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Content by Martin A Hogan
Reviewer Rank: 17
Helpful Votes:
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Reviews Written by
Martin A Hogan "Marty From SF" (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules))
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Surrounded in the Crimson Court!, 21 Nov 2009
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of King Crimson, producers Robert Fripp and Steve Wilson have left no stone unturned in this exhaustive edition. From the stereo album to DTS 5.1 digital surround, clips and bonus tracks, this is what fans have been waiting all this time for. Robert Fripp has been the only constant over the years with the band members changing nearly every album. This initial offering is one of the most intriguing.
The CD contains the original album with five songs remastered in clear stereo arguably better than the 2004 release. Every instrument is clearly heard and separated. But the bonus tracks are the most compelling. The full version of "Moonchild" is here along with a `duo version' and an alternate mix' (different solos) of the romantic " I Talk To The Wind". The backing instrumental track of "Epitaph" is mystical and mesmerizing. Remember that short intro of `wind/organ-like' sounds before "21st Century Schizoid Man"? Extracts from that are also included giving the listener an idea of how special effects were produced forty years ago.
The DVD is really why I bought this edition. The entire album is presented here in DTS 5.1 digital surround sound, giving new life to every instrument and vocal. The harsh quick guitar riff that runs throughout "21st Century Schizoid Man" travels from speaker to speaker around the room, while Greg Lake's equally sharp vocals are blasted from the front center. And that is just one song. The percussion varies throughout each song, but is so exact and clean you get a true sense of the extent of Michael Giles talent. Ian McDonald's woodwind instruments vibrate as if they are in the room with reed-like clarity. Fripp's guitar work is as varied as the song he is playing on. Also, many thanks go to lyricist Peter Sinfield.
The original Master Edition of the entire album from 2004 is included here just for comparison. Again all the five previously mentioned bonus tracks are in 5.1 surround sound here as well. Not to exclude anything from this special edition, the complete alternate album is included here as well, although in stereo. Not to be outdone, there is a two-minute black and white video in mono of the band doing "21st Century Schizoid Man" on an outdoor stage. For mono, its not bad at all.
Future albums of King Crimson are in the works, Red being released already and Lizard coming out in December of 2009. Robert Fripp is arguably one of rock's best musical genius. His guitar work and creations are legendary; beyond progressive rock. Having been the only constant all these years, Robert Fripp is King Crimson. This album is a classic.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
The 50th Anniversary!, 4 Nov 2009
For having so many greatest hits packages, the first question is why another? 2009 is the 50th Anniversary of the Bee Gees and the first time they announced that they would, after all, reunite as the Bee Gees. When Maurice Gibb passed away in 2003, it was declared the Bee Gees were over and Barry and Robin went their separate ways. This is a celebration.
The nicest surprise is that fans are now given an official video disc of 18 of the Bee Gees more popular songs. "Spicks & Specks" is the original grainy black and white version, but "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is a rare clip, interspersing montages of children and coal miners which is a more direct reference to the lyrics. "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" represents the year the Bee Gees temporarily lost Robin but is a great song from their TV special "Cucumber Castle" and a nice addition even if a bit fuzzy. "For Whom The Bell Tolls" is one of their under appreciated gems and this video is one of their best (I miss "When He's Gone" as a video). "Still Waters Run Deep" is a rare video in that it is the single version of the song with an electronic harpsichord (not the album version). However, the most professional video has to be "Alone" with its images over the years spliced into the song.
The sound is far superior to all previous releases (other than the videos), including Tales from the Brothers Gibb and The Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits: The Record. It appears that `most' of the songs chosen were all in the Top Twenty either in the USA or the UK. This makes for a nice Anniversary Edition, even if you already own most of these songs. The box is (as most are nowadays) a cardboard foldout with a slipcase. But the insert has a nice write-up from Sir Tim Rice with some photos of the group as they progressed over the last fifty years. Its not extensive, but gives enough information to sum up the Bee Gees career (so far).
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No Title Available
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Availability: This item is currently unavailable.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Great Gaming Mouse, 19 Oct 2009
In appearance and feel, there is not much difference between this gaming mouse and the G9 gaming mouse. However, you can adjust the sensitivity of the mouse for gaming by creating up to five mouse profiles and you can determine the sensitivity you want, so your arrow can zip across your screen super-fast or go slower, depending on what kind of game you are involved in. The G9X has the enhanced laser which makes for more accurate gaming. Once you have that under control, your gaming precision is sure to get faster and more accurate.
As far as simply being a good mouse, it still has great features. Like the G9, there is a choice between a wider or thinner mouse grip. (I use the wider one as my hands are large and I have always had trouble with thinner mice). Plus, you can add weight to the mouse (up to 28 g), which is something I had never thought would be such a great advantage until I used it. The bulk and the sensitivity really improve handling. The scroll wheel can be adjusted to either a smooth or a click response (I prefer the click). Just the velvety feel and the wider grip make a huge difference. This might seem minor, but the cord is braided which makes it easy to distinguish when plugging and unplugging in the back of my desktop. In short, this version of gaming mouse is better than the G9 since it contains the gaming profiles and the enhanced laser (in software installation).
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Seven Immortal Stars, 12 Oct 2009
David Comfort has taken on the immense task of condensing the biographies of seven of the world's arguably greatest rock artists. From the sixties of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix to the seventies of Jim Morrison, John Lennon and Elvis Presley to the latest life and death of Kurt Cobain. They read like seven novella's with extensive foot notes and quotes from various people, most notably, the artist's themselves.
Many common threads of the artists are presented from childhood through to the end of their lives. Who could conceive that so many of these artists experienced traumatic childhoods, bouts of severe alcohol and drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and ambiguity all accompanied by severe low self-esteem. It seems that the brilliance in the artist lies in the pain and lack of a normalcy that drives them to stardom. It's hard to believe that some of the prophetic quotes are from the artists themselves.
"I've been dead a long time" - Jimi Hendrix.
"The more you live, the less you die" - Janis Joplin.
"Cancel my subscription to the resurrection" - Jim Morrison.
"My life is over. I'm a dead man!' - Elvis Presley.
"Everybody loves you when you're six feet in the ground" - John Lennon.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not" - Kurt Cobain.
"Fame is the soul eater" - Jerry Garcia
Particularly fascinating is the life of Janis Joplin. From a poor family in Port Arthur, Texas to being a huge success at the time of her death, Joplin's life is a daily tragedy. She is a good example of the artist with no self esteem that rises to stardom with the accompaniment of heavy drug and alcohol use. Sexual promiscuity is just another drug. Family and friends tore her apart and her basic need of simply wanting to be loved is heart-breaking.
Kurt Cobain, on the other end of this timeline, also suffers the same struggles as the other six, particularly similar to Joplin, in that his sexuality is never truly defined, his childhood was marred with abuse and the drugs and alcohol both fueled his talent and destroyed it. Of particular interest is his marriage to Courtney Love, who unlike so many of the other artists love interests or partners, is truly evil. There is no guessing or speculation here. Comfort provides well documented facts. Cobain's story is one of the most interesting and bizarre. Was it a suicide or homicide?
All seven of these artists share the same emotional problems, bad upbringings, drugs, poor relationships, abuse from managers and friends, that it's mind boggling to read each story, much less seven. David Comfort has supplied an enormous amount of information and delivers it in a thorough and fast-paced manner . You won't be able to put this book down.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
You Get What You Pay For, 11 Oct 2009
Keeping in mind that you get what you pay for, I decided that when my `HP Desktop 920C Printer' ran out of ink, I would purchase this item. I like the idea of having a copier, scanner and FAX machine in one, but was dubious about quality. The basic printer works fine and the color was vibrant and crisp. It easily takes photos from my computer files and prints them out quickly. However, sometimes the printer does not recognize that there is paper in the tray (which happens often). Also, the tray holds about half the amount of paper that my older `HP Printer' held. As far as speed, I can say it is about twice as fast as my older printer. It is also far noisier than any printer I have had in the past.
The scanner is nice in that you can place the originals face down and they feed directly onto the copier glass, one by one as a fairly high rate. The conversion factor to editable text is very cool, which was something I was not expecting and there are plenty of other editing techniques that are supplied. I'd say that this scanner is just a little better than my previous `EPSON Perfection V200' scanner.
The FAX portion of this machine was the trouble maker. I have an 'ooma Hub - VoIP Phone Device' that uses my computer's DSL for long distance. Hooking up the FAX to include the OOMA was troublesome. It took a long time for me to get both of them to work together. If you only have a direct line from the copier to your phone, you probably won't have a problem. The transmission of a sheet was fairly quick.
The appearance of the HP Officejet J4580 is slick with a small phone keypad, a digital readout telling you what is happening in any process (also shows the date and time automatically) and a few other convenient short cut buttons. The software is simple to install (I used the recommended version). There isn't anything too terribly difficult to understand. For the price, the scanner and the copier make it worth while, although the FAX portion was a problem. I've had printers for over ten years now and I have yet to have one that doesn't use up a lot of ink. This HP claims it is conservative, but I'll have to wait and see. Price to product ratio is pretty good.
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Octave
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| Price: £6.08 |
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| Availability: In stock |
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Surround Sound Would Have Saved This Album, 24 Sep 2009
As the eighth album form the original ensemble of the Moody Blues, this is the only one not to be remastered in 5.1 (actually 4.1 as the center speaker is not used). I can only guess it is because the group recorded at the Record Plant in California and did not have the same access to the mixers. However, Justin Hayward and Alberto Paroldi did a fine job remastering in stereo with this 2008 release. The songs are more vibrant than the original recording and the five `live' songs are incredibly clear, unlike the 'Caught Live + 5' album, which had horrible mixing.
As is usual with the first song on a Moody Blues album, there is a special effect `hook' used for introduction. However, "Steppin' In A Slide Zone" falls short as a single with a repetitive chorus and forced melody. In fact, some of the songs sound terribly dated, which is unusual for the Moody Blues earlier albums. "I'll be Level With You", "Top Rank Suite" and "Survival" just seem out of synch with a typical Moody Blues song. Note that this was a tough period for the group in general, not knowing what the future held. However, songs like, "Driftwood", "The Day We Meet Again" and "One Step Into The Light" (Mike Pinder's only contribution) are represented in the classic Moody Blues ethereal sound. In Fact, Pinder's song contains lyrics that harken back to the psychedelic era and the mellotron works well without being overpowering.
The additional five live songs don't make up for the lack of the quadraphonic sound most had hoped for, but at least they are crisply and clearly recorded. Again, "Driftwood" (with its reverb guitar) and "The Day We Meet Again" are nice surprises.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Unusual Collection of Songs with Incredible Sound!, 19 Sep 2009
These recordings are from Bowie's 1978 world tour and was mixed by legendary Tony Visconti. Including twenty songs, only Bowie could pull off the tension and excitement on the opening track of, "Warszawa", of all songs! But just as that song ends, the classic anthemic song, "Heroes" sends the crowd into a frenzy. This 5.1 surround sound mix exudes all the excitement of the concert with fantastic and clear vocals and instrumentals. Halfway through the concert, after a rousing rendition of "Fame", Bowie and his incredible band jump into a five song set from `Ziggy Stardust' (sorry, no `Suffragette City'). The song, "Station To Station" is played in it's entirety and the locomotion sound effects travel around the room while the bass slowly feeds into the song. Closing with, "TVC15", Bowie's vocals are still at their best. Twenty songs just fly by.
There is no overstating the impressiveness of this recording in 5.1 surround. Visconti does an amazing job and with a loud 5.1 system, you can feel as if you are in that stadium. The song mix is all mid to late seventies, excluding anything from, "Hunky Dory" or "Aladdin Sane", but that's almost a welcome relief to hear Bowie do a song set of rarely performed songs. This concert version is a keeper!
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David Live [DVD AUDIO]
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| Price: £24.58 |
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| Availability: In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver |
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
Classic Concert in Surround!, 11 Sep 2009
In 1974, David Bowie did a six-night concert series in Philadelphia and this 5.1 surround mix by Tony Visconti is nothing short of amazing. Bowie starts with a rousing rendition of, "Rebel, Rebel" before jumping into an incredible version of, "Moonage Daydream". All of Bowie's previous albums are represented here including the classic, "Suffragette City", "Aladdin Sane" and the rarely sung, "All The Young Dudes", a song given to Mott The Hoople. "Space Oddity" is a nice ethereal break in the concert halfway through and in this show version, Bowie sits in a chair on a crane that hangs over the audience. It was magic. The big live hit, "Diamond Dogs" is perfectly represented here, as is, the drum-beat ridden classic, "Panic In Detroit". "Jean Genie"is the second to last song and Bowie rides the bass line to a wholloping end. Of course, this was one of the few concerts that Bowie's end with his lamentable "Rock `N Roll Suicide' and he gives it so much emotion, you feel like you are there.
Visconti's mix is clear and powerful and the heavily protected jewel case contains liner notes from the concert as well as song credits and photos. This is a classic keeper.
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Captivity
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by Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Edition: Hardcover |
| Price: £12.61 |
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| Availability: Usually dispatched within 4 to 6 weeks |
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Primal Relationships, 8 Sep 2009
Dana Armstrong is the director of a chimpanzee sanctuary in South Carolina. The animals she and her under-funded staff tend to are primarily discards from experiments and research. The novel opens with a horrible discovery that someone has let the chimpanzees loose, some of them deemed dangerous by the locals. It appears that there are many residents and groups that want to see the sanctuary shut down and this event is a grave threat. As the story progresses we learn a great deal about Dana and her upbringing which seems to make sense of all the passion.
Dana's parents brought her up with a brother and a chimpanzee for a surrogate sibling in a curious unconventional family experiment. With such an unusual family dynamic, you learn to understand what drives Dana's passion. However, Dana grew in one direction while her brother, Zack went in another. Their upbringing is an interesting corollary for their adult concerns and passions.
One of the main forces driving the story is the threat of the local university closing the facility. This would not only mean a loss of a job, but the loss of the chimpanzees that Dana has grown to love over the years. In fact, sometimes it seems Dana's real family is this group of intelligent animals more than her own brother's relationship.
The author weaves a good story full of disaster, hope, tragedy, forgiveness and love. Her descriptions of emotional actions and reactions are spot-on. Each chapter presents a new twist with a new challenge and Dana finds herself growing at each turn. Whether its her relationship with her boyfriend, her brother or her staff friends, she evolves, sometimes with surprising results. "Captivity" is all about relationships, whether they be human or primate.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
GE Invents A Unique Digital Camera, 8 Aug 2009
I would highly recommend you read all the specifications on this product and some reviews so you get a good idea of what kind of a camera this is. There are some very good features and others that are either equal or less than in most digital cameras. Two years ago I had a Nikon Coolpix L19 8MP Digital Camera with 3.6 Optical Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD (Silver) and most recently I had a Canon PowerShot SD1100IS 8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) that I really liked, so I have two to compare.
Being one who takes lots of pictures but not a 35mm camera buff, I was very surprised that this GE E1235 digital camera was one-half the price of my Canon Powershot. It has some very good features, the first being the 12.2 mega pixel range for finer quality (my Canon had 8 mega pixels). You can set the quality from Normal to Fine to Best Quality (Best will give you about 873 pictures on a 4GB memory card). There is 24MB of internal memory, but at Normal, this will only take about 16 shots. Get a high MB Memory card. The quality actually varied. I found outside conditions to be great all the time, while indoors was not always perfect in quality.
The 28mm lens gives you a larger picture than most digital cameras and has some truly amazing features. There is a "blink detection" that warns you when one of your subjects blinks. That is cool. There is a "smile detector" that actually goes off when people expose their teeth. This is cool as well. The "face detection" will focus on the face and the built-in "red-eye removal" allows you to manage that on the camera without software. The "Auto Scene Detection" adjusts for exposure types so your pictures are well balanced for color and exposure. The 3" LCD on the back is ½" bigger than my Canon Powershot and will adjust its brightness so you always can see your subject. However, the 3" LCD size makes the five `wheel and button' functions on the side smaller, but this didn't bother me. People who cannot read small text might not like this, however. The camera kit also comes with an easy manual, GE software, and a rechargeable lithium battery.
The lithium battery is proprietary, so I had to buy a second backup one for $24.00 only available at GE. There is a battery recharger that plugs into the wall socket, but both the USB cable and the cable for connecting to your television set are proprietary. There is no optical viewfinder, but seriously, I think this is unnecessary with a 3" LCD screen. I think this is what happens with all digital cameras, as I cannot interchange any cable or batteries with my Canon or Nikon. The Quick Time Movie is always nice, but it is limited to 640 X 480 pixels, so the screen quality suffers. Even with a 4MB memory card, it is limiting.
There are some things I am not an expert on, such as 4.5X digital zoom and the 5X optical zoom which claim to be better than other cameras. Although there is an `anti-shake' Electronic Image Stabilizer which works great with regular shots, I found long distance shots with the maximum combination zoom (28.5) was not always perfect. But the Pan-Capture Panorama is very, very cool. In three shots, you can get a panoramic shot simply by taking your first picture, whereas the left screen shows a square with a plus sign and the right screen shows a circle with a plus sign. Just move your camera to the right until the plus signs line up and the camera `automatically' takes the second picture and so on. There is no need for any software stitching on the computer. I thought this was one of the better features.
Comparing the extra features and low cost of the GE E1235W digital camera to the Canon Powershot, I have to say it's a toss-up. If the price were the same, I'd go for the Canon, but GE really has made an inexpensive and good quality camera for basic camera use and I like it the more I use it.
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![Stage [DVD AUDIO]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418RX8E9DJL._SL110_.jpg)
![David Live [DVD AUDIO]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31VHZ4THZSL._SL110_.jpg)
