i LOVED the first Union Square Cookbook, and use its recipes regularly...and i have been SO disappointed with this one...i have not made ANYTHING that i liked from this cookbook...spare yourself

Sometimes the ingredient lists are a bit daunting,especially if one lives outside of a major metropolitan area, but it's worth the effort. The impressive thing about the recipes included in Union Square Cafe's second cookbook is that the various flavors are distinct while working together. For example, a pasta dish with gorgonzola and fresh corn requires that you simmer the husks in a broth--what an odd notion and what a great result !
I would say that the procedures are straightforward, but time-consuming. These are recipes that you have to plan for; they are not last-minute, just home-from-work desperation dinners. With that in mind, these are tasty, perhaps even mind -(not to say waist-) expanding recipes.

Some of these recipes are a little difficult to follow, but overall this is a good cookbook. The entrees are crowd pleasers at dinner parties!

For people who want to understand what conscious living is all about, this book is a great start. And there are some tips for those in the eco industry too. I didn't know, for example, that about half of marble mined is wasted. That is because marble lies deep in the earth and it is destroyed by machinery to retrieve it. Danny points out that a marble pastry rolling pin can be justified, but a marble floor too is a bit much. A case of less is more.

The reason I believe the beginning lacked enthusiasm for me was because of the subject matter being cleaning and sorting. I'd rather read fun stuff or see pictures first. Then there happen to be some opinions I didn't agree with. Choosing synthetics over real leather, for example. I really don't look to Danny as an eco guru, but then he's not trying to be. It's just about what the title reads, "Conscious Style." Once you get the hang of it, you use your own particular earth-friendly fashion. I hope this book is inspiring for many because mindful decor is a good thing for everybody.

Well, I've never gone to amazon and submitted a review, but I felt compelled to after reading Conscious Style. I am renovating my 19th century farmhouse and found great, simple tips in this book we are using RIGHT NOW! Bamboo flooring is great. Recycled glass tile is amazing. Toxic-free paints have no odor! My only complaint is that there aren't enough color photos...but the 200 photos are beautiful.

This book rocks! I recently purchased a home in upstate New York and wanted to do simple renovations to the kitchen, gardens and bathroom. I didn't have a tremendous amount of moolah to spend, but I did want to make changes. I realize this book is all about saving the planet and incorporating green building products....but there are sooooooo many tips in here to decorate, renovate and change on a dime!!! It's very very clever...I love it!

I have never been a big fan of movies, or even television for that matter. When I was young, I didn't express it in quite so haughty a way, possibly because I was jealous and wished that I could watch the Banana Splits like everyone else. An actual movie required a car trip of ten minutes because the small town we lived in didn't have a theater; so it wasn't just the matter of begging the admission price. Books didn't really fulfill the entire need when I was young, either. I think most people need some sort of visual stimulation. Since TV and movies were unavailable, I turned to comics and "interactive" play (i.e., that running around with other kids in the neighborhood rather than being glued to the telly).

I can remember seeing movies as a kid, mainly because I can probably list them with 80% accuracy and completeness. The first one I remember was Love Story (which, as some would say, probably has something to do with my dislike for movies as well). My mother says that we saw Bambi earlier, but I just don't recall it. I recall a B-grade horror flick that I saw with my brother in the early 70s. I think it starred Doug McClure, and it was based around the Sargasso Sea (I still get the willies when thinking about some kind of trapdoor and a squid-like thing). Then there's Star Wars, which I remember seeing clips for on a local broadcast noon TV show, and which my brother and I had to see in the first week of screening based on that clip. In fact, I guess I went to movies with my brother a lot (mom was probably trying to get rid of us at the same time, as well as it just being easier logistically). Jaws II, Smokey and the Bandit (I remember the whole family went to that one), Cannonball Run, and Dirty Harry. We saw the popular stuff; my parents were not fans of movies or TV as well, but could be convinced every once and a while.

In high school, the town we moved to had a theater (actually a combination drive-in and walk-in), but because I had moved there "later" than most, I felt apart from the other kids in town, and so I never really "hung-out" at the movies like the majority of my classmates. What films I did see remained the more popular kind: E.T., Superman, Risky Business, the Star Wars sequels, the Star Trek movies. The only brief glimmer of hope in those days was the extraordinary effort I went to in order to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

So it wasn't until I went to college that I discovered the movies could be more than entertainment. But I never "fell" for movies like some people (reference Harlan Ellison's introduction to his collection of essays on media, Harlan Ellison's Watching). I was learning that books, which I had read up till now for their entertainment value also, could be more than simply entertainment as well, and that seemed much more exciting for me to explore.

You would think that after moving to L.A., I couldn't help but get more into movies. It is, of course, the movie capitol of the world. But L.A. is a city of facades. Just like the always balmy summer days they foist off as the truth in TV and movies hides the fact that L.A. has something like 90% smog-filled days, so is the movie culture hidden beneath the physical monument of the studios. I went to one "special" screening while in L.A., for the movie Soapdish. Nice performances by Kevin Kline and Sally Field, but nothing substantial.

Colorado? Even though I was back in a college town, movies weren't something I hungered for, or even looked forward to. But here I am, in Radville, Washington, and, frankly, we're bored stiff out here. You'd think that I'd get more reading done, but the absence of other culture makes reading feel monotonous. There is one bright shining light--Battelle's employees started a film club years back, and it's still going strong. This past year's most popular feature was Like Water for Chocolate, which the Film Club sold out in three different showings, and which prompted the local discount theater to book it for a couple of weeks. Through the Film Club I've seen some movies that I can tell will be favorites for times to come (The Palm Beach Story, Strictly Ballroom, and Roger and Me), as well as films that are helping to fill in the gaps of my video eduction (La Dolce Vita), and modern foreign-language films such as Raise the Red Lantern and Europa Europa.

What does all that have to do with Danny Peary's Alternate Oscars? It should explain why, after all these years, I'm suddenly interested in film, and, specifically, the history of the medium. Peary's book provides that history in excellent page-long essays, as well as catching me up on the critical classics of the medium. Perhaps not its intended use, but that's the thing with art--once it is finished, it rarely remains the artist's.

When I wrote my previous review for this book, I was writing from memory. I also was influenced by some opinions from other reviewers. But after reviewing the book, I have to say that it isn't that bad. It depends upon who is reading.

When they were originally founded in the late 1920's, the goal of the Academy Awards was to honor films and actors/actresses on the grounds of merit. This was difficult enough to achieve with a group of about a dozen voters, considering especially that they had power and influence. But overtime the academy grew to hundreds and even thousands of members. With such a large group of different people and personalities, it's safe to say that many have been influenced in their decisions by other reasons beside merit: Sentimentality, politics, consolation for a previous defeat and, most importantly, an obsession with prestige. In addition, silent movies were ignored during the transition to sound movies and certain film genres (Comedies and Westerns predominately), as well as independent and foreign films have been largely ignored over the years. If these factors did not exist in the minds of the academy voters, the results would be far different.

Author Danny Peary has realized this. As a result, he has gone back through Oscar history and rewritten the results, awarding Alternate Oscars to different winners, occasionally giving them to the actual academy choices. While some choices are the predictable ones ("Citizen Kane" or "Casablanca"), Peary mostly tries to surprise us as much as possible in his selections, providing reasons for his choices and analyses of the films. In addition, so has to honor the contributions of others, "Award Worthy Runners Up" are included for every year (Although there are sometimes none).

Another area the book works at is in the disagreement with the decisions. For example, I like the much-acclaimed union drama "On the Waterfront". But Mr. Peary took away it's 1954 Best Picture Oscar and awarded it to "Salt of the Earth", another film about labor workers. While I may disagree, I have not seen "Salt of the Earth" and am now intrigued at watching it. If I hadn't read this book, that might not have happened.

There are a few complaints with the book, though minor. A few of your favorite stars (Burt Lancaster for example) might not have received Alternate Oscars. But the author apologizes for this at the book's introduction. Also, no Best Picture selection is made for 1963 (The author citing a lack of great films). Finally, the selections only go up to 1991. Hopefully, a second edition is in the works. It would be fascinating to see what Peary would have to say. Or who knows? Maybe another critic could share their two cents on the Academy. How about several critics on the same book? But one thing is for certain: for as long as the Academy continues to blunder, there will always be a place for critics like Danny Peary. Thank you very much.

(I would also like to make a correction on my previous review. Mr. Peary's selection as 1976's Best Picture was Woody Allen's "The Front", not "The Accused".)

Is 1979's Manhattan artistically better than 2001's Joe Dirt? That's easy. Almost any film is artistically superior to the bottom-feeding Joe Dirt. But is Manhattan superior to the same year's Norma Rae? That's hard to decide. Both are credible candidates for awards from that year. I would select Norma Rae over Manhattan; on the other hand, Danny Peary prefers Manhattan. The point is that in such matters as artistic awards, the best that can be hoped for is credibility, not the finality of a Joe Dirt. Danny Peary's alternate Oscars have more credibility, in my view, than the Academy's.

I'm concluding this on the basis of his selections from the 1940's, 50's, and 60's, the era I'm most famitiar with. This is also an era of studio domination, when the five major studios and the two minors engineered selections based on the money side of the industry, not the artistic. For example, big budget, prestige films dominated the nominations of 1956, including the syrupy The Ten Commandments, the Broadway hit musical The King and I, the over-produced Giant, and the eventual winner, the highly mercandised and gimmicky Around the World in 80 Days. Except for James Dean in Giant, how many of those films are remembered today. Yet anyone who has seen Peary's picks--The Searchers, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Killing-- remembers them distinctly. Because of both theme and handling, these films register at a deeper, more lasting level than the passing spectacle of the former, a good indication of superior artistic merit.

This is not meant to extrapolate into a theory of merit nor a blanket dismissal of Academy selections. Some years the picks were more credible than others. But it does point up the reigning dichotomy of that era between A-movies on one hand and B-movies on the other, with B-films by dint of their inferior budget deemed unworthy of Award consideration. Yet in retrospect, the lowly B-budgeted Body Snatchers and the independently produced The Killing have proved a staying power far beyond the A-budgeted, highly merchandised nominees of that year. And Danny Peary is dead-on in trying to right this historical wrong. Other examples of grievous B-movie neglect could be cited.

My reasoning here applies only to the studio era when B-movies were produced. Nonetheless, the decline of that centralised system into today's more decentralised system doesn't mean that engineering the Awards has given way to artistic merit. I expect the mechanics are just as venal now as then, but because the industry has spread out, are harder to generalise about. Anyway, Peary's is a good, thought-provoking book that should provide plenty of grist for anyone interested in the movies. He rates in three categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress, explaining his choices in each, and wisely avoiding the convoluted minefields of Best Director. He not only has an appreciation of film, but a feel for movies that affect the audience. After all, in retrospect, how could the Best Film Award of 1960 have gone to any movie other than the B-budgeted Psycho. Thanks Mr. Peary for paying that long overdue bill.

Although informative and full of useful advice in the promotion section, in this fast-growing POD business, there is no way a book published in April 2000 can cover the latest technological developments in the field. And when it comes to lists of related services, many of these companies are no longer around, while others have acquired a good or bad reputation. An update of those is in order.

This is an excellent book. It's very informative and easy to read. They get down to all the nitty gritty without a lot of excess, unneeded information.

U-Publish is a must-have for any current or wannabe publisher or author. Focusing on inexpensive methods of book promotion, marketing and distribution, the book also offers an especially informative look at the new print technologies. Together, Poynter and Snow take the mystery out of "print on demand" and suggest a new publishing model that will conserve cash by offering an alternative to producing huge quantities of books before you know they will sell. Excellent, well-written guide.

Goodman's JavaScript Bible helped me get started with JavaScript but didn't put all the pieces together in a way that made sense. Don't get me wrong, the book was okay (it covers JavaScript 1.0 for Netscape 2 and JavaScript 1.1 for Netscape 3 beta). But in a lot of ways the book is more like a reference book that says here's what this is, here's what that is, here's what this is again, instead of explaining and teaching.

The book that helped me truly learn what I could do with JavaScript and what was beyond JavaScript is WILLIAM STANEK'S NETSCAPE ONE DEVELOPERS GUIDE. HIS book covers BOTH client-side and server-side JavaScript. HIS book also covers JavaScript 1.2 (new for Navigator 4.0) with excellent coverage of connecting applets and plug-ins using scripts with LIVECONNECT.

The book is very good and fits all skill levels. Though when learning a new language a previous knowledge of another language is always good but not necessary in this case. My previous knowledge was HTML, Pascal, and a few chapters of Perl. HTML is a must of course. The book doesn't gradually increase in difficulty by chapter but they are all mixed per chapter. If he was talking about the window object in one chapter, a skill level would be indicated(i.e beginners, intermediate, or advanced). Beginners would of course stick to their level but I read all of it and found it quite comprehensible. Experimentation with the CD samples helps. I haven't finished the book yet but it has been very helpful so far. I'm on Ch14 of the 26 chapters. A few hours of daily reading dor a week will already give you a lot of ideas for your site. You get ongoing support too. The first book I tried was JavaScript for Netscape2.0 by Tim Ritchey and was frustrated with the errors. JS Bible is much better. I've only found 3 minor errors so far. The third being the publisher's fault. If you wanna know what I've learned so far, my site is at http://www.voyager.co.nz/~vag118

This book is an excellent learning book for experienced programmers. However it's index is not as complete as needed for a reference volumne. The summary at the end is comprehensive, but not detailed enough to be really useful. The online reference is more useful. It contains a couple minor errors in advanced areas that won't become apparent until you've used javascript for some time

Proulx does a great job of explaining a hybrid cabinet style--how it works and how to build it ... with an attention to the brass tacks. This book is a general guide for all kinds of cabinet making. Particularly it describes a half euro/half US cabinet style. Simple boxes with euro hinges, doors of many varieties, drawer construction, tooling, assembly and installation are all covered. It serves as an all-in-one guide to making cabinets _as_ as professional with close attention to adjustability, versatility, and modularity. Highly recommended if you are interested in how to build your own kitchen cabinets.

Proulx teaches a conventionalized form of cabinet design, but it's simple and it works, which is very hard to argue with.

I am going to install new kitchen cabinets in the coming month. I ordered this excellent how-to book to begin my research. It contains detailed pictures of the construction process and a system that can easily be applied by the do-it-yourself homeowner. Mr. Proulx shows an easy construction and installation system based upon the modern European technology applicable to cabinetry. With modern European hinges, cabinet legs, and construction materials, cabinetry is within the grasp of the homeowner. This book is not for a seasoned cabinet craftsman of the old school, but, rather, a nuts and bolts how-to book for the homeowner and woodworker with average skills and a shop with the necessary tools such as a table saw, drill, jigs, etc. The harder cabinet door and drawer construction can be avoided, if needed, by outsourcing the same. Definitely worth the money--Thanks Mr. Proulx.

Modern materials and methods means particle board and particle board screws with solid wood face frames and solid frame and panel doors that overlap the cabinet opening, and modern hidden hinges and modern european plastic feet and modern drawer slide hardware. If you want to optimize the look of your kitchen with minimum cost, this is the book for you. Step by step, very good writing, solid construction teaching. If you're into more traditional frame and panel construction using solid wood and/or high grade veneered plywood, rabbet joinery, mortise and tenon joinery or dovetail joinery, butt or knife hinges with flush fit doors, then this book is NOT for you. This book will teach you how to build cost effective cabinets using modern techniques and modern materials and it will teach you very effectively.

I feel guilty only giving this story three stars, given its immense historical significance. The problem I had with "Gilgamesh" is that I never felt moved by the story (reportedly the oldest story ever told). The Biblical flood is there (with minor significant differences) and the Potiphar's wife theme is interesting (if ultimately only marginally convincing), but I was never even remotely drawn into the tale. My difficulty is not with the translator (Danny P. Jackson) but is instead with the original story and stone tablets themselves. Quite simply, as described by Robert D. Biggs, the discovered tablets are too fragmented to allow for a story with a satisfying logical flow. This makes the story no less important, but it makes it an unsatisfying read. The temporal aspects are a problem as well. I'm aware of the differences between values as shared between different cultures, and these differences can only be magnified across time. Nevertheless, even with a reasonable Bibical background from which to draw, I found Gilgamesh's motivations to be beyond my ken. Both Biggs and James G. Keenan do an excellent job of introducing and describing "Gilgamesh," but I still found myself unsatisfied upon completion. Maybe I'd be more sympathetic were I reading it for study, but as a work read for my own enjoyment and fulfillment, it didn't quite do the trick.

I just wanted to take the time and give proper acknowldgement for this wonderful rendition. This past year I have had the opportunity to study mythology under the direction of Mr. Jackson, and he furthermore discussed this literary work into a living, breathing organism. The easily comprehensibile text paired with the beautiful artistry and reproductions of ancient Sumer have created a delightful reading environment. It is throught the interventions of art and mythology that people can begin to see a distinction of time and place. Mr. Jackson has accomplished this in his beautifully translated literary epic! Thanks for a great read!!

Jackson, a former seminarian, in his preface wonders why he had never been given any information on Gilgamesh written long before Judeo-Christian literature. Such a relief to read this because I've been wondering the same thing. I have just recently discovered Gilgamesh, and it is hard to understand why, after a lifetime of being bombarded with bible literature, I have to accidentally encounter a book that contains many similar concepts as the Bible, but predates it by more than 2000 years.

Reading the epic by Jackson has added an important dimension in my enlightening travels through the different Gilgamesh epics by Maureen Kovacs, N.K. Sanders, John Gardner & John Maier and the first epic I read on the Internet by "Robert's Stuff".

Jackson's Gilgamesh is engaging for its use of adjectives that are reminiscent of my Catholic background. Some examples: "sacred places ...sacrilege" (p 3), "miraculous plant" (p 88), "My god ...My god ... My god (p 94).

Hopefully more people will become aware of this early literature. I've encountered so few who have even heard of Gilgamesh.

This is the collection of the first 5 Spawn comics. What can i say? The're great! They make a fascinating read, and even though it's a comic, it gives you the feel as if you're reading a novel. It's not your typical comic and definetaly worth it for both comic fans and non comic fans.

This book is the beginning of MacFarlane's Spawn dynasty. It is also the beginning of the graphic masterpiece that is Spawn. It slowly takes grasp of you, and wraps you in the plight of Al Simmons, a.k.a. Spawn. This is a great way for new fans to get the early issues (1-5), or even for us comic vets who want to have all five in one convenient package! Also recommended, Spawn books 2-6. Believe me, it will hook you!

I grew up reading comic books and have always had a fondness
for them. Spawn is stylish and cool. I love it's darness and
the moral ambiguity; the anguish and emotion that is portrayed.
Of course the fact that Spawn kicks tail helps. To comment
on someone else's review where they protested about TM
commercializing Spawn and making a ton of money - who cares??
If I came up with something this good I would expect to be
well compensated as well. If it wasn't any good people wouldn't
be willing to pay for it now would they??

Enjoy!! Spawn is good stuff

The rise of Danny Greene and his battle with the Cleveland mafia makes for an interesting tale. As a relative newcomer to northeastern Ohio, I found the book to be a useful history lesson. However, the writing lacks polish. Porrello could use a good editor, and was ill-served by his publisher who allowed so many spelling and punctuation errors to go to print. It's also hard to keep track of the large number of players mentioned in the book, and sometimes their relation to events at hand is unclear, at best. Still, if you like to read about wise guys, it's a book worth picking up.

I lived in Cleveland during this period.
It was an amazing time.
As an Irish Catholic I had some affinity with Danny Greene, but realized he was basically a gangster no matter what his public persona as a community and labor leader.
Rick Porello does a fine job of telling this amazing tale.
I only hope the plan to make it a movie goes forward, I'll be first in line.

Being a Clevelander I found this book to be wonderful. Being able to identify names and places made this book even more interesting. I definitely like the factual information instead of a "hollywood" reporting style. If you have read other mafia related stories, this one helps tie the names and places together during that era. I would defintely like to see this story portrayed in a movie.

I am a Wing Chun student. My master learned Wing Chun from a student of Yip Man. This book shows the way Wing Chun is practiced by Yip Man. It is a very technical book and has to be studied carefully to understand it. No one that has never practiced the art should try to understand the book without first having hands on experience. It is a very complicated art. To the reader from Kennesaw, GA United States: You probably were taught that the style you are practicing is the best. Regardless of what style anyone practice we have to recognize one of the best expositioners of the art: Sifu Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was a student of Yip Man and it was his first martial art. From it he developed Yun Fan Kung Fu or Jeet Kun Do. Do not say that any style is sloppy. Remember the best fighters are always obscure. This book is great if you know the basics of Wing Chun taught by a master.

While this book is lacking in its explanation of the 3 forms of Wing Chun and the Sticky Hands excersizes, it is an excellent reference for anyone who is serious about learning the philosophy behind Wing Chun. What you won't find here is a detailed synopsis of the 3 forms or Chi Sau. What you will find are the words of the systems foremost instructor Yip Chun, who explains the basis of the system and the true applications of Wing Chun in a very detailed manner.

This book has a lot of historical information about wing chun. It is also good as a source for theory of the art. The Doctine of the Mean is very instructive as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone getting started in wing chun.