Epinions Recent Reviews for tlknapp

The Original

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:07:19 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - Pay no attention to the naysayers, ladies and gentlemen: Old Crow is (pardon me here, Coca-Cola) the real thing.To be more specific, Old Crow is the first, original sour mash bourbon whiskey, named for the inventor of the sour mash technique, Dr...

Different Strokes ...

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:28:20 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - ... for different folks. And Others is all about those other folks. Most political histories of the United States confine their focus to "major party" politics, with the occasional nod to major trends as manifested in "third" party movements...

The grass is greener ...

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:30:27 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - ... on the other side of the switch from power to reel. I had a number of reasons for wanting to switch to a reel mower. Those reasons ranged from the sentimental (remembering the one my grandparents had and that I loved to run around their lawn as a...

The secret history of Las Vegas

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:06:13 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I recently re-read Last Call, ten years after my first reading, and found it just as compelling the second time around as the first. It's a solid fantasy novel with strong characters, a plot that keeps the reader on tenterhooks, and several...

Now that it's a clearance item ...

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 15:36:10 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - ... it's a great deal. My homeschooled seven-year-old recently got interested in the idea of making stop-motion films (specifically, Lego "brick films"). I was planning to pick up a decent webcam, but happened to come across the Tony Hawk HelmetCam on...

D is for Dystopia

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 20:52:19 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - As is the case with so many films, I wanted to see A Scanner Darkly on the big screen, but didn't manage it. This is a review of the DVD version (not including the special features" -- I seldom find those worth messing with on any DVD; if you're...

Surf's Up!

Fri, 6 Jan 2006 15:42:03 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Linux geek (see my E
pinions
review of Mandrake Linux for details). I just want an OS that works well and doesn't have a high learning curve. For an extremely low...

A sequel the hard way

Tue, 10 May 2005 13:57:08 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - How do you follow up a film like Steven Soderbergh's outstanding remake of Oc
ean's
Eleven? It had everything going for it -- name identification with the original, a stellar cast and a tight, absorbing caper plot...

Jesus Wept

Sun, 8 May 2005 18:36:12 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I wanted to see "The Passion of the Christ" on the big screen, but events conspired to prevent me from doing so. Then I rented it twice, and didn't manage to watch it. Finally, however, I sat down last night to watch a film I've been anticipating for...

... and then Will Smith opened a can of throwdown ...

Sat, 29 Jan 2005 17:18:11 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - Seems to be the bottom line on every Will Smith movie, doesn't it? Every time, I decide to wait and rent the film instead of making it a theatre priority, because I figure he's going to bomb. And every time, I'm wrong. [author's note -- Epinions is, to...

Dressed up like a million dollar trooper ...

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 19:31:56 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - ... tryin' hard to look like Gary Cooper*. And, for the most part, succeeding. I really wanted to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on the big screen, but alas -- there are more movies than I have time and money to catch. So I snatched it...

Rogue Spear Rainbow Six for PlayStation 1: Honey, I shrunk the secret counterterrorism task force ...

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:42:48 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - ... down to console size. I'm used to playing first-person shooters on the PC, and I'm usually a generation behind. So it really shouldn't be surprising that I'm still back in the Dark Ages on the console side. My son has a PSOne console, and I've...

Chick Flick Meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Mon, 24 Jan 2005 10:13:46 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - "The Forgotten" caught me off guard. It was one of those "can't really think of anything I'd like to watch" stops at the video rental store, my significant other suggested it, and that's the way it was. Based on my fragmentary memory of the trailer...

Systemic Shock

Tue, 28 Dec 2004 15:30:48 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I skipped reviewing The Confusion, the second volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, because doing so would necessarily have been a mere rehash of my review of the first volume, Quicksilver (c
lick
...

Requiem for a modem

Sun, 19 Dec 2004 15:34:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - Yesterday was a sad day: I discarded my old Zoom Model 2949 56Kx external modem. After at least four years (and I think probably a little longer), it started sending spurious characters when I'd try to sign on to my ISP. Four years? Try three PCs and...

The hype wasn't half of it

Mon, 11 Oct 2004 15:55:22 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - Is it too late to review "Fahrenheit 9/11?" I don't think so. Millions of Americans haven't seen it -- more than have, as a matter of fact. But we'll all see it eventually. It's inescapable, like all the best propaganda. Yes, propaganda. Michael Moore...

Formula, formula, who's got the formula?

Sat, 25 Sep 2004 07:06:37 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - No, I'm not going to slag "Taking Lives." It's a well-done movie with a great cast and some nice plot twists. But -- and I really, really hate to say this -- it's about time to leave "The Silence of the Lambs" behind as a visual paradigm for suspense...

Gmail: G Whiz!

Fri, 24 Sep 2004 16:48:33 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - KNAPP'S LAW: Web-based email is a pain in the keister. It incorporates a bunch of Javascript and other baubles that complicate things. It's overloaded with ads that make it too slow for dialup users. It has low storage quotas -- one bad run of spam or a...

A tour de force -- in more than one way

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 20:44:37 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - "Tour de force" is French for "feat of strength." Far from using this term in the standard laudatory way, I'm using it, in reviewing Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver as an accurate description of both the author's writing of it and any aficionado's...

Holiday Inn Kansas City Sports Complex: A Holiday in hell?

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 16:31:35 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I have a theory about hotels: Like all businesses, they traffic primarily on location. After all, we're at the dawn of the Internet age, and they aren't yet used to the idea that potential guests can now easily and conveniently read reviews and thus have...

Quality Inn And Suites Hannibal Hannibal: Marvelous accomodations, reasonable price

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:18:21 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - My stay at the Quality Inn and Suites in Hannibal confirmed my impression of the "Choice Hotels" chain as a great alternative to going with one of the "discount" hotel reservation services and hoping for the best. While this hotel was one of the...

Clarion Hotel and Suites Cincinnati: Sweet suites and sweet prices in Cincinnati

Wed, 23 Jun 2004 13:22:58 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - The Clarion Suites in Cincinnati (actually in adjacent Blue Ash, but convenient to everything via Ronald Reagan Highway or I-71) is the hotel that finally weaned me off of Priceline and CheapTickets. The facility was so nice, and the price so affordable,...

Paranoid? Maybe they really ARE out to get you!

Mon, 21 Jun 2004 08:47:58 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - If you've seen "Wag the Dog," the movie putatively based upon American Hero, do yourself a favor and forget about the movie. They're only tangentially related, and this book is Exhibit A in Why The Book Is Always Better Than The Movie. I've...

Good deal but not a steal

Mon, 21 Jun 2004 08:03:08 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I picked up my HP 3520 at Wal-Mart for $39.95. I'm happy with it for that price (especially since it came with some extras, including photo-quality paper and software), but I wouldn't recommend it for "industrial strength" use. If you use your printer a...

Priceline Hotels: Good prices, not always the preferred location or rate

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 07:11:55 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author tlknapp - I've used (and reviewed) Priceline for airline tickets ... so it was natural that I'd try them for hotels, too. The up side: I've booked hotels all over the country through Priceline, and when I've been successful, I've generally been able to get a...