Entertainment Books

Stellar writing by Terri Irwin. She made you feel like
you were right there with them.

Incredibly insightful, informative, and fascinating. Terry Irwin turns out to be a fabulous author who truly writes from the heart. You can hear her telling the stories of her and Steve's adventures. A love story for the ages. Of course, we all know the incredibly sad way the story has to end, but their story is definitely worth reading. Would recommend it to anyone who loves "The Crocodile Hunter", Steve Irwin, wildlife, love stories or believes in soul mates. Didn't want it to end. Loved it!!

I had always been a fan of Steve Irwin, but this touching tribute by his wife, not only showed how deeply they were in love but what a family man and true Wildlife Warrior he was. Excellent read.

This book is a wonderful glimpse into the personal life of the Irwin family. It shows the passion and drive of not only Steve, but of his wonderful wife, Terri. It also shows the strength he instilled in her, and her amazing ability to cope with this tragedy, for herself, and her two young children.
I feel honored to have read it, and to have been invited into this very personal and loving family.

Anyone that loved Steve Irwin will love this book. Terri did a great job writing this and I could actually feel her emotion for this man. We miss you Steve. Cricky!!!

When I find a cookbook with pictures and simple recipes I am thrilled. "Cooking With Flavor", in paperback form, was an awesome find. It was featured at our recent book fair and I couldn't pass it up.

The Rosemary Roasted Chicken under Main Dishes was delicious. Another favorite under Main Dishes is Roast Pork Tenderloin With Ginger Peach Glaze. Yummy!

Under Breakfast and Brunch I have made Very Vanilla Fruit Salad several times. The Overnight French Toast was a hit at a breakfast event.

I especially like the flavor variation box that is included with many of the recipes. It gives the cook an option to try something different.

I have not cooked out of the book yet,but it had a lot of recipes that I want to try,and I know they would be good.

This is a good cookbook. It has a lot of useful information on substitutions and measurements. We are very happy that we had purchased this book.

This is a really good cookbook with very practical and delicious recipes. This is definitely a cookbook to add to anyone's collection and be used over and over. This would be a wonderful gift idea for a new bride.

Welcome to a World of Flavor!
Introducing McCormick® COOKING WITH FLAVOR!

This unique cookbook is filled with hundreds of tasty ways to create delicious dishes with just a dash or splash of spice, seasoning, extract, rub or marinade.

Packed with sensational recipes for everything from tempting appetizers
to decadent desserts, from satisfying breakfasts to family-pleasing main dishes,
McCormick COOKING WITH FLAVOR is a must-have cookbook.

For many of the recipes, we have offered Flavor Variations--so you can easily experiment and choose your favorite version or even try your own flavor twists!

Also included is McCormick's Enspicelopedia(tm), full of useful facts about some of your favorite herbs and spices from Basil to Vanilla as well as suggestions for use and storage tips.

MY PERSONAL OPINION - In my opinion the Enspicelopedia is worth the price of the book!

Fabulous gem of a book - all the things you thought you knew/learned/mastered.... Pithy, humorous, witty AND to the point, these tips are organized in a great form that's suitable for flipping through for ideas to set that next rehearsal on fire, hold more useful auditions, give clearer notes, or get through opening night.... Jory covers all the bases in this worthy companion to Tips for Actors, which every actor(and director!) should own.

This is the 4th in a series of very clever & FUNNY romps through KeyWest & Florida. I love TacoBob & his crazy visions... Can I SEE a Chacmool now?

I first read the Guralnick books on Elvis about four years ago (2004) when I was just ready to explore the Elvis World. I'm second-generation (about Lisa Marie's age) but missed all the hoopla, and my parents didn't say much. So when I decided to "research" Elvis for myself, I searched the Amazon.com reviews for guidance.

I have to agree with the heavy, authoritative (but not authoritarian) reviews of other Elvis fans who felt Guralnick's work was "comprehensive and accurate." Once I read the Guralnick books, I felt -- not disillusioned -- but bludgeoned with information. Reading Guralnick's book, the reader almost has no choice but to come out not liking Elvis, not only personally but musically or artistically. It was a bitter pill; I had really liked Elvis before reading Guralnick's work.

Four years later, while I'm still "researching" Elvis, what I have found is most of Guralnick's work is actually a compendium, a "Reader's Digest" if you will (a Brittanica), of nearly all major Elvis publications up to that time. In short, Guralnick's work wasn't so much the decisive definitor of Elvis' composite work, but rather the encyclopedia of combined published information. I hasten to point out that Guralnick was not deceptive in any way, but fans and interested persons may have made the mistake of thinking because Guralnick had the "most" to say about Elvis (in two large books) he may have been the most accurate or comprehensive, and that simply isn't true.

As a fan, and someone who has since come to truly appreciate Elvis in all his humanity, my advice for those who want to know Elvis is to BEGIN with Guralnick, as a map, then read the books Guralnick quoted from (and attributed) and then read the little offbeat books written by people claiming to know Elvis. (Use your discernment to know which may have merit and which are entirely fictitious.) Elvis wouldn't want one author to be the judge of his life.

Guralnick did a great service by collecting and basically annotating the collected written works regarding Elvis up to that point, but I think if you really read between the lines, Guralnick himself does not claim to be an expert, nor does he really draw a conclusion. Guralnick's great service is he opened a door, but he does not claim to define the beginning or end of Elvis Presley. That choice -- like the music -- is up to the individual to decide for him or herself. In short, start with Guralnick, but do not end with him. I think he himself would agree.

Extremely revealing portrait that makes clear that Elvis became a drug addict even before he went into the Army in 1958. This bio leaves out nothing, including all the dreary and the tawdry as well as the musical genius. While Jerry Lee Lewis lost his career for dallying with his 13-year-old cousin, Elvis got clean away with dating a 14-year-old Priscilla. All the bizarre details are here. Guralnick does it again. A must read for anyone who wants to know the story of Elvis.

This second volume, along with the first -- Last Train to Memphis -- are riviting. One of the absolute best biographies I have ever read. A journey through the life, from beginning to end, of one of the world's great entertainers and personalities. Highly recommend.

This book is a detailed account of the second half of Elvis Presley's life. Peter Guralnick has painted a vivid portrait of the man whose life should have been magnificent, but instead was so terribly sad.

After reading Guralnick's first volume (Last Train To Memphis), I ran out immediately to buy this one. While I did devour it, it's a bitter pill to swallow. Many nights, I closed the book and then lay awake, thinking, or trying to stop thinking about Elvis. Why did a life with such promise turn out this way? Why did a man who should have been on top of the world, end up so low? Enormous fame and the death of his mother were major contributing factors. Drugs, prescription and otherwise, killed his spirit, his talent, his health and his relationships. And he was exploited by many, especially Col. Tom Parker who trotted him out on tour, when he should have been hospitalized and certainly long-retired.

When I finished the book, I thought, "Did I really want to know all this about him?" Do you? It's your call. I do now understand many things I never did before. And I will not be so quick to idolize, judge or envy anyone unless I've walked a mile in their shoes.

I have reviewed this book and must say that although Peter is a fantastic researcher the work comes up very short and has sunken to the level of Alana Nash. I am at the point where it is almost better to only read from people that were actually around Elvis like Joe Esposito or Jerry Schilling. Read what they write and you cannot go wrong. From Joe Esposito Remember Elvis, Elvis Straight Up and the Celebrate Elvis series with Daniel Lombardy. Jerry Schilling his book Me and a guy. If you want a great Guralnick book aquire Elvis Day by Day pound for pound the best in terms of an Elvis dictionary.

I listened to the audiobook. It's an interesting story. If you're a fan of the Hamster, you'll love hearing him read this.

It is a rare thing in today's world that you find a true gentleman adventurer. His story is a great read and yet still very touching. The nice guy you see on Top Gear doesn't seem to be an act, he really is a genuinely nice guy with a beautiful family.

I bought this book based on the rave reviews it had received upon release in Britain and expected, as a fellow reviewer here noted, an autobiography. Which it is, but not in the 'traditional sense', if one can say that.

It describes Hammonds childhood adventures dreaming about being Evil Knivel and doing stunts on his bicycle, but it mostly focuses on the great crash that he had in "The Vampire", a rocketpropelled, 10.000 horsepower dragster and the subsequent hospitalisation and recovery.

It was co-written by Hammond and his wife Mindy (seeing that there were a couple of black spots in his memory after the accident), which gives the volume a different aspect from normal biographies, which, in my opinion at least, is a good thing in the sense, that we get both sides of the story. Not something often available in auto biogs.

It does however also shift focus away from the biography part to the accident part, which, granted, is the most interesting part, obviously, but not what the book 'advertises' (if one can use such a silly and completely stupid word in this connection). That is, however, a tiny problem, and indeed a problem that is mine entirely.

A true problem though, in my opinion, is the style of writing. I know, that this is one of the things that has won this book such good reviews, but in my opinion it is not a bonus, but a subtraction. The writing style is more suitable for romantic novels, not autobiographies. Especially the portions written by Mindy Hammond are staccato to the point of distraction. Far too many short sentences filled with too many emotional words (I know she describes her at the time quite wild emotions, and that this is necessary, but too much of a thing is seldom good. I think it could have been frased better). It does really seem to my eye to be a style of writing more suited to romantic fiction than biogs. And this bothers me. It subtracts rather than adds.

There are also a couple of factual things, that seem at odds with other accounts (not of the hospital or the crash, but facts in the perifery of things). These may of course be the truth, and the other accounts false. Moreover it does at times simply feels to short. Not enough pages. Especially of the therapy afterwards. I think that maybe the book was written a bit too soon. If they'd waited another year or so they'd have a lot better perspective on things. Although it is a very honest and candid account of things, I think there are many things, especially in the aftermath, that are left unsaid. Also it would've been nice with an account of how Hammond was/is coping with returning to Top Gear. A thing he has talked about recently in interviews in Britain.

All in all, it's not a bad book, just not all that I expected it to be.

I was expecting an auto-biography; instead, I found a compelling account of suffering a brain injury, recovering from that injury, and - most movingly of all - living with and loving someone with a brain injury. The searing honesty, and the often black humour, shown by both Richard and Mindy Hammond shows that theirs is a marriage that can survive anything life throws at it. This book ultimately is about hope, and it certainly puts my little gripes about life into perspective. A great read.

Unlike most books on the psychology of color, this one focuses on film and relies heavily on the author's personal experience teaching the subject. Useful for film students--and others.

As a student first looking into the true meaning behind film, I enjoyed "If It's Purple Someone's Gonna Die". In order to recognize the cultural significance of a film, its necessary to notice and understand the emotions that the director wishes to display which cannot always be conveyed through dialogue. Through references to films that have greatly impacted American society, Bellantoni does an excellent job of helping the reader see the crucial role color plays in film.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this work was the stress placed on the feelings and reactions of the audience when certain colors take over the screen. For example, purple, seen as a color that represents royalty from an intellectual perspective actually has associations with the noncorporal in the context of human emotion. However, I did feel that Bellantoni did not provide evidence to support many of her claims. For example, when discussing the color green, Bellantoni states that people hesitate to consume green foods or drinks because of its correlation with evil. Though this may be true, her statements sometimes seemed subjective. Statistical evidence may have made these points more effective.
Lastly, I thought that Bellantoni's work is an overall success in expressing the role color plays in film because of the connections made to the reader. Whether or not one is a film student, Bellantoni cites groundbreaking films that have had an effect on all of our lives. Many can recall the girl in the red coat in Schindler's List and our implied connection to her or the progression through the primary colors representing an emotional and intellectual journey in Malcolm X. These examples presented in the text make it possible for the reader to refer back to a film whose use of color affects them physically and emotionally. By relating to her audience, and providing memorable, relevant examples, Bellantoni makes it possible for the reader to understand the visceral effects of color in film.

As a student in a university level film-studies class, I found this text to be not only intriguingly insightful but also truly helpful in regards to one's ability to intelligently dissect a film. The only minor drawback to If It's Purple, Somebody's Going to Die is Bellantoni's steadfast determination to reference anecdotal factoids without backing them up. While her insightful commentaries on how colors make one feel and what they indicate are impressively well researched, I found her off hand references to red cars getting pulled over more than others etc. to be a bit unfounded.

In addition to the aforementioned fact dropping, it appears Bellantoni starts every chapter by calling the color in question a dual-purpose, contradictory, or multi-use color. While she does always clarify how/why these colors have the ability to produce opposite reactions from the reader, the nitty-gritty of these explanations becomes tedious (95% white yellow, 50% white yellow, 100% pure yellow etc.).

Overall, once you accept the fact that Bellantoni truly knows all there is to know about color in film, and believe me, you will after you see enough people wearing purple die, then this text becomes an invaluable resource. I'm giving it four stars as an indication of how easy it is to ignore the few downsides mentioned above. Definitely an excellent resource.

This book is definitely on the beginners side of the spectrum. (no pun intended) You're not going to learn to be a production designer just from reading it, but it's a great start to becoming more aware of the use of color in film (or comics, video games or any other visual media) to influence underlying mood of the story. And once you're aware of color's presence, you can start making educated choices on how to use color in your own work.

Although a few more pictures would've been nice, the author does a good job of taking each of the six primary & secondary colors and defining its role in general and then giving numerous specific examples of the different visual and emotional tones each color can take.

If nothing else, this book added about 8 movies to my Netflix queue.

As an instructor of film-studies, I needed a text that tackled color-theory but used terms that first-year college-students could understand (i.e. a jargon-free examination of color in film). Bellantoni's work easily fulfills this need.

Foremost, Bellantoni logically divides her chapters by color (How refreshing to find a technical-work which travels a simple path!!) Within these chapters, are references to both well-known films (ex. "The Godfather," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Saving Private Ryan," "American Beauty," "Eyes Wide Shut," "Rosemary's Baby" and "Malcolm X") as well as lesser-watched films (ex. "Mi Familia," "Eve's Bayou, and "The Caveman's Valentine"). The tremendous range of examples ensures that every reader will find a film-favorite for each color entry. (No need to worry about this being another text brimming with obscure/out-of-print works!!)

Now, let me be clear about Bellantoni's work. She emphasizes that there are both "intellectual" and "visceral" responses to color. Her text focuses almost entirely on the "visceral" (which she repeatedly states). Some detractors of the Bellentoni's find fault with her "failure" to explore the "intellectual." Nonsense. Frankly, I prefer this focused approach to a broader (potentially sloppy) work. The richness of this text would have suffered if Belllantoni felt compelled to address every possible interpretation.

While I enjoyed Bellantoni's personal anecdotes, I was occasionally frustrated by her neglecting to cite sources for a variety of evidence. For instance, when she asserts that "red cars get more speeding tickets than cars of any other color," I would have appreciated a footnote citing her source (or even providing the data)(2). Nonetheless, these were minor irritations in an overall informative work. What compensates for this "problem" is her interviews with cinematographers. These frequent "blurbs" lend credence to Bellantoni's work ... if ever you doubted the importance of color, just read a few of these inserts and you will become a "believer."

In my class we read one chapter a week ... by the last week, my students were color-masters!! The assigned films had become exercises in color-exploration ... to the point where I had to stop my class and say "Let's look at other elements also!" What this tells me is that Bellantoni's work is easily accessible to every student and genuinely exciting!! While my class has completed readings on most film elements, they inevitably want to return to Bellantoni's work on color and camp there! That kind of enthusiasm ... well, that's rare!

Thank you, Professor Bellantoni for inspiring excitement in my students! What a gift you have given to professors and students alike!!

Overall a good book, with good ideas and greatt explanations for the project. However I found a problem with Solar Powered WiFi repeater.

He is showing you to use a Power Inverter for the two WiFi devices you will use. That does not make sense. They are both 12 volt devices. Why not just connect them straight to the batteries, getting more usage time out of the batteries instead of wasting power on a worthless inverter?

There is nothing valuable about this book any more except that the table of contents might stimulate you with some topics you never considered before.

The details and steps inside this book are rudimentary and long since outdated. Just Google what you are seeking and there will be better, newer information readily available for FREE !!!!

Want to extend your router's range...want to build a cantennae...want to create a VPN between routers...

GOOGLE IT.

More up-to-date info is on the web for free.

Bought the book with higher expectations; it only does an introductory job into the field of WiFi, containing and gathering info you can readily find over the net, and does it half way. Would only recommend it to someone with no particular knowledge in the field, who knows what Wifi is, but has no clue after that. Could make a nice gift for a 12 yr old tecky

This book is excellent, a must have. This book gives you the all the basic theory you are going to need to undertand wireless, and of course Cool Proyects.