All Entertainment OK

Price : $4.65

Amazon.com Review

Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. ‘Be very still,’ he whispered, as if I wasn’t already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat.

As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because–he’s a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.

Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward’s sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer’s writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up) –Patty Campbell

10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Stephenie Meyer

Q: Were you a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Angel? What are you watching now that those shows are off the air?
A: I have never seen an entire episode of Buffy or Angel. While I was writing Twilight, I let my older sister read along chapter by chapter. She’s a huge Buffy fan and she kept trying to get me to watch, but I was afraid it would mess up my vision of the vampire world so I never did.

I don’t have a ton of time for TV, and my kids get rowdy when I have on mommy shows, but I do have a secret fondness for reality shows (the good ones, at least in my opinion). I always TiVo Survivor, The Amazing Race, and America’s Next Top Model.

Q: What inspired you to write Twilight? Is this the beginning of a series? Why write for teens?
A: Twilight was inspired by a very vivid dream, which is fairly faithfully transcribed as chapter thirteen of the book. There are sequels on the way–I’m hard at work editing book two (tentatively titled New Moon) right now, and book three is waiting in line for its turn.
I didn’t mean to write for teens–I didn’t mean to write for anyone but myself, so I had an audience of one twenty-nine year old (and later one thirty-one year old when my sister started reading). I think the reason that I ended up with a book for teens is because high school is such a compelling time period–it gives you some of your worst scars and some of your most exhilarating memories. It’s a fascinating place: old enough to feel truly adult, old enough to make decisions that affect the rest of your life, old enough to fall in love, yet, at the same time too young (in most cases) to be free to make a lot of those decisions without someone else’s approval. There’s a lot of scope for a novel in that.

Q: What is your favorite vampire story? Fave vampire movie?
A: I guess my favorite vampire story would be The Vampire Lestat, by Anne Rice, simply because it’s one of the only ones I’ve ever read. I keep meaning to pick up Bram Stoker’s Dracula, because I get asked this question so often and I should probably start with the classics, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Again, I’m afraid to read other vampire books now, for fear of finding things either too similar, or too different from my own vampire world.

Ack! I can’t even answer the movie question. I can’t remember ever seeing a single vampire movie, outside of clips from Bela Lugosi movies on TV. I don’t like true horror movies–my favorite scary movies are all Hitchcock’s.

Q: What other young adult authors do you read?
A: My favorite young adult author is L.M. Montgomery I also enjoy J.K. Rowling (but who doesn’t?), and Ann Brashares. As a teen, I skipped straight to adult books (lots of sci-fi and Jane Austen), so I’m rediscovering the world of teen literature now.
 

Stephenie Meyer’s List of Books You Should Read

Anne of Green Gables

Romeo and Juliet

Dragonflight
To Kill a Mockingbird

The Princess Bride

See more recommendations from Stephenie Meyer

Q&A with Stephanie Meyer

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: The book with the most significant impact on my life is The Book of Mormon. The book with the most significant impact on my life as a writer is probably Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card, with Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier coming in as a close second.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD–what are they?
A: The CD is easy: Absolution by Muse, hands down. It’s harder to give myself just one movie, but the one I watch most frequently is Sense and Sensibility–the one with the screenplay by Emma Thompson. One book is impossible. I’d have to have Pride and Prejudice, but I couldn’t live without something by Orson Scott Card and a nice, thick Maeve Binchy, too.

Q: What is the worst lie you’ve ever told?
A: My lies are all very, very boring: No, you really look great in hot pink! My children only watch one hour of TV a day. I didn’t eat the last Swiss Cake Roll–it must have been one of the kids. That’s the best I’ve got.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: It’s late at night and the house is silent, but I’m still (miraculously) full of energy. I have my headphones in and I’m listened to a mix of Muse, Coldplay, Travis, My Chemical Romance, and The All-American Rejects. Beside me is a fabulous, and yet mysteriously low in calorie, cheesecake….

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: I’d like it to say that I really tried at the important things. I was never perfect at any of them, but I honestly tried to be a great mom, a loving wife, a good daughter, and a true friend. Under that, I’d want a list of my favorite Simpsons quotes.

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: I’d love to have a chance to talk to Orson Scott Card–I have a million questions for him. Mostly things like, How do you come up with this stuff?! But, if he wasn’t available, I’d settle for Matthew Bellamy (lead singer of Muse).

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: I’d want something offensive, rather than defensive. Like shooting fireballs from my hands. That way, you’re really open to going either way–hero or villain. I like to have choices.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-09-19
I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down…I finished it in two days. The love and connection between Bella and Edward is amazing. They are perfect for each other. At the end I found myself screaming for Edward to change her so they would be together forever.

I’m not as happy with Eclipse and New Moon (haven’t read) BD. Someone new comes into the picture and Bella turns wimpy and whiney. Edwatd becomes controlling and I start to hate them both. Enjoy Twilight while you can before moving on to the other books.

Review date : 2008-09-19
I am now on the 3rd book of this series. I rarely read for pleasure, but have had my nose buried in these books for the last 2 weeks.

Find out what all the fuss is about and read this book!

Review date : 2008-09-19
I really enjoyed the book. Stephanie Meyer did a great job on all the characters. When I read the book I was drawn in immediately. I felt like I was in forks with Bella and Edward aand all teh other characters experiecing everthing they did.

Review date : 2008-09-19
This book is amazing! I stayed up all night reading and was able to finish the whole series in a week. This book is not just for teenagers too. My mother read it and loves it as well and now she is telling all of her friends about it. If you are looking for a great read this is the book for you!

Review date : 2008-09-18
From the first paragraph to the last paragraph on the final page, I was absolutely enthralled. I could not put this book down and read it in two days. That’s an almighty effort as the book is almost 500 pages. It may have been written for young adults (I’m not,) but since I was a child I have loved Vampire lore and this book does not disappoint. I strongly recommend it.

Price : $63.39

Product Description

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was based on the Indiana Jones series of films. The series follows the Indiana Jones character (as a young boy and as a young man) as he was growing up and experiencing his early adventures where he gets into trouble learns life lessons and encounters various historical figures along the way. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was filmed on location all over the world ~ including England Russia Spain Czechoslovakia Kenya France India China Austria Egypt the United States Morocco Ireland Italy Africa Turkey Greece and Thailand.System Requirements:TRT: 660 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating:NR UPC:097361301549 Manufacturer No:130154

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-25
Very well done and I hated to see it end. Whoever the writers were did their historical homework, and took very little editorial license. Highly recommended.

Review date : 2008-07-15
Once again, George Lucas has thoroughly entertained and intrigued us with his use of combining history and adventure in Young Indy’s life in a serious and humorous way. We also enjoyed all the many extras that give us the background on the historical figures we encounter along with Indy. Fact and/or fiction — a very nice way to take on an adventure and possibly learn a little history as well.

Review date : 2008-06-21

I fell in love with the first volume of this DVD release - if only for the special features. (See my review under that title.) The re-edited stories on Volume one were confusing but the 10-½ hours (!) of NEW documentaries blew me away! George Lucas and Rick McCallum put their money where there mouth was (and Paramount went out on a limb by putting 10 DVDS in one set) and it shows. The documentaries are well researched and use the experts in the field.

I’m not a big War Years fan so Volume 2 was just okay for me but - again - high quality documentaries were attached.

Then came this volume. First, I headed to the documentaries - Jazz - Louis Armstrong - Ben Hecht - The Algonquin Round table. Each was better than the next with super footage in crisp quality prints and all the experts. Then I decided to watch the series episodes on the Blues and Hollywood. I’m as big music fan so I gave them a shot. WOW! Was I impressed! The Mystery of The Blues episode is loaded with great music - yes, full musical numbers. And each of the three women that Indy falls for is more gorgeous than the next. And how many films feature clarinetist Sidney Bechet as it’s lead character for 90 minutes? (You even get a bit of Harrison Ford at beginning and end!). The last episode on early Hollywood was great too with lots of cool stunt work and an over-the-top performance by the actor playing eccentric Director Eric von Stroheim.

I was really sorry to hear that the series ended with this episode. I’m hooked!

All the volumes belong in every school and public library as a learning tool. Each of the 25-35 minute docs is a new learning tool for adults as well as older children. I certainly give this volume FIVE STARS! And a BIG thanks to Lucas, McCallum and Paramount!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Review date : 2008-06-19
George Lucas should definitely produce more Young Indiana Jones episodes. The episodes of volume three are all terrific and represent a wide range of events, genre, and most important, allow further character development of Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones gets to teach some history while endearing himself to us as a good man with a keen mind and open heart facing his own life lessons. New episodes might finally explain how this trusting young man he created grew to be a cynical adult of the feature films. It’s this satisfied viewer’s hope that Sean Patrick Flanery finally gets the credit he deserves for his many exquisite performances throughout this series. The episode in Italy with the young Ernie Hemingway is as good a "buddy movie" as Hope and Crosby, Newman and Redford, or any other Hollywood team has ever created.

Review date : 2008-06-15
Rubbish. I got caught up in the hype for Indy 4, so I brought these dvds when they were on special. I watched about 30 mins for disc 1 before I turned it off. I had not seen the series before and it was not what I thought it would be.

Price : $9.65

Product Description

En La audacia de la esperanza, el senador demcrata Barack Obama reclama una poltica diferenteuna poltica para quienes estn cansados del agrio partidismo, una poltica que se basa en la fe, la participacin de todos y la nobleza de espritu que es parte esencial de nuestro improbable proyecto de democracia.

En el corazn de este libro est la visin del senador Obama de cmo podemos superar nuestras divisiones para enfrentar los problemas concretos. l examina la creciente inseguridad econmica de las familias estadounidenses, las tensiones raciales y religiosas dentro del cuerpo poltico y las amenazas transnacionalesdesde el terrorismo hasta las pandemiasque se congregan ms all de nuestras costas. En sus ancdotas acerca de su familia, amigos, miembros del Senado y hasta del presidente, existe un poderoso deseo de establecer conexiones: la plataforma de un consenso poltico radicalmente optimista.

Como senador y abogado, profesor y padre, cristiano y escptico, y sobre todo como estudioso de la historia y de la naturaleza humana, el senador Obama ha escrito un libro de un poder transformador.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-11-14
This books is just glorified politics of good feelings but doesn’t really tell what his promise of change really will be. Sad thing people will believe this stuff and follow him into socialism.

Review date : 2008-08-01
Good book, takes off a little slow but very insightful. I read it in English and then in spanish, it definetly translated well.

Disregard babysue’s input (17 negative reviews on Obama-related books she has not read), I love how she can speak for latinos when she has very little knowledge of anything outside her little bubble.

Review date : 2008-07-29
Altamente recomendado para tratar de entender las complejidades de la sociedad norteamericana actual y la vision del candidato democrata a la presidencia de los Estados Unidos de America.

Este es un libro que se puede leer de corrido y con un calidad literaria no muy comun en analisis politicos. A pesar de un par de errores de genero que se le escaparon al corrector en la traduccion por Claudia Casanova, la traduccion de los terminos politicos es muy acertada. Las notas de traduccion son limitadas y van directo al punto.

Great translation job. After comparing with the English version, I really liked how the spirit of the book is translated into Spanish despite difficult-to-translate cultural references. The easy flow and style is preserved in the Spanish version making it a very readable book.

Review date : 2008-04-02
En su libro "La Audacia de la Esperanza", Barack Obama revela sus pensamientos e ideas políticas, su visión sobre la vida y sus vicisitudes, las expectativas de la gente, empleando un estilo literario que sorprende por lo atildado y agradable, sin dejar de ser profundo por los temas que abarca.

Todo un hallazgo; lo leí y lo recomiendo como lector que gusta de contar con buenos libros en su biblioteca.

Price : $63.39

Product Description

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was based on the Indiana Jones series of films. The series follows the Indiana Jones character (as a young boy and as a young man) as he was growing up and experiencing his early adventures where he gets into trouble learns life lessons and encounters various historical figures along the way. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles was filmed on location all over the world ~ including England Russia Spain Czechoslovakia Kenya France India China Austria Egypt the United States Morocco Ireland Italy Africa Turkey Greece and Thailand.System Requirements:TRT: 660 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating:NR UPC:097361301549 Manufacturer No:130154

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-25
Very well done and I hated to see it end. Whoever the writers were did their historical homework, and took very little editorial license. Highly recommended.

Review date : 2008-07-15
Once again, George Lucas has thoroughly entertained and intrigued us with his use of combining history and adventure in Young Indy’s life in a serious and humorous way. We also enjoyed all the many extras that give us the background on the historical figures we encounter along with Indy. Fact and/or fiction — a very nice way to take on an adventure and possibly learn a little history as well.

Review date : 2008-06-21

I fell in love with the first volume of this DVD release - if only for the special features. (See my review under that title.) The re-edited stories on Volume one were confusing but the 10-½ hours (!) of NEW documentaries blew me away! George Lucas and Rick McCallum put their money where there mouth was (and Paramount went out on a limb by putting 10 DVDS in one set) and it shows. The documentaries are well researched and use the experts in the field.

I’m not a big War Years fan so Volume 2 was just okay for me but - again - high quality documentaries were attached.

Then came this volume. First, I headed to the documentaries - Jazz - Louis Armstrong - Ben Hecht - The Algonquin Round table. Each was better than the next with super footage in crisp quality prints and all the experts. Then I decided to watch the series episodes on the Blues and Hollywood. I’m as big music fan so I gave them a shot. WOW! Was I impressed! The Mystery of The Blues episode is loaded with great music - yes, full musical numbers. And each of the three women that Indy falls for is more gorgeous than the next. And how many films feature clarinetist Sidney Bechet as it’s lead character for 90 minutes? (You even get a bit of Harrison Ford at beginning and end!). The last episode on early Hollywood was great too with lots of cool stunt work and an over-the-top performance by the actor playing eccentric Director Eric von Stroheim.

I was really sorry to hear that the series ended with this episode. I’m hooked!

All the volumes belong in every school and public library as a learning tool. Each of the 25-35 minute docs is a new learning tool for adults as well as older children. I certainly give this volume FIVE STARS! And a BIG thanks to Lucas, McCallum and Paramount!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

Review date : 2008-06-19
George Lucas should definitely produce more Young Indiana Jones episodes. The episodes of volume three are all terrific and represent a wide range of events, genre, and most important, allow further character development of Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones gets to teach some history while endearing himself to us as a good man with a keen mind and open heart facing his own life lessons. New episodes might finally explain how this trusting young man he created grew to be a cynical adult of the feature films. It’s this satisfied viewer’s hope that Sean Patrick Flanery finally gets the credit he deserves for his many exquisite performances throughout this series. The episode in Italy with the young Ernie Hemingway is as good a "buddy movie" as Hope and Crosby, Newman and Redford, or any other Hollywood team has ever created.

Review date : 2008-06-15
Rubbish. I got caught up in the hype for Indy 4, so I brought these dvds when they were on special. I watched about 30 mins for disc 1 before I turned it off. I had not seen the series before and it was not what I thought it would be.

Price : $115.90

Amazon.com

Without the writers and performers behind the National Lampoon Radio Hour, comedy today would be an altogether different beast. In truth, it wouldn’t be nearly so beastly. For a time, overeducated, chemically altered white boys with attitudes were an extraordinary font of humor, and they didn’t come much more educated, altered, white, and boyish than the Nat Lamp crew. Led first by Michael O’Donoughue and later by John Belushi, the radio program lasted from 1973 to 1975, with many of its creators then moving on to the inaugural company of Saturday Night Live. But if TV proffered innately impertinent, un-P.C. types like O’Donoughue, Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner in slightly deluded form, and movies would further water down their personas, radio served them up in all their concentrated glory. The show, as this astonishing 3 CD box demonstrates, was the comic equivalent of a lethal speedball. –Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-11
The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a radio comedy show that ran from late 1973 to late 1974. It originally was an hour long, but was soon cut to half an hour when they started to run low on material (while still being titled The National Lampoon Radio Hour). Here we have over three hours of highlights from the show. This is very funny stuff. In a way, the show was a precursor to Saturday Night Live, using many of the performers and writers that later worked on that show. Buy this box.

Review date : 2005-01-26
I recently went to nationallampoon.com and contacted them, asking if "Radio Dinner" and "Goodbye Pop" would ever be released on CD. The answer I got back was from somebody who apparently never even heard of the albums because he said that those titles may someday be re-released on CD… but they never have been! If you read the liner credits on some of the recent compilations, you’ll know that Radio Dinner and Goodbye Pop were probably the best NatLamp albums ever! One even says that Radio Dinner is still the best-selling NatLamp album to date!!!

This box set is the best you’re gonna get until those albums come out… if they ever do! You can get a track here and there on the recent compilation releases, but where oh where is my beloved "Art Rock Suite", arguably the most ambitiously produced musical satire ever produced!

Radio Dinner is scheduled for release in May 2005 at amazon.co.uk so hopefully in the USA as well.

Now come on NatLamp and release my personal favorite Good Bye Pop!

Review date : 2004-02-08
This collection of Radio Hour skits is great stuff, but it leaves out the most over-the-top material from this era. Who can forget the spot-on send-ups of Joan Baez, John Lennon or Helen Reddy? How about the travel commercial for Haiti or the C&W song "Clap Is Just The B Side Of Love"? Or "Kung Fu Christmas"?
Are we too repressed now to handle it?
Too dumb? Too many lawyers?

Review date : 2002-12-12
Yes, this is gorgeous humor. But honestly, WHEN will they re-release the old "Radio Dinner" album? Us baby boomers wanna re-live the exciting days of the Nixon/McGovern campaign:
"Some of you are asking, why, in announcing our complete withdrawal from Vietnam, and the legalization of marijuana, I am wearing these ludicrous headlamps on my ears. Well, let me explain."

::sigh::

But this one will do until that happy day.

wistfully,

Review date : 2002-09-30
This three volume set is so funny. I just with it was longer (that is my only complaint). The funny thing is, the more you listen to it, the funnier it gets.

Not only did I buy a copy for myself, but two months later I got a copy for my sister (we share the same type of humor).

Hearing John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and alumni doing spoofs of Marlon Brando, Charles Bronson, Joni Mitchell, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, and James Taylor are simply hilarious.

Surprisingly, the jokes have held up very well, and not as out of date as I would have thought. A smart, refreshing, hilarious send up of just about everything, National Lampoon delivers the goods.
 

Price : $115.90

Amazon.com

Without the writers and performers behind the National Lampoon Radio Hour, comedy today would be an altogether different beast. In truth, it wouldn’t be nearly so beastly. For a time, overeducated, chemically altered white boys with attitudes were an extraordinary font of humor, and they didn’t come much more educated, altered, white, and boyish than the Nat Lamp crew. Led first by Michael O’Donoughue and later by John Belushi, the radio program lasted from 1973 to 1975, with many of its creators then moving on to the inaugural company of Saturday Night Live. But if TV proffered innately impertinent, un-P.C. types like O’Donoughue, Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner in slightly deluded form, and movies would further water down their personas, radio served them up in all their concentrated glory. The show, as this astonishing 3 CD box demonstrates, was the comic equivalent of a lethal speedball. –Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-11
The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a radio comedy show that ran from late 1973 to late 1974. It originally was an hour long, but was soon cut to half an hour when they started to run low on material (while still being titled The National Lampoon Radio Hour). Here we have over three hours of highlights from the show. This is very funny stuff. In a way, the show was a precursor to Saturday Night Live, using many of the performers and writers that later worked on that show. Buy this box.

Review date : 2005-01-26
I recently went to nationallampoon.com and contacted them, asking if "Radio Dinner" and "Goodbye Pop" would ever be released on CD. The answer I got back was from somebody who apparently never even heard of the albums because he said that those titles may someday be re-released on CD… but they never have been! If you read the liner credits on some of the recent compilations, you’ll know that Radio Dinner and Goodbye Pop were probably the best NatLamp albums ever! One even says that Radio Dinner is still the best-selling NatLamp album to date!!!

This box set is the best you’re gonna get until those albums come out… if they ever do! You can get a track here and there on the recent compilation releases, but where oh where is my beloved "Art Rock Suite", arguably the most ambitiously produced musical satire ever produced!

Radio Dinner is scheduled for release in May 2005 at amazon.co.uk so hopefully in the USA as well.

Now come on NatLamp and release my personal favorite Good Bye Pop!

Review date : 2004-02-08
This collection of Radio Hour skits is great stuff, but it leaves out the most over-the-top material from this era. Who can forget the spot-on send-ups of Joan Baez, John Lennon or Helen Reddy? How about the travel commercial for Haiti or the C&W song "Clap Is Just The B Side Of Love"? Or "Kung Fu Christmas"?
Are we too repressed now to handle it?
Too dumb? Too many lawyers?

Review date : 2002-12-12
Yes, this is gorgeous humor. But honestly, WHEN will they re-release the old "Radio Dinner" album? Us baby boomers wanna re-live the exciting days of the Nixon/McGovern campaign:
"Some of you are asking, why, in announcing our complete withdrawal from Vietnam, and the legalization of marijuana, I am wearing these ludicrous headlamps on my ears. Well, let me explain."

::sigh::

But this one will do until that happy day.

wistfully,

Review date : 2002-09-30
This three volume set is so funny. I just with it was longer (that is my only complaint). The funny thing is, the more you listen to it, the funnier it gets.

Not only did I buy a copy for myself, but two months later I got a copy for my sister (we share the same type of humor).

Hearing John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and alumni doing spoofs of Marlon Brando, Charles Bronson, Joni Mitchell, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, and James Taylor are simply hilarious.

Surprisingly, the jokes have held up very well, and not as out of date as I would have thought. A smart, refreshing, hilarious send up of just about everything, National Lampoon delivers the goods.
 

Price : $115.90

Amazon.com

Without the writers and performers behind the National Lampoon Radio Hour, comedy today would be an altogether different beast. In truth, it wouldn’t be nearly so beastly. For a time, overeducated, chemically altered white boys with attitudes were an extraordinary font of humor, and they didn’t come much more educated, altered, white, and boyish than the Nat Lamp crew. Led first by Michael O’Donoughue and later by John Belushi, the radio program lasted from 1973 to 1975, with many of its creators then moving on to the inaugural company of Saturday Night Live. But if TV proffered innately impertinent, un-P.C. types like O’Donoughue, Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner in slightly deluded form, and movies would further water down their personas, radio served them up in all their concentrated glory. The show, as this astonishing 3 CD box demonstrates, was the comic equivalent of a lethal speedball. –Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-11
The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a radio comedy show that ran from late 1973 to late 1974. It originally was an hour long, but was soon cut to half an hour when they started to run low on material (while still being titled The National Lampoon Radio Hour). Here we have over three hours of highlights from the show. This is very funny stuff. In a way, the show was a precursor to Saturday Night Live, using many of the performers and writers that later worked on that show. Buy this box.

Review date : 2005-01-26
I recently went to nationallampoon.com and contacted them, asking if "Radio Dinner" and "Goodbye Pop" would ever be released on CD. The answer I got back was from somebody who apparently never even heard of the albums because he said that those titles may someday be re-released on CD… but they never have been! If you read the liner credits on some of the recent compilations, you’ll know that Radio Dinner and Goodbye Pop were probably the best NatLamp albums ever! One even says that Radio Dinner is still the best-selling NatLamp album to date!!!

This box set is the best you’re gonna get until those albums come out… if they ever do! You can get a track here and there on the recent compilation releases, but where oh where is my beloved "Art Rock Suite", arguably the most ambitiously produced musical satire ever produced!

Radio Dinner is scheduled for release in May 2005 at amazon.co.uk so hopefully in the USA as well.

Now come on NatLamp and release my personal favorite Good Bye Pop!

Review date : 2004-02-08
This collection of Radio Hour skits is great stuff, but it leaves out the most over-the-top material from this era. Who can forget the spot-on send-ups of Joan Baez, John Lennon or Helen Reddy? How about the travel commercial for Haiti or the C&W song "Clap Is Just The B Side Of Love"? Or "Kung Fu Christmas"?
Are we too repressed now to handle it?
Too dumb? Too many lawyers?

Review date : 2002-12-12
Yes, this is gorgeous humor. But honestly, WHEN will they re-release the old "Radio Dinner" album? Us baby boomers wanna re-live the exciting days of the Nixon/McGovern campaign:
"Some of you are asking, why, in announcing our complete withdrawal from Vietnam, and the legalization of marijuana, I am wearing these ludicrous headlamps on my ears. Well, let me explain."

::sigh::

But this one will do until that happy day.

wistfully,

Review date : 2002-09-30
This three volume set is so funny. I just with it was longer (that is my only complaint). The funny thing is, the more you listen to it, the funnier it gets.

Not only did I buy a copy for myself, but two months later I got a copy for my sister (we share the same type of humor).

Hearing John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and alumni doing spoofs of Marlon Brando, Charles Bronson, Joni Mitchell, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, and James Taylor are simply hilarious.

Surprisingly, the jokes have held up very well, and not as out of date as I would have thought. A smart, refreshing, hilarious send up of just about everything, National Lampoon delivers the goods.
 

Price : $115.90

Amazon.com

Without the writers and performers behind the National Lampoon Radio Hour, comedy today would be an altogether different beast. In truth, it wouldn’t be nearly so beastly. For a time, overeducated, chemically altered white boys with attitudes were an extraordinary font of humor, and they didn’t come much more educated, altered, white, and boyish than the Nat Lamp crew. Led first by Michael O’Donoughue and later by John Belushi, the radio program lasted from 1973 to 1975, with many of its creators then moving on to the inaugural company of Saturday Night Live. But if TV proffered innately impertinent, un-P.C. types like O’Donoughue, Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner in slightly deluded form, and movies would further water down their personas, radio served them up in all their concentrated glory. The show, as this astonishing 3 CD box demonstrates, was the comic equivalent of a lethal speedball. –Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-11
The National Lampoon Radio Hour was a radio comedy show that ran from late 1973 to late 1974. It originally was an hour long, but was soon cut to half an hour when they started to run low on material (while still being titled The National Lampoon Radio Hour). Here we have over three hours of highlights from the show. This is very funny stuff. In a way, the show was a precursor to Saturday Night Live, using many of the performers and writers that later worked on that show. Buy this box.

Review date : 2005-01-26
I recently went to nationallampoon.com and contacted them, asking if "Radio Dinner" and "Goodbye Pop" would ever be released on CD. The answer I got back was from somebody who apparently never even heard of the albums because he said that those titles may someday be re-released on CD… but they never have been! If you read the liner credits on some of the recent compilations, you’ll know that Radio Dinner and Goodbye Pop were probably the best NatLamp albums ever! One even says that Radio Dinner is still the best-selling NatLamp album to date!!!

This box set is the best you’re gonna get until those albums come out… if they ever do! You can get a track here and there on the recent compilation releases, but where oh where is my beloved "Art Rock Suite", arguably the most ambitiously produced musical satire ever produced!

Radio Dinner is scheduled for release in May 2005 at amazon.co.uk so hopefully in the USA as well.

Now come on NatLamp and release my personal favorite Good Bye Pop!

Review date : 2004-02-08
This collection of Radio Hour skits is great stuff, but it leaves out the most over-the-top material from this era. Who can forget the spot-on send-ups of Joan Baez, John Lennon or Helen Reddy? How about the travel commercial for Haiti or the C&W song "Clap Is Just The B Side Of Love"? Or "Kung Fu Christmas"?
Are we too repressed now to handle it?
Too dumb? Too many lawyers?

Review date : 2002-12-12
Yes, this is gorgeous humor. But honestly, WHEN will they re-release the old "Radio Dinner" album? Us baby boomers wanna re-live the exciting days of the Nixon/McGovern campaign:
"Some of you are asking, why, in announcing our complete withdrawal from Vietnam, and the legalization of marijuana, I am wearing these ludicrous headlamps on my ears. Well, let me explain."

::sigh::

But this one will do until that happy day.

wistfully,

Review date : 2002-09-30
This three volume set is so funny. I just with it was longer (that is my only complaint). The funny thing is, the more you listen to it, the funnier it gets.

Not only did I buy a copy for myself, but two months later I got a copy for my sister (we share the same type of humor).

Hearing John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and alumni doing spoofs of Marlon Brando, Charles Bronson, Joni Mitchell, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, and James Taylor are simply hilarious.

Surprisingly, the jokes have held up very well, and not as out of date as I would have thought. A smart, refreshing, hilarious send up of just about everything, National Lampoon delivers the goods.
 

Price : $7.13

Product Description

Gone Baby Gone is Ben Affleck s directorial debut, adapted by Affleck from the novel by Dennis Lehane Mystic River.
It is an intense look inside an ongoing investigation about the mysterious disappearance of a little girl. As two young private detectives (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) hired to take the case get closer to finding her, they discover that nothing is as it seems and more dangerous than they ever thought possible. Also starring Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby) and Ed Harris (Pollack).

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2009-04-28
First of all, the tried-and-true method of the main character narrating as the story goes along, just didn’t work with Casey Affleck’s nasally and whiny voice. Maybe it was because Ben Affleck directing his brother Casey, thought it would work. It was more annoying and distracting instead of adding to the movie.

Michelle Monaghan didn’t play a very important or effective part. Amy Ryan as Helene McCready, was perfect as the "doper" and irresponsible mother who got her child back. Ed Harris as Detective Remy Bressant, was very convincing as the main cop and co-conspirator of the kidnapping. Morgan Freeman the mastermind and self-proclaimed "saviour" of the child of Helene McCready played a minor part until the very end.

I’m glad this didn’t turn out to be a movie that I’d need a calculator to rack up the body count. Although there was considerable amount of victims adding up (related and unrelated) after the initial kidnapping.

And in the end, when Casey’s character Patrick Kenzie has Morgan Freeman and the others arrested for kidnapping because "it was the right thing to do," he himself goes "Scot-free" after murdering (read Executing) a child molester and killer that the cops helped coverup since he tried to save the life of a cop shot at the very same crime scene. This self-righteous ending just didn’t play into the message he wanted to convey. Sure, no one was going to miss the child molester/killer, but his summary execution was in step with that old saying of "the lesser of two evils." Pretty sour.

Casey Affleck’s tough-guy persona just didn’t work in this movie. He just doesn’t have that exterior gruff look or demeanor to portray a "bigger-than-life hero."

Review date : 2009-04-20
There’s a moment about 5 minutes into "Gone Baby Gone" when you think you might just have stumbled on a genuine masterpiece…

As Casey Affleck ruminates in a weary beaten-up voiceover about good and evil and the life choices we make and how neighbourhoods shape us as people and those choices, the camera pans across the locals he’s talking about and their Boston inner city terrain.

These are real people in the real world - all manner of faces, colours and creeds - just going about their business - a man sat on the steps of a tenement building having a midday cigarette - kids of 8 and 9 flipping open their mobile phones - murals on walls declaring all sorts - a white father plops his baseball cap on the head of his gorgeous son of one who giggles, while a black father positions his equally gorgeous older son on the baseball circle in the local park with a sense of pride - all of it eventually making its way to a media circus outside a suburban home and a picture of a 9-year old girl on a tree…

The opening minutes are full of these beautifully realised vignettes - the use of real Bostonians and their ‘tough’ suburbs adding a reality and power to Gone Baby Gone that is simply stunning - and that gritty reality continues throughout the film. And when you learn that the director is pretty boy Ben Affleck whom everyone loves to hate - you’re more than impressed.

But then of course it all goes to mush when the frankly ludicrously cherubic face of Casey Affleck appears with his equally drippy girlfriend Michelle Monaghan (an amazingly dull part for her) in tow beside him - they’re the leads? We’re expected to believe these dweebs?? While Casey is good in parts, he’s out of his depth in others - and worse - a lot of the time you feel he’s literally going to burst into a fit of the giggles at any moment. Monaghan is fabulous expressively as an actress, but her character Angie is a bit weedy and therefore difficult to care about - Angie seems almost superfluous to requirements (she was more fleshed out in the book).

But then you ask yourself why did top quality actors like Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris get involved in this movie - and the answer is the truly fabulous script adapted by Aaron Stockard from Denis Lehane’s book of the same name. This is "Mystic River" territory - Lehane has worked in child abuse and abduction cases and knows his monsters and their families so well that his observations of them hurt you - literally. There are many scenes in this excellent film where I found myself tearful - and not always for the grotesque things that Miramax must show you about pervs and their ways - but for the humanity of the other people involved - an emotion that seems all too often missing from other films about this easy-to-exploit subject. Ben Affleck has imbibed his debut with genuine heart even if the story does go off the rails a bit towards the end.

Given real meat to work with, the large varied cast is uniformly brilliant right down to even the smallest part - and just when you think you’ve seen all that Harris and Freeman have to give - they floor you - both of them - adding a gravitas throughout that must have had the older Affleck tingling in his Director’s chair. John Ashton is superb too as Ed Harris’ sidekick and Titus Welliver as the child’s father Lionel who may or may not be a nice guy. But the big surprise is Amy Ryan (Oscar nominated) who plays the devious trailer-trash druggy mum Helen McCready whose daughter Amanda is the girl pictured everywhere and abducted. You hate her and yet empathise with her in equal measure - and you wonder (like Affleck’s character does) should a 9-year old girl be back with this train wreck of a person - or does Helen McCready deserve a second chance at life like everyone else? And who makes that decision?

The Blu Ray print is surprisingly bad - speckled and blurry in the indoor and night scenes and hardly revelatory anywhere else. Also 2 of the special features cavalierly give away far too much of the plot and the twists - so don’t watch either before you see the movie. Also of note is David Buckley’s tenderly evocative music, which gives many of the down and up scenes a hugely powerful lift.

Despite being just a few notches short in places, "Gone Baby Gone" is a superb film - a genuine sleeper from 2008 - and Ben Affleck has arrived as a Director - big time.

I was moved, confused, hurt and left thinking about difficult decisions.

Highly recommended.

Review date : 2009-04-19
GBG provided authentic Boston grit, quality acting, and a storyline that keeps you guessing while it leads to a provocative and intense finale. Rated a 8.5/10 and recommended as one of ‘07 Top 10.

Review date : 2009-04-12
I came to this film with high expectations, I mean, it had gotten an Academy Award nomination for one of the supporting players, but honestly, I was perplexed as to what was so great about it, I mean, it’s a decent yarn, up until the end, but hardly Mystic River. First let me say, I HATED Casey Affleck in this, his character is so naive and makes the most foolish, obtuse decision at the end, that ruins the film entirely, and Affleck never makes you like or support this yutz, so your just let with thinking, wow, what a moron. The story is interesting, in a Mystic River sort of way, and the supporting players, starting with Ed Harris are fantastic, I just can help but come back to the way Affleck plays this idiot cop, I just never bought this guy being such a sap and his ruinous decision he makes at the end is positively sickening, and the way it fades to black at the end, is like, uh Ok, is that IT?!…recommended, but not highly, frankly had it had a different lead, maybe it would have been great, who knows.

Review date : 2009-04-04
The Bottom Line:

An interesting-enough crime story in its own right, Gone Baby Gone is elevated to another level by terrific acting and an ending that asks perhaps better than any movie what "doing the right thing" actually means; with several standout scenes and the courage of its convictions, it is most definitely a film to watch or own.

Price : $13.50

Product Description

A REVELATORY AND DARKLY COMIC ADVENTURE THROUGH A NATION ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN—FROM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS TO THE BASES OF BAGHDAD TO THE APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES OF THE HEARTLAND

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi set out to describe the nature of George Bush’s America in the post-9/11 era and ended up vomiting demons in an evangelical church in Texas, riding the streets of Baghdad in an American convoy to nowhere, searching for phantom fighter jets in Congress, and falling into the rabbit hole of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
Matt discovered in his travels across the country that the resilient blue state/red state narrative of American politics had become irrelevant. A large and growing chunk of the American population was so turned off—or radicalized—by electoral chicanery, a spineless news media, and the increasingly blatant lies from our leaders (“they hate us for our freedom”) that they abandoned the political mainstream altogether. They joined what he calls The Great Derangement.
Taibbi tells the story of this new American madness by inserting himself into four defining American subcultures: The Military, where he finds himself mired in the grotesque black comedy of the American occupation of Iraq; The System, where he follows the money-slicked path of legislation in Congress; The Resistance, where he doubles as chief public antagonist and undercover member of the passionately bonkers 9/11 Truth Movement; and The Church, where he infiltrates a politically influential apocalyptic mega-ministry in Texas and enters the lives of its desperate congregants. Together these four interwoven adventures paint a portrait of a nation dangerously out of touch with reality and desperately searching for answers in all the wrong places.
Funny, smart, and a little bit heartbreaking, The Great Derangement is an audaciously reported, sobering, and illuminating portrait of America at the end of the Bush era.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-08-03
Taibbi commendably takes his journalist spotlight off the corrupt actors on Washington’s center stage, and instead investigates the most disaffected ordinary Americans. But to do so he goes undercover, posing as a believer in far right-wing Christian-Zionism, or far-left 9/11 conspiracy theories. He basically plays Borat, inventing oddball past experiences to play his part, and letting the unsuspecting locals make fools of themselves for the camera. Later Taibbi gives his real opinions of what idiots they are, and asks what America is coming to.

Only slowly does Taibbi’s basic compassion for these people rise to the fore. These are people, he reasons, both conservatives and liberals, who feel so conned by the political rip-off system that they can’t tell who to trust. And maybe, Taibbi suspects, part of the con has been to get them to blame and hate each other.

Review date : 2008-08-01
I really enjoyed this book. The author has a good sense of humor and his adventures are quite interesting. Probably not for you if you are sensitive about religion.

Review date : 2008-07-31
This book was a complete eye-opener. Literally prying open the third eye. Must read for any remaining free-thinking Americans. Matt Taibbi is absolutely brilliant.

Review date : 2008-07-26
Much of the book focuses on the insider game in Washington, the non-functioning government bent on both sides twisting reality while continuing to rake in millions from big business. Meanwhile, Boeing, G.M., and Ford are headed towards becoming Chinese companies, and OPEC is likely to begin trading in the Euro. In between safaris into our government, Taibbi also reports on his immersions into both far-Right evangelical religion and far-left (?) 9/11 Truthers, finding them both living in an imaginary world. The common link in all this nuttiness - Madison Avenue and its world of make-believe messages and promises.

It was shocking to read that the "06 election saw political parties spend $160 million on negative ads, vs. only $17 million on the positive. Debate has mostly been removed from the House schedule - 79% of all bills passed during the Republican’s recent majority were "suspension bills" where only 40 minutes of debate are allowed, no amendments can be offered, and a two-thirds majority is required for passage.

The Rules Committee can completely rewrite what passes the committee of jurisdiction (usually in the middle of the night) to include anything leadership knew could not survive public discussion. House members are supposed to have 3 days to read the Rules Committee output before it goes to a vote, but this has been waived in "emergency." Thus, virtually every bill passing the House during the Bush-GOP majority years was voted on just hours after emerging from Rules.

Conference Committees again can totally rewrite the bill (majority vote of members not required for passage) and again send the bill out for vote with only a few hours’ notice.

Moving on briefly to the Army, Taibbi reports that their camaraderie is real - for a lot of them their unit is the best family they had, they are basically lonely. He also makes a similar observation regarding the far-Right evangelicals in Texas in which he immerses himself (including baptism) while revealing their inanity. Then its the 9/11 Truthers - a 2006 poll cited found 36% believed our government either "did" 9/11 or consciously allowed it, despite the preposterousness of their thinking.

Finally, Taibbi asks: "What about our corrupt medical insurance system, disappearance of the manufacturing economy, exploding prison population, takeover of politics by financial interests?" After setting aside those believing in aliens on earth, etc., it looks like there’s not enough sanity left to care!

Review date : 2008-07-22
An anecdote in journalist Matt Taibbi’s book THE GREAT DERANGEMENT proves a snapshot of what’s wrong with America. Covering the United States Congress in action, Taibbi witnesses legislation that is nothing more than a gift to well-off campaign contributors. Without shame, lawmakers approve it. The author attends a press conference regarding the bill where reporters ask zero tough questions, leaving the public they purportedly serve to figure out there’s nothing in this for them except the tab they have to pick up.

The United States government is letting the moneyed interests from which it should protect citizens run it. And with corporations owning more than 95% of media and not about to report what they pilfer, too many Americans do not get the news they need to know.

In THE GREAT DERANGEMENT author Taibbi frames political debate as liberal-conservative, just as the corporate media does. He should pick up on populist writer/commentator Jim Hightower, who says the real struggle is not left-right but up-down, between the wealthy and poor. History and the world today are little more than the moneyed interests stealing from and dominating the people.

Taking it to the streets in THE GREAT DERANGEMENT, Matt Taibbi reports from the front lines of everyday citizens. The affluent divide and conquer the middle class and poor with red herrings and straw-man arguments. Mega-church pastors who must read Bush White House talking points more often than the Bible sway congregations to doubt global warming. The corporate media does not investigate why the Bush administration ignored over fifty 9/11 warnings (most famous the August 6, 2001, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S." memo to Bush), resulting in a frustration-driven movement claiming the U.S. government orchestrated the attacks. Stress, fear and confusion from thirty-plus years of declining wellbeing for most Americans turn citizens against one another when instead they ought to unite and march against injustice. Divided, America falls.

Read THE GREAT DERANGEMENT.