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Fisher-Price Zen Collection High Chair

June 28, 2010

Cheap Fisher-Price Zen Collection High Chair Review

We have had this chair for 4 months now and we love it. Our daughter is almost 10 months. The colors are beautiful and it matches our dining room perfectly. My daughter loves it. She even sits in it sometimes and watches me while I cook in the kitchen. The recline feature is a big plus. She loves to lay back in it while she drinks from her sippy cup. There is plenty of room for her to grow in it so I can see we will get our money’s worth. The tray snaps on very snugly so we don’t have to worry about her taking it off herself. The insert and cover are easy to remove and clean. We have the space but if you are working with a small space the base is wide (to provide stability).

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The Complete Monterey Pop Festival – Criterion Collection

April 26, 2010

Cheap The Complete Monterey Pop Festival – Criterion Collection Review

I got disc one from Netflix to play BluRay. This is pure genius on every level. If you read the Criterion Collections essays [...], you’ll see that the bulk of the performers were merely experimenting with the new form — rock and roll — because most of the performers (Mamas and Papas, Janis Joplin and others) came directly out of, and were influenced heavily by the folk movement, blues and, of course, Jazz. What resulted was just magic on every level. Check the setlist. Check the performers. To see Hendrix perform The Troggs “Wild Thing” and then to light his guitar on fire after making love to it was unbelievable. To understand that before this concert that Hendrix was an unknown who had been riding the chitlin’ circuit for years, to get transformed into a guitar God is hard to imagine in light of the reputation that he built for himself in the next three years of his life before it was cut short by addictions to herion. The same was true with Janis Joplin. To see The Who bash apart their instruments was their way of performing destructive art, a concept that I understand intellectually but not emotionally, not that it matters — this was the world 40 years ago, a world whose relative innocence we could somehow all relate and the time when 50s social mores were out the window and, as of 1967 and this first rock festival, the death of JFK was ever-present on the minds of young people and artists as was the US’ growing involvement in Vietnam, and despite President Nixon’s attempts to control it all starting in 1968, society was in fact just up for grabs and music, relevant then like never before or since, drove the movement. Maybe it’s why Woodstock, in 1969, was such a raging success. Had it not been for Monterey, there would have been no Woodstock. Music was power.

The Blu-Ray transfers are, in a word, magnificent. The video is as clear as full of life as you could possibly imagine and the audio, remastered into DTS HD Master Audio is a revelation, and makes the whole experience that much more present, which is to say that you feel like you are there, albeit through the 16mm lenses of the Pennebaker camera crew, who did a wonderful job of filming not only the artists on stage, but those same artists sitting in the audience enjoying the music themselves. There is a shot of Mama Cass after Janis Joplin sings “Ball and Chain” that is just priceless. As always, it’s the cameraman’s eye for detail like this that make small moments in a film that much more special. I was, however, dismayed to learn that the Grateful Dead’s performance was, in fact one of their best performances with everybody dancing and grooving in the aisles. But no video. No audio. I’m going to get the second disc and when finances allow, this will become a treasured piece of my video collection. I was only 6 for the bulk of 1967, but for some reason feel a deep connection to this music. Perhaps it’s because the crop of artists that were here in America then, dominating popular music, were so many. What passes for pop music these days is just a travesty of all that these very excellent musicians put into their music, body and soul, those things that are sadly lacking today, when pop music is too often all about celebrity and not art. This is art. Five stars. And if I could give it six, I would do that. All I have to say is: enjoy it.

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Exhale: Core Fusion Collection

April 22, 2010

Cheap Exhale: Core Fusion Collection Review

exhale: Core Fusion Collection is a value priced collection of award winning and best selling workout DVD’s that was released on January 5, 2010 by AcaciaLifestyle.com. This workout collection contains three separate DVD’s that each contain five 10-minute results-driven workouts for a total of fifteen separate workouts.

The Core Fusion Collection of DVD’s were created by the husband and wife team, Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp. They have over fifty combined years of experience teaching Pilates, Lotte Berk Method, yoga, dance and Tai Chi. They are founding members of exhale which is a leading mind/body spa with locations throughout the USA.

The three DVD’s included in the Core Fusion Collection are Body Sculpt, Pilates Plus and Thighs & Glutes. Body Sculpt uses strength training workouts to target everything from your arms and shoulders to glutes, hips, thighs and abs. You will use your own body weight as resistance and small hand weights (I used two cans of veggies.) to challenge and build your muscles. The Body Sculpt DVD was Acacia’s number one bestselling title in 2008/2009 and was a USA Today pick.

Pilates Plus is a Pilates-based workout program that integrates your core with every move. This DVD was a Prevention “DVD’s We Love” pick, a Health “Best Pilates” DVD in 2009; and a USA Today pick. It was also named “Best Fusion Class” by New York magazine. It’s a deep-toning approach that works hard-to-reach areas that traditional exercises miss. It also features yoga-inspired postures and core-conditioning exercises.

The Thighs & Glutes DVD lifts your buns, tones your legs, and trims your waist by using exercises that firm and tighten in all the right spots. This is a high intensity toning workout that helps you sculpt and tone. This DVD was chosen Shape magazine’s DVD of the month.

These three exercise DVDs can be done in any order you like. They can be combined or done separately. I found it easiest to chose one area on each DVD. So I chose to do ten minutes of Thighs & Glutes, ten minutes of Body Sculpting and ten minutes of Pilates Plus. You could just as easily chose to do all of the Pilates Plus DVD instead if you wanted to focus on one type of excercise at a time.

The moves shown in the Core Fusion Collection workouts are not difficult to follow. The creators show you step-by-step how to do each move. Each ten minute workout includes a warm up and slow down section. While the moves aren’t difficult, the workouts are invigorating and, I felt, challenging. I consider myself to be a novice at exercise so for those of you who are more experienced, you may not be as challenged as I was.

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Sid Meier’s Civil War Collection (Jewel Case)

April 22, 2010

Cheap Sid Meier’s Civil War Collection (Jewel Case) Review

Sid Meier’s turned in a gem with Gettysburg (and the follow-up, Antietam). It’s been about 7 years since this title was released, and I have yet to play another Civil War game that can come close to it. The AI in this game is among some of the most challenging you will ever face in any game. Moving through each scenario gives you a sense that the battle is has some significance, with each confrontation building towards defeat or victory. This appears to be one of the early 3d games as well, allowing hills, topography, and valleys to all play a key roll in determining who has the advantage. The graphics are not spectacular — though they were when it was released. It’s a decent sounding game, although some of the actors that do the audio lay it on a little thick at times (but I sort of like that for a game). Ok, I’m done gushing.
Don’t forget to the compatibility patch available on the firaxis website, modern operating systems will not work without it (like XP, 2000, Me).

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The Powerpuff Girls: The Complete Series – 10th Anniversary Collection

April 17, 2010

Cheap The Powerpuff Girls: The Complete Series – 10th Anniversary Collection Review

The DVD Collection was a wonderful gift for our daughter. Unfortunately it arrived after Christmas even though I ordered it two and a half weeks prior to Christmas. This was very frustrating to me and I will not use super shipper ever again! On the bright side, the DVD set came two days after Christmas and my 11 year old daughter was thrilled and watched the movies over and over. The quality was great and completed her collection of Powerpuff Girl media.

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Timex Men’s Expedition Premium Collection Chronograph Watch #T42351

April 1, 2010

Cheap Timex Men’s Expedition Premium Collection Chronograph Watch #T42351 Review

I originally bought the Silver or stainless model of this watch. The indigo light went out after two months. Amazon told me they would credit my account for the full amount of purchase and no need to return it. I immediately ordered this watch (black)because I did like it better as it has more pizzaz on my wrist. Got my new watch and got the credit. Thank you Amazon and your customer service is outstanding for this transaction.

New watch keeps accurate time, is waterproof as I swim a lot and is easy to setup for the time. I don’t really use the chrono features but do love the indigo night light feature. The leather band looks good and the swimming and showers do not seem to hurt it. In time the band will fail, so I will buy a new band or a new watch as the costs are low for an excellent product. Remember, a watch is made basically to keep accurate time and to decorate your wrist. This new one does it in spades.

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Spiegel Signature Stretch Seersucker Collection: Pleat-Neck Tunic Top

April 1, 2010

Cheap Spiegel Signature Stretch Seersucker Collection: Pleat-Neck Tunic Top Review

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Swiss Family Robinson (Vault Disney Collection)

March 18, 2010

Cheap Swiss Family Robinson (Vault Disney Collection) Review

Actually, he’s a little young for me now, and I’m already married…but I used to want to marry him. And I would still love to live like that! Another good movie to pull-out when you just want to watch something bright and happy :o )

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Emporio Armani Couple’s Collection watch #AR9021

March 11, 2010

Cheap Emporio Armani Couple’s Collection watch #AR9021 Review

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Joe Pass: Virtuoso Standards, Songbook Collection Authentic Guitar-Tab Edition (Virtuoso Series)

March 10, 2010

Cheap Joe Pass: Virtuoso Standards, Songbook Collection Authentic Guitar-Tab Edition (Virtuoso Series) Review

I’ve been playing guitar for almost 20 years now and jazz has always been a mystery to me. I always wanted to play jazz standards but never had the patience to learn them. After trying many boring and unnecessarily difficult books, I bought Dan Towey’s Chord Melodies on Hal Leonard and that got me started. I was hooked. I was then looking for a more challening book, one that I could impress my audience with. When I found these note-for-note transcriptions of Joe Pass’ Virtuoso recordings, I thought I’d give it a try but wasn’t too serious about it. I figured this would be way out of my league.

Well, I’ve had this book for a week now and can’t let my guitar down. I have learned the beautiful “Have You Met Miss Jones” standard by practicing over four hours a day. Unlike some books on chord melodies, Joe Pass does not use super complicated chords but rather a beautiful melody line along with swinging rhythms. For a non-jazz guitarist like me, it turned out to be a really good fit. This book is definitely for advanced guitarists but it certainly isn’t out of reach for those of us who are prepared to practice hard.

The transcriptions are very accurate and the fingerings are top notch. Roland Leone did a fantastic job both in terms of accuracy and practicality. Highly recommended.

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