Epinions Recent Reviews for LilScamp

Witty, wild, wise and wondrous: So Far From God

Wed, 9 Jul 2003 13:02:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - So Far From God begins quite unconventionally with the death of one of the central cha...

With Their Eyes: High Schoolers Tell of 9-11

Sat, 23 Nov 2002 15:49:52 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I was teaching on September 11th. It was only my second week at the school, and as a new teacher I'd been relegated to one of the more dismal classrooms in the building. It was a half-sized room originally constructed for special education classes, but...

Buried Onions: A Poetic Tale of Innercity Ugliness

Tue, 19 Nov 2002 17:52:22 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - You know that you're in for it when a book opens with a description of mortuary students sipping coffee at the local community college while the protagonist, a Mexican-American college dropout, considers what promising careers they have ahead of them...

Nutro Max Cat Kitten Promotes Maximum Health

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 14:40:20 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I'm a big fan of Nutro pet foods. My adult cat, Jamie, eats Nutro Max Cat Adult. My two rats (believe it or not) eat a mix that includes Nutro Natural Choice Lite Dog Food. All three are superbly healthy animals, and have never needed a vet visit for...

Tokyo: A Certain Style = Apartment Voyeurism

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 17:26:46 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I know that all of you apartment dwellers have done it at some time or other.

You're walking down the hall, and you notice a neighbor fiddling with the lock of his door. Checking your pace, you time yourself so that you can briefly peek into...

Pooh. This Pooh is... unPooh-ish

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 02:46:17 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I was feeling particularly grumpy tonight, and my friend decided to swing by Blockbuster for some Pooh Bear goodness. The idea was to cheer me up. Instead, I was deeply disturbed by the wrongness that was this Pooh movie.

Winnie the...

Epic Fantasy, Politics, Sex and Violence; A Game of Thrones Has it All

Sat, 16 Nov 2002 15:46:59 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - At some point in my reading career, I had forgotten how much I used to love high fantasy literature. When I was in middle school and high school, I devoured fantasy novels at the rate of several a week. Then, during college, novels were pushed off my...

Use the ZoomGroom and Prepare for Purrs!

Sun, 10 Nov 2002 23:35:47 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - The Kong ZoomGroom has been the brush of choice in my family for many years, during which time four cats have entered (and sometimes exited) our lives. All but one of those cats have absolutely adored this rubber brush.

Pepper, the...

Bring out the color of your tropical fish with TetraMin

Wed, 6 Nov 2002 18:33:34 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - TetraMin is one of the most widely available brands of fish flakes on the market. While I have never seen it at my local grocery store, it may be found in just about every pet shop that stocks fish supplies, and is reasonably priced. Its...

Chinese Cinderella: heartache and triumph transcend cultures

Wed, 30 Oct 2002 21:30:40 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - As a 9th grade social studies teacher, I have made one supremely valuable observation about young teenagers: they have a very finely tuned sense of justice and injustice. Young teens will constantly jump to express outrage at situations that the...

Eat Cheese, Gilbert and Sullivan. (80s Fer Shur W/O)

Fri, 25 Oct 2002 14:52:01 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - One of my college friends spent three years talking about The Pirate Movie, and firmly asserting that it is one of the greatest films ever made as far as pure cheesiness is concerned. The premise was indeed promising: 80s icon Kristy...

Love your fish? Don't forget their conditioner!

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 20:36:36 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - When I first moved to the mainland from Hawaii, I was amazed to discover that tap water here has a taste and an aroma. Back home, there was nothing added to the water. Here in Chicago, the water that comes out of the faucet in my apartment has a...

The guillotine meets the nail-clipper, but fails to make the cut

Thu, 10 Oct 2002 17:05:08 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Guillotines. Nail-clippers. One was a mode of execution favored by overzealous 18th century Frenchmen. The other is a mode of torture (from the viewpoint of the feline) favored by modern cat-owners. Put them together, and you have the Lambert Kay...

A splendid little book about the "splendid little war"

Wed, 9 Oct 2002 20:17:10 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - The Spanish-American War is one of the more overlooked chapters in the canon of American history. Few modern Americans are comfortable acknowledging the United States' role in the imperialist struggles of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and fewer...

I was gunna scratch the couch, but then I got high...

Tue, 8 Oct 2002 10:23:35 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - As I write this, Jamie is rolling on her back, kneading the air with her paws. Benjamin is poinging around his scratching post emitting an atypical gurgly-purr-meow. The culprit? Cosmic Catnip.

Cosmic Catnip is catnip, plain and simple. It...

Everybody talks about "It"...

Mon, 7 Oct 2002 10:29:19 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - "Miss H? Have you read it yet?"

"No, I still haven't read it."

"When're you gonna read it?"

"It's in the middle of the book stack. I'll get to it!"

"C'mon, Miss H! You hafta read it!"

It's rare that...

Stargirl is luminous

Sun, 6 Oct 2002 14:28:48 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I am a 9th grade teacher at an urban school filled with reluctant readers. In an effort to encourage my kids to read, I keep a bookcase stocked with young adult fiction. Stargirl was purchased to occupy a space on those shelves, and...

These sticks satisfy my picky kitty

Sun, 6 Oct 2002 04:46:22 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Grrrrrrrr.

Jamie, my 1.5 year old cat, rarely shows any sign of protectiveness when Benjamin, the kitten, shoves his way into her food dish or snatches her treats from her. She is generally a delicate, polite eater. Her manners are...

Say you want a resolution...

Wed, 25 Sep 2002 11:29:29 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I ran across Waiting by Ha Jin last spring at a book sale. I am a social studies teacher and had just finished teaching about the Cultural Revolution in China that week. The back cover of Waiting promised a love story set in...

Vio Software: VioSoftware: part of the conspiracy to undermine my skepticism

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 12:58:29 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - "Twenty-two dollars? Twenty-two dollars? How can they charge twenty-two dollars for Norton Antivirus 2002 with a complimentary one year subscription to virus updates, and still make a profit?"

I'm always a skeptic when it comes...

Saving my sanity one collar at a time

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 11:24:34 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Jamie (formally addressed as Her Royal Highness Princess Jamie of Chicago's North Side) is a year and a half old short haired mixed breed kitty-with-an-attitude. She knows what she likes and what she dislikes. Jamie likes to be talked to, but not to be...

An adequate temporary box, but I won't make it a habit!

Sun, 15 Sep 2002 13:20:35 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Cats happen. Most cat owners probably know what I mean when I write that; our feline friends waltz into our lives at the most unexpected moments and rarely give us any time to prepare for them before demanding snuggles, litter boxes, and kitty yummies...

A Big Kid's Guide to Six Flags Great America

Sun, 8 Sep 2002 13:38:16 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Before three weeks ago, I was positively terrified of the idea of being flipped upside down. I had never been on a roller coaster that contained loops or corkscrews. After two trips to Six Flags Great America in less than a month, I can say that I have...

"Eat that?! You MUST be joking."

Mon, 2 Sep 2002 04:52:56 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - Hairballs are definitely one of the grossest aspects of cat ownership. A short while back, I had the unpleasant experience of stepping in something wet and hairy on my way to the washroom one dark night. After dancing about the room in a panic, fearing...

Martin's Cages Online Store: My rats love Martin's (and I love 'em too!)

Thu, 22 Aug 2002 19:10:28 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author LilScamp - I am owned by two very spoiled male rats. Of course, in the lexicon of pet owners, "spoiled" translates to "big and chubby". After a couple of months of yogurt treats and gourmet rat goodies, my tiny babies had grown into BIG babies. The glorified...