originailty takes the cake
934237
i thought this was a cute childrens book. the new charators were adorable. i loved the original red riding hood but this one takes the cake....
4902258
Granted with a title like "How Underdog Was Born", one shouldn't expect much about Total Television's other series like "King Leonardo" and "Tennessee Tuxedo", but it's here! That's the good thing. The bad thing is that the book ends abruptly after the creation of Underdog save for a couple of paragraphs about "Commander McBragg" and "Klondike Kat". Then there's a fast forward to the aborted attempt to make new "Underdog" episodes. What isn't here is what happened after "Underdog", but I guess that could be saved for the sequel? I am glad, however, that it is written by two of the original creators of the series, so it is a first hand view of what really happened.

UPDATE: If you like this book, you'll love my new book&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Created-and-Produced-by-Total-TeleVision-Productions/dp/1593933452/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Created and Produced by Total TeleVision Productions</a>
1991066
This was my introduction to Eddie Izzard ten years ago.  Loved it then.  Love it now.  It is iconic Eddie.  Showed it to a friend who had never heard of M. Izzard, and all he could do between trying to breathe between laughing and wiping the tears was ask me where this guy came from.  Or, from where did this guy come.  I hated to tell him it was thirteen years old, but it just shows how well it has translated over a decade later.  And do yourself a favor.  Choose cake.
4922383
After cutting to match with the origin key, I followed the instructions to transpond the key. It works well now. Quick shipping, I have it earlier than schedule
4260863
'Knight Rider, Vol. 1' is a sort of reboot of the original series, and this volume serves as a sort of origin story.

The story starts with Michael Knight out on a date with scientist Katherine.  He's got a smart car, but it's not quite the one we know yet.  They all work for a shadow organization and Katherine is in charge of Project:Rider, a top secret project that seems to have to do with the car that Michael drives.  When they are attacked, they learn of a betrayal within their very organization.  The car goes through a few upgrades and becomes more familiar to those who have watched the show.

Except the car seems to have a weird affectation, that I won't spoil here.  It just made the whole story a bit strange.  Then there is Michael acting touchy-feely.  The origin story is the first four issues, then there is a different additional story with different art.  It seems like it's got something workable, but based on this, I'm not so sure.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
672292
Kingdoms of Amalur - Reckoning might be one of the coolest game ever, but I doubt I will ever know or play it. I purchased it yesterday from Amazon, and after waiting for 7.42GB to download, I got the option to install. Here I was thinking I'm installing the game itself and come to find out, it installs something called Origin. Then absolutely NOTHING happened. Now typically the average user at this point would be stuck. So I looked into the download folder and found a reckoning zip file. So I unzipped it and tried running the EXE and got right back to Origin. No explanation or reasons as to why I'm at Origin again. After searching extensively for what to do, I came across the instructions on creating the folders, what goes where and that Origin is the gateway to the game. So, I run Origin again, finally after 3 - 5 minutes (which is unacceptable lag)it has me create an account, I'm able to input my code and then nothing happened. Everything just sat there again. So I went and did digging on the Origin site and removed, rebooted, cleared cache and temp folders, reinstalled and now it won't accept the product code. So, I spend two hours on a chat with Origin support. After the first hour of trying a few things I got him to understand what he wanted me to do had already been done and the problem was with the product code being recognized but for some reason didn't attach itself to my account. After being told by support he'd be back in a minute, the chat window sat for an hour with nothing being done. Shut it down, uninstalled the game and asked Amazon for a refund. I was thinking of buying the game on disc, only to find out that the disc is nothing but a product code and you'd still have to go through the cluster **ck that is Origin. Here are a few things I did discover while searching for fixes, that downloading it and installing it from Origin supposedly works better, which means Amazon should either A) be directing you to Origin for the download, or, even better, B) stop selling the PC version. Also, all of this BS you go through with Origin is supposedly to prevent pirating of the game. Bad news EA/Origin/38 Studios - the pirates have already cracked this game and it's availabe through the torrent. And, no, I don't plan on getting the game there. It's never worth the effort, to me. I highly recommend 38 Studios find someone better to work with than EA/Origin if they wish a more successful entry into the PC market. They also have some of the WORST customer service ever.
4216378
I don't know what Cake set out to do when they made "Comfort Eagle", but whatever it was they certainly did it.  This album is not like anything I have heard from Cake or anyone else, and it is pleasantly refreshing addition to the music scene of 2001.  Whether you are sitting at home chilling out or at a party "Comfort Eagle" will set the perfect mood.  Like I said earlier this album won't rock the party like a Punk album, and it won't depress you either, it will just make you feel right.  "Shadow Stabbing", "Short skirt/Long jacket", "Commissioning a symphony in c", "Comfort eagle", "Long line of cars" & "Love you madly" give this one the perfect touch.
711119
When I put together my first web page (foldingkayaks.org) back in 1997, I didn't worry too much about things like copyright, or trademarks, or libel. Back then, you were lucky if a few dozen people found your web site, and it was the rare web site that attracted a few hundred. Major corporations were still uninterested in the cyberworld, which was dominated by a few academics and researchers. Music copyright wasn't an issue, as we had no idea how you'd put music on a web site. Then AOL came along, and everything changed.

Today, the web publisher has be aware not only of copyright and trademarks, but of things like DRM, linking to content and images on other web sites, the GPL and a hundred other issues. Can I register a website called "ILikeCorvettes", or is GM going to come after me? And how free is free speech on the web?  Is it okay to call Steve Jobs a bad name? Can I say  that I hate Windows?

Luckily, for those of us who are not lawyers, Joy Butler has put together a very useful and easy to use handbook that covers all these issues, and more. She'll tell you how to avoid getting into trouble over copyright violation, including how to go about getting the rights to use copyrighted material. There's material on state laws regarding cyberstalking and cyber bullying- things the average Netizen is probably completely unaware of. There's a good discussion of cybersquatting- sitting on a name to deny others the use of it, with the hope of getting a company or individual to buy it.  Her description of the various legal traps the unwitting blogger can find themself in is alone worth the price of the book.

Is it perfect? No. The organization remind me more of a legal brief than a how-to book for non-lawyers. The typography and layout could have used the guidance of a good book designer. But as far as content and completeness are concerned, Butler has done an excellent job.

(disclaimer: I received a free review copy)
896829
Origin stories matter. In an origin story, you can find comity, a respite from isolation, and sense of kinship. For US soccer fans, the sport isn't something cultivated as an identity. Fans come to the game on their own, sometimes in their own experience, rarely through friends, and even more rarely through family. We don't inherit the game, we find it, and because of this each fan feels an acute sense of ownership and rightness. Michael Agovino has composed a memoir that is more than a story of becoming and staying a soccer supporter, it is a recollection of how he not only made the sport his own but also how his family (specifically his father) encouraged his obsession.

I was struck by just how authentic The Soccer Diaries was. In the age before the Internet, Agovino had to hunt out resources: books, mail-order VHS tapes, Spanish-language television and radio coverage, and the community of ex-patriots from all over the world who made New York Citys boroughs their home. But what is perhaps most striking about Agovinos story is just how willingly supportive his parents were about his youthful obsession. It suggests that his parents recognized this soccer bug was not mere passing fancy or phase, it was becoming a part of their sons identity. Insisting that his family fold into their trips overseas (for vacation or work) outings to whatever matches were happening in the city they found themselves, Agovino appears to have put together a rather comprehensive program collection.

The enthusiasm with which he collected those match day programs as a boy is carried through to his young adulthood and maturity where we see him not just pursue a career in sport journalism but an authentic eagerness to get to know others who reveal their nascent or deep interest in soccer. Agovino doesnt want to be superior or one of the mandarin, he wants to be your friend and soccer is the way he can do that.

The contemporary landscape of soccer would put Agovino in the Eurosnob category, because it is much easier to revert to a false dichotomy rather than genuinely engage in conversation (this is a symptom of the early social media era of the Internet). Growing up during an era where the United States lacked a professional league and a connected culture, Agovino found his desire for soccer sated via the European game. But there is clearly never a time when Agovino feels the need to exclude people from the sport, which the term Eurosnob (and its counterpart MLS fanboy) do. Rather, we have a story of someone who only caught the end of the first NASL, lived through the dark ages of zero professionalism, and the rise of new professional domestic leagues. There isn't a moment in the book where Agovino demands a litmus test of a potential fan. In fact, he recoils at this notion. Rather, he demands of himself and others like him to be catholic in their knowledge so that they can help bring more to the game. He presents us with an adult who wants to be the resource to those who versions of his younger selves.

The Soccer Diaries is the chronicle of a US soccer fan before Major League Soccer, before the United States believed in soccer and actually could give a good account of itself internationally, its the story of what we could call the first generation of the modern US soccer supporter. Those of us who grew up alongside Major League Soccer and were able to actually attend matches would be the second, and the third generation would be those who have never know our nation to not have professional leagues, a beloved national team (Mens and Womens), and a vibrant culture of coverage. Agovinos The Soccer Diaries is the testament of those patient fans who knew in their heart-of-hearts that soccer in the US wouldnt fade away, that it would grow into what we see today, and continue to do so.
447397
Author(s) unknown, but it was printed for 1908.  The concept was to assign one foreign dish for each day of that year (they seem to have omitted February 29th, as 1908 was indeed a leap year).  The value in this free, public domain book, is both in the types of foods people ate back then -- and while most people didn't season their foods for foreign appetites, they did eat the main elements of many of these dishes on a regular basis.  So, while the Indian/Hindu dishes get a mere nodding of curry powder, and Asian dishes are mostly noted by the addition of rice, there's a fair bit of tongue, tripe and other items most of us don't want to consider today.  (Our great grandparents believed in waste not, want not... in all compartments of their lives.)  The very first recipe is for Austrian Goulasch (Goulash), wherein the reader is instructed to boil 2 calves' heads in salted water, and go on from there.  Paprika is the seasoning (one teaspoon only) which ties this item into Austrian cookery.

Other foreign cuisines seem to be more accurate -- there's a Scottish haggis recipe that seems fairly valid for that culture.

I am thinking that the original book was published in the US, as there are also English and Irish foreign recipes.  There are desserts as well as various meat or vegetable dishes.  There are salads.

I like this book a lot -- it is a slice of time reflecting both what people here in America were eating, and what they were thinking were foreign foods and how they were made.  Of course, quantities of ingredients were not always, or erratically, included, and cooking times were usually vague.  ("Until tender" is sometimes as specific as it gets.)

There's no index (the original probably lacked this, too).  There are chapters (by month) that one can hotlink to on the Kindle edition of this book.  One can always use the Kindle to set up highlights towards recipes one may want to create or adapt.  For instance, tomorrow night I plan on making a salad credited to Norway which includes pickled herring and "lax", which I will assume means "lox" or smoked salmon.

If you are thinking about downloading this for recipes you'll use all the time, think again.  I'm happy to use this for the historical knowledge, and for the adaptation of a few recipes here and there.  It's free.  It's fascinating.
3203957
The game was O.K.  I wish the game allowed you to rename the property names.  In conclusion, the game was O.K.
2212886
This is worthwhile for Harry's explanation of the history of this song.  Its origin is in insulting limericks from the Philippine Islands, as sung by the people from there.
1520678
This is more a modernized remake than a true sequel to WarGames.  But, the writers/producers very smartly, though loosely, tied it into the classic original in order to get a wider audience than a random computer hacker movie called The Dead Code would get alone. Fans of the original will also enjoy this one.  Also recommended is Untraceable, another above-par computer geek flick.
2865402
Excellent! It took me awhile to find the small print that said where to download it so I figured I would write it here in case anyone else missed that. You will need an Origin account to download and play this game. :) Steam will not work for this code.
3971635
Sadly John Hargrave took down his comedy prank site, zug.com. If you were a fan like I was of it, you'll probably enjoy this book. It's not as good as most of the site had, but it does a decent job of setting up all the different pranks Mr. Hargrave pulled. One of the best ones in the book that I don't remember from the site is when he calls a guy; who was responsible for some really obnoxious spam e-mail ad that the author kept getting, in the middle of the night and kept pestering him until the guy agreed to remove him from his e-mailing list. Other than that, most of the contents in the book were found on the site, so unfortunately those who never experienced zug.com, this book will have to serve as a substitute for the former website. The "Credit Card Prank", my all time favorite prank that I've showed to many friends who ended up falling in love with it; it's here, but it's extremely condensed, All in all, this book has a few parts of different pranks John pulled that I don't remember from the site, but it's not really the same thing. Here's to lost laughter that went missing when zug.com went offline.
1797744
The premise of "Alice"'s plotline will certainly offend the sensibilities of die-hard Lewis Carroll fans; the Alice of American McGee is a delusional mental patient haunted by the fiery death of her family for which she blames herself.  If you can accept that this is not meant to be an accurate representation of Carroll's vision and is instead a derivative work, it's a deliciously twisted and original take on the whole Wonderland universe.
While the graphics are truly eye candy, the music appropriately creepy and complex, and the Quake III engine impressive, a game with this much plot potential is rendered flat and uninvolving by the strictly linear progression of the story line. Even if taken as a straight first-person shooter, the game still does not vary much or require significant strategy to progress.  I also found Alice's dependence on the jump-but-don't-fall-off hurdle to be overused and annoying; it certainly was not so heavily depended on in any Quake incarnation and did not need to be Alice's only substantial challenge.
It seems as if "Alice" tried to merge the fast-paced action of a first-person shooter and the compelling plot of an RPG with stunning visual and auditory embellishments, but fell far short of the engrossing experience that a game such as Half-Life accomplished.
4308085
I read this just after Trollope's Palliser series and frankly got it mixed up with its ancestor.  Fun, but the original is better.