One of the reasons that I'm not a fan of Woody Allen (besides that the sicko impregnated his adopted daughter) is that I don't appreciate the whole nebbishy, neurotic, lack of physicality, Jewish stereotype.",
"I'm Jewish (albeit a \"big\" Jew) and that persona does nobody any good.",
"However, in 1969, when this movie was made, that negative caricature, was not really utilized in the movies.",
"Taking that stereotype and coupling it with that of a ruthless and bold criminal was unique.",
"The notion that the viewer saw the caricature as always failing, yet the charactor himself did not perceive himself that way, was a refreshing way of telling a story.",
"The story and narrative was so odd that I find the movie [still] refreshingly funny.",
"Favorite scene...",
"when Virgil is frisked at the prison and cracks up because he's ticklish."
] |
oh yeah . tonnes . yeah . emm ... a lot ... a lot of my friends are emm ... dj is and into music n ... goin out dancing n stuff . so there ... there is always plenty of people around ... -lrb- breathes in -rrb- . . for goin out . yeah | 1 | neutral | [
"oh yeah.",
"tonnes.",
"yeah.",
"emm...",
"a lot...",
"a lot of my friends are emm...",
"dj is and into music n...",
"goin out dancing n stuff.",
"so there...",
"there is always plenty of people around...",
"-lrb- breathes in -rrb-.",
".",
"for goin out.",
"yeah"
] |
Shao Kahn's final attempt to control the earth is upon us......You have no choice. Defeat Kahn's deadly warriors or die trying.
1. 32 immediately playable characters plus 4 classic characters
2. The new Agressoer Kombat Mode arms the quick and meciless with more strength and power to inflict heavy, damaging combinations
3. Over 30 moves and (Fatal/Brutal)"-alitites" never seen in the arcade
4. New brutalities let you pound opponents until they explode
5. 7 humiliating stage fatalities that send defeated opponents plummeting out of the arena to a grizzly death | 1 | neutral | [
"Shao Kahn's final attempt to control the earth is upon us....",
"..",
"You have no choice.",
"Defeat Kahn's deadly warriors or die trying.",
"1.",
"32 immediately playable characters plus 4 classic characters\n2.",
"The new Agressoer Kombat Mode arms the quick and meciless with more strength and power to inflict heavy, damaging combinations\n3.",
"Over 30 moves and (Fatal/Brutal)\"-alitites\" never seen in the arcade\n4.",
"New brutalities let you pound opponents until they explode\n5.",
"7 humiliating stage fatalities that send defeated opponents plummeting out of the arena to a grizzly death"
] |
With a series this popular, you would think the publisher would have engaged a better reader for the audio book. The reader mispronounces words, gets his dialog and narration voices confused, and makes the kinds of phrasing mistakes you might make if you were doing a cold reading ("Oops, this sentence actually continues!"). I have to wonder why the producer did not stop to retake and correct all the mistakes. The reader also uses a bunch of hackneyed accents. Although this installment thankfully lacks the horrible Chinese accent in one of the prior books, half the characters in this one sounds like leprechauns. (Hearing the Maid of Tarth with a voice suitable for a Lucky Charms commercial is particularly weird.) The story in this installment of the series is slow-going. It seems this series has become a shaggy dog story with no particular point or direction. Fans of the series will like it -- but not love it. | 1 | neutral | [
"With a series this popular, you would think the publisher would have engaged a better reader for the audio book.",
"The reader mispronounces words, gets his dialog and narration voices confused, and makes the kinds of phrasing mistakes you might make if you were doing a cold reading (\"Oops, this sentence actually continues!",
"\").",
"I have to wonder why the producer did not stop to retake and correct all the mistakes.",
"The reader also uses a bunch of hackneyed accents.",
"Although this installment thankfully lacks the horrible Chinese accent in one of the prior books, half the characters in this one sounds like leprechauns.",
"(Hearing the Maid of Tarth with a voice suitable for a Lucky Charms commercial is particularly weird.",
") The story in this installment of the series is slow-going.",
"It seems this series has become a shaggy dog story with no particular point or direction.",
"Fans of the series will like it -- but not love it."
] |
The small coastal community of Midwich falls under a frightening spell that causes the entire town to suddenly black out. When the women awaken, they find themselves impregnated by some unknown force. The resulting children all arrive in perfect health and possess an incredible intelligence, but behind their cold, unfeeling eyes lies a dreadful secret that they will kill to keep hidden. The VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED was revived in 1995 by Horror icon John Carpenter, which many consider to be the first slip towards a downward decline for the aging director. It is not that Carpenter has turned out a bad film necessarily, but even worse, he is guilty of directing a bland and boring one that lacks any form of artistic flare or originality. Despite remaining faithful to John Wyndham's classic novel, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED plays out like a drab made-for-television drama, offering up far fewer scares than the earlier screen adaptation from 1960. The vapid cast is largely to blame, as they appear to be even more soulless than The Children. Christopher Reeve sleepwalks through another dry performance while Kirstie Alley and Mark Hamill are just plain awful. Although the story essentially calls for The Children to look and act like automatons, their bad wigs, unnatural dress, and stilted attempts at conveying this on screen take them far beyond the realm of believability. Carpenter also overindulges in the science fiction elements of the plot, and adds an unnecessary amount of bloodshed that really has no place in the film. What we are left with is a poorly-played outline of Wyndham's original concept that lacks the depth and social significance which were instilled in the 1960 film.
-Carl Manes
I Like Horror Movies | 1 | neutral | [
"The small coastal community of Midwich falls under a frightening spell that causes the entire town to suddenly black out.",
"When the women awaken, they find themselves impregnated by some unknown force.",
"The resulting children all arrive in perfect health and possess an incredible intelligence, but behind their cold, unfeeling eyes lies a dreadful secret that they will kill to keep hidden.",
"The VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED was revived in 1995 by Horror icon John Carpenter, which many consider to be the first slip towards a downward decline for the aging director.",
"It is not that Carpenter has turned out a bad film necessarily, but even worse, he is guilty of directing a bland and boring one that lacks any form of artistic flare or originality.",
"Despite remaining faithful to John Wyndham's classic novel, VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED plays out like a drab made-for-television drama, offering up far fewer scares than the earlier screen adaptation from 1960.",
"The vapid cast is largely to blame, as they appear to be even more soulless than The Children.",
"Christopher Reeve sleepwalks through another dry performance while Kirstie Alley and Mark Hamill are just plain awful.",
"Although the story essentially calls for The Children to look and act like automatons, their bad wigs, unnatural dress, and stilted attempts at conveying this on screen take them far beyond the realm of believability.",
"Carpenter also overindulges in the science fiction elements of the plot, and adds an unnecessary amount of bloodshed that really has no place in the film.",
"What we are left with is a poorly-played outline of Wyndham's original concept that lacks the depth and social significance which were instilled in the 1960 film.",
"-Carl Manes\nI Like Horror Movies"
] |
Read ad used by dark web dealer Kyle Enos to sell fentanyl for bitcoin
Kyle Enos 25 was sentenced to eight years in prison for selling drugs.
He traded fentanyl a powerful opiate for bitcoin to anonymous buyers.
Enos posted doses in envelopes at his local Post Office in South Wales.
Police released the text of his dark web sales pitch after his sentencing.
This is how drug dealer Kyle Enos attracted customers to his online opiate store trading drugs for cryptocurrency on the dark web.
He traded in fentanyl the powerful painkiller that can be 50 times as strong as heroin and which contributed to Prince's death by offering customers supermarket-style "buy one get one free" deals in exchange for bitcoin.
Police also released footage from Enos 's custody interviews in which he describes how the drug operation works.
Enos told officers he did not make fentanyl himself but ordered the substance in bulk every few weeks and sold smaller doses to individual customers. He used his local Post Office in Newport South Wales to ship the drug in envelopes.
They communicated anonymously over the dark web he said in exchange for bitcoin. The footage does not give any sense of how much money he was making.
The text from Enos 's storefront is in some ways very prosaic Γ’ΒΒ he has a summary of delivery times offers refunds and guarantees and emphasises the quality of his customer service.
However the illicit nature of the exchange is also obvious from Enos 's pre-emptive warnings about keeping receipts: Customers needed to be reassured that their information would not be preserved in case Enos were ever caught which of course is exactly what happened. | 1 | neutral | [
"Read ad used by dark web dealer Kyle Enos to sell fentanyl for bitcoin\nKyle Enos 25 was sentenced to eight years in prison for selling drugs.",
"He traded fentanyl a powerful opiate for bitcoin to anonymous buyers.",
"Enos posted doses in envelopes at his local Post Office in South Wales.",
"Police released the text of his dark web sales pitch after his sentencing.",
"This is how drug dealer Kyle Enos attracted customers to his online opiate store trading drugs for cryptocurrency on the dark web.",
"He traded in fentanyl the powerful painkiller that can be 50 times as strong as heroin and which contributed to Prince's death by offering customers supermarket-style \"buy one get one free\" deals in exchange for bitcoin.",
"Police also released footage from Enos 's custody interviews in which he describes how the drug operation works.",
"Enos told officers he did not make fentanyl himself but ordered the substance in bulk every few weeks and sold smaller doses to individual customers.",
"He used his local Post Office in Newport South Wales to ship the drug in envelopes.",
"They communicated anonymously over the dark web he said in exchange for bitcoin.",
"The footage does not give any sense of how much money he was making.",
"The text from Enos 's storefront is in some ways very prosaic Γ’ΒΒ he has a summary of delivery times offers refunds and guarantees and emphasises the quality of his customer service.",
"However the illicit nature of the exchange is also obvious from Enos 's pre-emptive warnings about keeping receipts: Customers needed to be reassured that their information would not be preserved in case Enos were ever caught which of course is exactly what happened."
] |
I really wanted to love it. I do not regret buying it at all, but it didn't live up to my expectations. The glow in the dark dinosaur is very awkward to put together and keep together. No real complaints about the growing dinosaur. But the excavation...man does it take forever! Maybe we are just an impatient family. And be forewarned, it is very dusty. Make sure you do it outside or put a blanket down. My other complaint is we broke dinosaur bones while trying to chip away at the fake rock. It's just a matter of gluing it back together, but still annoying. My son enjoyed it, so really that's all that matters. | 1 | neutral | [
"I really wanted to love it.",
"I do not regret buying it at all, but it didn't live up to my expectations.",
"The glow in the dark dinosaur is very awkward to put together and keep together.",
"No real complaints about the growing dinosaur.",
"But the excavation...",
"man does it take forever!",
"Maybe we are just an impatient family.",
"And be forewarned, it is very dusty.",
"Make sure you do it outside or put a blanket down.",
"My other complaint is we broke dinosaur bones while trying to chip away at the fake rock.",
"It's just a matter of gluing it back together, but still annoying.",
"My son enjoyed it, so really that's all that matters."
] |
Many people have written to your reknown Seer and have asked me to abnegate my reviews because, as they say, I am old and brittle and the stress is just too much. What, with wayward guides, a sea serpent and a dragon (not to mention random entities making an appearance), they feel that my well-being is at risk. Well, they are right (that, or jealous), but my writing goes on even despite the dubious situations in my life. I will continue. After all, I have my honor and integrity on the line here. Besides, everyone must know the great sacrifice I make in order to bring you more reviewing treats. The public is always first and foremost in my mind. (!!). That said-I will proceed. No No, thank me later --please?
This selection is a follow-up to my Animals review that I just published. This is what came after for Eric Burdon. He revised the Animal personnel and put his name up front. I think I would have done the same thing at the time. How does Metamorpho and the Animals sound to you? O.K., O.K., come back into the room. Can't a Seer kid anymore? Anyway, this c.d. explores his recordings from 1966-1968. And you can see an evolution here. Mind you, evolution and progress are two different things. Don't misquote me. I have future primaries to consider, after all.
This, quite frankly, is a hit or miss collection for me. I think Eric Burdon is at his best when he sticks to gritty songs that make his gruff vocals shine through. For the first six songs on this c.d., Eric sticks to his strengths and, in some ways, some of these songs more than measure up to what he had done earlier. Three of the six are stand-outs in my opinion; "Don't Bring Me Down" (a rockin' plea to his love to respond to him in kind. Pay attention to that subliminal Stones "Satisfaction" riff within), "Inside Looking Out" (a concentrated, sharp, elevation of vocals to total intensity- amazingly raw),and "When I Was Young" ( a perfect picture of bad boy Eric done with incredible composition - you can hear the badness- the sexual tension created. A prime cut).
From that point on, sad to say, we tread lightly on the ice. Somewhere, along the line, Eric got involved in the hippie, free love syndrome and it shows. These are snippets from an era long gone and, as such, feel very stilted and dated today. Then again, you could look at it with curiosity and marvel at it's time capsule qualities. It's your choice entirely.
"Sandoz" is horrible. His voice croaks and the band tries to be relevent and exhibit opium den, meditation excess. It's embarassing but don't rest - there is more! "San Franciscan Nights" is not too bad once you get past the hokey speak/intro. The tune itself is not bad. But Eric, giving homage to the Hell's Angels in San Francisco simply because love abounds is a little risky, don't you think? O.K., this was before Mick and Altamont- so you get a pass. This time!
"Good Times" has Eric regretting his bad habits. You know this is definitely downsliding now. "Anything" is Eric's heartfelt Sinatra ballad. Please Eric- stop! I am feeling ill. Just when you thought you were safe, he brings out the echo, the sitar, and embarasses you, me and Ravi Shankar with "Winds of Change". My tears are staining this page as we speak.
All is not lost because, even though he has faux sitar on "Monterey" it at least moves. He sets the mood well and mentions alot of people who performed there that most people alive today do not remember. It doesn't matter. Alot of major groups and, at least, an event worth reminiscenting about. (No! I'm not getting into Woodstock here - and you can't make me!).
You can easily forget the rest except for "Sky Pilot", which is still an interesting piece today. Eric's anti-war statement was so long that they had to divide it up as part A and part B when released as a single. Yet, the experiment of extensive war plane sounds in the middle still serve as a sonically brave venture (with marching sounds of bagpipes too boot!). A one of a kind cut for sure.
My natural tendency is to always be kind and give a 5 star review if I can. With this one there were issues I had to consider. The musical content - in and of itself- wasn't up to high standards for the reasons I explained. The other issue is that, in a day and age where digital technology can clean up the most glaring imperfections in the past, you have little or no effort towards that degree in this release. Sound quality- abysmal. Still listenable? Yes. But abysmal.
Now, let me go dry my tears in a river of salt. This review was most heart wrentching for me and maybe they are right. Maybe I should walk away from reviewing because of the stress. I was going to retire some time ago (remember the picture of me in the headlines being rushed into a waiting cab?). You don't? Hmmmmmm..... maybe my fame needs more spruceing up. Well..........o.k., you convinced me to still write reviews. See you on the next one!
was that a scream I heard? ---- Metamorpho | 1 | neutral | [
"Many people have written to your reknown Seer and have asked me to abnegate my reviews because, as they say, I am old and brittle and the stress is just too much.",
"What, with wayward guides, a sea serpent and a dragon (not to mention random entities making an appearance), they feel that my well-being is at risk.",
"Well, they are right (that, or jealous), but my writing goes on even despite the dubious situations in my life.",
"I will continue.",
"After all, I have my honor and integrity on the line here.",
"Besides, everyone must know the great sacrifice I make in order to bring you more reviewing treats.",
"The public is always first and foremost in my mind.",
"(!!",
").",
"That said-I will proceed.",
"No No, thank me later --please?",
"This selection is a follow-up to my Animals review that I just published.",
"This is what came after for Eric Burdon.",
"He revised the Animal personnel and put his name up front.",
"I think I would have done the same thing at the time.",
"How does Metamorpho and the Animals sound to you?",
"O.",
"K., O.",
"K., come back into the room.",
"Can't a Seer kid anymore?",
"Anyway, this c.",
"d. explores his recordings from 1966-1968.",
"And you can see an evolution here.",
"Mind you, evolution and progress are two different things.",
"Don't misquote me.",
"I have future primaries to consider, after all.",
"This, quite frankly, is a hit or miss collection for me.",
"I think Eric Burdon is at his best when he sticks to gritty songs that make his gruff vocals shine through.",
"For the first six songs on this c.",
"d., Eric sticks to his strengths and, in some ways, some of these songs more than measure up to what he had done earlier.",
"Three of the six are stand-outs in my opinion; \"Don't Bring Me Down\" (a rockin' plea to his love to respond to him in kind.",
"Pay attention to that subliminal Stones \"Satisfaction\" riff within), \"Inside Looking Out\" (a concentrated, sharp, elevation of vocals to total intensity- amazingly raw),and \"When I Was Young\" ( a perfect picture of bad boy Eric done with incredible composition - you can hear the badness- the sexual tension created.",
"A prime cut).",
"From that point on, sad to say, we tread lightly on the ice.",
"Somewhere, along the line, Eric got involved in the hippie, free love syndrome and it shows.",
"These are snippets from an era long gone and, as such, feel very stilted and dated today.",
"Then again, you could look at it with curiosity and marvel at it's time capsule qualities.",
"It's your choice entirely.",
"\"Sandoz\" is horrible.",
"His voice croaks and the band tries to be relevent and exhibit opium den, meditation excess.",
"It's embarassing but don't rest - there is more!",
"\"San Franciscan Nights\" is not too bad once you get past the hokey speak/intro.",
"The tune itself is not bad.",
"But Eric, giving homage to the Hell's Angels in San Francisco simply because love abounds is a little risky, don't you think?",
"O.",
"K., this was before Mick and Altamont- so you get a pass.",
"This time!",
"\"Good Times\" has Eric regretting his bad habits.",
"You know this is definitely downsliding now.",
"\"Anything\" is Eric's heartfelt Sinatra ballad.",
"Please Eric- stop!",
"I am feeling ill.",
"Just when you thought you were safe, he brings out the echo, the sitar, and embarasses you, me and Ravi Shankar with \"Winds of Change\".",
"My tears are staining this page as we speak.",
"All is not lost because, even though he has faux sitar on \"Monterey\" it at least moves.",
"He sets the mood well and mentions alot of people who performed there that most people alive today do not remember.",
"It doesn't matter.",
"Alot of major groups and, at least, an event worth reminiscenting about.",
"(No!",
"I'm not getting into Woodstock here - and you can't make me!",
").",
"You can easily forget the rest except for \"Sky Pilot\", which is still an interesting piece today.",
"Eric's anti-war statement was so long that they had to divide it up as part A and part B when released as a single.",
"Yet, the experiment of extensive war plane sounds in the middle still serve as a sonically brave venture (with marching sounds of bagpipes too boot!",
").",
"A one of a kind cut for sure.",
"My natural tendency is to always be kind and give a 5 star review if I can.",
"With this one there were issues I had to consider.",
"The musical content - in and of itself- wasn't up to high standards for the reasons I explained.",
"The other issue is that, in a day and age where digital technology can clean up the most glaring imperfections in the past, you have little or no effort towards that degree in this release.",
"Sound quality- abysmal.",
"Still listenable?",
"Yes.",
"But abysmal.",
"Now, let me go dry my tears in a river of salt.",
"This review was most heart wrentching for me and maybe they are right.",
"Maybe I should walk away from reviewing because of the stress.",
"I was going to retire some time ago (remember the picture of me in the headlines being rushed into a waiting cab?",
").",
"You don't?",
"Hmmmmmm....",
".",
"maybe my fame needs more spruceing up.",
"Well....",
"....",
"..",
"o.",
"k., you convinced me to still write reviews.",
"See you on the next one!",
"was that a scream I heard?",
"---- Metamorpho"
] |
Saw this movie in a theatre when it first came out and was flabbergasted. Saw it again last Saturday night and was less impressed. Sissy is cute, and she gets Loretta Lynn across, but I had to suspend my disbelief a little more consciously when it came to her accent. At least she didn't method act, nor did the even better Jones who stole the movie. And, I thought Beverly D. was dreadful as the great Patsy Cline. The mention of her death is given almost nothing in this film, so I disrespect that. L.L. comes across as a good old girl entertainer who filled a needed role in country music, but no way was she a singer like some of the greats. l also thought it was dumb and self conscious for Spacek, and even moreso D'Angelo, to do their own singing. As I'm fond of saying and am self satisfied to state, having first realized this in high school, just because you can sing doesn't mean people want to listen to you. So listen up singers, including American Idleists, do you truly believe anyone would listen to you of their own volition? There's no need to strain to meet the consensus taste if you don't agree. | 1 | neutral | [
"Saw this movie in a theatre when it first came out and was flabbergasted.",
"Saw it again last Saturday night and was less impressed.",
"Sissy is cute, and she gets Loretta Lynn across, but I had to suspend my disbelief a little more consciously when it came to her accent.",
"At least she didn't method act, nor did the even better Jones who stole the movie.",
"And, I thought Beverly D.",
"was dreadful as the great Patsy Cline.",
"The mention of her death is given almost nothing in this film, so I disrespect that.",
"L.",
"L. comes across as a good old girl entertainer who filled a needed role in country music, but no way was she a singer like some of the greats.",
"l also thought it was dumb and self conscious for Spacek, and even moreso D'Angelo, to do their own singing.",
"As I'm fond of saying and am self satisfied to state, having first realized this in high school, just because you can sing doesn't mean people want to listen to you.",
"So listen up singers, including American Idleists, do you truly believe anyone would listen to you of their own volition?",
"There's no need to strain to meet the consensus taste if you don't agree."
] |
Saw the movie first and then read the book. The book explained a lot of scenes from the movie. In the book were lots of great exchanges between Bessy and Margaret and Higgins involving faith which the movie was void of. The Hale's religion/God was completely scrubbed from the movie as compared to the book. So, for this reason I enjoyed the book. The movie, I loved but they could've put more of Margaret's Christian remarks in- especially and at least with scenes involving Bessie.
The ending pretty much stinks. The last chapter felt like an add-on from a completely different author. No dialogue between M and Mr T as per him having found out about the reason she lied to the inspector in order to protect her brother. Just felt like Margaret and Mr T went from hate to love at warp speed with no lead in. | 1 | neutral | [
"Saw the movie first and then read the book.",
"The book explained a lot of scenes from the movie.",
"In the book were lots of great exchanges between Bessy and Margaret and Higgins involving faith which the movie was void of.",
"The Hale's religion/God was completely scrubbed from the movie as compared to the book.",
"So, for this reason I enjoyed the book.",
"The movie, I loved but they could've put more of Margaret's Christian remarks in- especially and at least with scenes involving Bessie.",
"The ending pretty much stinks.",
"The last chapter felt like an add-on from a completely different author.",
"No dialogue between M and Mr T as per him having found out about the reason she lied to the inspector in order to protect her brother.",
"Just felt like Margaret and Mr T went from hate to love at warp speed with no lead in."
] |
I have tried several blu tooth headsets in the past but I always have problems with them being comfortable and staying securely in my ears. I tended to like the way regular headsets felt and worked. This set has the alittle of both worlds. The earbuds fit perfectly in my ears and they aren't constantly falling out or having to be readjusted every time I move my head. Although the headset has to be attached to the dogtag necklace that you wear around your neck, I felt like I had more freedom than if I was using just a regular headset that was plugged into your device. It did come with an attachment that you can attach to your belt but I liked the necklace arrangement better. I use the headset to listen to audiobooks mostly but did use it for music several times and the music came through clear. I did notice that when I was listening to audio books that the narrator sounded as if they were in and empty room with a slight echo but I soon became use to this.
Not really wireless but much better than what I have been using. Use for talking on the phone is the major down fall as the caller has a bit of a problem hearing you. If I had to use it for my primary calling I would not be a happy camper. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have tried several blu tooth headsets in the past but I always have problems with them being comfortable and staying securely in my ears.",
"I tended to like the way regular headsets felt and worked.",
"This set has the alittle of both worlds.",
"The earbuds fit perfectly in my ears and they aren't constantly falling out or having to be readjusted every time I move my head.",
"Although the headset has to be attached to the dogtag necklace that you wear around your neck, I felt like I had more freedom than if I was using just a regular headset that was plugged into your device.",
"It did come with an attachment that you can attach to your belt but I liked the necklace arrangement better.",
"I use the headset to listen to audiobooks mostly but did use it for music several times and the music came through clear.",
"I did notice that when I was listening to audio books that the narrator sounded as if they were in and empty room with a slight echo but I soon became use to this.",
"Not really wireless but much better than what I have been using.",
"Use for talking on the phone is the major down fall as the caller has a bit of a problem hearing you.",
"If I had to use it for my primary calling I would not be a happy camper."
] |
The idea of this series is great and there was a lot of potential for it to be amazing. I enjoyed large parts of it so long as I read just as entertainment and not as something to fully engage with. There were too many aspects that pulled me out of the story from some of the unoriginal names of places (the Globe, really?), the overall too-perfect status of the main character (is she really a super hero in EVERYTHING?), and just some of the generalized plot points. There were places the book read oddly, as though there were pieces missing or as though certain spots didn't fit where they were placed.
There really is so much potential for this story and I love the concept. I'm curious about where some of the character's tales are headed, but I'm not so curious that I'm willing to pay for it yet. I was frustrated by some of the lack of cohesion and I don't know that I want to spend a piece of my small book budget for a book in a series that has so many glaring issues. I want to see the concept developed further before investing more in the series.
The biggest issue I had was that the main character basically is a god-moded character who has everything she needs every time she needs it. There were a couple of points that she failed, but those times really never had real consequences. They were blips on the radar between moments of things going exactly as she needed or her having exactly the tools she needed. That kind of perfection is frustrating and irritating. The next big issue I had was with Cyrus's family and the whole concept of the island that they live on. Has no one heard of moderation? I mean, seriously?! Science and magic can work together and that would also be amazing, but instead, there's this totalitarian anti-magic location and it just doesn't work for me.
I cared enough to finish the book, but I pretty much always do that, even when I hate a story. It drives me crazy not to finish a book even when I get irritated by crazy things like I did in this story. I just don't care enough yet to pay the price of the next book in the series. Hopefully with some more development, this series could become something amazing, but right now, it lacks too many things for me to keep going. | 1 | neutral | [
"The idea of this series is great and there was a lot of potential for it to be amazing.",
"I enjoyed large parts of it so long as I read just as entertainment and not as something to fully engage with.",
"There were too many aspects that pulled me out of the story from some of the unoriginal names of places (the Globe, really?",
"), the overall too-perfect status of the main character (is she really a super hero in EVERYTHING?",
"), and just some of the generalized plot points.",
"There were places the book read oddly, as though there were pieces missing or as though certain spots didn't fit where they were placed.",
"There really is so much potential for this story and I love the concept.",
"I'm curious about where some of the character's tales are headed, but I'm not so curious that I'm willing to pay for it yet.",
"I was frustrated by some of the lack of cohesion and I don't know that I want to spend a piece of my small book budget for a book in a series that has so many glaring issues.",
"I want to see the concept developed further before investing more in the series.",
"The biggest issue I had was that the main character basically is a god-moded character who has everything she needs every time she needs it.",
"There were a couple of points that she failed, but those times really never had real consequences.",
"They were blips on the radar between moments of things going exactly as she needed or her having exactly the tools she needed.",
"That kind of perfection is frustrating and irritating.",
"The next big issue I had was with Cyrus's family and the whole concept of the island that they live on.",
"Has no one heard of moderation?",
"I mean, seriously?!",
"Science and magic can work together and that would also be amazing, but instead, there's this totalitarian anti-magic location and it just doesn't work for me.",
"I cared enough to finish the book, but I pretty much always do that, even when I hate a story.",
"It drives me crazy not to finish a book even when I get irritated by crazy things like I did in this story.",
"I just don't care enough yet to pay the price of the next book in the series.",
"Hopefully with some more development, this series could become something amazing, but right now, it lacks too many things for me to keep going."
] |
UPDATE - Pay attention to the quantity! I removed a star because when I reordered, instead of 2 tablets, I got one. That was in the description but since I had ordered a 2-pack before I didn't notice. The price is just a dollar or so off from that of the first 2-pack I ordered. I guess they went up. I will look for another brand next time. I was having trouble finding the 5x8 spiral index cards I use to write down recipes and ran across this journal. I selected this size because it's roughly that of the index cards I like. PROS: It has the hard front and back covers & this helps a lot since I use these in the kitchen for recipes The paper is really good quality and holds up under even a semi-thick marker that I used on one page The papers are nicely spiraled and don't stick together at the inner edges the way some cheap notebooks will Even though the pad holds 140 pages, it's not too thick; I can write down to the very end/edge with comfort CONS: The cover was hard to write on in regular ballpoint; it is thick and the pen doesn't roll over it easily. I ended up using a marker instead. I know that the price seems a little bit high in some people's opinion, but I have paid as much for the index cards. The quality of this little journal makes it worth it. This size is going to fit nicely in the cupboard with my other recipe notes and books. By the way, I'm using some lined and tabbed sticky note style dividers to label and organize the recipes in the journal. This makes a great little homemade recipe index for me. | 1 | neutral | [
"UPDATE - Pay attention to the quantity!",
"I removed a star because when I reordered, instead of 2 tablets, I got one.",
"That was in the description but since I had ordered a 2-pack before I didn't notice.",
"The price is just a dollar or so off from that of the first 2-pack I ordered.",
"I guess they went up.",
"I will look for another brand next time.",
"I was having trouble finding the 5x8 spiral index cards I use to write down recipes and ran across this journal.",
"I selected this size because it's roughly that of the index cards I like.",
"PROS: It has the hard front and back covers & this helps a lot since I use these in the kitchen for recipes The paper is really good quality and holds up under even a semi-thick marker that I used on one page The papers are nicely spiraled and don't stick together at the inner edges the way some cheap notebooks will Even though the pad holds 140 pages, it's not too thick; I can write down to the very end/edge with comfort CONS: The cover was hard to write on in regular ballpoint; it is thick and the pen doesn't roll over it easily.",
"I ended up using a marker instead.",
"I know that the price seems a little bit high in some people's opinion, but I have paid as much for the index cards.",
"The quality of this little journal makes it worth it.",
"This size is going to fit nicely in the cupboard with my other recipe notes and books.",
"By the way, I'm using some lined and tabbed sticky note style dividers to label and organize the recipes in the journal.",
"This makes a great little homemade recipe index for me."
] |
The screen gives you privacy from an angled view, even from a slight angle, which is great - but not from anyone in a direct line of the monitor, either walking behind you or sitting directly behind you. The plastic attachments are terrible. They are adhesive... but of course the heat from the monitor makes the glue soft. I've ended up using Scotch tape, which looks terrible! I have this beautiful Mac monitor with a bunch of Scotch tape on it now, which is an awful esthetic. I work in a design studio for a large fashion company, I care about how my desk looks, including my monitor. Considering that this screen is $100, the low quality of these plastic tabs is unacceptable. 3M are like the gods of glue. Can't they do better? | 1 | neutral | [
"The screen gives you privacy from an angled view, even from a slight angle, which is great - but not from anyone in a direct line of the monitor, either walking behind you or sitting directly behind you.",
"The plastic attachments are terrible.",
"They are adhesive...",
"but of course the heat from the monitor makes the glue soft.",
"I've ended up using Scotch tape, which looks terrible!",
"I have this beautiful Mac monitor with a bunch of Scotch tape on it now, which is an awful esthetic.",
"I work in a design studio for a large fashion company, I care about how my desk looks, including my monitor.",
"Considering that this screen is $100, the low quality of these plastic tabs is unacceptable.",
"3M are like the gods of glue.",
"Can't they do better?"
] |
The great tenor Jon Vickers once said that he would never play the role of Tannhauser since the character was so despicable. He believed that his deep religious faith would not allow him to play this role, even though he would only be singing and acting. Wagner's music is so beautiful, it hardly befits such a character, yet when we look at issues such as sin and grace, goodness and evil, how often are we reminded that evil is often disguised as beauty. Perhaps this is one reason why this opera is so intriguing.
Tannhauser is a story of sin and redemption that combines the world of myth and Christianity-a popular theme in the works of Wagner. In this opera, Tannhauser visits the goddess Venus and enjoys her allurements of the flesh. He then returns home where he is greeted by the pure and chaste Elizabeth. Just as Venus embodies all that is corrupt, Elizabeth embodies all that is good. Elizabeth is loved by two men, the good Wolfram and the evil Tannhauser. Wolfram is worthy of a woman such as Elizabeth, and certainly she deserves to be loved by such a good and descent person. However, the one she loves is Tannhauser. At a singing contest in the great hall, Wolfram sings a genuine song and Tannhauser tells of his visit to Venus, which shocks the audience. He is told of his version of love is blasphemy and such a grave sin can only be forgiven by the Pope. Tannhauser will only know if he has been forgiven if the staff of the Pope grows leaves. He then joins a pilgrimage to Rome. Elizabeth stays behind and prays so hard that she dies. Her death coincides with the moment that Tannhauser realizes that he is forgiven.
The Sinopoli recording with Domingo in the starring role was my first Tannhauser recording, and it is this recording that made me fall in love with the opera. Though Domingo is primarily known for his renditions of the Italian repertoire, when he does venture into other areas such as French and German opera, he often does an outstanding job due to his musical gifts. Though I enjoy the Solti recording with Rene Kollo, Domingo is a very convincing Tannhauser. Gueseppi Sinopli does a good job conducting, and Sinopli's handling of the score in on par with many of his other great recordings,
but the remainder of the cast does not have the abilities of the Solti recording. Certainly Domingo fans will want this recording in their collection, and those who are new to Wagner and familiar with Domingo's masterful interpretations will feel safe stepping into this territory with such a familiar and beloved voice. | 1 | neutral | [
"The great tenor Jon Vickers once said that he would never play the role of Tannhauser since the character was so despicable.",
"He believed that his deep religious faith would not allow him to play this role, even though he would only be singing and acting.",
"Wagner's music is so beautiful, it hardly befits such a character, yet when we look at issues such as sin and grace, goodness and evil, how often are we reminded that evil is often disguised as beauty.",
"Perhaps this is one reason why this opera is so intriguing.",
"Tannhauser is a story of sin and redemption that combines the world of myth and Christianity-a popular theme in the works of Wagner.",
"In this opera, Tannhauser visits the goddess Venus and enjoys her allurements of the flesh.",
"He then returns home where he is greeted by the pure and chaste Elizabeth.",
"Just as Venus embodies all that is corrupt, Elizabeth embodies all that is good.",
"Elizabeth is loved by two men, the good Wolfram and the evil Tannhauser.",
"Wolfram is worthy of a woman such as Elizabeth, and certainly she deserves to be loved by such a good and descent person.",
"However, the one she loves is Tannhauser.",
"At a singing contest in the great hall, Wolfram sings a genuine song and Tannhauser tells of his visit to Venus, which shocks the audience.",
"He is told of his version of love is blasphemy and such a grave sin can only be forgiven by the Pope.",
"Tannhauser will only know if he has been forgiven if the staff of the Pope grows leaves.",
"He then joins a pilgrimage to Rome.",
"Elizabeth stays behind and prays so hard that she dies.",
"Her death coincides with the moment that Tannhauser realizes that he is forgiven.",
"The Sinopoli recording with Domingo in the starring role was my first Tannhauser recording, and it is this recording that made me fall in love with the opera.",
"Though Domingo is primarily known for his renditions of the Italian repertoire, when he does venture into other areas such as French and German opera, he often does an outstanding job due to his musical gifts.",
"Though I enjoy the Solti recording with Rene Kollo, Domingo is a very convincing Tannhauser.",
"Gueseppi Sinopli does a good job conducting, and Sinopli's handling of the score in on par with many of his other great recordings,\nbut the remainder of the cast does not have the abilities of the Solti recording.",
"Certainly Domingo fans will want this recording in their collection, and those who are new to Wagner and familiar with Domingo's masterful interpretations will feel safe stepping into this territory with such a familiar and beloved voice."
] |
LOL...this is a cool hot story about a middle aged woman who lives next door to two freaks. One stormy night they all get together for a real good time. LOL...A little lady on lady action then a group encounter....Another book that deserves a follow up....or hell maybe a series. LOL talk about neighborly......Sesame Street it's not but if your kinky and in need of a tune up this is certainly the neighborhood you. | 1 | neutral | [
"LOL...",
"this is a cool hot story about a middle aged woman who lives next door to two freaks.",
"One stormy night they all get together for a real good time.",
"LOL...",
"A little lady on lady action then a group encounter....",
"Another book that deserves a follow up....",
"or hell maybe a series.",
"LOL talk about neighborly....",
"..",
"Sesame Street it's not but if your kinky and in need of a tune up this is certainly the neighborhood you."
] |
Appearance: Looks a lot better in the photo. I was expecting this unit to be of solid metal construction, but the body itself is mostly plastic. Made in China and it definitely shows. Not very heavy or sturdy. In fact, my unit is slightly warped at the bottom and wobbles on flat surfaces! Labels are already peeling off. Overall, poor QC!
Operation: Despite above mentioned flaws, unit works as intended. Effectively and efficiently seals poly and mylar bags.
Despite its effectiveness, I'd recommend another unit to buy. | 1 | neutral | [
"Appearance: Looks a lot better in the photo.",
"I was expecting this unit to be of solid metal construction, but the body itself is mostly plastic.",
"Made in China and it definitely shows.",
"Not very heavy or sturdy.",
"In fact, my unit is slightly warped at the bottom and wobbles on flat surfaces!",
"Labels are already peeling off.",
"Overall, poor QC!",
"Operation: Despite above mentioned flaws, unit works as intended.",
"Effectively and efficiently seals poly and mylar bags.",
"Despite its effectiveness, I'd recommend another unit to buy."
] |
It is with great trepidation that I write this review, knowing that the great majority of readers will likely not agree with me. I consider myself a fairly well-read individual, and I am well aware of Tolkiens legacy as the Father of Fantasy Fiction, however, I struggled through this novel.
In no way am I minimizing his contribution to English literature, as I realize that his imagination is above reproach, his rhetoric, impressive. However, I truly detest monotony, and this novel is laden with it. I trudged through the overly-detailed descriptions of the geography. The characters seemed to languish during the prolonged events, and very little progress was made through the entire novel. Also, the ever-growing list of names for the same character or location was exhausting! I just cant understand why so many aliases were necessary, other than to create complete confusion.
To some degree, I truly feel that the same effect could have been accomplished (even to adequately set the elaborate scene), in or less of its current length.
When all is said and done, I cannot, in good conscience, rate this novel less than 3 stars; the impact of his work on literature, and as previously mentioned, his extraordinary imagination, are priceless. | 1 | neutral | [
"It is with great trepidation that I write this review, knowing that the great majority of readers will likely not agree with me.",
"I consider myself a fairly well-read individual, and I am well aware of Tolkiens legacy as the Father of Fantasy Fiction, however, I struggled through this novel.",
"In no way am I minimizing his contribution to English literature, as I realize that his imagination is above reproach, his rhetoric, impressive.",
"However, I truly detest monotony, and this novel is laden with it.",
"I trudged through the overly-detailed descriptions of the geography.",
"The characters seemed to languish during the prolonged events, and very little progress was made through the entire novel.",
"Also, the ever-growing list of names for the same character or location was exhausting!",
"I just cant understand why so many aliases were necessary, other than to create complete confusion.",
"To some degree, I truly feel that the same effect could have been accomplished (even to adequately set the elaborate scene), in or less of its current length.",
"When all is said and done, I cannot, in good conscience, rate this novel less than 3 stars; the impact of his work on literature, and as previously mentioned, his extraordinary imagination, are priceless."
] |
"Next Position Please" is an interesting album. As far as songs go there are some great ones on here. However, as far as production goes, it is not so good. Todd Rundgren, who produced the album wanted to get Cheap Trick away from Whoish-bomb-bast, and strip them down to barebones. There are some moments where this works, like on, "Won't Take No For an Answer," Invaders of the Heart," and the title track but most of the time it just falls flat on it's face. What "Next Postion Please" needed was stronger production, dare I say fuzzy guitars, and fat walking basslines Instead we get washed out guitar sounds, and tiney sounding bass lines. Having heard the majority of these songs live I can say that they were made to be played loud, and fast, not slow and restrained.(To see, or rather hear, what I mean listen to the live version of "I Can't Take It, for 1999's Music for Hangovers).
Also their label, Epic, started to flex their muscles on the creative control aspects of things by forcing the band to cover The Motors' "Dancing the Night Away." I believe it was either "record this song or we shelve the album". I have heard the songs that were thrown off this album for "Dancing the Night Away", and it just goes to prove that at that time, and probably now, record execs have not a clue about what is good and bad, only what they think will sell -- and most of the time they are well off the mark on both. Maybe if record companies like Epic nutured bands and tried to develop them instead of using the assembly line approach with them, then the record industry would not be in the sad and sorry state they it is in now. Anyhoo, this could have been a classic, right up there with anything that the Rolling Stones or the Beatles did if produced right, instead it is a mixed bag of great songs produced wrong. I have always said that if Cheap Trick could come out with an album of songs as good as the ones on Next Position Please, with the strong production of All Shook Up, it would be a wonder to behold, well check out their self titled album from 1997 to see what I mean. | 1 | neutral | [
"\"Next Position Please\" is an interesting album.",
"As far as songs go there are some great ones on here.",
"However, as far as production goes, it is not so good.",
"Todd Rundgren, who produced the album wanted to get Cheap Trick away from Whoish-bomb-bast, and strip them down to barebones.",
"There are some moments where this works, like on, \"Won't Take No For an Answer,\" Invaders of the Heart,\" and the title track but most of the time it just falls flat on it's face.",
"What \"Next Postion Please\" needed was stronger production, dare I say fuzzy guitars, and fat walking basslines Instead we get washed out guitar sounds, and tiney sounding bass lines.",
"Having heard the majority of these songs live I can say that they were made to be played loud, and fast, not slow and restrained.",
"(To see, or rather hear, what I mean listen to the live version of \"I Can't Take It, for 1999's Music for Hangovers).",
"Also their label, Epic, started to flex their muscles on the creative control aspects of things by forcing the band to cover The Motors' \"Dancing the Night Away.",
"\" I believe it was either \"record this song or we shelve the album\".",
"I have heard the songs that were thrown off this album for \"Dancing the Night Away\", and it just goes to prove that at that time, and probably now, record execs have not a clue about what is good and bad, only what they think will sell -- and most of the time they are well off the mark on both.",
"Maybe if record companies like Epic nutured bands and tried to develop them instead of using the assembly line approach with them, then the record industry would not be in the sad and sorry state they it is in now.",
"Anyhoo, this could have been a classic, right up there with anything that the Rolling Stones or the Beatles did if produced right, instead it is a mixed bag of great songs produced wrong.",
"I have always said that if Cheap Trick could come out with an album of songs as good as the ones on Next Position Please, with the strong production of All Shook Up, it would be a wonder to behold, well check out their self titled album from 1997 to see what I mean."
] |
i subscribe to gamepro. i remember a few issues back when some one from konami was going to make a "NEW GAME" on xbox based on mgs2:sol. well, they made the game but to me after reading all the reviews i can say mgs2:sol is nothing more than a straight port. look if they were going to make a new version of mgs2 WHY DIDN'T THEY STOP PLAYING WITH IT AND JUST MAKE THE NEW VERSION LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD? well they don't have to cause tom clancy did what konami was supposed to do and didn't.....he made a new game designed for the system, he didn't make a port. GGOD JOB CLANCY. no i have not seen mgs2 and no i have not played it. why would i even look at mgs2:sol when splinter cell is going to be so much better in every category? | 1 | neutral | [
"i subscribe to gamepro.",
"i remember a few issues back when some one from konami was going to make a \"NEW GAME\" on xbox based on mgs2:sol.",
"well, they made the game but to me after reading all the reviews i can say mgs2:sol is nothing more than a straight port.",
"look if they were going to make a new version of mgs2 WHY DIDN'T THEY STOP PLAYING WITH IT AND JUST MAKE THE NEW VERSION LIKE THEY SAID THEY WOULD?",
"well they don't have to cause tom clancy did what konami was supposed to do and didn't....",
".",
"he made a new game designed for the system, he didn't make a port.",
"GGOD JOB CLANCY.",
"no i have not seen mgs2 and no i have not played it.",
"why would i even look at mgs2:sol when splinter cell is going to be so much better in every category?"
] |
First off let me say that it works and that it does so pretty well. However.....the item is certainly not as pictured. The way it fits my 30 gal metal trash can reminds me of a little kid trying to walk in his/her parents shoes! Waaaay too big, overhanging each side by probably 6" or so. I finally had to bungee it on the can so that it would stay in place. As an earlier review noted, connection of the hoses is not that easy either. If you have the clear, wire-reinforced hoses you can thread them in like a screw. Otherwise you may need to add some sort of connector. | 1 | neutral | [
"First off let me say that it works and that it does so pretty well.",
"However....",
".",
"the item is certainly not as pictured.",
"The way it fits my 30 gal metal trash can reminds me of a little kid trying to walk in his/her parents shoes!",
"Waaaay too big, overhanging each side by probably 6\" or so.",
"I finally had to bungee it on the can so that it would stay in place.",
"As an earlier review noted, connection of the hoses is not that easy either.",
"If you have the clear, wire-reinforced hoses you can thread them in like a screw.",
"Otherwise you may need to add some sort of connector."
] |
Trying to decide whether to give this movie three or four stars was a bit tricky, for I'm not totally sure what it is about this movie that made me dislike it. I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, which is based on a Richard Matheson novel, and Kevin Bacon's performance is superb. Yet, when the end of the story nears, one might consider that there are too many people involved in the final climactic ending, and I use the term loosely. Kevin Bacon plays an inner-city construction worker, who is married and has a small boy. He and his family live in a small residential neighborhood filled wit lots of people who care for their image of a well-rounded community. However, at a party, Bacon is hypnotized by his wife's friend, and he beins to have visions of a girl, and it seems that she's being attacked. This begins his spiralling downfall, as he begins to tear apart his life and his home for the clues to the final answer, forsaking his job, his social life and his family. The storyline of the movie is terrific, with an evident element of suspense that is sure to please fans of The Sixth Sense. Yet, when the ending comes, it seems as though the filmmakers traded originality for a typical Hollywood ending scenario. True, that may be what was in the book, but I personally think that they could've done just a little better. Like the everlasting At First Sight, this is a movie that you should rent first before diving into the purchase pot. | 1 | neutral | [
"Trying to decide whether to give this movie three or four stars was a bit tricky, for I'm not totally sure what it is about this movie that made me dislike it.",
"I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, which is based on a Richard Matheson novel, and Kevin Bacon's performance is superb.",
"Yet, when the end of the story nears, one might consider that there are too many people involved in the final climactic ending, and I use the term loosely.",
"Kevin Bacon plays an inner-city construction worker, who is married and has a small boy.",
"He and his family live in a small residential neighborhood filled wit lots of people who care for their image of a well-rounded community.",
"However, at a party, Bacon is hypnotized by his wife's friend, and he beins to have visions of a girl, and it seems that she's being attacked.",
"This begins his spiralling downfall, as he begins to tear apart his life and his home for the clues to the final answer, forsaking his job, his social life and his family.",
"The storyline of the movie is terrific, with an evident element of suspense that is sure to please fans of The Sixth Sense.",
"Yet, when the ending comes, it seems as though the filmmakers traded originality for a typical Hollywood ending scenario.",
"True, that may be what was in the book, but I personally think that they could've done just a little better.",
"Like the everlasting At First Sight, this is a movie that you should rent first before diving into the purchase pot."
] |
I do not think this light is "too bright" - in fact, I would have liked for it to be brighter. I have purchased 5 similar lights. All the others have a two light option. If you want the light to be less bright, you have the option of using one of the lights - two for a brighter light. This product features only one light and doesn't seem as sturdy as the other lights I have purchased that are similar in design. The big problem that I have with these lights is that there doesn't seem to be any replacement bulbs. I have had bulbs burn out in all the other lights I purchased even though some are touted to never burn out. This light was less expensive than the others I have purchased so I figured - what do I have to lose even if it only lasts me for a few months.
I use these lights for one purpose - to have a night light with which to read my Kindle keyboard and yes, they do get a lot of use so perhaps I have used them beyond what their feature promised relative to "never burning out." If I had it to do over, I would have purchased a more study expensive light which is most likely what I will wind up doing in the not too distant future as soon as this light burns out. | 1 | neutral | [
"I do not think this light is \"too bright\" - in fact, I would have liked for it to be brighter.",
"I have purchased 5 similar lights.",
"All the others have a two light option.",
"If you want the light to be less bright, you have the option of using one of the lights - two for a brighter light.",
"This product features only one light and doesn't seem as sturdy as the other lights I have purchased that are similar in design.",
"The big problem that I have with these lights is that there doesn't seem to be any replacement bulbs.",
"I have had bulbs burn out in all the other lights I purchased even though some are touted to never burn out.",
"This light was less expensive than the others I have purchased so I figured - what do I have to lose even if it only lasts me for a few months.",
"I use these lights for one purpose - to have a night light with which to read my Kindle keyboard and yes, they do get a lot of use so perhaps I have used them beyond what their feature promised relative to \"never burning out.",
"\" If I had it to do over, I would have purchased a more study expensive light which is most likely what I will wind up doing in the not too distant future as soon as this light burns out."
] |
This one does not have the electric starter. I bought the one from Target through Target's website (they also affiliate market through Amazon) for a about two dollars more because it does indicate it is the model with a starter - it also is the MH12T model and not the MH12TS. It does not have the starter. A potential advantage of Target is the possibility of in-store returns though you'd have to prove they accept these that way.
This unit is low cost when compared to natural gas radiant heaters we see in commercial buildings and so on. I would expect to pay 10 times more, possibly even a thousand dollars to get a really good one, but how does this one work? Some reviewers dissed it, and others write that it's great. I wanted it for myself when I'm working in my workshop (in a 3 car garage). I figured the bad reviews were expecting it to heat a room, not understanding how an infrared radiant heater works.
I was torn between an infrared radiant heater to heat me, and a convection heater to heat the shop. I decided on the radiant heater because it should allow me to start working in warmth without having to heat the whole shop first. The convection heater has the advantage of heating the whole shop, which would make it more comfortable for other people to hang out in there. Convection heaters heat the air and they work best when the air is not moving away through open doors, windows etc. Radiant heaters on the other hand, are intended to heat objects that absorb infrared radiation. I do, and so does the concrete slab floor in my shop.
If I were to heat the slab floor well enough that it would subsequently heat the air in the shop, it would keep the shop comfortable for a very long time -- it would also take a tremendous amount of time and fuel to heat that slab. This is why I thought reviewers were slating this heater -- I believed they expected it to heat the air, but gave it the futile task of doing so by some massive cold object. Some wrote that they put a fan blowing on the back of this heater -- indicating they actually expected it to work by convection to heat the air. Therefore I figured it would work better for me if I used it the way it was intended.
In actual practice, I found this heater works very poorly to provide infrared radiation at objects it's pointed at. Nearly all the heat is just convected above the heater itself. Because of this, it did poorly at heating me even though it was only a few feet away. It did quite well at heating the air in the garage, except that this is a task which understandably takes a lot more time, fuel or both.
Some people are trying to size this for their space. I use mine in a 3 car garage that has drywall and insulation all around. The doors are weatherstripped, and the large sheet metal roll up doors have foam inserts on the panels. Still, it's nowhere near as tight as the house and the floor is concrete slab. This little heater makes it possible to
do minimally aerobic work (like sharpening tools on a whetstone) when it's 15 degrees F outside as long as I'm dressed warm but short of fully insulated outerwear that would be too cumbersome. A larger or less sealed/insulated space would need a larger heater or multiple heaters.
My garage is ventilated. It has open vents under the eaves, some of which are exposed to the interior of the shop (others only ventilate the attic above the drywall). I can also ventilate it by cracking either of two rollup door or the swinging door. I recommend having a low source of clean air and a high vent for polluted air to escape. Consider other combustion appliances: I have a gas heater (for the house) and a water heater that use garage air for combustion. I use a CO monitor with a digital readout of levels in PPM and alarm as well as a GAS detector that indicates natural gas or propane in the room. I use these in the garage, kitchen and laundry rooms. They do not indicate O2 levels, so I still need to be conscientious about providing fresh air to breathe.
The heater I received is quiet - just a little hiss of the propane coming out. There is no great suction sound, and obviously no fan noise.
Because I do not expect the combustion is any less complete, this heater should not be any less efficient than a convection model provided the small part that is radiated is not directed into some black hole. It is possible that a convection model could make better use of air and thus oxygen for higher combustion temperatures but it would probably whistle in so doing.
My advice is to figure if you are better served by convected or radiated heat, and select a heater accordingly. This one is designed to be radiant, but because of shortcomings it does poorly and most of the heat goes up into the air like a convection heater. If you are outdoors, have a large space, high ceilings etc. this will be lost unless you can bring that warm air back with ceiling fans or something.
I still rate it somewhat high because it does actually function for the same price as a handful of bunsen burners. | 1 | neutral | [
"This one does not have the electric starter.",
"I bought the one from Target through Target's website (they also affiliate market through Amazon) for a about two dollars more because it does indicate it is the model with a starter - it also is the MH12T model and not the MH12TS.",
"It does not have the starter.",
"A potential advantage of Target is the possibility of in-store returns though you'd have to prove they accept these that way.",
"This unit is low cost when compared to natural gas radiant heaters we see in commercial buildings and so on.",
"I would expect to pay 10 times more, possibly even a thousand dollars to get a really good one, but how does this one work?",
"Some reviewers dissed it, and others write that it's great.",
"I wanted it for myself when I'm working in my workshop (in a 3 car garage).",
"I figured the bad reviews were expecting it to heat a room, not understanding how an infrared radiant heater works.",
"I was torn between an infrared radiant heater to heat me, and a convection heater to heat the shop.",
"I decided on the radiant heater because it should allow me to start working in warmth without having to heat the whole shop first.",
"The convection heater has the advantage of heating the whole shop, which would make it more comfortable for other people to hang out in there.",
"Convection heaters heat the air and they work best when the air is not moving away through open doors, windows etc.",
"Radiant heaters on the other hand, are intended to heat objects that absorb infrared radiation.",
"I do, and so does the concrete slab floor in my shop.",
"If I were to heat the slab floor well enough that it would subsequently heat the air in the shop, it would keep the shop comfortable for a very long time -- it would also take a tremendous amount of time and fuel to heat that slab.",
"This is why I thought reviewers were slating this heater -- I believed they expected it to heat the air, but gave it the futile task of doing so by some massive cold object.",
"Some wrote that they put a fan blowing on the back of this heater -- indicating they actually expected it to work by convection to heat the air.",
"Therefore I figured it would work better for me if I used it the way it was intended.",
"In actual practice, I found this heater works very poorly to provide infrared radiation at objects it's pointed at.",
"Nearly all the heat is just convected above the heater itself.",
"Because of this, it did poorly at heating me even though it was only a few feet away.",
"It did quite well at heating the air in the garage, except that this is a task which understandably takes a lot more time, fuel or both.",
"Some people are trying to size this for their space.",
"I use mine in a 3 car garage that has drywall and insulation all around.",
"The doors are weatherstripped, and the large sheet metal roll up doors have foam inserts on the panels.",
"Still, it's nowhere near as tight as the house and the floor is concrete slab.",
"This little heater makes it possible to\ndo minimally aerobic work (like sharpening tools on a whetstone) when it's 15 degrees F outside as long as I'm dressed warm but short of fully insulated outerwear that would be too cumbersome.",
"A larger or less sealed/insulated space would need a larger heater or multiple heaters.",
"My garage is ventilated.",
"It has open vents under the eaves, some of which are exposed to the interior of the shop (others only ventilate the attic above the drywall).",
"I can also ventilate it by cracking either of two rollup door or the swinging door.",
"I recommend having a low source of clean air and a high vent for polluted air to escape.",
"Consider other combustion appliances: I have a gas heater (for the house) and a water heater that use garage air for combustion.",
"I use a CO monitor with a digital readout of levels in PPM and alarm as well as a GAS detector that indicates natural gas or propane in the room.",
"I use these in the garage, kitchen and laundry rooms.",
"They do not indicate O2 levels, so I still need to be conscientious about providing fresh air to breathe.",
"The heater I received is quiet - just a little hiss of the propane coming out.",
"There is no great suction sound, and obviously no fan noise.",
"Because I do not expect the combustion is any less complete, this heater should not be any less efficient than a convection model provided the small part that is radiated is not directed into some black hole.",
"It is possible that a convection model could make better use of air and thus oxygen for higher combustion temperatures but it would probably whistle in so doing.",
"My advice is to figure if you are better served by convected or radiated heat, and select a heater accordingly.",
"This one is designed to be radiant, but because of shortcomings it does poorly and most of the heat goes up into the air like a convection heater.",
"If you are outdoors, have a large space, high ceilings etc.",
"this will be lost unless you can bring that warm air back with ceiling fans or something.",
"I still rate it somewhat high because it does actually function for the same price as a handful of bunsen burners."
] |
I have been using buckwheat honey for a couple of years now, buying it in bulk by the pound at Whole Foods. In the past couple months, they haven't been able to get this or the local honey in bulk. This scares me. I hope that it's not due to bees dying off. Anyway, this is a strong tasting honey, but I love it. This brand is not as good as Whole Foods, but I needed it, so it was ok. Then after a couple of uses, I noticed it was heavily crystallized. It doesn't affect the taste, but the texture is not pleasant. The company sent me a review request, and I wrote back telling them about the crystaligation, and they never wrote back to explain or apologize. So I won't be having my "sundae" with this brand. Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with buckwheat honey drizzled on top, finished with chopped toasted almonds. I eat it every day. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have been using buckwheat honey for a couple of years now, buying it in bulk by the pound at Whole Foods.",
"In the past couple months, they haven't been able to get this or the local honey in bulk.",
"This scares me.",
"I hope that it's not due to bees dying off.",
"Anyway, this is a strong tasting honey, but I love it.",
"This brand is not as good as Whole Foods, but I needed it, so it was ok.",
"Then after a couple of uses, I noticed it was heavily crystallized.",
"It doesn't affect the taste, but the texture is not pleasant.",
"The company sent me a review request, and I wrote back telling them about the crystaligation, and they never wrote back to explain or apologize.",
"So I won't be having my \"sundae\" with this brand.",
"Vanilla bean Greek yogurt with buckwheat honey drizzled on top, finished with chopped toasted almonds.",
"I eat it every day."
] |
I have to agree with the other naysayers on this one. It has an odd flavor to it and I suspect it's because of the fruit powders - I think the tamarind powder gives it the weird flavor/aftertaste. I think I would like this a lot more if that were absent.
I don't know much about Thai cooking but others are saying it doesn't taste like Pad Thai anyway, so removal of what may be a Thai ingredient (tamarind) isn't going to make sales go down.
There's still the standard good stuff that stands for most McDougall varieties. You get a lot of it, it's convenient and great to have around at the office for a more healthy-than-the-vending machine snack. I suspect it would be more satisfying too, nice and hot soup mmm!
So, I won't be buying it again. May I recommend the Spring Onion Noodle Soup? That is a very tasty one to buy in lieu of this variety. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have to agree with the other naysayers on this one.",
"It has an odd flavor to it and I suspect it's because of the fruit powders - I think the tamarind powder gives it the weird flavor/aftertaste.",
"I think I would like this a lot more if that were absent.",
"I don't know much about Thai cooking but others are saying it doesn't taste like Pad Thai anyway, so removal of what may be a Thai ingredient (tamarind) isn't going to make sales go down.",
"There's still the standard good stuff that stands for most McDougall varieties.",
"You get a lot of it, it's convenient and great to have around at the office for a more healthy-than-the-vending machine snack.",
"I suspect it would be more satisfying too, nice and hot soup mmm!",
"So, I won't be buying it again.",
"May I recommend the Spring Onion Noodle Soup?",
"That is a very tasty one to buy in lieu of this variety."
] |
I have mixed feelings about this game. I've always loved the Mario Sports games. They're usually very action-packed, fun to play with friends, and easy to play. The thing I've always loved the most about them is the vast differences in the characters. With any of the Mario Sports titles you can choose someone who fits your style, be it the strong and slow Bowser to the lightning-quick Yoshi. It's what makes the games in this series so much fun.
Where I think this game falls short is the characters. Not in the variety of characters--there is a VAST amount of different characters to choose from--but rather in the difference between the characters. Take, for example, Yoshi. He's one of the fastest guys in the game. You can bunt for a single with him. He can steal a lot of bases. But compare him to Bowser, who's the slowest guy in the game, and there's not too much of a difference. Sure--you're probably not going to bunt for a single with Bowser, but his lack of speed just isn't.....it's not something that necessarily hurts having him. I don't think the characters are really balanced. You would think they would be more extreme--that's what the series has always been known for. Someone like Bowser or DK, as powerful and slow as they're rated, should be able to hit homeruns OFTEN, and thrown out running to first from left field. There should always be a downside to having a powerful character (and an upside, for that matter). Or Yoshi, who's as fast as he is, should be a pretty poor hitter. I just didn't feel a real sense of balance in the characters like in other Mario Sports titles. It seems that no matter how well someone is rated at pitching, it doesn't make much of a difference as to how well or 'unhittable' they pitch; you can pretty much use anybody to get the job done. Batting ratings solely have to do with Power, and nothing to do with Contact-ability.
A few people were complaining about the stadiums. Like anything Mario-related, they threw quite a few wacky and quirky things in the outfield to make the game interesting. Although all of them are annoying while you're in the field, some can be funny (watching a Toad get hit by a rolling barrel in DK's field and hearing him scream is pretty funny). I personally don't care a whole lot about the things they've got going on in the outfield, because Mario's field is a normal field. If I want to play a normal game of baseball I just have to play in his stadium. If I want to play in a wacky stadium I can play in one. Since it's really an option, I can't see blaming the game for putting it in. It's nice here and there, because the 'routine fly ball' no longer becomes a definite out, which can make the game interesting.
As far as playability goes, it's not a very hard game. You'll actually find when playing versus a friend that you won't get a ton of hits, and very few homeruns. Just like any Mario Sports game, the controls are very basic, and I can't decide if I think that's a good or bad thing. It gets annoying and frustrating when fielding because you can't change the player you're controlling, and the game doesn't always give you the right person. When someone bunts it's always a question as to who you control (you can't see the catcher) and so more often than not they'll get on base because I couldn't find my fielder. Sometimes the game will change who you're controlling and it'll mess you up. Baserunning controls are a bit difficult. I can't understand why, with the game's design being so similar in design to RBI Baseball, they couldn't simply have the running controls be B + Up to go to second, and A + right to go back to first. Instead it's a combination of X and Y, and way too often a player will be standing still in the middle of the basepath and you didn't know it. Double plays happen all the time on line-drives, as the characters are almost to the next base by the time you can tell them to go back.
Part of the fun of playing MVP Baseball was the ability you have to choose where you're going to slide on the base, things like that, but in this game they slide for you. The characters never have to make a tag; they just need to catch the ball to get you out. Again, it's a Mario title--I wouldn't expect the game to have all the little nuances of a baseball game, but it would be nice.
As far as the graphics go, they're not bad. I think Mario Power Tennis has far crisper graphics, but I don't think this game's value is detracted by its graphics. They're very cartooney. The sound is fine. None of the tracks really stand out, but none of them really grate on your nerves, either. Standard Mario sound. The one thing that really annoys me about the sound, though, is the umpire. He has maybe five words that he says throughout the entire game, but he says them in the most annoying way possible. After about an inning you get sick of hearing the guy calling balls and strikes. I'm not sure why they couldn't have a normal voice say it, or even Mario for that matter (and I'm not a big fan of HIS voice, but it's much better than the one they've got now).
The game also has these things called Team Stars. Basically, they're special powers. Some of the characters can throw near-unhittable pitches, some can hit the ball and have it react crazy, things like that. Reminds me a lot of Backyard Baseball, if you've ever played that. I don't particularly like the star plays that you can do, but again--it's an option. You can take them out of the game if you want to, so I can't blame the game for having them in the first place. Some can be kind of fun. I don't think they necessarily detract from the game, or make much of a difference, if you think about it. With the amount of special pitches thrown in comparison to normal pitches in the game--it's really not a very big deal.
The AI isn't extremely difficult to fool, which can be irritating. You could have a lead baserunner who's a foot away from crossing the plate, and a runner who just made it to first, and the AI will throw it home no matter what--even though it's obvious that they don't have a chance to get the guy out. It's not a huge deal, but it just means you can take your guy on first and move him to second safely because the AI isn't programmed well. I like having to EARN my bases; little things like that annoy me. They use their Star pitches at inappropriate times; you'd think they'd use them for a third strike at an opportune time, but they don't. It just feels random.
As far as the minigames go, I haven't played all of them. I played the Toy Park and liked it, and also the Homerun Derby, which were both fun. I haven't tried the other ones, so I don't have anything to say about them.
I don't know. I really wanted this game to be a lot of fun--and when playing a friend it is, arguably, fun. When playing the AI it's boring. As much as I'd like to give this five stars as another top-notch title in the Mario Sports series, I just don't see it. It seems that the game couldn't decide between being a crazy, ridiculously extreme style and a conservative, realistic style, and it ended up somewhere in the middle. Which is the same rating that I give it. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have mixed feelings about this game.",
"I've always loved the Mario Sports games.",
"They're usually very action-packed, fun to play with friends, and easy to play.",
"The thing I've always loved the most about them is the vast differences in the characters.",
"With any of the Mario Sports titles you can choose someone who fits your style, be it the strong and slow Bowser to the lightning-quick Yoshi.",
"It's what makes the games in this series so much fun.",
"Where I think this game falls short is the characters.",
"Not in the variety of characters--there is a VAST amount of different characters to choose from--but rather in the difference between the characters.",
"Take, for example, Yoshi.",
"He's one of the fastest guys in the game.",
"You can bunt for a single with him.",
"He can steal a lot of bases.",
"But compare him to Bowser, who's the slowest guy in the game, and there's not too much of a difference.",
"Sure--you're probably not going to bunt for a single with Bowser, but his lack of speed just isn't....",
".",
"it's not something that necessarily hurts having him.",
"I don't think the characters are really balanced.",
"You would think they would be more extreme--that's what the series has always been known for.",
"Someone like Bowser or DK, as powerful and slow as they're rated, should be able to hit homeruns OFTEN, and thrown out running to first from left field.",
"There should always be a downside to having a powerful character (and an upside, for that matter).",
"Or Yoshi, who's as fast as he is, should be a pretty poor hitter.",
"I just didn't feel a real sense of balance in the characters like in other Mario Sports titles.",
"It seems that no matter how well someone is rated at pitching, it doesn't make much of a difference as to how well or 'unhittable' they pitch; you can pretty much use anybody to get the job done.",
"Batting ratings solely have to do with Power, and nothing to do with Contact-ability.",
"A few people were complaining about the stadiums.",
"Like anything Mario-related, they threw quite a few wacky and quirky things in the outfield to make the game interesting.",
"Although all of them are annoying while you're in the field, some can be funny (watching a Toad get hit by a rolling barrel in DK's field and hearing him scream is pretty funny).",
"I personally don't care a whole lot about the things they've got going on in the outfield, because Mario's field is a normal field.",
"If I want to play a normal game of baseball I just have to play in his stadium.",
"If I want to play in a wacky stadium I can play in one.",
"Since it's really an option, I can't see blaming the game for putting it in.",
"It's nice here and there, because the 'routine fly ball' no longer becomes a definite out, which can make the game interesting.",
"As far as playability goes, it's not a very hard game.",
"You'll actually find when playing versus a friend that you won't get a ton of hits, and very few homeruns.",
"Just like any Mario Sports game, the controls are very basic, and I can't decide if I think that's a good or bad thing.",
"It gets annoying and frustrating when fielding because you can't change the player you're controlling, and the game doesn't always give you the right person.",
"When someone bunts it's always a question as to who you control (you can't see the catcher) and so more often than not they'll get on base because I couldn't find my fielder.",
"Sometimes the game will change who you're controlling and it'll mess you up.",
"Baserunning controls are a bit difficult.",
"I can't understand why, with the game's design being so similar in design to RBI Baseball, they couldn't simply have the running controls be B + Up to go to second, and A + right to go back to first.",
"Instead it's a combination of X and Y, and way too often a player will be standing still in the middle of the basepath and you didn't know it.",
"Double plays happen all the time on line-drives, as the characters are almost to the next base by the time you can tell them to go back.",
"Part of the fun of playing MVP Baseball was the ability you have to choose where you're going to slide on the base, things like that, but in this game they slide for you.",
"The characters never have to make a tag; they just need to catch the ball to get you out.",
"Again, it's a Mario title--I wouldn't expect the game to have all the little nuances of a baseball game, but it would be nice.",
"As far as the graphics go, they're not bad.",
"I think Mario Power Tennis has far crisper graphics, but I don't think this game's value is detracted by its graphics.",
"They're very cartooney.",
"The sound is fine.",
"None of the tracks really stand out, but none of them really grate on your nerves, either.",
"Standard Mario sound.",
"The one thing that really annoys me about the sound, though, is the umpire.",
"He has maybe five words that he says throughout the entire game, but he says them in the most annoying way possible.",
"After about an inning you get sick of hearing the guy calling balls and strikes.",
"I'm not sure why they couldn't have a normal voice say it, or even Mario for that matter (and I'm not a big fan of HIS voice, but it's much better than the one they've got now).",
"The game also has these things called Team Stars.",
"Basically, they're special powers.",
"Some of the characters can throw near-unhittable pitches, some can hit the ball and have it react crazy, things like that.",
"Reminds me a lot of Backyard Baseball, if you've ever played that.",
"I don't particularly like the star plays that you can do, but again--it's an option.",
"You can take them out of the game if you want to, so I can't blame the game for having them in the first place.",
"Some can be kind of fun.",
"I don't think they necessarily detract from the game, or make much of a difference, if you think about it.",
"With the amount of special pitches thrown in comparison to normal pitches in the game--it's really not a very big deal.",
"The AI isn't extremely difficult to fool, which can be irritating.",
"You could have a lead baserunner who's a foot away from crossing the plate, and a runner who just made it to first, and the AI will throw it home no matter what--even though it's obvious that they don't have a chance to get the guy out.",
"It's not a huge deal, but it just means you can take your guy on first and move him to second safely because the AI isn't programmed well.",
"I like having to EARN my bases; little things like that annoy me.",
"They use their Star pitches at inappropriate times; you'd think they'd use them for a third strike at an opportune time, but they don't.",
"It just feels random.",
"As far as the minigames go, I haven't played all of them.",
"I played the Toy Park and liked it, and also the Homerun Derby, which were both fun.",
"I haven't tried the other ones, so I don't have anything to say about them.",
"I don't know.",
"I really wanted this game to be a lot of fun--and when playing a friend it is, arguably, fun.",
"When playing the AI it's boring.",
"As much as I'd like to give this five stars as another top-notch title in the Mario Sports series, I just don't see it.",
"It seems that the game couldn't decide between being a crazy, ridiculously extreme style and a conservative, realistic style, and it ended up somewhere in the middle.",
"Which is the same rating that I give it."
] |
About the Book:
About a year and a half has passed since Darren's last adventure. This time a Vampire General has made contact with Mr. Crepsley. After the meeting, Crepsley, Darren, and Evra leave the Cirque. In the city they inhabit, Crepsley ends up going off by himself at night without explanation. Evra and Darren think nothing of this until they see the news: six bodies have been found drained of their blood. So the two boys start to follow Crepsley to whether he is the villain.
Review:
I honestly wasn't all to thrilled with this installment. Granted, I didn't dislike it either. The plot itself wasn't terrible, and the villain was nice and grotesque, which ought to appeal to young boys. The main issue I had with this particular book was when they were following Crepsley. It just seemed way to drawn out when it was obvious that
SPOILERS!
Crepsley was not the one killing the humans. I had no problem with this obvious deterrent being placed in the story. My issue was that it dragged on for chapters. Maybe it would be less obvious to a twelve year old (or they would have at least found it more interesting), but for me it was a draaaaaaaaaaaaag.
END SPOILERS
Beside that major issue, I felt about the same with this book as with the others in the series thus far. It is an original idea and a fast paced read, which I think the youth will enjoy. So far however, I would not suggest this as an all ages type book. Still, it is an interesting and fairly entertaining series, and I still plan on reading the rest. | 1 | neutral | [
"About the Book:\nAbout a year and a half has passed since Darren's last adventure.",
"This time a Vampire General has made contact with Mr.",
"Crepsley.",
"After the meeting, Crepsley, Darren, and Evra leave the Cirque.",
"In the city they inhabit, Crepsley ends up going off by himself at night without explanation.",
"Evra and Darren think nothing of this until they see the news: six bodies have been found drained of their blood.",
"So the two boys start to follow Crepsley to whether he is the villain.",
"Review:\nI honestly wasn't all to thrilled with this installment.",
"Granted, I didn't dislike it either.",
"The plot itself wasn't terrible, and the villain was nice and grotesque, which ought to appeal to young boys.",
"The main issue I had with this particular book was when they were following Crepsley.",
"It just seemed way to drawn out when it was obvious that\nSPOILERS!",
"Crepsley was not the one killing the humans.",
"I had no problem with this obvious deterrent being placed in the story.",
"My issue was that it dragged on for chapters.",
"Maybe it would be less obvious to a twelve year old (or they would have at least found it more interesting), but for me it was a draaaaaaaaaaaaag.",
"END SPOILERS\n\nBeside that major issue, I felt about the same with this book as with the others in the series thus far.",
"It is an original idea and a fast paced read, which I think the youth will enjoy.",
"So far however, I would not suggest this as an all ages type book.",
"Still, it is an interesting and fairly entertaining series, and I still plan on reading the rest."
] |
It's strange to look at the covers of this and of his first album - Bob alone with his guitar on both: two bookends to his classic masterpieces of the 60s. Neither are truly great albums, but both are fascinating. In both he attempts to immerse himself in a tradition rather than to strike out into uncharted creative territory. The charm, melodic ease and musical confidence of this album is a world away from the first, though. He seems to be saying 'I'm a professional singer-songwriter not a standard bearer of Cultural Revolution'. Fair enough. He hits notes, he entertains, he wants to enchant us. And there are wonderful songs: 'Lay Lady Lay', 'I Threw it all Away', 'Tell Me That It Isn't True'. But in the end its too close to so many ordinary competent albums by ordinary competent performers. In the original version of `Girl from the North Country' adolescent Bob giggles when he gets to the word `breast'. Here mature Johnny Cash sings it with masculine confidence. I miss that giggle, that sense of unprofessional excitement at the breaking of boundaries. Instead here tries to turn the song into a `pop standard' - to advertise his own new sense of maturity. But we don't want Bob to be another Sinatra. We want him to do it his way. | 1 | neutral | [
"It's strange to look at the covers of this and of his first album - Bob alone with his guitar on both: two bookends to his classic masterpieces of the 60s.",
"Neither are truly great albums, but both are fascinating.",
"In both he attempts to immerse himself in a tradition rather than to strike out into uncharted creative territory.",
"The charm, melodic ease and musical confidence of this album is a world away from the first, though.",
"He seems to be saying 'I'm a professional singer-songwriter not a standard bearer of Cultural Revolution'.",
"Fair enough.",
"He hits notes, he entertains, he wants to enchant us.",
"And there are wonderful songs: 'Lay Lady Lay', 'I Threw it all Away', 'Tell Me That It Isn't True'.",
"But in the end its too close to so many ordinary competent albums by ordinary competent performers.",
"In the original version of `Girl from the North Country' adolescent Bob giggles when he gets to the word `breast'.",
"Here mature Johnny Cash sings it with masculine confidence.",
"I miss that giggle, that sense of unprofessional excitement at the breaking of boundaries.",
"Instead here tries to turn the song into a `pop standard' - to advertise his own new sense of maturity.",
"But we don't want Bob to be another Sinatra.",
"We want him to do it his way."
] |
WARNING: If you have any desire to play this game, rent it first.
The game is good when it's good, but it's BAD when it's bad.
GRAPHICS: 5/5
This is where the game shines. Models look very nice (albeit cartoonish and misproportioned) and the CAW mode, while undetailed, can make lifelike CAWs that look nothing different from in-game characters.
SOUND: 4/5
Depending on your tastes, you may or may not disagree with my pick for sound. There are some cool songs on here, such as "Headstrong" by Trapt and "Get Away" by Earshot, but if you're not a big fan of these types of bands, you may prefer to get the X-box version (if you have one) and do a custom soundtrack. As far as entrances go, they're OK... a bit repetitive the hundredth time, however. Why a 4/5 then? The simple coolest feature ever in CAW mode: you can choose from a large, pre-voiced list of first names, last names, and nicknames, and the ring announcer will announce your height, weight, hometown (also a pre-voiced list), and your name! It's amusing.
GAMEPLAY: 1/5
This is where the game could be better. Moves are done with the basic concept: Push a button for a basic set-up, push another button to modify it. When it tells you to push a button at a certain time, do it. It's a button-masher's fantasy, as the only skill really involved is the timing of extra-powerful moves, reversals, and to make sure you're not being repetitive with your moves.
OVERALL: 3/5
A good effort by Acclaim, but not worth the price tag. Spend your money on WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth! instead. | 1 | neutral | [
"WARNING: If you have any desire to play this game, rent it first.",
"The game is good when it's good, but it's BAD when it's bad.",
"GRAPHICS: 5/5\n This is where the game shines.",
"Models look very nice (albeit cartoonish and misproportioned) and the CAW mode, while undetailed, can make lifelike CAWs that look nothing different from in-game characters.",
"SOUND: 4/5\n Depending on your tastes, you may or may not disagree with my pick for sound.",
"There are some cool songs on here, such as \"Headstrong\" by Trapt and \"Get Away\" by Earshot, but if you're not a big fan of these types of bands, you may prefer to get the X-box version (if you have one) and do a custom soundtrack.",
"As far as entrances go, they're OK...",
"a bit repetitive the hundredth time, however.",
"Why a 4/5 then?",
"The simple coolest feature ever in CAW mode: you can choose from a large, pre-voiced list of first names, last names, and nicknames, and the ring announcer will announce your height, weight, hometown (also a pre-voiced list), and your name!",
"It's amusing.",
"GAMEPLAY: 1/5\n This is where the game could be better.",
"Moves are done with the basic concept: Push a button for a basic set-up, push another button to modify it.",
"When it tells you to push a button at a certain time, do it.",
"It's a button-masher's fantasy, as the only skill really involved is the timing of extra-powerful moves, reversals, and to make sure you're not being repetitive with your moves.",
"OVERALL: 3/5\n A good effort by Acclaim, but not worth the price tag.",
"Spend your money on WWE SmackDown!",
": Shut Your Mouth!",
"instead."
] |
This follow up of Soul Rever: Legacy of Kain that apearred on the playstation is without a dought a must own for action/adventure fans.
The story goes:
Raziel emerges from the Chronoplast time portal, and returns to different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless pursuit of Kain.
Over the course of his journey, he unearths the mysteries of Nosgoth's ancient races, and exposes the secrets behind the corruption of the Pillars and the vampire genocide.
Confronting the shadows of his unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny stretching eons into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history.
As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.
First let me point out the weak side of thing. This game lacks any real boss fights, that made the 1st one so good and enjoyable. There're bosses in this game, but few and far between and seem alot easier to kill, making them feel just like fillers to hold in the action fanitics. Next is the games length. The 1st one was around 18-20hrs, for part 2 its more around 10-12hrs, whitch is good or bad thing...just depends on how you look at it. The last problem with this game is the end...we get another TBC ending...no conlusion whats so ever.
With that out of the way, I must aprise the grapics desginer, sound, and gamplay that are all topnotch. The argitcuter of the game is a sight to behold and the fluid controls make for a game anyone can pick up and play. Last but not lest, the sound is the one of the best to come out of the games released so far.
So if the pluses out weight the negitives give this game a try, you will be given a lot of anweners that came up with the 1st game, but when its over a lot more will have risen to be left unawensered. | 1 | neutral | [
"This follow up of Soul Rever: Legacy of Kain that apearred on the playstation is without a dought a must own for action/adventure fans.",
"The story goes:\nRaziel emerges from the Chronoplast time portal, and returns to different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless pursuit of Kain.",
"Over the course of his journey, he unearths the mysteries of Nosgoth's ancient races, and exposes the secrets behind the corruption of the Pillars and the vampire genocide.",
"Confronting the shadows of his unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny stretching eons into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history.",
"As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey, with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.",
"First let me point out the weak side of thing.",
"This game lacks any real boss fights, that made the 1st one so good and enjoyable.",
"There're bosses in this game, but few and far between and seem alot easier to kill, making them feel just like fillers to hold in the action fanitics.",
"Next is the games length.",
"The 1st one was around 18-20hrs, for part 2 its more around 10-12hrs, whitch is good or bad thing...",
"just depends on how you look at it.",
"The last problem with this game is the end...",
"we get another TBC ending...",
"no conlusion whats so ever.",
"With that out of the way, I must aprise the grapics desginer, sound, and gamplay that are all topnotch.",
"The argitcuter of the game is a sight to behold and the fluid controls make for a game anyone can pick up and play.",
"Last but not lest, the sound is the one of the best to come out of the games released so far.",
"So if the pluses out weight the negitives give this game a try, you will be given a lot of anweners that came up with the 1st game, but when its over a lot more will have risen to be left unawensered."
] |
I'd never used pomade before (only gel), so the first attempt wasn't too smooth (pardon the pun). It's really thick, and as I tried to work it into my hair, it was like trying to get wax in. I added some water, which helped, but future applications required serious emulsification and wetter hair. Regardless, the end look was greasier than I'd hoped for, and that wasn't to my liking. Then again, I have a friend who is a regular pomade user and he has a slicked back look to his hair, so perhaps my needs run contrary to the product's purpose.
A week or so later, with shorter hair and a better understanding, I tried it again. This time it worked better. As advertised, it held my hair in place with no sticky or stiff feeling. While not as convenient as gel which merely involves a squirt and instant application, this Baxters pomade does what its supposed to do. Ill be using it until its gone, but due to the need to emulsify and mix with water to get a good consistency, I doubt Ill replace it. | 1 | neutral | [
"I'd never used pomade before (only gel), so the first attempt wasn't too smooth (pardon the pun).",
"It's really thick, and as I tried to work it into my hair, it was like trying to get wax in.",
"I added some water, which helped, but future applications required serious emulsification and wetter hair.",
"Regardless, the end look was greasier than I'd hoped for, and that wasn't to my liking.",
"Then again, I have a friend who is a regular pomade user and he has a slicked back look to his hair, so perhaps my needs run contrary to the product's purpose.",
"A week or so later, with shorter hair and a better understanding, I tried it again.",
"This time it worked better.",
"As advertised, it held my hair in place with no sticky or stiff feeling.",
"While not as convenient as gel which merely involves a squirt and instant application, this Baxters pomade does what its supposed to do.",
"Ill be using it until its gone, but due to the need to emulsify and mix with water to get a good consistency, I doubt Ill replace it."
] |
Unlike most of my facial cleansers, this one is an oil. And I knew that when I chose it because I wanted to use my soft electric brushead to see if it would really clean out my impurities. I have sorta large pores and usually whiteheads high on my cheek bones. and I wanted to see what would happen to my face if I used an oil.
Well, nothing happened....yet. I am sure I have to use it a longer time than I have. My skin does feel clean and soft but it did before this. I don't see much difference yet in the whiteheads or large pores. I shall continue to use it and if a EUREKA occurs I shall make an addiion to this review.
The oil actually seems to come off your skins with rinsing but I need more time to give this a true test. By the way, it is my understanding that the natural minerals and the antioxidants comes directly from Vichy Thermal Spa .
By the way, I like the smell...it doesn't linger long but while there it is not oppressive. | 1 | neutral | [
"Unlike most of my facial cleansers, this one is an oil.",
"And I knew that when I chose it because I wanted to use my soft electric brushead to see if it would really clean out my impurities.",
"I have sorta large pores and usually whiteheads high on my cheek bones.",
"and I wanted to see what would happen to my face if I used an oil.",
"Well, nothing happened....",
"yet.",
"I am sure I have to use it a longer time than I have.",
"My skin does feel clean and soft but it did before this.",
"I don't see much difference yet in the whiteheads or large pores.",
"I shall continue to use it and if a EUREKA occurs I shall make an addiion to this review.",
"The oil actually seems to come off your skins with rinsing but I need more time to give this a true test.",
"By the way, it is my understanding that the natural minerals and the antioxidants comes directly from Vichy Thermal Spa.",
"By the way, I like the smell...",
"it doesn't linger long but while there it is not oppressive."
] |
I bought a set of these for someone that has problems wearing earbuds (IEM), as well as staying away from my JVC-HAFX67B. These phones are perfect for the pc or laptop if you're looking for a 'quick' and simple device to catch news-feeds or watching tutorial videos. Please note that these are not noise-canceling headphones, but for the price with shipping, you really can't go wrong and they are pretty comfortable around your ears!
About the phones:
Works well with computers but I wouldn't recommend tagging it along with your portable music device -- such as an iPod. The reason being is that they do not do a very good job of suppressing or isolating sounds, which means you can still hear ambient noise and people sitting around you can also hear them. The earcups are designed at an angle facing inwards from the front (shaping your ears) and out towards the rear, this is good for people with flappy ears, but not for me and probably the majority. To get the full sound I'd have to press and hold them in flat, the XBS Bass effect works well but all other frequencies quickly becomes muddled, and surely one can't be doing this all along while wearing it.
In retrospect, sound quality is decent, from a scale of 1 to 10 (being best) I'd say 6. You can hear the Bass but you won't feel it, it is there, only not as rich and tight. The Trebles could be better if it weren't for the Mids being a bit too high which resulted to somewhat of an overall 'flat' sounding device.
Back to the design as I mentioned before, the angled-cup design could be a small problem to some people. It is certainly for me because this also reduces the overall volume decibel compared to my uber-rich sounding <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/JVC-HAFX67B/dp/B003AIL2F6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">JVC HAFX67B</a> which at 25% volume level, I get a fairly high sound decibel as apposed to 50% level with the Panasonic. Also, I didn't like the angle plug, this could be a plus or minus to some. The reason: when it's plugged in to my Nano next to its charging socket, the angle-plug prohibits me to lay the Nano down on a flat surface, or I'd have to swivel the plug opposite but it'll stick up in the air (see my photos). In case you're asking, it CAN'T be swiveled to the sides because it is very tight with the charger plugged in, if I try, it WILL bend and damage the socket and phone jack plugs!
Pros:
Price, price and price (under 5 bucks)!
Free shipping
Decent sound
Bass (okay, but not rich or tight)
Cons:
Ear cup design
Angled Plug (may or my not be for others)
Flat sounding
Sound escapes even at decent volume levels | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought a set of these for someone that has problems wearing earbuds (IEM), as well as staying away from my JVC-HAFX67B.",
"These phones are perfect for the pc or laptop if you're looking for a 'quick' and simple device to catch news-feeds or watching tutorial videos.",
"Please note that these are not noise-canceling headphones, but for the price with shipping, you really can't go wrong and they are pretty comfortable around your ears!",
"About the phones:\nWorks well with computers but I wouldn't recommend tagging it along with your portable music device -- such as an iPod.",
"The reason being is that they do not do a very good job of suppressing or isolating sounds, which means you can still hear ambient noise and people sitting around you can also hear them.",
"The earcups are designed at an angle facing inwards from the front (shaping your ears) and out towards the rear, this is good for people with flappy ears, but not for me and probably the majority.",
"To get the full sound I'd have to press and hold them in flat, the XBS Bass effect works well but all other frequencies quickly becomes muddled, and surely one can't be doing this all along while wearing it.",
"In retrospect, sound quality is decent, from a scale of 1 to 10 (being best) I'd say 6.",
"You can hear the Bass but you won't feel it, it is there, only not as rich and tight.",
"The Trebles could be better if it weren't for the Mids being a bit too high which resulted to somewhat of an overall 'flat' sounding device.",
"Back to the design as I mentioned before, the angled-cup design could be a small problem to some people.",
"It is certainly for me because this also reduces the overall volume decibel compared to my uber-rich sounding <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/JVC-HAFX67B/dp/B003AIL2F6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">JVC HAFX67B</a> which at 25% volume level, I get a fairly high sound decibel as apposed to 50% level with the Panasonic.",
"Also, I didn't like the angle plug, this could be a plus or minus to some.",
"The reason: when it's plugged in to my Nano next to its charging socket, the angle-plug prohibits me to lay the Nano down on a flat surface, or I'd have to swivel the plug opposite but it'll stick up in the air (see my photos).",
"In case you're asking, it CAN'T be swiveled to the sides because it is very tight with the charger plugged in, if I try, it WILL bend and damage the socket and phone jack plugs!",
"Pros:\nPrice, price and price (under 5 bucks)!",
"Free shipping\nDecent sound\nBass (okay, but not rich or tight)\n\nCons:\nEar cup design\nAngled Plug (may or my not be for others)\nFlat sounding\nSound escapes even at decent volume levels"
] |
This Spanish horror film from 1973 shows a lot of promise but fails to deliver the type of movie experience one would expect on the basis of its title. For a number of reasons, I was quite unable to really connect with the story and found myself rather bored at times as the movie progressed. There's just no atmosphere at all here; I don't care about the characters or what happens to them because they simply do not seem real. Our story begins in 15th century France with the execution of a warlock and his mistress. After being called every name in the book (warlock, demon, vampire, Satan worshipper, etc.), the warlock curses his killers just before his head is divorced from his body. His vow to return has to wait four centuries to be realized. Paul, Maurice, and their best girls attend a séance, and Paul asks the medium where he can find the reputed warlock's head and body (which are supposedly buried somewhere on his property). The four friends decide to test the medium's power by searching for the remains in the locations she indicates, so they journey deep into the woods to a remote chalet. The group somehow grows to six people at some point thereabouts, and some pretty bad things begin to happen after a buried chest is discovered. This chest, of course, contains the head of the long-dead warlock, and he soon begins resuming his old ways of making people do his bidding by starting intently at them. Zombies emerge from a swamp, and the housemates in the chalet begin to disappear or fall under the evil influence one by one. Once the warlock gets his feet back under him (literally), he starts popping up everywhere to seduce or kill people. Even though our list of heroes declines steadily over the course of the film, the whole thing gets rather tedious. The bad guys stare at people, and the resulting zombies shamble around aimlessly for the most part. The warlock just isn't evil enough for me to love to hate, and the characters are all pretty expendable in my book.
One serious problem I see with this movie is its annoying tendency to jump around constantly; a scene might start in one place and magically end in another. This allows for no flow whatsoever. Then you have the dubbing into English, which is flat, uninvolved, and thus a liability. There are also logical inconsistencies spread far and wide; the movie can tell you one thing and then disprove its own argument the next. It can't even decide what type of horror movie it wants to be; instead, it draws on any number of genres and themes and tries to force all of them together, hoping this will help make up for the warlock's boring ineffectiveness. There are a lot of little things that bugged me too; e.g., the group arrives at the chalet without enough gas to make their trip home and thus cannot run away when bad things start happening; the warlock magically pushes a door open and then materializes in the room, thereby making the act of his opening the door inane; and he also seems to forget he can dematerialize at will, an affliction that bodes an exceedingly tiresome doom.
But what about the gore this movie is reported to showcase? The goriness of Horror Rises From the Tomb is vastly overstated in my opinion; surely, a few people die at the hands of sharp implements, and several heads are lost in the process, but we don't see much blood at all. The disembodied heads also look quite unreal to my eyes. I would consider this movie rather tame indeed in the blood and guts department. In essence, this movie wanders around in circles, unsuccessfully trying to discover an identity for itself. As such, it never manages to draw the viewer into the story and thus winds up as yet another forgettable horror film from days gone by. | 1 | neutral | [
"This Spanish horror film from 1973 shows a lot of promise but fails to deliver the type of movie experience one would expect on the basis of its title.",
"For a number of reasons, I was quite unable to really connect with the story and found myself rather bored at times as the movie progressed.",
"There's just no atmosphere at all here; I don't care about the characters or what happens to them because they simply do not seem real.",
"Our story begins in 15th century France with the execution of a warlock and his mistress.",
"After being called every name in the book (warlock, demon, vampire, Satan worshipper, etc.",
"), the warlock curses his killers just before his head is divorced from his body.",
"His vow to return has to wait four centuries to be realized.",
"Paul, Maurice, and their best girls attend a séance, and Paul asks the medium where he can find the reputed warlock's head and body (which are supposedly buried somewhere on his property).",
"The four friends decide to test the medium's power by searching for the remains in the locations she indicates, so they journey deep into the woods to a remote chalet.",
"The group somehow grows to six people at some point thereabouts, and some pretty bad things begin to happen after a buried chest is discovered.",
"This chest, of course, contains the head of the long-dead warlock, and he soon begins resuming his old ways of making people do his bidding by starting intently at them.",
"Zombies emerge from a swamp, and the housemates in the chalet begin to disappear or fall under the evil influence one by one.",
"Once the warlock gets his feet back under him (literally), he starts popping up everywhere to seduce or kill people.",
"Even though our list of heroes declines steadily over the course of the film, the whole thing gets rather tedious.",
"The bad guys stare at people, and the resulting zombies shamble around aimlessly for the most part.",
"The warlock just isn't evil enough for me to love to hate, and the characters are all pretty expendable in my book.",
"One serious problem I see with this movie is its annoying tendency to jump around constantly; a scene might start in one place and magically end in another.",
"This allows for no flow whatsoever.",
"Then you have the dubbing into English, which is flat, uninvolved, and thus a liability.",
"There are also logical inconsistencies spread far and wide; the movie can tell you one thing and then disprove its own argument the next.",
"It can't even decide what type of horror movie it wants to be; instead, it draws on any number of genres and themes and tries to force all of them together, hoping this will help make up for the warlock's boring ineffectiveness.",
"There are a lot of little things that bugged me too; e.",
"g., the group arrives at the chalet without enough gas to make their trip home and thus cannot run away when bad things start happening; the warlock magically pushes a door open and then materializes in the room, thereby making the act of his opening the door inane; and he also seems to forget he can dematerialize at will, an affliction that bodes an exceedingly tiresome doom.",
"But what about the gore this movie is reported to showcase?",
"The goriness of Horror Rises From the Tomb is vastly overstated in my opinion; surely, a few people die at the hands of sharp implements, and several heads are lost in the process, but we don't see much blood at all.",
"The disembodied heads also look quite unreal to my eyes.",
"I would consider this movie rather tame indeed in the blood and guts department.",
"In essence, this movie wanders around in circles, unsuccessfully trying to discover an identity for itself.",
"As such, it never manages to draw the viewer into the story and thus winds up as yet another forgettable horror film from days gone by."
] |
This game is one of the few games to really push the SNES's power. This and Donkey Kong Country are probably the best looking games ever on the system. That being said this is no wear near the arcade game. I mean no where near.
The game retains the characters and moves, but the players smaller and moves are choppy. The back grounds are still pretty good looking, but the port lost a few stages. And none where 3D like the arcade. So smaller characters and choppier animation makes the game not seem whole. This being said, they really did everything they could with the system. The arcade KI I would give a 5star, but I can't do that for this port because I liked the arcade version so much. But the arcade version was over four times larger. If you get to an arcade with one, give it a go. I think you'll agree that that was one of the best fighters of the 90s. This is only a port of that, but style a good game. | 1 | neutral | [
"This game is one of the few games to really push the SNES's power.",
"This and Donkey Kong Country are probably the best looking games ever on the system.",
"That being said this is no wear near the arcade game.",
"I mean no where near.",
"The game retains the characters and moves, but the players smaller and moves are choppy.",
"The back grounds are still pretty good looking, but the port lost a few stages.",
"And none where 3D like the arcade.",
"So smaller characters and choppier animation makes the game not seem whole.",
"This being said, they really did everything they could with the system.",
"The arcade KI I would give a 5star, but I can't do that for this port because I liked the arcade version so much.",
"But the arcade version was over four times larger.",
"If you get to an arcade with one, give it a go.",
"I think you'll agree that that was one of the best fighters of the 90s.",
"This is only a port of that, but style a good game."
] |
"Chaos Legion" is a game with quite a few good ideas, and some of those ideas work rather well. On the other hand, it's a game with lots of wasted potential, and a slew of bad design decisions. Most of the time, it seems to be more of a tech demo designed to see just how many enemies can fit on the screen at one time than an actual game. With more time and effort, I think Capcom could have made "Chaos Legion" an excellent action game - but as it stands, it's just mediocre.
The game's storyline is nonsensical and hardly worth describing - let's just say it's melodramatic and unintentionally funny more often than not, but at least the cut-scenes are visually appealing and stylish, and therefore quite watchable. At any rate, you play through 90% of the game as Sieg, a knight of some Order or another who has the ability to summon strange monsters to battle alongside him when the going gets rough. He also has a nifty gauntlet that can electrify his opponents, and a long sword to hew them with. The other player character, Arcia, is a bit more agile, and uses two pistols in place of Sieg's weapons - but she can't summon allies. Both characters control pretty well, but unfortunately all of the work that went into Arcia seems to be in vain since you, the player, will only guide her through one short level. The rest of your time you will spend as Sieg.
In terms of gameplay, there isn't anything quite like "Chaos Legion," for better or worse. The best way to describe this one would be to say it's like a strange union of "Devil May Cry," "Dynasty Warriors," and "Gauntlet," only not quite as good as that could have been. Sure, summoning monsters to back you up is a cool feature. Sure, there are a lot of moving characters onscreen at once without so much as a hiccup in the frame rate. Sure, the two main characters play very well and provide some visceral action pieces. None of these things can compensate for the game's lack of variety, though. By the fifth level in the game, you will have encountered virtually every enemy the game provides. Even end-level bosses are not monogamous to their own lairs, and many of them, annoyingly, will take several goes at you during the course of the game. Worst of all, though, are the game's repetitive textures. You will spend 80% of the game traipsing through bland castle environments that look identical to one another.
Alas, even if you could go in and fix the repetitive monster and level designs, the game's fundamental design is so flawed that it would still be far from satisfying. Though the game seems to pride itself on how many characters can be displayed onscreen at any given time, it is all but wasted in a game that generally requires you to slay a target monster (which is usually immobile and semi-helpless) that, when destroyed, will conveniently purge the environment of all 'lesser' foes. Kill the one, and you kill the many. Hacking at one monster like your life depends on it and ignoring all the others is the kind of behavior the game encourages - and that's not a recipe for unbridled fun. Most of the time, it's just a lesson in tedium.
On the plus side, the action itself works quite well. Sieg's back-and-forth sword swipes throw his smaller enemies to and fro like rag dolls, sometimes even juggling them through the air. His crimson gauntlet sends coils of electricity snaking around his unfortunate foes, and his summoned creatures wreak havoc like a small, potent army. Sieg will rarely go it completely alone, and that gives the game a very unique feel.
When the game works, it works quite well - but that only happens once in a while, and the game ultimately doesn't last for very long. The rest of the time you'll be smashing away at repetitive foes who steadfastly refuse to fall for several long, tedious minutes. "Chaos Legion" is worth a look if you're an action fan...It's addictive in short spurts, and not completely devoid of fun. However, in case you can't tell, that's not exactly glimmering praise...
Final Score: C- | 1 | neutral | [
"\"Chaos Legion\" is a game with quite a few good ideas, and some of those ideas work rather well.",
"On the other hand, it's a game with lots of wasted potential, and a slew of bad design decisions.",
"Most of the time, it seems to be more of a tech demo designed to see just how many enemies can fit on the screen at one time than an actual game.",
"With more time and effort, I think Capcom could have made \"Chaos Legion\" an excellent action game - but as it stands, it's just mediocre.",
"The game's storyline is nonsensical and hardly worth describing - let's just say it's melodramatic and unintentionally funny more often than not, but at least the cut-scenes are visually appealing and stylish, and therefore quite watchable.",
"At any rate, you play through 90% of the game as Sieg, a knight of some Order or another who has the ability to summon strange monsters to battle alongside him when the going gets rough.",
"He also has a nifty gauntlet that can electrify his opponents, and a long sword to hew them with.",
"The other player character, Arcia, is a bit more agile, and uses two pistols in place of Sieg's weapons - but she can't summon allies.",
"Both characters control pretty well, but unfortunately all of the work that went into Arcia seems to be in vain since you, the player, will only guide her through one short level.",
"The rest of your time you will spend as Sieg.",
"In terms of gameplay, there isn't anything quite like \"Chaos Legion,\" for better or worse.",
"The best way to describe this one would be to say it's like a strange union of \"Devil May Cry,\" \"Dynasty Warriors,\" and \"Gauntlet,\" only not quite as good as that could have been.",
"Sure, summoning monsters to back you up is a cool feature.",
"Sure, there are a lot of moving characters onscreen at once without so much as a hiccup in the frame rate.",
"Sure, the two main characters play very well and provide some visceral action pieces.",
"None of these things can compensate for the game's lack of variety, though.",
"By the fifth level in the game, you will have encountered virtually every enemy the game provides.",
"Even end-level bosses are not monogamous to their own lairs, and many of them, annoyingly, will take several goes at you during the course of the game.",
"Worst of all, though, are the game's repetitive textures.",
"You will spend 80% of the game traipsing through bland castle environments that look identical to one another.",
"Alas, even if you could go in and fix the repetitive monster and level designs, the game's fundamental design is so flawed that it would still be far from satisfying.",
"Though the game seems to pride itself on how many characters can be displayed onscreen at any given time, it is all but wasted in a game that generally requires you to slay a target monster (which is usually immobile and semi-helpless) that, when destroyed, will conveniently purge the environment of all 'lesser' foes.",
"Kill the one, and you kill the many.",
"Hacking at one monster like your life depends on it and ignoring all the others is the kind of behavior the game encourages - and that's not a recipe for unbridled fun.",
"Most of the time, it's just a lesson in tedium.",
"On the plus side, the action itself works quite well.",
"Sieg's back-and-forth sword swipes throw his smaller enemies to and fro like rag dolls, sometimes even juggling them through the air.",
"His crimson gauntlet sends coils of electricity snaking around his unfortunate foes, and his summoned creatures wreak havoc like a small, potent army.",
"Sieg will rarely go it completely alone, and that gives the game a very unique feel.",
"When the game works, it works quite well - but that only happens once in a while, and the game ultimately doesn't last for very long.",
"The rest of the time you'll be smashing away at repetitive foes who steadfastly refuse to fall for several long, tedious minutes.",
"\"Chaos Legion\" is worth a look if you're an action fan...",
"It's addictive in short spurts, and not completely devoid of fun.",
"However, in case you can't tell, that's not exactly glimmering praise...",
"Final Score: C-"
] |
This was an interesting scent to try, as it can be smelled several times and different notes keep coming to the fore.
The initial spritz does smell strongly of alcohol. Once that dissipate, that's when the spicy, very woodsy notes start to show up. This is touted as being a unisex fragrance, but I would say that at this stage, the scent is fairly intensely masculine. After some time has passed - usually a matter of a couple of hours or so - that woodsy smell starts to fade, and what remains is a slightly less intense floral aroma that retains a hint of the spiciness. At this point, the scent becomes more feminine in nature.
The (changing) scent isn't bad, per se, at any time, but it is on the strong side; so much so that it tends to give me headaches, as I am someone who is generally sensitive to really strong fragrances. This one turned out to be more intense than I expected.
Again (aside from the headaches), the fragrance isn't what I'd call bad, but I also can't say that this is one for which I'll be reaching with any kind of regularity. Moreover, while it could appeal at different times to those looking for a masculine or feminine scent, I would caution users that the scent's change is pretty noticeable, so while those on the hunt for more manly scents might enjoy it initially, they might not be so pleased as the day wears on. Similarly, those looking for a sophisticated, womanly scent (though not one that could ever be called girly or delicate) might not be overly happy with it when it's first used, but after waiting for some time, they could like the end product.
All in all, it's a difficult product to review, because it's something that could easily wind up appealing to different people at different times, given how it changes the longer it's worn. It's strong, but not unpleasant, and I can definitely say that I've never smelled or encountered a fragrance quite like this before. I can't say that I think it's worth the price for which it's being sold, but for all those who are in the market for a scent that's really different, you might like this. | 1 | neutral | [
"This was an interesting scent to try, as it can be smelled several times and different notes keep coming to the fore.",
"The initial spritz does smell strongly of alcohol.",
"Once that dissipate, that's when the spicy, very woodsy notes start to show up.",
"This is touted as being a unisex fragrance, but I would say that at this stage, the scent is fairly intensely masculine.",
"After some time has passed - usually a matter of a couple of hours or so - that woodsy smell starts to fade, and what remains is a slightly less intense floral aroma that retains a hint of the spiciness.",
"At this point, the scent becomes more feminine in nature.",
"The (changing) scent isn't bad, per se, at any time, but it is on the strong side; so much so that it tends to give me headaches, as I am someone who is generally sensitive to really strong fragrances.",
"This one turned out to be more intense than I expected.",
"Again (aside from the headaches), the fragrance isn't what I'd call bad, but I also can't say that this is one for which I'll be reaching with any kind of regularity.",
"Moreover, while it could appeal at different times to those looking for a masculine or feminine scent, I would caution users that the scent's change is pretty noticeable, so while those on the hunt for more manly scents might enjoy it initially, they might not be so pleased as the day wears on.",
"Similarly, those looking for a sophisticated, womanly scent (though not one that could ever be called girly or delicate) might not be overly happy with it when it's first used, but after waiting for some time, they could like the end product.",
"All in all, it's a difficult product to review, because it's something that could easily wind up appealing to different people at different times, given how it changes the longer it's worn.",
"It's strong, but not unpleasant, and I can definitely say that I've never smelled or encountered a fragrance quite like this before.",
"I can't say that I think it's worth the price for which it's being sold, but for all those who are in the market for a scent that's really different, you might like this."
] |
I'm a telecommuter, and I just received a new laptop from work. In order to continue to use my work horse, 20 year old HP LaserJet 4L (unsurpassed quality...HP doesn't build a printer this good any longer), I had to have a USB to Parallel adapter. I was familiar with the Tripp-Lite name, and I read the good reviews here so I didn't mind paying $20+ for quality.
Out of the box, I connected the Tripp-Lite cable to the laptop and Windows installed drivers. It showed it as an unknown device. So, I connected the other end to the 4L...nothing. Then I disconnected the USB end and reconnected it. After a couple of minutes, Windows located and installed 4L drivers. The only way it could have been easier is if I'd connected the printer to the cable prior to plugging in the USB connection.
Update: I no longer highly recommend this product.
It is a good quality cable, but Windows 7 and my printer just don't like each other. The printer/connection to the printer was at best unreliable when connected this way. It would constantly disconnect or become unavailable. After putting up with this for a couple months, I decided to search that well-known auction site for a HP JetDirect. A $20 used JetDirect is super-reliable and lets me share my old printer via TCP/IP port with all my modern computers. | 1 | neutral | [
"I'm a telecommuter, and I just received a new laptop from work.",
"In order to continue to use my work horse, 20 year old HP LaserJet 4L (unsurpassed quality...",
"HP doesn't build a printer this good any longer), I had to have a USB to Parallel adapter.",
"I was familiar with the Tripp-Lite name, and I read the good reviews here so I didn't mind paying $20+ for quality.",
"Out of the box, I connected the Tripp-Lite cable to the laptop and Windows installed drivers.",
"It showed it as an unknown device.",
"So, I connected the other end to the 4L...",
"nothing.",
"Then I disconnected the USB end and reconnected it.",
"After a couple of minutes, Windows located and installed 4L drivers.",
"The only way it could have been easier is if I'd connected the printer to the cable prior to plugging in the USB connection.",
"Update: I no longer highly recommend this product.",
"It is a good quality cable, but Windows 7 and my printer just don't like each other.",
"The printer/connection to the printer was at best unreliable when connected this way.",
"It would constantly disconnect or become unavailable.",
"After putting up with this for a couple months, I decided to search that well-known auction site for a HP JetDirect.",
"A $20 used JetDirect is super-reliable and lets me share my old printer via TCP/IP port with all my modern computers."
] |
The box wasn't as big as i thought. You have to put it all together except for the engine. You needed two wrenches but found one wrench 7/16 and a socket set worked faster. Its got a few tight places so the socket set worked faster and easier. Those are the only tools needed.
The instructions were ok but the photos were so dark you couldn't make things out well. It may have just been a bad print batch. Once all put together, the tiller is light weight to carry around. Yes, carry...there aren't any wheels to move it around. There is a thin plastic handle at the base that you lift to carry. The carry handle, while works, is too low and found my feet hitting the sharp tines while walking with it. You have to be very careful. You can purchase a "kick stand" for it at around $50 so it has a way to rest. If not, you have to lean the tiller on a wall or something or it has to lay down. You can fold the handles up but still its awkward to store.
The engine area is all plastic. For the price of this i would expect a metal casing. The choke pin looks like a golf tee and its plastic as well. The choke pin is in a bad spot to pull in and out. I wouldn't want to touch that area when its hot from running awhile. I figure it will eventually break because its plastic. There are very thin wires that are exposed near the engine and worry that they may get damaged as they aren't covered with the tubing. The large handle grips are nice and the controls are easy to use. I like that the on/off switch is also located on the handles.
Starting it is a bit awkward because you have to lay the thing down. Since there are no wheels or the kickstand on this model. there isn't a way to have it stay upright unless you find a wall of a shed or something to lean it on. You'll have to figure out a way to hold the handle bars and then tug the starting pull to get it started up. Make sure you have the fuel cap on good so the gas doesn't leak out from laying it down.
Once you do have it running its semi loud but hey its an engine so i expected it. The tiller did do a good job in getting pretty deep in the soil. The tines are very sharp so they chopped thru small weeds and roots. Speaking of roots, you have a great time cleaning them out of the tiller as they get all wound tightly between the tines. I found using the hose to clean the dirt on the tines first helped loosen the roots up making it a little easier to get them free. But its a huge pain in the...
I used to have a Yard Machines but it was leaking gas and I couldn't get it fixed. The build quality of that compared to this was so much better but it was heavier too. Not sure that the Mantis will last as long just on the build quality alone. Mine also had spots on the few places that were metal on the engine that was bent.
My sister has an electric one that was $129, and i've used it and found it to be just as good and the build quality was a bit better and it had wheels. You just have to be plugged in. You also don't smell like gas/oil after you are done using it like I did with the Mantis.
I kind of like my sisters electric one better for the ease and better build quality (and wheels) but it did lack the ability to dig deeper. We'll see how the Mantis does over the next year or so. If something should change, i'll update this review. | 1 | neutral | [
"The box wasn't as big as i thought.",
"You have to put it all together except for the engine.",
"You needed two wrenches but found one wrench 7/16 and a socket set worked faster.",
"Its got a few tight places so the socket set worked faster and easier.",
"Those are the only tools needed.",
"The instructions were ok but the photos were so dark you couldn't make things out well.",
"It may have just been a bad print batch.",
"Once all put together, the tiller is light weight to carry around.",
"Yes, carry...",
"there aren't any wheels to move it around.",
"There is a thin plastic handle at the base that you lift to carry.",
"The carry handle, while works, is too low and found my feet hitting the sharp tines while walking with it.",
"You have to be very careful.",
"You can purchase a \"kick stand\" for it at around $50 so it has a way to rest.",
"If not, you have to lean the tiller on a wall or something or it has to lay down.",
"You can fold the handles up but still its awkward to store.",
"The engine area is all plastic.",
"For the price of this i would expect a metal casing.",
"The choke pin looks like a golf tee and its plastic as well.",
"The choke pin is in a bad spot to pull in and out.",
"I wouldn't want to touch that area when its hot from running awhile.",
"I figure it will eventually break because its plastic.",
"There are very thin wires that are exposed near the engine and worry that they may get damaged as they aren't covered with the tubing.",
"The large handle grips are nice and the controls are easy to use.",
"I like that the on/off switch is also located on the handles.",
"Starting it is a bit awkward because you have to lay the thing down.",
"Since there are no wheels or the kickstand on this model.",
"there isn't a way to have it stay upright unless you find a wall of a shed or something to lean it on.",
"You'll have to figure out a way to hold the handle bars and then tug the starting pull to get it started up.",
"Make sure you have the fuel cap on good so the gas doesn't leak out from laying it down.",
"Once you do have it running its semi loud but hey its an engine so i expected it.",
"The tiller did do a good job in getting pretty deep in the soil.",
"The tines are very sharp so they chopped thru small weeds and roots.",
"Speaking of roots, you have a great time cleaning them out of the tiller as they get all wound tightly between the tines.",
"I found using the hose to clean the dirt on the tines first helped loosen the roots up making it a little easier to get them free.",
"But its a huge pain in the...",
"I used to have a Yard Machines but it was leaking gas and I couldn't get it fixed.",
"The build quality of that compared to this was so much better but it was heavier too.",
"Not sure that the Mantis will last as long just on the build quality alone.",
"Mine also had spots on the few places that were metal on the engine that was bent.",
"My sister has an electric one that was $129, and i've used it and found it to be just as good and the build quality was a bit better and it had wheels.",
"You just have to be plugged in.",
"You also don't smell like gas/oil after you are done using it like I did with the Mantis.",
"I kind of like my sisters electric one better for the ease and better build quality (and wheels) but it did lack the ability to dig deeper.",
"We'll see how the Mantis does over the next year or so.",
"If something should change, i'll update this review."
] |
I expected this to be more sophisticated than it actually is. All the dogs are built on a basic mold: either generic small or generic big dog and to make different breeds it alters it a bit. But the breed-specific anatomy isn't that great. I can't help but think the programmers didn't consult ANY breed standards. Many of the "breeds" on this game just bear a faint resemblance. Even when you totally customize a dog you are quite limited in what you can do. For instance the proportions are largely stuck the same. You can't really change angulation, leg length, depth of chest, etc. And forget about making far from the generic mold like Bulldogs and Shar Pei. There just simply isn't enough ability for customization. You can sorta change the texture of the coat (it has the options straight, curly, wavy, etc.) but it is not convincing to the eye. Pretty much the further away from straight you get the blurrier it gets. You can change coat length but it looks funny the longer it gets. I'm also not too happy with the tail options. Like for docked breeds you can have a docked tail but it's the length you'd see on a Weimaraner or Vizsla and it doesn't stand up at all! It looks pretty funny on a Doberman Pinscher, Schnauzer (you can actually make convincing schnauzers by the way!), Boxer, etc.
What really peeved me is there is no way to control the depth of the head. It's like, stuck on being really deep. So when you make a Pit Bull (called an Amstaff on the game) it looks more like a Pit Bull-Great Dane mix!
Now there are some good sides to it. If you don't care about breed-specific nuances and just want to make cool looking dogs regardless of if they look much like their breed or not then you would be happy with this. You have a good bit of control over markings in the coat.
You can own cats, birds, and some small pets too. Cats and dogs can get jobs which makes you quite a bit of money. This game adds wolves and werewolves. If you have a lot of trees on your property a wolf will probably visit. If you play with it for awhile it will bite you and turn you into a werewolf until you purchase the potion that cures it from the pet trainer. This is a good thing if you have a sim with these aspirations. | 1 | neutral | [
"I expected this to be more sophisticated than it actually is.",
"All the dogs are built on a basic mold: either generic small or generic big dog and to make different breeds it alters it a bit.",
"But the breed-specific anatomy isn't that great.",
"I can't help but think the programmers didn't consult ANY breed standards.",
"Many of the \"breeds\" on this game just bear a faint resemblance.",
"Even when you totally customize a dog you are quite limited in what you can do.",
"For instance the proportions are largely stuck the same.",
"You can't really change angulation, leg length, depth of chest, etc.",
"And forget about making far from the generic mold like Bulldogs and Shar Pei.",
"There just simply isn't enough ability for customization.",
"You can sorta change the texture of the coat (it has the options straight, curly, wavy, etc.",
") but it is not convincing to the eye.",
"Pretty much the further away from straight you get the blurrier it gets.",
"You can change coat length but it looks funny the longer it gets.",
"I'm also not too happy with the tail options.",
"Like for docked breeds you can have a docked tail but it's the length you'd see on a Weimaraner or Vizsla and it doesn't stand up at all!",
"It looks pretty funny on a Doberman Pinscher, Schnauzer (you can actually make convincing schnauzers by the way!",
"), Boxer, etc.",
"What really peeved me is there is no way to control the depth of the head.",
"It's like, stuck on being really deep.",
"So when you make a Pit Bull (called an Amstaff on the game) it looks more like a Pit Bull-Great Dane mix!",
"Now there are some good sides to it.",
"If you don't care about breed-specific nuances and just want to make cool looking dogs regardless of if they look much like their breed or not then you would be happy with this.",
"You have a good bit of control over markings in the coat.",
"You can own cats, birds, and some small pets too.",
"Cats and dogs can get jobs which makes you quite a bit of money.",
"This game adds wolves and werewolves.",
"If you have a lot of trees on your property a wolf will probably visit.",
"If you play with it for awhile it will bite you and turn you into a werewolf until you purchase the potion that cures it from the pet trainer.",
"This is a good thing if you have a sim with these aspirations."
] |
I had a pair of journeyman dikes before these, so when I saw that this pair required a little more effort to cut wires, I just assumed it was due to that. I have been using them off and on for over a month, mainly working on larger wire sizes, but I noticed on occasion that they didn't cut finer wires. Of course, when you are busy trying to get the job done, you might think something else stopped it from cutting through and you just move on. The other day I looked more closely and I could see that the cutting edges have a tiny gap since it hits a high spot right near the blades bottom, so if you cut a finer wire (14 ga or less) there, its good, but anywhere above that, it does not cut all the way through. Tried to return them, but the return period has passed. Will attempt to grind off that high spot without ruining its ability to cut there as well. I have used Klein tools for over 20 years. This is a first. I read another similar review. If they want to keep being the electricians tool source of choice, higher quality control is needed on their part. If i can't fix it, I will buy Klein again, but not through Amazon. I will buy it locally where I can see the blades close fully before I make the purchase. | 1 | neutral | [
"I had a pair of journeyman dikes before these, so when I saw that this pair required a little more effort to cut wires, I just assumed it was due to that.",
"I have been using them off and on for over a month, mainly working on larger wire sizes, but I noticed on occasion that they didn't cut finer wires.",
"Of course, when you are busy trying to get the job done, you might think something else stopped it from cutting through and you just move on.",
"The other day I looked more closely and I could see that the cutting edges have a tiny gap since it hits a high spot right near the blades bottom, so if you cut a finer wire (14 ga or less) there, its good, but anywhere above that, it does not cut all the way through.",
"Tried to return them, but the return period has passed.",
"Will attempt to grind off that high spot without ruining its ability to cut there as well.",
"I have used Klein tools for over 20 years.",
"This is a first.",
"I read another similar review.",
"If they want to keep being the electricians tool source of choice, higher quality control is needed on their part.",
"If i can't fix it, I will buy Klein again, but not through Amazon.",
"I will buy it locally where I can see the blades close fully before I make the purchase."
] |
...is ONI.
You see, I actually borrowed this game from the library for PC, after hearing several bad reviews about it (seeing if they were right, heh). However, after burning it and playing it, I was engulfed in ONI's world...for an hour or so. Then it became difficult, unless you abused the several combos that were built in the game, which made it extremely easy.
But all in all, ONI seems to be a normal adventure game. Sure, you're in a third-person perspective and you fire guns and everything. Maybe the storyline is a little original. ONI would be extraordinary...if it were not for the fact that most games have that "extraordinary" ONI touch. Tch. Skip it, unless you want to be entertained for an hour. Then dump it. | 1 | neutral | [
"...",
"is ONI.",
"You see, I actually borrowed this game from the library for PC, after hearing several bad reviews about it (seeing if they were right, heh).",
"However, after burning it and playing it, I was engulfed in ONI's world...",
"for an hour or so.",
"Then it became difficult, unless you abused the several combos that were built in the game, which made it extremely easy.",
"But all in all, ONI seems to be a normal adventure game.",
"Sure, you're in a third-person perspective and you fire guns and everything.",
"Maybe the storyline is a little original.",
"ONI would be extraordinary...",
"if it were not for the fact that most games have that \"extraordinary\" ONI touch.",
"Tch.",
"Skip it, unless you want to be entertained for an hour.",
"Then dump it."
] |
Whatever it's supposed to calm, it doesn't because I still am just as ticked off whenever Faux News comes on. Even Rachel Maddow makes my skin turn bright red. This *makes zero difference*.
Why is that? Because it doesn't cure skin conditions anymore than it can fix blathering fools on the TV. It's just a cream in a tube hawking nonsense about herbs that's mostly blah blah feel good nonsense. You have eczema? atopic dermatitis? rosacea? Good heavens, get to a dermatologist. No matter how good a tube of over the counter smell-good is - it won't fix a medical condition; it'll just fix your wallet out of money.
But it does smell nice and it actually does moisturize nicely. But I'M STILL RAGING MAD AT THE NEWS. | 1 | neutral | [
"Whatever it's supposed to calm, it doesn't because I still am just as ticked off whenever Faux News comes on.",
"Even Rachel Maddow makes my skin turn bright red.",
"This *makes zero difference*.",
"Why is that?",
"Because it doesn't cure skin conditions anymore than it can fix blathering fools on the TV.",
"It's just a cream in a tube hawking nonsense about herbs that's mostly blah blah feel good nonsense.",
"You have eczema?",
"atopic dermatitis?",
"rosacea?",
"Good heavens, get to a dermatologist.",
"No matter how good a tube of over the counter smell-good is - it won't fix a medical condition; it'll just fix your wallet out of money.",
"But it does smell nice and it actually does moisturize nicely.",
"But I'M STILL RAGING MAD AT THE NEWS."
] |
You nearly always get what you pay for. I have looked (shopped extensively)around a lot before I bought these.... these are well worth the price. They are what I would call a good heavy unit in the low capacity type of wheel assemblies. You can always buy better than this, but you will pay at least double or more to what these will cost you. Good deal for the money and reasonably well made too!
UPDATE: What I said above has been tested now.
Part 1: I built a 200# 4ft. X 8ft. plywood work table and installed 6 of these assemblies to make it light and easy to roll. Loaded it is about 250 to 300# max. The wheels can't handle it well at all. The problem is not the wheel itself, it is the chincy metal materials they used. Soft, flexible, and bends rather than turn on the rollers, even on a flat new cement floor. Sad. Data: 300# by 6 rollers = ~ 50 # each loading.... pretty over rated huh?!
Part 2: I made a small cabinet for the Sander I bought on Amazon, and I used 4 rollers to easy the locating of the tool in my shop. Wieghs about 100# with the sander: works perfectly. DATA: 100# by 4 wheels = 25# per wheel. Obviously, typical China Junk.... very overrated. Listed to handle 220# loads each, and at 50# each they begin to fail.
Derate them by about 400% and you are just about right. If you must have 50# or more on them, the metal is just tooooo soft and bendable. Otherwise, just great. | 1 | neutral | [
"You nearly always get what you pay for.",
"I have looked (shopped extensively)around a lot before I bought these....",
"these are well worth the price.",
"They are what I would call a good heavy unit in the low capacity type of wheel assemblies.",
"You can always buy better than this, but you will pay at least double or more to what these will cost you.",
"Good deal for the money and reasonably well made too!",
"UPDATE: What I said above has been tested now.",
"Part 1: I built a 200# 4ft.",
"X 8ft.",
"plywood work table and installed 6 of these assemblies to make it light and easy to roll.",
"Loaded it is about 250 to 300# max.",
"The wheels can't handle it well at all.",
"The problem is not the wheel itself, it is the chincy metal materials they used.",
"Soft, flexible, and bends rather than turn on the rollers, even on a flat new cement floor.",
"Sad.",
"Data: 300# by 6 rollers = ~ 50 # each loading....",
"pretty over rated huh?!",
"Part 2: I made a small cabinet for the Sander I bought on Amazon, and I used 4 rollers to easy the locating of the tool in my shop.",
"Wieghs about 100# with the sander: works perfectly.",
"DATA: 100# by 4 wheels = 25# per wheel.",
"Obviously, typical China Junk....",
"very overrated.",
"Listed to handle 220# loads each, and at 50# each they begin to fail.",
"Derate them by about 400% and you are just about right.",
"If you must have 50# or more on them, the metal is just tooooo soft and bendable.",
"Otherwise, just great."
] |
PROS
The 3"-core rolls, installed on a good professional dispenser, used by experienced hands, works beautifully for sealing cartons and protecting mailing labels. It is unusally easy to install in the dispenser, unwinds unusually easy and quietly, and cuts unusually easy.
If you do alot of packaging in a quiet environment, such as a library, then this tape may be advantageous, it does not "screeeeeech" as it comes off the roll. Some brands of tape require real muscle to pull off the roll, and so, a day of sealing boxes can be a workout. The EZ tape rolls off the roll almost effortly---so much so, that you may have to find ways to slow it down with some professional dispensers (an easy adjustment with most).
CONS
10 or 20 years ago, this stuff was introduced and sold as a consumer product WITHOUT a dispenser as "easy tear tape" because you can easily tear it to length without a dispenser or scissors. If you are very careful never to allow the free end to "collapse" onto the roll and always fold over an about 1" section when done for a new "starter", it works fairly well without a dispenser or even scissors.
However, if you use it with a cheap dispenser (such as this dispenser), it is easy for the free end to collapse onto the roll. If that happens, it is almost impossible to restart the roll, because its tendancy to "slivering and splitting".
DIFFERENCE WITH ORDINARY CLEAR SHIPPING TAPE
EZ-tape adheres well to paper, but is not "extra-wide household tape". It does not adhere well to itself nor to non-paper articles. For example, it would NOT be suitable for temporarily bundling a dozen poles together, sealing a tear in a vinyl raincoat, temporarily waterproofing a cracked taillight, temporarily reinforcing a cracked window, nor any number of other household uses that ordinary 2" wide clear tape is useful for. (For most purposes as "general household tape", blue "painter's tape" far superior, but is not clear.) <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/3M-2090-1A-Scotch-Blue-Painter-s-Tape-for-Multi-Surfaces-1-Inch-by-60-Yard/dp/B00004Z4CP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">3M 2090-1A Scotch Blue Painter's Tape for Multi-Surfaces 1-Inch-by-60-Yard</a>
HOW TO RESTART ROLLS
Place a peice of tape (ideally masking tape) perpendicularly across the EZ tape near the end. Rub the masking (or other) tape to insure maximum adhesion. As slowly as you can, peel up the end of the EZ tape back to the masking (or other) tape. Because of the slivering, you may have to peel back 5 or 5 "slivers". Then peel off the "unit" held together by the masking tape.
CONCLUSION
I still greatly prefer premium Scotch brand tape, however EZ tape may be preferable in special cases.
> Click on Stoney just below the product title to see my other reviews, or leave a comment to ask a question. | 1 | neutral | [
"PROS\nThe 3\"-core rolls, installed on a good professional dispenser, used by experienced hands, works beautifully for sealing cartons and protecting mailing labels.",
"It is unusally easy to install in the dispenser, unwinds unusually easy and quietly, and cuts unusually easy.",
"If you do alot of packaging in a quiet environment, such as a library, then this tape may be advantageous, it does not \"screeeeeech\" as it comes off the roll.",
"Some brands of tape require real muscle to pull off the roll, and so, a day of sealing boxes can be a workout.",
"The EZ tape rolls off the roll almost effortly---so much so, that you may have to find ways to slow it down with some professional dispensers (an easy adjustment with most).",
"CONS\n10 or 20 years ago, this stuff was introduced and sold as a consumer product WITHOUT a dispenser as \"easy tear tape\" because you can easily tear it to length without a dispenser or scissors.",
"If you are very careful never to allow the free end to \"collapse\" onto the roll and always fold over an about 1\" section when done for a new \"starter\", it works fairly well without a dispenser or even scissors.",
"However, if you use it with a cheap dispenser (such as this dispenser), it is easy for the free end to collapse onto the roll.",
"If that happens, it is almost impossible to restart the roll, because its tendancy to \"slivering and splitting\".",
"DIFFERENCE WITH ORDINARY CLEAR SHIPPING TAPE\nEZ-tape adheres well to paper, but is not \"extra-wide household tape\".",
"It does not adhere well to itself nor to non-paper articles.",
"For example, it would NOT be suitable for temporarily bundling a dozen poles together, sealing a tear in a vinyl raincoat, temporarily waterproofing a cracked taillight, temporarily reinforcing a cracked window, nor any number of other household uses that ordinary 2\" wide clear tape is useful for.",
"(For most purposes as \"general household tape\", blue \"painter's tape\" far superior, but is not clear.",
") <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/3M-2090-1A-Scotch-Blue-Painter-s-Tape-for-Multi-Surfaces-1-Inch-by-60-Yard/dp/B00004Z4CP/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">3M 2090-1A Scotch Blue Painter's Tape for Multi-Surfaces 1-Inch-by-60-Yard</a>\n\nHOW TO RESTART ROLLS\nPlace a peice of tape (ideally masking tape) perpendicularly across the EZ tape near the end.",
"Rub the masking (or other) tape to insure maximum adhesion.",
"As slowly as you can, peel up the end of the EZ tape back to the masking (or other) tape.",
"Because of the slivering, you may have to peel back 5 or 5 \"slivers\".",
"Then peel off the \"unit\" held together by the masking tape.",
"CONCLUSION\nI still greatly prefer premium Scotch brand tape, however EZ tape may be preferable in special cases.",
"> Click on Stoney just below the product title to see my other reviews, or leave a comment to ask a question."
] |
It seems to only charge my phone (Note 4) to about 75% then the green light on the unit blinks and it stops charging the phone. Good in an emergency but I like the Anker Astro E1 5200mAh much better, bigger battery. The finish on this one is better, not slippery like the Astro E1.
UPDATE 1/23/16: Due to my issues with the Anker Mini, Anker kindly sent me a the Astro 6700mAh Ultra-Compact Premium Portable Charger, this one is a better fit for me, it charges my Note 4 several times and my 7-in no brand tablet. I am very pleased with the Astro 6700. I just can't say the same for the Mini, it has "mini" capability, just be aware of that. Get the size battery that will charge the devices you need charging, the additional weight of the bigger batteries is negligible. Winter storm Jonas is hitting the northeast today, so I charged up my Astro E1 5200mAh, my Astro 6700mAh and even the Anker mini, I am all set if the power goes out.
Anker customer service is great, and the company is taking stock of the opinion of their customers, this makes them top-notch in my book and I will always consider purchasing their products. I know with electronics, there is sometimes issues, some of the top manufacturers out there also has disappointing products. Keep up the good work Anker! | 1 | neutral | [
"It seems to only charge my phone (Note 4) to about 75% then the green light on the unit blinks and it stops charging the phone.",
"Good in an emergency but I like the Anker Astro E1 5200mAh much better, bigger battery.",
"The finish on this one is better, not slippery like the Astro E1.",
"UPDATE 1/23/16: Due to my issues with the Anker Mini, Anker kindly sent me a the Astro 6700mAh Ultra-Compact Premium Portable Charger, this one is a better fit for me, it charges my Note 4 several times and my 7-in no brand tablet.",
"I am very pleased with the Astro 6700.",
"I just can't say the same for the Mini, it has \"mini\" capability, just be aware of that.",
"Get the size battery that will charge the devices you need charging, the additional weight of the bigger batteries is negligible.",
"Winter storm Jonas is hitting the northeast today, so I charged up my Astro E1 5200mAh, my Astro 6700mAh and even the Anker mini, I am all set if the power goes out.",
"Anker customer service is great, and the company is taking stock of the opinion of their customers, this makes them top-notch in my book and I will always consider purchasing their products.",
"I know with electronics, there is sometimes issues, some of the top manufacturers out there also has disappointing products.",
"Keep up the good work Anker!"
] |
Reading this play is not too interesting. There are a lot of visual elements in this play such as ship wrecks, dancing fairies, the use of magic, and an ugly monster. The themes of power, freedom and forgiveness are touched upon.
Propero has had his kingdom usurped by his brother and he seeks to regain his kingdom by the use of his magic. His brother Antonio and company are purposely shipwrecked on the island that Prospero has been banished to. One of the shipwrecked company is a son of a king named Ferdinand who falls in love at first sight with Prospero's daughter Miranda and he becomes a slave to Prospero. Typical Shakesphearian love at first sight silliness ensues.
Prospero has another slave, a monster named Caliban. Caliban is an interesting character with some of the best lines in the play. He seeks to regain the island back from Prospero with the help of two lowly comic characters, Trinculo and Stephano. This part is faintly funny to read about.
Eventually the play wraps up with the gruff, overbearing, cantankerous, and somewhat cruel windbag Prospero forgiving his brother's trespasses, regaining his kingdom, and stifling Caliban's rebellion. And, of course, no Shakespheare play is complete without a marraige--this time Miranda and Ferdinand will be wed. Prospero also frees his trusty servant-fairy Ariel and having accomplished all this, mentions that he is ready to die.
Prospero is a psychologically complex character worth reading about. I also liked the scene in which his betraying brother Antonio seeks to subtlely persuade Sebastian to kill Alonso, the duke of Naples, and capture his kingdom. It had a lot of moody, dramatic tension to it. But for the most part I couldn't get into this play. | 1 | neutral | [
"Reading this play is not too interesting.",
"There are a lot of visual elements in this play such as ship wrecks, dancing fairies, the use of magic, and an ugly monster.",
"The themes of power, freedom and forgiveness are touched upon.",
"Propero has had his kingdom usurped by his brother and he seeks to regain his kingdom by the use of his magic.",
"His brother Antonio and company are purposely shipwrecked on the island that Prospero has been banished to.",
"One of the shipwrecked company is a son of a king named Ferdinand who falls in love at first sight with Prospero's daughter Miranda and he becomes a slave to Prospero.",
"Typical Shakesphearian love at first sight silliness ensues.",
"Prospero has another slave, a monster named Caliban.",
"Caliban is an interesting character with some of the best lines in the play.",
"He seeks to regain the island back from Prospero with the help of two lowly comic characters, Trinculo and Stephano.",
"This part is faintly funny to read about.",
"Eventually the play wraps up with the gruff, overbearing, cantankerous, and somewhat cruel windbag Prospero forgiving his brother's trespasses, regaining his kingdom, and stifling Caliban's rebellion.",
"And, of course, no Shakespheare play is complete without a marraige--this time Miranda and Ferdinand will be wed.",
"Prospero also frees his trusty servant-fairy Ariel and having accomplished all this, mentions that he is ready to die.",
"Prospero is a psychologically complex character worth reading about.",
"I also liked the scene in which his betraying brother Antonio seeks to subtlely persuade Sebastian to kill Alonso, the duke of Naples, and capture his kingdom.",
"It had a lot of moody, dramatic tension to it.",
"But for the most part I couldn't get into this play."
] |
We haven't experienced poor quality with our set (yet) with the stickers peeling, but I was surprised that there weren't any sheets under the puzzle pieces that were full size copies of the completed puzzle. This is way too difficult for the average 3-year old to complete by himself. My boys (8 months and 3.5 years) had fun with me, the 3 yo learning about finding the right borders and assembling the borders first, the 8 month old content to sit by us and chew on the blocks.
I grew up with a Winnie the Pooh block puzzle in the 80s that was 12 or 20 paper cubes inside 12 or 20 clear plastic cubes. My son still plays with that set at my grandmother's house. That one comes with a full-sized sheet of each completed puzzle for younger children. You pick which one you want, place the picture in the tray, and then assemble the puzzle on top of that.
The least Melissa and Doug could do would be to link to a website or something where you can print these off. As we assemble the puzzles, I'm taking pictures with my phone to print so we can at least have something bigger than the tiny images on the BACK of the tray.
Based on other reviews, I might Modge Podge the pieces when the kids are sleeping if the pictures start to peel. | 1 | neutral | [
"We haven't experienced poor quality with our set (yet) with the stickers peeling, but I was surprised that there weren't any sheets under the puzzle pieces that were full size copies of the completed puzzle.",
"This is way too difficult for the average 3-year old to complete by himself.",
"My boys (8 months and 3.",
"5 years) had fun with me, the 3 yo learning about finding the right borders and assembling the borders first, the 8 month old content to sit by us and chew on the blocks.",
"I grew up with a Winnie the Pooh block puzzle in the 80s that was 12 or 20 paper cubes inside 12 or 20 clear plastic cubes.",
"My son still plays with that set at my grandmother's house.",
"That one comes with a full-sized sheet of each completed puzzle for younger children.",
"You pick which one you want, place the picture in the tray, and then assemble the puzzle on top of that.",
"The least Melissa and Doug could do would be to link to a website or something where you can print these off.",
"As we assemble the puzzles, I'm taking pictures with my phone to print so we can at least have something bigger than the tiny images on the BACK of the tray.",
"Based on other reviews, I might Modge Podge the pieces when the kids are sleeping if the pictures start to peel."
] |
Usually, when they make a highly anticipated sequel to a much-loved video game franchise, the list of available activities goes up. It seems to me that with GTA IV, that list actually went down. Anyone agree?
I waited anxiously for GTA IV just like many other gamers. I have only been playing it for a few days, and I am already 50% of the way through. After playing GTA: San Andreas for a few days, I was thrilled to discover that I was only about 20% of the way through and still had not revealed the entire map! More detail at the sake of less space to explore = "Looks great. Sure wish it was bigger."
One of the most exciting moments in my video gaming history was discovering that you could finally steal the airplanes in GTA: San Andreas! One of the most disappointing moments in my video gaming history was discovering that they had eliminated this from GTA IV! What a perfect opportunity to make the flight ceiling higher and the destinations more interesting! Sorry, turns out it's back down to one smallish city. Plus, realizing that you could jump of of planes and sky-dive was freakin' sweet! Not happening this time around.
The controls for the various vehicles seem to have become more difficult. (More realistic?) I preferred being able to grab the handbrake and execute crisp turns and 180's to the new "touch the handbrake and spin out" scheme that exists now. And the motorcycles? It seems they've switched the reasonably grippy tires they normally used with tractionless rings of plastic.
And where have the fire-truck and ambulance missions gone? What about the ability to swim under water? Why haven't I been able to carry around a samurai sword or a chainsaw? Where is the flame-thrower? And what a great location the new Liberty City would have been for a jet-pack!
GTA IV seems to be a lot of "been there, done that" with very little new to keep the legions of fans happy. It will sell a billion copies because of the name it carries, but overall, this game is a disappointment. | 1 | neutral | [
"Usually, when they make a highly anticipated sequel to a much-loved video game franchise, the list of available activities goes up.",
"It seems to me that with GTA IV, that list actually went down.",
"Anyone agree?",
"I waited anxiously for GTA IV just like many other gamers.",
"I have only been playing it for a few days, and I am already 50% of the way through.",
"After playing GTA: San Andreas for a few days, I was thrilled to discover that I was only about 20% of the way through and still had not revealed the entire map!",
"More detail at the sake of less space to explore = \"Looks great.",
"Sure wish it was bigger.",
"\"\n One of the most exciting moments in my video gaming history was discovering that you could finally steal the airplanes in GTA: San Andreas!",
"One of the most disappointing moments in my video gaming history was discovering that they had eliminated this from GTA IV!",
"What a perfect opportunity to make the flight ceiling higher and the destinations more interesting!",
"Sorry, turns out it's back down to one smallish city.",
"Plus, realizing that you could jump of of planes and sky-dive was freakin' sweet!",
"Not happening this time around.",
"The controls for the various vehicles seem to have become more difficult.",
"(More realistic?",
") I preferred being able to grab the handbrake and execute crisp turns and 180's to the new \"touch the handbrake and spin out\" scheme that exists now.",
"And the motorcycles?",
"It seems they've switched the reasonably grippy tires they normally used with tractionless rings of plastic.",
"And where have the fire-truck and ambulance missions gone?",
"What about the ability to swim under water?",
"Why haven't I been able to carry around a samurai sword or a chainsaw?",
"Where is the flame-thrower?",
"And what a great location the new Liberty City would have been for a jet-pack!",
"GTA IV seems to be a lot of \"been there, done that\" with very little new to keep the legions of fans happy.",
"It will sell a billion copies because of the name it carries, but overall, this game is a disappointment."
] |
OK I picked this up ... for [price]. .... I do not think Rare made the right decision when they put all the cussing and the gratuitous violence in this game. (No matter how funny this made the game.) I don't think that it was really all that fun and most of it is too easy but the parts that are hard are too hard to know what you are supposed to do next unless you have the guide.
It was just the same old stuff you always do in scavenger hunt type games but with gross-outs galore. However I do now understand why Rare decided not to make this a kids game. They thought that this would bring teenage money back to Nintendo. however they ended up with a game that only appeals to guys that permanently have a thirteen year old brain. | 1 | neutral | [
"OK I picked this up...",
"for [price].",
"....",
"I do not think Rare made the right decision when they put all the cussing and the gratuitous violence in this game.",
"(No matter how funny this made the game.",
") I don't think that it was really all that fun and most of it is too easy but the parts that are hard are too hard to know what you are supposed to do next unless you have the guide.",
"It was just the same old stuff you always do in scavenger hunt type games but with gross-outs galore.",
"However I do now understand why Rare decided not to make this a kids game.",
"They thought that this would bring teenage money back to Nintendo.",
"however they ended up with a game that only appeals to guys that permanently have a thirteen year old brain."
] |
Despite the good and bad reviews, I decided to purchase this game and make my own judgement as to how good/bad it really is. My conclusion is that if you do not learn to controll the sixxaxis, you will not like this game. And in my opinion, I think the patch did little to help the gameplay, I still preffer the original motion sensing.
One thing I do want to point out is that this game can be played on your PSP, by using the Remote Play function. This I think is the only game so far that utilizes this option and is a pretty cool one at that. The graphics will suffer on gameplay, but is not terribly bad to play on the psp nonetheless. Also the controls actually work pretty good.
I do have to say that the cutscenes where more like cutplayscenes cause everytime I was getting into the action my play time was cut by them. This can get a bit annoying because they give you breaks in gameplay more than often.
I would tell anyone who wants to get this game and is afraid to shell the money to rent it first. | 1 | neutral | [
"Despite the good and bad reviews, I decided to purchase this game and make my own judgement as to how good/bad it really is.",
"My conclusion is that if you do not learn to controll the sixxaxis, you will not like this game.",
"And in my opinion, I think the patch did little to help the gameplay, I still preffer the original motion sensing.",
"One thing I do want to point out is that this game can be played on your PSP, by using the Remote Play function.",
"This I think is the only game so far that utilizes this option and is a pretty cool one at that.",
"The graphics will suffer on gameplay, but is not terribly bad to play on the psp nonetheless.",
"Also the controls actually work pretty good.",
"I do have to say that the cutscenes where more like cutplayscenes cause everytime I was getting into the action my play time was cut by them.",
"This can get a bit annoying because they give you breaks in gameplay more than often.",
"I would tell anyone who wants to get this game and is afraid to shell the money to rent it first."
] |
Carolyn Hax: After your spouseΓ’ΒΒs affair how do you know whether to stay or go?
Dear Carolyn: One of my cousins Γ’ΒΒ Kathy Γ’ΒΒ is really into lineage. She submitted samples to determine her genetic makeup and discovered her eldest brother Γ’ΒΒBillΓ’ΒΒ had a different father. Both of their parents are deceased.
My mother KathyΓ’ΒΒs motherΓ’ΒΒs sister is in assisted living. Kathy wants me to accompany her to visit my mother and ask her what she knows about BillΓ’ΒΒs father. Chances are my mother knows something but she is a private person. If she wanted us to know this IΓ’ΒΒm sure she would have volunteered the information.
Bill doesnΓ’ΒΒt care about who his biological father is. Unless BillΓ’ΒΒs biological father submits his DNA for a match the last chance anybody has of uncovering his identity is my mother .
I canΓ’ΒΒt shake the feeling that asking her will disrupt my mother . I believe Kathy will eventually corner my mother herself .
Ancestry Issues: Your mother can speak for herself (yes?) Kathy can speak for herself and Bill can speak for himself. | 1 | neutral | [
"Carolyn Hax: After your spouseΓ’ΒΒs affair how do you know whether to stay or go?",
"Dear Carolyn: One of my cousins Γ’ΒΒ Kathy Γ’ΒΒ is really into lineage.",
"She submitted samples to determine her genetic makeup and discovered her eldest brother Γ’ΒΒBillΓ’ΒΒ had a different father.",
"Both of their parents are deceased.",
"My mother KathyΓ’ΒΒs motherΓ’ΒΒs sister is in assisted living.",
"Kathy wants me to accompany her to visit my mother and ask her what she knows about BillΓ’ΒΒs father.",
"Chances are my mother knows something but she is a private person.",
"If she wanted us to know this IΓ’ΒΒm sure she would have volunteered the information.",
"Bill doesnΓ’ΒΒt care about who his biological father is.",
"Unless BillΓ’ΒΒs biological father submits his DNA for a match the last chance anybody has of uncovering his identity is my mother.",
"I canΓ’ΒΒt shake the feeling that asking her will disrupt my mother.",
"I believe Kathy will eventually corner my mother herself.",
"Ancestry Issues: Your mother can speak for herself (yes?",
") Kathy can speak for herself and Bill can speak for himself."
] |
This appears to be a formula novel, part of a series. In a short space it sets up the story at hand and lays out stories to come. The characters seem a little brittle. There are a bevy of desperate women intent on the husband hunt, most of them scheming, unflattering portraits of womanhood.
The men are much more admirable, with one or two exceptions. They're loyal and quick thinking and of course good looking and well titled. The hero is somewhat stuffy, hamstrung by his position as a friend of the family. The coming together of the hero and heroine is hampered by their efforts to be self sacrificing.
In short, it's a fairly predictable plot. It might be interesting to see how the sequels go. But it's possible I've read one of those sequels already. Or one like it, perhaps. | 1 | neutral | [
"This appears to be a formula novel, part of a series.",
"In a short space it sets up the story at hand and lays out stories to come.",
"The characters seem a little brittle.",
"There are a bevy of desperate women intent on the husband hunt, most of them scheming, unflattering portraits of womanhood.",
"The men are much more admirable, with one or two exceptions.",
"They're loyal and quick thinking and of course good looking and well titled.",
"The hero is somewhat stuffy, hamstrung by his position as a friend of the family.",
"The coming together of the hero and heroine is hampered by their efforts to be self sacrificing.",
"In short, it's a fairly predictable plot.",
"It might be interesting to see how the sequels go.",
"But it's possible I've read one of those sequels already.",
"Or one like it, perhaps."
] |
Knorr Pasta Sides Smokehouse Bacon Parmesan is a pouch of fettuccine pasta with powdered sauce to which water, butter, and milk are added before cooking to make a saucy pasta dish. In the past, this line was sold under the Lipton brand and then the Knorr-Lipton brand. They are quite popular with long-distance hikers as a quick, inexpensive, filling, versatile, lightweight, readily-available, one-pot meal. The same attributes make them ideal for easy preparation at home.
This particular variety sounds appealing but is not my favorite. It came out very runny even though I cut back on the water. The little bits of pre-cooked bacon are gritty more than chewy and taste more like Liquid Smoke (remember that stuff?) than bacon. It also doesn't have a strong cheese taste, very mild.
I didn't want to add more cheese because it's already salty. A lot of black pepper and refrigerating it overnight firmed it up and gave it a little more flavor but the other varieties I have tried were more appealing. | 1 | neutral | [
"Knorr Pasta Sides Smokehouse Bacon Parmesan is a pouch of fettuccine pasta with powdered sauce to which water, butter, and milk are added before cooking to make a saucy pasta dish.",
"In the past, this line was sold under the Lipton brand and then the Knorr-Lipton brand.",
"They are quite popular with long-distance hikers as a quick, inexpensive, filling, versatile, lightweight, readily-available, one-pot meal.",
"The same attributes make them ideal for easy preparation at home.",
"This particular variety sounds appealing but is not my favorite.",
"It came out very runny even though I cut back on the water.",
"The little bits of pre-cooked bacon are gritty more than chewy and taste more like Liquid Smoke (remember that stuff?",
") than bacon.",
"It also doesn't have a strong cheese taste, very mild.",
"I didn't want to add more cheese because it's already salty.",
"A lot of black pepper and refrigerating it overnight firmed it up and gave it a little more flavor but the other varieties I have tried were more appealing."
] |
This is a fun book that I really enjoyed. The only reason that I am not giving it 5 stars is because I bought the book with the impression that it was a clean romance. Admittedly there is no clothing removal or petting, the kissing scenes are WAY too graphic for a "clean" read. The story is fun though. I loved the entire Goldilocks and the Three bears thing. His impish teasing and her honesty. His getting roped into going fishing with the juvenile delinquent responsible for getting him and Honey together is a great little twist. I really liked the story. It was a great read, I loved the characters (except the fiance of course!) and the whole story complete with some unexpected depth into the characters. Just didn't want to be that involved with their kissing thank you. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is a fun book that I really enjoyed.",
"The only reason that I am not giving it 5 stars is because I bought the book with the impression that it was a clean romance.",
"Admittedly there is no clothing removal or petting, the kissing scenes are WAY too graphic for a \"clean\" read.",
"The story is fun though.",
"I loved the entire Goldilocks and the Three bears thing.",
"His impish teasing and her honesty.",
"His getting roped into going fishing with the juvenile delinquent responsible for getting him and Honey together is a great little twist.",
"I really liked the story.",
"It was a great read, I loved the characters (except the fiance of course!",
") and the whole story complete with some unexpected depth into the characters.",
"Just didn't want to be that involved with their kissing thank you."
] |
I picked up Outpost Morocco in a bargain buy because of the title, I wasn't dissappointed. The legendary George Raft as playboy French Foreign Legion captain Gerard. Gerard has to escort the daughter of a Moroccan Emir. The movie is shot in southern Morocco and its landscape looks pretty realistic. The movie made in 1949 from its original black and white composition has a vintage feel. France held Morocco in the grip of a protectorate from 1912-1956, so, during the shooting of this film Morocco technically was not independent. The viewer should pay careful attention to the Moors mode of dress in this movie. Some of the soft fezzes worn early in the movie are very similiar to the so called liberty caps worn by icons in early American history. Of course the Moors are played by Europeans with heavy makeup.
George Raft is his ever cool self escorting the exotic Marie Windsor with her huge Betty Davis eyes. Their screen chemistry is decent but the romance script written for them was somewhat lacking. I always believed Raft was cut from the same fabric as Humprey Bogart but I personally prefer his acting style. If you are looking for a Raft movie outside of the gangster genre, this is the ticket. The movie "March or Die" starring Gene Hackman would be a good companion. It is also about the French Foreign Legion but it concentrates on the Rif wars of Morocco 1911-1927 (Abd El Krim). | 1 | neutral | [
"I picked up Outpost Morocco in a bargain buy because of the title, I wasn't dissappointed.",
"The legendary George Raft as playboy French Foreign Legion captain Gerard.",
"Gerard has to escort the daughter of a Moroccan Emir.",
"The movie is shot in southern Morocco and its landscape looks pretty realistic.",
"The movie made in 1949 from its original black and white composition has a vintage feel.",
"France held Morocco in the grip of a protectorate from 1912-1956, so, during the shooting of this film Morocco technically was not independent.",
"The viewer should pay careful attention to the Moors mode of dress in this movie.",
"Some of the soft fezzes worn early in the movie are very similiar to the so called liberty caps worn by icons in early American history.",
"Of course the Moors are played by Europeans with heavy makeup.",
"George Raft is his ever cool self escorting the exotic Marie Windsor with her huge Betty Davis eyes.",
"Their screen chemistry is decent but the romance script written for them was somewhat lacking.",
"I always believed Raft was cut from the same fabric as Humprey Bogart but I personally prefer his acting style.",
"If you are looking for a Raft movie outside of the gangster genre, this is the ticket.",
"The movie \"March or Die\" starring Gene Hackman would be a good companion.",
"It is also about the French Foreign Legion but it concentrates on the Rif wars of Morocco 1911-1927 (Abd El Krim)."
] |
It's sad to watch a series that was as good as Mega Man X slide into the ruin it's been sliding into for the last few years. Mega Man X8 works hard to revive what was once a great series. The problem is, the series may be a bit too tarnished after the last three installments. That means Mega Man X8 has to work hard for forgiveness. The good news is that it is better than X7. The bad news? The game could've been so much better.
The Jakob Project, an effort to get humans to the moon away from the repolid war, is in danger. Sigma (it's always Sigma) has threatened the leader of this project, Lumine. As usual, it's up to X and company to stop him.
The Mega Man X series has never been much for plot, and in X8 it's no different. While there is story, and it tries hard to be a satisfying one, it just isn't all that great. If you've been with Mega Man X since the first one, you probably aren't as interested in the storyline as you are in the actual action of the gameplay. Newcomers to the series might like the story telling aspect, but for those who've been with Mega Man in general since the 80's know that a game can hold together if it's a lot of fun.
Mega Man X8 has unique gameplay mechanics. It's really no different than the basic gameplay presented in the very first Mega Man X game. It's basically run and gun. Anything that's in your way you shoot and kill. You'll select a level to go into, march your way through and defeat the big bad boss at the end. The difference is you can do this in a tag team style way. Before each level you'll be given a choice of two characters you want to take into a level and a navigator. There's X, Zero and Axl, and they all have their own distinct abilities. X is no different than he has been in previous games. Zero has his Z-Saber as well as a multitude of other weapons and Axl has a rapid fire weapon and can hover in the air. Unlike previous games, the characters begin with abilities they'd otherwise have to acquire. For example, Zero begins the game with his double jump rather than you actually having to acquire it.
In each level you can switch between your two characters at the click of a button. If one character is low on health, you can switch. Likewise, if one character dies, the other steps in and fights the rest of the battle out. The only time this doesn't happen is if it's a one hit kill.
There have also been some unique changes to the gameplay. You now collect metals in each level. Similar to the Mega Man Zero games, you can exchange them for items. Energy bottles to restore health, powerups for your characters and more. The game also has rare metals. These are metals that will let you purchase bigger and better abilities for your characters. One, for example, might be another weapon for Zero. Another might be a sub tank. You'll also spend metals to increase a characters health or weapon capacity.
The game isn't without fault, and unfortunately, despite all the unique treatment the game has gone through that could make elements better, the faults of this game are more than enough to frustrate gamers. For one, the game is very challenging. Difficulty usually makes a game a lot of fun to play. The problem with Mega Man X8's difficulty is that too much of it derives from trial and error. In one instance you're supposed to jump into a pit, but you'll meet an untimely death because of the spikes below which there's no foreshadowing. In previous Mega Man X games, this was not a problem. They were hard, but not unreasonable, and I never had to go through several trial and error moments. The difficulty doesn't help the game, it only frustrates. Mix that with the unreasonable "retry" system instead of actually having lives. You only get five retries (and you have to buy three of them) and if you use them all, then you have to re-enter the level and start from the very beginning. This didn't bug me as much, seeing as how most levels are short anyway, but with the trial and error moments, you'll blow through most of your retries.
The level design of most of these levels is also not up to par. The main problem stemming from the levels where you ride vehicles. They move fast, and you don't. It's too easy to fall into a pit and die in one of them. Again, there are also plenty of trial and error moments there too, and these moments really degrade the game. Finally, the bosses aren't creative enough. Many of them just aren't really fun to battle against, and the abilities and weapons you get from them aren't exciting. Most of these weapons (save perhaps for some of Axl's) aren't going to be of much use to you. You're better off using your default shot than anything you'll get from the bosses.
Graphically, Mega Man X8 doesn't look too bad. Not the best graphics out there, but the game is still nice to look at. It's also fast paced with few frame rate issues (they don't come until the last level). If you're looking for a 3D side scroller that looks good, you've certainly found it for Mega Man X8. I can't say the same for the music unfortunately. Most of the voice acting is bad. At least Mega Man actually sounds like a guy in this one. This doesn't mean other voices are good. All the main characters have fairly good voices. Other characters, such as the bosses, have terrible voices. The minor characters didn't seem to be of any importance, and it shows in their voices. The level music isn't all that exciting either. There are maybe one or two good tracks (Sigma's Palace, for instance), but nothing remarkably special. Which is strange seeing as how even the Mega Man X games that aren't well liked (such as X5) even had good music.
As unique as Capcom made Mega Man X8, it can't quite live up to previous installments. The game serves its purpose as fan service, but doesn't have enough quality. From the trial and error moments to the not so special story, Mega Man X8 is only sending the series further into ruin. It's much better than Mega Man X7, and has a lot of secrets to unearth (more than even Mega Man X3), but it's just not a satisfying experience.
The Good
+The game, for the most part, doesn't look bad
+Some tweaks to the gameplay are very helpful
+Tag teaming works
+Plenty of extra secrets to unearth
+For a Mega Man game, the length is pretty satisfying, actually taking more than ten hours to do everything there is to be done.
The Bad
-Frustrating difficulty
-Way too many trial and error moments
-Level design isn't good
-Lame bosses
-Lame voices
-The music isn't really all that great
So while there are some pretty neat tweaks to the gameplay, it can't save Mega Man X8. What had potential to be a truly remarkable game, is nothing of the sort at all. | 1 | neutral | [
"It's sad to watch a series that was as good as Mega Man X slide into the ruin it's been sliding into for the last few years.",
"Mega Man X8 works hard to revive what was once a great series.",
"The problem is, the series may be a bit too tarnished after the last three installments.",
"That means Mega Man X8 has to work hard for forgiveness.",
"The good news is that it is better than X7.",
"The bad news?",
"The game could've been so much better.",
"The Jakob Project, an effort to get humans to the moon away from the repolid war, is in danger.",
"Sigma (it's always Sigma) has threatened the leader of this project, Lumine.",
"As usual, it's up to X and company to stop him.",
"The Mega Man X series has never been much for plot, and in X8 it's no different.",
"While there is story, and it tries hard to be a satisfying one, it just isn't all that great.",
"If you've been with Mega Man X since the first one, you probably aren't as interested in the storyline as you are in the actual action of the gameplay.",
"Newcomers to the series might like the story telling aspect, but for those who've been with Mega Man in general since the 80's know that a game can hold together if it's a lot of fun.",
"Mega Man X8 has unique gameplay mechanics.",
"It's really no different than the basic gameplay presented in the very first Mega Man X game.",
"It's basically run and gun.",
"Anything that's in your way you shoot and kill.",
"You'll select a level to go into, march your way through and defeat the big bad boss at the end.",
"The difference is you can do this in a tag team style way.",
"Before each level you'll be given a choice of two characters you want to take into a level and a navigator.",
"There's X, Zero and Axl, and they all have their own distinct abilities.",
"X is no different than he has been in previous games.",
"Zero has his Z-Saber as well as a multitude of other weapons and Axl has a rapid fire weapon and can hover in the air.",
"Unlike previous games, the characters begin with abilities they'd otherwise have to acquire.",
"For example, Zero begins the game with his double jump rather than you actually having to acquire it.",
"In each level you can switch between your two characters at the click of a button.",
"If one character is low on health, you can switch.",
"Likewise, if one character dies, the other steps in and fights the rest of the battle out.",
"The only time this doesn't happen is if it's a one hit kill.",
"There have also been some unique changes to the gameplay.",
"You now collect metals in each level.",
"Similar to the Mega Man Zero games, you can exchange them for items.",
"Energy bottles to restore health, powerups for your characters and more.",
"The game also has rare metals.",
"These are metals that will let you purchase bigger and better abilities for your characters.",
"One, for example, might be another weapon for Zero.",
"Another might be a sub tank.",
"You'll also spend metals to increase a characters health or weapon capacity.",
"The game isn't without fault, and unfortunately, despite all the unique treatment the game has gone through that could make elements better, the faults of this game are more than enough to frustrate gamers.",
"For one, the game is very challenging.",
"Difficulty usually makes a game a lot of fun to play.",
"The problem with Mega Man X8's difficulty is that too much of it derives from trial and error.",
"In one instance you're supposed to jump into a pit, but you'll meet an untimely death because of the spikes below which there's no foreshadowing.",
"In previous Mega Man X games, this was not a problem.",
"They were hard, but not unreasonable, and I never had to go through several trial and error moments.",
"The difficulty doesn't help the game, it only frustrates.",
"Mix that with the unreasonable \"retry\" system instead of actually having lives.",
"You only get five retries (and you have to buy three of them) and if you use them all, then you have to re-enter the level and start from the very beginning.",
"This didn't bug me as much, seeing as how most levels are short anyway, but with the trial and error moments, you'll blow through most of your retries.",
"The level design of most of these levels is also not up to par.",
"The main problem stemming from the levels where you ride vehicles.",
"They move fast, and you don't.",
"It's too easy to fall into a pit and die in one of them.",
"Again, there are also plenty of trial and error moments there too, and these moments really degrade the game.",
"Finally, the bosses aren't creative enough.",
"Many of them just aren't really fun to battle against, and the abilities and weapons you get from them aren't exciting.",
"Most of these weapons (save perhaps for some of Axl's) aren't going to be of much use to you.",
"You're better off using your default shot than anything you'll get from the bosses.",
"Graphically, Mega Man X8 doesn't look too bad.",
"Not the best graphics out there, but the game is still nice to look at.",
"It's also fast paced with few frame rate issues (they don't come until the last level).",
"If you're looking for a 3D side scroller that looks good, you've certainly found it for Mega Man X8.",
"I can't say the same for the music unfortunately.",
"Most of the voice acting is bad.",
"At least Mega Man actually sounds like a guy in this one.",
"This doesn't mean other voices are good.",
"All the main characters have fairly good voices.",
"Other characters, such as the bosses, have terrible voices.",
"The minor characters didn't seem to be of any importance, and it shows in their voices.",
"The level music isn't all that exciting either.",
"There are maybe one or two good tracks (Sigma's Palace, for instance), but nothing remarkably special.",
"Which is strange seeing as how even the Mega Man X games that aren't well liked (such as X5) even had good music.",
"As unique as Capcom made Mega Man X8, it can't quite live up to previous installments.",
"The game serves its purpose as fan service, but doesn't have enough quality.",
"From the trial and error moments to the not so special story, Mega Man X8 is only sending the series further into ruin.",
"It's much better than Mega Man X7, and has a lot of secrets to unearth (more than even Mega Man X3), but it's just not a satisfying experience.",
"The Good\n\n+The game, for the most part, doesn't look bad\n\n+Some tweaks to the gameplay are very helpful\n\n+Tag teaming works\n\n+Plenty of extra secrets to unearth\n\n+For a Mega Man game, the length is pretty satisfying, actually taking more than ten hours to do everything there is to be done.",
"The Bad\n\n-Frustrating difficulty\n\n-Way too many trial and error moments\n\n-Level design isn't good\n\n-Lame bosses\n\n-Lame voices\n\n-The music isn't really all that great\n\nSo while there are some pretty neat tweaks to the gameplay, it can't save Mega Man X8.",
"What had potential to be a truly remarkable game, is nothing of the sort at all."
] |
I have tested 6 different cookie presses. Look at their rating:
1. Kichon Cookie Press Kit with Silicone Baking Mat - 5/10 - A lot of dough left inside the tube, poor constructed piston, not stainless steel.
2. Wilton Comfort Grip Cookie Press - 9/10 - Nice grip and a piston, the see-through cylinder.
3. NuVita Cookie Press Set - 1/10 - The tube is very small, the plastic holding the template pops off.
4. Kuhn Rikon Clear Cookie Press - 6/10 - The clear tube, but as for me it is cheaply made.
5. Westmark Germany Multipurpose Stainless Steel Cookie Press and Piping Gun Decorating Kit with Recipes - 4/10 - looks and feels the same as #4, but have a metal tube. A lot of dough left inside the press under the template.
6. OXO Good Grips Cookie Press with Stainless Steel Disks and Storage Case - 8/10 - Nice grip and a piston, the see-through cylinder. Very well made. I don't know why but the butterfly and the flower were almost impossible to press out nicely. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have tested 6 different cookie presses.",
"Look at their rating:\n\n1.",
"Kichon Cookie Press Kit with Silicone Baking Mat - 5/10 - A lot of dough left inside the tube, poor constructed piston, not stainless steel.",
"2.",
"Wilton Comfort Grip Cookie Press - 9/10 - Nice grip and a piston, the see-through cylinder.",
"3.",
"NuVita Cookie Press Set - 1/10 - The tube is very small, the plastic holding the template pops off.",
"4.",
"Kuhn Rikon Clear Cookie Press - 6/10 - The clear tube, but as for me it is cheaply made.",
"5.",
"Westmark Germany Multipurpose Stainless Steel Cookie Press and Piping Gun Decorating Kit with Recipes - 4/10 - looks and feels the same as #4, but have a metal tube.",
"A lot of dough left inside the press under the template.",
"6.",
"OXO Good Grips Cookie Press with Stainless Steel Disks and Storage Case - 8/10 - Nice grip and a piston, the see-through cylinder.",
"Very well made.",
"I don't know why but the butterfly and the flower were almost impossible to press out nicely."
] |
I wanted to love this spotting scope (the Celestron 52252 100mm Ultima Zoom Spotting Scope with 45-degree-angle viewer). I tried using it three times in different environments and situations, but I ultimately decided to return it. Here's why:
My first complaint really has nothing to do with the scope itself but with the variation in viewfinders. I'll throw this out there for anyone looking for an actual spotting scope to use target shooting: Decide whether you truly want the 45-degree angled viewer or if you should get the straight viewer. I should have got the straight viewer, and didn't realize this until I was at the range-- and having to stand up every few shots to get above the scope. Again, this is not part of my criticism of the Celestron, but just a thought.
This scope is huge. It's much bigger and heavier than I expected. Now, I suppose in fairness to Celestron and the intentional design of the scope, it wouldn't be right to criticize a full-size pickup truck for being too big, or criticizing a large hunting knife for being too long. A large diameter scope is going to let in more light, and when you buy a scope like this, you know that going in. But given the size of this scope, I did not see the added benefit that I expected (e.g. better sharpness, better light gathering, etc). I compared this Celestron (at a setting of 45x) side-by-side with my now-discontinued Leupold spotting scope of a much smaller size (Leupold Sequoia 15-45x with 60mm objective). The Celestron looked a *little* brighter and more clear, but not nearly enough to justify the added cost, weight, and unwieldy size of the Celestron.
The scope is very awkwardly balanced. The front of the scope is heavy because of the glass and Celestron therefore should have put the location of the tripod mount at the actually balance point of the scope. They didn't. They instead set the tripod mount back towards the viewer, and they included an offset adjustable adapter to allow you to balance the scope. Why not just balance the scope in the design!? To make matters worse, the offset adjustable adapter introduces more vertical play in the whole mix.
The viewer came with a rubber eye shade that kept falling off. I picked it up twice from the ground after it fell off. Would have liked to see a little better quality control on this.
Lastly, I tried three tripods and couldn't get one stable-enough to really handle this scope. Because it's very heavy, because it's very long, you end up with a sort of upside down candle-apple effect. The scope-- when mounted on a tripod-- is really top heavy unless you've got one helluva tripod. There are two ways to go to stabilize this scope: (1) get a short and rigid table-top tripod without a quick-detach plate (these seem to introduce a lot of play), or (2) get a very sturdy (ahem, expensive) and weighted taller tripod.
My decision to return this scope was ultimately made by comparing this side-by-side with the Leupold Sequoia 15-45x with 60mm objective as mentioned above. The Celestron was brighter and a little more clear, but for a nearly 30% increase in the size of the objective lens (and all the extra size and weight), it just wasn't worth it. While the Celestron can be dialed-in to 66x, it's really testing the limits of the scope, and eye relief drops way down and the image gets a little blurry around the edges. To pour salt in the wound, the Celestron was also bouncing all over the place. Testing two different tripods with both the Leupold and the Celestron, the bouncing was much worse with the Celestron because it wasn't balanced well, and there's just so much more weight wanting to move the head of the tripod around.
I'd like to ultimately find something with a little more power than the Leupold Sequoia, but for now I'd rather max out at 45x than to have the Celestron bouncing around a bit blurry at 66x. | 1 | neutral | [
"I wanted to love this spotting scope (the Celestron 52252 100mm Ultima Zoom Spotting Scope with 45-degree-angle viewer).",
"I tried using it three times in different environments and situations, but I ultimately decided to return it.",
"Here's why:\n\nMy first complaint really has nothing to do with the scope itself but with the variation in viewfinders.",
"I'll throw this out there for anyone looking for an actual spotting scope to use target shooting: Decide whether you truly want the 45-degree angled viewer or if you should get the straight viewer.",
"I should have got the straight viewer, and didn't realize this until I was at the range-- and having to stand up every few shots to get above the scope.",
"Again, this is not part of my criticism of the Celestron, but just a thought.",
"This scope is huge.",
"It's much bigger and heavier than I expected.",
"Now, I suppose in fairness to Celestron and the intentional design of the scope, it wouldn't be right to criticize a full-size pickup truck for being too big, or criticizing a large hunting knife for being too long.",
"A large diameter scope is going to let in more light, and when you buy a scope like this, you know that going in.",
"But given the size of this scope, I did not see the added benefit that I expected (e.",
"g. better sharpness, better light gathering, etc).",
"I compared this Celestron (at a setting of 45x) side-by-side with my now-discontinued Leupold spotting scope of a much smaller size (Leupold Sequoia 15-45x with 60mm objective).",
"The Celestron looked a *little* brighter and more clear, but not nearly enough to justify the added cost, weight, and unwieldy size of the Celestron.",
"The scope is very awkwardly balanced.",
"The front of the scope is heavy because of the glass and Celestron therefore should have put the location of the tripod mount at the actually balance point of the scope.",
"They didn't.",
"They instead set the tripod mount back towards the viewer, and they included an offset adjustable adapter to allow you to balance the scope.",
"Why not just balance the scope in the design!?",
"To make matters worse, the offset adjustable adapter introduces more vertical play in the whole mix.",
"The viewer came with a rubber eye shade that kept falling off.",
"I picked it up twice from the ground after it fell off.",
"Would have liked to see a little better quality control on this.",
"Lastly, I tried three tripods and couldn't get one stable-enough to really handle this scope.",
"Because it's very heavy, because it's very long, you end up with a sort of upside down candle-apple effect.",
"The scope-- when mounted on a tripod-- is really top heavy unless you've got one helluva tripod.",
"There are two ways to go to stabilize this scope: (1) get a short and rigid table-top tripod without a quick-detach plate (these seem to introduce a lot of play), or (2) get a very sturdy (ahem, expensive) and weighted taller tripod.",
"My decision to return this scope was ultimately made by comparing this side-by-side with the Leupold Sequoia 15-45x with 60mm objective as mentioned above.",
"The Celestron was brighter and a little more clear, but for a nearly 30% increase in the size of the objective lens (and all the extra size and weight), it just wasn't worth it.",
"While the Celestron can be dialed-in to 66x, it's really testing the limits of the scope, and eye relief drops way down and the image gets a little blurry around the edges.",
"To pour salt in the wound, the Celestron was also bouncing all over the place.",
"Testing two different tripods with both the Leupold and the Celestron, the bouncing was much worse with the Celestron because it wasn't balanced well, and there's just so much more weight wanting to move the head of the tripod around.",
"I'd like to ultimately find something with a little more power than the Leupold Sequoia, but for now I'd rather max out at 45x than to have the Celestron bouncing around a bit blurry at 66x."
] |
This is a very cool game. Play as 8 characters in story mode (Sonic, Tails, Rogue, Knucles, Shadow, Amy, Cream, Emerl).
When your fighting you will use the same attacks over and over, and they do get boring at times. The 2d rectangles in fighting are pretty cool! But once you have beaten the game you can't really play much more. In story mode you can customize Emerl's attacks by mixing other character's attacks. You can also fire ground shots or special attack. This game also includes multi player mini games and one boring single player. Story mode provides a small challenge and it talks half the time. Don't by
this game but if you wanna go ahead. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is a very cool game.",
"Play as 8 characters in story mode (Sonic, Tails, Rogue, Knucles, Shadow, Amy, Cream, Emerl).",
"When your fighting you will use the same attacks over and over, and they do get boring at times.",
"The 2d rectangles in fighting are pretty cool!",
"But once you have beaten the game you can't really play much more.",
"In story mode you can customize Emerl's attacks by mixing other character's attacks.",
"You can also fire ground shots or special attack.",
"This game also includes multi player mini games and one boring single player.",
"Story mode provides a small challenge and it talks half the time.",
"Don't by\nthis game but if you wanna go ahead."
] |
...hey, this is a decent CD. It gets extra points because they add some diversity to the pretty much start forward death metal scene. Some of the guitar riffs aren't that intricate, most of the drumming is pretty slow (but he can be fast), the production is mediocre, the bass is nice and clean though, and the vocals are actually alright with me on this album (though I still think Barnes was better with CC). By no means is this the godly CD every says it is, "Haunted" is still a pretty good, listenable CD.
The Band-
Chris Barnes, vocals- How I cursed this man for leaving CC. Barnes, IMO, was sooo much better with CC. But hey, he's still an OK death metal vocalist. You could understand him better with CC (I know you're thinking 'How can you understand him in the first place?') as well. Oh well. My BIG complaint is that his vocals drown out almost every instrument. Not just on this record but every record SFU has ever released. Must be because of Barnes' ego...
Terry, bass- I was suprised by Terry's work on this album. His bass is easy to hear, which is a perk in my opinion. Terry doesn't fight for audibility on this record, as does Chris. Terry is one of the reasons why 'Haunted' gets a better rating.
Alan, guitar- Alan was better with Obituary. To me, hee seems just uninterested with his work with SFU for some reason. The guitar solos are lukewarm at best, but some of his riffs sound pretty cool. Alan probably would've impressed me more if I hadn't know he had worked with Obituary.
(I forget the drummer's name), drums- Ahh, this guy isn't as good as everyone says he is. I mean, he's got some cool accents here and there, but the production makes him sound, well, dull. The snare sounds like a pencil slamming on a desk, the bass drums are barely audible, and the cymbals aren't so alive. And again, Chris drowns him out even more. It's really too bad. He might be a talneted drummer, but I just can't really tell on this album.
... But hey, if you're looking for something new, check this out. | 1 | neutral | [
"...",
"hey, this is a decent CD.",
"It gets extra points because they add some diversity to the pretty much start forward death metal scene.",
"Some of the guitar riffs aren't that intricate, most of the drumming is pretty slow (but he can be fast), the production is mediocre, the bass is nice and clean though, and the vocals are actually alright with me on this album (though I still think Barnes was better with CC).",
"By no means is this the godly CD every says it is, \"Haunted\" is still a pretty good, listenable CD.",
"The Band-\nChris Barnes, vocals- How I cursed this man for leaving CC.",
"Barnes, IMO, was sooo much better with CC.",
"But hey, he's still an OK death metal vocalist.",
"You could understand him better with CC (I know you're thinking 'How can you understand him in the first place?",
"') as well.",
"Oh well.",
"My BIG complaint is that his vocals drown out almost every instrument.",
"Not just on this record but every record SFU has ever released.",
"Must be because of Barnes' ego...",
"Terry, bass- I was suprised by Terry's work on this album.",
"His bass is easy to hear, which is a perk in my opinion.",
"Terry doesn't fight for audibility on this record, as does Chris.",
"Terry is one of the reasons why 'Haunted' gets a better rating.",
"Alan, guitar- Alan was better with Obituary.",
"To me, hee seems just uninterested with his work with SFU for some reason.",
"The guitar solos are lukewarm at best, but some of his riffs sound pretty cool.",
"Alan probably would've impressed me more if I hadn't know he had worked with Obituary.",
"(I forget the drummer's name), drums- Ahh, this guy isn't as good as everyone says he is.",
"I mean, he's got some cool accents here and there, but the production makes him sound, well, dull.",
"The snare sounds like a pencil slamming on a desk, the bass drums are barely audible, and the cymbals aren't so alive.",
"And again, Chris drowns him out even more.",
"It's really too bad.",
"He might be a talneted drummer, but I just can't really tell on this album.",
"...",
"But hey, if you're looking for something new, check this out."
] |
Overall, this is a great book. I wish it had a little more of a "how-to" emphasis but the urban sketches throughout the book were awesome and are very inspirational. I like the way they are broken down by city. The last section covers different inspiration and topics such as buildings, harbors, seasons, people in action and even night sketching. It was also interesting to read about other urban sketchers and how they go about their art. I only have two complaints that pulled the rating down a star or two. One, the book comes with a paper cover that contains the artwork you see on the book. The actual cover is just light blue with a white band that contains some line art. A little disappointing but not a big deal. The bigger issue is that the book looked like someone had dropped it several times or thrown it around the room. The paper cover was all beat up as was the actual book cover. This is not the fault of the book's author but rather the seller's fault or the way the shipping company (USPS) handled the book. Either way, in my opinion this is unacceptable and kept me from giving the book 4 or 5 stars. I normally would have read the book more thoroughly (I just skimmed it and read some sections) before reviewing the book as I am extremely miffed about the condition of what was supposed to be a new book. Again, I love the book but not the condition it arrived in. | 1 | neutral | [
"Overall, this is a great book.",
"I wish it had a little more of a \"how-to\" emphasis but the urban sketches throughout the book were awesome and are very inspirational.",
"I like the way they are broken down by city.",
"The last section covers different inspiration and topics such as buildings, harbors, seasons, people in action and even night sketching.",
"It was also interesting to read about other urban sketchers and how they go about their art.",
"I only have two complaints that pulled the rating down a star or two.",
"One, the book comes with a paper cover that contains the artwork you see on the book.",
"The actual cover is just light blue with a white band that contains some line art.",
"A little disappointing but not a big deal.",
"The bigger issue is that the book looked like someone had dropped it several times or thrown it around the room.",
"The paper cover was all beat up as was the actual book cover.",
"This is not the fault of the book's author but rather the seller's fault or the way the shipping company (USPS) handled the book.",
"Either way, in my opinion this is unacceptable and kept me from giving the book 4 or 5 stars.",
"I normally would have read the book more thoroughly (I just skimmed it and read some sections) before reviewing the book as I am extremely miffed about the condition of what was supposed to be a new book.",
"Again, I love the book but not the condition it arrived in."
] |
I purchased the Bosch 3915 several months ago. It sat unpacked for a couple of months before I was able to get around to using it. My experience with it thus far has been less than stellar, contrary to most of the other reviews in this forum. My particular saw will NOT cut square - I've tried adjusting the fence and the bevel zero stop but cannot get the blade square to the table or fence for the full length of stroke. The blade twists right to left just slightly as it travels through its stroke (slide). This indicates to me that there may be a misalignment problem with the slide rails, something that cannot be adjusted by the user. Not only that, the fence casting is crooked - you can lay a straight edge on the table against the fence and there is a small gap on the left side. I've contacted Bosch about this but have not heard back from them yet. Since the saw isn't cutting square, you can imagine what sort of problems that presents when trying to do finish work such as mitering crown molding. I looked at several other saws in addition to the Bosch and selected the Bosch mainly on the strength of its user reviews and the electric brake feature. At this point, I'm disappointed with the overall performance. Don't get me wrong, I do like the saw but for the money I paid, it should at least cut square. I'm hopeful that Bosch will have some suggestions for me about how to get the saw either adjusted properly or repaired so that it will cut like it should. Otherwise, I'll probably talk to Amazon about returning the saw and exchanging it for something else. It looks as though I may have gotten a "lemon". | 1 | neutral | [
"I purchased the Bosch 3915 several months ago.",
"It sat unpacked for a couple of months before I was able to get around to using it.",
"My experience with it thus far has been less than stellar, contrary to most of the other reviews in this forum.",
"My particular saw will NOT cut square - I've tried adjusting the fence and the bevel zero stop but cannot get the blade square to the table or fence for the full length of stroke.",
"The blade twists right to left just slightly as it travels through its stroke (slide).",
"This indicates to me that there may be a misalignment problem with the slide rails, something that cannot be adjusted by the user.",
"Not only that, the fence casting is crooked - you can lay a straight edge on the table against the fence and there is a small gap on the left side.",
"I've contacted Bosch about this but have not heard back from them yet.",
"Since the saw isn't cutting square, you can imagine what sort of problems that presents when trying to do finish work such as mitering crown molding.",
"I looked at several other saws in addition to the Bosch and selected the Bosch mainly on the strength of its user reviews and the electric brake feature.",
"At this point, I'm disappointed with the overall performance.",
"Don't get me wrong, I do like the saw but for the money I paid, it should at least cut square.",
"I'm hopeful that Bosch will have some suggestions for me about how to get the saw either adjusted properly or repaired so that it will cut like it should.",
"Otherwise, I'll probably talk to Amazon about returning the saw and exchanging it for something else.",
"It looks as though I may have gotten a \"lemon\"."
] |
I've had this phone for 4 days now, and still don't feel like I know how to use it. Some aspects seem confusing. I should preface that by saying that I am not a young person, and technology is not second nature. This review will, I hope be understood by someone who, like me, is older and finds learning new things a little slow.
The basic phone part is different, and when receiving a call, you need to slide a symbol over to the right in order to answer. I haven't decided whether this is operator trouble or whether this key is not working properly, but I can slide that key only about half of the time, so I miss the call and have to return it. I am told that when I get used to the touch screen, that probably will not happen. Hope this is true. (had a touch screen with my old phone, but it wasn't a smart phone and had a much different feel.)
I probably won't be using the email messaging that much, as I feel much more comfortable doing that on my laptop.
I plan on using this phone to play music on a docking station, and it works fantastic for this purpose, I'm able to access the internet radio stations and play anything I want to. Great , I got the phone to do just that.
Now for what really is sticking in my craw. I received this phone very quickly, inserted the battery, activated the phone, but I found that since this one does not support backup, I took it to my local verizon store to have them transfer my contacts and pictures. We then discovered that this phone did not contain an SD card, which enables you to take pictures and save them and keep them in the phone. Old pictures could not be transferred until they installed one at $20.00. This seller failed to inform me that this was not included, and technically, it said the order contains a phone, wall charger, and manual, so in that respect they were indeed correct. If you are like me, you are not aware of things like this and frankly, I felt a little cheated, although technically, they win, they just didn't bother to inform the buyer that is was missing. So......the main thing I want you to know about this phone, or any refurbished phone you may purchase, you will need to educate yourself as to what is needed to fully operate this phone, and ask the seller if it is included. My seller offered to send me one free of charge, which would have delayed the use of this for another several days, and it was just easier to have one put in while I was transferring my personal stuff from the older phone. The seller assured me that they were not out to cheat me, but my point is that if they would send me one for free, they should have put it in the phone before they sent it to me.
For more accurate information on this phone read the reviews here, they helped me decide to buy one, and I'm sure when I get used to it, I will like it. Much more to learn and know than with a basic phone, but when I get over the bad feeling about the SD card, I'm sure it will be just fine. :( | 1 | neutral | [
"I've had this phone for 4 days now, and still don't feel like I know how to use it.",
"Some aspects seem confusing.",
"I should preface that by saying that I am not a young person, and technology is not second nature.",
"This review will, I hope be understood by someone who, like me, is older and finds learning new things a little slow.",
"The basic phone part is different, and when receiving a call, you need to slide a symbol over to the right in order to answer.",
"I haven't decided whether this is operator trouble or whether this key is not working properly, but I can slide that key only about half of the time, so I miss the call and have to return it.",
"I am told that when I get used to the touch screen, that probably will not happen.",
"Hope this is true.",
"(had a touch screen with my old phone, but it wasn't a smart phone and had a much different feel.",
")\nI probably won't be using the email messaging that much, as I feel much more comfortable doing that on my laptop.",
"I plan on using this phone to play music on a docking station, and it works fantastic for this purpose, I'm able to access the internet radio stations and play anything I want to.",
"Great , I got the phone to do just that.",
"Now for what really is sticking in my craw.",
"I received this phone very quickly, inserted the battery, activated the phone, but I found that since this one does not support backup, I took it to my local verizon store to have them transfer my contacts and pictures.",
"We then discovered that this phone did not contain an SD card, which enables you to take pictures and save them and keep them in the phone.",
"Old pictures could not be transferred until they installed one at $20.",
"00.",
"This seller failed to inform me that this was not included, and technically, it said the order contains a phone, wall charger, and manual, so in that respect they were indeed correct.",
"If you are like me, you are not aware of things like this and frankly, I felt a little cheated, although technically, they win, they just didn't bother to inform the buyer that is was missing.",
"So....",
"..",
"the main thing I want you to know about this phone, or any refurbished phone you may purchase, you will need to educate yourself as to what is needed to fully operate this phone, and ask the seller if it is included.",
"My seller offered to send me one free of charge, which would have delayed the use of this for another several days, and it was just easier to have one put in while I was transferring my personal stuff from the older phone.",
"The seller assured me that they were not out to cheat me, but my point is that if they would send me one for free, they should have put it in the phone before they sent it to me.",
"For more accurate information on this phone read the reviews here, they helped me decide to buy one, and I'm sure when I get used to it, I will like it.",
"Much more to learn and know than with a basic phone, but when I get over the bad feeling about the SD card, I'm sure it will be just fine.",
":("
] |
The next volume in Capcom's Outbreak series comes to a console near you! The concept and play mechanics are still the same as the first game, and it's ready for online gamers to try it out.
Some greatly appreciated improvements are being able to instruct AI in single person mode to use items in their inventory. Being able to select one's partner in each scenario is useful, but not all characters like each other. There is a new like system. If they like you, they cooperate more. Pretty basic and easy to understand.
The feature that I like the most is the ability to actually move while you shoot and attack. This makes it easier to dodge and avoid being hit when trying to attack up close. The control scheme for it takes a bit getting use to, involving you to use both the right and left shoulder buttons, but it works. Why they didn't have this in previous Resident Evil games before...nevermind.
Fans will Like the new stage inside the RPD police department, and also being able to transfer data between games for costumes is nice.
However, as with the last Outbreak, there are issues. Capcom made it clear that they weren't planning on using any voice chat for the online mode. While I personally have no problem with this, it can get very annoying trying to talk to people with only the preset options in situations that require coordination between people.
Remember the load times for the first game? Well, they too are back. Though the time it takes to load between room to room seems to have decreased in length from the first game.
AI for NPC's in offline mode can get annoying. Sometimes it seems to work, and others, it's dumber than a box of rocks.
No adjustable camera still. And from just playing the first stage, some angles can get awkward and difficult to work with.
Fans will scoop this up and ignore its faults, if you're not sure then try before you buy if possible. With various characters and many things to unlock, it has great replay value. And it will take multiple walkthroughs to complete everything. While File 2 has improvements, here's hoping that if a 3rd one is released, they can truly make it better. | 1 | neutral | [
"The next volume in Capcom's Outbreak series comes to a console near you!",
"The concept and play mechanics are still the same as the first game, and it's ready for online gamers to try it out.",
"Some greatly appreciated improvements are being able to instruct AI in single person mode to use items in their inventory.",
"Being able to select one's partner in each scenario is useful, but not all characters like each other.",
"There is a new like system.",
"If they like you, they cooperate more.",
"Pretty basic and easy to understand.",
"The feature that I like the most is the ability to actually move while you shoot and attack.",
"This makes it easier to dodge and avoid being hit when trying to attack up close.",
"The control scheme for it takes a bit getting use to, involving you to use both the right and left shoulder buttons, but it works.",
"Why they didn't have this in previous Resident Evil games before...",
"nevermind.",
"Fans will Like the new stage inside the RPD police department, and also being able to transfer data between games for costumes is nice.",
"However, as with the last Outbreak, there are issues.",
"Capcom made it clear that they weren't planning on using any voice chat for the online mode.",
"While I personally have no problem with this, it can get very annoying trying to talk to people with only the preset options in situations that require coordination between people.",
"Remember the load times for the first game?",
"Well, they too are back.",
"Though the time it takes to load between room to room seems to have decreased in length from the first game.",
"AI for NPC's in offline mode can get annoying.",
"Sometimes it seems to work, and others, it's dumber than a box of rocks.",
"No adjustable camera still.",
"And from just playing the first stage, some angles can get awkward and difficult to work with.",
"Fans will scoop this up and ignore its faults, if you're not sure then try before you buy if possible.",
"With various characters and many things to unlock, it has great replay value.",
"And it will take multiple walkthroughs to complete everything.",
"While File 2 has improvements, here's hoping that if a 3rd one is released, they can truly make it better."
] |
This is a bit of a hard review to write, simply because I liked the book, but there were several things about the book that bothered me. To name a few: The casual sex (not something I would want my child to read), the way Jordan became a bumbling idiot and broke down around guys constantly, SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! how she gave up her virginity so easily after not knowing the guy very long END SPOILER ALERT!, and how controlling TJ seemed to be (didn't seem like a healthy relationship).
I did like how her troubles with her father seemed fairly realistic. I know a few people who their Dads are that way. They just love how their son is following in their footsteps, but it's either too good or not good enough for their daughter. I liked how Henry was secretly in love with her and she had no clue. I like how she started coming out of her shell when it comes to being friends with girls.
Overall, I'm going to say I liked the book (it was a quick, easy read) and I will probably check out the 2nd one (because I already have a copy), but I don't know if I would recommend it to a friend. Maybe an older teen or someone out of their teens, but I wouldn't recommend it for a younger teen to read. I'm guessing there are better books out there about girls strugggling to fit in while playing a boys sport. From what I'm seeing of the reviews here, it looks like <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dairy-Queen/dp/0618863354/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dairy Queen</a> is one of them. Maybe I'll go check that book out. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is a bit of a hard review to write, simply because I liked the book, but there were several things about the book that bothered me.",
"To name a few: The casual sex (not something I would want my child to read), the way Jordan became a bumbling idiot and broke down around guys constantly, SPOILER ALERT!",
"SPOILER ALERT!",
"how she gave up her virginity so easily after not knowing the guy very long END SPOILER ALERT!",
", and how controlling TJ seemed to be (didn't seem like a healthy relationship).",
"I did like how her troubles with her father seemed fairly realistic.",
"I know a few people who their Dads are that way.",
"They just love how their son is following in their footsteps, but it's either too good or not good enough for their daughter.",
"I liked how Henry was secretly in love with her and she had no clue.",
"I like how she started coming out of her shell when it comes to being friends with girls.",
"Overall, I'm going to say I liked the book (it was a quick, easy read) and I will probably check out the 2nd one (because I already have a copy), but I don't know if I would recommend it to a friend.",
"Maybe an older teen or someone out of their teens, but I wouldn't recommend it for a younger teen to read.",
"I'm guessing there are better books out there about girls strugggling to fit in while playing a boys sport.",
"From what I'm seeing of the reviews here, it looks like <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Dairy-Queen/dp/0618863354/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Dairy Queen</a> is one of them.",
"Maybe I'll go check that book out."
] |
Pretty cool device. Immediately got some use out of it to identify some drafty areas in my home, this was a huge help in finding these. I live in an old house (120+ years) and it's drafty as hell - some are obvious, others are not. Great for a home energy audit.
It's not without a few downsides, though. The USB plug does not swivel, I have no idea why they did not incorporate this in the Android version. This means for the Flir camera to be facing out, the USB port on your phone has to be oriented so the narrower part of the USB is on the screen side of the phone. Otherwise, all you'll be able to do is take thermal selfies. This is a huge downside. You can use a micro-usb extender cable to solve this, but it's a poor solution. My phone is an HTC One M7, USB port is the "wrong" way so I'm stuck with using the extender cable.
The display is also pretty choppy. Sorta like really old camera phones where the screen took a second to update as you panned around. Frustrating when you're trying to get the crosshairs in the middle over something specific to tell the exact temperature.
For me at least, about once a minute or so, the app would hang for about 5 seconds, not updating the screen. Also kinda frustrating.
Other than this, it's a neat device, and far cheaper than any other thermal camera. | 1 | neutral | [
"Pretty cool device.",
"Immediately got some use out of it to identify some drafty areas in my home, this was a huge help in finding these.",
"I live in an old house (120+ years) and it's drafty as hell - some are obvious, others are not.",
"Great for a home energy audit.",
"It's not without a few downsides, though.",
"The USB plug does not swivel, I have no idea why they did not incorporate this in the Android version.",
"This means for the Flir camera to be facing out, the USB port on your phone has to be oriented so the narrower part of the USB is on the screen side of the phone.",
"Otherwise, all you'll be able to do is take thermal selfies.",
"This is a huge downside.",
"You can use a micro-usb extender cable to solve this, but it's a poor solution.",
"My phone is an HTC One M7, USB port is the \"wrong\" way so I'm stuck with using the extender cable.",
"The display is also pretty choppy.",
"Sorta like really old camera phones where the screen took a second to update as you panned around.",
"Frustrating when you're trying to get the crosshairs in the middle over something specific to tell the exact temperature.",
"For me at least, about once a minute or so, the app would hang for about 5 seconds, not updating the screen.",
"Also kinda frustrating.",
"Other than this, it's a neat device, and far cheaper than any other thermal camera."
] |
I was expecting a little more out of this device than what I got, but it does work. I purchased this to help spread butter flavoring on popcorn. I can fill it up and spray the popcorn then sift a little extra flavoring and it works great. There are two areas in which I would really like to see this device improve...
1. It seems silly to only be able to use half the bottle for product. Leaving very little space for the product meaning that you have to refill it pretty regularly.
2. Not much pressure generated. While this does work I basically have to pump it a good 10x or so for each spray, which is bordering on too much work to make it useful.
I'm not sure what it would take to resolve these two issues, but I removed a star for each of these. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was expecting a little more out of this device than what I got, but it does work.",
"I purchased this to help spread butter flavoring on popcorn.",
"I can fill it up and spray the popcorn then sift a little extra flavoring and it works great.",
"There are two areas in which I would really like to see this device improve...",
"1.",
"It seems silly to only be able to use half the bottle for product.",
"Leaving very little space for the product meaning that you have to refill it pretty regularly.",
"2.",
"Not much pressure generated.",
"While this does work I basically have to pump it a good 10x or so for each spray, which is bordering on too much work to make it useful.",
"I'm not sure what it would take to resolve these two issues, but I removed a star for each of these."
] |
Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop (Mariner, 1978)
One feels the necessity to look askance at any book whose author is compared to Anne Tyler (which seems to be happening a lot these days), but a couple of pages into Fitzgerald's darkly comic tale of political intrigue and I was ready to ditch the comparisons; for one thing, Fitzgerald actually write _about_ things. In this case, she writes about a middle-aged woman, Florence Green, who decides that the town she lives in, in rural England, is in need of a bookshop. It also has an old, abadoned house (appropriately named The Old House) that would be the perfect size for a small bookshop-- so she buys the house and sets up shop. Interestingly, as soon as she buys the house, one of the town's powers that be, a quite disagreeable old bat named Violet Gamart, decides the Old House needs to be a center for the arts. Green and Gamart indirectly mix it up a number of times, and just to add to the fun, Fitzgerald throws in a poltergeist who lives at the Old House and the publication of Nabokov's Lolita. Better yet, at the end of all this, we're thrown the curviest of curveballs-- a villain who turns out to be one of the truly memorable characters in modern British fiction, whose hand in the various plots of Clan Gamart is as invisible and ugly as Kevin Spacey's in Seven.
My only problem with this book, and unfortunately it's a rather large one, is its brevity. Many authors would have turned the above into a five-hundred-page novel. To be fair, most of them would be overblown windbags in doing so, but Fitzgerald seems to leave many stones unturned that could have been explored, and the end of the book's summary feel (the last sentence could have been taken from the close of an eighth-grade book report!) is roughly akin to what would have happened had Sebastian Junger cut out the last half of The Perfect Storm and written "well, they all died."
Still, it's a quick and compelling read, and based on it I'll be looking for more of Fitzgerald's later work. *** | 1 | neutral | [
"Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop (Mariner, 1978)\n\nOne feels the necessity to look askance at any book whose author is compared to Anne Tyler (which seems to be happening a lot these days), but a couple of pages into Fitzgerald's darkly comic tale of political intrigue and I was ready to ditch the comparisons; for one thing, Fitzgerald actually write _about_ things.",
"In this case, she writes about a middle-aged woman, Florence Green, who decides that the town she lives in, in rural England, is in need of a bookshop.",
"It also has an old, abadoned house (appropriately named The Old House) that would be the perfect size for a small bookshop-- so she buys the house and sets up shop.",
"Interestingly, as soon as she buys the house, one of the town's powers that be, a quite disagreeable old bat named Violet Gamart, decides the Old House needs to be a center for the arts.",
"Green and Gamart indirectly mix it up a number of times, and just to add to the fun, Fitzgerald throws in a poltergeist who lives at the Old House and the publication of Nabokov's Lolita.",
"Better yet, at the end of all this, we're thrown the curviest of curveballs-- a villain who turns out to be one of the truly memorable characters in modern British fiction, whose hand in the various plots of Clan Gamart is as invisible and ugly as Kevin Spacey's in Seven.",
"My only problem with this book, and unfortunately it's a rather large one, is its brevity.",
"Many authors would have turned the above into a five-hundred-page novel.",
"To be fair, most of them would be overblown windbags in doing so, but Fitzgerald seems to leave many stones unturned that could have been explored, and the end of the book's summary feel (the last sentence could have been taken from the close of an eighth-grade book report!",
") is roughly akin to what would have happened had Sebastian Junger cut out the last half of The Perfect Storm and written \"well, they all died.",
"\"\n\nStill, it's a quick and compelling read, and based on it I'll be looking for more of Fitzgerald's later work.",
"***"
] |
Intuit is killing the TurboTax product. On one hand, they appear to be trying to make it entirely idiot proof, which means that non-idiots have to wade through endless screens of non-relevant questions, with an array of often misleading options. On the other hand, Intuit seems to be trying to chip away at the included feature set while attempting to monetize the very features they are removing. This is akin to manufacturers who reduce the size of their candy bar to disguise what is actually a price hike: you pay more for less.
The product differentiation with a seemingly increasing number of more expensive variations is also irritating.
I've been using the product so long, as well as Quicken, that I doubt that I will change. It still gets the job done. But Intuit, as a company, is leaving me with the feeling that its only interest is in turning me upside down and shaking me until all the loose change falls out of my pocket. I doubt that Intuit will committ corporate suicide with its attitude, but I really wonder if more people won't look at alternatives.
Jerry | 1 | neutral | [
"Intuit is killing the TurboTax product.",
"On one hand, they appear to be trying to make it entirely idiot proof, which means that non-idiots have to wade through endless screens of non-relevant questions, with an array of often misleading options.",
"On the other hand, Intuit seems to be trying to chip away at the included feature set while attempting to monetize the very features they are removing.",
"This is akin to manufacturers who reduce the size of their candy bar to disguise what is actually a price hike: you pay more for less.",
"The product differentiation with a seemingly increasing number of more expensive variations is also irritating.",
"I've been using the product so long, as well as Quicken, that I doubt that I will change.",
"It still gets the job done.",
"But Intuit, as a company, is leaving me with the feeling that its only interest is in turning me upside down and shaking me until all the loose change falls out of my pocket.",
"I doubt that Intuit will committ corporate suicide with its attitude, but I really wonder if more people won't look at alternatives.",
"Jerry"
] |
WHAT I DON'T LIKE
The display for selections is on the top and is not lit. It is very hard to see if you don't have direct light shining directly on it. Have to use a
flashlight.
The instructions could be better.
The measuring spoon for 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon is useless. The measurements must be exact. How can they be if 1-1/2 Tablespoon is to be used? You will be guessing when you fill it half way.
WHAT I LIKE
The bread is VERY GOOD. I had two loaves that were edible but not the best due to my reading the instructions wrong.
It is worth buying. I have only made 5 basic loaves so far. Once you are used to the instructions, you will be OK. | 1 | neutral | [
"WHAT I DON'T LIKE\nThe display for selections is on the top and is not lit.",
"It is very hard to see if you don't have direct light shining directly on it.",
"Have to use a\n flashlight.",
"The instructions could be better.",
"The measuring spoon for 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon is useless.",
"The measurements must be exact.",
"How can they be if 1-1/2 Tablespoon is to be used?",
"You will be guessing when you fill it half way.",
"WHAT I LIKE\nThe bread is VERY GOOD.",
"I had two loaves that were edible but not the best due to my reading the instructions wrong.",
"It is worth buying.",
"I have only made 5 basic loaves so far.",
"Once you are used to the instructions, you will be OK."
] |
I'll reiterate what the other reviewers have said-this is a challenging game and I'm a Ghosts and Goblins veteran. I played the arcade game and beat it. I owned the Sega Genesis version called Ghosts and Ghouls, and I owned the Gameboy Advance version as well. Even on novice setting, this game is hard. There is a lot of trial and error caused by blind jumps and it seems at times there is no way to get through a section without taking a hit. The game is also short and as mentioned by the others, you have to collect gold rings to get to the final battle. So you get sent back to the beginning and keep playing until you collect 22 rings-gets old real fast. The game is similar enough to the original to satisfy the purists, but they've added a lot of magic and other junk to complicate the game. The game has good graphics and sound, but if there's more than 4 or 5 moving things on the screen the framerate stutters. I eagerly awaited this game and was the primary reason I got a PSP, but I am disappointed with it. It is probably the last time I will ever play a Ghosts and Goblins game. | 1 | neutral | [
"I'll reiterate what the other reviewers have said-this is a challenging game and I'm a Ghosts and Goblins veteran.",
"I played the arcade game and beat it.",
"I owned the Sega Genesis version called Ghosts and Ghouls, and I owned the Gameboy Advance version as well.",
"Even on novice setting, this game is hard.",
"There is a lot of trial and error caused by blind jumps and it seems at times there is no way to get through a section without taking a hit.",
"The game is also short and as mentioned by the others, you have to collect gold rings to get to the final battle.",
"So you get sent back to the beginning and keep playing until you collect 22 rings-gets old real fast.",
"The game is similar enough to the original to satisfy the purists, but they've added a lot of magic and other junk to complicate the game.",
"The game has good graphics and sound, but if there's more than 4 or 5 moving things on the screen the framerate stutters.",
"I eagerly awaited this game and was the primary reason I got a PSP, but I am disappointed with it.",
"It is probably the last time I will ever play a Ghosts and Goblins game."
] |
I looked everywhere on Amazon to find a wireless remote that is compatible with my S1 IS. According to Canon's website, this remote works with PRO 1, PRO90 IS, G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, S1 IS & S60. Since it seems to be under-documented here, I thought I'd throw that out there so other people don't waste as much time clicking around as I did.
When I get the remote, I'll check back in with a full review.
OKAY, I'M BACK. I can't say that I'm entirely happy with the remote -- but considering it is the only option for taking steady pictures with these cameras, it will be worthwhile for some.
First of all, the thing is tiny and thin -- with no way to attach it to a keychain or string (short of you doing it yourself with tape). Secondly, at least for the S1 IS, it only responds at a distance of six or so feet, and only when pointed at the front of the camera. The signal is not strong enough to pass through the camera so you can't use it from behind. Thirdly, the buttons are not very responsive, especially the zoom buttons.
Cannon's dv cameras like the GL1 have great remotes with lots of controls. Why, for this price, can't Cannon offer something better for still cameras? | 1 | neutral | [
"I looked everywhere on Amazon to find a wireless remote that is compatible with my S1 IS.",
"According to Canon's website, this remote works with PRO 1, PRO90 IS, G1, G2, G3, G5, G6, S1 IS & S60.",
"Since it seems to be under-documented here, I thought I'd throw that out there so other people don't waste as much time clicking around as I did.",
"When I get the remote, I'll check back in with a full review.",
"OKAY, I'M BACK.",
"I can't say that I'm entirely happy with the remote -- but considering it is the only option for taking steady pictures with these cameras, it will be worthwhile for some.",
"First of all, the thing is tiny and thin -- with no way to attach it to a keychain or string (short of you doing it yourself with tape).",
"Secondly, at least for the S1 IS, it only responds at a distance of six or so feet, and only when pointed at the front of the camera.",
"The signal is not strong enough to pass through the camera so you can't use it from behind.",
"Thirdly, the buttons are not very responsive, especially the zoom buttons.",
"Cannon's dv cameras like the GL1 have great remotes with lots of controls.",
"Why, for this price, can't Cannon offer something better for still cameras?"
] |
I am a computer game enthusist, esspecially simulation game. I like Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City, The Sims, etc. And esspecially the older Transport Tycoon. And when I heard about this game it sounded awesome! A sim with a monopoly twist, or if you like, the other way around. I love games where I own my own business. So I got this game.
So I booted it up and started the tutorial. The game had decent graphics but it was jerky. My computer's not top of the line but it goes way beond all system requirements. The tutorial was well done. It made the game seem better than it really was. So I then started my own game and I understood the game but I had a question. Why do they have the nerve to call it monopoly tycoon when it barely relates to Monopoly. The only thing that does is the fact that city blocks are named and colored the same as the origonal Monopoly game. But other than that, it was completely different.
The game was still okay though. But after a total of 5 or 6 hours the game gets extremly boring because your just constantly doing the same thing over and over again. It just doesn't have enough customability and options.
Pros: A good challange, Good Tutorial, Fun for a little while
Cons: Gets boring fast, very repetative, less than average quality graphics, jerky even on fast systems, barely relates to Monopoly
Final Verdict: Over priced, messed up sim that says monopoly on it. Get Capitalism 2 instead for half the price. | 1 | neutral | [
"I am a computer game enthusist, esspecially simulation game.",
"I like Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City, The Sims, etc.",
"And esspecially the older Transport Tycoon.",
"And when I heard about this game it sounded awesome!",
"A sim with a monopoly twist, or if you like, the other way around.",
"I love games where I own my own business.",
"So I got this game.",
"So I booted it up and started the tutorial.",
"The game had decent graphics but it was jerky.",
"My computer's not top of the line but it goes way beond all system requirements.",
"The tutorial was well done.",
"It made the game seem better than it really was.",
"So I then started my own game and I understood the game but I had a question.",
"Why do they have the nerve to call it monopoly tycoon when it barely relates to Monopoly.",
"The only thing that does is the fact that city blocks are named and colored the same as the origonal Monopoly game.",
"But other than that, it was completely different.",
"The game was still okay though.",
"But after a total of 5 or 6 hours the game gets extremly boring because your just constantly doing the same thing over and over again.",
"It just doesn't have enough customability and options.",
"Pros: A good challange, Good Tutorial, Fun for a little while\nCons: Gets boring fast, very repetative, less than average quality graphics, jerky even on fast systems, barely relates to Monopoly\nFinal Verdict: Over priced, messed up sim that says monopoly on it.",
"Get Capitalism 2 instead for half the price."
] |
Tarte makes amazing lips glosses that it ruins by using cheap lids that are prone to cracking. I had the birthday suit color in a sample size I received from Sephora and the cap cracked after using a few times. I thought it was just a fluke and purchased the full size since I adored the color and it too cracked after about two months of doing nothing more than lying on my desk. The good thing is the matte gloss only needs to be applied once, so I never carry it with it ,e. I would have been seriously put out if it had leaked inside my purse. I wrapped some tape around the cap and having it sitting upright in my bathroom, so it's still usable. Some people think is a knock-off or something but it isn't. I compared to the ones they sell in the store and the packaging is identical. The plastic is thin and brittle and my guess is temperature/humidity changes caused it to spontaneously crack. I have never seen this issue with any other brand, even the cheapest stuff in the dollar store. Shame on you Tarte. | 1 | neutral | [
"Tarte makes amazing lips glosses that it ruins by using cheap lids that are prone to cracking.",
"I had the birthday suit color in a sample size I received from Sephora and the cap cracked after using a few times.",
"I thought it was just a fluke and purchased the full size since I adored the color and it too cracked after about two months of doing nothing more than lying on my desk.",
"The good thing is the matte gloss only needs to be applied once, so I never carry it with it ,e.",
"I would have been seriously put out if it had leaked inside my purse.",
"I wrapped some tape around the cap and having it sitting upright in my bathroom, so it's still usable.",
"Some people think is a knock-off or something but it isn't.",
"I compared to the ones they sell in the store and the packaging is identical.",
"The plastic is thin and brittle and my guess is temperature/humidity changes caused it to spontaneously crack.",
"I have never seen this issue with any other brand, even the cheapest stuff in the dollar store.",
"Shame on you Tarte."
] |
I'm an artist and I like this brand for my pastel paintings. I use a more expensive brand for the majority of my painting but like to use these for small details, being the edges help with thin lines. Sometimes I use a sharpener to make a point and use the dust for rubbing down a background in the beginning of painting. I like these more then pastel pencils for details because your not paying for the wood.
The reason for only 3 stars is because when I opened the big card board box the box my pastels came in was completely crushed on one side. How it could be damaged that badly... I've no idea... just sad to see all the pastels were broken and most had two or three breaks in each stick. It's not worth the price to return them... so I'll just manage as they are... I had ordered 3 different boxes and brands of pastels and they all came in damaged.. maybe it's because it's so close to Christmas and postal packages may not be handled as well.. not sure but think I'll stay away from buying some items during the busy postal season. | 1 | neutral | [
"I'm an artist and I like this brand for my pastel paintings.",
"I use a more expensive brand for the majority of my painting but like to use these for small details, being the edges help with thin lines.",
"Sometimes I use a sharpener to make a point and use the dust for rubbing down a background in the beginning of painting.",
"I like these more then pastel pencils for details because your not paying for the wood.",
"The reason for only 3 stars is because when I opened the big card board box the box my pastels came in was completely crushed on one side.",
"How it could be damaged that badly...",
"I've no idea...",
"just sad to see all the pastels were broken and most had two or three breaks in each stick.",
"It's not worth the price to return them...",
"so I'll just manage as they are...",
"I had ordered 3 different boxes and brands of pastels and they all came in damaged..",
"maybe it's because it's so close to Christmas and postal packages may not be handled as well..",
"not sure but think I'll stay away from buying some items during the busy postal season."
] |
As near as I can determine, we in the US have yet to GET "Scanners" as David Cronenberg imagined it. The version I've seen is obvious hacked half to death, a few actors have OBVIOUSLY been dubbed or badly looped, and there's just enough missing that I can't buy this is what Cronenberg wanted.
Certainly his taste and developing skill are on display here. There are some very well-selected shots and clever imagery, as well as a focus on what makes the mind "The Mind." Of course, there's also the infamous gore; blood hounds will get their fill here, that's for sure. I don't mean to make this sound like a bad movie. It's not.
I just don't think it's what Cronenberg put together. I think it's what the American distributors decided to turn it into. This is fine as it stands, but when will we get the real "Scanners?" | 1 | neutral | [
"As near as I can determine, we in the US have yet to GET \"Scanners\" as David Cronenberg imagined it.",
"The version I've seen is obvious hacked half to death, a few actors have OBVIOUSLY been dubbed or badly looped, and there's just enough missing that I can't buy this is what Cronenberg wanted.",
"Certainly his taste and developing skill are on display here.",
"There are some very well-selected shots and clever imagery, as well as a focus on what makes the mind \"The Mind.",
"\" Of course, there's also the infamous gore; blood hounds will get their fill here, that's for sure.",
"I don't mean to make this sound like a bad movie.",
"It's not.",
"I just don't think it's what Cronenberg put together.",
"I think it's what the American distributors decided to turn it into.",
"This is fine as it stands, but when will we get the real \"Scanners?",
"\""
] |
An excellent telephone between the advantages are:
-Good overall design
- Touch screen very responsive.
- Easy to get issues on the network very nice.
- The software for the samsung themes design is spectacular and you can make your own creations.
-With a few clicks you can do everything faster (messages, call waiting etc.).
-Memory expandable to 16 GB.
-Ideal size and comfortable.
-Very light.
-Fast Wi-Fi Connection.
-Lee docuemntos in PDF and you can zoom it is very good.
-Execelente phone if you just want to send and receive calls as this is my case. (Suddenly I try one of these days to see how it behaves with social networks).
-
disadvantages:
-The Orange brand of joke I leave space in the phone memory is only 30 MB which is a terrible disadvantage because if you do not go running to buy a MicroSD, you see a advertensia says MEMORY WITH LITTLE SPACE.
-As I'm in Venezuela I failed to get the phone to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi which will not let me connect to the website of Orange or any other page. Anyway I'm trying to get someone to teach you to connect via the Internet at least Wi-Fi.
-The keyboard in Landscape mode when writing a text message is a bit uncomfortable because the keys are very small.
- The resolution of the videos on the part of the reproduction is very poor.
It's not 3G.
I had more expectations on this phone but I'm getting used to the disadvantages and if I really wonder if it's worth buying this phone my answer would be yes. My rating 3 of 5. | 1 | neutral | [
"An excellent telephone between the advantages are:\n-Good overall design\n- Touch screen very responsive.",
"- Easy to get issues on the network very nice.",
"- The software for the samsung themes design is spectacular and you can make your own creations.",
"-With a few clicks you can do everything faster (messages, call waiting etc.",
").",
"-Memory expandable to 16 GB.",
"-Ideal size and comfortable.",
"-Very light.",
"-Fast Wi-Fi Connection.",
"-Lee docuemntos in PDF and you can zoom it is very good.",
"-Execelente phone if you just want to send and receive calls as this is my case.",
"(Suddenly I try one of these days to see how it behaves with social networks).",
"-\ndisadvantages:\n-The Orange brand of joke I leave space in the phone memory is only 30 MB which is a terrible disadvantage because if you do not go running to buy a MicroSD, you see a advertensia says MEMORY WITH LITTLE SPACE.",
"-As I'm in Venezuela I failed to get the phone to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi which will not let me connect to the website of Orange or any other page.",
"Anyway I'm trying to get someone to teach you to connect via the Internet at least Wi-Fi.",
"-The keyboard in Landscape mode when writing a text message is a bit uncomfortable because the keys are very small.",
"- The resolution of the videos on the part of the reproduction is very poor.",
"It's not 3G.",
"I had more expectations on this phone but I'm getting used to the disadvantages and if I really wonder if it's worth buying this phone my answer would be yes.",
"My rating 3 of 5."
] |
Masterboxan was my seller on this screen.
The kit came with everything needed including the white button which is needed to convert a black iPod to white! The button included was not as good as the original since it didn't have a metal contact plate where it touches the actual home switch so it lacks that positive "click" feel that the button was pressed! The included adhesive is a bit thin and doesn't hold the screen down very well. You also need to cut some scraps to seal the sides and the clip that the original screen has for hooking the top of the screen to the case(None of the videos I found even acknowledge the existence of this clip!).
My screen actually lasted only 3 months till a narrow row of the digitizer stopped working. I believe it was either defective or maybe just got a little too much "flexing stress" while wearing it in my belt holder and plastic protective case. My iPod also was shutting down very often in the middle of use until I replaced the this screen. The reason I still gave it 3 stars is because there is a chance I caused the failure either by my installation or the abuse it may have received while wearing it on my belt. I have since purchased an "Otterbox" style case so the next screen will hopefully last longer! | 1 | neutral | [
"Masterboxan was my seller on this screen.",
"The kit came with everything needed including the white button which is needed to convert a black iPod to white!",
"The button included was not as good as the original since it didn't have a metal contact plate where it touches the actual home switch so it lacks that positive \"click\" feel that the button was pressed!",
"The included adhesive is a bit thin and doesn't hold the screen down very well.",
"You also need to cut some scraps to seal the sides and the clip that the original screen has for hooking the top of the screen to the case(None of the videos I found even acknowledge the existence of this clip!",
").",
"My screen actually lasted only 3 months till a narrow row of the digitizer stopped working.",
"I believe it was either defective or maybe just got a little too much \"flexing stress\" while wearing it in my belt holder and plastic protective case.",
"My iPod also was shutting down very often in the middle of use until I replaced the this screen.",
"The reason I still gave it 3 stars is because there is a chance I caused the failure either by my installation or the abuse it may have received while wearing it on my belt.",
"I have since purchased an \"Otterbox\" style case so the next screen will hopefully last longer!"
] |
Plot-wise, 'Grosse Pointe Blank' is about professional hit man Martin Q. Blank (John Cusack) going back to Grosse Pointe for his 10-year High School Reunion. His psychiatrist Dr. Oatman (Alan Arkin) refuses to treat him because he is afraid of him, but he persists in calling him, and uses him for a reluctant sounding board for his own ideas about his therapy:
---------------------------
[Talking to his psychiatrist about going to his high school reunion]
Marty: They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?"
=================================================
The real reason he is going to the reunion is actually so he can reconnect with his High School sweetheart, Debi (Minnie Driver):
----------------------
Debi: Okay. So. You're back... a decade late, and... you're on some sort of therapeutic assignment, and you want to sort things out with me. So the question now becomes, do I allow you access to me or... do I call security?
Marty: I don't think that'd be a good idea.
=======================================
Miss Driver is cute and appealing, and she is especially good with quips. Not only do they meet cute, the cuteness continues non-stop, a veritable cavalcade of cuteness:
--------------------------------------------
Debi: So, is there a Mrs. Mysterio?
Martin Q. Blank: No, but I do have a very nice cat?
Debi: Not the same.
Martin Q. Blank: Well, you don't know my cat, it's very demanding.
Debi: It? You don't know if it's a boy or girl?
Martin Q. Blank: I respect its privacy.
====================================================================
Enough already, with the cutie cute cuteness. How about some substance, some epiphany, some revelation:
---------------------
Debi: You know what you need?
Marty: What?
Debi: Shakabuku.
Marty: You wanna tell me what that means?
Debi: It's a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.
Marty: Oh, that'd be good. I think.
===========================================
It is kind of a dark comedy, with the juxtaposition of killing for a living with a High School reunion scenario. It is kind of a romantic comedy, with the screw ball reason that the two crazy kids can't be together the fact that he is a professional hitman. Neither of these two kinds of comedies really work for me here. I think that the people who want to see John Cusack are not the same demographic who want to see lots of shooting and things blowing up. The people who want to see that aren't the ones who want to see romantic comedies, not even dark comedies. And they certainly aren't interested in a lot of clever dialogue. And the people who do want to hear clever dialogue don't want to watch a lot of people being shot and see things blowing up.
Maybe John Cusack wanted to make a film like this to see how it feels to be an action hero. Maybe he thought it would pull in fans of different genres. 'Grosse Pointe Blank' isn't a bad movie, and it is quite entertaining, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me. As Bob said at the High School reunion, "I'm drawing a complete....Blank."
Anyway, Debi is a DJ, which gives the filmmakers an opportunity to shower us with soundtrack cuts galore. It is like they just wanted to pay homage to the 80's, and how much better the music was than during the 90's. This is actually the best part of the movie. Joe Strummer wrote some music for the soundtrack, and there is also a lot of The Clash and other great music from the 80's:
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Violent-Femmes/dp/B00004YLBC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Violent Femmes</a>
"Blister in the Sun"
Written by Gordon Gano
Performed by Violent Femmes
Courtesy of Slash/London Records, Ltd.
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Super-Black-Market-Clash/dp/B00004C4L1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Super Black Market Clash</a>
"Armagideon Time"
Written by Clement Dodd and Willie Williams
Performed by The Clash
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Live-Let-Die/dp/B00005GTH3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Live & Let Die</a>
"Live and Let Die"
Written by Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney
Performed by Guns N' Roses
Courtesy of Geffen Records
By Arrangement with MCA Special Markets & Products
("Live and Let Die" segues into a 'muzak' version performed by Adam Fields)
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Jam-The-Complete-Jam/dp/B00007CVRE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Jam - The Complete Jam</a>
"Absolute Beginners"
Written by Paul Weller
Performed by The Jam
Courtesy of Polydor Limited
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Today-s-Specials/dp/B000026MBK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Today's Specials</a>
"Pressure Drop"
Written by Toots Hibbert (as Frederick Hibbert)
Performed by The Specials
Courtesy of Kuff Records Ltd./Virgin Records America, Inc.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ace-of-Spades/dp/B000BPK2G6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ace of Spades</a>
"Ace of Spades"
Written by Lemmy (as Ian Kilmister), Fast Eddie Clarke (as Edward Clarke) and Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor (as Philip Taylor)
Performed by Motrhead
Courtesy of Castle Copyrights, Ltd.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Head-on-the-Door/dp/B000GGSM76/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Head on the Door</a>
"In Between Days"
Written by Robert Smith
Performed by The Cure
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products; and Courtesy of Fiction Records/Polydor Ltd./Elektra Entertainment Ltd.
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Introduce-Yourself/dp/B0000057BD/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Introduce Yourself</a>
"We Care a Lot"
Written by Chuck Mosely, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould (as William Gould),
Mike Bordin and Jim Martin
Performed by Faith No More
Courtesy of Slash/London Records, Ltd.
By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Message-From-Beat-Street-Best-Of/dp/B00000338D/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Message From Beat Street: Best Of</a>
"White Lines"
Written by Sylvia Robinson and Melle Mel (as Melvin Glover)
Performed by Melle Mel (as Grandmaster Melle Mel)
Courtesy of Rhino Records/Castle Copyrights Ltd.
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Hot-Space/dp/B000000OAE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Hot Space</a>
"Under Pressure"
Written by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Brian May
Performed by David Bowie (with Queen)
Courtesy of Raincloud Productions Ltd./David R. Jones/MainMan S.A. and Hollywood Records and EMI Records UK
---------------------
[repeated line]
Marty: If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there.
================================ | 1 | neutral | [
"Plot-wise, 'Grosse Pointe Blank' is about professional hit man Martin Q.",
"Blank (John Cusack) going back to Grosse Pointe for his 10-year High School Reunion.",
"His psychiatrist Dr.",
"Oatman (Alan Arkin) refuses to treat him because he is afraid of him, but he persists in calling him, and uses him for a reluctant sounding board for his own ideas about his therapy:\n\n---------------------------\n[Talking to his psychiatrist about going to his high school reunion]\nMarty: They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do.",
"What am I gonna say?",
"\"I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork.",
"How've you been?",
"\"\n=================================================\n\nThe real reason he is going to the reunion is actually so he can reconnect with his High School sweetheart, Debi (Minnie Driver):\n\n----------------------\nDebi: Okay.",
"So.",
"You're back...",
"a decade late, and...",
"you're on some sort of therapeutic assignment, and you want to sort things out with me.",
"So the question now becomes, do I allow you access to me or...",
"do I call security?",
"Marty: I don't think that'd be a good idea.",
"=======================================\n\nMiss Driver is cute and appealing, and she is especially good with quips.",
"Not only do they meet cute, the cuteness continues non-stop, a veritable cavalcade of cuteness:\n\n--------------------------------------------\nDebi: So, is there a Mrs.",
"Mysterio?",
"Martin Q.",
"Blank: No, but I do have a very nice cat?",
"Debi: Not the same.",
"Martin Q.",
"Blank: Well, you don't know my cat, it's very demanding.",
"Debi: It?",
"You don't know if it's a boy or girl?",
"Martin Q.",
"Blank: I respect its privacy.",
"====================================================================\n\nEnough already, with the cutie cute cuteness.",
"How about some substance, some epiphany, some revelation:\n\n---------------------\nDebi: You know what you need?",
"Marty: What?",
"Debi: Shakabuku.",
"Marty: You wanna tell me what that means?",
"Debi: It's a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.",
"Marty: Oh, that'd be good.",
"I think.",
"===========================================\n\nIt is kind of a dark comedy, with the juxtaposition of killing for a living with a High School reunion scenario.",
"It is kind of a romantic comedy, with the screw ball reason that the two crazy kids can't be together the fact that he is a professional hitman.",
"Neither of these two kinds of comedies really work for me here.",
"I think that the people who want to see John Cusack are not the same demographic who want to see lots of shooting and things blowing up.",
"The people who want to see that aren't the ones who want to see romantic comedies, not even dark comedies.",
"And they certainly aren't interested in a lot of clever dialogue.",
"And the people who do want to hear clever dialogue don't want to watch a lot of people being shot and see things blowing up.",
"Maybe John Cusack wanted to make a film like this to see how it feels to be an action hero.",
"Maybe he thought it would pull in fans of different genres.",
"'Grosse Pointe Blank' isn't a bad movie, and it is quite entertaining, but it just doesn't quite cut it for me.",
"As Bob said at the High School reunion, \"I'm drawing a complete....",
"Blank.",
"\"\n\nAnyway, Debi is a DJ, which gives the filmmakers an opportunity to shower us with soundtrack cuts galore.",
"It is like they just wanted to pay homage to the 80's, and how much better the music was than during the 90's.",
"This is actually the best part of the movie.",
"Joe Strummer wrote some music for the soundtrack, and there is also a lot of The Clash and other great music from the 80's:\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Violent-Femmes/dp/B00004YLBC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Violent Femmes</a>\n\"Blister in the Sun\"\nWritten by Gordon Gano\nPerformed by Violent Femmes\nCourtesy of Slash/London Records, Ltd.",
"By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Super-Black-Market-Clash/dp/B00004C4L1/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Super Black Market Clash</a>\n\"Armagideon Time\"\nWritten by Clement Dodd and Willie Williams\nPerformed by The Clash\nCourtesy of Epic Records\nBy Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Live-Let-Die/dp/B00005GTH3/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Live & Let Die</a>\n\"Live and Let Die\"\nWritten by Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney\nPerformed by Guns N' Roses\nCourtesy of Geffen Records\nBy Arrangement with MCA Special Markets & Products\n(\"Live and Let Die\" segues into a 'muzak' version performed by Adam Fields)\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/The-Jam-The-Complete-Jam/dp/B00007CVRE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">The Jam - The Complete Jam</a>\n\"Absolute Beginners\"\nWritten by Paul Weller\nPerformed by The Jam\nCourtesy of Polydor Limited\nBy Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Today-s-Specials/dp/B000026MBK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Today's Specials</a>\n\"Pressure Drop\"\nWritten by Toots Hibbert (as Frederick Hibbert)\nPerformed by The Specials\nCourtesy of Kuff Records Ltd.",
"/Virgin Records America, Inc.",
"<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Ace-of-Spades/dp/B000BPK2G6/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Ace of Spades</a>\n\"Ace of Spades\"\nWritten by Lemmy (as Ian Kilmister), Fast Eddie Clarke (as Edward Clarke) and Phil 'Philthy Animal' Taylor (as Philip Taylor)\nPerformed by Motrhead\nCourtesy of Castle Copyrights, Ltd.",
"<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/The-Head-on-the-Door/dp/B000GGSM76/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">The Head on the Door</a>\n\"In Between Days\"\nWritten by Robert Smith\nPerformed by The Cure\nCourtesy of Elektra Entertainment Corp.",
"By Arrangement with Warner Special Products; and Courtesy of Fiction Records/Polydor Ltd.",
"/Elektra Entertainment Ltd.",
"By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Introduce-Yourself/dp/B0000057BD/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Introduce Yourself</a>\n\"We Care a Lot\"\nWritten by Chuck Mosely, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould (as William Gould),\nMike Bordin and Jim Martin\nPerformed by Faith No More\nCourtesy of Slash/London Records, Ltd.",
"By Arrangement with PolyGram Film & TV Licensing\n\n<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Message-From-Beat-Street-Best-Of/dp/B00000338D/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Message From Beat Street: Best Of</a>\n\"White Lines\"\nWritten by Sylvia Robinson and Melle Mel (as Melvin Glover)\nPerformed by Melle Mel (as Grandmaster Melle Mel)\nCourtesy of Rhino Records/Castle Copyrights Ltd.",
"<a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Hot-Space/dp/B000000OAE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Hot Space</a>\n\"Under Pressure\"\nWritten by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, John Deacon and Brian May\nPerformed by David Bowie (with Queen)\nCourtesy of Raincloud Productions Ltd.",
"/David R.",
"Jones/MainMan S.",
"A. and Hollywood Records and EMI Records UK\n\n---------------------\n[repeated line]\nMarty: If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there.",
"================================"
] |
60 capsules of serum/moisturizer in a jar with screw top.
The capsules are a nice idea, but I'm not entirely sold on it. It's not that it is a hassle, but it's just an added step to my already "beauty in a hurry" attitude. It gives me a good amount of product to smooth on my face, but not so much on the throat and chest, however. The good part is there's no dipping my fingers into the cream and having too much, or contaminating the rest (though I always use clean hands and only I use my creams).
Applying the lotion is so very nice. Leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth. There's no way for me to tell what it's doing at a "cellular level" because not enough time has passed for me to know what effect this will have on my skin long-term.
But a big negative is that it's way over my budget. At 60 capsules, two a day, that is a month of product for $54 (at time of this review). So $54 a month for a serum. If I thought it was doing really great things I still couldn't pay $54 a month. I could use it once a day and that would make it more manageable, but there are also other serums on the market that aren't as expensive and give the same feeling to my face and make the same claims. Perhaps this line of Cindy Crawford products does have better quality ingredients and some "magic" to it, but I still would have a hard time paying $54 a month for any beauty product on my budget.
Money aside, if I weren't concerned with my budget, I'm not sure if I would purchase. I really do like how it makes my skin feel but I have less expensive serums that feel great too. If I see that it does wonders for my face as time goes on, I'll come back to reflect that. | 1 | neutral | [
"60 capsules of serum/moisturizer in a jar with screw top.",
"The capsules are a nice idea, but I'm not entirely sold on it.",
"It's not that it is a hassle, but it's just an added step to my already \"beauty in a hurry\" attitude.",
"It gives me a good amount of product to smooth on my face, but not so much on the throat and chest, however.",
"The good part is there's no dipping my fingers into the cream and having too much, or contaminating the rest (though I always use clean hands and only I use my creams).",
"Applying the lotion is so very nice.",
"Leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth.",
"There's no way for me to tell what it's doing at a \"cellular level\" because not enough time has passed for me to know what effect this will have on my skin long-term.",
"But a big negative is that it's way over my budget.",
"At 60 capsules, two a day, that is a month of product for $54 (at time of this review).",
"So $54 a month for a serum.",
"If I thought it was doing really great things I still couldn't pay $54 a month.",
"I could use it once a day and that would make it more manageable, but there are also other serums on the market that aren't as expensive and give the same feeling to my face and make the same claims.",
"Perhaps this line of Cindy Crawford products does have better quality ingredients and some \"magic\" to it, but I still would have a hard time paying $54 a month for any beauty product on my budget.",
"Money aside, if I weren't concerned with my budget, I'm not sure if I would purchase.",
"I really do like how it makes my skin feel but I have less expensive serums that feel great too.",
"If I see that it does wonders for my face as time goes on, I'll come back to reflect that."
] |
you might want to skip over this unless you are determined to read them all. This is one of her lesser efforts that only make the rest of her work so much better.
The story is cleverly arranged into "Acts", a reflection of the main character, Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous stage actor who is now retired. Sir Charles hosts a dinner party which includes many who have connections with the stage: Angela Sutcliffe, actress; Miss Willis, playwright; Capt. Darce and his wife, who run a theatrical dressmaking business; and Mr. Satterthwaite, wealthy patron of the arts (featured in the short story collection THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN). Rounding out the party are Dr. Strange, a specialist in nervous disorder and a college friend; the local vicar and his wife; Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione, Mr. Oliver Manders and Hercule Poirot.
The party proceeds predictably until a murder takes place (or maybe just proceeds predictably). End of Act I, Act II weeks later another dinner party takes place miles aways, many, although not all, of the same guests are present and another murder takes place. Act III, Poirot and others involved in the tragedies investigate the crimes and of course, Poirot solves the crime.
The characters of Mr. Satterthwaite and Hermione are delightful and well written and Poirot is his usual eccentric self. Unfortunately the rest of the characters are down right boring and totally forgetable. The plot itself is far better than the characters. The crimes are cleverly done, there is the usual Christie twist at the end but even that cannot raise this beyond a passable rating. This mystery is suitable for long, boring plane rides or similar periods of prolonged entrapment only. | 1 | neutral | [
"you might want to skip over this unless you are determined to read them all.",
"This is one of her lesser efforts that only make the rest of her work so much better.",
"The story is cleverly arranged into \"Acts\", a reflection of the main character, Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous stage actor who is now retired.",
"Sir Charles hosts a dinner party which includes many who have connections with the stage: Angela Sutcliffe, actress; Miss Willis, playwright; Capt.",
"Darce and his wife, who run a theatrical dressmaking business; and Mr.",
"Satterthwaite, wealthy patron of the arts (featured in the short story collection THE MYSTERIOUS MR.",
"QUIN).",
"Rounding out the party are Dr.",
"Strange, a specialist in nervous disorder and a college friend; the local vicar and his wife; Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione, Mr.",
"Oliver Manders and Hercule Poirot.",
"The party proceeds predictably until a murder takes place (or maybe just proceeds predictably).",
"End of Act I, Act II weeks later another dinner party takes place miles aways, many, although not all, of the same guests are present and another murder takes place.",
"Act III, Poirot and others involved in the tragedies investigate the crimes and of course, Poirot solves the crime.",
"The characters of Mr.",
"Satterthwaite and Hermione are delightful and well written and Poirot is his usual eccentric self.",
"Unfortunately the rest of the characters are down right boring and totally forgetable.",
"The plot itself is far better than the characters.",
"The crimes are cleverly done, there is the usual Christie twist at the end but even that cannot raise this beyond a passable rating.",
"This mystery is suitable for long, boring plane rides or similar periods of prolonged entrapment only."
] |
Okay, while I like the premise of Hunter the Reckoning: Zombies and monsters and werewolves oh my! I began to quickly become jaded. I dislike games where all there is to do is hit the trigger button. Can we say repetitive stress injury? I like a little bit of a plot with my carnage.
I encountered a couple of glitches in the game, which bugged me as well. At one level I got stuck in a wall, and could not move, I just had to wait until the zombies mauled me to death, in another level, the camera got stuck in 'far away' mode, and even though I attempted to adjust the perspective, I couldn't. I was forced to watch from a distance, as my character got hit by monsters I couldn't see. This was the most frustrating glitch.
Also, I was disappointed in my inability to save, until nearly the end of each level, which meant I had to go back to the beginning and start over, everytime I was killed. This game is almost impossible to complete in single-player mode without cheating. It was so frustrating to try to go through levels with dozens of monsters spawning all around you only to watch your life bar dwindle to nothingness. I understand from other reviews that this game is really intended for multi-player audience. I whole-heartedly agree. It was fun playing with a friend, impossible in single player mode.
Overall, I give it 3 stars for an interesting concept and good graphics. But I'll have to pass, unless the next one has more plot and is a little less dark. I prefer my horror to be subtle. Not graveyards filled with hundreds of endlessly spawning monsters. That's just boring. | 1 | neutral | [
"Okay, while I like the premise of Hunter the Reckoning: Zombies and monsters and werewolves oh my!",
"I began to quickly become jaded.",
"I dislike games where all there is to do is hit the trigger button.",
"Can we say repetitive stress injury?",
"I like a little bit of a plot with my carnage.",
"I encountered a couple of glitches in the game, which bugged me as well.",
"At one level I got stuck in a wall, and could not move, I just had to wait until the zombies mauled me to death, in another level, the camera got stuck in 'far away' mode, and even though I attempted to adjust the perspective, I couldn't.",
"I was forced to watch from a distance, as my character got hit by monsters I couldn't see.",
"This was the most frustrating glitch.",
"Also, I was disappointed in my inability to save, until nearly the end of each level, which meant I had to go back to the beginning and start over, everytime I was killed.",
"This game is almost impossible to complete in single-player mode without cheating.",
"It was so frustrating to try to go through levels with dozens of monsters spawning all around you only to watch your life bar dwindle to nothingness.",
"I understand from other reviews that this game is really intended for multi-player audience.",
"I whole-heartedly agree.",
"It was fun playing with a friend, impossible in single player mode.",
"Overall, I give it 3 stars for an interesting concept and good graphics.",
"But I'll have to pass, unless the next one has more plot and is a little less dark.",
"I prefer my horror to be subtle.",
"Not graveyards filled with hundreds of endlessly spawning monsters.",
"That's just boring."
] |
Well, this game basically rips off that old Mark Hamill movie I saw on sci fi channel when I was a kid. It also steals a bit from Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War. Undaunted by all this I rather enjoyed myself while I was playing this, after all, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best. Then again, the Guyver kinda sucks, but in a good way.
You play as Hayden Tenno, a CIA assassin in a Russian country in complete devastation from biological weapons exposure. Hayden ends up all mutated and his arm is turned into a sharp batarang and you have to blast and boomerang your way to Meznor who's basically your typical lunatic plotting all sorts of nastiness. You got Russian clean up crews in yellow hazmat jumpsuits as well as those nasty resident evil zombies and creatures that look like imps from the computer game Doom all standing in your way.
So, what are you gonna do about it? Why shoot everything in sight in all ways reminisent of Gears of War and cut people in half with a sharp frisbee, of course. Along the way you buy guns from the shopkeeper from Resident Evil 4 with a stupid russian accent. You also have to solve really basic puzzles with your batarang, such as setting it on fire and throwing it at black gunk blocking doors. Sounds cool, huh?
Yeah, you know, it kinda is. Everything is pretty solid and the graphics are pretty. The Glaive (frisbee) is a cool weapon and you can dual wield it with a few of the guns including a sick one handed shotgun, but the problem is that three quarters of the way through, the whole thing gets really stale. The story seems to just flatline for a couple chapters and the environments develop too much sameness. Chapter seven is the biggest offender and that level seems to just really drag. It does pick back up for the finale and you develop some new abilities which spice things up but you aren't given a whole lot of time to play with them.
Another complaint is that most of the boss battles are trial and error, making each new fight more of a fancy puzzle than an action packed all out battle royale. For me, the high point of a game like this should be giant crazy bosses that kick up the adrenaline and that's sadly not the case here.
Basically, what you have here is a game that tries really hard to be alot of other games and when it tries something original, it basically falls flat. Not all is lost, however, because now is a perfect time to give this thing a try as you can buy this up for the price of a rental. Honestly, despite some serious issues with the middle section here, this game is decent and I can't say I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel take the concept to another level. So go ahead and pick it up, I got mine for three bucks and pick up the Guyver, if only to compare Hayden's armor at the end of the game to that movie. | 1 | neutral | [
"Well, this game basically rips off that old Mark Hamill movie I saw on sci fi channel when I was a kid.",
"It also steals a bit from Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.",
"Undaunted by all this I rather enjoyed myself while I was playing this, after all, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best.",
"Then again, the Guyver kinda sucks, but in a good way.",
"You play as Hayden Tenno, a CIA assassin in a Russian country in complete devastation from biological weapons exposure.",
"Hayden ends up all mutated and his arm is turned into a sharp batarang and you have to blast and boomerang your way to Meznor who's basically your typical lunatic plotting all sorts of nastiness.",
"You got Russian clean up crews in yellow hazmat jumpsuits as well as those nasty resident evil zombies and creatures that look like imps from the computer game Doom all standing in your way.",
"So, what are you gonna do about it?",
"Why shoot everything in sight in all ways reminisent of Gears of War and cut people in half with a sharp frisbee, of course.",
"Along the way you buy guns from the shopkeeper from Resident Evil 4 with a stupid russian accent.",
"You also have to solve really basic puzzles with your batarang, such as setting it on fire and throwing it at black gunk blocking doors.",
"Sounds cool, huh?",
"Yeah, you know, it kinda is.",
"Everything is pretty solid and the graphics are pretty.",
"The Glaive (frisbee) is a cool weapon and you can dual wield it with a few of the guns including a sick one handed shotgun, but the problem is that three quarters of the way through, the whole thing gets really stale.",
"The story seems to just flatline for a couple chapters and the environments develop too much sameness.",
"Chapter seven is the biggest offender and that level seems to just really drag.",
"It does pick back up for the finale and you develop some new abilities which spice things up but you aren't given a whole lot of time to play with them.",
"Another complaint is that most of the boss battles are trial and error, making each new fight more of a fancy puzzle than an action packed all out battle royale.",
"For me, the high point of a game like this should be giant crazy bosses that kick up the adrenaline and that's sadly not the case here.",
"Basically, what you have here is a game that tries really hard to be alot of other games and when it tries something original, it basically falls flat.",
"Not all is lost, however, because now is a perfect time to give this thing a try as you can buy this up for the price of a rental.",
"Honestly, despite some serious issues with the middle section here, this game is decent and I can't say I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel take the concept to another level.",
"So go ahead and pick it up, I got mine for three bucks and pick up the Guyver, if only to compare Hayden's armor at the end of the game to that movie."
] |
Perky-Pet Hummingbird Instant Nectar Concentrate has been developed to attract hummers by the Perky-Pet Products Co., recognized as a producer of fine wild bird feeders and accessories. As is well known, tiny, quicker-than-the eye moving hummers expend energy at far greater rates than any other bird; therefore, it is easy to see why they must feed often, and why energy laden nectars are particularly helpful to them.
Many reviewers have pointed out that this mix is much more expensive than simple sugar and water, which suffices very well to feed the birds, and that the red dye it contains, to catch the birds' eyes, is potentially harmful.
However, I do find that this Perky-Pet concentrate is handy. It is a dry mix that needs only tap water added: no boiling required. The mix comes in six convenient pre-measured packets for easy mixing and freshness: I've found it's easy to make the nectar even in small amounts. Simply mix one teaspoon of product to two ounces of water: stir until completely dissolved. Cover and refrigerate any unused mixture. And of course, you've got to keep the product fresh, and wash down the feeder with soap and water when changing nectar.
Total sugar - 100% sucrose--makes up 95% of the product. I'm thrilled to say I've got a hummer visiting my deck. The season for them is rather long here, February to October, as they come off, and prepare for, their long migration across the Caribbean. Of course, I'm anxious to help mine recover from, and beef up for, that long trek. Glad to be of service. | 1 | neutral | [
"Perky-Pet Hummingbird Instant Nectar Concentrate has been developed to attract hummers by the Perky-Pet Products Co.",
", recognized as a producer of fine wild bird feeders and accessories.",
"As is well known, tiny, quicker-than-the eye moving hummers expend energy at far greater rates than any other bird; therefore, it is easy to see why they must feed often, and why energy laden nectars are particularly helpful to them.",
"Many reviewers have pointed out that this mix is much more expensive than simple sugar and water, which suffices very well to feed the birds, and that the red dye it contains, to catch the birds' eyes, is potentially harmful.",
"However, I do find that this Perky-Pet concentrate is handy.",
"It is a dry mix that needs only tap water added: no boiling required.",
"The mix comes in six convenient pre-measured packets for easy mixing and freshness: I've found it's easy to make the nectar even in small amounts.",
"Simply mix one teaspoon of product to two ounces of water: stir until completely dissolved.",
"Cover and refrigerate any unused mixture.",
"And of course, you've got to keep the product fresh, and wash down the feeder with soap and water when changing nectar.",
"Total sugar - 100% sucrose--makes up 95% of the product.",
"I'm thrilled to say I've got a hummer visiting my deck.",
"The season for them is rather long here, February to October, as they come off, and prepare for, their long migration across the Caribbean.",
"Of course, I'm anxious to help mine recover from, and beef up for, that long trek.",
"Glad to be of service."
] |
I used this kit to install replacement feet on my loveseat after the originals were lost in a long distance move. I used the adapter plates and screws; did not use the other parts so can't speak about those. The plates are fine - sturdy and made well. The screws are not. My problem with the screws was when I was tightening them down - one of the screw heads sheared right off with hand tightening! I have never seen that before, and I have done a LOT of DIY projects in my 6+ decades of life. I'm not the strongest person, either, so the amount of torque I was using wasn't much. With the body of the screw already in the wood of the loveseat frame, there's no easy way to back it out, so one plate is now only secured by 3 screws. The other screws also started to give as I tightened them, so I didn't tighten them as much as I'd have liked to. But, the plates did the job, for the most part - I now have feet on my loveseat again! | 1 | neutral | [
"I used this kit to install replacement feet on my loveseat after the originals were lost in a long distance move.",
"I used the adapter plates and screws; did not use the other parts so can't speak about those.",
"The plates are fine - sturdy and made well.",
"The screws are not.",
"My problem with the screws was when I was tightening them down - one of the screw heads sheared right off with hand tightening!",
"I have never seen that before, and I have done a LOT of DIY projects in my 6+ decades of life.",
"I'm not the strongest person, either, so the amount of torque I was using wasn't much.",
"With the body of the screw already in the wood of the loveseat frame, there's no easy way to back it out, so one plate is now only secured by 3 screws.",
"The other screws also started to give as I tightened them, so I didn't tighten them as much as I'd have liked to.",
"But, the plates did the job, for the most part - I now have feet on my loveseat again!"
] |
There is one major caveat to the use of this product that all potential buyers should be aware of. You MUST have at least 1.3 ft or so between the front of your vehicle and where the unit is mounted. It will not be able to register closer than this distance. If you're purchasing this b/c of a "tight" garage, this could be an issue, as it is for me.
This seems a little silly, but I thought the point of this unit was to help you park close to the front wall in a tight garage but not bump the wall. However, the instructions clearly state that the range is 1.3 to 16 feet. "We recommend that you never leave less than 1.3 feet between your bumper and the wall." This, of course, is kind of ridiculous since if I had 1.3 ft between the front of my car and the front wall, I wouldn't need a parking assist device. When properly parked, my garage allows approximately 4" of clearance front and rear in total (e.g., 2" up front, 2" in rear if centered). Thus, I have .25 ft. The unit simply flashes red about 1.5ft before I get pulled into the proper position and then goes off.
This may be fine if you have lots of room in your garage and need to park in a very particular position among the piles of stuff, but if you have a particularly tight garage, it may not serve your needs. | 1 | neutral | [
"There is one major caveat to the use of this product that all potential buyers should be aware of.",
"You MUST have at least 1.",
"3 ft or so between the front of your vehicle and where the unit is mounted.",
"It will not be able to register closer than this distance.",
"If you're purchasing this b/c of a \"tight\" garage, this could be an issue, as it is for me.",
"This seems a little silly, but I thought the point of this unit was to help you park close to the front wall in a tight garage but not bump the wall.",
"However, the instructions clearly state that the range is 1.",
"3 to 16 feet.",
"\"We recommend that you never leave less than 1.",
"3 feet between your bumper and the wall.",
"\" This, of course, is kind of ridiculous since if I had 1.",
"3 ft between the front of my car and the front wall, I wouldn't need a parking assist device.",
"When properly parked, my garage allows approximately 4\" of clearance front and rear in total (e.",
"g., 2\" up front, 2\" in rear if centered).",
"Thus, I have.",
"25 ft.",
"The unit simply flashes red about 1.",
"5ft before I get pulled into the proper position and then goes off.",
"This may be fine if you have lots of room in your garage and need to park in a very particular position among the piles of stuff, but if you have a particularly tight garage, it may not serve your needs."
] |
Many of the reviews for this product complained that the design did not match the picture. Our teepee looks exactly as shown (minus the example children, of course.)
Pros:
- Tall enough for an adult to stand in. This was the single biggest factor for me, since we previously had one of the cheap princess tents; my daughter always wanted me to play in there with her, and it was causing me back pain from all of the stooping.
- Fairly easy to assemble. I have never put together a tent, and I did this by myself in about 30 minutes. Presumably, I will get better with practice. It helps to have a partner there when you disassemble, though - else you let the tent collapse around you. There are no outside supports to prop it up as you remove the large tent poles.
- Bottom is waterproof, which makes it suitable for outdoor play
- Attaches to other Pacific Play Tents products (tunnels, etc.)
- PRICE. This tent is roughly 1/3 the cost of other play teepees. This is not made of canvas, it is very much a tent. But it serves its purpose of providing a fun space for kids, and does so affordably. Bravo, Pacific Play Tents!
Cons:
- Directions are meager. Luckily, common sense will help you fill in the gaps, but the directions really do leave something to be desired. Additionally, the directions talked about poles of three different colors, and ours were only two colors. We had all the right parts, but the colors did not match the directions. If you are easily frustrated, such an error might be enough to make you send the product back.
- Ships in the manufacturer's box, which features pictures of the product. Makes it very hard to buy as a surprise gift! Oddly, the box was about 4 times bigger than the stuff sack containing the tent and its parts -- this could have shipped in a much more discreet package.
- Like so many children's toys, it's almost impossible to put back into the stuff sack provided. My husband and I are going to use an old duffel or beach bag to store the tent and its poles from now on, because rolling the tent small enough to go back into the sack was a bigger headache than disassembling the entire tent.
- Weight. Even though this is a tent, you would not be well advised to bring it backpacking. The parts are quite heavy! Stick to the intended use as a temporary play house, and this will not be an issue.
Update! Have now owned this toy for 7 months. We live in Northern California, amongst moderate climate, and decided to leave the tent up, outside, for the summer. It's not even July yet, and something has gone horribly wrong... The base seems to have shrunken! The poles no longer fit as they once did - there is a tear in the base, and the tent no linger zips all the way down. This tent is for INDOOR USE ONLY!! I'm now degrading a star for that reason. | 1 | neutral | [
"Many of the reviews for this product complained that the design did not match the picture.",
"Our teepee looks exactly as shown (minus the example children, of course.",
")\n\nPros:\n - Tall enough for an adult to stand in.",
"This was the single biggest factor for me, since we previously had one of the cheap princess tents; my daughter always wanted me to play in there with her, and it was causing me back pain from all of the stooping.",
"- Fairly easy to assemble.",
"I have never put together a tent, and I did this by myself in about 30 minutes.",
"Presumably, I will get better with practice.",
"It helps to have a partner there when you disassemble, though - else you let the tent collapse around you.",
"There are no outside supports to prop it up as you remove the large tent poles.",
"- Bottom is waterproof, which makes it suitable for outdoor play\n- Attaches to other Pacific Play Tents products (tunnels, etc.",
")\n- PRICE.",
"This tent is roughly 1/3 the cost of other play teepees.",
"This is not made of canvas, it is very much a tent.",
"But it serves its purpose of providing a fun space for kids, and does so affordably.",
"Bravo, Pacific Play Tents!",
"Cons:\n- Directions are meager.",
"Luckily, common sense will help you fill in the gaps, but the directions really do leave something to be desired.",
"Additionally, the directions talked about poles of three different colors, and ours were only two colors.",
"We had all the right parts, but the colors did not match the directions.",
"If you are easily frustrated, such an error might be enough to make you send the product back.",
"- Ships in the manufacturer's box, which features pictures of the product.",
"Makes it very hard to buy as a surprise gift!",
"Oddly, the box was about 4 times bigger than the stuff sack containing the tent and its parts -- this could have shipped in a much more discreet package.",
"- Like so many children's toys, it's almost impossible to put back into the stuff sack provided.",
"My husband and I are going to use an old duffel or beach bag to store the tent and its poles from now on, because rolling the tent small enough to go back into the sack was a bigger headache than disassembling the entire tent.",
"- Weight.",
"Even though this is a tent, you would not be well advised to bring it backpacking.",
"The parts are quite heavy!",
"Stick to the intended use as a temporary play house, and this will not be an issue.",
"Update!",
"Have now owned this toy for 7 months.",
"We live in Northern California, amongst moderate climate, and decided to leave the tent up, outside, for the summer.",
"It's not even July yet, and something has gone horribly wrong...",
"The base seems to have shrunken!",
"The poles no longer fit as they once did - there is a tear in the base, and the tent no linger zips all the way down.",
"This tent is for INDOOR USE ONLY!!",
"I'm now degrading a star for that reason."
] |
This game is great as far as dialogue and story is concerned(J. R. R. Tolkien wrote the story) and the acting isn't that bad. I have noticed serveral VO's from cartoons I watched as a kid, the cute lady hobbit(with the cutezy voice) in the Shire for one. Gandalf for another. I think most of these people were in The Gary Colman show and the smurfs or some such. Gandalf was the Snow guy from the Thundercats I think. The thing that annoys me is that even with the patch, EAX is horrid and non functional. If you are going to play a graphic adventure at least include decent EAX. Even an Audigy 2 doesn't work. That and the popping even when EAX is disabled is the sole reason I am cutting 2 stars off this bugged travesty of an otherwise good game.
I like hitting my witless side-kicks with a stick and stone.:)=) | 1 | neutral | [
"This game is great as far as dialogue and story is concerned(J.",
"R.",
"R.",
"Tolkien wrote the story) and the acting isn't that bad.",
"I have noticed serveral VO's from cartoons I watched as a kid, the cute lady hobbit(with the cutezy voice) in the Shire for one.",
"Gandalf for another.",
"I think most of these people were in The Gary Colman show and the smurfs or some such.",
"Gandalf was the Snow guy from the Thundercats I think.",
"The thing that annoys me is that even with the patch, EAX is horrid and non functional.",
"If you are going to play a graphic adventure at least include decent EAX.",
"Even an Audigy 2 doesn't work.",
"That and the popping even when EAX is disabled is the sole reason I am cutting 2 stars off this bugged travesty of an otherwise good game.",
"I like hitting my witless side-kicks with a stick and stone.",
":)=)"
] |
The cheese filling has a vey mild cheese flavor. The cracker is bland with little of the "buttery-tasting" flavor touted on the back of the box. My first impression was that they're "OK" but *just* "OK." After eating several in a row they seemed better but still somewhat "off" in overall flavor and texture. The kids (ages 4, 9, 12) liked them well enough with the oldest proclaiming they taste just like Ritz Bits cheese crackers as he ate his first cracker. After eating a few more he changed his mind saying they were not as good but that "they'll do." The two younger ones weren't quite as critical but in the three days since we opened the box they've turned down offers of more. Something they rarely do with the Ritz version.
I'm not suckerd in by the "organic" movement and look at that word on packages as primarily a excuse to charge more at the register. Organic does not automatically equate as "better" or even better for you.
In doing a per serving (30g Horizon, 31g Ritz) label comparison with Ritz Bits crackers these have the same number of calories, same amount of overall fat, and saturated fat. They are a bit lower in carbohydrates (16g against the Ritz 18g). BUT they are MUCH higher in sodium (280mg/12% against the Ritz 160mg/7%) and have more cholesterol (1% against the Ritz 0% - granted rather insignificant but it's there). Yes, they have more calcium than do the Ritz crackers but that doesn't offset the much higher sodium content. Just that increase in sodium makes these a worse choice than Ritz, never mind that the flavor is also sub-par.
Give your kids the Ritz Bits with a small glass of milk. They'll thank you. | 1 | neutral | [
"The cheese filling has a vey mild cheese flavor.",
"The cracker is bland with little of the \"buttery-tasting\" flavor touted on the back of the box.",
"My first impression was that they're \"OK\" but *just* \"OK.",
"\" After eating several in a row they seemed better but still somewhat \"off\" in overall flavor and texture.",
"The kids (ages 4, 9, 12) liked them well enough with the oldest proclaiming they taste just like Ritz Bits cheese crackers as he ate his first cracker.",
"After eating a few more he changed his mind saying they were not as good but that \"they'll do.",
"\" The two younger ones weren't quite as critical but in the three days since we opened the box they've turned down offers of more.",
"Something they rarely do with the Ritz version.",
"I'm not suckerd in by the \"organic\" movement and look at that word on packages as primarily a excuse to charge more at the register.",
"Organic does not automatically equate as \"better\" or even better for you.",
"In doing a per serving (30g Horizon, 31g Ritz) label comparison with Ritz Bits crackers these have the same number of calories, same amount of overall fat, and saturated fat.",
"They are a bit lower in carbohydrates (16g against the Ritz 18g).",
"BUT they are MUCH higher in sodium (280mg/12% against the Ritz 160mg/7%) and have more cholesterol (1% against the Ritz 0% - granted rather insignificant but it's there).",
"Yes, they have more calcium than do the Ritz crackers but that doesn't offset the much higher sodium content.",
"Just that increase in sodium makes these a worse choice than Ritz, never mind that the flavor is also sub-par.",
"Give your kids the Ritz Bits with a small glass of milk.",
"They'll thank you."
] |
JUST okay. The premise of the story was flimsy so it was tough to suspend disbelief. Horry was considered "sensible"; yet she went on to do one preposterous thing after another. It seemed highly improbable that she would've "taken London by storm". Net, net: I found myself un-invested in the characters. Frankly, I felt sorry for the hero.
Perhaps my experience was colored by the narration. I read the book while listening to Caroline Hunt's narration. Her characters were not distinct enough. Her tone/inflection of the dialogue often seemed at odds with the author's adjectives. It was very disconcerting. She also misread the text a fair bit. She referred to the Viscount as Count several times, when the book clearly said Viscount. A Count is another way to refer to an Earl, so that's a big blunder. | 1 | neutral | [
"JUST okay.",
"The premise of the story was flimsy so it was tough to suspend disbelief.",
"Horry was considered \"sensible\"; yet she went on to do one preposterous thing after another.",
"It seemed highly improbable that she would've \"taken London by storm\".",
"Net, net: I found myself un-invested in the characters.",
"Frankly, I felt sorry for the hero.",
"Perhaps my experience was colored by the narration.",
"I read the book while listening to Caroline Hunt's narration.",
"Her characters were not distinct enough.",
"Her tone/inflection of the dialogue often seemed at odds with the author's adjectives.",
"It was very disconcerting.",
"She also misread the text a fair bit.",
"She referred to the Viscount as Count several times, when the book clearly said Viscount.",
"A Count is another way to refer to an Earl, so that's a big blunder."
] |
Pompeo has already been preparing to take over the State Department
From left CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson . ( Photos by Bill O β Leary / The Washington Post and Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post ) Since well before the White House plan to replace Secretary of State Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo became public Thursday Pompeo had been informally preparing to take over in Foggy Bottom reaching out to potential candidates for positions and collecting ideas . β Pompeo is quietly looking at staff and figuring out how the department could be reorganized to be effective again β a White House official told me . A CIA spokesman declined to comment . Pompeo has been calling around to friends and top Republican foreign policy hands and asking them to help him get ready to be America β s top diplomat if he is ultimately chosen two GOP foreign policy sources who are familiar with the calls said . The Trump administration denied Thursday that the White House has drawn up plans to replace Tillerson with Pompeo and then appoint Sen . Tom Cotton ( R - Ark .) to be CIA director as first reported by the New York Times . But White House officials confirmed to me that such a plan does exist drawn up by Chief of Staff John F . Kelly . It is still unclear if President Trump has personally approved the plan officials said and the timing is also uncertain . In this clip from The Washington Post ' s weekly Opinions roundup " It ' s Only Thursday " opinion writers Jonathan Capehart Jo - Ann Armao and Ruth Marcus weigh in on reports that the White House is planning to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo . ( The Washington Post ) State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Kelly called Tillerson β s chief of staff Margaret Peterlin Thursday morning to dispute the reports . Tillerson is going about his normal business she said and was not rattled . β The White House statement confirmed there will be no personnel changes β she said . β Secretary Tillerson enjoys this job he has a lot of work to do .β Tillerson and Trump met twice Thursday . In a pool meeting with reporters Trump answered questions about Tillerson simply by saying β He β s here . Rex is here .β Several State Department officials said Thursday they were happy that Tillerson was leaving and hopeful that Pompeo if selected would give them a fresh start with the Trump administration . Morale is low in Foggy Bottom amid budget and staffing cuts hiring freezes a departure of top talent and scores of vacant top - level positions . Tillerson β s support on Capitol Hill has also deteriorated in recent weeks as lawmakers in both parties openly criticized his ongoing reorganization initiative . The main State Department official in charge of that effort Maliz Beams quit her job earlier this week . Tillerson has consistently denied reports he is considering leaving or anticipating being pushed out . This week he pushed back against reports the diplomatic core is in trouble . Last month he denied being aware of the low morale and overall discontent with his leadership at the State Department . β If it β s as bad as it seems to be described I β m not seeing it I β m not getting it β he said . If Pompeo does become secretary of state his first task should be to repair the Trump administration β s relationship with the thousands of State Department employees who are ready to follow him if he is ready to lead them . | 1 | neutral | [
"Pompeo has already been preparing to take over the State Department\nFrom left CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.",
"( Photos by Bill O β Leary / The Washington Post and Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post ) Since well before the White House plan to replace Secretary of State Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo became public Thursday Pompeo had been informally preparing to take over in Foggy Bottom reaching out to potential candidates for positions and collecting ideas.",
"β Pompeo is quietly looking at staff and figuring out how the department could be reorganized to be effective again β a White House official told me.",
"A CIA spokesman declined to comment.",
"Pompeo has been calling around to friends and top Republican foreign policy hands and asking them to help him get ready to be America β s top diplomat if he is ultimately chosen two GOP foreign policy sources who are familiar with the calls said.",
"The Trump administration denied Thursday that the White House has drawn up plans to replace Tillerson with Pompeo and then appoint Sen.",
"Tom Cotton ( R - Ark.",
") to be CIA director as first reported by the New York Times.",
"But White House officials confirmed to me that such a plan does exist drawn up by Chief of Staff John F.",
"Kelly.",
"It is still unclear if President Trump has personally approved the plan officials said and the timing is also uncertain.",
"In this clip from The Washington Post ' s weekly Opinions roundup \" It ' s Only Thursday \" opinion writers Jonathan Capehart Jo - Ann Armao and Ruth Marcus weigh in on reports that the White House is planning to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo.",
"( The Washington Post ) State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Kelly called Tillerson β s chief of staff Margaret Peterlin Thursday morning to dispute the reports.",
"Tillerson is going about his normal business she said and was not rattled.",
"β The White House statement confirmed there will be no personnel changes β she said.",
"β Secretary Tillerson enjoys this job he has a lot of work to do.",
"β Tillerson and Trump met twice Thursday.",
"In a pool meeting with reporters Trump answered questions about Tillerson simply by saying β He β s here.",
"Rex is here.",
"β Several State Department officials said Thursday they were happy that Tillerson was leaving and hopeful that Pompeo if selected would give them a fresh start with the Trump administration.",
"Morale is low in Foggy Bottom amid budget and staffing cuts hiring freezes a departure of top talent and scores of vacant top - level positions.",
"Tillerson β s support on Capitol Hill has also deteriorated in recent weeks as lawmakers in both parties openly criticized his ongoing reorganization initiative.",
"The main State Department official in charge of that effort Maliz Beams quit her job earlier this week.",
"Tillerson has consistently denied reports he is considering leaving or anticipating being pushed out.",
"This week he pushed back against reports the diplomatic core is in trouble.",
"Last month he denied being aware of the low morale and overall discontent with his leadership at the State Department.",
"β If it β s as bad as it seems to be described I β m not seeing it I β m not getting it β he said.",
"If Pompeo does become secretary of state his first task should be to repair the Trump administration β s relationship with the thousands of State Department employees who are ready to follow him if he is ready to lead them."
] |
I purchased a Midland 75-822 CB first and then a Cobra 75WST about 5 months later, they are both designed with most, if not all, of the electronics built into the handset type of CBs. I wanted to use an external speaker with the handheld CB for better sound clarity. The Cobra's external speaker jack is in a more covenant, out of the way location, with possibly easier to operate with one hand controls than the Midland CB. On the Cobra the remote speaker plugs into the remote adapter and not directly into the handset as the Midland unit must. This eliminates that extra (in the way) wire running from the Midland handset to the external speaker and places the extra wire out of the way connecting it directly to the remote adapter of the Cobra, not to the handset. With an external speaker plugged into the Midland CB its on/off volume and squelch controls are even more difficult to access. The Cobra handset has a longer coiled cord that's nice but its handset is a little overly large but not unworkable.
The Cobra volume and squelch controls are more conveniently located but don't have any mid range markings. This makes it hard to see where your settings are until something comes in too low to hear or screeches out too loud. They are also a little hard to reach and work with, with your thumb, especially with the on/off volume control which is a little hard and stiff to switch off. The Midland's controls are on top and kind of a two handed operation, neither manufacture's design is a clear winner while driving a vehicle but maybe the Cobra is a touch ahead here for one handed use. By the way, when I purchase hand gloves, they are the extra large size.
The Sound Tracker system appears to work but maybe a bit of a scam from my informal tests. When you turn the Sound Tracker on, the signal is noticeably quieter but the Midland is always just as quiet in my comparison tests and nothing to switch on.
Each time when you turn your Cobra unit on to listen or talk you have to remember to push a button to activate the Sound Tracker and if you disconnect the 12 volt power all the CB's settings are instantly lost. The Midland CB retains its settings if it's turned off, and also as long as the 12 V is connected plus even for a period of time even if the 12 V supply is disconnected.
The Weather Band stations in my area seemed to come in better on the Midland but not much better, I will call this a near tie.
Neither CB radio is a clear winner in my mind. I think if I were purchasing CBs again it would be the Midland 75-822 because Midland also offers so much more with their CB than the Cobra. The Midland unit comes with a bonus of two different battery packs, one for regular batteries and a second one for rechargeable batteries plus a rubber ducky CB antenna. That makes the Midland fully portable allowing you to use it away from your vehicle, not requiring the vehicle's 12 V supply and the vehicle's CB antenna. Sometimes Midland also offers a power supply brick with their CB to charge the batteries. It's not a very sophisticated charging unit; it does not shut off or tell you when the rechargeable batteries are fully charged. This leaves you to guess at the time and if they are fully charged. A fast external charger would probably be a better option. The Cobra is missing most if not all of these features and from my Internet searches the Cobra cost more.
Both of my CB radios had electrical problems when first purchased. The Midland came new from an e-bay purchase and I had to return it directly to Midland for repair/replacement as the display did not work when it got to around 45 degrees in temperature outside. When the unit warmed up all was OK and in June, July, and August it took a while to notice the problem. It was cheerfully replaced (not repaired) and they sent me back several more parts than I sent them. The Cobra unit received signals OK but would not transmit right out of the box. I did not notice it right away as I assumed since the receiver worked OK and I was reusing an existing antenna all would be OK. I had the option to return it to the seller or mail it in for, I guess, replacement just as Midland's offered but the Cobra CB came from Amazon. Returning to Amazon turned out to be a wonderfully simple and fast exchange process. All my friends have been really impressed when I explained the exchange. Fortunately I returned the complete Cobra CB, not knowing Amazon would cross ship me a complete and completely new unit, with Amazon paying all the shipping both directions. As I remember it took just around a week, maybe one or two days longer than the original delivery, I guess they waited just long enough for them to determine my unit was in the mail and on its way back before they sent the replacement.
Again both CBs are very comparable with no clear winner in my mind but I think maybe Midland has the edge but not enough for me to return my Cobra and order a Midland. By the way I have no ties to any of the companies in this review.
This is from my best memory, I hope this helps in your CB radio decision.
Dennis | 1 | neutral | [
"I purchased a Midland 75-822 CB first and then a Cobra 75WST about 5 months later, they are both designed with most, if not all, of the electronics built into the handset type of CBs.",
"I wanted to use an external speaker with the handheld CB for better sound clarity.",
"The Cobra's external speaker jack is in a more covenant, out of the way location, with possibly easier to operate with one hand controls than the Midland CB.",
"On the Cobra the remote speaker plugs into the remote adapter and not directly into the handset as the Midland unit must.",
"This eliminates that extra (in the way) wire running from the Midland handset to the external speaker and places the extra wire out of the way connecting it directly to the remote adapter of the Cobra, not to the handset.",
"With an external speaker plugged into the Midland CB its on/off volume and squelch controls are even more difficult to access.",
"The Cobra handset has a longer coiled cord that's nice but its handset is a little overly large but not unworkable.",
"The Cobra volume and squelch controls are more conveniently located but don't have any mid range markings.",
"This makes it hard to see where your settings are until something comes in too low to hear or screeches out too loud.",
"They are also a little hard to reach and work with, with your thumb, especially with the on/off volume control which is a little hard and stiff to switch off.",
"The Midland's controls are on top and kind of a two handed operation, neither manufacture's design is a clear winner while driving a vehicle but maybe the Cobra is a touch ahead here for one handed use.",
"By the way, when I purchase hand gloves, they are the extra large size.",
"The Sound Tracker system appears to work but maybe a bit of a scam from my informal tests.",
"When you turn the Sound Tracker on, the signal is noticeably quieter but the Midland is always just as quiet in my comparison tests and nothing to switch on.",
"Each time when you turn your Cobra unit on to listen or talk you have to remember to push a button to activate the Sound Tracker and if you disconnect the 12 volt power all the CB's settings are instantly lost.",
"The Midland CB retains its settings if it's turned off, and also as long as the 12 V is connected plus even for a period of time even if the 12 V supply is disconnected.",
"The Weather Band stations in my area seemed to come in better on the Midland but not much better, I will call this a near tie.",
"Neither CB radio is a clear winner in my mind.",
"I think if I were purchasing CBs again it would be the Midland 75-822 because Midland also offers so much more with their CB than the Cobra.",
"The Midland unit comes with a bonus of two different battery packs, one for regular batteries and a second one for rechargeable batteries plus a rubber ducky CB antenna.",
"That makes the Midland fully portable allowing you to use it away from your vehicle, not requiring the vehicle's 12 V supply and the vehicle's CB antenna.",
"Sometimes Midland also offers a power supply brick with their CB to charge the batteries.",
"It's not a very sophisticated charging unit; it does not shut off or tell you when the rechargeable batteries are fully charged.",
"This leaves you to guess at the time and if they are fully charged.",
"A fast external charger would probably be a better option.",
"The Cobra is missing most if not all of these features and from my Internet searches the Cobra cost more.",
"Both of my CB radios had electrical problems when first purchased.",
"The Midland came new from an e-bay purchase and I had to return it directly to Midland for repair/replacement as the display did not work when it got to around 45 degrees in temperature outside.",
"When the unit warmed up all was OK and in June, July, and August it took a while to notice the problem.",
"It was cheerfully replaced (not repaired) and they sent me back several more parts than I sent them.",
"The Cobra unit received signals OK but would not transmit right out of the box.",
"I did not notice it right away as I assumed since the receiver worked OK and I was reusing an existing antenna all would be OK.",
"I had the option to return it to the seller or mail it in for, I guess, replacement just as Midland's offered but the Cobra CB came from Amazon.",
"Returning to Amazon turned out to be a wonderfully simple and fast exchange process.",
"All my friends have been really impressed when I explained the exchange.",
"Fortunately I returned the complete Cobra CB, not knowing Amazon would cross ship me a complete and completely new unit, with Amazon paying all the shipping both directions.",
"As I remember it took just around a week, maybe one or two days longer than the original delivery, I guess they waited just long enough for them to determine my unit was in the mail and on its way back before they sent the replacement.",
"Again both CBs are very comparable with no clear winner in my mind but I think maybe Midland has the edge but not enough for me to return my Cobra and order a Midland.",
"By the way I have no ties to any of the companies in this review.",
"This is from my best memory, I hope this helps in your CB radio decision.",
"Dennis"
] |
This is the third book I've read by Barker. The last one, Damanation game I really did not care for, But the Thief of Always I loved. This falls somewhwere in the middle. The imagery and fable like quality of storytelling work well here. Just like almost every other Barker book, it has a healthy dose of sexuality mixed in with gore. Barker fans know what I'm talking about. First timers may find it a bit much.
Creating your own mythology is hard to pull off. Barker manages better than most who have attempted it. He slowly explains his concepts letting the reader digest what he is trying to get across one small portion at a time.
However, the characterization is hit and miss. Jaffe, the antagonist is fully developed and Barker really makes the ambiguity of the character tangible and you feel for him. But you don't realize the "true" protagonist until a good third into the book because they do not show up until then. When it does happen, the revelation seems whimsical and I found it difficult to accept. Especially when he does such a great job with Jaffe.
There is a Shakespearian element to this book that works very well and should have been the dominating element to this story. I think readers would have been satisfied with that. The love triangle and the events that led up to it are fully realized. He had enough to propel his grand scheme with just that. But the additional characters, such as the reporter and his friend were gratuitous. Maybe they play a bigger part in the sequel called "Everville."
I can see why people love this book and I can see why people hate it. Some great stuff but it's unbalanced. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is the third book I've read by Barker.",
"The last one, Damanation game I really did not care for, But the Thief of Always I loved.",
"This falls somewhwere in the middle.",
"The imagery and fable like quality of storytelling work well here.",
"Just like almost every other Barker book, it has a healthy dose of sexuality mixed in with gore.",
"Barker fans know what I'm talking about.",
"First timers may find it a bit much.",
"Creating your own mythology is hard to pull off.",
"Barker manages better than most who have attempted it.",
"He slowly explains his concepts letting the reader digest what he is trying to get across one small portion at a time.",
"However, the characterization is hit and miss.",
"Jaffe, the antagonist is fully developed and Barker really makes the ambiguity of the character tangible and you feel for him.",
"But you don't realize the \"true\" protagonist until a good third into the book because they do not show up until then.",
"When it does happen, the revelation seems whimsical and I found it difficult to accept.",
"Especially when he does such a great job with Jaffe.",
"There is a Shakespearian element to this book that works very well and should have been the dominating element to this story.",
"I think readers would have been satisfied with that.",
"The love triangle and the events that led up to it are fully realized.",
"He had enough to propel his grand scheme with just that.",
"But the additional characters, such as the reporter and his friend were gratuitous.",
"Maybe they play a bigger part in the sequel called \"Everville.",
"\"\nI can see why people love this book and I can see why people hate it.",
"Some great stuff but it's unbalanced."
] |
Peter's solo album was eclectic, with Gene's solo album it just seems a bit unfocused. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with experimentation (I guess thats what the solo albums were for), but at the end of the day many of these songs either try to be too clever, or too obscure..and that ends up being the albums down fall. We cover all kinds of musical ground here from Beatlesque stylings "Mr Make Believe" and "See You Tonite" to great pop metal with "Radioactive" and "Livin In Sin", to the outrageous and awful "When You Wish Upon A Star". Again I'd say they are all great songs (with the exception of the last) but it just makes it a little too hard for the listener to take this in as an all round listening experience. Taken apart from the others many of these songs work real well. Perhaps if we were to place a Paul song every second song, it would work real well! Wink Wink! Oh hang on that's called a Kiss album...go figure! | 1 | neutral | [
"Peter's solo album was eclectic, with Gene's solo album it just seems a bit unfocused.",
"Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with experimentation (I guess thats what the solo albums were for), but at the end of the day many of these songs either try to be too clever, or too obscure..",
"and that ends up being the albums down fall.",
"We cover all kinds of musical ground here from Beatlesque stylings \"Mr Make Believe\" and \"See You Tonite\" to great pop metal with \"Radioactive\" and \"Livin In Sin\", to the outrageous and awful \"When You Wish Upon A Star\".",
"Again I'd say they are all great songs (with the exception of the last) but it just makes it a little too hard for the listener to take this in as an all round listening experience.",
"Taken apart from the others many of these songs work real well.",
"Perhaps if we were to place a Paul song every second song, it would work real well!",
"Wink Wink!",
"Oh hang on that's called a Kiss album...",
"go figure!"
] |
I bought this version in the hopes it would make it easier to work with my <a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Canon-VIXIA-HFS10/dp/B001OI2YNS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Canon VIXIA HFS10</a>. Specifically, I wanted it to allow me to do two things: (1) convert AVCHD files directly, even without having my camcorder plugged in; (2) archive the AVCHD files from a camcorder harddrive or SD card onto a dvd, from which the files can be pulled as if they were on the original camcorder. Without this, I would need to convert my files in Final Cut Express as I take them off of the camcorder. With it, I can just drag the .mts files onto an external hard drive and only convert them as I need them.
It converts the video just fine, but the audio is out-of-sync with the video, lagging behind by a few frames to begin with and getting progressively worse for long clips. I didn't notice this at first because most of my video was of nature and so I didn't notice that lips didn't match voices. Then I did some interviews and was very disappointed. I've tried everything I could think of to fix the problem, including an uninstall and a reinstall. No dice. (But see UPDATE below).
So I emailed customer service - you CAN call them but a 15 minute call costs [...] bucks, even if they don't resolve the issue for you! No thanks. So I emailed them, stated my problem clearly, that I was working on a Mac and they responded with some fix for a different Windows video player that Roxio sells, for a problem completely unrelated to mine. So I emailed them back, and they told me to uninstall and reinstall and then upgrade (once again). A couple of hours later, having done that, I tried to convert a file and the same problem recurred. So I emailed them again, and in the email mentioned that I'm on Snow Leopard and they pointed me to a link that mentioned there is currently a problem with their TIVO support for Snow Leopard. In fact, I'd already seen that link when I was researching the problem (and also seen that I'm not alone in having this problem and that others report it on different Mac operating systems as well). As far as I can tell, the "customer care" associates I've been corresponding with are really just a computerized search engine that picks a few random words from the query and sends back a "solution" that can be associated with that query. I'd do better with Google than with Roxio's "customer care." (One thing I noticed is that for the last couple of years, as far back as Toast 9, they've been telling other people with the same problem that it is a "known issue" that they are working on a solution for. How can they put out a new version of a problem with "known issues" that they haven't yet resolved?
UPDATE (12/18/09): Now, several months and a few upgrades later, Toast is finally working like it's supposed to. With version 10.5 the audio no longer lags behind the video. I had purchased Voltaic HD online to fix the problem, and it did fix it, but unfortunately Voltaic is a lot slower than Toast and I don't see a major difference in quality. Now with version 10.0.5, things seem to be working fine, and it is very fast. I upgraded from 1 star to 3 stars for this review to say that I am pretty happy now, and that this is finally a product worth buying for AVCHD conversions, but it is not 5 stars since I am still unhappy with the customer support. | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought this version in the hopes it would make it easier to work with my <a data-hook=\"product-link-linked\" class=\"a-link-normal\" href=\"/Canon-VIXIA-HFS10/dp/B001OI2YNS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?",
"ie=UTF8\">Canon VIXIA HFS10</a>.",
"Specifically, I wanted it to allow me to do two things: (1) convert AVCHD files directly, even without having my camcorder plugged in; (2) archive the AVCHD files from a camcorder harddrive or SD card onto a dvd, from which the files can be pulled as if they were on the original camcorder.",
"Without this, I would need to convert my files in Final Cut Express as I take them off of the camcorder.",
"With it, I can just drag the.",
"mts files onto an external hard drive and only convert them as I need them.",
"It converts the video just fine, but the audio is out-of-sync with the video, lagging behind by a few frames to begin with and getting progressively worse for long clips.",
"I didn't notice this at first because most of my video was of nature and so I didn't notice that lips didn't match voices.",
"Then I did some interviews and was very disappointed.",
"I've tried everything I could think of to fix the problem, including an uninstall and a reinstall.",
"No dice.",
"(But see UPDATE below).",
"So I emailed customer service - you CAN call them but a 15 minute call costs [...",
"] bucks, even if they don't resolve the issue for you!",
"No thanks.",
"So I emailed them, stated my problem clearly, that I was working on a Mac and they responded with some fix for a different Windows video player that Roxio sells, for a problem completely unrelated to mine.",
"So I emailed them back, and they told me to uninstall and reinstall and then upgrade (once again).",
"A couple of hours later, having done that, I tried to convert a file and the same problem recurred.",
"So I emailed them again, and in the email mentioned that I'm on Snow Leopard and they pointed me to a link that mentioned there is currently a problem with their TIVO support for Snow Leopard.",
"In fact, I'd already seen that link when I was researching the problem (and also seen that I'm not alone in having this problem and that others report it on different Mac operating systems as well).",
"As far as I can tell, the \"customer care\" associates I've been corresponding with are really just a computerized search engine that picks a few random words from the query and sends back a \"solution\" that can be associated with that query.",
"I'd do better with Google than with Roxio's \"customer care.",
"\" (One thing I noticed is that for the last couple of years, as far back as Toast 9, they've been telling other people with the same problem that it is a \"known issue\" that they are working on a solution for.",
"How can they put out a new version of a problem with \"known issues\" that they haven't yet resolved?",
"UPDATE (12/18/09): Now, several months and a few upgrades later, Toast is finally working like it's supposed to.",
"With version 10.",
"5 the audio no longer lags behind the video.",
"I had purchased Voltaic HD online to fix the problem, and it did fix it, but unfortunately Voltaic is a lot slower than Toast and I don't see a major difference in quality.",
"Now with version 10.",
"0.5, things seem to be working fine, and it is very fast.",
"I upgraded from 1 star to 3 stars for this review to say that I am pretty happy now, and that this is finally a product worth buying for AVCHD conversions, but it is not 5 stars since I am still unhappy with the customer support."
] |
To begin with, this game has some excellent potential which the right patches could easily fix. The first problem with the game is the AI, both friendly and hostile. To begin with, the AI is much too hard on easy settings. For instance, even on Medium, it is quite possible to get swarmed by the AI five minutes into the game. Seriously, as the Goblins, for instance, by the time I got a single Cave and Mine up and running, with two groups of warriors built, I find myself fighting off six to seven groups of enemies, who are followed by back up.
The second thing with the AI is the unit AI, I watch my warriors getting shot by archers, and yet they won't respond or counter untill i tell them too. While not a major issue, it can be very annoying to know your troops will do NOTHING unless you tell them to. There is also no "Attack-Move" option.
There is no pause button. Therefore you msut issue all oreders in real time, and manage the game without pausing.
Now for a summary,
Graphics- I am quite honestly not sure why this game is so highly rated for graphics. It really dosnt look any better than most other recent RTS games. The unit textures are simply pathetic.
Sound- Music is nice, the voices could be better.
Control- Some options could be better fleshed out, such as the resource gathering as it is very hard to know exactly how much you have coming in, that is, you never actually are told WHAT is coming in, for instance if you build three mines, all you is THERE IS income coming in, but how much is coming in, you are never told.
Bottomline, it can be fun, at times, but I find it a tad too hard and without pause button I am utterly hopeless at this game. | 1 | neutral | [
"To begin with, this game has some excellent potential which the right patches could easily fix.",
"The first problem with the game is the AI, both friendly and hostile.",
"To begin with, the AI is much too hard on easy settings.",
"For instance, even on Medium, it is quite possible to get swarmed by the AI five minutes into the game.",
"Seriously, as the Goblins, for instance, by the time I got a single Cave and Mine up and running, with two groups of warriors built, I find myself fighting off six to seven groups of enemies, who are followed by back up.",
"The second thing with the AI is the unit AI, I watch my warriors getting shot by archers, and yet they won't respond or counter untill i tell them too.",
"While not a major issue, it can be very annoying to know your troops will do NOTHING unless you tell them to.",
"There is also no \"Attack-Move\" option.",
"There is no pause button.",
"Therefore you msut issue all oreders in real time, and manage the game without pausing.",
"Now for a summary,\n\nGraphics- I am quite honestly not sure why this game is so highly rated for graphics.",
"It really dosnt look any better than most other recent RTS games.",
"The unit textures are simply pathetic.",
"Sound- Music is nice, the voices could be better.",
"Control- Some options could be better fleshed out, such as the resource gathering as it is very hard to know exactly how much you have coming in, that is, you never actually are told WHAT is coming in, for instance if you build three mines, all you is THERE IS income coming in, but how much is coming in, you are never told.",
"Bottomline, it can be fun, at times, but I find it a tad too hard and without pause button I am utterly hopeless at this game."
] |
I am not sure if there are different versions of this game, but my daughter got this for a gift, and while it is fun to play, it can be confusing at times. The board needs to have less pictures on, and more arrows pointing to which direction you are going. For little ones who like to play this, it is sometimes easy to forget which direction you are going and end up going the wrong way! (lol! I have done it myself). The board seems a bit too "busy", and the numbers are very small, with only a small arrow at the beginning of each line. The only other negative I have is that the game pieces are a cheap cardboard that must be put together before each play (otherwise if you don't take them apart they won't fit into the box ). This means that the cardboard will eventually become frayed at the bottom where you stick the pieces into the plastic bases. They really should be one solid plastic piece. So I give the game designers 0 stars, and the 3 stars are for game concept and overall fun factor. | 1 | neutral | [
"I am not sure if there are different versions of this game, but my daughter got this for a gift, and while it is fun to play, it can be confusing at times.",
"The board needs to have less pictures on, and more arrows pointing to which direction you are going.",
"For little ones who like to play this, it is sometimes easy to forget which direction you are going and end up going the wrong way!",
"(lol!",
"I have done it myself).",
"The board seems a bit too \"busy\", and the numbers are very small, with only a small arrow at the beginning of each line.",
"The only other negative I have is that the game pieces are a cheap cardboard that must be put together before each play (otherwise if you don't take them apart they won't fit into the box ).",
"This means that the cardboard will eventually become frayed at the bottom where you stick the pieces into the plastic bases.",
"They really should be one solid plastic piece.",
"So I give the game designers 0 stars, and the 3 stars are for game concept and overall fun factor."
] |
Review of "The Dice Man" by Luke Rhinehart
Albert Camus ("The Stranger"). Jean-Paul Sartre (Author of "Existentialism and Humanism"). Simone de Beauvoir ("She Came to Stay"). They are considered the leading French--if not the worldwide--proponents of existentialism. It's a big word that means, in essence, that to truly be free one kill their conscience; that one should act without fear of moral consequences.
Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, was greatly influenced by them. His song "Killing an Arab" was based on "The Stranger" and he stated that he read Sartre in the original French when in high school. It's believe that "Six Different Ways" by The Cure (Head on the Door Album) is about "The Dice Man" and it would seem to fit given Robert Smith's penchant for existentialism.
That's all fine and good, but where does that leave "The Dice Man"? The 1971 cult novel emulates these existential heroes by introducing readers to Dr. Luke Rhinehart, a fictional character (we think) who just happens to have the same name as the author of the novel. Hoomph. George Crockcroft is real name of the author and Luke Rhinehart is his penname, which makes tongue-in-cheek sense. Crockcroft sounds more like a penname or perhaps if you last name is Crockcroft you need a penname. Dr. Rhinehart adopts the dicelifestyle by doing what a roll of dice tells him to do without regard to morality or social outcome. The protagonist tells readers: "The secret of the successful dicelife is to be a puppet on the strings of the die."
We are told to "Create the options. Shake the dice. All else is nonsense."
If you are into existentialism or even nihilism, The Dice Man is for you. If not, the novel can drag over close to 600 pages and doesn't have the plotted storyline one might expect for a novel this size.
Andrew Barger author of The Divine Dantes trilogy.
#DiceManReview #ExistentialismInLiterature | 1 | neutral | [
"Review of \"The Dice Man\" by Luke Rhinehart\n\nAlbert Camus (\"The Stranger\").",
"Jean-Paul Sartre (Author of \"Existentialism and Humanism\").",
"Simone de Beauvoir (\"She Came to Stay\").",
"They are considered the leading French--if not the worldwide--proponents of existentialism.",
"It's a big word that means, in essence, that to truly be free one kill their conscience; that one should act without fear of moral consequences.",
"Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, was greatly influenced by them.",
"His song \"Killing an Arab\" was based on \"The Stranger\" and he stated that he read Sartre in the original French when in high school.",
"It's believe that \"Six Different Ways\" by The Cure (Head on the Door Album) is about \"The Dice Man\" and it would seem to fit given Robert Smith's penchant for existentialism.",
"That's all fine and good, but where does that leave \"The Dice Man\"?",
"The 1971 cult novel emulates these existential heroes by introducing readers to Dr.",
"Luke Rhinehart, a fictional character (we think) who just happens to have the same name as the author of the novel.",
"Hoomph.",
"George Crockcroft is real name of the author and Luke Rhinehart is his penname, which makes tongue-in-cheek sense.",
"Crockcroft sounds more like a penname or perhaps if you last name is Crockcroft you need a penname.",
"Dr.",
"Rhinehart adopts the dicelifestyle by doing what a roll of dice tells him to do without regard to morality or social outcome.",
"The protagonist tells readers: \"The secret of the successful dicelife is to be a puppet on the strings of the die.",
"\"\nWe are told to \"Create the options.",
"Shake the dice.",
"All else is nonsense.",
"\"\n\nIf you are into existentialism or even nihilism, The Dice Man is for you.",
"If not, the novel can drag over close to 600 pages and doesn't have the plotted storyline one might expect for a novel this size.",
"Andrew Barger author of The Divine Dantes trilogy.",
"#DiceManReview #ExistentialismInLiterature"
] |
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