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Works as advertised (hence the 3 stars) however a few things really really bug me.
1. The iPhone sticks up higher than I'd like. I'd like the connector to be recessed a little bit lower.
2. The silver isn't what it looks like in the Amazon photos. Sitting next to my alum Macbook Pro and my alum keyboard, this cradle looks more like cheap silver spray paint. It's brighter, and more reflective. It's almost enough to return it, if it weren't for the fact that it works well.
I'd recommend getting black or another color, if you think the silver should match your other Apple products. | 1 | neutral | [
"Works as advertised (hence the 3 stars) however a few things really really bug me.",
"1.",
"The iPhone sticks up higher than I'd like.",
"I'd like the connector to be recessed a little bit lower.",
"2.",
"The silver isn't what it looks like in the Amazon photos.",
"Sitting next to my alum Macbook Pro and my alum keyboard, this cradle looks more like cheap silver spray paint.",
"It's brighter, and more reflective.",
"It's almost enough to return it, if it weren't for the fact that it works well.",
"I'd recommend getting black or another color, if you think the silver should match your other Apple products."
] |
While pleased with the hardware, I'm very disappointed with Samsung and AT&T regarding the lack of updates this phone has received. I bought mine in August, after hearing Android 2.2 would be rolled out in an OTA update (over the air update) in September. It's now January and I still haven't received an official update.
In addition to the lack of updates, many users experience issues with being able to acquire a GPS lock, and having their phone "mount" as a logical volume (like a flash drive) when they connect their phone to their PC with a USB cable.
Luckily, the XDA community has alleviated these issue by making unofficial versions Android 2.2 available with fixes for these problems... but average consumers aren't going to have the patience or desire to manually update their phones (nor should they). And, there are risks involved in doing so -- from potentially not being able to receive future, official OTA updates to potentially bricking your phone.
Steer clear of this device! Other manufacturers offer comparable hardware with better software release cycles. | 1 | neutral | [
"While pleased with the hardware, I'm very disappointed with Samsung and AT&T regarding the lack of updates this phone has received.",
"I bought mine in August, after hearing Android 2.",
"2 would be rolled out in an OTA update (over the air update) in September.",
"It's now January and I still haven't received an official update.",
"In addition to the lack of updates, many users experience issues with being able to acquire a GPS lock, and having their phone \"mount\" as a logical volume (like a flash drive) when they connect their phone to their PC with a USB cable.",
"Luckily, the XDA community has alleviated these issue by making unofficial versions Android 2.",
"2 available with fixes for these problems...",
"but average consumers aren't going to have the patience or desire to manually update their phones (nor should they).",
"And, there are risks involved in doing so -- from potentially not being able to receive future, official OTA updates to potentially bricking your phone.",
"Steer clear of this device!",
"Other manufacturers offer comparable hardware with better software release cycles."
] |
I found this an odd game to like as I wasn't a fan of Disney princesses or prince or whatever. I was an on the farm tomboy who'd rather have a pretend dogfight with my toy planes, play legos, and cars. Why I liked this game I never understood. Neither did my little brother. But I think I got all the way to the end. It was one of the few games I'd spend hours and hours trying to beat. ( I chose this over Bill & Ted's Excellent adventure which I was obsessed over...I liked weird movies what can I say?)
I doubt everyone will find this game interesting that way, but I did. I liked the way the Mermaid Ariel shot at things. She didn't have a gun in her odd collections of many things. Maybe I liked it because it was one of the few games we own which seemed to emulate the characters on the movie. The movie, which I didn't get, and I didn't like either. Except for the keep singing part which I kind of liked. And Sebastian, he was coolest always worried about everything. | 1 | neutral | [
"I found this an odd game to like as I wasn't a fan of Disney princesses or prince or whatever.",
"I was an on the farm tomboy who'd rather have a pretend dogfight with my toy planes, play legos, and cars.",
"Why I liked this game I never understood.",
"Neither did my little brother.",
"But I think I got all the way to the end.",
"It was one of the few games I'd spend hours and hours trying to beat.",
"( I chose this over Bill & Ted's Excellent adventure which I was obsessed over...",
"I liked weird movies what can I say?",
")\n\nI doubt everyone will find this game interesting that way, but I did.",
"I liked the way the Mermaid Ariel shot at things.",
"She didn't have a gun in her odd collections of many things.",
"Maybe I liked it because it was one of the few games we own which seemed to emulate the characters on the movie.",
"The movie, which I didn't get, and I didn't like either.",
"Except for the keep singing part which I kind of liked.",
"And Sebastian, he was coolest always worried about everything."
] |
A demented arms dealer with a foreign name (Henri Cazaux) and a grudge against the US government accidentally hits upon a plan to unleash hell against it. Once brutalized by American soldiers, Cazaux now deals in weapons that will be used against all Americans. On the brink of capture, flying a cargo plan full of ammo, Cazaux accidentally bombs an airport. Realizing how defenseless airports and American cities are in general, and how much havoc he can raise when he wants to, Cazuax sets off on a terror campaign using airliners stocked with explosives to bomb airports. The government responds by stationing Patriot batteries around airports, but Cazaux finds a way past those as well. The only man who can end the reign of terror is Ian Hardcastle the sort of strident, no-nonsense genius that drives all of author Dale Browns books. (Usually, the starring role is given to Brad Elliot of Flight of the Old Dog and its sequels). Hardcastles biggest obstacles aren't left by the wily Frenchman, but by the government bureaucracy, the liberals and the week-kneed administration that reflects all that is evil of the Clinton administration. (Though I think Chains of Command was more overt...against the Clintons). Unfortunately, this has got to be one of Browns weakest books though most of them fall into a pattern (geo-political crisis erupts just as some innovative USAF officers perfect a new secret weapon), this one just has random destruction. The only hint that the plot is proceeding anywhere is the ferocity of the attacks and the cover-art on my copy showing what looks like Air Force One on a direct course for Washington. Double-unfortunate is how this book will likely be resurrected over the next few weeks to cynically cash in on todays coordinated terror attacks. Nothing else in this book really deserves the attention Cazaux is as typical a demented villain as Brown can create while his followers are suitably mercenary in their motives. When it looks like the plot after a massive climax near the end will dust itself off and begin anew, the supporting cast of villains take matters into their own hands, as if theyve had enough of this book. Benefit from their experience, and read something else. For massive slam-bang Dale Brown, read Fatal Terrain (sorry, haven't read Warrior Class yet). | 1 | neutral | [
"A demented arms dealer with a foreign name (Henri Cazaux) and a grudge against the US government accidentally hits upon a plan to unleash hell against it.",
"Once brutalized by American soldiers, Cazaux now deals in weapons that will be used against all Americans.",
"On the brink of capture, flying a cargo plan full of ammo, Cazaux accidentally bombs an airport.",
"Realizing how defenseless airports and American cities are in general, and how much havoc he can raise when he wants to, Cazuax sets off on a terror campaign using airliners stocked with explosives to bomb airports.",
"The government responds by stationing Patriot batteries around airports, but Cazaux finds a way past those as well.",
"The only man who can end the reign of terror is Ian Hardcastle the sort of strident, no-nonsense genius that drives all of author Dale Browns books.",
"(Usually, the starring role is given to Brad Elliot of Flight of the Old Dog and its sequels).",
"Hardcastles biggest obstacles aren't left by the wily Frenchman, but by the government bureaucracy, the liberals and the week-kneed administration that reflects all that is evil of the Clinton administration.",
"(Though I think Chains of Command was more overt...",
"against the Clintons).",
"Unfortunately, this has got to be one of Browns weakest books though most of them fall into a pattern (geo-political crisis erupts just as some innovative USAF officers perfect a new secret weapon), this one just has random destruction.",
"The only hint that the plot is proceeding anywhere is the ferocity of the attacks and the cover-art on my copy showing what looks like Air Force One on a direct course for Washington.",
"Double-unfortunate is how this book will likely be resurrected over the next few weeks to cynically cash in on todays coordinated terror attacks.",
"Nothing else in this book really deserves the attention Cazaux is as typical a demented villain as Brown can create while his followers are suitably mercenary in their motives.",
"When it looks like the plot after a massive climax near the end will dust itself off and begin anew, the supporting cast of villains take matters into their own hands, as if theyve had enough of this book.",
"Benefit from their experience, and read something else.",
"For massive slam-bang Dale Brown, read Fatal Terrain (sorry, haven't read Warrior Class yet)."
] |
This is a great album song/composition-wise. I love Stevie Wonder and this is an excellent collection. It's a 5-star album if you consider just the songs themselves. The reason for taking away two stars is because the remastered version is so bright and harsh it hurts my ears. Stevie's voice is full of sibilance and on the tracks where he has electronically altered his vocals, these come across as way too bright. It gets your attention but soon becomes tiring because of the harshness in the vocals.
UPDATE - 05/13/2012 - This update is for the 24K Audio Fidelity version of the CD that was recently released. This is sooooooooo much better than the remaster I reviewed above. Wow, what a difference. A masterpiece work by Stevie Wonder now has a masterpiece engineering job, too. The vocals are especially good - very clean, you can hear every little nuance, and it sounds like Stevie is right there in front of you. Instruments and vocals sound realistic, are balanced and detailed. This is really an excellent mastering and well worth the extra money to get the 24k version. This album deserves it. Really, really good! | 1 | neutral | [
"This is a great album song/composition-wise.",
"I love Stevie Wonder and this is an excellent collection.",
"It's a 5-star album if you consider just the songs themselves.",
"The reason for taking away two stars is because the remastered version is so bright and harsh it hurts my ears.",
"Stevie's voice is full of sibilance and on the tracks where he has electronically altered his vocals, these come across as way too bright.",
"It gets your attention but soon becomes tiring because of the harshness in the vocals.",
"UPDATE - 05/13/2012 - This update is for the 24K Audio Fidelity version of the CD that was recently released.",
"This is sooooooooo much better than the remaster I reviewed above.",
"Wow, what a difference.",
"A masterpiece work by Stevie Wonder now has a masterpiece engineering job, too.",
"The vocals are especially good - very clean, you can hear every little nuance, and it sounds like Stevie is right there in front of you.",
"Instruments and vocals sound realistic, are balanced and detailed.",
"This is really an excellent mastering and well worth the extra money to get the 24k version.",
"This album deserves it.",
"Really, really good!"
] |
My cat is in the early stages of renal failure and I bought this as part of my efforts to find an appropriate food he would eat. Unfortunately I've offered this product twice and it was tried for a mouthful and later ignored. Interestingly, I also have a young cat (formal feral) and even this former dumpster-diver sniffed and walked. I will continue to offer this and hope it catches on eventually.
There are other products for the condition but this one seemed to be the most palatable from reviews. There also seems to be some controversy over whether a cat in early stages of kidney failure should be fed a low protein or low phosphorus diet. Further, there seems to be an issue in later stages with cats losing weight and not wanting to eat, and I am not sure if a food like this would encourage eating. One day at a time.
So here I am with the smallest amount one could buy (24 cans). If this food doesn't get a decent reception soon, I will probably donate it to my vet's office for other sick cats to try. If you've got an ill kitty, and you've been told to try a low protein/phosphorus food, it can't hurt to do lots of reading and try this, but no miracles in my household just yet!
Update March 2010 - It's been 1 and 1/2 years since I wrote the above review. Your vet advice and results may vary, but my cat has done very well on a normal diet since then. After doing much reading and talking with our vet, special foods are not yet called for for my cat. Have your cat's blood levels checked to see if they are doing ok with phosphorous and you and your vet can decide from there if food like this is advisable. It may be better to discuss if your cat can stay on regular food and use a phosphorous blocker.
More and more I am reading that weight loss is a problem for cats in kidney failure so keeping the food desirable to them could be a big deal. My cat is having more issues with the accompanying hyperthyroidism than with the kidney disease currently, and while he has indeed lost some weight, his blood tests are showing he's doing pretty well. | 1 | neutral | [
"My cat is in the early stages of renal failure and I bought this as part of my efforts to find an appropriate food he would eat.",
"Unfortunately I've offered this product twice and it was tried for a mouthful and later ignored.",
"Interestingly, I also have a young cat (formal feral) and even this former dumpster-diver sniffed and walked.",
"I will continue to offer this and hope it catches on eventually.",
"There are other products for the condition but this one seemed to be the most palatable from reviews.",
"There also seems to be some controversy over whether a cat in early stages of kidney failure should be fed a low protein or low phosphorus diet.",
"Further, there seems to be an issue in later stages with cats losing weight and not wanting to eat, and I am not sure if a food like this would encourage eating.",
"One day at a time.",
"So here I am with the smallest amount one could buy (24 cans).",
"If this food doesn't get a decent reception soon, I will probably donate it to my vet's office for other sick cats to try.",
"If you've got an ill kitty, and you've been told to try a low protein/phosphorus food, it can't hurt to do lots of reading and try this, but no miracles in my household just yet!",
"Update March 2010 - It's been 1 and 1/2 years since I wrote the above review.",
"Your vet advice and results may vary, but my cat has done very well on a normal diet since then.",
"After doing much reading and talking with our vet, special foods are not yet called for for my cat.",
"Have your cat's blood levels checked to see if they are doing ok with phosphorous and you and your vet can decide from there if food like this is advisable.",
"It may be better to discuss if your cat can stay on regular food and use a phosphorous blocker.",
"More and more I am reading that weight loss is a problem for cats in kidney failure so keeping the food desirable to them could be a big deal.",
"My cat is having more issues with the accompanying hyperthyroidism than with the kidney disease currently, and while he has indeed lost some weight, his blood tests are showing he's doing pretty well."
] |
Being no SQUARE ENIX or WALT DISNEY fan (any longer), I was weary about this game when my sister bought it. I figured I'd play it since giving it the benefit of the doubt. I really have to say that this video game really doesn't use what it was given to its full potential aside their from big company crossover-esque. The storyline in this video game apparently was never thought out completely, it was finished in a halfhearted way so to speak. Three children, Sora, Riku, and Kairi all dream of going on an adventure to find out what's beyond their shores. Unaware of the danger approaching they prep themselves to escape the tiny island they live on. One night after naming their ship ---which was decided by a race between Riku vs. Sora--- their island is attacked by a nemesis type creature later known to be called "the heartless" (real original). Creatures that seek to destroy the hearts of universe and its inhabitants. Sora battles the heartless as best as he can but to no avail. Riku, Kairi, Selphie (Final Fantasy VIII), Tidus (Final Fantasy X), and Wakka (FFX) along with his island ---"Destiny Island"--- are swallowed by the heartless. Sora is somehow or another spared by the cataclysm and is transported to a refugee world called "Traverse Town." He wanders about the vast town, lost and confused. It is there he encounters Leon (Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII), Yuffie (of Final Fantasy VII). [They're companions, Cid and Aerith are met earlier and later]. They explain to him the dire situation surrounding him and what little information on the weapon he wields. The Keyblade. Upon being attacked by the heartless a second time and separated from Leon, Sora finally meets Goofy and Donald Duck. The duo are on a mission to search for their king, Mickey Mouse after discovering a letter given to them by Pluto. After some careful convincing Sora joins the Disney duo to travel across the cosmos in search of Mickey, Riku, and Kairi. To do this they must travel to various worlds to restore the original order of the universe with the aid the Keyblade.
Probably the most fun part of Kingdom Hearts is the simple fact that you are literally traveling to worlds straight out of various Disney films. Worlds such as Olympus Coliseum from "Hercules," Wonderland from "Alice in Wonderland," Deep Jungle From "Tarzan," Agrabah from "Aladdin," Hundred Acre Wood From "Whinne the pooh" (as a mini-game), the whale Monstro from "Pinocchio," Halloween Town from "Tim Burton's The nightmare before Christmas," and Atlantica from "The little mermaid" are at your fingertips avaible for venturing. The finale worlds are two ENIX originals; "Hollow Bastion" and "The end of the world" which is the final level of the game in which you battle the villain (I won't spoil anything, its pretty obvious who he is though). Along the way you meet Cloud Strife, and Sephiroth, also from "Final Fantasy VII." Most of the FANTASY characters, save Leon -- who arguably as the largest role to play through the course of the game -- have minor roles within the plot of the game that do nothing to move the story forward.
As the game progresses you discover a less than stellar subplot within the world of "Kingdom Hearts." Sora discovers he must also must save seven princess of so called heart. Jasmine, Sleeping beauty, Cinderella, Snow white, Belle, Alice, Alice and Kairi. As an added twist, he must deter several Disney villains; Maleficent, Jafar, Hades, Ursula, Oogie Boogie, and Captain Hook (Clayton, Queen of hearts, and Cheshire Cat are nonaffiliated with the heartless) from opening the final Keyhole with the princesses hearts and unleashing DARKNESS on the world.
From there PLOT-HOLES big enough to run a semi through ensue. For instance the subplot concerning Riku being corrupted by darkness was not completely thought through. He speculates that Sora has abandoned Kairi and his friendship over Donald and Goofy's. They try to riddle the game with an implied romantic rivalry between Sora and Riku in their search for Kairi's heart. Kairi herself is an unnecessary character. While her presence in the game is not completely useless, she's basically a sort of catalyst for the rivalry between Sora and Riku. Sora (who doesn't seem so excited to be venturing around the worlds as he was at the beginning of the game) is so worried about his two other friends that, his mother, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie are forgotten and never seen again until the game when the credits roll. How is it that the parent (the forever existing figure in your life) is forgotten for your friends, who could dump you in an instant? This is just a small complaint from someone who is close to her parents.
That aside: The Ansem subplot is what brings most of the loose strings in Kingdom Hearts together. Once you gather "Ansem's report," the game's storyline finally becomes clearler, while it sorta implodes on itself. Thus becoming all kind of anti-climatic within the storylines theme: "Light and Darkness." The ending is basically a cliffhanger that makes you wait for the sequel to come out. The music for the video game, composed by Yoko Shimomura has its hits and misses; Most of the time its exceptionally good for a video game (mostly during the battles). Other times its so generic in most levels that you'll turn the volume down and play the game on silent. The theme song "Simple and Clean (PlanitB Remix/Original Version)" composed and performed by Utada Hikaru is not so sappy as I originally thought. If anything it sounds better in its PlanitB remix as opposed to the slower original version does.
The gameplay is at one point of the game exiting to through. Sora's all round hack'n'slash combat moves and special abilities are probably some of the coolest things you can do in a game. Each move you obtain with the more AP (action points) you gain for each character you're able to play with can be strengthened, you also gain more Keyblades with each world you complete. The A.I. controlled Goofy and Donald Duck actually help you out with each battle you engage instead of standing around expecting you kill every enemy in sight. However, most of the time they're following you when A): You either run to heal yourself; or B): Run to get out of the way danger. This isn't the case with the minor enemy A.I. The heartless will beat you down more than once if you let them. The Bosses for each world you complete are lacking in challenge in either mode (Normal/Expert). You can beat down each one with insulting ease with the right Keyblade and selected items. If you're beaten its just as easy to beat them a second time! Just be sure to stock your characters to the limit with healing items. The side quests, what few there are, are the bothersome part of the game. Collecting "Ansem's report" -"Collect all 101 Dalmatians" - "Acquire all Trinity marks" -"Find all pages to the hundred Acre woods" and etc, throw you off the sensation of the game as you try to get through it. The turnaments at the Olympus Coliseum are where you have to beat four levels of enemies (usually Heartless) for the cups [Pegasus - Phil - Hercules - Hades]. The twist in the game is simple: After each world you lock you have no choice but to go back to the coliseum to battle in the tournament (to gain hero licenses) in order to move on to the next world. Its a useless way to make the game seem longer than it really its. Believe me, its a short game.
Which is problem with most of the game levels. Most of them feel as though there should've been more to it than what you got. More world's you should've been able to go to. Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast universes would've been a real trip to visit. It also makes me wonder if what they could've incorporated into the Hercules universe with a little more constructive writing. Another major problem within the gameplay are the camera angles. They constantly move in the wrong direction when you jump, thus causing problems within the platform hopping. When you want to see something beside you the camera shifts back and forth as though it were a billiard ball hit by a pool stick. The fighting in the game slowly becomes repetitive when one too many enemies emerge in every single room you enter, threatening to overwhelm you. The U.S. voice acting manages to be excellent, with actors and actresses from various movies and television. The most prominent would probably Haley Joe Osment as Sora; His semi-youthful vocals lend a sort charisma the character lacks in facial features during 3D-cut scenes. David Boreanaz and Christie Carlson Ramano as Leon and Yuffie were on par with their Final Fantasy characters; Boreanaz lends a sort of Angel-broodiness to Leon that fits the character so well, that you can think of no other that could've pulled the characterization off so well. The same can be said about Ramano; However, both have their weak points, noted usually at the beginning of the game. David Gallahger as Riku was an excellent choice on the developer's part. He really brings out the sort of sinister demeanor lying dormant in Riku's personality. Hayden Panettiere as Kairi was another good choice. She manages to come off through the character as girlish without the overkill element that is usual apparent in most female voice actors in video games. Among those mentioned are other notable actors and voice actors you'll easily pick out of the group of Disney/ENIX characters.
Finally, the CGI graphics for the beginning and ending as well as the 3D scenes are done pretty good. SQUARE ENIX could of course, work on their CGI which suffers from a plastic sort of appearance. The motion capture could be tweaked a little as well. The most apparent problem with the 3D scenes were the character's mouths. One moment they're moving like something you'd see in SONY'S RPG first "Dark Cloud," then it movies almost too fluently and doesn't match the vocal pattern. All in all "KINGDOM HEARTS" - despite its flaws in the storyline was a pretty enjoyable game in terms of gameplay (the playing part) itself. It could've been better, if they included the "Snow White" - "Sleeping Beauty" - "Beauty and Beast" and "Cinderella" universes to add more longevity. Maybe. -------[a 3 out 5] | 1 | neutral | [
"Being no SQUARE ENIX or WALT DISNEY fan (any longer), I was weary about this game when my sister bought it.",
"I figured I'd play it since giving it the benefit of the doubt.",
"I really have to say that this video game really doesn't use what it was given to its full potential aside their from big company crossover-esque.",
"The storyline in this video game apparently was never thought out completely, it was finished in a halfhearted way so to speak.",
"Three children, Sora, Riku, and Kairi all dream of going on an adventure to find out what's beyond their shores.",
"Unaware of the danger approaching they prep themselves to escape the tiny island they live on.",
"One night after naming their ship ---which was decided by a race between Riku vs.",
"Sora--- their island is attacked by a nemesis type creature later known to be called \"the heartless\" (real original).",
"Creatures that seek to destroy the hearts of universe and its inhabitants.",
"Sora battles the heartless as best as he can but to no avail.",
"Riku, Kairi, Selphie (Final Fantasy VIII), Tidus (Final Fantasy X), and Wakka (FFX) along with his island ---\"Destiny Island\"--- are swallowed by the heartless.",
"Sora is somehow or another spared by the cataclysm and is transported to a refugee world called \"Traverse Town.",
"\" He wanders about the vast town, lost and confused.",
"It is there he encounters Leon (Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII), Yuffie (of Final Fantasy VII).",
"[They're companions, Cid and Aerith are met earlier and later].",
"They explain to him the dire situation surrounding him and what little information on the weapon he wields.",
"The Keyblade.",
"Upon being attacked by the heartless a second time and separated from Leon, Sora finally meets Goofy and Donald Duck.",
"The duo are on a mission to search for their king, Mickey Mouse after discovering a letter given to them by Pluto.",
"After some careful convincing Sora joins the Disney duo to travel across the cosmos in search of Mickey, Riku, and Kairi.",
"To do this they must travel to various worlds to restore the original order of the universe with the aid the Keyblade.",
"Probably the most fun part of Kingdom Hearts is the simple fact that you are literally traveling to worlds straight out of various Disney films.",
"Worlds such as Olympus Coliseum from \"Hercules,\" Wonderland from \"Alice in Wonderland,\" Deep Jungle From \"Tarzan,\" Agrabah from \"Aladdin,\" Hundred Acre Wood From \"Whinne the pooh\" (as a mini-game), the whale Monstro from \"Pinocchio,\" Halloween Town from \"Tim Burton's The nightmare before Christmas,\" and Atlantica from \"The little mermaid\" are at your fingertips avaible for venturing.",
"The finale worlds are two ENIX originals; \"Hollow Bastion\" and \"The end of the world\" which is the final level of the game in which you battle the villain (I won't spoil anything, its pretty obvious who he is though).",
"Along the way you meet Cloud Strife, and Sephiroth, also from \"Final Fantasy VII.",
"\" Most of the FANTASY characters, save Leon -- who arguably as the largest role to play through the course of the game -- have minor roles within the plot of the game that do nothing to move the story forward.",
"As the game progresses you discover a less than stellar subplot within the world of \"Kingdom Hearts.",
"\" Sora discovers he must also must save seven princess of so called heart.",
"Jasmine, Sleeping beauty, Cinderella, Snow white, Belle, Alice, Alice and Kairi.",
"As an added twist, he must deter several Disney villains; Maleficent, Jafar, Hades, Ursula, Oogie Boogie, and Captain Hook (Clayton, Queen of hearts, and Cheshire Cat are nonaffiliated with the heartless) from opening the final Keyhole with the princesses hearts and unleashing DARKNESS on the world.",
"From there PLOT-HOLES big enough to run a semi through ensue.",
"For instance the subplot concerning Riku being corrupted by darkness was not completely thought through.",
"He speculates that Sora has abandoned Kairi and his friendship over Donald and Goofy's.",
"They try to riddle the game with an implied romantic rivalry between Sora and Riku in their search for Kairi's heart.",
"Kairi herself is an unnecessary character.",
"While her presence in the game is not completely useless, she's basically a sort of catalyst for the rivalry between Sora and Riku.",
"Sora (who doesn't seem so excited to be venturing around the worlds as he was at the beginning of the game) is so worried about his two other friends that, his mother, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie are forgotten and never seen again until the game when the credits roll.",
"How is it that the parent (the forever existing figure in your life) is forgotten for your friends, who could dump you in an instant?",
"This is just a small complaint from someone who is close to her parents.",
"That aside: The Ansem subplot is what brings most of the loose strings in Kingdom Hearts together.",
"Once you gather \"Ansem's report,\" the game's storyline finally becomes clearler, while it sorta implodes on itself.",
"Thus becoming all kind of anti-climatic within the storylines theme: \"Light and Darkness.",
"\" The ending is basically a cliffhanger that makes you wait for the sequel to come out.",
"The music for the video game, composed by Yoko Shimomura has its hits and misses; Most of the time its exceptionally good for a video game (mostly during the battles).",
"Other times its so generic in most levels that you'll turn the volume down and play the game on silent.",
"The theme song \"Simple and Clean (PlanitB Remix/Original Version)\" composed and performed by Utada Hikaru is not so sappy as I originally thought.",
"If anything it sounds better in its PlanitB remix as opposed to the slower original version does.",
"The gameplay is at one point of the game exiting to through.",
"Sora's all round hack'n'slash combat moves and special abilities are probably some of the coolest things you can do in a game.",
"Each move you obtain with the more AP (action points) you gain for each character you're able to play with can be strengthened, you also gain more Keyblades with each world you complete.",
"The A.",
"I. controlled Goofy and Donald Duck actually help you out with each battle you engage instead of standing around expecting you kill every enemy in sight.",
"However, most of the time they're following you when A): You either run to heal yourself; or B): Run to get out of the way danger.",
"This isn't the case with the minor enemy A.",
"I. The heartless will beat you down more than once if you let them.",
"The Bosses for each world you complete are lacking in challenge in either mode (Normal/Expert).",
"You can beat down each one with insulting ease with the right Keyblade and selected items.",
"If you're beaten its just as easy to beat them a second time!",
"Just be sure to stock your characters to the limit with healing items.",
"The side quests, what few there are, are the bothersome part of the game.",
"Collecting \"Ansem's report\" -\"Collect all 101 Dalmatians\" - \"Acquire all Trinity marks\" -\"Find all pages to the hundred Acre woods\" and etc, throw you off the sensation of the game as you try to get through it.",
"The turnaments at the Olympus Coliseum are where you have to beat four levels of enemies (usually Heartless) for the cups [Pegasus - Phil - Hercules - Hades].",
"The twist in the game is simple: After each world you lock you have no choice but to go back to the coliseum to battle in the tournament (to gain hero licenses) in order to move on to the next world.",
"Its a useless way to make the game seem longer than it really its.",
"Believe me, its a short game.",
"Which is problem with most of the game levels.",
"Most of them feel as though there should've been more to it than what you got.",
"More world's you should've been able to go to.",
"Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast universes would've been a real trip to visit.",
"It also makes me wonder if what they could've incorporated into the Hercules universe with a little more constructive writing.",
"Another major problem within the gameplay are the camera angles.",
"They constantly move in the wrong direction when you jump, thus causing problems within the platform hopping.",
"When you want to see something beside you the camera shifts back and forth as though it were a billiard ball hit by a pool stick.",
"The fighting in the game slowly becomes repetitive when one too many enemies emerge in every single room you enter, threatening to overwhelm you.",
"The U.",
"S. voice acting manages to be excellent, with actors and actresses from various movies and television.",
"The most prominent would probably Haley Joe Osment as Sora; His semi-youthful vocals lend a sort charisma the character lacks in facial features during 3D-cut scenes.",
"David Boreanaz and Christie Carlson Ramano as Leon and Yuffie were on par with their Final Fantasy characters; Boreanaz lends a sort of Angel-broodiness to Leon that fits the character so well, that you can think of no other that could've pulled the characterization off so well.",
"The same can be said about Ramano; However, both have their weak points, noted usually at the beginning of the game.",
"David Gallahger as Riku was an excellent choice on the developer's part.",
"He really brings out the sort of sinister demeanor lying dormant in Riku's personality.",
"Hayden Panettiere as Kairi was another good choice.",
"She manages to come off through the character as girlish without the overkill element that is usual apparent in most female voice actors in video games.",
"Among those mentioned are other notable actors and voice actors you'll easily pick out of the group of Disney/ENIX characters.",
"Finally, the CGI graphics for the beginning and ending as well as the 3D scenes are done pretty good.",
"SQUARE ENIX could of course, work on their CGI which suffers from a plastic sort of appearance.",
"The motion capture could be tweaked a little as well.",
"The most apparent problem with the 3D scenes were the character's mouths.",
"One moment they're moving like something you'd see in SONY'S RPG first \"Dark Cloud,\" then it movies almost too fluently and doesn't match the vocal pattern.",
"All in all \"KINGDOM HEARTS\" - despite its flaws in the storyline was a pretty enjoyable game in terms of gameplay (the playing part) itself.",
"It could've been better, if they included the \"Snow White\" - \"Sleeping Beauty\" - \"Beauty and Beast\" and \"Cinderella\" universes to add more longevity.",
"Maybe.",
"-------[a 3 out 5]"
] |
I love my Camp Chef table. I use it for dutch oven cooking while camping. I thought I'd love these side shelves too, providing extra "counter space" while cooking outdoors. The shelves are nice, quite sturdy and do the job. What I don't like is they are a bit of a hassle to attach. Each requires 2 nuts & bolts. I wish they were somehow designed to just be slipped in, perhaps hooking over a tab on the table somehow. I found that after the first couple of uses, I left them off beause they just weren't worth the bother. If I were going somewhere and setting up for multiple days at a time, I'll probably use them again. But for short trips or road trips where we break camp frequently, these shelves will remain at home. Too bad because they are easy to transport and fit well in the Camp Chef carrying case with the table. | 1 | neutral | [
"I love my Camp Chef table.",
"I use it for dutch oven cooking while camping.",
"I thought I'd love these side shelves too, providing extra \"counter space\" while cooking outdoors.",
"The shelves are nice, quite sturdy and do the job.",
"What I don't like is they are a bit of a hassle to attach.",
"Each requires 2 nuts & bolts.",
"I wish they were somehow designed to just be slipped in, perhaps hooking over a tab on the table somehow.",
"I found that after the first couple of uses, I left them off beause they just weren't worth the bother.",
"If I were going somewhere and setting up for multiple days at a time, I'll probably use them again.",
"But for short trips or road trips where we break camp frequently, these shelves will remain at home.",
"Too bad because they are easy to transport and fit well in the Camp Chef carrying case with the table."
] |
An aspect of this film that lends it uniqueness, is that it is, in a sense, a pure documentary- just the images and words of those involved. It has no political nor philosophical; agenda. Too much agitprop has infected documentaries of recent years. A Certain Kind Of Death is perhaps the only recent documentary I can think of that trusts its audience to this extent. Susan Korda, the film's editor, also deserves notice. It is truly rare that in any film (fictive or documentary) editing plays such a key role, but this is one, and it is not in the length of the particular scenes and how they are edited, but in which images and scenes are in the film, and what other ones (and words- culled from hours of astronaut interviews) they are juxtaposed with. A really great job, and not a wasted second in the film, right from the opening shot of President John F. Kennedy's tossing down of the gauntlet in a speech at Baylor University to the final shots of the missions in flight. Brian Eno's score is also noteworthy.
Of course, the only negative thing concerning this film is nothing of its own doing; it is the waste of decades since. Cernan, in the commentary, speaks of sometimes feeling that President Kennedy actually reached into this century, and forcefully willed NASA to the moon decades ahead of time, and I am forced to agree. The tepidity of the public to intellectual and artistic pursuits is only emphasized by witnessing folk, from not too long ago, who treated such ideas as ideals to be cherished and nourished, not dismissed. The moon landing is one of those rare instances where a single act literally changed mankind's view of itself, yet, it did not change enough of it to fundamentally better us all. That fault is society's, not the men and women who achieved this monumental thing. And hats off to Al Reinert for taking up a task even NASA did not feel a need doing, and doing it so well. Simply put, whether a fan of Criterion, documentaries, history, or science, this DVD is one of the few essential films to treasure and explore. If only those political hacks who fund NASA understood exploration and the value of knowledge, perhaps we'd already have had our Martian Apollos and Armstrong. One can still dream little boy dreams now and again, eh? | 1 | neutral | [
"An aspect of this film that lends it uniqueness, is that it is, in a sense, a pure documentary- just the images and words of those involved.",
"It has no political nor philosophical; agenda.",
"Too much agitprop has infected documentaries of recent years.",
"A Certain Kind Of Death is perhaps the only recent documentary I can think of that trusts its audience to this extent.",
"Susan Korda, the film's editor, also deserves notice.",
"It is truly rare that in any film (fictive or documentary) editing plays such a key role, but this is one, and it is not in the length of the particular scenes and how they are edited, but in which images and scenes are in the film, and what other ones (and words- culled from hours of astronaut interviews) they are juxtaposed with.",
"A really great job, and not a wasted second in the film, right from the opening shot of President John F.",
"Kennedy's tossing down of the gauntlet in a speech at Baylor University to the final shots of the missions in flight.",
"Brian Eno's score is also noteworthy.",
"Of course, the only negative thing concerning this film is nothing of its own doing; it is the waste of decades since.",
"Cernan, in the commentary, speaks of sometimes feeling that President Kennedy actually reached into this century, and forcefully willed NASA to the moon decades ahead of time, and I am forced to agree.",
"The tepidity of the public to intellectual and artistic pursuits is only emphasized by witnessing folk, from not too long ago, who treated such ideas as ideals to be cherished and nourished, not dismissed.",
"The moon landing is one of those rare instances where a single act literally changed mankind's view of itself, yet, it did not change enough of it to fundamentally better us all.",
"That fault is society's, not the men and women who achieved this monumental thing.",
"And hats off to Al Reinert for taking up a task even NASA did not feel a need doing, and doing it so well.",
"Simply put, whether a fan of Criterion, documentaries, history, or science, this DVD is one of the few essential films to treasure and explore.",
"If only those political hacks who fund NASA understood exploration and the value of knowledge, perhaps we'd already have had our Martian Apollos and Armstrong.",
"One can still dream little boy dreams now and again, eh?"
] |
For the number of really decent games Atlus has put out for the DS, there has to be some really mediocre ones that didn't quite live up to its expectations. Although Atlus is known for its innovative style, Touch Detective fell short on my expectations, leaving me with a feeling that Touch Detective was nothing more than an overly complicated, nitpicky on detail spin-off of a more popular detective/evidence game already available on the DS (yes, I'm speaking of Phoenix Wright).
Aside from the trial process in Phoenix Wright, the process of collecting evidence and searching for clues is much like Phoenix Wright, on a much more painstaking level. Some of the details in Touch Detective are absurd, and can leave you stuck for quite some time, as you try to figure out what tiny detail you need to uncover to move forward in the game.
Aside from the mediocre gameplay, the graphics are actually quite nice, a darker, more emo-ish presentation than normally seen on the happy, cartoony graphics of most games on the DS. Aside from the eye-pleasing graphics, there's not much else I can find to openly rave about.
Of course, if you haven't played either Trace Memory or Phoenix Wright, Touch Detective will be an entirely new experience to you. I can see Touch Detectve leaving a much younger audience confused and frustrated, probably leaving the game on a table somewhere, never to be played again. For an older audience, I can see it getting some playing time if picked up. But definitely not for its retail value at $29.99. It can be bought much cheaper now. | 1 | neutral | [
"For the number of really decent games Atlus has put out for the DS, there has to be some really mediocre ones that didn't quite live up to its expectations.",
"Although Atlus is known for its innovative style, Touch Detective fell short on my expectations, leaving me with a feeling that Touch Detective was nothing more than an overly complicated, nitpicky on detail spin-off of a more popular detective/evidence game already available on the DS (yes, I'm speaking of Phoenix Wright).",
"Aside from the trial process in Phoenix Wright, the process of collecting evidence and searching for clues is much like Phoenix Wright, on a much more painstaking level.",
"Some of the details in Touch Detective are absurd, and can leave you stuck for quite some time, as you try to figure out what tiny detail you need to uncover to move forward in the game.",
"Aside from the mediocre gameplay, the graphics are actually quite nice, a darker, more emo-ish presentation than normally seen on the happy, cartoony graphics of most games on the DS.",
"Aside from the eye-pleasing graphics, there's not much else I can find to openly rave about.",
"Of course, if you haven't played either Trace Memory or Phoenix Wright, Touch Detective will be an entirely new experience to you.",
"I can see Touch Detectve leaving a much younger audience confused and frustrated, probably leaving the game on a table somewhere, never to be played again.",
"For an older audience, I can see it getting some playing time if picked up.",
"But definitely not for its retail value at $29.",
"99.",
"It can be bought much cheaper now."
] |
This game is very simple to learn, quick to play and will be exciting and fun for young players. I'm surprised that the recommended age is 5 and up. I think any 3 yr old could easily play this game and have fun. This is a game of practically no skill and mostly luck. The flipping piranha's are activated by the basic "Plinko" effect. For those of you not familiar with "Plinko" it's when a ball rolls down a slope randomly due to small raised spikes which alter the route/direction of the ball. This action then taps the piranha beneath where a players fish marble is resting and may or may not cause the marble to flip into the slide tray below. If your fish marble tumbles down you have to restart from the bottom of the river. Object of the game is to be the first to get all 3 of your fish marbles up the slope (river?) to safety. A roll of the die (only has 1, 2, blue fish (do nothing), and Piranha fish (maybe a Piranha attack will occur) on the die. Very simple, repetitive quick game that will probably please only young players. | 1 | neutral | [
"This game is very simple to learn, quick to play and will be exciting and fun for young players.",
"I'm surprised that the recommended age is 5 and up.",
"I think any 3 yr old could easily play this game and have fun.",
"This is a game of practically no skill and mostly luck.",
"The flipping piranha's are activated by the basic \"Plinko\" effect.",
"For those of you not familiar with \"Plinko\" it's when a ball rolls down a slope randomly due to small raised spikes which alter the route/direction of the ball.",
"This action then taps the piranha beneath where a players fish marble is resting and may or may not cause the marble to flip into the slide tray below.",
"If your fish marble tumbles down you have to restart from the bottom of the river.",
"Object of the game is to be the first to get all 3 of your fish marbles up the slope (river?",
") to safety.",
"A roll of the die (only has 1, 2, blue fish (do nothing), and Piranha fish (maybe a Piranha attack will occur) on the die.",
"Very simple, repetitive quick game that will probably please only young players."
] |
The books we find most insightful are usually the ones that remind us of things weve simply forgotten. They don't teach us something new, they simply remind us in a unique and powerful way of something we already knew.
That is exactly how Id describe The One Minute Manager. The authors wrote a simple book full of common sense and thus the book makes total sense.
This book sold 13 million copies! Its only 106 pages, with about 200 words per page. Why would we pay 12 dollars for such a short book?
Because it speaks to us it reminds us to be people and that we can succeed and make money and make friends better if we do.
Great Lessons:
1. People who feel good about themselves produce good results.
2. If you don't like the way things are, but you don't know what you want changed then you don't have a problem, you're just complaining. Once you know what you want changed then you have a problem and can work toward a solution.
3. People are motivated by praise more than scolding.
4. When there are problems, attack the behavior, not the person doing it.
5. Ive never seen an unmotivated person after work. (People get excited and motivated when they are looking forward to something like what they get to do after work. So figure out how to get them excited about work)
6. Take a minute see if your behavior matches your goals.
7. The key to training someone to do a new task is, in the beginning, to catch them doing something approximately right until they can eventually learn to do it exactly right.
8. Most employees aren't trying to produce or accomplish anything anymore other than they're trying to get paid without getting in trouble.
9. Manipulation is getting people to do something they are either unaware of or don't agree to.
10. Goals begin behaviors. Consequences maintain behaviors. | 1 | neutral | [
"The books we find most insightful are usually the ones that remind us of things weve simply forgotten.",
"They don't teach us something new, they simply remind us in a unique and powerful way of something we already knew.",
"That is exactly how Id describe The One Minute Manager.",
"The authors wrote a simple book full of common sense and thus the book makes total sense.",
"This book sold 13 million copies!",
"Its only 106 pages, with about 200 words per page.",
"Why would we pay 12 dollars for such a short book?",
"Because it speaks to us it reminds us to be people and that we can succeed and make money and make friends better if we do.",
"Great Lessons:\n1.",
"People who feel good about themselves produce good results.",
"2.",
"If you don't like the way things are, but you don't know what you want changed then you don't have a problem, you're just complaining.",
"Once you know what you want changed then you have a problem and can work toward a solution.",
"3.",
"People are motivated by praise more than scolding.",
"4.",
"When there are problems, attack the behavior, not the person doing it.",
"5.",
"Ive never seen an unmotivated person after work.",
"(People get excited and motivated when they are looking forward to something like what they get to do after work.",
"So figure out how to get them excited about work)\n6.",
"Take a minute see if your behavior matches your goals.",
"7.",
"The key to training someone to do a new task is, in the beginning, to catch them doing something approximately right until they can eventually learn to do it exactly right.",
"8.",
"Most employees aren't trying to produce or accomplish anything anymore other than they're trying to get paid without getting in trouble.",
"9.",
"Manipulation is getting people to do something they are either unaware of or don't agree to.",
"10.",
"Goals begin behaviors.",
"Consequences maintain behaviors."
] |
The Lepton sensor works amazingly well. It captures clear and extremely useful infrared images. Everything else about it is terrible. The app sucks, it constantly crashes. The flir one has it's own battery which is inexplicably dead every time I dig the thing out of my drawer. The connection to the phone is flaky because of the wiggly usb connection. The app has no control for the calibration shutter, it just cuts the image whenever it feels like it, which is always at the worst possible time. And that's if you can image for 10 seconds straight without the app crashing. I'm serious, 10 seconds is not even an exaggeration.
So why 3 stars, even though it's basically a steaming pile of crap? Well once you manage the extremely frustrating process of capturing an image, the image you get is great. It's easily paid for itself by helping me solve several tough circuit issues. So.. while it could be MUCH better, it does ultimately get the job done. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Lepton sensor works amazingly well.",
"It captures clear and extremely useful infrared images.",
"Everything else about it is terrible.",
"The app sucks, it constantly crashes.",
"The flir one has it's own battery which is inexplicably dead every time I dig the thing out of my drawer.",
"The connection to the phone is flaky because of the wiggly usb connection.",
"The app has no control for the calibration shutter, it just cuts the image whenever it feels like it, which is always at the worst possible time.",
"And that's if you can image for 10 seconds straight without the app crashing.",
"I'm serious, 10 seconds is not even an exaggeration.",
"So why 3 stars, even though it's basically a steaming pile of crap?",
"Well once you manage the extremely frustrating process of capturing an image, the image you get is great.",
"It's easily paid for itself by helping me solve several tough circuit issues.",
"So..",
"while it could be MUCH better, it does ultimately get the job done."
] |
Sunset Boulevard is a great show, hands down. Though not Andrew Lloyd Webber's best, it still stands on it's own. Unfortunately, this original cast recording from London isn't all that great. I would expect more from the original cast! Though I am comparing it to the 1994 Los Angeles cast, if I would have listened to it before the fact, I still would have though it needed some work. If you want a good Sunset Boulevard recording, get the 1994 Los Angeles cast with Glenn Close. It is an amazing recording capturing the dilemma, the passion, and the romance that this show is all about. Even quite funny at parts. This recording has many distinct differences that aren't good at all. Very significant differences have been made to the script since this original cast, also significant differences to the lyrics and music. And not always on the good side of things. Just for example, in one of the first songs, "Let's Have Lunch", it is quite shorter and less enthusiastic in this recording as opposed to the 1994 one where it is a nice length, quite entertaining, and better enthusiasm. That was just one example but it is those minor things that accumilates and makes this recording sub-ordinate to the other one. I may be picky, but if you don't look for those sorts of things, get the 1994 version. It just sounds better. | 1 | neutral | [
"Sunset Boulevard is a great show, hands down.",
"Though not Andrew Lloyd Webber's best, it still stands on it's own.",
"Unfortunately, this original cast recording from London isn't all that great.",
"I would expect more from the original cast!",
"Though I am comparing it to the 1994 Los Angeles cast, if I would have listened to it before the fact, I still would have though it needed some work.",
"If you want a good Sunset Boulevard recording, get the 1994 Los Angeles cast with Glenn Close.",
"It is an amazing recording capturing the dilemma, the passion, and the romance that this show is all about.",
"Even quite funny at parts.",
"This recording has many distinct differences that aren't good at all.",
"Very significant differences have been made to the script since this original cast, also significant differences to the lyrics and music.",
"And not always on the good side of things.",
"Just for example, in one of the first songs, \"Let's Have Lunch\", it is quite shorter and less enthusiastic in this recording as opposed to the 1994 one where it is a nice length, quite entertaining, and better enthusiasm.",
"That was just one example but it is those minor things that accumilates and makes this recording sub-ordinate to the other one.",
"I may be picky, but if you don't look for those sorts of things, get the 1994 version.",
"It just sounds better."
] |
Initially I loved this product, but let me caveat the entire review with this, I live in Florida. If you live anywhere that is humid, forget it. Especially if you are a runner/athlete. The screen gets condensation under it ever time I work out and the touch screen doesn’t work for obvious reasons. If you live north of the Mason Dixon line, you will love it. It installed easy. Seems durable and has an overall good look. But that touch screen issue is a deal breaker. I will look at one of the others that don’t cover the screen and have a lip around the face. Sorry to be a bummer, but it is what it is. | 1 | neutral | [
"Initially I loved this product, but let me caveat the entire review with this, I live in Florida.",
"If you live anywhere that is humid, forget it.",
"Especially if you are a runner/athlete.",
"The screen gets condensation under it ever time I work out and the touch screen doesn’t work for obvious reasons.",
"If you live north of the Mason Dixon line, you will love it.",
"It installed easy.",
"Seems durable and has an overall good look.",
"But that touch screen issue is a deal breaker.",
"I will look at one of the others that don’t cover the screen and have a lip around the face.",
"Sorry to be a bummer, but it is what it is."
] |
So this salad spinner works excellently, I cannot take away anything about its function. Big capacity and very solid performance.
However, design features are design features. This fell from my standard height counter onto my wooden floor, and it cracked into several pieces. Yes, I understand this is my own fault, and it's not meant to be dropped. But really, neither are phones or many other items. And its was from a reasonable working height onto a wooden floor not even tile or concrete.
So I learned a lesson and looked for a polyurethane material (like my mom has had for 30 years). It is softer so if/when you drop it.... it won't shatter. Too bad, as this really was an excellent product otherwise and I was upset to see it blow up. | 1 | neutral | [
"So this salad spinner works excellently, I cannot take away anything about its function.",
"Big capacity and very solid performance.",
"However, design features are design features.",
"This fell from my standard height counter onto my wooden floor, and it cracked into several pieces.",
"Yes, I understand this is my own fault, and it's not meant to be dropped.",
"But really, neither are phones or many other items.",
"And its was from a reasonable working height onto a wooden floor not even tile or concrete.",
"So I learned a lesson and looked for a polyurethane material (like my mom has had for 30 years).",
"It is softer so if/when you drop it....",
"it won't shatter.",
"Too bad, as this really was an excellent product otherwise and I was upset to see it blow up."
] |
The company gave me a refund without any problems. Exceptional service.
The phone is worse than worthless.
I used to think apple products were better because I never owned any of them.
I wanted to find out if iPhones were really as good as people say they are.
I've been a programmer, technician, electronic engineer, satellite communications specialist, phone network specialist, and datacenter network management specialist, before I retired in 2001, and I figured out how to do everything I want with android phones easily when I got my first one in 2010.
I couldn't do anything with this.
First I had to drive all over the city to find a sim card because it won't even let you use it on wifi without one and it took hours of trying different places because apple changes stuff like that with every new model just so their customers can't keep using their old accessories when they buy a new phone.
When I got into it I couldn't get it to do anything.
It was perfectly functional but it wouldn't do anything I wanted to do. Even the simplest things I do easily on every windows android or Linux device I've ever used.
Of course every Microsoft OS has been extremely badly designed and Android sucks in its own ways, and haven't used Linux enough to have an opinion about it.
But ios is the worst I've ever seen.
With that and the nonremovable battery which will stop working in about a year and hardly any storage, I wouldn't use this phone they paid me. | 1 | neutral | [
"The company gave me a refund without any problems.",
"Exceptional service.",
"The phone is worse than worthless.",
"I used to think apple products were better because I never owned any of them.",
"I wanted to find out if iPhones were really as good as people say they are.",
"I've been a programmer, technician, electronic engineer, satellite communications specialist, phone network specialist, and datacenter network management specialist, before I retired in 2001, and I figured out how to do everything I want with android phones easily when I got my first one in 2010.",
"I couldn't do anything with this.",
"First I had to drive all over the city to find a sim card because it won't even let you use it on wifi without one and it took hours of trying different places because apple changes stuff like that with every new model just so their customers can't keep using their old accessories when they buy a new phone.",
"When I got into it I couldn't get it to do anything.",
"It was perfectly functional but it wouldn't do anything I wanted to do.",
"Even the simplest things I do easily on every windows android or Linux device I've ever used.",
"Of course every Microsoft OS has been extremely badly designed and Android sucks in its own ways, and haven't used Linux enough to have an opinion about it.",
"But ios is the worst I've ever seen.",
"With that and the nonremovable battery which will stop working in about a year and hardly any storage, I wouldn't use this phone they paid me."
] |
I've been an H2O wireless customer for a couple of years. I like the service, and I like their plans. When you have issues, Customer service isn't top notch, but you do get what you pay for. Porting my number from AT&T contract a few years back was flawless, and only took about 4 hours. My first major issue with H2O wireless was when my phone broke, I was using a non-smart phone for a few months until I got a new phone. I really didn't need to use much of any data.. So I switched over a pay as you go plan. I think it was the $25.00 plan that was 2.5 cents a minute talk, and 2.5 cents a minute text, and 10 cents per meg.. All of a sudden I was getting bombarded with USSD messages Probably about 200 per day saying my balance has dropped 2.5 cents.. I had data shut off on my phone, I wasn't texting, and I wasn't talking to anyone. H2O customer service told me they are showing usage on my phone. I'm honestly not using it.. Haven't used the account in 10 hours.. I did a hard reset, re-flashed my phone to make sure nobody was hacking it..My balance kept dropping, and the USSD messages kept coming. H2O wireless shut off my USSD messages, but the balance kept dropping. Shutting off the USSD doesn't help the situation.. After maybe a week the USSD messages stopped arriving, and everything went back to normal.. but about $15 was spent, and not credited back to my account. I am back to a smart phone, and using the $35.00 plan. I also have issues recharging my minutes where the website won't let me recharge. The online chat tells me they are busy, and overloaded.. Try back in a half an hour. That's a little frustrating. I think the online chat customer service reps are better than the people you talk to on the phone. Service is OK.. I never used auto recharge.. I won't do business with companies that automatically zap your account. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've been an H2O wireless customer for a couple of years.",
"I like the service, and I like their plans.",
"When you have issues, Customer service isn't top notch, but you do get what you pay for.",
"Porting my number from AT&T contract a few years back was flawless, and only took about 4 hours.",
"My first major issue with H2O wireless was when my phone broke, I was using a non-smart phone for a few months until I got a new phone.",
"I really didn't need to use much of any data..",
"So I switched over a pay as you go plan.",
"I think it was the $25.",
"00 plan that was 2.",
"5 cents a minute talk, and 2.",
"5 cents a minute text, and 10 cents per meg..",
"All of a sudden I was getting bombarded with USSD messages Probably about 200 per day saying my balance has dropped 2.",
"5 cents..",
"I had data shut off on my phone, I wasn't texting, and I wasn't talking to anyone.",
"H2O customer service told me they are showing usage on my phone.",
"I'm honestly not using it..",
"Haven't used the account in 10 hours..",
"I did a hard reset, re-flashed my phone to make sure nobody was hacking it..",
"My balance kept dropping, and the USSD messages kept coming.",
"H2O wireless shut off my USSD messages, but the balance kept dropping.",
"Shutting off the USSD doesn't help the situation..",
"After maybe a week the USSD messages stopped arriving, and everything went back to normal..",
"but about $15 was spent, and not credited back to my account.",
"I am back to a smart phone, and using the $35.",
"00 plan.",
"I also have issues recharging my minutes where the website won't let me recharge.",
"The online chat tells me they are busy, and overloaded..",
"Try back in a half an hour.",
"That's a little frustrating.",
"I think the online chat customer service reps are better than the people you talk to on the phone.",
"Service is OK..",
"I never used auto recharge..",
"I won't do business with companies that automatically zap your account."
] |
I love eyeshadow. I love playing with different colors, with going 'natural' one day with the nude palettes out there, smokey another (nude, grey or dark), or having fun with various colors - pinks, blues, greens and purples. There are so many amazing colors and brands out there and I love trying them all. This Japonesque pixelated color eye shadow palette is a bit of a mixed bag (no pun intended).
First, the eye shadow is decent, but it's rather powdery - not creamy or a touch of gel to it like some other palettes I have that are around this price point but maybe a little more. You will need a primer of some sort, either for eye shadow or to set your make up to keep this from going all over the place, and a decent brush to apply it. As with other Japonesque eye shadow, yes, it's buildable - use a little and you get a light color and add more for intensity. That or use some water (especially with the black) to really make it pop or for a liner effect.
What prevents this from being a four or five star review? The colors. You have four matte, more of a nude palette and then six of a shimmery, opal-style palette. The problem I have with this is that several of the colors are very similar - the two highlights on the nude side are almost the same, one is just a little lighter. You don't have much to work with other than the two highlighter shades and the brown in fact, unless you want to go really dark with the black for a smokey look or as a liner. On the shimmer/pixelated side, you have two very identical purples, one again is a touch more amethyst than the other, cooler shade, and two greys, one more taupe than the other. For ten colors, they could have put something a little different in here to punch up the variety, such as a pink, a true gold and so forth to make this more versatile for the money and handier if you're going to take it on the go.
Also, since the shadow is so powdery, one of the shadows is already crumbling (the matte brown) - it arrived chipped. This makes me concerned about using this as a 'to go' shadow set, and one of the best things about a palette is being able to pack them and take them with me when I travel or need to put on make-up somewhere else.
So, while I like Japonesque make-up and find them as a nice mid-range option, I think you could buy a better eye shadow palette by finding other brands on sale (Urban Decay, Tarte, Kat Von D, etc) that will offer you more of a color range. Unless you really like these particular colors and a more powdery style of eye shadow. | 1 | neutral | [
"I love eyeshadow.",
"I love playing with different colors, with going 'natural' one day with the nude palettes out there, smokey another (nude, grey or dark), or having fun with various colors - pinks, blues, greens and purples.",
"There are so many amazing colors and brands out there and I love trying them all.",
"This Japonesque pixelated color eye shadow palette is a bit of a mixed bag (no pun intended).",
"First, the eye shadow is decent, but it's rather powdery - not creamy or a touch of gel to it like some other palettes I have that are around this price point but maybe a little more.",
"You will need a primer of some sort, either for eye shadow or to set your make up to keep this from going all over the place, and a decent brush to apply it.",
"As with other Japonesque eye shadow, yes, it's buildable - use a little and you get a light color and add more for intensity.",
"That or use some water (especially with the black) to really make it pop or for a liner effect.",
"What prevents this from being a four or five star review?",
"The colors.",
"You have four matte, more of a nude palette and then six of a shimmery, opal-style palette.",
"The problem I have with this is that several of the colors are very similar - the two highlights on the nude side are almost the same, one is just a little lighter.",
"You don't have much to work with other than the two highlighter shades and the brown in fact, unless you want to go really dark with the black for a smokey look or as a liner.",
"On the shimmer/pixelated side, you have two very identical purples, one again is a touch more amethyst than the other, cooler shade, and two greys, one more taupe than the other.",
"For ten colors, they could have put something a little different in here to punch up the variety, such as a pink, a true gold and so forth to make this more versatile for the money and handier if you're going to take it on the go.",
"Also, since the shadow is so powdery, one of the shadows is already crumbling (the matte brown) - it arrived chipped.",
"This makes me concerned about using this as a 'to go' shadow set, and one of the best things about a palette is being able to pack them and take them with me when I travel or need to put on make-up somewhere else.",
"So, while I like Japonesque make-up and find them as a nice mid-range option, I think you could buy a better eye shadow palette by finding other brands on sale (Urban Decay, Tarte, Kat Von D, etc) that will offer you more of a color range.",
"Unless you really like these particular colors and a more powdery style of eye shadow."
] |
I have never had a gaming console until I purchased the PS3, so my views are not generated by past experiences with game console controllers.
I have only one issue with the controllers, and it may be that it is not the controller BUT the tecnology itself. While playing many differing games, the characters do not always do what I command them to do. At times, the characters do not even respond to controller input. For example, when I play Assassin's Creed there are times when Altair simply does whatever he feels like doing. He will take off and run...and keep on running with no input from me. Other times, he (and characters of other games) will not respond to button presses or stick commands at all. I use the Nyko charging base that charges four controllers at once, so I keep all of my controllers fully charged.
I wanted to use the phrase "Has Minor Issue" as my title BUT it does not feel like a minor issue when you are in the middle of the fight of your life and your controller commands leave your character motionless, or cause them to move/jump/strike the incorrect direction. Or your character just takes off for a little romp around the park without any command from you to do so. This has happened with COD 4, RFOM, Rachet & Clank:TOD, Assassin's Creed, URT III, Folklore, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Elder Scrolls: The Oblivion...and others.
With this many games affected, I have to believe it is the controller technology, and not the games themselves, causing this phenomenon.
My only past controller experience has been a wireless Logitch controller for my Computer (Wingman). This controller was the cat's meow, and I never had issues as mentioned above with literally 100 plus different title PC games.
I think it is possible that the bluetooth technology is just not quite there yet(?) However, I am not an expert by any means.
Other than the aforementioned, I have had wonderful gaming experiences since crossing over to the dark side (gaming consoles) *snicker*
Just a quick side note, once retailers are done playing the game of "supply and demand" artificially jacking up the cost for the XBox 360 Elite system, that will be my next purchase. 120 GB hard drive...WOW! I predict "fun" in my future :)
Happy Holidays,
Smacka | 1 | neutral | [
"I have never had a gaming console until I purchased the PS3, so my views are not generated by past experiences with game console controllers.",
"I have only one issue with the controllers, and it may be that it is not the controller BUT the tecnology itself.",
"While playing many differing games, the characters do not always do what I command them to do.",
"At times, the characters do not even respond to controller input.",
"For example, when I play Assassin's Creed there are times when Altair simply does whatever he feels like doing.",
"He will take off and run...",
"and keep on running with no input from me.",
"Other times, he (and characters of other games) will not respond to button presses or stick commands at all.",
"I use the Nyko charging base that charges four controllers at once, so I keep all of my controllers fully charged.",
"I wanted to use the phrase \"Has Minor Issue\" as my title BUT it does not feel like a minor issue when you are in the middle of the fight of your life and your controller commands leave your character motionless, or cause them to move/jump/strike the incorrect direction.",
"Or your character just takes off for a little romp around the park without any command from you to do so.",
"This has happened with COD 4, RFOM, Rachet & Clank:TOD, Assassin's Creed, URT III, Folklore, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Elder Scrolls: The Oblivion...",
"and others.",
"With this many games affected, I have to believe it is the controller technology, and not the games themselves, causing this phenomenon.",
"My only past controller experience has been a wireless Logitch controller for my Computer (Wingman).",
"This controller was the cat's meow, and I never had issues as mentioned above with literally 100 plus different title PC games.",
"I think it is possible that the bluetooth technology is just not quite there yet(?",
") However, I am not an expert by any means.",
"Other than the aforementioned, I have had wonderful gaming experiences since crossing over to the dark side (gaming consoles) *snicker*\n\nJust a quick side note, once retailers are done playing the game of \"supply and demand\" artificially jacking up the cost for the XBox 360 Elite system, that will be my next purchase.",
"120 GB hard drive...",
"WOW!",
"I predict \"fun\" in my future :)\n\nHappy Holidays,\nSmacka"
] |
Are you interested in the crusades? Do you enjoy stories that have to do with scotland, norway, ireland? Do you appreciate solid writing? If so, then this book may be of interest. After all, the crusades are the backdrop, the main character is from scotland, and the writing is solid.
That being said, there is nothing particularly special about this book. As I said, the writing is solid, not spectacular. The characters are passable, but in a week you will not remember anything about them. In my opinion, the spirituality / theology aspects are weak and distract instead of enliven.
However, if you are looking for something to read, then why not? The book is worth the money and you will not feel as if you have wasted your time. | 1 | neutral | [
"Are you interested in the crusades?",
"Do you enjoy stories that have to do with scotland, norway, ireland?",
"Do you appreciate solid writing?",
"If so, then this book may be of interest.",
"After all, the crusades are the backdrop, the main character is from scotland, and the writing is solid.",
"That being said, there is nothing particularly special about this book.",
"As I said, the writing is solid, not spectacular.",
"The characters are passable, but in a week you will not remember anything about them.",
"In my opinion, the spirituality / theology aspects are weak and distract instead of enliven.",
"However, if you are looking for something to read, then why not?",
"The book is worth the money and you will not feel as if you have wasted your time."
] |
Best Seller, 1987 film
This is a story about a professional killer (who works for a big and evil corporation) who wants to write a book about his life and work. He picks a police lieutenant to be the author of his biography! Is this premise plausible? Cleve tells Dennis about his career and personal life, and offers evidence that he did what he claimed to have done. They travel around the country and have adventures that they manage to survive. In the end Cleve finds what he was seeking and his final justice. The book about his life is published. Would you read or buy it? As fiction or fact? I suspect the tone of this movie prevented it from being popular at the box office.
This is an action movie whose story serves as the base for travel, adventure, and killings. Can you believe so many murders would remain unsolved? Perhaps, but a traveling killer would need local support (finger man, transportation, lodgings). Murders of journalists and politicians are more common in other countries where fascism (the rule by corporations) or an aristocracy (the rule by big landowners) are more powerful. These killings are rarely reported in your local newspaper. There was an unusual death rate among people who said they witnessed some part of the JFK assassination, but that is still rare in the USA. The movie "Z" was very popular around 1969, just like Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent" around 1940. Both are very good movies but are seldom shown on television. Wonder why? | 1 | neutral | [
"Best Seller, 1987 film\n\nThis is a story about a professional killer (who works for a big and evil corporation) who wants to write a book about his life and work.",
"He picks a police lieutenant to be the author of his biography!",
"Is this premise plausible?",
"Cleve tells Dennis about his career and personal life, and offers evidence that he did what he claimed to have done.",
"They travel around the country and have adventures that they manage to survive.",
"In the end Cleve finds what he was seeking and his final justice.",
"The book about his life is published.",
"Would you read or buy it?",
"As fiction or fact?",
"I suspect the tone of this movie prevented it from being popular at the box office.",
"This is an action movie whose story serves as the base for travel, adventure, and killings.",
"Can you believe so many murders would remain unsolved?",
"Perhaps, but a traveling killer would need local support (finger man, transportation, lodgings).",
"Murders of journalists and politicians are more common in other countries where fascism (the rule by corporations) or an aristocracy (the rule by big landowners) are more powerful.",
"These killings are rarely reported in your local newspaper.",
"There was an unusual death rate among people who said they witnessed some part of the JFK assassination, but that is still rare in the USA.",
"The movie \"Z\" was very popular around 1969, just like Hitchcock's \"Foreign Correspondent\" around 1940.",
"Both are very good movies but are seldom shown on television.",
"Wonder why?"
] |
The Case Medium Stockman is a decent traditional stockman knive. The steel is easy to maintain and keep sharp. Pretty good slicing abilities. It looks good. It's also a very pocketable EDC size. There are some compromises, though. Fit and finish could be a whole lot better. There's severe blade rub. The factory edge is pretty dull. There is much better out there. The Great Eastern Cutlery #66, although more expensive, is a worth upgrade over this. Still, for the price, I think you're getting a pretty decent user knife. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Case Medium Stockman is a decent traditional stockman knive.",
"The steel is easy to maintain and keep sharp.",
"Pretty good slicing abilities.",
"It looks good.",
"It's also a very pocketable EDC size.",
"There are some compromises, though.",
"Fit and finish could be a whole lot better.",
"There's severe blade rub.",
"The factory edge is pretty dull.",
"There is much better out there.",
"The Great Eastern Cutlery #66, although more expensive, is a worth upgrade over this.",
"Still, for the price, I think you're getting a pretty decent user knife."
] |
Let me begin by buffering my complaining with a true statement. This is not the worst book I have ever not finished. Okay, now that I have that out of the way, here is why I didn't finish this book. I have had a lifetime obsession with the Titanic and all things relating to the historical facts of the sinking. This book, although I knew it was fiction, sounded too good to pass up. This is a VERY LONG book and I was looking forward to settling in for a long read full of Titanic-themed entertainment. I have seen that quite a few other reviewers have already commented on the grammatical errors, so I will not go into specifics.
This book seemed like with a good line edit, historical fact correcting and a little polish it might have been an excellent read. What I felt I got when I started reading this book, was a first draft. The sentence structure was clunky and distracting and the dialogue was some of the hardest to digest I have ever seen. When you combine those things with the amazingly bad research errors on dates, times and historical fact in general, I couldn't do it. I did laugh, I did cry, but not for the reasons I was probably supposed to. I try to finish everything I start, but on this one I had to jump ship for self-preservation. | 1 | neutral | [
"Let me begin by buffering my complaining with a true statement.",
"This is not the worst book I have ever not finished.",
"Okay, now that I have that out of the way, here is why I didn't finish this book.",
"I have had a lifetime obsession with the Titanic and all things relating to the historical facts of the sinking.",
"This book, although I knew it was fiction, sounded too good to pass up.",
"This is a VERY LONG book and I was looking forward to settling in for a long read full of Titanic-themed entertainment.",
"I have seen that quite a few other reviewers have already commented on the grammatical errors, so I will not go into specifics.",
"This book seemed like with a good line edit, historical fact correcting and a little polish it might have been an excellent read.",
"What I felt I got when I started reading this book, was a first draft.",
"The sentence structure was clunky and distracting and the dialogue was some of the hardest to digest I have ever seen.",
"When you combine those things with the amazingly bad research errors on dates, times and historical fact in general, I couldn't do it.",
"I did laugh, I did cry, but not for the reasons I was probably supposed to.",
"I try to finish everything I start, but on this one I had to jump ship for self-preservation."
] |
I have 1/4 inch peg board and wanted to have hooks that would stay in and NOT require the plastic straps to hold them in place. So I ordered these since they showed the double plug that goes into the peg board. Here is what I found:
1. The package has a nice assortement of shapes.
2. The diamater of the material is NOT large enough to hold securely in your peg board!!! Lifting any tool off of the hooks removes the hook from the pegboard!!!
3. These will work ok as long as you buy and use the plastic straps that I was trying to get away from using. Thus, buying these are a waste of money if you are paying more for them than the single attachment point hooks.
I would NOT recommend these unless you also intend to buy and use the plastic straps to hold the hooks in place. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have 1/4 inch peg board and wanted to have hooks that would stay in and NOT require the plastic straps to hold them in place.",
"So I ordered these since they showed the double plug that goes into the peg board.",
"Here is what I found:\n\n 1.",
"The package has a nice assortement of shapes.",
"2.",
"The diamater of the material is NOT large enough to hold securely in your peg board!!!",
"Lifting any tool off of the hooks removes the hook from the pegboard!!!",
"3.",
"These will work ok as long as you buy and use the plastic straps that I was trying to get away from using.",
"Thus, buying these are a waste of money if you are paying more for them than the single attachment point hooks.",
"I would NOT recommend these unless you also intend to buy and use the plastic straps to hold the hooks in place."
] |
I own all of Parliament's Casablanca albums with the exception of Chocolate City and Trombipulation (that's a damn hard one to find), and Gloryhallastoopid is arguably the weakest, only Up For The Down Stroke can compare to it, but at least Down Stroke featured a band that was experimenting, here it sounds like George Clinton and company did a few hot tracks, and then mailed in the rest of the album.
Highlights:
"The Big Bang Theory" features excellent female vocals and some serious riffing from the horns as they each trade off and everything is anchored by some mean bass.
"Colour Me Funky" features a prominant electric guitar, a rarity in the Parliament catalog, and once again the synth bass holds the song together.
"Theme From The Black Hole" is another booty shaker and continues in the same vein as "Big Bang" offering up more funky horn lines and adding in some of Sir Nose's high-pitched nonsense to top things off. FYI, this served as the source for Digital Underground's "The Same Song".
Lowlights:
Unfortunately, this album has more than its fair share of lackluster funk: "Party People" and "The Freeze". The songs go on for waaaaaay too long thus ruining a good groove, as in the case of "Freeze" which has also features some nice sax riffing from Maceo, or making an annoying one unbearable, "Party People", which is nothing more than a bland, mindless disco song, which is something George Clinton had been railing against for years on previous albums. As for the title track and "May We Bang You", they are polite funk and serve as nice background music. Nothing musically interesting.
At about $7 this is a decent, but albeit not necessary, addition to any funksters catalog. If it were priced higher I'd recommend it to only P.Funk nuts like myself. | 1 | neutral | [
"I own all of Parliament's Casablanca albums with the exception of Chocolate City and Trombipulation (that's a damn hard one to find), and Gloryhallastoopid is arguably the weakest, only Up For The Down Stroke can compare to it, but at least Down Stroke featured a band that was experimenting, here it sounds like George Clinton and company did a few hot tracks, and then mailed in the rest of the album.",
"Highlights:\n\n\"The Big Bang Theory\" features excellent female vocals and some serious riffing from the horns as they each trade off and everything is anchored by some mean bass.",
"\"Colour Me Funky\" features a prominant electric guitar, a rarity in the Parliament catalog, and once again the synth bass holds the song together.",
"\"Theme From The Black Hole\" is another booty shaker and continues in the same vein as \"Big Bang\" offering up more funky horn lines and adding in some of Sir Nose's high-pitched nonsense to top things off.",
"FYI, this served as the source for Digital Underground's \"The Same Song\".",
"Lowlights:\n\nUnfortunately, this album has more than its fair share of lackluster funk: \"Party People\" and \"The Freeze\".",
"The songs go on for waaaaaay too long thus ruining a good groove, as in the case of \"Freeze\" which has also features some nice sax riffing from Maceo, or making an annoying one unbearable, \"Party People\", which is nothing more than a bland, mindless disco song, which is something George Clinton had been railing against for years on previous albums.",
"As for the title track and \"May We Bang You\", they are polite funk and serve as nice background music.",
"Nothing musically interesting.",
"At about $7 this is a decent, but albeit not necessary, addition to any funksters catalog.",
"If it were priced higher I'd recommend it to only P.",
"Funk nuts like myself."
] |
I will echo the same experience here that other users have noted: the cable connectors are too narrow in diameter. I saw a frightening amount of flexing in the back panel assembly of my new Sony 34" XBR970 while trying to muscle these things onto the component inputs. The set otherwise is extremely well constructed, and I'll assume all the high-tech shielding Monster displays on the box art is doing its job as the sound and picture clarity are at least as good as they should be. I did not, however, see an improvement over the Intec multi-port switched component set I had previously used. Most likely I'm viewing the clearest definition possible through component cables.
Another poster menioned using an exotic grease as lubricant to ease installation. To ease the pain, I used plain old clear dielectric silicone ("electrician's grease") that I keep around for computer repair. Just a touch smeared around the outer surface of the inputs will make the process a bit easier.
Finally, if you do a lot of moving or experimenting with your game systems, these are NOT the cables you want. Due to the installation difficulty, they should be considered a permanant fixture once connected. | 1 | neutral | [
"I will echo the same experience here that other users have noted: the cable connectors are too narrow in diameter.",
"I saw a frightening amount of flexing in the back panel assembly of my new Sony 34\" XBR970 while trying to muscle these things onto the component inputs.",
"The set otherwise is extremely well constructed, and I'll assume all the high-tech shielding Monster displays on the box art is doing its job as the sound and picture clarity are at least as good as they should be.",
"I did not, however, see an improvement over the Intec multi-port switched component set I had previously used.",
"Most likely I'm viewing the clearest definition possible through component cables.",
"Another poster menioned using an exotic grease as lubricant to ease installation.",
"To ease the pain, I used plain old clear dielectric silicone (\"electrician's grease\") that I keep around for computer repair.",
"Just a touch smeared around the outer surface of the inputs will make the process a bit easier.",
"Finally, if you do a lot of moving or experimenting with your game systems, these are NOT the cables you want.",
"Due to the installation difficulty, they should be considered a permanant fixture once connected."
] |
I contacted customer service because this product states it is Gauges: .012 - .054. and I got .011-.052. Customer service was very courteous and sent out a replacement set, however they sent the same set that is Gauge 011-052. I am very disappointed, because I was looking for something just a bit heavier for the sound. I am going to attache a photo of the strings I received for your ordering convenience. While it may seem like a small difference to some people, I was very excited to try these "new" Martins that were just what I was looking for, only to get the lower Gauge set. | 1 | neutral | [
"I contacted customer service because this product states it is Gauges:.",
"012 -.",
"054.",
"and I got.",
"011-.",
"052.",
"Customer service was very courteous and sent out a replacement set, however they sent the same set that is Gauge 011-052.",
"I am very disappointed, because I was looking for something just a bit heavier for the sound.",
"I am going to attache a photo of the strings I received for your ordering convenience.",
"While it may seem like a small difference to some people, I was very excited to try these \"new\" Martins that were just what I was looking for, only to get the lower Gauge set."
] |
The reviews on newegg didn't sound good but anything's worth the penny I paid after rebate. A lot of people complained that accidentally pressing the answer/end button redials the last called number. It does not do this to me, when i press that button it beeps & waits for a voice command, for example I can say "Call John Doe Mobile" and it dials the # automatically. You can also say commands like "Open Internet Explorer" or "Open texting" and it will open those apps on your phone. Its really cool. People also complained that the optional behind-the-ear piece hurts, it doesnt hurt me at all. It's the first bluetooth 3.0 headset I've seen so I like that, i think 3.0 has a better range of distance so I can finally leave my phone in the bedroom & walk to the kitchen without static. It is also much louder than my old headset (Jabra BT250v) which is a good thing. It does have extra long battery life and talk time, and does stay in my ear without the earhook. The eargel has never fallen off, it is on much tighter than my old headset. And I have not had the problem of pressing other buttons when I press the answer/end button.
My only complaints are that it doesn't vibrate, and I would like it to be a little smaller, but it's still much smaller than my old headset. Also, it shuts itself off after a few hours, which I guess is ok because when I'm getting a call and turn the headset on it automatically answers the call.
**update 6-16-11**
even when the volume is all the way down, it's too loud. i have to hold it away from my ear so i might as well be holding a phone | 1 | neutral | [
"The reviews on newegg didn't sound good but anything's worth the penny I paid after rebate.",
"A lot of people complained that accidentally pressing the answer/end button redials the last called number.",
"It does not do this to me, when i press that button it beeps & waits for a voice command, for example I can say \"Call John Doe Mobile\" and it dials the # automatically.",
"You can also say commands like \"Open Internet Explorer\" or \"Open texting\" and it will open those apps on your phone.",
"Its really cool.",
"People also complained that the optional behind-the-ear piece hurts, it doesnt hurt me at all.",
"It's the first bluetooth 3.",
"0 headset I've seen so I like that, i think 3.",
"0 has a better range of distance so I can finally leave my phone in the bedroom & walk to the kitchen without static.",
"It is also much louder than my old headset (Jabra BT250v) which is a good thing.",
"It does have extra long battery life and talk time, and does stay in my ear without the earhook.",
"The eargel has never fallen off, it is on much tighter than my old headset.",
"And I have not had the problem of pressing other buttons when I press the answer/end button.",
"My only complaints are that it doesn't vibrate, and I would like it to be a little smaller, but it's still much smaller than my old headset.",
"Also, it shuts itself off after a few hours, which I guess is ok because when I'm getting a call and turn the headset on it automatically answers the call.",
"**update 6-16-11**\neven when the volume is all the way down, it's too loud.",
"i have to hold it away from my ear so i might as well be holding a phone"
] |
Here we have a relatively early story from Agatha Christie (1938) set amidst the back drop of Jerusalem and Petra. The set-up herein, no doubt, owes much to Christies travels with her archeologist husband in the Near East, but not only are temperatures extreme in this story, but the plot and some of the characters herein are too. The central character is a former prison warden who inherits a load of money from her late husband and uses it to gratuitously lord over her children who have not been left sums of their own. Christie makes her out to be a thoroughly odious personage (she isn't a character actually, because there is nothing particularly interesting about her) and makes her extremely fat, too. And why this personage decides to take her family abroad on such an expensive holiday is rather papered over unconvincingly. Her children are colorless and subservient, all cowed by the purse strings controlled by their matriarchal overload. Consequently, Christie has you, as the reader, assuming rather from the outset that this lady shall be the victim herein and such is just as well so get it over with Miss Christie.
And once she does then Poirot goes from on holiday mode back into detective mode by comparing all the participants stories of what they saw and what they did. PoirotOn the whole, you know, people tell you the truth. Because it is easier Because it is less strain on the inventive faculties You can tell one lie---or two lies---or three lies---or even four lies---BUT YOU CANNOT LIE ALL THE TIME. And so---the truth becomes plain. But the truth and explanation of who did what and why in this story is a bit of a letdown since so many of the characters in this mystery (actually more of a travelogue made into a mystery) are just not ones that this reader has been encouraged to care or even think much about. Of course, it is always interesting to hear Poirot explain anything, and if this 'mystery' has a saving grave it is Hercule Poirot's inclusion in it. | 1 | neutral | [
"Here we have a relatively early story from Agatha Christie (1938) set amidst the back drop of Jerusalem and Petra.",
"The set-up herein, no doubt, owes much to Christies travels with her archeologist husband in the Near East, but not only are temperatures extreme in this story, but the plot and some of the characters herein are too.",
"The central character is a former prison warden who inherits a load of money from her late husband and uses it to gratuitously lord over her children who have not been left sums of their own.",
"Christie makes her out to be a thoroughly odious personage (she isn't a character actually, because there is nothing particularly interesting about her) and makes her extremely fat, too.",
"And why this personage decides to take her family abroad on such an expensive holiday is rather papered over unconvincingly.",
"Her children are colorless and subservient, all cowed by the purse strings controlled by their matriarchal overload.",
"Consequently, Christie has you, as the reader, assuming rather from the outset that this lady shall be the victim herein and such is just as well so get it over with Miss Christie.",
"And once she does then Poirot goes from on holiday mode back into detective mode by comparing all the participants stories of what they saw and what they did.",
"PoirotOn the whole, you know, people tell you the truth.",
"Because it is easier Because it is less strain on the inventive faculties You can tell one lie---or two lies---or three lies---or even four lies---BUT YOU CANNOT LIE ALL THE TIME.",
"And so---the truth becomes plain.",
"But the truth and explanation of who did what and why in this story is a bit of a letdown since so many of the characters in this mystery (actually more of a travelogue made into a mystery) are just not ones that this reader has been encouraged to care or even think much about.",
"Of course, it is always interesting to hear Poirot explain anything, and if this 'mystery' has a saving grave it is Hercule Poirot's inclusion in it."
] |
My daughter saw this at a local bookstore and she really wanted it. It was right after her 6th birthday and she received lots of gifts for her birthday, so I wasn't going to buy this for her just because she wanted it. She told me she really really wanted it, so I told her she would have to earn it. She filled out the chore charts for the next 7 weeks to save money for this. She worked hard and saved money, so I bought this for her (actually I ordered this on Amazon way before she saved enough money and I hid it in the closet and when she handed me her money i deposited that into her account for her future). She was very excited when she finally got this and this is a good educational toy, I agree. BUT some of the areas where the plastic parts are supposed to fit and make a somewhat snap sound, the holes are not aligned.... There is no way that my daughter's small hands (or my adult hands) can push it hard when the holes are not at where they are supposed to be.... She gets frustrated and so do I. Instruction is not so good in my opinion. There is no mention of shoulder blades and after carefully following all the directions (words and pictures), we were left with two bone pieces. It took me a while to figure out what they were (You might think I am dumb, but I am college educated and good at following directions). If it was up to me, i would give 1 star, but my daughter still likes to play with this, so i would give three stars. | 1 | neutral | [
"My daughter saw this at a local bookstore and she really wanted it.",
"It was right after her 6th birthday and she received lots of gifts for her birthday, so I wasn't going to buy this for her just because she wanted it.",
"She told me she really really wanted it, so I told her she would have to earn it.",
"She filled out the chore charts for the next 7 weeks to save money for this.",
"She worked hard and saved money, so I bought this for her (actually I ordered this on Amazon way before she saved enough money and I hid it in the closet and when she handed me her money i deposited that into her account for her future).",
"She was very excited when she finally got this and this is a good educational toy, I agree.",
"BUT some of the areas where the plastic parts are supposed to fit and make a somewhat snap sound, the holes are not aligned....",
"There is no way that my daughter's small hands (or my adult hands) can push it hard when the holes are not at where they are supposed to be....",
"She gets frustrated and so do I.",
"Instruction is not so good in my opinion.",
"There is no mention of shoulder blades and after carefully following all the directions (words and pictures), we were left with two bone pieces.",
"It took me a while to figure out what they were (You might think I am dumb, but I am college educated and good at following directions).",
"If it was up to me, i would give 1 star, but my daughter still likes to play with this, so i would give three stars."
] |
ALONG CAME A SPIDER is another nice installment of the Alex Cross series of mysteries. The book has truly translated well onto the screen.
Morgan Freeman does an excellent job; he plays the character of Cross much less stiffly than we have seen with other genius detective types. Most of the time, they're so clinical and absorbed (sometimes self-absorbed) that it's difficult to watch them. At least Denzel Washington was supposed to be stiff in THE BONE COLLECTOR.
The strength of the movie relies heavily on a quick change-up surprise which occurs at about twenty minutes from the end of movie, which is good, because once you figure out that not everyone is quite as they seem (and we all know who's going to win), a resolution shouldn't be drawn out too long.
I was impressed by Monica Potter's performance. Most critics called her a copy of Julia Roberts, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. There is one scene in which the character Soneji is finally killed, and we see some good acting from her, but not only is she a good actress, her character is a good actress as well. I won't leak too much information, but when the turning point comes, the movie relies much less on Morgan Freeman as a power-actor and turns the spotlight onto Potter. Michael Wincott, as Soneji, and Mika Boorem, as Megan Rose, also do fine jobs.
The movie's not a classic, but the surprise twist does spin your head a bit, and you will definitely not see it coming, unless you've read the book and you know the Alex Cross formula. It's a palpable thriller, and I can't wait for the next installment in the Alex Cross mysteries. | 1 | neutral | [
"ALONG CAME A SPIDER is another nice installment of the Alex Cross series of mysteries.",
"The book has truly translated well onto the screen.",
"Morgan Freeman does an excellent job; he plays the character of Cross much less stiffly than we have seen with other genius detective types.",
"Most of the time, they're so clinical and absorbed (sometimes self-absorbed) that it's difficult to watch them.",
"At least Denzel Washington was supposed to be stiff in THE BONE COLLECTOR.",
"The strength of the movie relies heavily on a quick change-up surprise which occurs at about twenty minutes from the end of movie, which is good, because once you figure out that not everyone is quite as they seem (and we all know who's going to win), a resolution shouldn't be drawn out too long.",
"I was impressed by Monica Potter's performance.",
"Most critics called her a copy of Julia Roberts, which isn't a bad thing necessarily.",
"There is one scene in which the character Soneji is finally killed, and we see some good acting from her, but not only is she a good actress, her character is a good actress as well.",
"I won't leak too much information, but when the turning point comes, the movie relies much less on Morgan Freeman as a power-actor and turns the spotlight onto Potter.",
"Michael Wincott, as Soneji, and Mika Boorem, as Megan Rose, also do fine jobs.",
"The movie's not a classic, but the surprise twist does spin your head a bit, and you will definitely not see it coming, unless you've read the book and you know the Alex Cross formula.",
"It's a palpable thriller, and I can't wait for the next installment in the Alex Cross mysteries."
] |
Honestly I didn't want to write the review until I read them all together in one sitting because honestly reading this first part by itself doesn't want to make me read more based on the characters not the plot. The main character is a bit... ummm... flat... something is missing. Only reason I am reviewing it right now is because I get 17 (or more) notifications a day that people are recommending I read this part and now a review of it (Some event on facebook going on)So I read it... I am done for now reading the books, until I have time to devote to reading the whole thing. But on part one alone... It moved quickly and it has an enjoyable plot... the characters I don't really care about, and that is why I am giving it a 3 star rating I liked the direction this is going, and am hoping that in the next 5 parts the characters develop a bit more for me. I liked it... I will read more... but I am in no rush to do so... 3 stars... I liked it... my rating is 1 star- poor tree 2 star- hated it 3 star liked it 4 star- loved it 5 star- OMG BEST THING EVER. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love either. It may be better once I read all 6 parts together. Now I know people who love this and will give it 5 stars and 4 stars and hate my little 3 star rating, but to be honest it takes more than few pages to get into a book for me, this was really just a few pages takes like 5 minutes to read and to have to go out and buy other parts of the book... Not really for me, however that being said, as I said the plot I believe is there, and it interests me enough to want to continue (at some time) and finish this 'serial' novel. | 1 | neutral | [
"Honestly I didn't want to write the review until I read them all together in one sitting because honestly reading this first part by itself doesn't want to make me read more based on the characters not the plot.",
"The main character is a bit...",
"ummm...",
"flat...",
"something is missing.",
"Only reason I am reviewing it right now is because I get 17 (or more) notifications a day that people are recommending I read this part and now a review of it (Some event on facebook going on)So I read it...",
"I am done for now reading the books, until I have time to devote to reading the whole thing.",
"But on part one alone...",
"It moved quickly and it has an enjoyable plot...",
"the characters I don't really care about, and that is why I am giving it a 3 star rating I liked the direction this is going, and am hoping that in the next 5 parts the characters develop a bit more for me.",
"I liked it...",
"I will read more...",
"but I am in no rush to do so...",
"3 stars...",
"I liked it...",
"my rating is 1 star- poor tree 2 star- hated it 3 star liked it 4 star- loved it 5 star- OMG BEST THING EVER.",
"I didn't hate it, but I didn't love either.",
"It may be better once I read all 6 parts together.",
"Now I know people who love this and will give it 5 stars and 4 stars and hate my little 3 star rating, but to be honest it takes more than few pages to get into a book for me, this was really just a few pages takes like 5 minutes to read and to have to go out and buy other parts of the book...",
"Not really for me, however that being said, as I said the plot I believe is there, and it interests me enough to want to continue (at some time) and finish this 'serial' novel."
] |
Every day an unknown number of new listeners is thrilled by first hearing the glittering Scheherazade, but to conductors it's as hackneyed as the 1812 Overture, unless...
The "unless" covers a lot of ways to invigorate this warhose. Stokowski applies lush gaudiness in his three readings, which can be thrilling. Reiner gave us astonishing orchestral virtuosity from the Chicago Sym. and one of Living Stereo's best recordings, a marvel almost fifty years on. beecham delivers a fresh, buoyant readding that comes close to being joyous (though the EMI recording is dated).
Temirkanov certainly has the potential to do something special with Scheherazade, but what we get instead is an all-around straighforward reading, good but not spectacular sound, and some nice expressive touches here and there. The NY Phil. doesn't sound that jazzed, either. Altogether, I had hoped for more. | 1 | neutral | [
"Every day an unknown number of new listeners is thrilled by first hearing the glittering Scheherazade, but to conductors it's as hackneyed as the 1812 Overture, unless...",
"The \"unless\" covers a lot of ways to invigorate this warhose.",
"Stokowski applies lush gaudiness in his three readings, which can be thrilling.",
"Reiner gave us astonishing orchestral virtuosity from the Chicago Sym.",
"and one of Living Stereo's best recordings, a marvel almost fifty years on.",
"beecham delivers a fresh, buoyant readding that comes close to being joyous (though the EMI recording is dated).",
"Temirkanov certainly has the potential to do something special with Scheherazade, but what we get instead is an all-around straighforward reading, good but not spectacular sound, and some nice expressive touches here and there.",
"The NY Phil.",
"doesn't sound that jazzed, either.",
"Altogether, I had hoped for more."
] |
this is not Hitchcock at the height of his powers. While this has more imagination that your typical caper film, somehow the characters and didn't grab me the way that I expect of Hitch's genius. Sure, it's fun, but there are are so many "fun" movies.
On the positive side, there is no way to predict the outcome of this. You have some charlatans - a medium and her bag-boy investigator - who are trying to make a score. Then, you have the "professionals", that is, a genuine sociopath and his sidekick, the wonderful Karen Black in her prime. The mix is volatile, dangerous, and wonderfully unexpected as the plot reveals itself. It is very clever, but somehow not memorable, at least for me. I am sure I will forget the plot details quickly.
Recommended. Anything by this director is worth a look, but I would rent it rather than buy it. | 1 | neutral | [
"this is not Hitchcock at the height of his powers.",
"While this has more imagination that your typical caper film, somehow the characters and didn't grab me the way that I expect of Hitch's genius.",
"Sure, it's fun, but there are are so many \"fun\" movies.",
"On the positive side, there is no way to predict the outcome of this.",
"You have some charlatans - a medium and her bag-boy investigator - who are trying to make a score.",
"Then, you have the \"professionals\", that is, a genuine sociopath and his sidekick, the wonderful Karen Black in her prime.",
"The mix is volatile, dangerous, and wonderfully unexpected as the plot reveals itself.",
"It is very clever, but somehow not memorable, at least for me.",
"I am sure I will forget the plot details quickly.",
"Recommended.",
"Anything by this director is worth a look, but I would rent it rather than buy it."
] |
First Blood came out in 82, seven years after the police action had officially ended, and the public (at least the civilian public) ate it up. Here is a returning combat veteran who is not only actually an escaped POW, but also a Green Beret and even a Medal of Honor winner, and when the police of a small Northwestern town cross him, Rambo dutifully goes out of his honorably discharged mind. It's a great combat drama, if you're into macho. impossible odds last stands (and what young man at some point isn't?), but don't make the mistake of thinking this was the typical return to home most veterans (at least mentally) went through, It took a few years, but most went back into civilian life without too much readjustment difficulty. Stallone had the looks (and the build) of some kind of roman God at that point, and Hollywood made the most of it. When it came out, I read that it had been shot in Oregon, but apparently I was mistaken, It was shot, of all places, in British Columbia, Canada, and to see somebody supposedly trained in the tropical climate of Vietnam in open territory in midwinter, covered with only an open leather jerkin is a little hard to believe, even if the guy is off his coming-home rocker. Also, those mountains would most likely be found in Laos. It's Reagan-lifornia of course. But if you just want to sit back and cheer the returning, hard-luck "losers" for 90 minutes, this is your film. | 1 | neutral | [
"First Blood came out in 82, seven years after the police action had officially ended, and the public (at least the civilian public) ate it up.",
"Here is a returning combat veteran who is not only actually an escaped POW, but also a Green Beret and even a Medal of Honor winner, and when the police of a small Northwestern town cross him, Rambo dutifully goes out of his honorably discharged mind.",
"It's a great combat drama, if you're into macho.",
"impossible odds last stands (and what young man at some point isn't?",
"), but don't make the mistake of thinking this was the typical return to home most veterans (at least mentally) went through, It took a few years, but most went back into civilian life without too much readjustment difficulty.",
"Stallone had the looks (and the build) of some kind of roman God at that point, and Hollywood made the most of it.",
"When it came out, I read that it had been shot in Oregon, but apparently I was mistaken, It was shot, of all places, in British Columbia, Canada, and to see somebody supposedly trained in the tropical climate of Vietnam in open territory in midwinter, covered with only an open leather jerkin is a little hard to believe, even if the guy is off his coming-home rocker.",
"Also, those mountains would most likely be found in Laos.",
"It's Reagan-lifornia of course.",
"But if you just want to sit back and cheer the returning, hard-luck \"losers\" for 90 minutes, this is your film."
] |
Nice workmanship. Have an oven that was made by the same company. Went together fast (attaching the 4 legs) and it's ability to just sit on top of a table w/o the legs. Knobs are out of the way (they don't stick out) as to allow banging or busting them off. Even the hose can be stowed out of the way. Heat/wind blocker went on well. But here's why it got 3 stars. It's doesn't put out a flame like the "turbo burners" aka turkey friers do. I didn't expect it to be like a F-14 tomcat engine but it really doesn't push much flame. I tried every adjustment I could. I even secured one burner. No difference. Seemed as though there was no pressure from my tank. I tried another FULL tank (1st one was full when started). Same results. Was just trying to boil some water to warm spaghetti noddles and warm up some sauce in some large stainless steel pots. About the 4 gallon size. So, if you want something to go from zero to 60 fast, you might want to forget it. At this point, don't see any reason to get any attachments (griddle, oven) because it just doesn't have enough power to do the job. | 1 | neutral | [
"Nice workmanship.",
"Have an oven that was made by the same company.",
"Went together fast (attaching the 4 legs) and it's ability to just sit on top of a table w/o the legs.",
"Knobs are out of the way (they don't stick out) as to allow banging or busting them off.",
"Even the hose can be stowed out of the way.",
"Heat/wind blocker went on well.",
"But here's why it got 3 stars.",
"It's doesn't put out a flame like the \"turbo burners\" aka turkey friers do.",
"I didn't expect it to be like a F-14 tomcat engine but it really doesn't push much flame.",
"I tried every adjustment I could.",
"I even secured one burner.",
"No difference.",
"Seemed as though there was no pressure from my tank.",
"I tried another FULL tank (1st one was full when started).",
"Same results.",
"Was just trying to boil some water to warm spaghetti noddles and warm up some sauce in some large stainless steel pots.",
"About the 4 gallon size.",
"So, if you want something to go from zero to 60 fast, you might want to forget it.",
"At this point, don't see any reason to get any attachments (griddle, oven) because it just doesn't have enough power to do the job."
] |
I suppose it's obvious I am not a big fan of the series, considering how long I waited to purchase this game. But I figure anyone sitting on the fence at this point is pretty much like me, so this review is for you. MGS4 is simultaneously the most amazing and underwhelming game I have played on the PS3. It paradoxically sucks and rules, but let's go beyond that and break down what (for me) worked and what didn't. This game is incredible visually...the color pallette is a bit muted (as one would expect from this type of game), and had too many "Final Fantasy" type player models in the supporting cast for my taste, but overall oustanding graphics. The gameplay is at times interesting and varied; I particularly enjoyed the "on rails" sections. But...it does get more than a bit repetitive. Without spoiling anything, certain boss fights follow a similar pattern, and some just plain disappoint completely. Getting a load screen about every 300 feet of game area at times is more than a slight annoyance (why all PS3 devs don't just go ahead and ask Naughty Dog for lessons on how to avoid large installs and lengthy load times is beyond me). And then there are the cut scenes...holy crap, the cut scenes. Don't get me wrong, some are well done, and a few characters turn in decent performances. But mostly the scenes are overlong, overly indulgent, and just plain boring. I found the sporadic attempts at high drama and humor to be mostly just silly. The majority of reviews indicate many people really like this game, but I wonder what kind of scores it would have gotten had it not come with the Metal Gear label. I would highly recommend renting this game and playing for a few hours to decide if this one is for you! | 1 | neutral | [
"I suppose it's obvious I am not a big fan of the series, considering how long I waited to purchase this game.",
"But I figure anyone sitting on the fence at this point is pretty much like me, so this review is for you.",
"MGS4 is simultaneously the most amazing and underwhelming game I have played on the PS3.",
"It paradoxically sucks and rules, but let's go beyond that and break down what (for me) worked and what didn't.",
"This game is incredible visually...",
"the color pallette is a bit muted (as one would expect from this type of game), and had too many \"Final Fantasy\" type player models in the supporting cast for my taste, but overall oustanding graphics.",
"The gameplay is at times interesting and varied; I particularly enjoyed the \"on rails\" sections.",
"But...",
"it does get more than a bit repetitive.",
"Without spoiling anything, certain boss fights follow a similar pattern, and some just plain disappoint completely.",
"Getting a load screen about every 300 feet of game area at times is more than a slight annoyance (why all PS3 devs don't just go ahead and ask Naughty Dog for lessons on how to avoid large installs and lengthy load times is beyond me).",
"And then there are the cut scenes...",
"holy crap, the cut scenes.",
"Don't get me wrong, some are well done, and a few characters turn in decent performances.",
"But mostly the scenes are overlong, overly indulgent, and just plain boring.",
"I found the sporadic attempts at high drama and humor to be mostly just silly.",
"The majority of reviews indicate many people really like this game, but I wonder what kind of scores it would have gotten had it not come with the Metal Gear label.",
"I would highly recommend renting this game and playing for a few hours to decide if this one is for you!"
] |
In '95, the urban market was saturated with girl groups. The premiere groups (SWV, Xscape, and TLC) were the standard. But other groups emerged (Pure Soul, Kut Klose, Blackgirl), looking to cash in on the girl group demand. With that said, Mokenstef fits into the latter category.
They managed to manufacture one big hit in their 2nd single "he's mine". Peaking at #2 r&b, the slow-burning tune was all the rage on slow jam radio in '95. With its memorable chorus, silky smooth harmony, and convincing lead, no wonder it is a classic to this day. Its popularity and clout you have would think it is the best track on the album. It isn't. That title belongs to "Baby Come Close". Normally, covers are not better than the original, but mokenstef proves that it can be done. Other tracks worth listening to are the 1st single "sex in the rain" and the pop-laced "it happens".
With all of their star-studded slow jams, it's a shame that their midtempo portion is all but memorable. The rapping is simple, the choruses are unmelodic, and the production is sparse. It's safe to say their midtempo portion cost them massive commerical success. Nevertheless, Mokenstef had a decent debut, with a hit single and other notable tracks that should have been singles. Unfortunately, they fell through the cracks and will go down as a one-hit wonder. | 1 | neutral | [
"In '95, the urban market was saturated with girl groups.",
"The premiere groups (SWV, Xscape, and TLC) were the standard.",
"But other groups emerged (Pure Soul, Kut Klose, Blackgirl), looking to cash in on the girl group demand.",
"With that said, Mokenstef fits into the latter category.",
"They managed to manufacture one big hit in their 2nd single \"he's mine\".",
"Peaking at #2 r&b, the slow-burning tune was all the rage on slow jam radio in '95.",
"With its memorable chorus, silky smooth harmony, and convincing lead, no wonder it is a classic to this day.",
"Its popularity and clout you have would think it is the best track on the album.",
"It isn't.",
"That title belongs to \"Baby Come Close\".",
"Normally, covers are not better than the original, but mokenstef proves that it can be done.",
"Other tracks worth listening to are the 1st single \"sex in the rain\" and the pop-laced \"it happens\".",
"With all of their star-studded slow jams, it's a shame that their midtempo portion is all but memorable.",
"The rapping is simple, the choruses are unmelodic, and the production is sparse.",
"It's safe to say their midtempo portion cost them massive commerical success.",
"Nevertheless, Mokenstef had a decent debut, with a hit single and other notable tracks that should have been singles.",
"Unfortunately, they fell through the cracks and will go down as a one-hit wonder."
] |
What can I say. I rented the game. A waste of money. They tryed to make the game like Goldeneye but they failed. The graphics were bad for games that require the expansion pak. I mean play Perfect Dark then play this. These griphics are bad. The game story followed the movie, but only to the basic story line. As most games that are based on movies do, they added and took away parts that were in the movie. The cut scenes (if you could call it that) were really bad. In the boat chase in the begining there were no waves on the water (this was one of many problems). The music was anouying it. It played a part of the TWINE theme song over and over. The AI seemed like no one even programed it. Oh and the multyplay was the worst of all. I tryed to play the human VS. bot mode alone, thinking it would be like Perfect Dark and well it wasn't. Over all...I wouldn't bye this game. Two thumbs down. If you have the Playstation or the PS2 I would say get it on there. | 1 | neutral | [
"What can I say.",
"I rented the game.",
"A waste of money.",
"They tryed to make the game like Goldeneye but they failed.",
"The graphics were bad for games that require the expansion pak.",
"I mean play Perfect Dark then play this.",
"These griphics are bad.",
"The game story followed the movie, but only to the basic story line.",
"As most games that are based on movies do, they added and took away parts that were in the movie.",
"The cut scenes (if you could call it that) were really bad.",
"In the boat chase in the begining there were no waves on the water (this was one of many problems).",
"The music was anouying it.",
"It played a part of the TWINE theme song over and over.",
"The AI seemed like no one even programed it.",
"Oh and the multyplay was the worst of all.",
"I tryed to play the human VS.",
"bot mode alone, thinking it would be like Perfect Dark and well it wasn't.",
"Over all...",
"I wouldn't bye this game.",
"Two thumbs down.",
"If you have the Playstation or the PS2 I would say get it on there."
] |
Its a rather popular opinion that Rush went downhill following the release of Fly By Night. What could have been a serious rocking band was ruined by Neil Pearts overindulgence on wasted intellectual fodder lyrics and over-excessive drumming. The first album with John Rutsey was as good as it got with Rush. A debut album packed with serious rock songs, a guitar sound to rival Tony Iommi and groove like nobodys business. The follow up, Fly By Night, was right on target with killer songs like By Tor and Best I Can. Well, after this, it all went downhill rather quickly. The band decided against finding a real singer and decided it was cool to follow Neils new direction and thus ended any shot they had at real stardom and legitimacy. Permanant Waves isn't a bad album by any means but only when you hold it up against their first two albums do you stop and think "where did this go wrong?" Jacobs Ladder is the only song on this album that even heralds back to the once mighty rock unit. Neil is in full force with his songwriting, now used to having all his really important thoughts put to lyrics and trying to make Keith Moon sound like Ringo Starr with his inability to play a straight beat. So, if you're a fan of great rock n roll music, please pick up the first two Rush albums. Then listen to these from a distance and try to figure it out for yourself why they chose this direction when they could have had it all. | 1 | neutral | [
"Its a rather popular opinion that Rush went downhill following the release of Fly By Night.",
"What could have been a serious rocking band was ruined by Neil Pearts overindulgence on wasted intellectual fodder lyrics and over-excessive drumming.",
"The first album with John Rutsey was as good as it got with Rush.",
"A debut album packed with serious rock songs, a guitar sound to rival Tony Iommi and groove like nobodys business.",
"The follow up, Fly By Night, was right on target with killer songs like By Tor and Best I Can.",
"Well, after this, it all went downhill rather quickly.",
"The band decided against finding a real singer and decided it was cool to follow Neils new direction and thus ended any shot they had at real stardom and legitimacy.",
"Permanant Waves isn't a bad album by any means but only when you hold it up against their first two albums do you stop and think \"where did this go wrong?",
"\" Jacobs Ladder is the only song on this album that even heralds back to the once mighty rock unit.",
"Neil is in full force with his songwriting, now used to having all his really important thoughts put to lyrics and trying to make Keith Moon sound like Ringo Starr with his inability to play a straight beat.",
"So, if you're a fan of great rock n roll music, please pick up the first two Rush albums.",
"Then listen to these from a distance and try to figure it out for yourself why they chose this direction when they could have had it all."
] |
I was excited about this game when I heard about it. It sounded like a really cool game that would push the limits and maybe finally get video games to the point where they had the same freedom as movies.
The over-the-top violence and subject matter isn't a complete novelty, other games have done much of the same stuff, though none have pushed the envelope quite so far. In this first person shooter, you can [urinate] on people, You'll here quite a bit of the F word, Racial stereotypes (such as a pakistani or indian quickimart owner who is running a terrorist cell from the back) and you can smoke weed, set people on fire, kick around severed heads and other such things. It's pretty cool, and fun for about 20 minutes.
After the shock value wears off, you're left with a game that isn't very compelling. Postal has some cool concepts, for instance you play the game by doing various day-to-day tasks, like going to get milk or the mail or going to get Gary Coleman's autograph. In theory, the whole game can be played without breaking the law and without resorting to violence. There are various ways to do any task. You can go pick up the milk and pay for it legitimatley and leave. If you try and cut in line the owner yells at you, so you actually have to wait your turn. Very cool. You can pay and leave and that's that. Or you can walk out without paying in which case the owner pulls out an M-16 and starts sparying hails of bulltes your way.
This open endedness is very welcome... but often itself is a bit less compelling than it could have been. The game seems a bit one dimensional, despite the freedom it allows. The city isn't particarly fun to explore because it isn't completely interactive and you cant drive vehicles, or work different objects. Most objects won't evenb show damage (I smacked a TV with a shovel and it didn't even break). The graphics are good in some places and in others feel bland and uninspired. The gore isn't very realistic (Except after a person burns to death), and a system like Soldier of Fortune 2 would have been a big improvement. The weapons have a good variety, and offer some interesting combinations (soke somone with gasoline, then throw on a match, and then [pee] out the fire). But the guns aren't very authentic feeling, it's basically just arcade style killing.
Postal does have some nice details in some places. Comments canbe entertaining. Bump into someone and they might flip you the bird and say some obscene things to you. {pee] right in someone's face and they might vomit all over... nasty stuff. This is a game you prbably want to keep out of the hands of your 6 year old, but for us adults... that's just good fun.
The problem is the fun gets old fast because there isn't much else and the depth is really an illusion. The game feels dated, like a better version of redneck rampage with better graphics (not very much better... the unreal engine offers much more than they used).
Bottom line: After you get sick of setting an innocent person on fire and then [urinating] on their red, burnt corpse, this game will feel empty and unpolished. Others will love this game, and I had fun for a bit, but I probably won't shell out the money for this one. I reccomend playing the demo before you buy, and make sure to play more than 30 minutes, because the cool parts of the game get old pretty quick. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was excited about this game when I heard about it.",
"It sounded like a really cool game that would push the limits and maybe finally get video games to the point where they had the same freedom as movies.",
"The over-the-top violence and subject matter isn't a complete novelty, other games have done much of the same stuff, though none have pushed the envelope quite so far.",
"In this first person shooter, you can [urinate] on people, You'll here quite a bit of the F word, Racial stereotypes (such as a pakistani or indian quickimart owner who is running a terrorist cell from the back) and you can smoke weed, set people on fire, kick around severed heads and other such things.",
"It's pretty cool, and fun for about 20 minutes.",
"After the shock value wears off, you're left with a game that isn't very compelling.",
"Postal has some cool concepts, for instance you play the game by doing various day-to-day tasks, like going to get milk or the mail or going to get Gary Coleman's autograph.",
"In theory, the whole game can be played without breaking the law and without resorting to violence.",
"There are various ways to do any task.",
"You can go pick up the milk and pay for it legitimatley and leave.",
"If you try and cut in line the owner yells at you, so you actually have to wait your turn.",
"Very cool.",
"You can pay and leave and that's that.",
"Or you can walk out without paying in which case the owner pulls out an M-16 and starts sparying hails of bulltes your way.",
"This open endedness is very welcome...",
"but often itself is a bit less compelling than it could have been.",
"The game seems a bit one dimensional, despite the freedom it allows.",
"The city isn't particarly fun to explore because it isn't completely interactive and you cant drive vehicles, or work different objects.",
"Most objects won't evenb show damage (I smacked a TV with a shovel and it didn't even break).",
"The graphics are good in some places and in others feel bland and uninspired.",
"The gore isn't very realistic (Except after a person burns to death), and a system like Soldier of Fortune 2 would have been a big improvement.",
"The weapons have a good variety, and offer some interesting combinations (soke somone with gasoline, then throw on a match, and then [pee] out the fire).",
"But the guns aren't very authentic feeling, it's basically just arcade style killing.",
"Postal does have some nice details in some places.",
"Comments canbe entertaining.",
"Bump into someone and they might flip you the bird and say some obscene things to you.",
"{pee] right in someone's face and they might vomit all over...",
"nasty stuff.",
"This is a game you prbably want to keep out of the hands of your 6 year old, but for us adults...",
"that's just good fun.",
"The problem is the fun gets old fast because there isn't much else and the depth is really an illusion.",
"The game feels dated, like a better version of redneck rampage with better graphics (not very much better...",
"the unreal engine offers much more than they used).",
"Bottom line: After you get sick of setting an innocent person on fire and then [urinating] on their red, burnt corpse, this game will feel empty and unpolished.",
"Others will love this game, and I had fun for a bit, but I probably won't shell out the money for this one.",
"I reccomend playing the demo before you buy, and make sure to play more than 30 minutes, because the cool parts of the game get old pretty quick."
] |
Based on the description on the box and here-- "four ladybugs embarking on a different adventure every time"-- I thought there was a storyline to this, or something that would actually make it, y'know, a different adventure every time.
It's only a different adventure every time in the sense that sometimes you'll move forward 4 spaces and sometimes you'll move back 2 spaces. It's the same basic game every time. You go around the board collecting aphids and a card to make the praying mantis back off. Then you get to the end. That's it. There are no different adventures and no storyline.
It was fine to play it twice with my 5-year-old. More than that would have gotten boring for me fast, and luckily, she forgot about the game anyway. It says it's for 3-8 year-olds, but I'd put the target market at 3- and 4-year-olds. Hard to imagine a 7- or 8-year-old caring about this little game.
It's simple, and cute for helping to teach counting skills and taking turns, but that's about it. I don't recommend it for kids above the age of 4. | 1 | neutral | [
"Based on the description on the box and here-- \"four ladybugs embarking on a different adventure every time\"-- I thought there was a storyline to this, or something that would actually make it, y'know, a different adventure every time.",
"It's only a different adventure every time in the sense that sometimes you'll move forward 4 spaces and sometimes you'll move back 2 spaces.",
"It's the same basic game every time.",
"You go around the board collecting aphids and a card to make the praying mantis back off.",
"Then you get to the end.",
"That's it.",
"There are no different adventures and no storyline.",
"It was fine to play it twice with my 5-year-old.",
"More than that would have gotten boring for me fast, and luckily, she forgot about the game anyway.",
"It says it's for 3-8 year-olds, but I'd put the target market at 3- and 4-year-olds.",
"Hard to imagine a 7- or 8-year-old caring about this little game.",
"It's simple, and cute for helping to teach counting skills and taking turns, but that's about it.",
"I don't recommend it for kids above the age of 4."
] |
Initially the clamp worked fine. I not sure where some would get the idea that this would square itself. I bought this without that expectation. Lining this clamp up to two marks on each end of the sheet and clamping it down works fine - get it close, clamp it half way, tap it into final position with a rubber mallet or chunk of wood , and then lock it the rest of the way. This thing has never moved on me throughout the cut.
Why the 3 stairs? The locking plates (3 plates underneath) are made from a harder steel than the locking bar. The plates dig into the bar leaving grooves. This makes it near impossible to adjust for different lengths quickly. You can eventual finesse the clamp into the correct position but it is an efficiency killer if you are trying to break down multiple sheets of plywood quickly.
At ~100 buck this shouldn't happen. | 1 | neutral | [
"Initially the clamp worked fine.",
"I not sure where some would get the idea that this would square itself.",
"I bought this without that expectation.",
"Lining this clamp up to two marks on each end of the sheet and clamping it down works fine - get it close, clamp it half way, tap it into final position with a rubber mallet or chunk of wood , and then lock it the rest of the way.",
"This thing has never moved on me throughout the cut.",
"Why the 3 stairs?",
"The locking plates (3 plates underneath) are made from a harder steel than the locking bar.",
"The plates dig into the bar leaving grooves.",
"This makes it near impossible to adjust for different lengths quickly.",
"You can eventual finesse the clamp into the correct position but it is an efficiency killer if you are trying to break down multiple sheets of plywood quickly.",
"At ~100 buck this shouldn't happen."
] |
Like other Blanchard books, this one presents its ideas in the form of a "novel." I guess because I read so much fiction (by authors who can WRITE), I have a hard time getting through these books. There are lots of lazy habits in the story-telling and even though RAVING FANS is incredibly short, it still feels like a slog getting through it. One example: one just one short page, two different characters have lines of dialogue, followed by "he laughed." As in, "'I never thought of that,' he laughed." Not many people laugh their words. They may say something and THEN laugh. Once or twice in a book it's okay, but twice on ONE PAGE!! The main character who is learning about the "raving fan" concept is "the area manager." It gets really annoying having him refered to in this manner from front to back. Would it really have hurt to give him a name? The darn "fairy godmother" has a name, after all.
But, the book is supposed to present business ideas, right? Well, it does this a little better than it tells a compelling story. The over-arching point is that "satisfied customers" aren't good enough anymore, because they are largely putting up with lousy service, but have simply come to expect and accept it. That's actually a simple but powerful idea. How many times do we all just take mediocrity as status quo? The idea that actually taking the trouble to please our customers...to SHOCK them into recognized they are being treated remarkably well and will in turn "rave" about this to others is compelling in its simplicity.
Because of the storytelling device of the book, some of the examples given of how to apply this are oversimplistic and not completely believable. Valet parking at a grocery store? I'm sure people WOULD rave about it...but with the margins at grocery stores, could they really afford a team of parkers?
So, from a business standpoint, the book gets a thumbs-up. From a readability standpoint, I have to give a thumbs down. | 1 | neutral | [
"Like other Blanchard books, this one presents its ideas in the form of a \"novel.",
"\" I guess because I read so much fiction (by authors who can WRITE), I have a hard time getting through these books.",
"There are lots of lazy habits in the story-telling and even though RAVING FANS is incredibly short, it still feels like a slog getting through it.",
"One example: one just one short page, two different characters have lines of dialogue, followed by \"he laughed.",
"\" As in, \"'I never thought of that,' he laughed.",
"\" Not many people laugh their words.",
"They may say something and THEN laugh.",
"Once or twice in a book it's okay, but twice on ONE PAGE!!",
"The main character who is learning about the \"raving fan\" concept is \"the area manager.",
"\" It gets really annoying having him refered to in this manner from front to back.",
"Would it really have hurt to give him a name?",
"The darn \"fairy godmother\" has a name, after all.",
"But, the book is supposed to present business ideas, right?",
"Well, it does this a little better than it tells a compelling story.",
"The over-arching point is that \"satisfied customers\" aren't good enough anymore, because they are largely putting up with lousy service, but have simply come to expect and accept it.",
"That's actually a simple but powerful idea.",
"How many times do we all just take mediocrity as status quo?",
"The idea that actually taking the trouble to please our customers...",
"to SHOCK them into recognized they are being treated remarkably well and will in turn \"rave\" about this to others is compelling in its simplicity.",
"Because of the storytelling device of the book, some of the examples given of how to apply this are oversimplistic and not completely believable.",
"Valet parking at a grocery store?",
"I'm sure people WOULD rave about it...",
"but with the margins at grocery stores, could they really afford a team of parkers?",
"So, from a business standpoint, the book gets a thumbs-up.",
"From a readability standpoint, I have to give a thumbs down."
] |
The departure point for this alternate history novel is the black plague of the dark ages. Robinson imagines a history in which all the inhabitants of Europe perish in the plague. His alternate history describes how humanity and civilization advance guided by the influence of the three major Eastern philosophies: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Robinson uses a unique device to allow us to follow the evolution of humanity over time. We follow a group of souls who live in different historical eras. After they die, they meet in the bardo, or afterlife. They discuss their progress as souls, and then are reincarnated. In each subsequent time era, each soul's struggles allows the reader to experience how history might have been different without the influence of European civilization.
Robinson's novel is short on plot, and long on discussions of philosophy, politics, morality and mythology. There are long descriptions and comparisons of each of the three Asian religions.
I must confess, this novel was a struggle for me. However, if you have an interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, you might enjoy this novel. | 1 | neutral | [
"The departure point for this alternate history novel is the black plague of the dark ages.",
"Robinson imagines a history in which all the inhabitants of Europe perish in the plague.",
"His alternate history describes how humanity and civilization advance guided by the influence of the three major Eastern philosophies: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.",
"Robinson uses a unique device to allow us to follow the evolution of humanity over time.",
"We follow a group of souls who live in different historical eras.",
"After they die, they meet in the bardo, or afterlife.",
"They discuss their progress as souls, and then are reincarnated.",
"In each subsequent time era, each soul's struggles allows the reader to experience how history might have been different without the influence of European civilization.",
"Robinson's novel is short on plot, and long on discussions of philosophy, politics, morality and mythology.",
"There are long descriptions and comparisons of each of the three Asian religions.",
"I must confess, this novel was a struggle for me.",
"However, if you have an interest in Eastern philosophy and religion, you might enjoy this novel."
] |
Hi Pauline. Can you help? I'm currently doing my long runs at 8.50 pace and have built up to 18 miles. I'm a marathon first -timer and hope to get as close to 3.30 as I possibly can. But I'm worried that to get even close to 3.30 I will need to run faster, and for longer, than any of my training runs. Which I can't get my head around! Should I be doing some of my long runs faster? . hope you can reply, many thanks. Ci | 1 | neutral | [
"Hi Pauline.",
"Can you help?",
"I'm currently doing my long runs at 8.",
"50 pace and have built up to 18 miles.",
"I'm a marathon first -timer and hope to get as close to 3.",
"30 as I possibly can.",
"But I'm worried that to get even close to 3.",
"30 I will need to run faster, and for longer, than any of my training runs.",
"Which I can't get my head around!",
"Should I be doing some of my long runs faster?",
".",
"hope you can reply, many thanks.",
"Ci"
] |
This cassette deck does have some really good features like HX Pro, Dolby B & C, music search (AMS, which looks for blank spaces to guess where the next song is), and full dubbing capabilities. I have it connected to my Onkyo A/V receiver via both output and input, since all of my components operate through the receiver. It works well this way and i can record from all sources with no problem.
I have a problem with the sound. It's not as good as the specs would have you believe. I've compared it with an Onkyo tape recorder and, although the numbers are similar (as far as wow & flutter and dynamic range), the Onkyo is much better (it was too expensive and had less features, but now i see why it cost more). The big thing is the lack of a remote. Sony has this funky A1II communication bus system, which is only truly useful if you buy all Sony components. I don't so it's useless to me. The excuse for not including the remote is that you can buy a Sony 300-CD Changer that can control this tape deck. I don't like it when companies use this method to obtain sales, so chances are i'll eventually resell this deck and get one with its own remote and better sound.
I paid $150 + tax at Circuit City. Same price as from J&R/Amazon and with shipping costs the price is almost equal. I'd say buy it if the price is $110 or less. That's all it's worth to me personally. | 1 | neutral | [
"This cassette deck does have some really good features like HX Pro, Dolby B & C, music search (AMS, which looks for blank spaces to guess where the next song is), and full dubbing capabilities.",
"I have it connected to my Onkyo A/V receiver via both output and input, since all of my components operate through the receiver.",
"It works well this way and i can record from all sources with no problem.",
"I have a problem with the sound.",
"It's not as good as the specs would have you believe.",
"I've compared it with an Onkyo tape recorder and, although the numbers are similar (as far as wow & flutter and dynamic range), the Onkyo is much better (it was too expensive and had less features, but now i see why it cost more).",
"The big thing is the lack of a remote.",
"Sony has this funky A1II communication bus system, which is only truly useful if you buy all Sony components.",
"I don't so it's useless to me.",
"The excuse for not including the remote is that you can buy a Sony 300-CD Changer that can control this tape deck.",
"I don't like it when companies use this method to obtain sales, so chances are i'll eventually resell this deck and get one with its own remote and better sound.",
"I paid $150 + tax at Circuit City.",
"Same price as from J&R/Amazon and with shipping costs the price is almost equal.",
"I'd say buy it if the price is $110 or less.",
"That's all it's worth to me personally."
] |
If you have the $50+ to spend, this is worth purchasing for the expanded reissue's extra tracks, particularly the solid and extended version of Statesboro Blues on the first CD. Another reason to purchase this set is for the remastering of the 90+ minute "Ludlows Garage" on CD2 and CD3. The producers obviously used compression and took advantage of the bass-enhancing capabilities of today's CD technology. To my ears, and on an audiophile system (McIntosh system with ERC CD player with Polk tower speakers), the bass does sound a bit excessive. Berry Oakley was a brother and a fine player, but used a heavy pick, and I found his work better in the background behind Duane and Dicky. For what I believe is a better remastering job for the main album (minus the extras, obviously, added to CD1: Idlewild South itself), do yourself a favor and pick up the 1987 Polydor version of the Beginnings compilation remastered by Dennis Drake. The CD has a gray cover (i.e. NOT the Capricorn remaster) I picked it up for $3 on Ebay, and to me it sounds much better than the main tracks on this compilation. There the guitars are prominent, and the sound is in no way enhanced. This is quite remarkable due to the age of the media itself (nearly 30 years). All in all, I do not regret purchasing this package, although I will need to get a BlueRay player for CD4. | 1 | neutral | [
"If you have the $50+ to spend, this is worth purchasing for the expanded reissue's extra tracks, particularly the solid and extended version of Statesboro Blues on the first CD.",
"Another reason to purchase this set is for the remastering of the 90+ minute \"Ludlows Garage\" on CD2 and CD3.",
"The producers obviously used compression and took advantage of the bass-enhancing capabilities of today's CD technology.",
"To my ears, and on an audiophile system (McIntosh system with ERC CD player with Polk tower speakers), the bass does sound a bit excessive.",
"Berry Oakley was a brother and a fine player, but used a heavy pick, and I found his work better in the background behind Duane and Dicky.",
"For what I believe is a better remastering job for the main album (minus the extras, obviously, added to CD1: Idlewild South itself), do yourself a favor and pick up the 1987 Polydor version of the Beginnings compilation remastered by Dennis Drake.",
"The CD has a gray cover (i.",
"e. NOT the Capricorn remaster) I picked it up for $3 on Ebay, and to me it sounds much better than the main tracks on this compilation.",
"There the guitars are prominent, and the sound is in no way enhanced.",
"This is quite remarkable due to the age of the media itself (nearly 30 years).",
"All in all, I do not regret purchasing this package, although I will need to get a BlueRay player for CD4."
] |
I've been a fan of Feist for over 10 years, when I first found the complete Riftwar Series at a book sale. Since then I've been hooked.
After the reading the two Conclave of Shadows books, I was a bit disappointed. After the Serpentwar Saga, this latest series just didn't do it for me. Its sort of like driving a nice mustang (Serpentwar) and then switching to a Mazda 626 (Conclave).
I felt that most of the characters were cliched and at time two dimensional. Tal, the hero of the story, just wasn't on par with some of Feist's other heros. The story was also a bit cliched and many times predictable.
Not all was bad, there was some very memorable and deep scenes. One where the characters' personas came forth and were very vivid. Also, in a very Feist fashion, some of the strategies employed, were very clever and refreshing surprising.
In conclusion, a definite must have for the a true Feist afficionado, but if this is going to be your first attempt at his work, I highly recommend his early stuff. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've been a fan of Feist for over 10 years, when I first found the complete Riftwar Series at a book sale.",
"Since then I've been hooked.",
"After the reading the two Conclave of Shadows books, I was a bit disappointed.",
"After the Serpentwar Saga, this latest series just didn't do it for me.",
"Its sort of like driving a nice mustang (Serpentwar) and then switching to a Mazda 626 (Conclave).",
"I felt that most of the characters were cliched and at time two dimensional.",
"Tal, the hero of the story, just wasn't on par with some of Feist's other heros.",
"The story was also a bit cliched and many times predictable.",
"Not all was bad, there was some very memorable and deep scenes.",
"One where the characters' personas came forth and were very vivid.",
"Also, in a very Feist fashion, some of the strategies employed, were very clever and refreshing surprising.",
"In conclusion, a definite must have for the a true Feist afficionado, but if this is going to be your first attempt at his work, I highly recommend his early stuff."
] |
Georgia defeats Oklahoma in classic Rose Bowl in overtime
JUST SHORT: Baker Mayfield unable to lead Oklahoma to victory in final game
But things changed radically in the third quarter. Suddenly Georgiaâs defense was dominant. Baker Mayfield felt pressure â and unlike so many games throughout his career was unable to escape it; he was sacked three times in the pivotal third quarter which the Sooners spent bottled up in their own end of the field and threw an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter leading to the Bulldogsâ go-ahead touchdown. Offensively Georgiaâs running game kicked into high gear with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel each scoring touchdowns on long runs.
Although Mayfield tied it with a fantastic drive midway through the fourth quarter â and Oklahoma took the lead on a defensive score â Jake Fromm matched him leading the Bulldogs to the tying score with 55 seconds left.
Georgiaâs freshman quarterback was overshadowed in the run-up to the game by Baker Mayfield the Heisman winner. And he didnât touch the ball on the final play; Sony Michel took a direct snap to the house.
Discombobulated by Oklahoma in the first half Georgia turned things around with a dominant third-quarter performance. Oklahoma led by 14 and got the ball to start the quarter. But Georgia sandwiched a pair of three-and-outs around a 50-yard touchdown run by Nick Chubb then stopped Oklahoma again. Baker Mayfield who was rarely touched in the first half spent the third quarter on his back â including two sacks on consecutive plays to stall one possession. When Mayfield âs third-down pass intended for tight end Mark Andrews sailed high it was an easy interception for safety Dominick Sanders who returned it to the 4.
The rookie head coachâs well-earned reputation as a strategist and playcaller was on full display from the beginning when Baker Mayfield connected with fullback Dimitri Flowers on consecutive plays for 26 and 16 yards. The Sooners mixed runs and passes â and had especially nice calls on third downs including screens to beat blitzes and shallow crossing routes that became long gains. The tour de force came at the end of the first half when on third-and-goal from the 2 Riley dialed up a toss to Flowers going left ⦠that became a reverse to receiver CeeDee Lamb ⦠that finished as a run-pass option for the receiver who lofted an easy touchdown pass to Mayfield in the back corner of the end zone. | 1 | neutral | [
"Georgia defeats Oklahoma in classic Rose Bowl in overtime\nJUST SHORT: Baker Mayfield unable to lead Oklahoma to victory in final game\nBut things changed radically in the third quarter.",
"Suddenly Georgiaâs defense was dominant.",
"Baker Mayfield felt pressure â and unlike so many games throughout his career was unable to escape it; he was sacked three times in the pivotal third quarter which the Sooners spent bottled up in their own end of the field and threw an interception on the first play of the fourth quarter leading to the Bulldogsâ go-ahead touchdown.",
"Offensively Georgiaâs running game kicked into high gear with Nick Chubb and Sony Michel each scoring touchdowns on long runs.",
"Although Mayfield tied it with a fantastic drive midway through the fourth quarter â and Oklahoma took the lead on a defensive score â Jake Fromm matched him leading the Bulldogs to the tying score with 55 seconds left.",
"Georgiaâs freshman quarterback was overshadowed in the run-up to the game by Baker Mayfield the Heisman winner.",
"And he didnât touch the ball on the final play; Sony Michel took a direct snap to the house.",
"Discombobulated by Oklahoma in the first half Georgia turned things around with a dominant third-quarter performance.",
"Oklahoma led by 14 and got the ball to start the quarter.",
"But Georgia sandwiched a pair of three-and-outs around a 50-yard touchdown run by Nick Chubb then stopped Oklahoma again.",
"Baker Mayfield who was rarely touched in the first half spent the third quarter on his back â including two sacks on consecutive plays to stall one possession.",
"When Mayfield âs third-down pass intended for tight end Mark Andrews sailed high it was an easy interception for safety Dominick Sanders who returned it to the 4.",
"The rookie head coachâs well-earned reputation as a strategist and playcaller was on full display from the beginning when Baker Mayfield connected with fullback Dimitri Flowers on consecutive plays for 26 and 16 yards.",
"The Sooners mixed runs and passes â and had especially nice calls on third downs including screens to beat blitzes and shallow crossing routes that became long gains.",
"The tour de force came at the end of the first half when on third-and-goal from the 2 Riley dialed up a toss to Flowers going left ⦠that became a reverse to receiver CeeDee Lamb ⦠that finished as a run-pass option for the receiver who lofted an easy touchdown pass to Mayfield in the back corner of the end zone."
] |
The Olympus D-380 is a very reliable if you want to snap a picture of the family. I have been using this camera for about two years and it has just been awesome, even though it lacks a few things, which I will get into in just a bit. I mainly photograph dirtbikers, BMX, and race trucks. This little camera does the trick in capturing fast moving objects. Also, it does very well with not getting messed up with all the dirt and dust in the air when photographing motorsports - I have never had a problem with this at all. It has very decent resolution as well, but definitely not enough if you're past the novice stage of photography. I am very pleased with this camera considering it is an older model, but there were a few downsides to this camera which has caused me to seek a newer model. The most annoying problem that I have every time that I use this camera is that the battery compartment on the bottom of the camera is one of those sliding latches. It always slides out, causing all four batteries to spill onto the floor. So you have to be really careful when taking pictures to stay away from the battery compartment. Also, the batteries don't last very long, especially if you use the LCD and review your pictures often. A brand new set of batteries lasted me about an hour to maybe an hour and a half or so, with the camera on the whole time, snapping about 70 - 100 pictures. Another issue is when zooming in, the quality of the picture becomes very degraded - spotty and blurry. And sometimes the flash is too strong when indoors, it makes for too much contrast and loss of color in pictures. And when using no flash or the night time flash, it comes out too dark or sometimes blurry - if your hand shakes or moves. So, this is why I say that this camera is awesome if you just take general pictures but not if you are pursuing high quality shots. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Olympus D-380 is a very reliable if you want to snap a picture of the family.",
"I have been using this camera for about two years and it has just been awesome, even though it lacks a few things, which I will get into in just a bit.",
"I mainly photograph dirtbikers, BMX, and race trucks.",
"This little camera does the trick in capturing fast moving objects.",
"Also, it does very well with not getting messed up with all the dirt and dust in the air when photographing motorsports - I have never had a problem with this at all.",
"It has very decent resolution as well, but definitely not enough if you're past the novice stage of photography.",
"I am very pleased with this camera considering it is an older model, but there were a few downsides to this camera which has caused me to seek a newer model.",
"The most annoying problem that I have every time that I use this camera is that the battery compartment on the bottom of the camera is one of those sliding latches.",
"It always slides out, causing all four batteries to spill onto the floor.",
"So you have to be really careful when taking pictures to stay away from the battery compartment.",
"Also, the batteries don't last very long, especially if you use the LCD and review your pictures often.",
"A brand new set of batteries lasted me about an hour to maybe an hour and a half or so, with the camera on the whole time, snapping about 70 - 100 pictures.",
"Another issue is when zooming in, the quality of the picture becomes very degraded - spotty and blurry.",
"And sometimes the flash is too strong when indoors, it makes for too much contrast and loss of color in pictures.",
"And when using no flash or the night time flash, it comes out too dark or sometimes blurry - if your hand shakes or moves.",
"So, this is why I say that this camera is awesome if you just take general pictures but not if you are pursuing high quality shots."
] |
Perhaps my expectations for Monsanto's Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Plus were all-too lofty. Any time I get a weed killer to wipe out whatever's growing up from the cracks in my pavers, I hope that the next day the weeds will have, for the most part, disappeared. But alas, that is never the case . . . and was not the case with this particular product, either. I hosed down the pavers, let the water get absorbed and then applied a liberal amount of Roundup Plus, which supposedly goes "waterproof" some short time after application. Since this product is a concentrate, I had to mix up a bucket's worth. I thought that was going to be too much, but it turned out that it was just enough. I made a gallon and was able to cover the entire back patio with it. The next day, any green shoots were half-withered, but not entirely brown or gone. So, although this product had some effect on the weeds, I cannot say with a whole heart that I came away completely satisfied. Perhaps a heavy salt solution is just as effective. | 1 | neutral | [
"Perhaps my expectations for Monsanto's Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Plus were all-too lofty.",
"Any time I get a weed killer to wipe out whatever's growing up from the cracks in my pavers, I hope that the next day the weeds will have, for the most part, disappeared.",
"But alas, that is never the case.",
".",
".",
"and was not the case with this particular product, either.",
"I hosed down the pavers, let the water get absorbed and then applied a liberal amount of Roundup Plus, which supposedly goes \"waterproof\" some short time after application.",
"Since this product is a concentrate, I had to mix up a bucket's worth.",
"I thought that was going to be too much, but it turned out that it was just enough.",
"I made a gallon and was able to cover the entire back patio with it.",
"The next day, any green shoots were half-withered, but not entirely brown or gone.",
"So, although this product had some effect on the weeds, I cannot say with a whole heart that I came away completely satisfied.",
"Perhaps a heavy salt solution is just as effective."
] |
Filled it with water to test the system, and I hated the flush mechanism! It's LOUD, and I had to pump over and over to get much (and never enough!) water. I have a portapotty in my popup but had planned to take this tent camping with a group. It just didn't seem to work right. The height is okay. I don't like how it empties, either. If you actually used it, I think stuff would be hard to get out. The way it pours leaves a lot of 'corners' to address in there! How are you supposed to really empty all that? You'd have to turn it upside down and rinse forever, I think. After my trial run with plain water, I decided it simply wouldn't work well enough, and would be a pain to use. I returned it and bought one locally. Fortunately, amazon prime let me return it with no shipping charges. Yay! | 1 | neutral | [
"Filled it with water to test the system, and I hated the flush mechanism!",
"It's LOUD, and I had to pump over and over to get much (and never enough!",
") water.",
"I have a portapotty in my popup but had planned to take this tent camping with a group.",
"It just didn't seem to work right.",
"The height is okay.",
"I don't like how it empties, either.",
"If you actually used it, I think stuff would be hard to get out.",
"The way it pours leaves a lot of 'corners' to address in there!",
"How are you supposed to really empty all that?",
"You'd have to turn it upside down and rinse forever, I think.",
"After my trial run with plain water, I decided it simply wouldn't work well enough, and would be a pain to use.",
"I returned it and bought one locally.",
"Fortunately, amazon prime let me return it with no shipping charges.",
"Yay!"
] |
I bought this trumpet 4 years ago after many years of not playing any trumpet. I didn't want to buy the most expensive one since I didn't know how it was going to go. I played the trumpet fairly well growing up so I knew what a trumpet should sound and respond. Once I got this trumpet, I played it off and on for 4 years. The reason it was off and on was because of the fact that I did have a few problems with it. The first problem was the felt valve seats began to wear away and come off, which caused the valves to stick since the felt is like a washer keeping them from being pushed down too far (at least how it seemed). Despite oiling valves, cleaning, and greasing the slides it seems to be prone to sticking. The trumpet for what it is I would say is alright for someone who may not know whether they want to stick with it. I will say though that it might also be a bit discouraging for some people, because it is not the most responsive trumpet and is hard to hit some notes consistently.
Sound-wise it is also not the richest sounding trumpet and the notes tend to fall flat, sharp or sometimes you really have to strain to hit otherwise easy notes and they don't sound right. My dog who usually ignores my music, really didn't like it and would either howl or leave the room frantically while I played. I recently bought a different make and model (a yamaha) and it made a big difference in my playing and there is a big difference in sound quality. Since I have both trumpets I have gone back and forth and there really is no comparison between my new trumpet and the LJ Hutchen in both playability and sound quality. | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought this trumpet 4 years ago after many years of not playing any trumpet.",
"I didn't want to buy the most expensive one since I didn't know how it was going to go.",
"I played the trumpet fairly well growing up so I knew what a trumpet should sound and respond.",
"Once I got this trumpet, I played it off and on for 4 years.",
"The reason it was off and on was because of the fact that I did have a few problems with it.",
"The first problem was the felt valve seats began to wear away and come off, which caused the valves to stick since the felt is like a washer keeping them from being pushed down too far (at least how it seemed).",
"Despite oiling valves, cleaning, and greasing the slides it seems to be prone to sticking.",
"The trumpet for what it is I would say is alright for someone who may not know whether they want to stick with it.",
"I will say though that it might also be a bit discouraging for some people, because it is not the most responsive trumpet and is hard to hit some notes consistently.",
"Sound-wise it is also not the richest sounding trumpet and the notes tend to fall flat, sharp or sometimes you really have to strain to hit otherwise easy notes and they don't sound right.",
"My dog who usually ignores my music, really didn't like it and would either howl or leave the room frantically while I played.",
"I recently bought a different make and model (a yamaha) and it made a big difference in my playing and there is a big difference in sound quality.",
"Since I have both trumpets I have gone back and forth and there really is no comparison between my new trumpet and the LJ Hutchen in both playability and sound quality."
] |
"Cathedral" is a simple game to learn and one that will be quickly picked up by anyone who tries it.
The idea is to take over as much territory within a medieval town's walls as possible. You do this by placing your various buildings in strategic places within the playing area.
The game itself is made from wood, and the pieces are quite a good size. As such, they are durable and will last ages before any wear and tear begins to show.
I personally found myself quickly becoming bored with the game, as it does not seem to have the endless variety that a game such as chess can provide. The relative movements and strategies you can develop are fairly limited, in that sense.
However, "Cathedral" is different and it is simple. If there are only two players, it makes a quick, fast game to fill a few minutes with. However, should your inclincations be toward longer, more in-depth games, this is not the best of them. | 1 | neutral | [
"\"Cathedral\" is a simple game to learn and one that will be quickly picked up by anyone who tries it.",
"The idea is to take over as much territory within a medieval town's walls as possible.",
"You do this by placing your various buildings in strategic places within the playing area.",
"The game itself is made from wood, and the pieces are quite a good size.",
"As such, they are durable and will last ages before any wear and tear begins to show.",
"I personally found myself quickly becoming bored with the game, as it does not seem to have the endless variety that a game such as chess can provide.",
"The relative movements and strategies you can develop are fairly limited, in that sense.",
"However, \"Cathedral\" is different and it is simple.",
"If there are only two players, it makes a quick, fast game to fill a few minutes with.",
"However, should your inclincations be toward longer, more in-depth games, this is not the best of them."
] |
I really LOVED Grandia 2. I can't say enough good about that game and it's perhaps one of the best RPG's I've ever played. When I first got it I played NONSTOP till I beat it. But this one, was just not as memorable.
I'll just go over stuff as it comes to mind.
The music. I honestly didn't like the direction they chose for music in this game. It was fruity and kidsy, while the music in 2 (I treasure the bonus cd that came with 2!) was really unique, cool, and rock centered. Basically, it sounded like something from a Final Fantasy game and I wanted something that set the sound of the two apart.
Combat. Well, it was sorta fun, but it just felt like it was lacking somewhere. It was quite engaging to pull off the combos, but somehow not as fun to try to do cancels. I got to that point where I was just blowing through battles without caring about strategy or combos and that my friends, is a BAD place to be at.
Special Moves. I sort of preferred the upgrade system from Grandia 2 where you bought what seemed the coolest to you with points. It just wasn't that fun constantly doing special moves until someone would say "that's it!" I'd rather be able to see what I'm working towards with all these battles.
Mana Eggs. I didn't like the way they did upgrading of them either. I'd like to see progress if I constantly do magic, but I didn't get that feeling from combining mana eggs. All I saw was those orange level bars on the screen, but it didn't seem like it made a big difference. It wasn't fun going through all the trouble of getting new spells from the eggs as well. I just felt bored out of mind while I was waiting for the eggs to combine and break to form spells even if it did take only 5 seconds.
Story. UGH, the story. They borrowed from the Final Fantasy book again. The story was just so aggravating to watch and I rolled my eyes hundreds of times throughout it. I couldn't even try to care about this wacksauce story if I wanted. When game stories keep throwing this "love is stronger than.." or "my heart is between us.." mess in I instantly get bored with it. When I got to the end, I was just like, "okay, back to playing Battlefield." When I beat 2 I was like, "wooooooooow that was great" and I just didn't want it to end.
Oh yea, in many instances the characters are just to overly serious. Like for example, let's say Alfina tripped on a rock. The whole party would be like, "AHHHHHHHHHHH ALFINA!!!! ARE YOU OKAY?!!!!!!" Yea, it ain't that serious now.
But yea, overall I thought this game was just decent. It wasn't horrible, but at the same time, I'm mad I went so crazy trying to find it locally. | 1 | neutral | [
"I really LOVED Grandia 2.",
"I can't say enough good about that game and it's perhaps one of the best RPG's I've ever played.",
"When I first got it I played NONSTOP till I beat it.",
"But this one, was just not as memorable.",
"I'll just go over stuff as it comes to mind.",
"The music.",
"I honestly didn't like the direction they chose for music in this game.",
"It was fruity and kidsy, while the music in 2 (I treasure the bonus cd that came with 2!",
") was really unique, cool, and rock centered.",
"Basically, it sounded like something from a Final Fantasy game and I wanted something that set the sound of the two apart.",
"Combat.",
"Well, it was sorta fun, but it just felt like it was lacking somewhere.",
"It was quite engaging to pull off the combos, but somehow not as fun to try to do cancels.",
"I got to that point where I was just blowing through battles without caring about strategy or combos and that my friends, is a BAD place to be at.",
"Special Moves.",
"I sort of preferred the upgrade system from Grandia 2 where you bought what seemed the coolest to you with points.",
"It just wasn't that fun constantly doing special moves until someone would say \"that's it!",
"\" I'd rather be able to see what I'm working towards with all these battles.",
"Mana Eggs.",
"I didn't like the way they did upgrading of them either.",
"I'd like to see progress if I constantly do magic, but I didn't get that feeling from combining mana eggs.",
"All I saw was those orange level bars on the screen, but it didn't seem like it made a big difference.",
"It wasn't fun going through all the trouble of getting new spells from the eggs as well.",
"I just felt bored out of mind while I was waiting for the eggs to combine and break to form spells even if it did take only 5 seconds.",
"Story.",
"UGH, the story.",
"They borrowed from the Final Fantasy book again.",
"The story was just so aggravating to watch and I rolled my eyes hundreds of times throughout it.",
"I couldn't even try to care about this wacksauce story if I wanted.",
"When game stories keep throwing this \"love is stronger than..",
"\" or \"my heart is between us..",
"\" mess in I instantly get bored with it.",
"When I got to the end, I was just like, \"okay, back to playing Battlefield.",
"\" When I beat 2 I was like, \"wooooooooow that was great\" and I just didn't want it to end.",
"Oh yea, in many instances the characters are just to overly serious.",
"Like for example, let's say Alfina tripped on a rock.",
"The whole party would be like, \"AHHHHHHHHHHH ALFINA!!!!",
"ARE YOU OKAY?!!!",
"!!!",
"\" Yea, it ain't that serious now.",
"But yea, overall I thought this game was just decent.",
"It wasn't horrible, but at the same time, I'm mad I went so crazy trying to find it locally."
] |
Had one with mini light for years. Still works but finally thought I should add a few more to lamps in bedroom. I bought 2 at same time but one had on light and this one did not. I thought this one had light but order messed up. Buy the one w/small red light . The "red" is super small and w/my eye surgury couple months ago, the red button helps me locate w/o any trouble. Worth the extra $0.50 extra for me.
Three stars instead of four due to order mixup and price could or should go lower. Check app camelcamel if in no hurry tracking your wish list. Already saved me $$$ with little hassle--sometimes GOOD money. And I can buy more items. | 1 | neutral | [
"Had one with mini light for years.",
"Still works but finally thought I should add a few more to lamps in bedroom.",
"I bought 2 at same time but one had on light and this one did not.",
"I thought this one had light but order messed up.",
"Buy the one w/small red light.",
"The \"red\" is super small and w/my eye surgury couple months ago, the red button helps me locate w/o any trouble.",
"Worth the extra $0.",
"50 extra for me.",
"Three stars instead of four due to order mixup and price could or should go lower.",
"Check app camelcamel if in no hurry tracking your wish list.",
"Already saved me $$$ with little hassle--sometimes GOOD money.",
"And I can buy more items."
] |
This was just an average outing into the world of Star Trek. You pretty much knew that they wouldn't let Spock stay dead. What would Star Trek have been without Spock?So this is how they brought him back from the dead. Too bad they decided to destroy the Enterprise,it was kind of stupid to destroy the original ship,only to bring it back at the end of The Voyage Home(ala the ressurection of Spock?)All they did was paint an "A" onto the original studio model of the Enterprise(Watch the end of Star Trek-The Motion Picture. When it emerges from the VGer cloud two lights can be seen moving along the upper,primary hull(saucer)towards the bridge. Then watch the end of Star Trek IV.Same scene,except for the added "A".)C+ rating at best. | 1 | neutral | [
"This was just an average outing into the world of Star Trek.",
"You pretty much knew that they wouldn't let Spock stay dead.",
"What would Star Trek have been without Spock?",
"So this is how they brought him back from the dead.",
"Too bad they decided to destroy the Enterprise,it was kind of stupid to destroy the original ship,only to bring it back at the end of The Voyage Home(ala the ressurection of Spock?",
")All they did was paint an \"A\" onto the original studio model of the Enterprise(Watch the end of Star Trek-The Motion Picture.",
"When it emerges from the VGer cloud two lights can be seen moving along the upper,primary hull(saucer)towards the bridge.",
"Then watch the end of Star Trek IV.",
"Same scene,except for the added \"A\".",
")C+ rating at best."
] |
Careful. Even though it shows the official 2nd generation controller from Nintendo what you get can be closely described as a cheap knockoff. Not even good for replacement parts what you get is a controller with thin plastic hinges on the shoulder buttons, a feel of thin and light plastic and a casing that is quite obviously cast from the original. The main body, if you have access to a websafe color picker, is a color close to the color D4CBD4. The decal around the BAYX buttons is CDD6B4. All the buttons are plastic instead of the Start and Select buttons being rubber like the original. The cord is short. Too short. About 4.5 feet (54", 137.16cm). Buttons feel clicky but solid. Taking apart the controller you are presented with a generic and obviously unpolished PCB. Wires from the cord are directly soldered to the board instead of plugged in by way of a micro-connector like in the original. Plastic tags (the things that are usually the result of poor plastic casting) are everywhere on seams.
But for only a pittance, I don't offer my criticism with any weight. You get what you pay for and in this case it's not very much. It works for what it's intended to do, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a significant amount of defective products.
My advice would be to keep searching the second hand shops and horde and preserve the working controllers. I have a couple that need new R buttons as years of use have broken the sturdy plastic hinges. Hinges that have metal pegs in the originals. The Nintendo logo is wrong (a good sign it's not an original). However, if this is your only recourse, you could do worse. This is basically a replica. And a good one at that.
[UPDATE: I've been informed that what I got quite possibly is an original controller with just a replacement YXBA decal. Even though I think the seller said up front it was a replica.] | 1 | neutral | [
"Careful.",
"Even though it shows the official 2nd generation controller from Nintendo what you get can be closely described as a cheap knockoff.",
"Not even good for replacement parts what you get is a controller with thin plastic hinges on the shoulder buttons, a feel of thin and light plastic and a casing that is quite obviously cast from the original.",
"The main body, if you have access to a websafe color picker, is a color close to the color D4CBD4.",
"The decal around the BAYX buttons is CDD6B4.",
"All the buttons are plastic instead of the Start and Select buttons being rubber like the original.",
"The cord is short.",
"Too short.",
"About 4.",
"5 feet (54\", 137.",
"16cm).",
"Buttons feel clicky but solid.",
"Taking apart the controller you are presented with a generic and obviously unpolished PCB.",
"Wires from the cord are directly soldered to the board instead of plugged in by way of a micro-connector like in the original.",
"Plastic tags (the things that are usually the result of poor plastic casting) are everywhere on seams.",
"But for only a pittance, I don't offer my criticism with any weight.",
"You get what you pay for and in this case it's not very much.",
"It works for what it's intended to do, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a significant amount of defective products.",
"My advice would be to keep searching the second hand shops and horde and preserve the working controllers.",
"I have a couple that need new R buttons as years of use have broken the sturdy plastic hinges.",
"Hinges that have metal pegs in the originals.",
"The Nintendo logo is wrong (a good sign it's not an original).",
"However, if this is your only recourse, you could do worse.",
"This is basically a replica.",
"And a good one at that.",
"[UPDATE: I've been informed that what I got quite possibly is an original controller with just a replacement YXBA decal.",
"Even though I think the seller said up front it was a replica.",
"]"
] |
This is not about joyous sounds in life -- clink, clink -- this is about making your presence known ... being heard ... and thus BEING SEEN ... and recognized as having the right to be there. This is very much a life-saver in my world of bicycle riding. And besides that, my grandsons think it is a wonderful noisy toy. I can't believe I resisted so many years before buying one. Now I wouldn't be without one. LATER: It wasn't perfect when it comes to clamping it on, and there was a lot of extra hose to wrap around the bars ... MY PROBLEM is that after awhile, the little hose sun/age cracks and the air leaks out. And there is no way to replace the hose. The only option is to throw it away and buy a new one. I think I'll just buy one of those little nautical air horns (spray can) ... You don't feel bad about throwing them away when they are depleted. | 1 | neutral | [
"This is not about joyous sounds in life -- clink, clink -- this is about making your presence known...",
"being heard...",
"and thus BEING SEEN...",
"and recognized as having the right to be there.",
"This is very much a life-saver in my world of bicycle riding.",
"And besides that, my grandsons think it is a wonderful noisy toy.",
"I can't believe I resisted so many years before buying one.",
"Now I wouldn't be without one.",
"LATER: It wasn't perfect when it comes to clamping it on, and there was a lot of extra hose to wrap around the bars...",
"MY PROBLEM is that after awhile, the little hose sun/age cracks and the air leaks out.",
"And there is no way to replace the hose.",
"The only option is to throw it away and buy a new one.",
"I think I'll just buy one of those little nautical air horns (spray can)...",
"You don't feel bad about throwing them away when they are depleted."
] |
This might be the first time I'm disappointed with an early 70's Fillmore performance. These performances are usually top notch and capture artists at the height of their careers, but... this one surely does NOT.
The problem is that it's almost entirely focused on Zappa's comedy routine and leaves me completely unimpressed with the vocal melodies and instrumental chops (what little there is, I mean).
"Do You Like My New Car?" is 7 minutes of total obnoxiousness and horrendously immature lyrics. I don't mind when Zappa gets immature because usually it's associated with clever musical ideas, but on this occasion, it's nothing but a stand-up routine of childish comedy. It's not the least bit funny hearing men imitate females (groupies) and singing about a desire to make a move on their favorite musicians. The lyrics mention everyone from Robert Planet, Elton John and Roger Daltrey, but... it's terrible. This isn't what I consider music. Where's the vocal melody to go along with this childish humor? Where's the payoff? There is none. Disappointing.
"The Mud Shark" is the second longest track and... it's another story-driven song. This one doesn't even try to be funny, and it's not interesting either. It tells the story of a fishing location somewhere in the Seattle area while discussing fishing rods and... it's dreadfully dull. Zappa does nothing to enhance the lyrics. The guitar playing finally arrives at the end of the track (hidden in the background)... but by then it's too late.
"Happy Together" is about one minute of music (mainly focusing on the "ba ba ba ba ba" part) and that's it. Lousy. Man, who honestly thought this was good enough to release to the public? "What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?" is a slow blues number with no humor, no enticing instrumentation, *nothing* noteworthy about it at *all*. Mentioning Alice Cooper's good name doesn't make a bit of sense either since he never wrote music like this (unless he was actually THERE at the Fillmore East concert and that's why they're singing about him).
Don't even THINK for a single moment that this version of "Little House I Used to Live In" resembles the violin-fury that is the classic from Burnt Weeny Sandwich! This is a slower-paced, instrumental blues version of it (without the violins). The only signs that it's even the same song occurs whenever the main theme is played, which isn't often. On any other album this would almost be a guaranteed disappointment, but here it's a highlight. That's how lousy Zappa's Live at the Fillmore East is. "Willie the Pimp" doesn't resemble the studio version either, but it's actually an alright song (mainly for the high pitched vocal delivery near the beginning and the guitar riff that resembles Deep Purple's "Black Night"). A pretty good guitar solo, but I've heard Zappa do better on several other albums.
The album excels in the shorter songs though. This is definitely the only reason I'd have to return to this album. "Tears Began to Fall" has an upbeat vocal melody, "Lonesome Electric Turkey" is a mini freak out electric jam, and "Bwana Dik" is really catchy and resembles Arthur Brown remarkably well in the vocal style. Perhaps completely unintentional there.
Overall... amazing. Amazingly awful. Avoid. I'm still trying to wrap my head around why something so mediocre was even released. | 1 | neutral | [
"This might be the first time I'm disappointed with an early 70's Fillmore performance.",
"These performances are usually top notch and capture artists at the height of their careers, but...",
"this one surely does NOT.",
"The problem is that it's almost entirely focused on Zappa's comedy routine and leaves me completely unimpressed with the vocal melodies and instrumental chops (what little there is, I mean).",
"\"Do You Like My New Car?",
"\" is 7 minutes of total obnoxiousness and horrendously immature lyrics.",
"I don't mind when Zappa gets immature because usually it's associated with clever musical ideas, but on this occasion, it's nothing but a stand-up routine of childish comedy.",
"It's not the least bit funny hearing men imitate females (groupies) and singing about a desire to make a move on their favorite musicians.",
"The lyrics mention everyone from Robert Planet, Elton John and Roger Daltrey, but...",
"it's terrible.",
"This isn't what I consider music.",
"Where's the vocal melody to go along with this childish humor?",
"Where's the payoff?",
"There is none.",
"Disappointing.",
"\"The Mud Shark\" is the second longest track and...",
"it's another story-driven song.",
"This one doesn't even try to be funny, and it's not interesting either.",
"It tells the story of a fishing location somewhere in the Seattle area while discussing fishing rods and...",
"it's dreadfully dull.",
"Zappa does nothing to enhance the lyrics.",
"The guitar playing finally arrives at the end of the track (hidden in the background)...",
"but by then it's too late.",
"\"Happy Together\" is about one minute of music (mainly focusing on the \"ba ba ba ba ba\" part) and that's it.",
"Lousy.",
"Man, who honestly thought this was good enough to release to the public?",
"\"What Kind of Girl Do You Think We Are?",
"\" is a slow blues number with no humor, no enticing instrumentation, *nothing* noteworthy about it at *all*.",
"Mentioning Alice Cooper's good name doesn't make a bit of sense either since he never wrote music like this (unless he was actually THERE at the Fillmore East concert and that's why they're singing about him).",
"Don't even THINK for a single moment that this version of \"Little House I Used to Live In\" resembles the violin-fury that is the classic from Burnt Weeny Sandwich!",
"This is a slower-paced, instrumental blues version of it (without the violins).",
"The only signs that it's even the same song occurs whenever the main theme is played, which isn't often.",
"On any other album this would almost be a guaranteed disappointment, but here it's a highlight.",
"That's how lousy Zappa's Live at the Fillmore East is.",
"\"Willie the Pimp\" doesn't resemble the studio version either, but it's actually an alright song (mainly for the high pitched vocal delivery near the beginning and the guitar riff that resembles Deep Purple's \"Black Night\").",
"A pretty good guitar solo, but I've heard Zappa do better on several other albums.",
"The album excels in the shorter songs though.",
"This is definitely the only reason I'd have to return to this album.",
"\"Tears Began to Fall\" has an upbeat vocal melody, \"Lonesome Electric Turkey\" is a mini freak out electric jam, and \"Bwana Dik\" is really catchy and resembles Arthur Brown remarkably well in the vocal style.",
"Perhaps completely unintentional there.",
"Overall...",
"amazing.",
"Amazingly awful.",
"Avoid.",
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around why something so mediocre was even released."
] |
I'm still not sure what makes this book a literary genius. First off I dislike fiction stories that include footnotes. Although, I know they are there to state facts, I still found myself not reading them. There is an interesting history trapped in these pages. And that I did enjoy. I liked the story involving Oscar's heritage and the history of the Dominican. He's mother's story was particularly harrowing. But, the story of Oscar himself bordered on vulgar at times. I felt like it was 340 pages of a man's desire to have sex for the first time. I finished it (and it took me longer than most books this size do), but I don't feel I learned anything from it. | 1 | neutral | [
"I'm still not sure what makes this book a literary genius.",
"First off I dislike fiction stories that include footnotes.",
"Although, I know they are there to state facts, I still found myself not reading them.",
"There is an interesting history trapped in these pages.",
"And that I did enjoy.",
"I liked the story involving Oscar's heritage and the history of the Dominican.",
"He's mother's story was particularly harrowing.",
"But, the story of Oscar himself bordered on vulgar at times.",
"I felt like it was 340 pages of a man's desire to have sex for the first time.",
"I finished it (and it took me longer than most books this size do), but I don't feel I learned anything from it."
] |
Turkey Sentences Six Journalists to Life in Prison for Alleged Ties to 2016 Coup
âThey are the first journalists to be convicted over the July 15 2016 coup which Turkey says was orchestrated by a network led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The cleric denies involvement. Their conviction came as another court in the same courthouse ordered German journalist Deniz Yucelâdetained in Turkey for a yearâreleased from jail pending trial â the Associated Press reports.
Yucel is a correspondent for Germanyâs Die Welt newspaper. He was accused of spreading propaganda for the PKK the violent Kurdish separatist organization and for inciting violence in support of the Gulen movement.
Yucel âs arrest has been a source of considerable tension between the German and Turkish governments particularly since he was held so long without formal charges being filed. He was released a day after a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Deutsche Welle notes that President Erdogan surprisingly stated he wished Yucel released during an interview with a German television network and takes his subsequent release as a sign Erdoganâs power âdoes have its limits.â
Most international news organizations took note of the juxtaposition between Yucel being freed from jail at the same time six Turkish journalists were imprisoned on similar charges. | 1 | neutral | [
"Turkey Sentences Six Journalists to Life in Prison for Alleged Ties to 2016 Coup\nâThey are the first journalists to be convicted over the July 15 2016 coup which Turkey says was orchestrated by a network led by U.",
"S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.",
"The cleric denies involvement.",
"Their conviction came as another court in the same courthouse ordered German journalist Deniz Yucelâdetained in Turkey for a yearâreleased from jail pending trial â the Associated Press reports.",
"Yucel is a correspondent for Germanyâs Die Welt newspaper.",
"He was accused of spreading propaganda for the PKK the violent Kurdish separatist organization and for inciting violence in support of the Gulen movement.",
"Yucel âs arrest has been a source of considerable tension between the German and Turkish governments particularly since he was held so long without formal charges being filed.",
"He was released a day after a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.",
"Deutsche Welle notes that President Erdogan surprisingly stated he wished Yucel released during an interview with a German television network and takes his subsequent release as a sign Erdoganâs power âdoes have its limits.",
"â\nMost international news organizations took note of the juxtaposition between Yucel being freed from jail at the same time six Turkish journalists were imprisoned on similar charges."
] |
I've always kind-of wanted a Roomba, but the ones I had seen in person seemed underpowered, and weren't able to do much for very long without needing a charge. The sort of thing that would be brilliant for a single person in a small studio apartment, but never something you'd have in anything larger.
The specs on the 980 looked impressive, so I gave it a shot.
Setting the Roomba up was pretty simple. Plug the base in, set the Roomba on it, and press "Clean" when you want it to. Setting the Roomba up with a mobile app is totally optional, but definitely worth doing. The wireless setup on my iPhone was pretty straightforward for someone used to "Switch to your settings, pick the ad-hoc wifi network, switch back, switch back again..." setup, but I can see how it could become frustrating for a lot of people. A good example here is entering the wi-fi password wrong -- the app doesn't say "Your password is wrong. Want to try again?" It just errors out, and makes you start over again.
The first day had a few "Oh, cool!" moments, but was generally unimpressive. You can see the Roomba "think" about objects before it taps them, and it transitions very well from tile to carpet and back again. However, there were times when it just seemed confused. When entering a dark room, it seemed kind of scared to go inside, and turned back. After about 250 square feet (of about 1,200) it decided it was time to go home to its base. The app saying it traversed 250 sq. ft. was cool, but the fact that it hadn't actually accomplished very much was less impressive.
The second day was better. This time, the Roomba explored the dark bedroom, and left a lovely concentric pattern on the carpet from where it had traveled under the bed to the other side of the room. We have a short-haired dog, and it was surprising / gross to see how much the Roomba had collected. After doing about 600 square feet -- and needing to take two breaks to get emptied out, and one to recharge, the Roomba decided it had had enough.
By the third day, things started clicking. It seemed like the Roomba had remembered the layout better than before. I had used the two Virtual Wall cubes to prevent it from wandering in to the laundry room and bathroom, and it had vacuumed the entire first floor (about 800 sq. ft. of vacuumable surface).
Pretty great stuff. But of course, there are some caveats:
For starters, it's about as loud as a normal upright vacuum. If you're away at work for 8 hours and schedule it to run while you're away, you're all set. But in smaller spaces with thin walls, you may annoy neighbors or others in your house -- especially because it's slow to get the job done.
While the Roomba did a great job of grabbing pet hair and light debris, it did a pretty awful job of some small bits of fall leaves. All it did was kick them around from one side of the tile to the other.
When the Roomba has a problem, it makes a chipper sounding alert song, and a voice tells you what's wrong. If you're not in the immediate vicinity, though, you hear "Doo, doo, doo, dooooo..." and then what sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher. Luckily, the app will tell you what's wrong, and if applicable, will show you how to fix it. (Example: "Something is caught in the right wheel.")
The Roomba is great to have if you're meticulous about keeping your floors clean, and want to maintain a certain degree of cleanliness in between the "real" vacuuming with a full-size vacuum. But as your only vacuum, I can't say I'd recommend it.
UPDATE:
A couple of weeks in, and the Roomba seems to have developed some problems. It now complains about getting its wheels stuck when it rolls from tile to a thick bathroom mat (which it was fine with before) almost daily.
Worse, though, is that it can't seem to find its way home without being inches from the base. So, it wanders in to the bathroom, throws an error, and kind of dies there. When I press the button to send it back to the base, it circles around for a minute, and returns to wherever it died. (Yes, the base is powered on. Yes, the light is blinking. No, it isn't too far, it's only 12' away.)
It was also really annoying that I had to set the Roomba up through every step of the setup process when I got a new phone. Why iRobot didn't include a simple Nest-style authentication to make it easy is a real head scratcher.
I'm starting to see the cracks in our relationship. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've always kind-of wanted a Roomba, but the ones I had seen in person seemed underpowered, and weren't able to do much for very long without needing a charge.",
"The sort of thing that would be brilliant for a single person in a small studio apartment, but never something you'd have in anything larger.",
"The specs on the 980 looked impressive, so I gave it a shot.",
"Setting the Roomba up was pretty simple.",
"Plug the base in, set the Roomba on it, and press \"Clean\" when you want it to.",
"Setting the Roomba up with a mobile app is totally optional, but definitely worth doing.",
"The wireless setup on my iPhone was pretty straightforward for someone used to \"Switch to your settings, pick the ad-hoc wifi network, switch back, switch back again...",
"\" setup, but I can see how it could become frustrating for a lot of people.",
"A good example here is entering the wi-fi password wrong -- the app doesn't say \"Your password is wrong.",
"Want to try again?",
"\" It just errors out, and makes you start over again.",
"The first day had a few \"Oh, cool!",
"\" moments, but was generally unimpressive.",
"You can see the Roomba \"think\" about objects before it taps them, and it transitions very well from tile to carpet and back again.",
"However, there were times when it just seemed confused.",
"When entering a dark room, it seemed kind of scared to go inside, and turned back.",
"After about 250 square feet (of about 1,200) it decided it was time to go home to its base.",
"The app saying it traversed 250 sq.",
"ft.",
"was cool, but the fact that it hadn't actually accomplished very much was less impressive.",
"The second day was better.",
"This time, the Roomba explored the dark bedroom, and left a lovely concentric pattern on the carpet from where it had traveled under the bed to the other side of the room.",
"We have a short-haired dog, and it was surprising / gross to see how much the Roomba had collected.",
"After doing about 600 square feet -- and needing to take two breaks to get emptied out, and one to recharge, the Roomba decided it had had enough.",
"By the third day, things started clicking.",
"It seemed like the Roomba had remembered the layout better than before.",
"I had used the two Virtual Wall cubes to prevent it from wandering in to the laundry room and bathroom, and it had vacuumed the entire first floor (about 800 sq.",
"ft.",
"of vacuumable surface).",
"Pretty great stuff.",
"But of course, there are some caveats:\n\nFor starters, it's about as loud as a normal upright vacuum.",
"If you're away at work for 8 hours and schedule it to run while you're away, you're all set.",
"But in smaller spaces with thin walls, you may annoy neighbors or others in your house -- especially because it's slow to get the job done.",
"While the Roomba did a great job of grabbing pet hair and light debris, it did a pretty awful job of some small bits of fall leaves.",
"All it did was kick them around from one side of the tile to the other.",
"When the Roomba has a problem, it makes a chipper sounding alert song, and a voice tells you what's wrong.",
"If you're not in the immediate vicinity, though, you hear \"Doo, doo, doo, dooooo...",
"\" and then what sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher.",
"Luckily, the app will tell you what's wrong, and if applicable, will show you how to fix it.",
"(Example: \"Something is caught in the right wheel.",
"\")\n\nThe Roomba is great to have if you're meticulous about keeping your floors clean, and want to maintain a certain degree of cleanliness in between the \"real\" vacuuming with a full-size vacuum.",
"But as your only vacuum, I can't say I'd recommend it.",
"UPDATE:\nA couple of weeks in, and the Roomba seems to have developed some problems.",
"It now complains about getting its wheels stuck when it rolls from tile to a thick bathroom mat (which it was fine with before) almost daily.",
"Worse, though, is that it can't seem to find its way home without being inches from the base.",
"So, it wanders in to the bathroom, throws an error, and kind of dies there.",
"When I press the button to send it back to the base, it circles around for a minute, and returns to wherever it died.",
"(Yes, the base is powered on.",
"Yes, the light is blinking.",
"No, it isn't too far, it's only 12' away.",
")\n\nIt was also really annoying that I had to set the Roomba up through every step of the setup process when I got a new phone.",
"Why iRobot didn't include a simple Nest-style authentication to make it easy is a real head scratcher.",
"I'm starting to see the cracks in our relationship."
] |
I was so excited when these Keds arrived at my house, however - I was quickly disappointed by how long they actually stay white for!
- I received these KEDS, and wore them out the next day. The white color of the canvas was bright and beautiful. However, with just moderate usage on the FIRST day, they were already damaged and dirt was showing on the canvas. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY, but in my experiences, these are a horrible pain to keep clean! If you don't mind the risk, then go ahead and grab yourself a pair, but if you don't intend to be washing your shoes after each wear, I suggest going for another brand of all white shoe if that's what you're looking for - these are a dust and dirt MAGNET.
- The shape and structure of these shoes are... lacking. The top of the shoe looks almost concave or saggy when your foot is inside, it could definitely be more structured or else have material that is thicker in order for it to maintain its shape.
- The shoes did fit a bit narrow, but I have quite wide feet, so this may not be applicable to everyone.
TLDR; I don't advise you to purchase these unless you're going to be walking around in pristine environments - unless you don't mind cleaning your shoes all the time. | 1 | neutral | [
"I was so excited when these Keds arrived at my house, however - I was quickly disappointed by how long they actually stay white for!",
"- I received these KEDS, and wore them out the next day.",
"The white color of the canvas was bright and beautiful.",
"However, with just moderate usage on the FIRST day, they were already damaged and dirt was showing on the canvas.",
"YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY, but in my experiences, these are a horrible pain to keep clean!",
"If you don't mind the risk, then go ahead and grab yourself a pair, but if you don't intend to be washing your shoes after each wear, I suggest going for another brand of all white shoe if that's what you're looking for - these are a dust and dirt MAGNET.",
"- The shape and structure of these shoes are...",
"lacking.",
"The top of the shoe looks almost concave or saggy when your foot is inside, it could definitely be more structured or else have material that is thicker in order for it to maintain its shape.",
"- The shoes did fit a bit narrow, but I have quite wide feet, so this may not be applicable to everyone.",
"TLDR; I don't advise you to purchase these unless you're going to be walking around in pristine environments - unless you don't mind cleaning your shoes all the time."
] |
FIRST OF ALL THIS IS MY FOURTH MOTOROLA BLUETOOTH DEVICE, SO I DO HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMPANY. I WILL SUM UP THIS REVIEW WITH PROS AND CONS.
PROS:
1. VERY LIGHTWEIGHT AND SMALL (SOMETIMES I FORGET IT IS ON MY EAR).
2. THE OPTION OF LOOP OR IN EAR GEL IS AWESOME
3. ASTHETICALLY PLEASING (VERY ATTRACTIVE DEVICE)
4. VERY LOUD (A PLUS FOR ME SINCE I AM HARD OF HEARING)
5. SOUNDS VERY CLEAR TO THE PERSON IM TALKING TOO
6. VOICE PROMPS (TELLS YOU WHEN BATTERY IS LOW, SOMEONE IS CALLING, HOW TO PAIR PHONE ETC...
CONS:
1. SOUND QUALITY ON MY END IS NOT GREAT (MEDIOCRE)
2. THE DISTANCE FROM PHONE TO BLUETOOTH IS SHORT (NOT 33 FT LIKE CLAIMED BY COMPANY)
3. THE 2 EXTRA EAR LOOPS ARE A JOKE AS THEY ARE NOWHERE AS GOOD AS THE STANDARD (SMALL) EAR HOOK THAT COMES ATTACHED TO THE DEVICE.
4. SUPER HARD, DIFFICULT, TEDIOUS, ALMOST DANGEROUS TO OPEN. (WHAT ON EARTH WAS MOTOROLA THINKING. IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL YOU CAN ALMOST BREAK THE DEVICE WHILE TAKING IT OUT ITS ORIGINAL PACKAGING).
I RECOMMEND THIS BLUETOOTH HEADSET BECAUSE OF SIZE AND COMFORT! IF YOU WANT EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY TRY THE PLANTRONICS VOYAGER PRO; FROM MY EXTENSIVE RESEARCH I UNDERSTAND IT'S THE BEST IN SOUND!!! GOOD LUCK!!!
JESUS LOVES YOU!!!
ROMANS 5:6-8 | 1 | neutral | [
"FIRST OF ALL THIS IS MY FOURTH MOTOROLA BLUETOOTH DEVICE, SO I DO HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMPANY.",
"I WILL SUM UP THIS REVIEW WITH PROS AND CONS.",
"PROS:\n1.",
"VERY LIGHTWEIGHT AND SMALL (SOMETIMES I FORGET IT IS ON MY EAR).",
"2.",
"THE OPTION OF LOOP OR IN EAR GEL IS AWESOME\n3.",
"ASTHETICALLY PLEASING (VERY ATTRACTIVE DEVICE)\n4.",
"VERY LOUD (A PLUS FOR ME SINCE I AM HARD OF HEARING)\n5.",
"SOUNDS VERY CLEAR TO THE PERSON IM TALKING TOO\n6.",
"VOICE PROMPS (TELLS YOU WHEN BATTERY IS LOW, SOMEONE IS CALLING, HOW TO PAIR PHONE ETC...",
"CONS:\n1.",
"SOUND QUALITY ON MY END IS NOT GREAT (MEDIOCRE)\n2.",
"THE DISTANCE FROM PHONE TO BLUETOOTH IS SHORT (NOT 33 FT LIKE CLAIMED BY COMPANY)\n3.",
"THE 2 EXTRA EAR LOOPS ARE A JOKE AS THEY ARE NOWHERE AS GOOD AS THE STANDARD (SMALL) EAR HOOK THAT COMES ATTACHED TO THE DEVICE.",
"4.",
"SUPER HARD, DIFFICULT, TEDIOUS, ALMOST DANGEROUS TO OPEN.",
"(WHAT ON EARTH WAS MOTOROLA THINKING.",
"IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL YOU CAN ALMOST BREAK THE DEVICE WHILE TAKING IT OUT ITS ORIGINAL PACKAGING).",
"I RECOMMEND THIS BLUETOOTH HEADSET BECAUSE OF SIZE AND COMFORT!",
"IF YOU WANT EXCELLENT SOUND QUALITY TRY THE PLANTRONICS VOYAGER PRO; FROM MY EXTENSIVE RESEARCH I UNDERSTAND IT'S THE BEST IN SOUND!!!",
"GOOD LUCK!!!",
"JESUS LOVES YOU!!!",
"ROMANS 5:6-8"
] |
3.5 stars.
Alexander and Thomas are two young men living their first love, but while Alexander is comfortable with his sexuality, Thomas still thinks his feelings toward men are a sin and an aberration. When he is with Alexander, nothing seems more right, but when he is faced with their first time, he panics and abandons Alexander. It takes Thomas four years to gather up his courage to face Alexander again.
It took me a while to warm up to the characters. Alexander was too pushy and needy at the beginning, and Thomas was too passive and aloof. I know it was supposed to be that way, because it reflects the stages they were in in that moment, but I've read other books by Ava March where the characters were not together at the right time, where their encounters couldn't be fulfilling because of internal or external problems, and they were more gripping and heart-wrenching than those in this book. It was as if I couldn't find their passion.
It was good, but I think with less sex and more introspection it could have been even better. | 1 | neutral | [
"3.",
"5 stars.",
"Alexander and Thomas are two young men living their first love, but while Alexander is comfortable with his sexuality, Thomas still thinks his feelings toward men are a sin and an aberration.",
"When he is with Alexander, nothing seems more right, but when he is faced with their first time, he panics and abandons Alexander.",
"It takes Thomas four years to gather up his courage to face Alexander again.",
"It took me a while to warm up to the characters.",
"Alexander was too pushy and needy at the beginning, and Thomas was too passive and aloof.",
"I know it was supposed to be that way, because it reflects the stages they were in in that moment, but I've read other books by Ava March where the characters were not together at the right time, where their encounters couldn't be fulfilling because of internal or external problems, and they were more gripping and heart-wrenching than those in this book.",
"It was as if I couldn't find their passion.",
"It was good, but I think with less sex and more introspection it could have been even better."
] |
I have an old 12" Westcott ruler which is great and I use all the time. I needed one a little longer, so I bought a Westcott again, thinking it would be identical. This 18" one is too floppy for my liking. My old one is much stiffer. It would be much more useful with a thicker gauge metal. And as other reviewers have stated, there's a sticker on the back of the cork, and when I pulled it off I was happy to see that it did not leave behind any sticky residue, but it did take off a little chunk of cork. Argh! So be careful with that. Right now, the black lettering looks like it will be durable, but can't say for sure. If it does come off in the future, I will update this review. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have an old 12\" Westcott ruler which is great and I use all the time.",
"I needed one a little longer, so I bought a Westcott again, thinking it would be identical.",
"This 18\" one is too floppy for my liking.",
"My old one is much stiffer.",
"It would be much more useful with a thicker gauge metal.",
"And as other reviewers have stated, there's a sticker on the back of the cork, and when I pulled it off I was happy to see that it did not leave behind any sticky residue, but it did take off a little chunk of cork.",
"Argh!",
"So be careful with that.",
"Right now, the black lettering looks like it will be durable, but can't say for sure.",
"If it does come off in the future, I will update this review."
] |
This toy is flawed. And while I don't like to write negative reviews, maybe this will save someone the money I spent on this toy.
Here are the problems:
1. It doesn't stay together very well. The tree falls off as
does the bridge holding the two islands together.
2. It doesn't float very well. The people easily fill with water
and they are hard making it difficult to squirt the water out
of them. This makes them heavy. The island doesn't float well
either.
3. You can't squirt the water out of the people because they are
harder plastic. This means the germs and mold grows in there.
YUCK!
The slide is fun and my kids had a ball putting things down the slide. But for the money, there are other, better toys for the bath available. | 1 | neutral | [
"This toy is flawed.",
"And while I don't like to write negative reviews, maybe this will save someone the money I spent on this toy.",
"Here are the problems:\n\n1.",
"It doesn't stay together very well.",
"The tree falls off as\n\n does the bridge holding the two islands together.",
"2.",
"It doesn't float very well.",
"The people easily fill with water\n\n and they are hard making it difficult to squirt the water out\n\n of them.",
"This makes them heavy.",
"The island doesn't float well\n\n either.",
"3.",
"You can't squirt the water out of the people because they are\n\n harder plastic.",
"This means the germs and mold grows in there.",
"YUCK!",
"The slide is fun and my kids had a ball putting things down the slide.",
"But for the money, there are other, better toys for the bath available."
] |
Ok, as a big Scorpions fan, this album still confuses me. The overall sound is horrible, I can't understand how Scorpions couldn't achieve a cleaner production.
Some of the songs are good, but if you wanna hear a better version of them buy "Live bites". There you have a rescued Tease me, please me; Hit between the eyes and Crazy world. I never realized how these tracks really rocked until I listened to them live.
Don't believe her started the tradition of boring No. 2 tracks (which continues until now) for Scorpions albums. Yes, Scorpions biggest hit appears here, the so called Wind of Change. I remember how exciting was to first hear this song on the radio and say: "Wow! It's Scorpions! It's on the radio!" and then just hate it for hearing it every second, everywhere. It was just too much. Besides, this is not Scorpions best ballad, Walking on the edge or Lady starlight (just two examples among many many others) deserve much more attention than this one. Ok it was the symbol of the perestroika generation, but it's so sappy that I can't listen to it again. Besides, it also started a generation of Scorpions "love and peace" songs (Under the same sun, Does anyone know, White dove) that I just can't begin to like.
Anyway, this record represents the first flaw in many many time for the Scorpions, and the beginning of their 90's evident decadence. | 1 | neutral | [
"Ok, as a big Scorpions fan, this album still confuses me.",
"The overall sound is horrible, I can't understand how Scorpions couldn't achieve a cleaner production.",
"Some of the songs are good, but if you wanna hear a better version of them buy \"Live bites\".",
"There you have a rescued Tease me, please me; Hit between the eyes and Crazy world.",
"I never realized how these tracks really rocked until I listened to them live.",
"Don't believe her started the tradition of boring No.",
"2 tracks (which continues until now) for Scorpions albums.",
"Yes, Scorpions biggest hit appears here, the so called Wind of Change.",
"I remember how exciting was to first hear this song on the radio and say: \"Wow!",
"It's Scorpions!",
"It's on the radio!",
"\" and then just hate it for hearing it every second, everywhere.",
"It was just too much.",
"Besides, this is not Scorpions best ballad, Walking on the edge or Lady starlight (just two examples among many many others) deserve much more attention than this one.",
"Ok it was the symbol of the perestroika generation, but it's so sappy that I can't listen to it again.",
"Besides, it also started a generation of Scorpions \"love and peace\" songs (Under the same sun, Does anyone know, White dove) that I just can't begin to like.",
"Anyway, this record represents the first flaw in many many time for the Scorpions, and the beginning of their 90's evident decadence."
] |
The original "Legend of Legaia" was a delightful game. Started out feeling simplistic and child-like, ended up surprisingly stirring and sophisticated. The graphics fit the style of the game, and it was the first game I ever played where the characters' outfits changed drastically in combat as they got new weapons, armor and accessories. It was truly a gem for the PSX.
The new game sacrifices most of the charm for "improved" graphics, which are shockingly bland. The colors are very drab, the characters festooned with strange lines that are supposed to delineate muscle tone, and the camera just sits squarely on the floor, with very few dramatic angles used throughout the game. It's a very boring game to look at, honestly.
The music...how can I say it? I understand reusing themes in new arrangements, but they've reused the music with no improvement in instrumentation or arrangement. It was a marked disappointment.
The only good thing this game kept from the original is the combat system, and the improvements made there are dubious at best: I liked the concept of "charging up" your AP gauge and your arts bar with a "Guard" move...it required me to make decisions about how to fight every single turn. In the new game, the Normal Arts moves add AP, and the Super Arts and Hyper Arts consume it. With special items, the length of your arts bar changes, but is always fixed, otherwise. As a result, I can set up an efficient combination of Normal Arts and Hyper Arts that will prevent my AP gauge from dropping at all. Entire lengthy battles played simply by mashing the X button repeatedly. Yawn.
Cooking is a fun addition to the game, as is combining to improve your Weapons, Armor, Items and Accessories. With Cooking, you can bump your stats up (and sometimes down) for several battles, plus get a little conversation going with your characters. The major complaint I have about Cooking is that the game doesn't keep the effects of Cooking a secret: the very first time you cook something, you know what impact it will have on your characters. Combining--particularly for Weapons and Armor--greatly resembles the weapon upgrade system in Final Fantasy 8, but with a lot more options available to you. It would have been nice to find a manual of sorts to tell you what could be upgraded to what, what you would need to make the upgrade, and where you'd be likely to find it. To fill my needs, I simply bought or traded for junk whenever I could, then tried to see what new combinations I could produce. Fun, but a bit aimless and frustrating. Combining Acessories was the most enjoyable to me, because I could always see what new skills I'd get before making the combination, and the skills can make-or-break your combat (for example, you really need anti-berserk to win the fight in the Gambler's Arena mini-game).
The story was...mmm...okay. I kept waiting for it to get started, or to throw a twist or two my way. As it is, the primary story consists of exactly what you expect it to: main character meets some other characters after initial meeting with the main bad guy, then goes and collects some stuff in the process of undermining the main bad guy's plan. No surprises.
The characters are reasonably interesting, and I really liked the firecracker attitude they gave Sharon (though her in-battle quips got seriously annoying after the thousandth battle). There does seem to be a lot of depth about the characters and many side opportunities to discover hidden surprises about them. I especially liked the consistent approach to responding to questions that was employed with Lang: whether you chose to have him agree, disagree, or tell someone off, his responses to questions posed by the NPCs were credible and in character. It was easy to make him a smart-mouth sometimes and have him be understated at other times without feeling like he was suddenly a different character.
Overall, it was an entertaining game, but a little shallow and with combat that looks spectacular but which was ultimately tedious--it was generally more entertaining to set the characters to Auto combat than to watch them perform the same moves over and over and over and over again.
If you liked the first one, you'll enjoy this one, yes. If you didn't like the first one, you'll like this even less. If you haven't played either but are interested, get "Legend of Legaia" instead--it plays well on the PS2 and has a much more engrossing storyline. | 1 | neutral | [
"The original \"Legend of Legaia\" was a delightful game.",
"Started out feeling simplistic and child-like, ended up surprisingly stirring and sophisticated.",
"The graphics fit the style of the game, and it was the first game I ever played where the characters' outfits changed drastically in combat as they got new weapons, armor and accessories.",
"It was truly a gem for the PSX.",
"The new game sacrifices most of the charm for \"improved\" graphics, which are shockingly bland.",
"The colors are very drab, the characters festooned with strange lines that are supposed to delineate muscle tone, and the camera just sits squarely on the floor, with very few dramatic angles used throughout the game.",
"It's a very boring game to look at, honestly.",
"The music...",
"how can I say it?",
"I understand reusing themes in new arrangements, but they've reused the music with no improvement in instrumentation or arrangement.",
"It was a marked disappointment.",
"The only good thing this game kept from the original is the combat system, and the improvements made there are dubious at best: I liked the concept of \"charging up\" your AP gauge and your arts bar with a \"Guard\" move...",
"it required me to make decisions about how to fight every single turn.",
"In the new game, the Normal Arts moves add AP, and the Super Arts and Hyper Arts consume it.",
"With special items, the length of your arts bar changes, but is always fixed, otherwise.",
"As a result, I can set up an efficient combination of Normal Arts and Hyper Arts that will prevent my AP gauge from dropping at all.",
"Entire lengthy battles played simply by mashing the X button repeatedly.",
"Yawn.",
"Cooking is a fun addition to the game, as is combining to improve your Weapons, Armor, Items and Accessories.",
"With Cooking, you can bump your stats up (and sometimes down) for several battles, plus get a little conversation going with your characters.",
"The major complaint I have about Cooking is that the game doesn't keep the effects of Cooking a secret: the very first time you cook something, you know what impact it will have on your characters.",
"Combining--particularly for Weapons and Armor--greatly resembles the weapon upgrade system in Final Fantasy 8, but with a lot more options available to you.",
"It would have been nice to find a manual of sorts to tell you what could be upgraded to what, what you would need to make the upgrade, and where you'd be likely to find it.",
"To fill my needs, I simply bought or traded for junk whenever I could, then tried to see what new combinations I could produce.",
"Fun, but a bit aimless and frustrating.",
"Combining Acessories was the most enjoyable to me, because I could always see what new skills I'd get before making the combination, and the skills can make-or-break your combat (for example, you really need anti-berserk to win the fight in the Gambler's Arena mini-game).",
"The story was...",
"mmm...",
"okay.",
"I kept waiting for it to get started, or to throw a twist or two my way.",
"As it is, the primary story consists of exactly what you expect it to: main character meets some other characters after initial meeting with the main bad guy, then goes and collects some stuff in the process of undermining the main bad guy's plan.",
"No surprises.",
"The characters are reasonably interesting, and I really liked the firecracker attitude they gave Sharon (though her in-battle quips got seriously annoying after the thousandth battle).",
"There does seem to be a lot of depth about the characters and many side opportunities to discover hidden surprises about them.",
"I especially liked the consistent approach to responding to questions that was employed with Lang: whether you chose to have him agree, disagree, or tell someone off, his responses to questions posed by the NPCs were credible and in character.",
"It was easy to make him a smart-mouth sometimes and have him be understated at other times without feeling like he was suddenly a different character.",
"Overall, it was an entertaining game, but a little shallow and with combat that looks spectacular but which was ultimately tedious--it was generally more entertaining to set the characters to Auto combat than to watch them perform the same moves over and over and over and over again.",
"If you liked the first one, you'll enjoy this one, yes.",
"If you didn't like the first one, you'll like this even less.",
"If you haven't played either but are interested, get \"Legend of Legaia\" instead--it plays well on the PS2 and has a much more engrossing storyline."
] |
Since this show was from the makers of the Slayers and Outlaw Star, I decided to look at this. I wasn't impressed. Not to say that I didn't find some ts amusing on this tape, like when a dragon asks the group hilarious question like when the next video release is, but there was one scene that was trying to be funny, but isnt. It was when male Maze rapes the king's daughter toned to funny music. What is so funny about rape? I know that it is trying to follow along the lines of Ranma 1\2, but that show never did anything this extreme. It's too bad. Maze seemed like it would be pretty good, and it is, but that one scene ruined the whole show for me. And looking at some of the other volumes (Traveling Playboy) I am not tempted into buying anymore of the tapes. Until this show can clean up it's act, I'll call Maze corn for now. | 1 | neutral | [
"Since this show was from the makers of the Slayers and Outlaw Star, I decided to look at this.",
"I wasn't impressed.",
"Not to say that I didn't find some ts amusing on this tape, like when a dragon asks the group hilarious question like when the next video release is, but there was one scene that was trying to be funny, but isnt.",
"It was when male Maze rapes the king's daughter toned to funny music.",
"What is so funny about rape?",
"I know that it is trying to follow along the lines of Ranma 1\\2, but that show never did anything this extreme.",
"It's too bad.",
"Maze seemed like it would be pretty good, and it is, but that one scene ruined the whole show for me.",
"And looking at some of the other volumes (Traveling Playboy) I am not tempted into buying anymore of the tapes.",
"Until this show can clean up it's act, I'll call Maze corn for now."
] |
As I've said in other reviews, Alan Furst is my writing hero, so it pains me to give Dark Star less than four stars. But I do; perhaps not because of any faults but rather my inability to connect with it.
This is the second in his Night Soldiers series and one of Furst's earlier works. It shares many of the qualities that have established Furst as the John LeCarre of interwar Mitteleuropa espionage: the economically drawn settings, the sharply observed dialog, the ring of authenticity in the details of everyday 1930s life, the intricate plots and intriguing characters.
So why am I not in love? To start with, the star of this show, Andre Szara (a Russified Polish Jew who writes for Pravda), doesn't start directing his own fate until two-thirds of the book has passed; he's the most passive of the Furst protagonists I've met so far. His diffidence makes it hard to tell whether some of the plot points bode well or ill for him, since he evinces no clear idea of where he wants to go or what he wants to do. It's one thing to fall into the espionage game -- that's a standard Furstian trope -- but quite another to fall into most of the major events that make up these five years of Szara's life.
The structure of this book is more like five short stories connected through the central character than a single novel with an overarching narrative thread. When Szara finally takes charge of his life in the fourth episode, the break with what has come before is emphasized by this structure and calls attention to itself. Major characters from previous episodes disappear without having been killed, and Szara spends little time thinking of them once they're gone, another continuity challenge aggravated by this structure. I found it off-putting; your mileage may vary.
If you're already ensnared in Furst's world, by all means go ahead and read Dark Star. If you're new to the series, start with some of the more accessible installments such as The World at Night or The Polish Officer. Night Soldiers is a series in theme rather than narrative, so you don't need to start at the beginning in order to appreciate it. | 1 | neutral | [
"As I've said in other reviews, Alan Furst is my writing hero, so it pains me to give Dark Star less than four stars.",
"But I do; perhaps not because of any faults but rather my inability to connect with it.",
"This is the second in his Night Soldiers series and one of Furst's earlier works.",
"It shares many of the qualities that have established Furst as the John LeCarre of interwar Mitteleuropa espionage: the economically drawn settings, the sharply observed dialog, the ring of authenticity in the details of everyday 1930s life, the intricate plots and intriguing characters.",
"So why am I not in love?",
"To start with, the star of this show, Andre Szara (a Russified Polish Jew who writes for Pravda), doesn't start directing his own fate until two-thirds of the book has passed; he's the most passive of the Furst protagonists I've met so far.",
"His diffidence makes it hard to tell whether some of the plot points bode well or ill for him, since he evinces no clear idea of where he wants to go or what he wants to do.",
"It's one thing to fall into the espionage game -- that's a standard Furstian trope -- but quite another to fall into most of the major events that make up these five years of Szara's life.",
"The structure of this book is more like five short stories connected through the central character than a single novel with an overarching narrative thread.",
"When Szara finally takes charge of his life in the fourth episode, the break with what has come before is emphasized by this structure and calls attention to itself.",
"Major characters from previous episodes disappear without having been killed, and Szara spends little time thinking of them once they're gone, another continuity challenge aggravated by this structure.",
"I found it off-putting; your mileage may vary.",
"If you're already ensnared in Furst's world, by all means go ahead and read Dark Star.",
"If you're new to the series, start with some of the more accessible installments such as The World at Night or The Polish Officer.",
"Night Soldiers is a series in theme rather than narrative, so you don't need to start at the beginning in order to appreciate it."
] |
I am 2 weeks postpartum with very high milk production so I pump about every 2 hours and breast feed as well. I typically am a 42DDD. This bra does fit but I need assistance putting it on because of my large chest. It does work with my breast pump which is a spectra. It is pretty tight if you leave the straps crossed. I do like the adjustable straps and Velcro adjustable back. It is pretty comfortable while wearing it. I wouldn’t recommend this bra for every day wear or use for large chested ladies. It will give you a for sure uniboob look. It does serve its purpose though and give me some mobility while pumping. Update I ordered a second one because I loved my first one so much and this way I don’t have to wash the one every single day. Disappointed in the second one. I ordered the same exact size and the second one is MUCH smaller than the first. I can barely wear it. Sad, I love my first one. I guess it’s a luck of the draw kind of thing. | 1 | neutral | [
"I am 2 weeks postpartum with very high milk production so I pump about every 2 hours and breast feed as well.",
"I typically am a 42DDD.",
"This bra does fit but I need assistance putting it on because of my large chest.",
"It does work with my breast pump which is a spectra.",
"It is pretty tight if you leave the straps crossed.",
"I do like the adjustable straps and Velcro adjustable back.",
"It is pretty comfortable while wearing it.",
"I wouldn’t recommend this bra for every day wear or use for large chested ladies.",
"It will give you a for sure uniboob look.",
"It does serve its purpose though and give me some mobility while pumping.",
"Update I ordered a second one because I loved my first one so much and this way I don’t have to wash the one every single day.",
"Disappointed in the second one.",
"I ordered the same exact size and the second one is MUCH smaller than the first.",
"I can barely wear it.",
"Sad, I love my first one.",
"I guess it’s a luck of the draw kind of thing."
] |
**Edited: It's not as bad as I remember it, 7 years later. There are some really good songs on here: Let's Get Rocked, Heaven Is, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion), and I Wanna Touch You are some of the best rock ballads ever written. So, they should've named this CD "Let's Get Balladed" instead. Go figure. Nothing really rocks on this album -- not much anyway -- but it's actually a good solid ballad album for the boys from Sheffield England.
I'm glad to say I'm repurchasing it from Amazon tonight. The Deluxe Edition - Oh yeah!
***Previous review below, for posterity's sake. I must have been *really* cranky that day, 7 years ago.***
I bought this album because I owned all 4 of the previous ones and thought how bad could it be? Pretty bad obviously. This is one of the 3 albums I have bought over the years that I actually threw away.
Out of 5 stars I would rank the first 5 albums thusly:
On Through the Night: 4
High 'N' Dry: 5
Pyromania: 5
Hysteria: 3
Adrenalize: -1
Starting off with the stupid first track on this album (Let's Get Rocked), did kindergarteners produce this album? What in the crap were they thinking?! I don't even remember what Heaven Is sounded like, so I checked it out on this site...yep, crappier than I remembered. [...] This song is cheesier than cheese and has no nutritional value to boot. I gave up at this point trying to remember the rest.
In summary: this album is sappier than most of the 80's pop-rock and it was released in 1992!! All of it had been done 10 years before, and not nearly so [...]
Get one of the first 3 albums and do yourself a favor and listen to some real rock, not this cheezy swill that came later. | 1 | neutral | [
"**Edited: It's not as bad as I remember it, 7 years later.",
"There are some really good songs on here: Let's Get Rocked, Heaven Is, Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad, Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion), and I Wanna Touch You are some of the best rock ballads ever written.",
"So, they should've named this CD \"Let's Get Balladed\" instead.",
"Go figure.",
"Nothing really rocks on this album -- not much anyway -- but it's actually a good solid ballad album for the boys from Sheffield England.",
"I'm glad to say I'm repurchasing it from Amazon tonight.",
"The Deluxe Edition - Oh yeah!",
"***Previous review below, for posterity's sake.",
"I must have been *really* cranky that day, 7 years ago.",
"***\nI bought this album because I owned all 4 of the previous ones and thought how bad could it be?",
"Pretty bad obviously.",
"This is one of the 3 albums I have bought over the years that I actually threw away.",
"Out of 5 stars I would rank the first 5 albums thusly:\nOn Through the Night: 4\nHigh 'N' Dry: 5\nPyromania: 5\nHysteria: 3\nAdrenalize: -1\n\nStarting off with the stupid first track on this album (Let's Get Rocked), did kindergarteners produce this album?",
"What in the crap were they thinking?!",
"I don't even remember what Heaven Is sounded like, so I checked it out on this site...",
"yep, crappier than I remembered.",
"[...",
"] This song is cheesier than cheese and has no nutritional value to boot.",
"I gave up at this point trying to remember the rest.",
"In summary: this album is sappier than most of the 80's pop-rock and it was released in 1992!!",
"All of it had been done 10 years before, and not nearly so [...",
"]\n\nGet one of the first 3 albums and do yourself a favor and listen to some real rock, not this cheezy swill that came later."
] |
A few of my friends and I went on a "man's weekend" camping trip. Poorly planned however as it rained like Noah was gonna stop by. My good buddy bought 2 of these tents and he gave me the extra one.
Pros: It set up quickly and super easily. It had great meshing to keep out the bugs. It was almost tall enough to sit upright in. (Kinda a pro) This thing packs back up at the end of the trip about as simply as anything I've ever used....no need for an engineering degree to repack your tent. And it's cheap!
Cons: Compared to more pricey tents of the same size it's actually not that light. I got an Alps Mountaineering Chaos 2 that is way bigger and weighs less...but I could buy about 4 of these tents for the same price. (Kinda a con). It was almost tall enough to sit upright in.. (Kinda a con). In heavy Noah's Ark sort of rain this thing is about as waterproof as a fishing net.
So take the advise of everyone else here and buy a good lightweight tarp, anyone who enjoys the outdoors should have one anyway, and when you combine it with this tent you will be pretty happy. | 1 | neutral | [
"A few of my friends and I went on a \"man's weekend\" camping trip.",
"Poorly planned however as it rained like Noah was gonna stop by.",
"My good buddy bought 2 of these tents and he gave me the extra one.",
"Pros: It set up quickly and super easily.",
"It had great meshing to keep out the bugs.",
"It was almost tall enough to sit upright in.",
"(Kinda a pro) This thing packs back up at the end of the trip about as simply as anything I've ever used....",
"no need for an engineering degree to repack your tent.",
"And it's cheap!",
"Cons: Compared to more pricey tents of the same size it's actually not that light.",
"I got an Alps Mountaineering Chaos 2 that is way bigger and weighs less...",
"but I could buy about 4 of these tents for the same price.",
"(Kinda a con).",
"It was almost tall enough to sit upright in..",
"(Kinda a con).",
"In heavy Noah's Ark sort of rain this thing is about as waterproof as a fishing net.",
"So take the advise of everyone else here and buy a good lightweight tarp, anyone who enjoys the outdoors should have one anyway, and when you combine it with this tent you will be pretty happy."
] |
Russia Was So Afraid of Gay Marriage It Kicked Out This Priest
âThey took the cup out of my hand and took me away â Jim Mulcahy told The Daily Beast from an undisclosed location in Eastern Europe.
The news teams called him a pseudo-priest. The police demanded to know through an English-language translator in an on-camera closeup: âWhatâs the purpose of your being here right now? â
Mulcahy a Metropolitan Community Church pastor whoâs been living in Ukraine for four years was swiftly ordered to leave Russia for allegedly violating the terms of his tourist visa. News reports about the event included snide comments about him being an American an openly gay man a resident of Ukraine and an MCC pastor.
âIâve been going to Russia at least once a year since 2012 â Mulcahy said speaking out about the events for the first time. âI always visit LGBT groups while Iâm there for conversation.â
âFortunately Russia canât throw me out of Eastern Europe or post-Soviet space â Mulcahy said. âThey can only throw me out of Russia.â
But the Russian cops did bring a 4 p.m. tea party on July 9 to an abrupt end when they stormed the Avers gathering. About a dozen people were in the room âliterally drinking tea and eating cookies â Mulcahy said.
âProbably around 20 minutes after we started four police and news cameras came barging in and I was taken into custody â he said. âThey didnât give me any reason they just took me. I had no interpreter of my own I had no lawyer with me.â
They grilled the pastor for four hours using only a police-provided translator. Mulcahy couldnât even fully understand what was going on he said and his lawyerâwho was at the police stationâwasnât allowed to call him .
Later the attorney told Mulcahy that police got an anonymous tip that he was going to perform a same-sex wedding in Samara just like he had for dozens of same-sex couples around the world. The men who reported him based on advertisements for the tea party in Russian social network Vkontakte gleefully said as much to news crews.
âI had no such plans â Mulcahy said.
Russian TV reported that evening that Mulcahy would be fined and thrown out of the country. That night a judge ruled that same way.
Mulcahy was given five days to get out and banned for three years. He was given a fine of 2 000 rublesâa whopping $30.
âRussia is the second country Iâve been kicked out of â he said.
As a young Jesuit scholastic Mulcahy was driven out of Iraq and moved to Egypt instead. Eventually he decided he didnât want to live a secret life as a gay man and became a hospital chaplain instead. When he was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 he decided to find a religious community once more.
âI couldnât face cancer by myself â he said.
So he found a Metropolitan Community Church congregation in Rochester New York one of the few fully LGBT-affirming churches at that time. When their pastor left they asked him to step in temporarily. He ended up staying for years. | 1 | neutral | [
"Russia Was So Afraid of Gay Marriage It Kicked Out This Priest\nâThey took the cup out of my hand and took me away â Jim Mulcahy told The Daily Beast from an undisclosed location in Eastern Europe.",
"The news teams called him a pseudo-priest.",
"The police demanded to know through an English-language translator in an on-camera closeup: âWhatâs the purpose of your being here right now?",
"â\nMulcahy a Metropolitan Community Church pastor whoâs been living in Ukraine for four years was swiftly ordered to leave Russia for allegedly violating the terms of his tourist visa.",
"News reports about the event included snide comments about him being an American an openly gay man a resident of Ukraine and an MCC pastor.",
"âIâve been going to Russia at least once a year since 2012 â Mulcahy said speaking out about the events for the first time.",
"âI always visit LGBT groups while Iâm there for conversation.",
"â\nâFortunately Russia canât throw me out of Eastern Europe or post-Soviet space â Mulcahy said.",
"âThey can only throw me out of Russia.",
"â\nBut the Russian cops did bring a 4 p.",
"m. tea party on July 9 to an abrupt end when they stormed the Avers gathering.",
"About a dozen people were in the room âliterally drinking tea and eating cookies â Mulcahy said.",
"âProbably around 20 minutes after we started four police and news cameras came barging in and I was taken into custody â he said.",
"âThey didnât give me any reason they just took me.",
"I had no interpreter of my own I had no lawyer with me.",
"â\nThey grilled the pastor for four hours using only a police-provided translator.",
"Mulcahy couldnât even fully understand what was going on he said and his lawyerâwho was at the police stationâwasnât allowed to call him.",
"Later the attorney told Mulcahy that police got an anonymous tip that he was going to perform a same-sex wedding in Samara just like he had for dozens of same-sex couples around the world.",
"The men who reported him based on advertisements for the tea party in Russian social network Vkontakte gleefully said as much to news crews.",
"âI had no such plans â Mulcahy said.",
"Russian TV reported that evening that Mulcahy would be fined and thrown out of the country.",
"That night a judge ruled that same way.",
"Mulcahy was given five days to get out and banned for three years.",
"He was given a fine of 2 000 rublesâa whopping $30.",
"âRussia is the second country Iâve been kicked out of â he said.",
"As a young Jesuit scholastic Mulcahy was driven out of Iraq and moved to Egypt instead.",
"Eventually he decided he didnât want to live a secret life as a gay man and became a hospital chaplain instead.",
"When he was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 he decided to find a religious community once more.",
"âI couldnât face cancer by myself â he said.",
"So he found a Metropolitan Community Church congregation in Rochester New York one of the few fully LGBT-affirming churches at that time.",
"When their pastor left they asked him to step in temporarily.",
"He ended up staying for years."
] |
I bought a this cheap case to basically protect the iPhone as I moved around. My iPhone is a 2nd Gen 8GB.
It is a simple, no frills case. Decent contruction and should last a while.
My only gripe is that the case is about 1/4 inch too wide and 1/2 inch too long for my iPhone. If you need something more snug don't get this product.
If you have your phone in say, a silicone case or something, the extra size might be a bonus to you.
If you don't care about looks of the case, and you can get over the oversize, then this is for you.
Overall, the price and quality I would recommend it... The size? well... | 1 | neutral | [
"I bought a this cheap case to basically protect the iPhone as I moved around.",
"My iPhone is a 2nd Gen 8GB.",
"It is a simple, no frills case.",
"Decent contruction and should last a while.",
"My only gripe is that the case is about 1/4 inch too wide and 1/2 inch too long for my iPhone.",
"If you need something more snug don't get this product.",
"If you have your phone in say, a silicone case or something, the extra size might be a bonus to you.",
"If you don't care about looks of the case, and you can get over the oversize, then this is for you.",
"Overall, the price and quality I would recommend it...",
"The size?",
"well..."
] |
I went low carb two months ago. During that time I've tried four different low carb homemade Brownie recipes. Two were awful, the third only edable with sugar free Nutella and the fourth was OK.
This packaged mix is by far, the best Brownie I've had in two months ( yep, I'm a brownie addict).
I followed the directions exactly and have only eaten two brownies. Yum !
I'd give this mix five stars except that it's very expensive for only one 8 X 8 pan.
Alas, no more high carb and sugar brownie mixes under $3 for me. So this will be a treat.
9/27/16 Addendum: Do NOT eat more than one 1" square within a short time span. No matter how chocolatey. One is good. Two gave me terrible gas and gas pain. Unless you are immune to my enemy, the Fiber One bar, these will wreak havoc on your GI system ! | 1 | neutral | [
"I went low carb two months ago.",
"During that time I've tried four different low carb homemade Brownie recipes.",
"Two were awful, the third only edable with sugar free Nutella and the fourth was OK.",
"This packaged mix is by far, the best Brownie I've had in two months ( yep, I'm a brownie addict).",
"I followed the directions exactly and have only eaten two brownies.",
"Yum!",
"I'd give this mix five stars except that it's very expensive for only one 8 X 8 pan.",
"Alas, no more high carb and sugar brownie mixes under $3 for me.",
"So this will be a treat.",
"9/27/16 Addendum: Do NOT eat more than one 1\" square within a short time span.",
"No matter how chocolatey.",
"One is good.",
"Two gave me terrible gas and gas pain.",
"Unless you are immune to my enemy, the Fiber One bar, these will wreak havoc on your GI system!"
] |
If this movie is about dysfunction, then the creators have succeeded. They have displayed that dysfunction can range from non-communication to drug dealing to murder. In the end, the message is unclear and somewhat alarming.
I can't say I hated this movie, but it is not what I call entertaining. The story of a suburban neighborhood and it's off the wall residents does not ring very true with most of my experiences but writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes seem to want us to believe that what happens is fairly normal. Maybe I mis-read their message. Maybe they have no message. It's possible that they're painting a scenario in which two dysfunctional families are thrust into each other's lives and the combination of certain elements (repressed gay father, drug dealing son, isolated daughter and her mid-life crisis suffering dad) is the catalyst for several events that normally would NOT happen on the typical suburban street.
In any case and for the most part, I don't think the writer's story of these circumstances is a perception of real life. It may be his perception as he grew up, but perception is relevant. His perceptions may have been born out of his life growing up and what he experienced. Between this movie and his work with the HBO show Six Feet Under, I have to draw the conclusion that he not only has an obsession with death, but he might be gay himself. Please don't go off in a tizzy, there's nothing wrong with being gay. But these days, gay people suffer hatred of those intolerant and his writing may be a reflection of the intolerance he has experienced. Most writers write from what they know, and this may be no exception.
But I could be wrong as well. He may be just writing about gay people, in which he has written some very good work, exploring them as humans and their different facets. We have a perfectly normal gay couple living on the street, as well as a gay father who is repressing his own homosexual tendencies.
Kevin Spacey plays his role very well. From the beginning we are made full aware of his daily anguish that he goes through trying to deal with his life. What I don't like is the way irresponsibility is displayed as acceptable, and even praised behavior. The creators are trying to make me believe it ok that a father can just quit his job to chase his youthful dreams. It makes me really mad that the young teenager who is selling drugs is the one we are supposed to see as the hero when he comes knocking on the door of his girlfriends house telling her he wants to take her away to Amsterdam. Do we think they are going just for the history? No.
This is my biggest problem with this film, that I can't see any reason to like any of the characters. Relating to them is liking them. No one seems to think they can be held accountable for their actions, and I cannot relate to that at all. There are consequences to everything we do, good and bad. And no one in this film seems to have consideration for those around them, and the story does not display this, except when you turn down the advances of a homosexual neighbor, then you may be shot in the head.
I mentioned before that I believe Alan Ball has may have an obsession with death, and if his writing is a message about living life to fullest before we die, then fine, I can understand that. But life is about balance, and balance requires a dose of reality and doing what needs to be done as well as what wants to be done. I'm sure we would all like to save time by not eating or sleeping, but we have to do it...or else we die.
Let me end on a good note; the movie is very well acted and photographed. The performances by Spacey and Birch are top notch and Chris Cooper is always reliable as well. The movie is watchable, if not a little slow at times. In all, I would say it's a good movie, if you like movies that have no redeemable characters and there is no good that comes from the story. Please don't misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with this type of movie, it just isn't entertaining for me, and that is just my opinion, even if it is unpopular. | 1 | neutral | [
"If this movie is about dysfunction, then the creators have succeeded.",
"They have displayed that dysfunction can range from non-communication to drug dealing to murder.",
"In the end, the message is unclear and somewhat alarming.",
"I can't say I hated this movie, but it is not what I call entertaining.",
"The story of a suburban neighborhood and it's off the wall residents does not ring very true with most of my experiences but writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes seem to want us to believe that what happens is fairly normal.",
"Maybe I mis-read their message.",
"Maybe they have no message.",
"It's possible that they're painting a scenario in which two dysfunctional families are thrust into each other's lives and the combination of certain elements (repressed gay father, drug dealing son, isolated daughter and her mid-life crisis suffering dad) is the catalyst for several events that normally would NOT happen on the typical suburban street.",
"In any case and for the most part, I don't think the writer's story of these circumstances is a perception of real life.",
"It may be his perception as he grew up, but perception is relevant.",
"His perceptions may have been born out of his life growing up and what he experienced.",
"Between this movie and his work with the HBO show Six Feet Under, I have to draw the conclusion that he not only has an obsession with death, but he might be gay himself.",
"Please don't go off in a tizzy, there's nothing wrong with being gay.",
"But these days, gay people suffer hatred of those intolerant and his writing may be a reflection of the intolerance he has experienced.",
"Most writers write from what they know, and this may be no exception.",
"But I could be wrong as well.",
"He may be just writing about gay people, in which he has written some very good work, exploring them as humans and their different facets.",
"We have a perfectly normal gay couple living on the street, as well as a gay father who is repressing his own homosexual tendencies.",
"Kevin Spacey plays his role very well.",
"From the beginning we are made full aware of his daily anguish that he goes through trying to deal with his life.",
"What I don't like is the way irresponsibility is displayed as acceptable, and even praised behavior.",
"The creators are trying to make me believe it ok that a father can just quit his job to chase his youthful dreams.",
"It makes me really mad that the young teenager who is selling drugs is the one we are supposed to see as the hero when he comes knocking on the door of his girlfriends house telling her he wants to take her away to Amsterdam.",
"Do we think they are going just for the history?",
"No.",
"This is my biggest problem with this film, that I can't see any reason to like any of the characters.",
"Relating to them is liking them.",
"No one seems to think they can be held accountable for their actions, and I cannot relate to that at all.",
"There are consequences to everything we do, good and bad.",
"And no one in this film seems to have consideration for those around them, and the story does not display this, except when you turn down the advances of a homosexual neighbor, then you may be shot in the head.",
"I mentioned before that I believe Alan Ball has may have an obsession with death, and if his writing is a message about living life to fullest before we die, then fine, I can understand that.",
"But life is about balance, and balance requires a dose of reality and doing what needs to be done as well as what wants to be done.",
"I'm sure we would all like to save time by not eating or sleeping, but we have to do it...",
"or else we die.",
"Let me end on a good note; the movie is very well acted and photographed.",
"The performances by Spacey and Birch are top notch and Chris Cooper is always reliable as well.",
"The movie is watchable, if not a little slow at times.",
"In all, I would say it's a good movie, if you like movies that have no redeemable characters and there is no good that comes from the story.",
"Please don't misunderstand, there is nothing wrong with this type of movie, it just isn't entertaining for me, and that is just my opinion, even if it is unpopular."
] |
Full disclaimer here - I am NOT an artist and I have no eye for color. People like me should NEVER buy a product like this! lol Okay full disclaimers out of the way, this was a very complicated product for me. My skill level consists of two shots of moisturizing sun block and one half shot of BB Cream lather, slap and go. So this kind of thing is way out of my comfort zone.
The product is VERY compact - not at all gigantic like the picture shows. - 3" x 3" in a very slick compact with mirror, brush and magnetic corner snap locks.
The makeup is on the heavy side. There are five satellite bubbles around a central larger circle of makeup.
The large circle is the MAIN color - that should kind of be about your skin color. Next we have a satellite lighter bubble, a highlighter tiny bubble and under that a darker bubble.
THEN there are two more bubbles on the right hand side - a yellow corrector and a peach neutral.
Sigh. Try after try I made a color lighter than my skin and around the color of ground cigarette ash and old lady pallor. I know, I am pathetic, no need to leave comments about my severely lacking skill set.
My palette was the FAIR shade. I could not for the life of me get my skin color right - BUT - I have no skill set with makeup. I am sure other people can do this like breathing.
To be sure if you can do this, I recommend watching some of the Michelle Phan videos. | 1 | neutral | [
"Full disclaimer here - I am NOT an artist and I have no eye for color.",
"People like me should NEVER buy a product like this!",
"lol Okay full disclaimers out of the way, this was a very complicated product for me.",
"My skill level consists of two shots of moisturizing sun block and one half shot of BB Cream lather, slap and go.",
"So this kind of thing is way out of my comfort zone.",
"The product is VERY compact - not at all gigantic like the picture shows.",
"- 3\" x 3\" in a very slick compact with mirror, brush and magnetic corner snap locks.",
"The makeup is on the heavy side.",
"There are five satellite bubbles around a central larger circle of makeup.",
"The large circle is the MAIN color - that should kind of be about your skin color.",
"Next we have a satellite lighter bubble, a highlighter tiny bubble and under that a darker bubble.",
"THEN there are two more bubbles on the right hand side - a yellow corrector and a peach neutral.",
"Sigh.",
"Try after try I made a color lighter than my skin and around the color of ground cigarette ash and old lady pallor.",
"I know, I am pathetic, no need to leave comments about my severely lacking skill set.",
"My palette was the FAIR shade.",
"I could not for the life of me get my skin color right - BUT - I have no skill set with makeup.",
"I am sure other people can do this like breathing.",
"To be sure if you can do this, I recommend watching some of the Michelle Phan videos."
] |
Seeing ads for this made me quite excited to get one. And I have to admit, it does charge just as easily as it looks...the metallic grid looks sleek and modern on our desk and all you have to do is put the phone down anywhere on it and it charges without having to connect cords. On the run, just plop it down and it does the work for you. Every time you lay your phone down you charge, that's clever.
That said, although I'd planned to use this for both of our iPhones, it's delegated to one. Here's why...
First, what I didn't know was that you have to use only their rubber case around your phone to get it to charge. This makes both phones in a two-phone household look exactly the same in the same black case so one spouse grabbing a phone on the way to work may wind up with the wrong phone. (not good if one is a business phone!) And, if you do have more than one phone, you'll need to buy another case since this kit only comes with one.
However, if you only need it for a one iPhone household that should be fine, right?
Well, in my opinion...not exactly...The second design issue I had with it is that, in this case, there is no way to charge your phone in the car. The bottom of the phone is blocked because the case has a plug that fits into your phone from within the case. For me, it's a real drawback that the bottom can't just slide off the case or unsnap and open to allow me to charge the phone at work away from this charger or in my car. I use my GPS often on the phone and talk on the phone often in my car so not being able to easily plug it in isn't good for me. The day I realized this, my phone was losing juice as I expected an important call while driving. In order to charge it, I needed to get the rubber case off. But the rubber case is quite snug so driving and trying to remove it to charge it wasn't the safest thing to do...I pulled over to do it. Because you also can't access the bottom of your phone easily, that also means you need to remove the case every time you wish to sync it...they should have had some kind of removable bottom to make doing so easy because it's not exactly a quick fix to get the case on and off.
That said, if you only charge your phone at home, never need to charge it in the car or work, and don't sync often, I'd say this is perfect for that usage.
The charging grid will fit two iPhones. I believe it says it fits up to 4 but maybe that means you have to have the phones all half off the mat because only 2 would fit on it.
Additionally, I don't care for a matte black case since makeup shows up on it more easily...and it's the only option with the kit.
Conclusion: The charge worked easily. I wish this worked by merely having the wireless plug attach onto the bottom of my phone without having a whole case around it, however--for the reasons noted. | 1 | neutral | [
"Seeing ads for this made me quite excited to get one.",
"And I have to admit, it does charge just as easily as it looks...",
"the metallic grid looks sleek and modern on our desk and all you have to do is put the phone down anywhere on it and it charges without having to connect cords.",
"On the run, just plop it down and it does the work for you.",
"Every time you lay your phone down you charge, that's clever.",
"That said, although I'd planned to use this for both of our iPhones, it's delegated to one.",
"Here's why...",
"First, what I didn't know was that you have to use only their rubber case around your phone to get it to charge.",
"This makes both phones in a two-phone household look exactly the same in the same black case so one spouse grabbing a phone on the way to work may wind up with the wrong phone.",
"(not good if one is a business phone!",
") And, if you do have more than one phone, you'll need to buy another case since this kit only comes with one.",
"However, if you only need it for a one iPhone household that should be fine, right?",
"Well, in my opinion...",
"not exactly...",
"The second design issue I had with it is that, in this case, there is no way to charge your phone in the car.",
"The bottom of the phone is blocked because the case has a plug that fits into your phone from within the case.",
"For me, it's a real drawback that the bottom can't just slide off the case or unsnap and open to allow me to charge the phone at work away from this charger or in my car.",
"I use my GPS often on the phone and talk on the phone often in my car so not being able to easily plug it in isn't good for me.",
"The day I realized this, my phone was losing juice as I expected an important call while driving.",
"In order to charge it, I needed to get the rubber case off.",
"But the rubber case is quite snug so driving and trying to remove it to charge it wasn't the safest thing to do...",
"I pulled over to do it.",
"Because you also can't access the bottom of your phone easily, that also means you need to remove the case every time you wish to sync it...",
"they should have had some kind of removable bottom to make doing so easy because it's not exactly a quick fix to get the case on and off.",
"That said, if you only charge your phone at home, never need to charge it in the car or work, and don't sync often, I'd say this is perfect for that usage.",
"The charging grid will fit two iPhones.",
"I believe it says it fits up to 4 but maybe that means you have to have the phones all half off the mat because only 2 would fit on it.",
"Additionally, I don't care for a matte black case since makeup shows up on it more easily...",
"and it's the only option with the kit.",
"Conclusion: The charge worked easily.",
"I wish this worked by merely having the wireless plug attach onto the bottom of my phone without having a whole case around it, however--for the reasons noted."
] |
I had installed Bitdefender on both my PC and my Mom's PC. After a few weeks it became clear that something was wrong. On a reboot, or resume from hibernation, there were occasions when the bitdefender icon in the system tray would be grayed out. Hovering over it only indicated that the process had failed to start and to reboot the system. I went into to computer management to check the logs but Vista was not recording anything for this so i had pretty much nothing diagnostically useful. Rather than struggle I just uninstalled it. I also read some of the other reviews and I saw that at least two other people have reported this as an issue. Maybe bitdefender will deal with this in an update.
On the virus detection front this AV is very good. I'm also a fan of the system scan for programs that need to be updated (even though a lot of other reviewers have complained about that). This is critically important because many viruses gain access to systems via programs (Adobe Reader, VLC, Flash, Java, etc) that are out of date and need patches to be applied.
I thought the plug-in (IE and Firefox) for scanning websites was primitive and not of much use. | 1 | neutral | [
"I had installed Bitdefender on both my PC and my Mom's PC.",
"After a few weeks it became clear that something was wrong.",
"On a reboot, or resume from hibernation, there were occasions when the bitdefender icon in the system tray would be grayed out.",
"Hovering over it only indicated that the process had failed to start and to reboot the system.",
"I went into to computer management to check the logs but Vista was not recording anything for this so i had pretty much nothing diagnostically useful.",
"Rather than struggle I just uninstalled it.",
"I also read some of the other reviews and I saw that at least two other people have reported this as an issue.",
"Maybe bitdefender will deal with this in an update.",
"On the virus detection front this AV is very good.",
"I'm also a fan of the system scan for programs that need to be updated (even though a lot of other reviewers have complained about that).",
"This is critically important because many viruses gain access to systems via programs (Adobe Reader, VLC, Flash, Java, etc) that are out of date and need patches to be applied.",
"I thought the plug-in (IE and Firefox) for scanning websites was primitive and not of much use."
] |
Ok so here is how this game breaks down. Time and time again I am having these babble ridden reviews shoved down my throat and it is time to chime in.
This game was built for the online community, end of story. Being a long time veteran of online multiplayer games such as MOHAA, D2, HALO etc.. etc... Two of which I have built and been members of clans, owned servers, PWNT ALL. I can honestly say that this is a top notch multiplayer game, I say again for the mentally challenged... MULTIPLAYER!!! The single player story is weak at best, it looks great but it is weak I will grant everyone that. However, launch that multiplayer game, join a server, spark up that double sided saber, get into a one on one with another live player and the adrenaline does flow... Use the speed force and or the pull push force, any of the three detonators they give you or a multitude of blasters just for fun and you cannot go wrong.
For those familiar with online gameplay, you know that pings are important. In MOHAA, if you have a ping of 180, you have the worst possible response time and most likely end up on your face dead before you've even see the enemy..... And this is with graphics set to minimum. With JA, your ping can be 180 and the gameply is still seamless even with all the graphics, colors and action. Very few interruptions in gameplay which is also refreshing.
Overall:
Gameplay=Great
Graphics=Great
Single Plyaer=Weak
Multiplayer=Great
Sound=Great
Charater Mods=Weak
If you like multiplayer? I highley recommend it. If you are a single player noob that only enjoys playing with yourself? Look elsewhere... Might I suggest that sing along barbie game? | 1 | neutral | [
"Ok so here is how this game breaks down.",
"Time and time again I am having these babble ridden reviews shoved down my throat and it is time to chime in.",
"This game was built for the online community, end of story.",
"Being a long time veteran of online multiplayer games such as MOHAA, D2, HALO etc..",
"etc...",
"Two of which I have built and been members of clans, owned servers, PWNT ALL.",
"I can honestly say that this is a top notch multiplayer game, I say again for the mentally challenged...",
"MULTIPLAYER!!!",
"The single player story is weak at best, it looks great but it is weak I will grant everyone that.",
"However, launch that multiplayer game, join a server, spark up that double sided saber, get into a one on one with another live player and the adrenaline does flow...",
"Use the speed force and or the pull push force, any of the three detonators they give you or a multitude of blasters just for fun and you cannot go wrong.",
"For those familiar with online gameplay, you know that pings are important.",
"In MOHAA, if you have a ping of 180, you have the worst possible response time and most likely end up on your face dead before you've even see the enemy....",
".",
"And this is with graphics set to minimum.",
"With JA, your ping can be 180 and the gameply is still seamless even with all the graphics, colors and action.",
"Very few interruptions in gameplay which is also refreshing.",
"Overall:\n\nGameplay=Great\n\nGraphics=Great\n\nSingle Plyaer=Weak\n\nMultiplayer=Great\n\nSound=Great\n\nCharater Mods=Weak\n\nIf you like multiplayer?",
"I highley recommend it.",
"If you are a single player noob that only enjoys playing with yourself?",
"Look elsewhere...",
"Might I suggest that sing along barbie game?"
] |
the history channel helped throw this one together.its accurate historicly.it gives the story in detail before each battle.each battle is a real battle.the objectives are real things the soldiers did to turn the tide of the battle in thier favor etc.if your kids like shooting stuff up get them this game.its very educational but at the same time quite fun.
the guns are also the same as back in the day also.so be ready to reload A LOT and have to use tools and what not to set your gun up to fire again.some guns have to be partialy taken apart also.you have your standard explosive/shotgun/rifle/sniper/melee set up with most shoot em up games.but these ones are quite slow.but if it helps the others you are battling have slow old weopons as well.
i really enjoyed playing this game.my only real beef is this.i checked on all of americas 11 wars and only 3 of them have a video game for them unless you are on pc.ww2,viet nam and the civil war weren't the only wars.there are 8 more.i say in the interest of memorial day,education and money someone should get off thier butt and get started on this already! | 1 | neutral | [
"the history channel helped throw this one together.",
"its accurate historicly.",
"it gives the story in detail before each battle.",
"each battle is a real battle.",
"the objectives are real things the soldiers did to turn the tide of the battle in thier favor etc.",
"if your kids like shooting stuff up get them this game.",
"its very educational but at the same time quite fun.",
"the guns are also the same as back in the day also.",
"so be ready to reload A LOT and have to use tools and what not to set your gun up to fire again.",
"some guns have to be partialy taken apart also.",
"you have your standard explosive/shotgun/rifle/sniper/melee set up with most shoot em up games.",
"but these ones are quite slow.",
"but if it helps the others you are battling have slow old weopons as well.",
"i really enjoyed playing this game.",
"my only real beef is this.",
"i checked on all of americas 11 wars and only 3 of them have a video game for them unless you are on pc.",
"ww2,viet nam and the civil war weren't the only wars.",
"there are 8 more.",
"i say in the interest of memorial day,education and money someone should get off thier butt and get started on this already!"
] |
Makes great coffee, and that's what a coffee pot is supposed to do. There are three things that need improvement. 1. It's plastic, not stainless. Don't be fooled by the looks in the pic. 2. Every time I pour myself a cup of coffee I end up with coffee on the counter top. The design does not allow you to pour without spilling unless you are careful to not pour out too quickly (and it doesn't take much to spill). 3. The third and most annoying feature is that the pause and serve never fully pauses. It always drips onto the hotplate while you are pouring a cup. Always.
If they could improve those features, this would be a stellar coffee pot. | 1 | neutral | [
"Makes great coffee, and that's what a coffee pot is supposed to do.",
"There are three things that need improvement.",
"1.",
"It's plastic, not stainless.",
"Don't be fooled by the looks in the pic.",
"2.",
"Every time I pour myself a cup of coffee I end up with coffee on the counter top.",
"The design does not allow you to pour without spilling unless you are careful to not pour out too quickly (and it doesn't take much to spill).",
"3.",
"The third and most annoying feature is that the pause and serve never fully pauses.",
"It always drips onto the hotplate while you are pouring a cup.",
"Always.",
"If they could improve those features, this would be a stellar coffee pot."
] |
Ph measurement has always been a tricky business. This is simple but does not necessarily mean easy. You definitely need some reliable standard for calibration. Otherwise the data is likely off. Comes with some calibration salt packets with limited instructions. One time use for each, kinda. Everything you do requires very clean and stable containers since everything affects Ph. I used some distilled ager and found arcading varying from 7 to 5.6 over a few minutes. How much was the local contamination and how much was the meter? Only a reliable standard can help sort out the results. This can be useful tool or wasteful toy depending on the use. | 1 | neutral | [
"Ph measurement has always been a tricky business.",
"This is simple but does not necessarily mean easy.",
"You definitely need some reliable standard for calibration.",
"Otherwise the data is likely off.",
"Comes with some calibration salt packets with limited instructions.",
"One time use for each, kinda.",
"Everything you do requires very clean and stable containers since everything affects Ph.",
"I used some distilled ager and found arcading varying from 7 to 5.",
"6 over a few minutes.",
"How much was the local contamination and how much was the meter?",
"Only a reliable standard can help sort out the results.",
"This can be useful tool or wasteful toy depending on the use."
] |
You play as Wario, and this is a typical platform game. Jump on platform, jump on enemies (some of them).
To make things interesting you collect coins and treasure, there is hidden treasure in this game and you need to complete certain areas, then go back and find the treasure.
You need 10 coins to open the last door on every course, the rest of the money you can spend on 2 different minigames.
The first one is simply luck, you pick a bucket that you think contains a bag of cash. If you get right, you double coins, if you pick the wrong bucket, you loose half the coins.
The other mini-game (you need at least 20 coins) you throw bombs at enemies, time their speed of movement with how hard you throw the bomb.
Depending how many you hit, and how much you paid to play (there are three levels), you get different prices.
The rest of the money goes into Wario's treasure "vault" (rather screen)
The graphic and the music are really good for gameboy.
There are power-up hats for Wario to wear.
A viking hat that enable you to "butt" the ground so enemies fall over and crush blocks.
Dragon-hat that breaths fire.
A jet-hat that enables you to fly forward a certain distance.
And just the regular hat, so you can become regular Wario instead of mini-Wario (which you become if hit by a monster)
The game automatically saves itself, so you just turn the game off when you feel like it.
My biggest issue with this game is how bad Wario moves at times.
In the beginning, he feels a little slow and clumsy.
Near the end, especially when fighting bosses, you get irritated.
Wario mostly died in the game because he jumped to short or he moved to slow.
I mean, the guy walks snail-speed!
And most of the bosses are very quick, so even if you jump, Wario is so slow he dosen't get halfway up in the air, gets hit and dies.
And other time, he LANDS so slow after jumping, he lands in the faces of the monster and dies!
Talk about annoying!
The last boss just feels helpless trying to have Wario save the day, you are supposed to climb up on clouds and hit the boss head, but Wario is so slow the clouds fly away before he can jump up on them!
He also dogdes the boss attacks badly, like mentioned previously, if he manages to get away from one attack, he usually end up landing badly on a monster and dies anyway. | 1 | neutral | [
"You play as Wario, and this is a typical platform game.",
"Jump on platform, jump on enemies (some of them).",
"To make things interesting you collect coins and treasure, there is hidden treasure in this game and you need to complete certain areas, then go back and find the treasure.",
"You need 10 coins to open the last door on every course, the rest of the money you can spend on 2 different minigames.",
"The first one is simply luck, you pick a bucket that you think contains a bag of cash.",
"If you get right, you double coins, if you pick the wrong bucket, you loose half the coins.",
"The other mini-game (you need at least 20 coins) you throw bombs at enemies, time their speed of movement with how hard you throw the bomb.",
"Depending how many you hit, and how much you paid to play (there are three levels), you get different prices.",
"The rest of the money goes into Wario's treasure \"vault\" (rather screen)\n\nThe graphic and the music are really good for gameboy.",
"There are power-up hats for Wario to wear.",
"A viking hat that enable you to \"butt\" the ground so enemies fall over and crush blocks.",
"Dragon-hat that breaths fire.",
"A jet-hat that enables you to fly forward a certain distance.",
"And just the regular hat, so you can become regular Wario instead of mini-Wario (which you become if hit by a monster)\n\nThe game automatically saves itself, so you just turn the game off when you feel like it.",
"My biggest issue with this game is how bad Wario moves at times.",
"In the beginning, he feels a little slow and clumsy.",
"Near the end, especially when fighting bosses, you get irritated.",
"Wario mostly died in the game because he jumped to short or he moved to slow.",
"I mean, the guy walks snail-speed!",
"And most of the bosses are very quick, so even if you jump, Wario is so slow he dosen't get halfway up in the air, gets hit and dies.",
"And other time, he LANDS so slow after jumping, he lands in the faces of the monster and dies!",
"Talk about annoying!",
"The last boss just feels helpless trying to have Wario save the day, you are supposed to climb up on clouds and hit the boss head, but Wario is so slow the clouds fly away before he can jump up on them!",
"He also dogdes the boss attacks badly, like mentioned previously, if he manages to get away from one attack, he usually end up landing badly on a monster and dies anyway."
] |
Neil Young put together this compilation album in 1993 as a buy-out from Geffen Records. To Neil's credit, he did some manuevering to create a salable product, at least for his own loyal fan base. Unfortunately, the Geffen years were Neil's least prodigious, and some of Neil's choices for this project are wide open for second-guessers like me and you.
The Geffen years included Young songs copyrighted between 1982 and 1988, one year shy of the landmark 'Freedom' CD (Geffen must not be living right). 'Lucky Thirteen' opens with two songs from his 1983 release 'Trans', 'Sample and Hold' and 'Transformer Man'. While the extended version of 'Sample and Hold' (originally offered on the European import version of the album) is nice to have, 'Transformer Man' can be found on three other Young discs and two video releases. An unreleased composition from the 'Old Ways' sessions, 'Depression Blues' follows, a nice but unspectacular acoustic track. Two tracks from the officially released 'Old Ways' disc are also included, 'Once An Angel' and 'Where Is the Highway Tonight'. 'Once An Angel' is easily the better track chosen from this collection of acoustic country compositions.
Twice on this CD Neil wisely dips into some live material that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day. The 'Old Ways' tracks are split by two live recordings of Neil and The Shocking Pinks on their 1983 tour. Captured live in Dayton, Young offers two unreleased compositions, the rockabilly 'Get Gone', which fits in well with other retro-rockers from the 'Everybody's Rockin' disc, and 'Don't Take Your Love Away From Me', a pure blues-rock number in the same vein as 'After Berlin' from this same time period.
Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. In the mid-1980's, Young produced two of his weakest efforts. From 'Landing On Water', released in 1986, we get the synthesizer driven 'Hippie Dream', which ironically lowballs the era and mindset that spawned Young's own career, with 'Wooden Ships' taking an undeserved broadside, and 'Pressure', which sounds like an adrenalin-laced bad Devo imitation. Young barfed on 'Landing On Water' with 'Life', and despite returning Crazy Horse to the studio, Young remained in songwriting misery. 'Around the World' and 'Mideast Vacation' are only mediocre by Young standards.
Numbers 12 and 13 return to the live recording strategy, and work well. Neil's last official production with Geffen was 'This Note's For You', a quality work that signaled Young's return to form. We're caught by two catchy tunes from the road, the first being the unreleased 'Ain't It the Truth', a song Neil first performed with his band The Squires in 1964. It's a nice little rocker with obvious historical interest for Young fans. We also get a live version of the title track from 'This Notes For You', an energetic protest number skewering commercialism, recorded in the World Headquarters for Commercialism, Hollywood, California and ending up on this all-too-commercial disc for entirely commercial reasons.
If you're into creating your own CD's, it's nice to have these unreleased and live recordings to add to other period pieces. For instance, try tacking the live Shocking Pink's tracks onto the end of 'Everybody's Rockin' to fill out that sparse disc. And if you wisely have not slapped good money down for some of Neil's misguided 1980's products ('Old Ways', 'Landing On Water' and 'Life'), here's your chance to possess proof of your wisdom. It's almost comical to compare this 'greatest hits' package with other Neil Young compilations such as 'Decade' or 'Live Rust', but at the same time Young has found ways to fire up the interest of his followers. Lyrics are included in this, one of the strangest compilations you'll ever come across. | 1 | neutral | [
"Neil Young put together this compilation album in 1993 as a buy-out from Geffen Records.",
"To Neil's credit, he did some manuevering to create a salable product, at least for his own loyal fan base.",
"Unfortunately, the Geffen years were Neil's least prodigious, and some of Neil's choices for this project are wide open for second-guessers like me and you.",
"The Geffen years included Young songs copyrighted between 1982 and 1988, one year shy of the landmark 'Freedom' CD (Geffen must not be living right).",
"'Lucky Thirteen' opens with two songs from his 1983 release 'Trans', 'Sample and Hold' and 'Transformer Man'.",
"While the extended version of 'Sample and Hold' (originally offered on the European import version of the album) is nice to have, 'Transformer Man' can be found on three other Young discs and two video releases.",
"An unreleased composition from the 'Old Ways' sessions, 'Depression Blues' follows, a nice but unspectacular acoustic track.",
"Two tracks from the officially released 'Old Ways' disc are also included, 'Once An Angel' and 'Where Is the Highway Tonight'.",
"'Once An Angel' is easily the better track chosen from this collection of acoustic country compositions.",
"Twice on this CD Neil wisely dips into some live material that wouldn't otherwise see the light of day.",
"The 'Old Ways' tracks are split by two live recordings of Neil and The Shocking Pinks on their 1983 tour.",
"Captured live in Dayton, Young offers two unreleased compositions, the rockabilly 'Get Gone', which fits in well with other retro-rockers from the 'Everybody's Rockin' disc, and 'Don't Take Your Love Away From Me', a pure blues-rock number in the same vein as 'After Berlin' from this same time period.",
"Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come.",
"In the mid-1980's, Young produced two of his weakest efforts.",
"From 'Landing On Water', released in 1986, we get the synthesizer driven 'Hippie Dream', which ironically lowballs the era and mindset that spawned Young's own career, with 'Wooden Ships' taking an undeserved broadside, and 'Pressure', which sounds like an adrenalin-laced bad Devo imitation.",
"Young barfed on 'Landing On Water' with 'Life', and despite returning Crazy Horse to the studio, Young remained in songwriting misery.",
"'Around the World' and 'Mideast Vacation' are only mediocre by Young standards.",
"Numbers 12 and 13 return to the live recording strategy, and work well.",
"Neil's last official production with Geffen was 'This Note's For You', a quality work that signaled Young's return to form.",
"We're caught by two catchy tunes from the road, the first being the unreleased 'Ain't It the Truth', a song Neil first performed with his band The Squires in 1964.",
"It's a nice little rocker with obvious historical interest for Young fans.",
"We also get a live version of the title track from 'This Notes For You', an energetic protest number skewering commercialism, recorded in the World Headquarters for Commercialism, Hollywood, California and ending up on this all-too-commercial disc for entirely commercial reasons.",
"If you're into creating your own CD's, it's nice to have these unreleased and live recordings to add to other period pieces.",
"For instance, try tacking the live Shocking Pink's tracks onto the end of 'Everybody's Rockin' to fill out that sparse disc.",
"And if you wisely have not slapped good money down for some of Neil's misguided 1980's products ('Old Ways', 'Landing On Water' and 'Life'), here's your chance to possess proof of your wisdom.",
"It's almost comical to compare this 'greatest hits' package with other Neil Young compilations such as 'Decade' or 'Live Rust', but at the same time Young has found ways to fire up the interest of his followers.",
"Lyrics are included in this, one of the strangest compilations you'll ever come across."
] |
I havnt played the lost chapters just the original one but that choice isn't on amazon so here i am. Okay first of all this game doesnt have that much stuff to do. Not like everyone says it is. You want to replay it a lot to make your character another thing like more mage so you want to start a new game but you don't thinking about the obnoxious quests in the game. This game is super super easy you don't even have to try. The thing is you cant lvl up without quests unless you have a lot of time collecting small ammount of killing other things but that takes forever and ever. The game is very short. main quest beatable in a day and not much for choices on what your character wears. You feel really closed in walking around because you stay on one path from city to city and it does break off into other areas but you hardly find yourself in an open area and you feal you HAVE to go that way. It is fun leveling up your character but its a game you can put down without a second thought.rent it first. | 1 | neutral | [
"I havnt played the lost chapters just the original one but that choice isn't on amazon so here i am.",
"Okay first of all this game doesnt have that much stuff to do.",
"Not like everyone says it is.",
"You want to replay it a lot to make your character another thing like more mage so you want to start a new game but you don't thinking about the obnoxious quests in the game.",
"This game is super super easy you don't even have to try.",
"The thing is you cant lvl up without quests unless you have a lot of time collecting small ammount of killing other things but that takes forever and ever.",
"The game is very short.",
"main quest beatable in a day and not much for choices on what your character wears.",
"You feel really closed in walking around because you stay on one path from city to city and it does break off into other areas but you hardly find yourself in an open area and you feal you HAVE to go that way.",
"It is fun leveling up your character but its a game you can put down without a second thought.",
"rent it first."
] |
The Battle against Islamic State
Smoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in Raqqa Syria August 15 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo
In the end IS suffered its most decisive defeat and watched their self-proclaimed caliphate evaporate in Iraq then in Syria as Kurdish-led forces retook Raqqa ISâs urban stronghold there.
The battle for Raqqa which became ISâs operational base in Syria had a different feel to it as U.S.-backed Kurds and Arabs in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) tightened their siege.
In the weeks before Raqqaâs fall in October young female SDF fighters faced off against hardened militants and suffered losses. But that did not curb their enthusiasm and some said they would eventually like to join Kurdish PKK militants in Turkey and help advance their 33-year-old insurgency there.
After ISâs defeat in Raqqa Raqqa residents formed a council to run the city but they had no budget when it was first set up just residents streaming into their tin run-down headquarters demanding everything from instant jobs to getting their damaged farmland back.
The Kurdish groups who led the fight against Islamic State in its former capital Raqqa must now navigate a complex peace to avoid ethnic tension with the cityâs Arab majority and to secure critical U.S. aid.
So life for Raqqa âs victors will remain fraught with risk. | 1 | neutral | [
"The Battle against Islamic State\nSmoke rises after an air strike during fighting between members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State militants in Raqqa Syria August 15 2017.",
"REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo\nIn the end IS suffered its most decisive defeat and watched their self-proclaimed caliphate evaporate in Iraq then in Syria as Kurdish-led forces retook Raqqa ISâs urban stronghold there.",
"The battle for Raqqa which became ISâs operational base in Syria had a different feel to it as U.",
"S.-backed Kurds and Arabs in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) tightened their siege.",
"In the weeks before Raqqaâs fall in October young female SDF fighters faced off against hardened militants and suffered losses.",
"But that did not curb their enthusiasm and some said they would eventually like to join Kurdish PKK militants in Turkey and help advance their 33-year-old insurgency there.",
"After ISâs defeat in Raqqa Raqqa residents formed a council to run the city but they had no budget when it was first set up just residents streaming into their tin run-down headquarters demanding everything from instant jobs to getting their damaged farmland back.",
"The Kurdish groups who led the fight against Islamic State in its former capital Raqqa must now navigate a complex peace to avoid ethnic tension with the cityâs Arab majority and to secure critical U.",
"S. aid.",
"So life for Raqqa âs victors will remain fraught with risk."
] |
2 deputies shot responding to domestic dispute in Virginia
WUSA-TV cites Sheriff Michael Chapman as saying the dispute involved was between a father and his 19-year-old daughter. Three deputies were on scene to try to de-escalate the situation for about an hour. Things became heated when deputies followed the father upstairs in the residence to make an arrest WUSA-TV writes.
"From what we can gather and again this is preliminary information he reached for a gun and almost simultaneously he was tazed and as he was being apprehended he managed to get several shots off " said Sheriff Chapman .
Chapman said the suspect shot a female deputy in the leg and also hit a male deputy in the arm and both legs. Both were rushed to a nearby hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. It was the third deputy who took the suspect into custody.
.@LoudounSheriff spokesperson tells me the initial call came in shortly before 4p. Still looking into what time shots were fired. Told Sheriff Chapman is with the Deputies at the hospital & plans to update reporters after @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/RBn8FooNXD â Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) December 24 2017
"I'm just grateful with all things being considered that it's ... turned out as good as it has " Chapman said. | 1 | neutral | [
"2 deputies shot responding to domestic dispute in Virginia\nWUSA-TV cites Sheriff Michael Chapman as saying the dispute involved was between a father and his 19-year-old daughter.",
"Three deputies were on scene to try to de-escalate the situation for about an hour.",
"Things became heated when deputies followed the father upstairs in the residence to make an arrest WUSA-TV writes.",
"\"From what we can gather and again this is preliminary information he reached for a gun and almost simultaneously he was tazed and as he was being apprehended he managed to get several shots off \" said Sheriff Chapman.",
"Chapman said the suspect shot a female deputy in the leg and also hit a male deputy in the arm and both legs.",
"Both were rushed to a nearby hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.",
"It was the third deputy who took the suspect into custody.",
".",
"@LoudounSheriff spokesperson tells me the initial call came in shortly before 4p.",
"Still looking into what time shots were fired.",
"Told Sheriff Chapman is with the Deputies at the hospital & plans to update reporters after @wusa9 pic.",
"twitter.",
"com/RBn8FooNXD â Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) December 24 2017\n\"I'm just grateful with all things being considered that it's...",
"turned out as good as it has \" Chapman said."
] |
I just got done playing Duke Nukem: "Land of the babes" and noticed a few reviewers where saying that game was nowhere near as good as Time To Kill or the other title. So after enjoying Land of the Babes, I couldn't wait to get into this one and see what made it so much better? But to my disappointment... what the heck makes it any different or better????
This one here I say is pretty much the same game as Land of the Babes, apart from different stages and a few enemies, only a small amount of guns are different from the other title, but none the less, they could easily have both been part of the exact same game.
Now, I'm not bagging this game, don't get me wrong, but I think it's just as equal to Land of the Babes. Maybe this one stands out a little more because some stages resemble that of Zero Hour on the Nintendo 64, but lets be honest, Zero Hour is a far superior game on every level. Literally.
Maybe Time to Kill requires a bit more searching around to get through levels, that part may be a little bit harder, but in the end, I felt like I had played the same game twice, and was a little bored by the end of it. By the time I blew away the final boss, I expected the ending to be disappointing, and low and behold, possibly the most disappointing ending in Duke Nukem history.
Of coarse, maybe had I been playing this 10 years ago or around the time this game came out, maybe it might have seemed a lot better at the time... but no wait, Zero Hour was made too, and that game rocked my world... but this one here, euhhh, I can see why some might like it better than Land of the Babes, but it's only by a small fraction.
Overall, if you play another DN title on the PS1 before this, you may think either "Ummm, this is the same game" or "Oh, goodie! More levels!". | 1 | neutral | [
"I just got done playing Duke Nukem: \"Land of the babes\" and noticed a few reviewers where saying that game was nowhere near as good as Time To Kill or the other title.",
"So after enjoying Land of the Babes, I couldn't wait to get into this one and see what made it so much better?",
"But to my disappointment...",
"what the heck makes it any different or better????",
"This one here I say is pretty much the same game as Land of the Babes, apart from different stages and a few enemies, only a small amount of guns are different from the other title, but none the less, they could easily have both been part of the exact same game.",
"Now, I'm not bagging this game, don't get me wrong, but I think it's just as equal to Land of the Babes.",
"Maybe this one stands out a little more because some stages resemble that of Zero Hour on the Nintendo 64, but lets be honest, Zero Hour is a far superior game on every level.",
"Literally.",
"Maybe Time to Kill requires a bit more searching around to get through levels, that part may be a little bit harder, but in the end, I felt like I had played the same game twice, and was a little bored by the end of it.",
"By the time I blew away the final boss, I expected the ending to be disappointing, and low and behold, possibly the most disappointing ending in Duke Nukem history.",
"Of coarse, maybe had I been playing this 10 years ago or around the time this game came out, maybe it might have seemed a lot better at the time...",
"but no wait, Zero Hour was made too, and that game rocked my world...",
"but this one here, euhhh, I can see why some might like it better than Land of the Babes, but it's only by a small fraction.",
"Overall, if you play another DN title on the PS1 before this, you may think either \"Ummm, this is the same game\" or \"Oh, goodie!",
"More levels!",
"\"."
] |
I've followed V.J. Chambers for a long time, starting my love for her with the Jason and Azazel books. I was sucked into those books because V.J. Chambers wasn't scared to pull the blanket off the typical YA books. She wrote what teenagers felt and did. With hormones raging and cursing galore, she caused such controversy in that trilogy. There was also a lot of action and the female lead wasn't a Bella Swan. She was strong and fought for her life through each book. I admired her and I admire Chambers to be able to bring such a character to life.
With all of this being said, I thought Brighter was okay.. Not something I expected to see from Chambers at all. I still like how she delivers the characters and keeps the suspense locked down at all the appropriate times. I still thought the main character was likable.
Ramona is stuck in the her town...wondering where to go with her life now. But then, things start happening. Things that make her question what is really going on in this town and if the others who claim that the town sucks you in were lying or if what they were saying should be taken in a literal sense. As things start unfolding Ramona is stuck wondering who she should and shouldn't trust...not knowing who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. She soon learns she must trust no one.
I don't want to give away spoilers and while I thought this book was decent, I hated the ending. It was the bad beginning to a promise of a series. I don't think Chambers has plans to continue with a series which is why the ending fell short for me.
The writing was good and from what I remember there weren't very many errors if any at all. The characters that matter are developed and you find yourself rooting for them. Chambers creates a world all her own and brings eeriness to the book and you are left wondering exactly what is going on. Suspecting anything from Aliens to Supernatural beings....the list goes crazy when you try to figure it out with Ramona. I do remember my heart racing at some points hoping that a certain this or that wouldn't happen and that Ramona would make it out.
This book, thankfully, did not detour me from wanting to read other works by Chambers simply because I love the taboo of the books and how she isn't afraid to be the one to cause controversy. I admire her boldness and I admire the way she develops her characters and thinks outside the norm and isn't afraid to go dark in a YA novel.
I bought this book back when the price was much lower. I noticed that Amazon was recommending me to review this book since I had just finished a book review for someone else so I thought I would go ahead and jump on over to do so and was appalled by the Kindle price of this. $7.99 for a Kindle edition? I just don't understand the logic behind this spike in pricing. I've spoke with a ton of Indie Authors who agree that $2.99 for a normal-sized book is more than fair on Kindle edition. Those writers are also saying that $7.99 -$9.99 is what they typically charge for their paperbacks.
I'm no one to judge what Chambers thinks the value of her work is...but that's rather pricey for an indie authors ebook edition and as an avid reader you will never see me throw down that much for an ebook. Never. I'd rather browse Hastings' used section for paperbacks and get a book I can actually hold and sit on my bookshelf. For the record, I wouldn't even purchase a kindle edition that cost this much by a traditionally published author. The price, does not convey my actual review and isn't the reason I gave the book a 3-star by any means. I prefer not to rate a book based on price. I am glad I got to review this book and paid a reasonable price for it because had I just been getting around to purchasing it...well, lets just say this review would not exist because I would not have bought it. | 1 | neutral | [
"I've followed V.",
"J. Chambers for a long time, starting my love for her with the Jason and Azazel books.",
"I was sucked into those books because V.",
"J. Chambers wasn't scared to pull the blanket off the typical YA books.",
"She wrote what teenagers felt and did.",
"With hormones raging and cursing galore, she caused such controversy in that trilogy.",
"There was also a lot of action and the female lead wasn't a Bella Swan.",
"She was strong and fought for her life through each book.",
"I admired her and I admire Chambers to be able to bring such a character to life.",
"With all of this being said, I thought Brighter was okay..",
"Not something I expected to see from Chambers at all.",
"I still like how she delivers the characters and keeps the suspense locked down at all the appropriate times.",
"I still thought the main character was likable.",
"Ramona is stuck in the her town...",
"wondering where to go with her life now.",
"But then, things start happening.",
"Things that make her question what is really going on in this town and if the others who claim that the town sucks you in were lying or if what they were saying should be taken in a literal sense.",
"As things start unfolding Ramona is stuck wondering who she should and shouldn't trust...",
"not knowing who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.",
"She soon learns she must trust no one.",
"I don't want to give away spoilers and while I thought this book was decent, I hated the ending.",
"It was the bad beginning to a promise of a series.",
"I don't think Chambers has plans to continue with a series which is why the ending fell short for me.",
"The writing was good and from what I remember there weren't very many errors if any at all.",
"The characters that matter are developed and you find yourself rooting for them.",
"Chambers creates a world all her own and brings eeriness to the book and you are left wondering exactly what is going on.",
"Suspecting anything from Aliens to Supernatural beings....",
"the list goes crazy when you try to figure it out with Ramona.",
"I do remember my heart racing at some points hoping that a certain this or that wouldn't happen and that Ramona would make it out.",
"This book, thankfully, did not detour me from wanting to read other works by Chambers simply because I love the taboo of the books and how she isn't afraid to be the one to cause controversy.",
"I admire her boldness and I admire the way she develops her characters and thinks outside the norm and isn't afraid to go dark in a YA novel.",
"I bought this book back when the price was much lower.",
"I noticed that Amazon was recommending me to review this book since I had just finished a book review for someone else so I thought I would go ahead and jump on over to do so and was appalled by the Kindle price of this.",
"$7.",
"99 for a Kindle edition?",
"I just don't understand the logic behind this spike in pricing.",
"I've spoke with a ton of Indie Authors who agree that $2.",
"99 for a normal-sized book is more than fair on Kindle edition.",
"Those writers are also saying that $7.",
"99 -$9.",
"99 is what they typically charge for their paperbacks.",
"I'm no one to judge what Chambers thinks the value of her work is...",
"but that's rather pricey for an indie authors ebook edition and as an avid reader you will never see me throw down that much for an ebook.",
"Never.",
"I'd rather browse Hastings' used section for paperbacks and get a book I can actually hold and sit on my bookshelf.",
"For the record, I wouldn't even purchase a kindle edition that cost this much by a traditionally published author.",
"The price, does not convey my actual review and isn't the reason I gave the book a 3-star by any means.",
"I prefer not to rate a book based on price.",
"I am glad I got to review this book and paid a reasonable price for it because had I just been getting around to purchasing it...",
"well, lets just say this review would not exist because I would not have bought it."
] |
I am always looking for a good eyeliner since my favorite one by The Body Shop was discontinued. I had high hopes for this one, but will keep looking.
Pros:
1. The color is great. It's not too light and not too dark.
2. I have had no irritation when using it at all.
3. It goes on nice and smooth. No gouging your eyeballs needed!
Cons:
1. It comes off way too easily. After about 30 minutes, it is all but gone and needs to be reapplied. If they could fix this issue, I'd give it five stars. As it is, it is pretty much useless. | 1 | neutral | [
"I am always looking for a good eyeliner since my favorite one by The Body Shop was discontinued.",
"I had high hopes for this one, but will keep looking.",
"Pros:\n1.",
"The color is great.",
"It's not too light and not too dark.",
"2.",
"I have had no irritation when using it at all.",
"3.",
"It goes on nice and smooth.",
"No gouging your eyeballs needed!",
"Cons:\n1.",
"It comes off way too easily.",
"After about 30 minutes, it is all but gone and needs to be reapplied.",
"If they could fix this issue, I'd give it five stars.",
"As it is, it is pretty much useless."
] |
I have ordered the Yellow from the same page twice and got different versions of the material.
Going off other comments from people who ordered this product yellow seemed to have the highest success rate.
The first order was translucent and it worked perfectly both 80mm/s @ 230 and 40mm/s @ 210. I had NO problems with the translucent filament roll.
The second roll I ordered a month later. When I opened it to switch out rolls mid print and found that it wasn't the same: the second roll I received, ordered from the same page, was an Opaque yellow. I let it run the rest of the print (no choice) and found it having a lower consistency on keeping the edges aligned (producing a greater variety of visible layering) and containing more gaps between the printed layers on curved surfaces.
I reorder a product because I know it works. If I reorder a product from the exact same page and receive a different product it hurts my trust in the company, the brand, and products it creates. I'm debating if I will give them another try when I need to reorder. | 1 | neutral | [
"I have ordered the Yellow from the same page twice and got different versions of the material.",
"Going off other comments from people who ordered this product yellow seemed to have the highest success rate.",
"The first order was translucent and it worked perfectly both 80mm/s @ 230 and 40mm/s @ 210.",
"I had NO problems with the translucent filament roll.",
"The second roll I ordered a month later.",
"When I opened it to switch out rolls mid print and found that it wasn't the same: the second roll I received, ordered from the same page, was an Opaque yellow.",
"I let it run the rest of the print (no choice) and found it having a lower consistency on keeping the edges aligned (producing a greater variety of visible layering) and containing more gaps between the printed layers on curved surfaces.",
"I reorder a product because I know it works.",
"If I reorder a product from the exact same page and receive a different product it hurts my trust in the company, the brand, and products it creates.",
"I'm debating if I will give them another try when I need to reorder."
] |
In my quest to appease the End of the World gods, I bought a case of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and a case of this...Hormel White and Dark Chicken. It seemed like a good idea at the time, especially because I just finished reading a book about a family who, with just an armory full of weapons, the combined fighting skills of the Marines and the Ninjas, and enough stockpiled food (and a farm) to last them 100 years, managed to survive some really bad events. And okay, the bourbon and soda I drank might have influenced me a little too. Anyway, I ordered a case of each. Trust me, there is no event so bad that it will not be made worse by eating either. The ravioli was just plain bad, but anyone with a mind free of bourbon should be able to figure that out. The chicken, however, took me by surprise.
First of all, when you open the can, it's about half water (chicken juice?). When you pour off this rather viscous and somewhat unpleasant liquid, you are left with odd shards, strings and lumps of what must have been the Wally Cox of chickendom. The label shows these big nuggets of tasty looking meat. Don't kid yourself. It tastes like salty nothing, by the way. No real chicken taste.
I don't give up easily (and I love canned tuna in water, so you know I'm not fussy), so I got out some mayo, some green onions, celery, seasonings (I went for a lemony middle-eastern blend that usually makes anything taste good). I mixed it all up, spread it on some toasted sourdough and...nada. It still didn't taste good. My second attempt involved pouring a can into a box of Chicken Flavored Rice-a-Roni (okay, I ordered a case of that too...it might have been two glasses of bourbon). The Rice-A-Roni, by the way, is pretty good. I'd eat it even if the martians were not landing. But the chicken took away from the overall dish, it did not contribute.
So, here's what I have figured out. Food in cans is, generally, pretty bad. Canned soups are popular because they taste pretty good, some of them. Ditto for canned tuna and canned sardines. The rest of the stuff, not so much. And Rice-a-Roni is just as delicious today as back in the day when your mom made it. It deserves a better name though. And if The World As We Know It does come to an end, let's face it, most of us are roadkill. It might be wise to invest our entire survival budget on a couple of cans of expensive but really good Italian sardines, truffles, some top quality crab meat and real Russian caviar. We won't be around long enough to enjoy much more than that.
Three stars because, if you are hungry, it's okay and it won't hurt you. But Hormel White & Dark Chicken is just barely edging into the Fair zone. It is nowhere near Good. | 1 | neutral | [
"In my quest to appease the End of the World gods, I bought a case of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and a case of this...",
"Hormel White and Dark Chicken.",
"It seemed like a good idea at the time, especially because I just finished reading a book about a family who, with just an armory full of weapons, the combined fighting skills of the Marines and the Ninjas, and enough stockpiled food (and a farm) to last them 100 years, managed to survive some really bad events.",
"And okay, the bourbon and soda I drank might have influenced me a little too.",
"Anyway, I ordered a case of each.",
"Trust me, there is no event so bad that it will not be made worse by eating either.",
"The ravioli was just plain bad, but anyone with a mind free of bourbon should be able to figure that out.",
"The chicken, however, took me by surprise.",
"First of all, when you open the can, it's about half water (chicken juice?",
").",
"When you pour off this rather viscous and somewhat unpleasant liquid, you are left with odd shards, strings and lumps of what must have been the Wally Cox of chickendom.",
"The label shows these big nuggets of tasty looking meat.",
"Don't kid yourself.",
"It tastes like salty nothing, by the way.",
"No real chicken taste.",
"I don't give up easily (and I love canned tuna in water, so you know I'm not fussy), so I got out some mayo, some green onions, celery, seasonings (I went for a lemony middle-eastern blend that usually makes anything taste good).",
"I mixed it all up, spread it on some toasted sourdough and...",
"nada.",
"It still didn't taste good.",
"My second attempt involved pouring a can into a box of Chicken Flavored Rice-a-Roni (okay, I ordered a case of that too...",
"it might have been two glasses of bourbon).",
"The Rice-A-Roni, by the way, is pretty good.",
"I'd eat it even if the martians were not landing.",
"But the chicken took away from the overall dish, it did not contribute.",
"So, here's what I have figured out.",
"Food in cans is, generally, pretty bad.",
"Canned soups are popular because they taste pretty good, some of them.",
"Ditto for canned tuna and canned sardines.",
"The rest of the stuff, not so much.",
"And Rice-a-Roni is just as delicious today as back in the day when your mom made it.",
"It deserves a better name though.",
"And if The World As We Know It does come to an end, let's face it, most of us are roadkill.",
"It might be wise to invest our entire survival budget on a couple of cans of expensive but really good Italian sardines, truffles, some top quality crab meat and real Russian caviar.",
"We won't be around long enough to enjoy much more than that.",
"Three stars because, if you are hungry, it's okay and it won't hurt you.",
"But Hormel White & Dark Chicken is just barely edging into the Fair zone.",
"It is nowhere near Good."
] |
Jewish Republicans Excoriate Mitch McConnell Josh Holmes Senate Leadership Fund for Running Hillary Clinton Playbook Against Steve Bannon
As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies at the Senate Leadership Fund and elsewhere devolve into using failed tactics employed in 2016 by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) are hammering back at McConnell and his cronies. McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund has just like Hillary Clinton did falsely alleged that Bannon is anti-Semitic.
The Senate Leadership Fund in a move that only hurts Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) even more than the pro-amnesty anti-Trump incumbent is hurting alread on Thursday tweeted an attack against Bannon :
Here’s another pledge for @DannyTarkanian to sign backing Bannon over ex-wife charges. #NVSen pic.twitter.com/qIHE8SrAJL — Senate Ldshp Fund (@Senate_Fund) October 25 2017
In a comment to The Hill newspaper Holmes falsely alleged Bannon is a “white supremacist.”
“In 2018 we ought to revisit this question and find out if these people are still happy to be associated with Bannon ” Holmes said. “When you’re facing voters I’d take one of the most successful majority leaders in history over a white supremacist any day.”
Matt Brooks the director of the Republican Jewish Coalition said that while his group does support Heller McConnell and his cronies are wrong to make this false allegation against Bannon .
“We defended him [ Bannon ] aggressively when he faced these accusations from the left and I’ll defend him when he faces these accusations from the right ” Brooks said per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news organization adding: “Dean Heller is a perfect example where Bannon and the RJC are on different sides but I will absolutely defend Bannon — he is not anti-Semitic.”
ZOA does not invite anti-Semites to our events. Steve Bannon is the furthest thing from an anti-Semite contrary to McConnell and Holmes’s shameful lies. Steve is a proud friend of the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel. I know and have worked closely with Steve Bannon . I am appalled by these shameful attempts to smear Bannon ’s character and integrity by promoting false allegations about Bannon ’s views on Jews and Israel. This is clearly being done because of policy differences between Senator McConnell and Bannon .
He then quotes Dershowitz a liberal Harvard professor who says it is not “legitimate” or accurate to make such accusations against Bannon .
“It’s not legitimate to call [ Bannon ] an anti-Semite because you disagree with his policies ” Dershowitz said per Klein’s ZOA release. “The evidence suggests that Mr. Bannon has very good relationships with individual Jews and is supportive of Israel. I’ve seen no evidence of personal anti-Semitism on the part of Bannon .”
Klein also quotes Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus a major GOP donor as saying the attacks against Bannon are a disgrace. “I have known Steve to be a passionate supporter of Israel ” the ZOA release quotes Marcus as saying adding: “What is being done to Steve is a shonda [disgrace].”
The release from ZOA continues by quoting more people backing up Bannon :
The Anti-Defamation League acknowledged that it has found no written or verbal statements made by Bannon that were anti-Semitic. Liberal columnist and former editor of the Forward J.J. Goldberg recently wrote about these charges against Bannon “There’s no evidence. The evidence that’s tossed around doesn’t hold up. The more we cry anti-Semitism when it’s not real the more likely we won’t believe when the danger is real.” Vanity Fair reported that Bannon valiantly fought to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and refused to attend a meeting with Palestinian-Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas a Jew-hating Israel-hating terrorist. Bannon is quoted as saying “I’m not going to breathe the same air as that terrorist.”
The release from ZOA concludes by again praising Bannon and saying the organization is proud to have him at the group’s annual dinner in New York City on Nov. 12. Klein said:
Steve has helped ZOA and our battles against anti-Semitism on college campuses and has invited me a Jew and a Zionist to be a regular columnist at his Breitbart News. Anti-Semites don’t provide Morton Klein with a platform. We are proud and fortunate to have Steve Bannon on our side fighting for Israel and against anti-Semitism. And we’re honored that he will be a speaker at ZOA’s 2017 Gala where he will be introducing Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson the greatest pro-Jewish Zionists on the face of the planet.
It remains to be seen if Holmes and Senate Leadership Fund and McConnell will withdraw their false attacks against Bannon or if they will further infuriate Jewish Republicans including major GOP donors like Adelson and Marcus–and further jeopardize more incumbents like Heller. | 1 | neutral | [
"Jewish Republicans Excoriate Mitch McConnell Josh Holmes Senate Leadership Fund for Running Hillary Clinton Playbook Against Steve Bannon\nAs Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies at the Senate Leadership Fund and elsewhere devolve into using failed tactics employed in 2016 by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) are hammering back at McConnell and his cronies.",
"McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund has just like Hillary Clinton did falsely alleged that Bannon is anti-Semitic.",
"The Senate Leadership Fund in a move that only hurts Sen.",
"Dean Heller (R-NV) even more than the pro-amnesty anti-Trump incumbent is hurting alread on Thursday tweeted an attack against Bannon :\nHere’s another pledge for @DannyTarkanian to sign backing Bannon over ex-wife charges.",
"#NVSen pic.",
"twitter.",
"com/qIHE8SrAJL — Senate Ldshp Fund (@Senate_Fund) October 25 2017\nIn a comment to The Hill newspaper Holmes falsely alleged Bannon is a “white supremacist.",
"”\n“In 2018 we ought to revisit this question and find out if these people are still happy to be associated with Bannon ” Holmes said.",
"“When you’re facing voters I’d take one of the most successful majority leaders in history over a white supremacist any day.",
"”\nMatt Brooks the director of the Republican Jewish Coalition said that while his group does support Heller McConnell and his cronies are wrong to make this false allegation against Bannon.",
"“We defended him [ Bannon ] aggressively when he faced these accusations from the left and I’ll defend him when he faces these accusations from the right ” Brooks said per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news organization adding: “Dean Heller is a perfect example where Bannon and the RJC are on different sides but I will absolutely defend Bannon — he is not anti-Semitic.",
"”\nZOA does not invite anti-Semites to our events.",
"Steve Bannon is the furthest thing from an anti-Semite contrary to McConnell and Holmes’s shameful lies.",
"Steve is a proud friend of the Jewish people and the Jewish State of Israel.",
"I know and have worked closely with Steve Bannon.",
"I am appalled by these shameful attempts to smear Bannon ’s character and integrity by promoting false allegations about Bannon ’s views on Jews and Israel.",
"This is clearly being done because of policy differences between Senator McConnell and Bannon.",
"He then quotes Dershowitz a liberal Harvard professor who says it is not “legitimate” or accurate to make such accusations against Bannon.",
"“It’s not legitimate to call [ Bannon ] an anti-Semite because you disagree with his policies ” Dershowitz said per Klein’s ZOA release.",
"“The evidence suggests that Mr.",
"Bannon has very good relationships with individual Jews and is supportive of Israel.",
"I’ve seen no evidence of personal anti-Semitism on the part of Bannon.",
"”\nKlein also quotes Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus a major GOP donor as saying the attacks against Bannon are a disgrace.",
"“I have known Steve to be a passionate supporter of Israel ” the ZOA release quotes Marcus as saying adding: “What is being done to Steve is a shonda [disgrace].",
"”\nThe release from ZOA continues by quoting more people backing up Bannon :\nThe Anti-Defamation League acknowledged that it has found no written or verbal statements made by Bannon that were anti-Semitic.",
"Liberal columnist and former editor of the Forward J.",
"J. Goldberg recently wrote about these charges against Bannon “There’s no evidence.",
"The evidence that’s tossed around doesn’t hold up.",
"The more we cry anti-Semitism when it’s not real the more likely we won’t believe when the danger is real.",
"” Vanity Fair reported that Bannon valiantly fought to move the U.",
"S. Embassy to Jerusalem and refused to attend a meeting with Palestinian-Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas a Jew-hating Israel-hating terrorist.",
"Bannon is quoted as saying “I’m not going to breathe the same air as that terrorist.",
"”\nThe release from ZOA concludes by again praising Bannon and saying the organization is proud to have him at the group’s annual dinner in New York City on Nov.",
"12.",
"Klein said:\n Steve has helped ZOA and our battles against anti-Semitism on college campuses and has invited me a Jew and a Zionist to be a regular columnist at his Breitbart News.",
"Anti-Semites don’t provide Morton Klein with a platform.",
"We are proud and fortunate to have Steve Bannon on our side fighting for Israel and against anti-Semitism.",
"And we’re honored that he will be a speaker at ZOA’s 2017 Gala where he will be introducing Dr.",
"Miriam and Sheldon Adelson the greatest pro-Jewish Zionists on the face of the planet.",
"It remains to be seen if Holmes and Senate Leadership Fund and McConnell will withdraw their false attacks against Bannon or if they will further infuriate Jewish Republicans including major GOP donors like Adelson and Marcus–and further jeopardize more incumbents like Heller."
] |
It has been over a year since Rod Stewart has released a record, and unfortunately he did dissapoint. After the lackluster Soulbook album last year, and his mixed 2006 Still The Same: Rock Classics cover album, he has tried to rekindle the songs that made him a crooner from this past decade. It unfortunately has felt like he did turn off a lot of his die hard Forever Young fans, while he did have a few nice wrinkles re-issued from his classics a few years ago including a re-issuing of his Storyteller boxed set, and his acclaimed Unplugged & Seated from 1993. But with all that hype, Rod has decided to back to his crooner fashion, and try to revise his songboook series. But is it worth while? Well, maybe Ol' Blue Eyes would've not been convinced.
Fly Me To The Moon: The Great American Songbook Volume V, is Rod Stewart's return to his songbook series, that really revised him as a strong and soulful crooner. This time around, he tackles covers from Dinah Washington, and The Chairman Of The Board Frank Sinatra, in this collection. The songs aren't bad on some of the covers including I've Got You Under My Skin, I've Got The World On A String, and What A Difference A Day Made. Rod does noblely well, but he does overdo Sinatra's standards here on the record as a back to basics here, instead of trying other standards from other acts that he could've done like Sammy Davis Jr. & Dean Martin to just name a few.
While Fly Me To The Moon: The Great American Songbook Volume V, isn't a bad buy from Rod Stewart, it still honestly a much better covers' album than the one Santana made at the same time. But, it honestly isn't as domiant as the covers' album Phil Collins released last month with his Going Back album. That one was more lively. Still, if Rod does release another Great American Songbook volume, it should be more diverse from other kinds of standards' acts. Still if you've loved Rod's first four volumes of The Great American Songbook, you'll definitely like Volume V.
Album Cover: B
Songs: C 1/2+
Price: C
Mastering: C
Overall: C+ | 1 | neutral | [
"It has been over a year since Rod Stewart has released a record, and unfortunately he did dissapoint.",
"After the lackluster Soulbook album last year, and his mixed 2006 Still The Same: Rock Classics cover album, he has tried to rekindle the songs that made him a crooner from this past decade.",
"It unfortunately has felt like he did turn off a lot of his die hard Forever Young fans, while he did have a few nice wrinkles re-issued from his classics a few years ago including a re-issuing of his Storyteller boxed set, and his acclaimed Unplugged & Seated from 1993.",
"But with all that hype, Rod has decided to back to his crooner fashion, and try to revise his songboook series.",
"But is it worth while?",
"Well, maybe Ol' Blue Eyes would've not been convinced.",
"Fly Me To The Moon: The Great American Songbook Volume V, is Rod Stewart's return to his songbook series, that really revised him as a strong and soulful crooner.",
"This time around, he tackles covers from Dinah Washington, and The Chairman Of The Board Frank Sinatra, in this collection.",
"The songs aren't bad on some of the covers including I've Got You Under My Skin, I've Got The World On A String, and What A Difference A Day Made.",
"Rod does noblely well, but he does overdo Sinatra's standards here on the record as a back to basics here, instead of trying other standards from other acts that he could've done like Sammy Davis Jr.",
"& Dean Martin to just name a few.",
"While Fly Me To The Moon: The Great American Songbook Volume V, isn't a bad buy from Rod Stewart, it still honestly a much better covers' album than the one Santana made at the same time.",
"But, it honestly isn't as domiant as the covers' album Phil Collins released last month with his Going Back album.",
"That one was more lively.",
"Still, if Rod does release another Great American Songbook volume, it should be more diverse from other kinds of standards' acts.",
"Still if you've loved Rod's first four volumes of The Great American Songbook, you'll definitely like Volume V.",
"Album Cover: B\n\nSongs: C 1/2+\n\nPrice: C\n\nMastering: C\n\nOverall: C+"
] |
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