Having just returned from Death Valley two days ago, The experience is fresh in my mind, and the photographs are in my hands. Pauls CD is is quite good. The 360 degree panoramic photographs give one a much greater sense of what it is like to be there than ordinary pictures can, even panoramic ones. All that is missing are the air temperature, smells, and eerie silence that the real thing offers. The CD will not replace being there, but it is a good pre-trip teaser or post trip souvenir. My only complaints are that the interface is a bit clumsey, and panning is a bit slow and jerky. These are more a problem with the state of the technology than anything else. A fast computer helps. In spite of these shortcomings, I think the CD is a good buy. Besides all the photos, there are many books and articles, the details of which can be seen at the inyopro.com website. System requirements are Windows 95 or greater, 100 MHz 486 with 16 Megs ram or Power PC 16 Megs of ram with system 7.5 or later.

This CD is a great example of Apple's QuickTimeVR technology, where you can "look" all around you, in 360 degrees.

A neat trick is that there are hidden areas in each panorama that you can click on, that will take you to different panoramas.

This CD-ROM is really useful if you are planning a trip to Death Valley.

This is an excellent book for parents of children (especially elementary age and pre-school) contemplating or committed to a trip to Holland. The information is detailed and comprehensive. Based on our research and a prior trip to the Netherlands that we took with our kids, this book is great source for places to stay and go with kids. It includes tons of ueful information about Amsterdam, but I wish it had a lot more detail on the rest of Holland. (I suppose it is truthfully titled!). Another nit to pick is the inadequate maps. Overall, however, a great read and a treasure-trove of information for the parent planning a trip to Holland with younger children.... Guidebooks that are focused on parent-kid trips are a tremendous value--- worth a lot more than you pay for them!

Some guide books are good guide books for adults, and some are helpful to parents. What I like most about this one is that it is probably good enough to stand on its own as your only guide book, assisting both parents-- and parents with their kids-- in having a nice visit to Amsterdam.

Another thing I like (and I'll confess something of a prejudice over this) is that the book is arranged primarily by geography. I hate guidebooks with chapters on restaurants, chapters on museums and so forth. After all, after all that wrestling smack down with a baby stroller, diaper bag big enough for a body and two kids on a jaunty tram, we like to take advantage of all the stuff to do in each location we visit. We're not coming back tomorrow, baby.

You get separate sections on the Old Side of town, the New Side, the Canals, Jodenbuurt and the Old Port and a nice chapter on day trips outside the city. To be fair, there is one non-geographic section organizing Amsterdam's many museums for you, but otherwise things are handily arranged for walking, strolling and cruising the interesting parts of each area you visit. There are also colorful maps, showing the sites, key streets and canals. You won't get too lost.

Each site/attraction includes info on which tram to take to get there, any admission fees, opening days/hours, phone numbers and, if applicable, web sites and email addresses. There's a capsule statement for each along the lines of "Suitable for children aged 7 and over".

The real meat is in the descriptions, which allow you both to decide what to see and, as parents, get a sense for what is inside so you can match places to your kiddies' ages, attention spans and interests. Here are two examples:

Rembrandt's home has been restored to look like it was when he lived there. In addition to the basics, this guide book also mentions that the painter liked to work images of himself in crowd scenes in his paintings. Can you think of a better way to interest a younger kid in boring, old art than to set them on a mission to find all the Rembrandt's in a particular image?

A second example is Anne Frank's house. The description challenges you and your kids to imagine Anne's life in hiding, as revealed in her diary. Older kids can read the book in advance, while younger kids can have key passages read to them just before or even during a visit to the house. Looking out a window, maybe you see a street scene as Anne did; what must it have been like to face the fear of capture and death each day, every night, at an age when our own children's worries may be no more complex than when Rugrats is on?

Another parentally cool feature in the guide book is little boxed text blurbs labeled "Can you spot?" These challenge kids to look for interesting details (a tilted roof gable, a brass plaque, a strange doorway) near famous sights. Older kids will learn things, younger kids will likely enjoy the game as a diversion near things they may otherwise find boring, or over their head.

The book also includes a similar feature throughout, asking questions that can be answered by visiting certain sites. For example, when listing restaurants, the question is "If an Amsterdammer asks for 'hagelslaag' ('hailstones') on his bread for breakfast, what does he want?"

(If I was mean, I'd make you not only buy the book, but also go to the Pancake Bakery on Prinsengracht Street for your morning meal to learn that 'hagelslaag' are tiny bits of chocolate sprinkled on buttered bread. And yes, that sounds very tasty to me too.)

For those who stay up for "Top 10" lists on late night shows in the U.S., the book includes a "Best of Kids' Amsterdam" section, with lists of things like "Best Museum", "Best Family Hotel", "Best Ice Cream", "Best Windmill" and the like. Each "Best of..." place listed includes the page number in the guide book where you can track down its particulars.

Note for some Dads: the helpful phrases in Dutch section includes the important phrase "Ein pils, alstublieft" (a beer please), followed by the helpful phrase "Waar is het toilet?"

Some other excellent stuff for parents:

A list of toy stores in Amsterdam, with annotations telling what stuff they have;

Restaurants good for lunch (and not dinner with kids), including info on which serve "spicy" food;

Tips on finding a short-term apartment or a bed and breakfast;

A note that most big hotels have Cartoon Network available on cable;

A spill-proof, coated paper, tram map on the inside cover;

A way to take a canal boat taxi to popular museums;

A sober description of Amsterdam's Red Light district that will allow you to decide if your kids should or should not pass through one of Amsterdam's infamously best-known locations;

How to ask for applesauce in a restaurant.

Talking With Artists volume.3

This book is pretty interesting. It is about artists who share what they like to draw and about their lives. They are asked questions such as, "Do you have any kids or pets?" The illustrators show some of pictures that they drew when they were children. They also show how the children illustrators got their inspiration to draw.

I liked this book because it was neat to see how good some of the kids are at drawing and then to see them draw as they are older. Also that was cool it showed how to draw pictures in the back of the book. I recommend this book to people who are just stating to draw and people that want to read an interesting book.

I got this book at the library for my children, but I think I enjoyed it as much as they did! (I plan to buy a copy of my own!) Instead of a cool, impersonal presentation of artists and their work, this book provides a refreshingly personal view. The artists talk about their childhoods, how they spend their days (the answers are fun & honest!), their families, and best of all, they give us peeks inside their studios. I don't know about you, but I love seeing inside of an artist's private workspace! It's like a glimpse inside his/her mind.
The styles of the artists are very diverse and they use many different techniques that kids and adults alike would like to try out. I highly recommend this book!

This book has many figures in Argentine Tango dancing. The instructions are very easy to follow and the photos that go along with the instructions are well done. Not much detail is put into the instructions which allows this book to cover many figures superfically instead of a few figures in detail. Argentine Tango is a dance that almost certainly needs personal instruction but if you you to get a book this is a good one. This book would be great if you already know the basics or dancing such as frame, leading, following, etc. and want to add a few more moves to your routine

As the four times undefeated Argentine Tango World & European Supreme Champion, you would expect the author to know what he's talking about but this book makes you feel that he is with you as YOU discover the magic and feeling of the Tango for yourself. Everything becomes so clear. It has inspired me to get out there, take lessons and I'm having a wonderful time. Only now am I beginning to understand the care taken in bringing an understandable structure to this dance which so many others seem to lack. This structure allows the dancer to make rapid progress while fully enjoying the process. Brilliant !!!

I bought this for a twelve-year-old who is always asking questions about the computer. It answers those questions and does so in simple language with terrific illustrations. Each item -- processor, memory, hard drive -- is shown in clear pictures with explanatory text. The book covers PC and Macintosh hardware, software, the Internet, and networking basics.

This book is simply great. Get it if you don't know anything about computers. Even a kid can learn from this book in no time. The Graphics and illustrations are excellent. Get it !

If you decide to use Intrabuilder as your Web application development tool, this book might give you the best (and the only one) resource for learning. A good book worth buying.

This is a great book. It takes you by the hand and leads through all that is IntraBuilder. The problem is: IntraBuilder isn't a very good product. It's not put together well and the interface is anything but intuitive. However, the book does the best it can with showing you the ins and outs of building Web apps with IB. Henderson's chapters in particular are quite good. I have a couple of his other books and know his style of writing. It's refreshingly honest and straightfoward, even when showing a lemon of a tool.

If you find yourself needing to learn IB, get this book and read it cover to cover.

I have been using this book and cassette combo as the basis of my Spanish studies. It contains all the methodical recitation of grammatical rules of conjugation and sentence structure that are only alluded to in the "learn by listening courses" everyone swears by. Having learned French by the old fashioned method of learning grammatical rules and memorization of conjugation and vocabulary expansion, I find this book a great guide - a good foundation for my studies of Spanish. This not the "painless" learning method everyone wants but for those who want to be able to say more than "Quiero una agua fria" - this book is for you.

I have an earlier edition of this book, but I assume not much has been changed in this edition. This book is a good, solid introduction to Spanish. It's not a quick fix - there's lots of grammar, vocab., dialogues, etc., but if you're willing to spend some time reading, memorizing, and practicing, this book has most of what you need to know to begin speaking grammatically correct Spanish.

Teach Yourself World Faiths introduces the 12 main religions of the world in one manageable concise book. It provides you with a clear overview of each faith's origin and history, key beliefs and ideas, scriptures and holy books, festivals and ceremonies, and relevance today. This concise Introduction to World Faiths will give both students and the general reader a grasp of the history, the basic beliefs, and key religious ideas and also the organisation, which supports the World faiths.
Using a practical and comprehensive guide the reader is able to become familiar with twelve of the main religious faiths of the world including: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and other less well known religions such as Confucianism and Shinto.
This Book is ideal for those interested in learning more about a Particular faith, its basic beliefs and key religious ideas. This book is however a Brief introduction to these religions and gives the reader a basic foundation of knowledge about the faiths which the reader can then draw on and then go on to study more advanced Literature. This book is not for Those who are looking for more advanced literature or who are seeking a deeper understanding of a particular faith. However
This book is well worth buying for those who seek to gain insights into those religions they have little or no knowledge about.

This is an excellent introduction to the main religions of the World; it is clearly laid out with a summery at the end of each chapter highlighting the main features and beliefs of a particular faith. I highly recommend this book to anyone taking a course in world religions.

Travelling the world as a child and seeing lifestyles reflected in various faiths, i've always been curious to know more about how all these faiths were different. Too many other books are dictionaries that provide no context or huge tomes that give you more detail that a practitioner of that religion or faith knows!! This is high enough level that i can easily describe the bounderies of a faith and how it differs from others, without giving me the impression that i am an expert on each. Good introductory book if you are interested in studying other religions more deeply- this book might give you an idea which faith to start with.

This book is a mid-career biography of Dr. Paul Brand, a leading researcher in rehabilitation for leprosy patients. The book is extremely thorough in its details, perhaps overly so in some places. It begins with the lives of Brand's grandparents, gives a full account of his father's earlier influences, and includes much information about Paul Brand's early childhood in India, as well as his later childhood in Britain. Despite the depth of details, the book is extremely readable, and I found it to be a real page-turner from cover to cover.

From his beginning as the son of English missionary parents working in India, to his schooling in England, marriage, family, further work as a pioneer in leprosy treatment, innovative surgeries, and on to his continued research in America, this book tells the story of a man who has lead an exciting life. Dr. Brand's humility and ability to adapt to different cultural and environmental conditions both stem from his love for God and God's creation. Philip Yancey's fine foreword enhances Wilson's portrait of this great man. Recommended reading.

All credit to Paul Leggett, a Presbyterian pastor no less, for producing this seminal study of the religious and mythical themes in Terence Fisher's films. He argues convincingly, from a canon including most of the significant horrors he made for Hammer, that the mythological worldview of Fisher's films is intrinsically Christian. Leggett examines the fundamental motifs in the films and reveals an underlying story of the battle between good and evil, seen in terms of the traditional Christian symbols of the fall, the cross etc. He provides a good sense of the development of the horror film, and laments how the classical themes of redemption have been replaced with an almost nihilistic worldview (see, eg. my review of Rosemary's Baby).

Leggett's work is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is the work of a committed Christian. Christian (or at least evangelical) attitudes to film, in particular horror film, have been ambivalent at best, and Leggett's work, if it gains the popularity it deserves, may challenge Christians to rethink the issues. Secondly, it contributes to a debate about Fisher's work that has probably only really emerged in the last couple of decades, as his right to be seen as more than a maker of B-standard horror movies has been acknowledged. Thirdly, it is the only work (to my knowledge) that examines the religious, mythical and, in particular, specifically Christian, themes in Fisher's work. As such, the book has opened up a new part of the debate.

On the negative side, I would mention a few things. Firstly, the author has a tendency, no doubt because of his own faith, to paint Fisher in evangelical, or at least very conservative/orthodox, stripes, perhaps assuming too close a correlation between the imagery and mythology he chose to structure his stories around and the actual content of Fisher's personal faith. Secondly, at just under two hundred pages (including illustrations), it feels rather brief, and I am sure there is much more the author could have said--and indeed, should say, hopefully in a later volume. Thirdly, I wish the stills had been chosen with more attention to how they amplify or illustrate Leggett's interpretation of Fisher's films, perhaps noting lighting, positioning, imagery, angles etc...

Review of
Paul Leggett, Terence Fisher. Horror, Myth and Religion
McFarland & Co., Inc.: Jefferson, NC and London, 2002

by The Very Rev. Dr.theol. Paul F. M. Zahl, Dean
Cathedral Church of the Advent (Episcopal)
Birmingham, Alabama

Paul Leggett's Terence Fisher: Horror, Myth and Religion is a must for two categories of readers. And there are a lot of people in both categories.
The first category is fans of horror and sci-fi films. For all in the first group, Terence Fisher was a giant. His haunting productions for Britain's Hammer Films left an indelible impression on the millions who first saw them. They live on, on video and DVD, and on television every week, everywhere. Fisher's Draculas and Frankensteins, werewolves and phantoms were in technicolor. They were pure Gothic and presented as "A" films even though they were "B" films. Horror fans can now learn about their hero-auteur at depth.
The second category of readers for Dr. Leggett's book is fans of Christian fantasy and allegory. Many Christians are interested in popular culture, specifically in finding themes like redemption and sacrifice and atonement within movies and art. This is why Stephen King, for example, in fiction or Abel Ferrara in cinema attract interest from within the religious community. Not to mention Tolkien, and more Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings phenomenon has been fueled in part by adolescents coming to the material out of Christian interests and background.
Terence Fisher was a Christian apologist! That is not all he was, but Christian themes of love's conquest in cruciform imagery abound in his movies. Christian images are everywhere you look, from Curse of the Werewolf (1960) to The Devil Rides Out (1968), and before, and after.
Because Dr. Leggett is a theologian and a pastor, as well as a fan, he is able to make the connection between the world in which we actually live now and the preoccupations of the films of Terence Fisher. Leggett is a classic Christian-nothing New Age here!-and he is one who has been fascinated by these films since childhood. His book links the dark and deep struggles of the child in all of us, with a master storyteller in film; and sets the whole on the big screen of cosmic drama.
This is a wonderful book!