Book Description
Telling the story of two single moms who are also sisters, the humor of Stone Soup is of the too real, you must be a fly on my wall! variety. Readers see themselves and their families in Stone Soup, and they love it. Anyone who'ss ever had a family, been in a family, or known a family will love it.
Customer Reviews:
wallpaper for your fridge.......2000-04-16
The publisher's blurb has it right: anyone who's ever been in afamily or known a family seems to like Stone Soup. You'll appreciatethis strip for mirroring the ways in which your family makes you nuts, the ways in which your family makes you smile, and the ways in which your family and other people's families really make you wonder.
The specifics of the characters' bios matter less than their wit. For instance: There's a toddler boy here named Max -- but his humor is for everyone, not just toddlers and parents. We all have our inner toddler, and we all know people who act like toddlers, and these strips are just plain funny, no matter where you're coming from. That holds for the other Stone Soup characters too.
This is a strip that winds up passed around among friends, pasted on the fridge, and re-read many times. If you need some empathy OR a good laugh, do yourself a favor and check out Stone Soup! END
Another one for the fans of Foxtrot..........2000-02-01
Jan Eliot's second Stone Soup collection is funny and wry, with very realistic characters and a sense of humor *and* plot. Stone Soup is a family-based comic strip that fans of Foxtrot should enjoy; some elements of the two strips are similar.
Val Stone is a widowed, working mother of teenaged Holly and preteen Alix - and they share their house with Val's sister, Joan, Joan's two-year-old son, Max, and Joan and Val's mother. Also, in this collection, they add Biscuit, who deserves not only a special mention but a special prize - Most Realistic Pet in Comic Strip Land. Val and Joan have too much to do, too little time, and too little money...a common story. But Eliot makes it fresh and fun.
My only complaints about this collection come from the Sunday strips. As in the first Stone Soup book, the Sundays aren't in color. Also, for some reason, some of the Sunday strips in the second book are repeats from the first book - strange, because nothing else seems to be.
All in all, though, a good collection, well worth any comic strip lover's time - as is Eliot's explanation of the title in her preface.
Amazon.com
Just when you thought the world was safe from Dippety-Do, leg warmers, ripped clothing, and Lionel Richie, here comes Who Can It Be Now? The Lyrics Game That Takes You Back to the '80s to resuscitate the long-lost songs that stubbornly refuse to stay lost. Does "Oh, Daddy dear, you know you're still number one" ring any bells? Or how about that lip-curling classic, "In the midnight hour, she cried 'more, more, more'"? If you guessed Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and Billy Idol's, "Rebel Yell," you're a candidate for the championships in this popular bar game turned book. Replete with unforgivably unforgettable trivia, what-were-we-thinking glamour shots, and wry factoids about the era, Who Can It Be Now packs the appeal of Name That Tune and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon between shiny covers. You might say it's a book that "straddles the line in discord and rhyme." --Rebekah Warren
Book Description
For the generation that was raised on MTV, here's the book version of the game that's sweeping barrooms and living rooms across the country. Who Can It Be Now? is fun, funny, and addictive -- and if you don't believe us, just try guessing who sang these immortal lines:
"Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?"
"Oh, Daddy, dear, you know you're still number one"
"I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar"
If you guessed Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, and the Human League, buy this book now. Welcome to dinner conversation through the next millennium. If you're still scratching your head, there's a book about Angela Lansbury in Aisle Four.
Customer Reviews:
Great trivia!.......2007-10-01
Lots of fun at a friend's birthday party! Really took us back to our high school days!
Brought Me Back 1980s Teen Memories.......2003-05-03
I was one of those 1980s teenagers who watched MTV when it used to play music videos 24 hours daily, and this book has a lot of the music artists who performed on MTV, including the song titles in the book. It even has a picture of Ronald Reagan, the Rubik's Cube, and other 1980s nostalgia that I remember so well. Oh yeah, it also made me remember seeing Courtney Cox on that Bruce Springsteen music video doing that swinging dance on his stage when I read about Bruce in this book...also that old Madonna look complete with the Boy Toy belt and wedding dress. :) If you want to remember the great music artists of the 1980s, their songs, and the memories, get this book!
Fun & Nostalgic Trip Back to the '80s.......2003-01-04
"Who Can It Be Now?," named after the Men at Work song, is just over 200 pages of music and pop culture trivia taken from the '80s. Most of the book is devoted to just one-liners (not the entire song), with the lyric on one side of the page and the song title, band/artist, and bits of trivia on the opposite side. Some of the sections in the book feature one-hit wonders (like Kajagoogoo {"Too Shy"} and Toni Basil {"Mickey"}), actors-turned-singers (like Patrick Swayze {"She's Like the Wind" in 'Dirty Dancing'} and Rick Springfield), as well as bits of movie, TV, and celebrity trivia, but only if it pertains to a certain '80s song. There are also lots of black-and-white photos (pretty much on every page) of singers/performers/actors, like Debbie (Deborah now) Gibson, Michael and Janet Jackson, Mr. T, Weird Al, and the Brat Pack, just to name a few.
Despite some of the catty remarks and photo alterations (see Mary Lou Retton and Lionel Richie), this book will certainly make you laugh and reminisce if you're a child of the '80s. It's hard to digest all of the info in this book in one sitting (flipping back and forth between the lyrics and answers does lose its appeal after awhile), but halfway into it, you'll be dusting off your old CDs/cassettes/vinyls and playing them while reading this book. The only gripe I have is that there's no index or table of contents to find certain pages quicker; other than that, "Who Can It Be Now?" is a fun and nostalgic trip back to the '80s. Worth reading if you're an '80s fanatic like I am.
These are the best... of... Tiiiimes.......2000-11-05
If my review title makes you scratch your head and say to yourself, "hmmm, where do I know that from?", you should really buy this book. (It's from Styx.) Anyway, this book is a little tongue in cheek, obviously, but it does more than just make fun of Tommy Tutone, Bananarama, The Human League, songs like 867-5309 Jenny, etc. It has dozens of little quizzes, where you see the lines from songs on one page, and then when you flip to the next page you find out the names of the groups that sang them. Interspersed throughout the book are tons of little articles (blurbs, really) about various groups, which tell you, in all likelihood, more than any human would ever want to know about, say, Spandau Ballet. But it's still a good book. I recommend the living daylights out of this one, it's hilarious, especially at parties.
A well-worth trip back to the 80's........1999-01-26
This book brought back memories of some great times. I love the many references to "Proctor" from the Police Academy movies. I forgot what bumbling idiots those Police Academy characters were!!!
Average customer rating:
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Lanarkshire's Legendary Cinemas
Bruce Peter
Manufacturer: Stenlake Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Australia & Oceania
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1840330686 |
Book Description
The War in American Culture explores the role of World War II in the transformation of American social, cultural, and political life.
World War II posed a crisis for American culture: to defeat the enemy, Americans had to unite across the class, racial and ethnic boundaries that had long divided them. Exploring government censorship of war photography, the revision of immigration laws, Hollywood moviemaking, swing music, and popular magazines, these essays reveal the creation of a new national identity that was pluralistic, but also controlled and sanitized. Concentrating on the home front and the impact of the war on the lives of ordinary Americans, the contributors give us a rich portrayal of family life, sexuality, cultural images, and working-class life in addition to detailed consideration of African Americans, Latinos, and women who lived through the unsettling and rapidly altered circumstances of wartime America.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Collection of 13 different articles.......2005-12-07
This book is a must-read, despite the fact that there are thousands of histories written about the Second World War. Its thirteen chapters discuss different topics, so there is something for everybody, and every essay is meticulously crafted, making them both delightful and simple to read. This book provides an insight into World War II that few other books are able to provide because of the wide-scope of the thirteen essays, yet all of the essays revolve around a central theme which makes this paper useful in studies, yet provocative and interesting.
Viewed by many as "the last good war," World War II smashed Nazism, and resulted in a clear-cut victory for America which became the richest nation on earth. However, this book stomps out the idea of the last good war by bringing attention to the irony that while Americans were fighting a war on inequality abroad, they had their own home-front war to wage on race, gender and ethnic relations. Erenberg and Hirsch's book is a collection of thirteen different articles that provide insight into American culture during the World War II within a variety of contexts ranging from censorship to swing and zoot suits to privacy.
The first part of the book, titled "The Quest for National Unity" contains three articles and is, by far, my favorite section. The essay by Perry R. Duis examines the war's effect on privacy in Chicago. He interestingly points-out that for the first time, Americans' homes were invaded by strangers who, in the case of disaster, needed to know the basic lay-out of every home and a detailed description of the family members and their schedules in the unfortunate event of a necessary rescue. George H. Roeder Jr.'s article takes readers on a fascinating ride through formerly censored photographs as he explains what was censored during the war and why. This article shows readers how the American government strictly controlled public opinion during the war and even gives readers a peek into photographs that somehow made it past the watchful eye of the censors. Lary May's article examines how the film industry supported ethnic pluralism and utopian ideals during the war, and is certain to introduce key players like Frank Capra and his Why We Fight series. One of his primary examples is Lifeboat, a movie that portrayed European immigrants as full Americans.
The remainder of the book provides insight into varying experiences of American minorities, including women, Japanese and Chinese-Americans, African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Native Americans. The most fascinating aspect of Erenberg and Hirsch's book is that some essays examine the different minorities as a micro-history, while others do a comprehensive study.
Average customer rating:
- The best games bargain I know of
- Flawed masterpiece
- High hopes, high frustration
- Maybe too much breadth and not enough depth
|
100 Strategic Games
Walter Joris
Manufacturer: Carlton Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Logic & Brain Teasers
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
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Look Inside Entertainment Books
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ASIN: 1842227270 |
Book Description
For all those who thought Tic-Tac-Toe or Battleships & Cruisers represented the outer limits of pen and paper games. This collection of 100 games will fill serious hours for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
The best games bargain I know of.......2004-01-27
This book just came today. I haven't read through all of it, but I can definitely say that it delivers what it promises. 100 strategic games for pen and paper. Only 1 or 2 rely on players hiding information from each other (such as a "Battleship" game, which isn't included here), and another 1 or 2 where the opponents have unequal powers (like "fox and geese", a version of which is included). The rest will appeal to players of PBEM abstract strategy games. Pen/Paper versions of Lines of Action, Fanorona, Halma, Blobs, Mancala and Connect 4 are all included, as well as many variations of Dots and Boxes--I've seen none of these anywhere else. And at the current price, it works out to a dime a game.
I agree the writing suffers from poor sentence construction. Worse, there are a handful of instances where the rules are not explicit enough. However, the gaps are so minor that you can come up with your own rule easily enough. What's important is the idea--that so many games can be played with paper and pen, with no erasing. Some of the original games might even be adapted to board play. Sid Sackson would have been happy to read this book, I think, and there should be more like it.
And if you're still not satisfied, it even comes with a few pages of graph paper.
Flawed masterpiece.......2003-11-18
A great book with many good games. However,as an experienced wargames player, I can see that the author is not familiar with writing good instructions or rules. I even suspect that his first language is not English. For example, he uses the word "randomly" to suggest that a player may place his mark anywhere on the board. Overall, still a very good book, comparable to that classic work - Sid Sackson's Gamut of Games.
Walter, in spite of my criticisms, yours is one of the best games books ever.
High hopes, high frustration.......2003-10-08
I had high hopes for this book, and indeed there are plenty
of interesting ideas here.
However, the descriptions of the games are brief to the point
of obscurity, and the few illustrations that accompany each
game are frequently inadequate.
One wonders if the book's editor actually tried to play
any of the games.
Maybe too much breadth and not enough depth.......2003-09-09
This book has the advantage of being perhaps the only book on its subject (as far as I know). And it has several other advantages as well. It's a great book to pick up and skim for just a few minutes (not that it can't be read for longer). It's also fun for repeat reading.
The primary disadvantage of this book is that I've noticed it seems to leave me wanting more after reading about each game. It really does move quickly--too quickly. Often I'm left wondering about a key detail of a game, or have trouble following a diagram, etc. Sometimes an important point or rule must be deduced from the other rules. Usually I have to read the description of the game and the diagrams several times. It's not so much succintness that makes it this way--that's always appreciated--as it is lack of detail.
In the end, I'm not sure I would rather have a few less games and (just a bit) more exploration for some of the best games. Still, this book will be one I'll enjoy for a long time. It is unique and well done, and thanks to the author for that. Hopefully we'll buy enough to encourage more volumes like this to come out.
Average customer rating:
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100 Strategic Games For Pen And Paper
Walter Joris
Manufacturer: Carlton Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Logic & Brain Teasers
| Puzzles & Games
| Entertainment
| Subjects
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Racing
| Horses
| Individual Sports
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Sports Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 1844427242 |
Book Description
If you think that Tic-Tac-Toe or Battleships & Cruisers represent the outer limits of pen and paper games, think again: this collection of 100 games will help to fill your leisure hours for years to come. Most of the games described are brand new and invented especially for this book. Some are related to old favorites but reinvented so that they have become new games.
Book Description
Running a business is a risky proposition even in the best of times. In this completely revised, updated, and expanded version of the popular 1991 title, 100 Ways to Prosper in Today's
Economy, the Profit Advisors turn their attention to a myriad of quick, practical proven strategies for bringing in profits whenever a business needs them. Here are a juicy multitude of specific
practical ideas for reducing overhead, attracting new customers, securing financing, improving cash flow, and improving the profitability of any company, large or small.
At the end of each chapter is a mini-action plan with space for readers to jot down their own ideas while they're still fresh, prioritize them, designate an individual in the organization to implement the idea, set a date for action, and project a potential dollar amount that project will generate. At the end of the book is a place to put all these new ideas into the business's "master action plan."
Book Description
This book is aimed at programmers who have learned the basics of Java from, for example,
Beginning Java 1.4: From Novice to Professional, and are now ready to learn how to use Java in the real world, with J2EE. But, J2EE is a big spec, and the target audience is not interested in Enterprise JavaBeans and other advanced specs within J2EE. In fact, 75% of J2EE applications are built using only JavaServer Pages and Servlets (two of the simpler technologies to learn in J2EE), so these are the areas that the audience is particularly interested in.
Download Description
The Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is an extremely powerful platform for developing enterprise-level Java-based applications for primarily the server. In order to harness that power, you need to know how to properly use the API in the J2EE platform. In this book, Weaver, Mukhar, and Crume give you an overview of how the pieces of the J2EE platform work together and complement each other.
This book goes further than just showing you how to code a JSP or an EJB: This book explains when and where to use these APIs, their strengths and weaknesses, and best practices for using them. This book explores
- Creating dynamic clients using JSP and servlets
- Connecting and using databases through Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)
- Implementing a business tier using EJB
- Using Web services and XML in your enterprise applications
This book also contains hands-on tutorials, clear explanations, and working code examples that will take you to the next step, from writing client-side desktop applications to writing enterprise applications. You will learn how to use the individual APIs and tools in the J2EE platform, and how to bring these together to create your own enterprise applications.
Customer Reviews:
Great first j2ee book.......2007-04-22
Being a beginner I was frustrated by other books before I happened upon
Beginning J2EE 1.4. I'm only 1/4 way through the book but all the examples
work and I feel I've already got my money's worth. I think after studying
this book I will be able to go back to other beginning books and fix the
reasons why their examples did not work for me.
No software!.......2006-05-31
I've had this book for a week now and I would love to be able to give a knowledgeable review but I can't get past the second chapter.
Why? The second chapter details setting up the SDK but after many hours of searching I can't find anyplace to download it. It uses the first (November 2003) release of the J2EE SDK and there have been 3 updates since then. The current release uses an entirely different database with an extensively updated web server.
I'm looking to familiarize myself with J2EE 1.4 and this appears to be a very good book for that, but it's going to be a major pain when I'm forced to use different software.
Great intro to J2EE.......2006-02-09
The book is a very well-balanced introduction to many J2EE topics such as JSP, Servlets, JDBC, and EJB. Examples are "as simple as possible, but no simpler", and are quite useful for understanding the various topics.
Obviously this book is now out in the newer edition that covers the much-changed and simplified (yey!) Java EE 5, but for anyone who would need to work with legacy J2EE 1.4 applications this book certainly provides good value.
The devil is in the details but it is a good book.......2006-01-31
Overall a very good book except for the errors. ;-) I would've given this book a higher rating if it were not for the editing.
I read the book from cover to cover. The explanations are good but there are problems with the examples. It really is difficult to find a programming book that is not rife with poor instructions and/or examples that will not compile. This book is better than most but I am a rather unforgiving sort when it comes to code examples in a book. There is nothing more frustrating than spending hours on a problem that could've been solved at the outset with just a little more attention to detail by the editors.
My setup is a Windows XP Pro notebook, jdk1.5.0_06 installed on C:\ (the root directory) and J2EE 1.4 also stored on the root. I am using Eclipse 3.1 for an IDE (Integrated Devlopment Environment). If you can avoid it, do not put any of your Java software in directories that have spaces in their directory/folder names. This will prevent problems you will encounter when entering commands on the command-line that involve using environment variables in path names (there may be other problems avoided as well).
Here is a summary of some of the trouble I ran into. I would like to say at the outset that I DO recommend this book. Unfortunately there is no such thing as an error-less computer book especially when you are dealing with a technology that has not yet matured.
The problems begin in Chapter 3 on page 54, #5. Compiling the FaqCategories.java resulted in the following message...
Note: FaqCategories.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations.
Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
To solve this problem I changed the following line of code...
private Vector categories = new Vector();
to...
private Vector
categories = new Vector
();
This problem occurred because JDK 1.5 uses generics. I guess I can't blame this one on the publishers because I am probably using a later JDK than they were. This problem comes up again in Chapter 4, page 108, Questions.java. You will need to compensate for the use of generics in JDK 1.5. So here is the source you should use for that example...
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;
public class Questions {
private String topic;
private int numTopics;
private Map
questions = new HashMap
();
public String getTopic() { return topic; }
public void setTopic(String t) { topic = t; }
public int getNumTopics() { return numTopics; }
public void setNumTopics(int n) { numTopics = n; }
public Map getQuestions() { return questions; }
public void setQuestions(Map
m) { questions = m; }
public Questions() {
questions.put("1", "How do I use implicit objects?");
questions.put("2", "How do I use the JSTL?");
questions.put("3", "How do I use the 'empty' operator?");
setNumTopics(questions.size());
}
}
I remember having trouble with the JSTL (Java Standard Tag Library) examples in Chapter 4 but unfortunately I did not make any notes for those problems.
In Chapter 5, page 161, #3 I had a problem with the login.html page. I changed the following line...
