Epinions Recent Reviews for valarltd

Watch your head, or you won't be able to Focus

Sat, 6 Nov 2004 17:50:27 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - When Hubby's Neon started acting up and the repair bill was more than the value of the car, we traded it in for a 2003 metallic gold Ford Focus with a beige interior. Very nice looking, but a royal pain of a car. I have not been impressed with this...

The very least you need to know

Sat, 16 Oct 2004 16:43:32 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - If I were to recommend one how-to book for beginning knitting and crocheting, this would be it. This is the single best guide I've encountered for knitting. The crochet section is sparser, but we'll cover that later. Gail Diven and Cindy Kitchel...

Memphis BBQ at its best

Wed, 6 Oct 2004 22:44:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - Now I'm from Kansas City, originally, and if there's one thing KC is known for, it's BBQ. Memphis is a big BBQ town too, but very different from back home. In KC, barbecue is beef. Here, it's pork. Ribs, pulled pork (shoulder cooked until it...

Useful and beautiful

Thu, 23 Sep 2004 23:40:15 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - 67 different patterns make up this gorgeous hardbound book with glossy pages from Leisure Arts. Like many of their books, this is a compendium of various leaflet patterns. Like the whole of their Crochet Collection Series, this is divided into...

Excellent Hanukkah book

Thu, 23 Sep 2004 00:46:26 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - The Littles live behind the walls of the Eldridge Street Synagogue in this reverant tale of bravery by Eric A. Kimmel. The preparations are underway for Hanukkah when Papa limps in, injured from a run-in with the synagogue's new cat. There will be...

Sid Meier's Civilization III for Windows: From a single band of settlers to Alpha Centauri

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 22:48:37 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - Civilization has been around since 1990, and we've been playing it since that time. (Somewhere, I still have a copy of Rome on 64 K a day, the original players' guide) Civilization III is the latest incarnation. It features 16 unique...

Gorgeous

Mon, 13 Sep 2004 22:45:20 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - Crochet with Heart Magazine puts out several of these collection books. This is my favorite. The binding is a sturdy hardbound, and the pages are heavy and glossy. This stands up to travel much better than pulp magazines. The letter-size is...

A dark wizard indeed

Sun, 12 Sep 2004 23:52:37 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I fell hard for the McFarlane Oz figures a while back. I acquired my Wizard from the discount bargain bin of my local Radio Shack. His right hand is broken off. It, with the lace cuff of his shirt is in the bottom of the packaging. But for $5, what...

The First Word in Homesteading

Sun, 12 Sep 2004 19:56:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - If one is considering how to survive off-grid, endure through the coming depression or just wants to imagine a simpler life, this is the book to start reading. There are other books that go in depth about selecting a home-stead site, building your...

Clean, comfortable conventioning

Fri, 3 Sep 2004 00:15:32 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I visit this hotel annually for a convention. It is located just off the interstate highway, and the signage is excellent. Parking is more than adequate. It is within easy walking of several restaurants, and a grocery store. The rooms are clean...

Satyricon in Spandex

Sun, 25 Jul 2004 17:54:35 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I am not a comic book fan. I am, however, a fan of fandom. And Comic Book: The Movie shows a deep, abiding love for us fen that is often missing from media representations. This delightful little mockumentary is great fun to watch, and even...

Not a bad hour and a half

Sat, 29 Nov 2003 02:33:11 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I saw this with the Usual Suspects: my sister and my 11 year old daughter. I think we got the biggest laugh out of the digital dolby promo, which does a rather "Well of Souls" routine. So we all sat there, our Staves of Ra planted between our feet,...

Out of the ashes of writer's block

Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:00:44 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - Let me say, first and foremost, this is not a children's book. Not in the way that Oz or Dr. Seuss...

Zip me in

Tue, 24 Jun 2003 17:42:14 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - John Carpenter is a B movie-maker with a A-list budget. This trio of terror tales shows its made fo...

Thrill Ride

Wed, 18 Jun 2003 11:36:33 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - Midnight Ride is the B movie that inspired creation of a filksong called "The Mark Hamill Fan...

Shaken, stirred and a bit fried

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:44:22 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - My daughter's GS troop dragged me all over Libertyland last Saturday. It was great fun, but I'm sure not 17 anymore.

I took the 3 biggest girls, and we rode EVERYTHING. Well, almost. Not one of us wanted to go on the Kamikaze (aka the...

So Quick and Easy

Fri, 2 May 2003 12:10:07 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - The title says "Quick and Easy Crochet."

Oh, and it is! I found a pile of these on a garage sale for 10 cents each and bought them on a whim. I’d never worked from a pattern in my life, even though I’d been crocheting off and on for...

The Seminal Work on Fandom

Thu, 29 Aug 2002 11:36:49 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I am a fan.

Obviously. Just look at my review list.

Thus, when I moved out of mere fannishness and began observing the subculture, one of the first books I read was Jenkins' _Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory...

Making a place for Clarice and Misha both

Thu, 29 Aug 2002 11:18:29 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I spent the summer reading Hannibal on my lunch break. Wonderful reading while on a high-protein diet.

Plot:

Hannibal Lecter escaped at the end of Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal takes up 10 years later.
...

My car is EVIL! And I love it.

Fri, 23 Aug 2002 10:51:59 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - My Beretta served me faithfully for two years, until I traded it in on a minivan with the advent of my fourth child.

I bought it second hand, with about 85000 miles. I paid $2000 for it in 1997, and the engine fell out in South Dakota...

Hotmail: Hot mail

Wed, 19 Jun 2002 16:56:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I've been using Hotmail since 1996. My husband got tired of my e-mail showing up in his box, so I had to get my own account.

I got hotmail, since nyx@cu.edu was no longer available.

My observations:

1) It has allowed me...

Mixed messages

Mon, 17 Jun 2002 13:28:22 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I'm a SW junkie. I admit it. I watch the movies. I watch everything else the stars have done ("Duh," I hear you say. "You reviewed Laserhawk and Regarding Henry for stars' sake"). I sew Jedi robes. I braid my hair like Leia on Bespin...

Go Miners!

Wed, 12 Jun 2002 14:54:39 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - The University of Missouri--Rolla is located in Rolla, Missouri, which is on I-44 halfway between St. Louis and Springfield. It's a town about about 20,000 people. To get anywhere larger, you have to drive at least 2 hours.

The local scenery...

Pass the Ritz and Mallowmars

Tue, 28 May 2002 16:47:39 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - OK, so it was mistake to watch this one in the same afternoon as The Trip to Bountiful and Walking Across Egypt. My heart was terminally warmed.

All three are great, feel-good, sweet-natured movies. But all at once was too...

Casting against type

Thu, 23 May 2002 16:53:54 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author valarltd - I knew I had to see this movie.

My ongoing infatuation with Harrison Ford is moving into its third decade with no signs of ending and my lust for Michelle Pfeiffer, which began with Into the Night hasn't cooled either.

Add a...