Epinions Recent Reviews for kurt_kurosawa

New Balance 926 for normal to over-pronator: these shoes are made for walking!

Fri, 23 Jul 2004 18:47:42 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - These shoes, available in dignified all-black, brown or white leather for office, uniformed, and medical duty, are blessed relief for the hard-walking pronator (person with flat feet), providing exceptional stability, motion control and comfort for under...

Casio Wave Ceptor watch: killer technology dirt cheap.

Wed, 4 Sep 2002 13:35:13 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Note: The reviewed item is the $10.05-cheaper and slightly better-looking WV-56HA-1AV (identical factory specifications).

I like watches. I could tell time before I could print my name. Every day, I drove Mom nuts asking when...

Nice when the going's easy, but press it hard and pucker up!

Sat, 19 Jan 2002 13:32:09 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Anything positive said about this car by other epinionators is probably well-deserved. And I share that appreciation; after all, I bought the car and owned it for 36 hours. It seems truly amazing that for just under $11,000 (including $500 rebate) anyone...

A novel of the building of Stonehenge (non-spoiler review).

Sat, 2 Jun 2001 23:55:38 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Bernard Cornwell, who took us on a grand tour of British military adventures and misadventures in the bleak and action-packed Sharpe series of historical novels, has gone all the way in bringing us a convincing account of the building of Stonehenge.
...

A never-ending Chinese eating adventure in Flushing, Queens (REDONE!)

Tue, 29 May 2001 14:34:04 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Flushing is a great place to beat the pavement as the hours fly. Main Street serves up a giant slice of real Asia. We discovered this restaurant amid an eight-hour exploration of Flushing, when Pavlov rang our entire gang's salivary production up to max...

Manna for the hungry mind.

Wed, 13 Dec 2000 15:57:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Once in a great while, I run across a book so nutritious, so magical, so absolutely huge that I ration it out to myself in tiny thought-sustaining bites, savoring each morsel to its fullest before moving on. A good book may last me a month. A deep...

A superior, highly atmospheric Manhattan Project novel.

Sat, 9 Dec 2000 11:53:07 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Martin Cruz Smith is best known for Gorky Park and other thrillers fueled by the tension between East and West. Stallion Gate draws on the same seething energy from the same source, but in an admirably sparing way. The bulk of its energy is...

A compact bass amp with killer tone.

Fri, 1 Dec 2000 17:06:49 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Many bassists have only size and price in mind when it comes to small bass amps, as if listeners in smaller venues somehow don't count as much as the listeners in large venues, for whom bassists are willing to bring on their lovingly-assembled killer...

Moby Grape: The forgotten San Francisco band.

Sun, 24 Sep 2000 12:51:08 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Personal note: A long time ago, I bought my first bass guitar for $14.52, all the money in my piggy bank at the time. It was Kimberly short-scale with flatwound strings, an action so high I could've shot arrows off the neck, a Formica pickguard that...

The Book of the Samurai: candid, authentic, fascinating.

Sun, 27 Aug 2000 19:16:12 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - There have been many times in my life when I've found myself out of step with this culture of compromise and convenience. In particular, I've been extremely obstinate in deciding certain matters of honor or principle, usually at great cost, and with the...

Almost right: Fender '57 Reissue Precision Bass (P-Bass)

Fri, 11 Aug 2000 22:49:54 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Few things can cheer a musician up so much as a great new instrument, unless it's a great new instrument dirt cheap. While searching last month for a Fender '62 Precision Bass reissue at a reasonable price, I ran into a brand-new '57 reissue on eBay...

Pro Workhorse: Fender '62 Reissue Precision Bass (P-Bass)

Fri, 4 Aug 2000 09:52:35 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Fender, an American institution, is in some ways the Harley-Davidson of the music world. Like Harley, Fender suffered the low quality and "innovations" (read cost-cutting) of bean-counter meddling following a big-business takeover (CBS's...

The Omnivore Browser Manifesto

Fri, 21 Jul 2000 14:42:18 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Before you read this, please read the Netscape Communicator reviews by aaanativearts, samsonite1023, clocks, and skadar. Go on, this is important. Come back when you're through.

Welcome back. Not a pretty picture, is it? You've just heard from...

Squier P-bass: Perfect beginner's bass guitar (REDONE!)

Thu, 20 Jul 2000 20:08:03 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - HOLD THE PRESSES. I WAS REALLY WRONG. Here's a comment I posted on bunnybass.com recently:

I had gotten a Samick which was great except in the wood personality department (and to be accurate, it has an exceptionally clear tone, no dead...

Sing-along and sleep CD: baby-to-preschool children's music.

Sat, 15 Jul 2000 11:57:15 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Here's an enchanting CD-and-book package of 77 songs and rhymes woven into a 67-minute journey by Jack and Jill and friends as they discover presents to bring to King Cole's birthday party in London. Unlike typical "grind-'em-out" compilations...

Baltasar Gracian: A political survival manual for innocents.

Sun, 9 Jul 2000 20:46:45 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - All has reached perfection, and becoming a true person is the greatest perfection of all. It takes more to make one sage today than it did to make the seven of Greece. And you need more resources to deal with a single person these days than with an...

The Moody Blues: A halfway-decent 60s rock extravaganza.

Thu, 6 Jul 2000 09:36:05 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - The derailment of the Deramic demo:

Here's your classic "skunk works" project, rammed through by a band that, like the famed Lockheed Skunk Works, sidestepped management to build something special. Not that the 1967 Days of...

Robert Johnson: Blues walkin' like a man.

Wed, 5 Jul 2000 15:57:31 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Toward the end of the attempted rock revival of Johnson's music, Bonnie Bramlett crowed "Good morning, Robert Johnson's son," but Eric Clapton would later concede (in the exhaustive notes to this compilation) "His best songs have never...

Jill Sobule: The cure for angst.

Mon, 3 Jul 2000 13:14:16 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Two weeks ago, I was driving to work to the droning of the local alternative/angst station when the car filled up with the quietly electifying sound of Jill Sobule's "One Of These Days." My ears clung velcro'd to every note and word, only...

Sappho: The soul of poetry, stripped and ripped.

Wed, 28 Jun 2000 23:30:56 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - In this pocket-sized treasure chest (Shambhala Pocket Classics, ISBN 0-87773-991-9, $6 US, $8 Canadian), the poet and translator Mary Barnard has magically transported Sappho alive into the present (previous attempts to transport the hapless poet through...

Shootout: Three budget personal CD players.

Tue, 27 Jun 2000 17:32:59 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - You've probably read that all CD players sound the same--only the features are different. Over the years, my ears have told me otherwise, so I compared cheap Sony, Aiwa, and Philips machines using the same CDs and headphones (my treasured Sony MDR-V6,...

Paula Cole: Gems and clunkers.

Mon, 26 Jun 2000 08:11:43 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - This album has a split personality.

On one side, we have "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?", a brilliant, catchy tune that alternates bandpass-filtered husky white female rap verses with wonderfully contrasting lush choruses and...

Techno sampler is a great party CD.

Thu, 22 Jun 2000 13:36:25 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Once upon a time, there was a wonderful little CD exchange in Hampton, Virginia, with the kind of knowledgeable, impassioned clerks found at struggling indie bookstores. I bought CDs recklessly, knowing I could readily exchange them, and felt free to...

Monster Magnet: Power chords to drive by.

Tue, 20 Jun 2000 20:57:14 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - Let me mention up front that this CD comes complete with a parental advisory sticker. If you're not sure if that's OK or not, you may examine the lyrics at www.monstermagnet.net (that's dot-net, not dot-com). They're fairly rude.

"When...

Cigar Store Indians: Rompin' stompin' latter-day rockabilly.

Fri, 16 Jun 2000 23:40:51 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author kurt_kurosawa - We were waiting to go on the Coca-Cola Stage at Charlotte Speed Street Festival the afternoon before the Coca-Cola 600. Racks of outrageous-looking guitars stood at stage left (Cheap Trick was the last act that evening). We were jawing and sucking up...