No comments about Home Theater, October 2008 Issue.

3 comments about Great Escapes: New Designs for Home Theaters by Theo Kalomirakis.

1. Whether your interest is home theater, or movie palaces from the 1920's and 30's, Great Escapes is sensational!
   Once I opened it, I couldn't put it down and trust me with 204 pages loaded with 140 color photos of breathtaking architectural eye candy, this book will demand your focus.
   Kalomirakis brings the elegance of yesteryears movie palaces home with the help of writers Steve Castle, Dean Koontz and photographer Phillip Ennis.
   You can truly see Kalomirakis' love for the big screen in the architectural details he adorns his private cinemas with. No details are spared in Kalomirakis' work from neon marquees and ticket booths welcoming visitors to his theaters to opulent lobbies adorned with domed mural ceilings and snack bars and timeless columns.
   A few times while reading this book, I had to remind myself that the featured theaters I was viewing were in someone's personal residence.
   I have to say my personal favorite theater in this book was created for author Dean Koontz called "The Moonlight." Koontz also has an introduction in the book.
   Even though most of the theaters in this book take up more square footage than the average persons home. And even though theaters designed by Kalomirakis are beyond the financial means of most people, this book can serve as inspiration for those that want to bring home the silver screen on a lesser budget and do it in style.
   Theo Kalomirakis' newest book Great Escapes definitely brings home the look of the movie palaces of yesterday.



2. This is a book to die for. The photography is amazing, the architecture out of this world and what Theo Kalomirakis does for his lucky clients will blow you away. I am already wearing out my copy and I only have had it for two days.



3. Lavishly illustrated with one hundred gorgeous color photographs by Phillip Ennis, Great Escapes: New Designs For Home Theaters By Theo Kalomirakis by Steven Castle presents extravagant designs for "media rooms" in private homes. These are specialized entertainment oriented rooms set aside to take full advantage of surround sound, acoustics, and visual appeal to bring forth the same quality experience as visiting a theater. Great Escapes showcases the work of interior designer Theo Kalomirakis as it artfully presents his work in creating home theaters of celebrities such as Dean Koontz, Eddie Murphy, Roger Ebert, and others in this unique source of enduring ideas.

No comments about How to Make Paper Costumes -- Over 60 Vintage Costume Patterns.

No comments about Cambridge: A Cultural and Literary History (Cities of the Imagination).

5 comments about The Age of Shakespeare (Modern Library Chronicles).

1. This is an interesting and instructive little book, but it is hard to figure out just what its target audience might be-or even indeed, its precise topic. Kermode calls it "the /Age/ of Shakespeare," and the first chapter does, indeed, open, with some provocative insights about the world that surrounds Shakespeare and his plays. Later on, he offers a useful introduction to the physical world of London theatre (or theatres). But most of the book is more conventional in its organization: commentary on the plays, more or less one by one and more or less in chronological order. The comments are unfailingly insightful and often original (or at any rate, new to me). But they are fragmentary and so presented that they aren't likely to be of much help if you aren't reasonably familiar with the plays already. Taken together, they are perhaps too modest for a specialist work and too concentrated for a beginner. What it sounds like is a quick recap of a course in Kermode's Cambridge classroom, for students who know something, but not too much-but here (is this an occupational hazard for professors?) I wonder if he misgauges his audience.
   
   The particular commentaries are diverse, but I'd say that Kermode is particularly good on the poetry, closely defined: the language and the rhythm-a fitting achievement, I suppose, for a man who wrote the admirable "Shakespeare's Language." He has a happy knack for picking the illustrative example and, particularly, for the illustrative example that shows you how Shakespeare changes and grows over time.
   
   As a general intro to the playwright and his times, I would still favor Jonathan Bate's "The Genius of Shakespeare." But so long as you know what you are getting, Kermode is still good fun. Here's a teaser: of all the items new to me in this book, perhaps none is more memorable than the brief vignette of one Richard Topcliffe interrogator and torturer so far up in his profession that he was allowed to keep a rack in his own home. Evidently we have Topcliffe's own copy of a history of the Jesuit mission to England with (as Kermode says) "his gloating marginalia: beside the name of a missionary the words `I racked him,' beside the name of someone hanged a little stick figure dangling from a gallows." The Age of Shakespeare was not an age for the faint of heart.



2. OK, your assignment is to write a book covering (1) the history of the Elizabethan and Jacobian ages; (2) the history of Elizabethan and early Jacobian theater; (3) the life and career of Shakespeare; and, (4) a discussion of his plays. Do this in less than 200 printed pages. What's that? You say you can't do it and nobody could? One more thing, assume near cultural illiteracy for the reader. All right, that surely makes it impossible. But you accepted the job. What do you do? If you're Frank Kermode you spend your pages acknowledging the existence of as many scholarly friends and colleagues as possible. The obscure Eamon Duffy, in particular, gets a tongue-bath from head to toes.
   
   Kermode must have had some total page count estimater built into his word-processor because when the count reaches 196 pages... he... just... stops. Now try to imagine an audience for this work. Let's consider three broad classes of potential readers: (1) those knowing little or nothing about the topics; (2) those having an intermediate level of knowledge, having read several books on the topics; and (3) those quite familiar with the topics from decades of reading. Readers in category (1) will be completely baffled. Readers in category (2) will find only a few points unfamiliar to them, and these points will not be developed in any satisfactory way. Readers in category (3) will never pick up the book to begin with, and those are the lucky few.
   
   This is one of a large number of "Modern Library Chronicles," most of which, to judge from the list, have a similarly impossible sweep of history to cover. Something does need desperately to be done to combat the rising tide (or tidal wave) of cultural illiteracy, but this is probably not at all what would work.



3. As other reviewers have observed, Kermode manages to pack a tremendous amount of information about Shakespeare and his times into 200 pages. Never does it seem rushed or superficial. The introductory section is especially useful, and in it Kermode addresses the increasingly discussed question of Shakespeare's "Catholicity." Although he states the evidence doesn't prove the matter decisively, Kermode recognizes it as an important part of the conversation.
   
   Likewise, he reviews the current state of research into the English reception of the so-called "Elizabethan Settlement" that definitively protestantized England and Wales. Fans of the Whig interpretation of history, which postulates that a break with Catholicism was an inevitable phase of English history, won't find much comfort here. Kermode summarizes the myth-shattering work of Eamon Duffy, whose "Stripping of the Altars" demonstrated a dozen years ago that English Catholicism was healthy and robust until the Tudors took their hammers to it.
   
   If you napped through your high school English lit classes, this book also serves as a remedial tonic. Kermode summarizes Shakespeare's plays and places them in their social and cultural context. After an evening or two with this book, you'll be better equipped to tackle "Hamlet," "Romeo & Juliet," and the rest of the Bard's canon.



4. I became interested in putting together a "listmania" list on Shakespeare and so I subsequently bought a few new books or some that I had not yet read. One was the older 1970 biography "Shakespeare" by the prolific author Anthony Burgess where - with some fiction based on partial records but mostly fact - he creates something akin to what we are used to in reading a modern biography. The present book was recently written by the Cambridge scholar and world Shakespeare expert Frank Kermode. Here the author uses a more conservative and a more scholarly approach, in some ways similar to Burgess, but with essentially no small fictional embellishments and with a lot more emphasis on explaining the various plays of Shakespeare in detail - albeit briefly - and adding comments on various usually at least one passage from each play.
   
   The present book is about 200 pages long with a very brief 4 page bibliographical note at the back. It is part of a series called Modern Library Chronicles that appear to have over 40 titles on various subjects, the Kermode book being one. The book consists of basically three parts - my division not the authors i.e.: the Reformation and England of Elizabeth (about 30 pages of background historical details), the early Shakespeare (70 pages) with many social comments, and then Shakespeare at the Globe and Blackfriars (the last 100 pages and Shakespeare's most fruitful period). In each of these broad segments the author weaves the current political climate, problems faced by the theaters, censorship, actors, rivals, other writers, owners, finances, descriptions of theater construction, etc. As the author makes his way through the last two parts, he comments on the importance of each play, what others think are the merits, important passages, references for more reading, how it relates to prior or future plays by Shakespeare, etc. - again all very briefly but he does provide some historical and literary perspectives.
   
   The book is rich with details, comments, quotes, and insights and it is a delightful but slow read to absorb the facts. It is an excellent but small book 5 stars. It does not replace the Burgess book, it is just different and seems more accurate. Subsequent to this being published, the new book "Will In The World" by Greenblatt has been published. It is by far the best book on Shakespeare's life and work.



5. This little book is delightful. It is scholarly, well researched, and charming. The chapters almost stand alone, and yet they make a whole.
   
   It gave me an awareness of the time in which Shakespeare lived that I could not have gained from a history book. It has contributed to a greater awareness of the factors that influenced this genius and made him more understandable to me.
   
   When we visited Stratford-On-Avon, I came away with no sense of the man, Shakespeare. I am on the road to a greater understanding of him, as a result of this little volume.
   
   Thank you for making it so easily available to me.

4 comments about James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Prima's Official Strategy Guide).

1. This is great! The guide offers the ultimate walk through of 007: everything or nothing! If you are having trouble locating an objective, or just want a basic overview of the game this is for you. There are sections on multiplayer strategy, and general sigle player stratgey. The guide has detailed maps of each level. If I was you I would get out and buy this guide and the game also because they are gonna go quick!



2. This is not a bad guide at all, but first of all, it's a universal guide, covering all three consoles. This is fine, except that I prefer a guide tailored to my own system, so that instead of the guide saying, "press Action to...whatever," it says, "press X or Circle..."

   Also, the guide assumes you'll play the game at the second difficulty level and doesn't account for the fact that some people, me included, play at the easy level at first. The guide is then very confusing, because it tells you to do stuff that the game doesn't want you to. There really should have been two sections, detailing the Easy and the Hard walkthroughs separately.

   Though it can be tricky, the game itself is awesome. The guide on the other hand could have been better.




3. You can always trust Prima when it comes to game guides, and you can still trust them. This guide has everything for someone playing through EoN for their first time. Maps that layout entire levels, pointing out important things like weapon pick ups and bond moments. And the walkthrough itself will get you through any level, single player and co-op. It isn't whats in the guide that made me shy of giving it five stars or calling it a must-buy, but what they left out. First off, there are three difficulty levels, operative, agent, and 00agent. this guide is for agent only. It points out armor locations and objectives for agent. It doesn't point out which objectives are left out in operative, or which armor locations aren't there in 00agent. Sometimes htere will be another person here or there on 00 that there isn't on agent, but it still gets left out. Another thing that's missing, a section on how to get the gold awards. If you cant quite get 450,000 points on the last mission, it will take more than the listed bond moments to get you there. Another problem is that there really isn't a guide for getting platinum medals on the levels. There are paragrpah long tips at the end of a mission walkthrough on how to get platinum, but no real guide. The largest problem I had with this guide was that it was either too vague or nonchalant about how to obtain the gold and platinum medals throughout the game, and basically left you guessing once you tried to unlock them. This guide is only good (but very good) for getting to the last level on agent, and ignores helping you unlocking the awards.



4. The guide is very detailed and informative. It tells step by step how to play each stage and how to obtain all the 007 moves. I highly recommend this guide to the serious Bond player.

2 comments about How Home Theater and HDTV Work (How It Works).

1. This book is OK if you are going to buy a HDTV but useless if you are a technician and need an understanding on repairing a HDTV.



2. I needed a book to tell me the DIFFERENCE between cables. - Optical? Digital? Coaxial? S-Video? Composite? Fiber optic? Analog? Shielded? Unshielded? Banana plug? Bare wire?
   For that, this book is PERFECT. It worked out nicely for me, when I had to decide how I was to wire up a new stereo receiver with a DirecTV box and a DVD-VCR combo box. A couple of years later, it helped me decipher the difference between (a.) a universal remote; (b.) a learning remote.
   I bought this book over others on the shelf at a BORDERS because (a.) the illustrations are in COLOR; (b.) the illustrations are on EVERY PAGE; (c.) the text only focuses on the "how" or "why" and not on the technical or engineering aspects.
   I see that the other review before mine gave the book only one star because the book does not tell you how to buy a television set. That is TRUE. The book is not written to tell you which BRAND to buy. The book WILL give you enough info to decide between (a.) plasma; (b.) LCD; (c.) rear projection; (d.) front projection (e.) flat panel.
   Likewise, the chapter on "aspect ratios" helped me understand how the new TVs distort their picture, to either CROP or STRETCH the picture, depending on how you set the aspect ratio.
   For example: Do you know the difference between (a.) pan-and-scan? (b.) letterbox? The illustrations in the book lay it out clear as a bell.
   For example: Do you what the Texas Instruments slogan, "It's the mirrors!" means, and how it relates to DLP? The book tells you.
   This book is much better than depending on a dozen (a hundred?) individual PDF documents or manufacturer brochures to teach the DIFFERENCES between the technologies out there for audio and video!

3 comments about Before it Hits Home..

1. I'm a Senior at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and we performed this play last fall. If you are looking for a moving piece that is thought provoking, insightful and a tear-jerker...this is it! I played Wendal, the young man who gets AIDS. One of the things I liked about this play was that no matter what character you chose to study, the play justified their actions and reactions.. Also as the author said, it takes a long hard look at a situation that "isn't supposed to happen" in the black community. Cheryl West, thank you for giving us this opportunity to educate and inform....



2. Playwrights have a short time frame to present a story that is entertaining and, if the reader/vierwer is lucky, inspiring. Cheryl West uses her time wisely. This play is staged well, the characters are realistic, and the reactions of her characters are a bit unexpected. What a pleasure.



3. Before it Hits Home was a heart tugger the entire book. It grabbed your attention at the very beginning and did not let go until the end, and even then did not want to let go. You will have to take a few moment to regoup your emontions at the end. This story told of the love of a Mother and Son, but really brought out the the unspoken bond between a father and son. It digs deep into the family grabs you and hold you close to its heart.

1 comments about One Dark and Dreadful Night.

1. Randy Cecil is an original. His first solo book- writing and illustrating- is a welcome addition to any child's library. The artwork is superb and my wife laughed out loud several times reading it. Great job, Randy, here's to a long career.

5 comments about Home Hacking Projects for Geeks (Hacks).

1. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is a really fun book to read which also provides instructions on how to perform some very interesting home improvements. This book reminded me a little bit of O'Reilly's other book "Smart Home Hacks", only the hacks in this book are not all specifically smart-home related. In any case, some of the hacks in the other book mentioned are also found in this book. "Home Hacking Projects", however, does contain some fun projects I haven't seen anywhere else.
   
   Some of the more interesting projects in this book include how to remotely monitor your pet, creating time shifted radio, and how to make your home talk. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that examples are provided for both a Linux and Windows environment. Additionally, configuration information is provided for your router, if the completed project is to be accessible from outside your home network.
   
   While there are some projects included in this book that you might find elsewhere, this book does an excellent job of providing clear and detailed instructions, including wiring diagrams (if applicable), screen shots of configuration information, and a lot of other things that make the successful completion of these projects much more likely. You'll have a blast automating your home with this book.



2. A great deal of the projects in this book are basically various forms of X10 module automation. The projects include how to automate a light with motion sensing, how to remotely monitor your pet, creating a whole house audio or time shifted audio, a keyless entry system, and intrusion detection and deterrence. For each project the items are detailed, the software described in detail, information is included on where to locate them, assembly instructions, scripts, and everything else you need to complete it. Only basic skills are needed for each project. Each project includes information on estimated cost, time and difficulty ratings so you can easily decide which ones you will tackle and which ones you may not want to. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is recommended to anyone wanting to have a little fun with home electronics.



3. Nothing in the splash page, back cover or anywhere with info letting you know it is almost 100% about the X10 hardware. I already own a house full of X10 stuff, so the fact that I wasted money on this book burns my soul. Not one thing deals with how to set up, rig or configure any of the projects without having to spend money on whichever X-10 product will do the job. If I wanted that I would just buy the product and read the installation guide that comes with it.
   The author suckered me into buying the book... don't let him sucker you!



4. Since I am a computer engineer I was hoping to find that this book offered some home projects let alone hacks. First let me state that this book doesn't offer any "Hacking Projects". To be honest it barely offers any "Home projects". Fortunately for me I have a friend who is an electrical engineer. This book is extremely misleading. More than half of the projects listed in this book simply can not be accomplished because the projects mentioned severely lack the required information or were never honestly tested to see if the might actually work. A good part of this book suggests you will need a skill set of 3 out of 5 to accomplish a given task. What it doesn't say it that you will need significantly more money and electrical knowledge than this book will ever provide. Many of the projects listed here are extremely costly and provide little advantage to some running it through a computer. In addition, you will have to know a computer language [Pearl] in order to get remote benefit from any project. Having looked over the Pear scripts I have found some mistakes in the programming. It seems to me that O'Reilly just wanted to sell a book.



5. I thought this was an amusing book that described a collection of neat ideas. Most of them are not too technically sophisticated so that you could have come up with the design yourself if you are a technical person, using web resources, but the value was in the idea itself and the way it is suggested.