Bill Stanton does an excellent job of capturing the multi-faceted personality of the Basset Hound. The introduction "written" by Maggie sounded so much like my late Basset, Molly. Spunk. Audacity. Self-assurance. The photos are delightful and the quotes well-chosen to compliment the pictures. Regardless of whether you've ever had a Basset Hound, this book will entertain you. Even if you never had a dog, you'll get miles of smiles from this work. I purchased the book for my daughter who teaches third grade. She shares such books with her students. They love it. After looking it over, I'll probably get another to keep as a coffee table book. Thanks, Maggie, for being who you are and thanks, Bill, for capturing it.

This tape offers great ab workouts. The beginners is easy enough to do while still being very effective. The advanced takes you to a new plateau. The routines hit the abs from all angles and are more than worth the brief time it takes to do them. From the first workout, you should start feeling the burn in the muscles and know your abs have been worked.

But . . . . The notion that ANY ab exercises will give you chisled abs, a six-pack stomach, or washboard abs is a mistaken notion. One can have great, strong abs but those abs can be covered with a layer of fat. Diet has to be included. Aerobic, fat-burning exercise is a must, also. All the ab workouts in the world will not produce the abs pictured on the tape cover unless you remove the fat.

Buy this tape. Do the routines. But do the dieting, too. The combination will result in the look you want. But remember, until you remove the fat, you'll see little results.

That's not to say that some very, very young children might not be entertained by this film. As a parent, I have sat through many children's movies that were less than spectacular but at least entertained me in a childish or childlike way. This was not one of them. The best acting in the movie was the dogs. I loved the first Beethoven and Beethoven's 2nd. I've seen and enjoyed the live action versions of 101 and 102 Dalmatians. Loved Lion King and Shrek and all the classic animated Disney movies. But this is nothing like any of them. Judge Rheinhold is annoying in his role. The wife is a whinning pest. The boy is tolerable and the girl a bit better. The villains are moronic. Implausible plots are not the problem. Poorly executed and nonsensical things are and this film was filled with them. Love dogs (which I do) and want a nice dog story? Avoid this and get The Duke instead.

This is a good tape for someone new to kickboxing workouts. There is some initial instruction from Kathy and Keith Cooke (a martial arts expert)and then a good and easy warm-up session. The workout has some parts that require practice and a modicum of coordination but can be mastered. Following the workout is a section to help limber up for and learn the kicks. Then there's a decent stretching session and finally a session to strengthen the midsection. All in all, it is a good tape, FAR SUPERIOR to the Tae-Bo tapes I am stuck with and also cheaper then they are.

My only complaint about the tape is the annoying demeanor of someone named Keli left of Kathy on the screen. She's obviously good at the routine and in good shape. She may even be a super person. But there is something about the way she does the routine, something about her expressions and movements that just bothers me. Keith is obviously expert at this, too, but his demeanor is not annoying to me. Keli is another story for some reason. Ridiculous complaint but one that irks me.

Still, I do think you would be content with this purchase and would see some results with regular use. I'm not crazy about all of Kathy Smith's videos. She has some good ones and this is one of them.

If you only buy one Bonnie Raitt CD, make it this one. Bonnie is a great performer. Whether it's blues, rock, or country, she can lay it on you and make you feel it. Her singing and guitar playing are superb as always. This CD has cuts from many others and they're great ones. "Give It Up or Let Me Go" is a rollicking good time tune. "Woman Be Wise" joins forces with a legendary blues mama to give women some good advice in a classic blues way. "Love Me Like A Man" is another classic Raitt tune. Then there's the soulful wail of "Love Has No Pride" that is an anthem for lost love. Bonnie does wonders with the classic "Angel from Montgomery" and makes it her own even in a duet. Remember the old rock and roll song "Runaway" by Del Shannon? Well, you'll never think of it again after hearing Bonnie's version.

Bonnie Raitt fans may merely enjoy this CD because it what they have come to expect from her. Newcomers to Bonnie will certainly be impressed. Bonnie is HOT and so is the CD.

With over 770 reviews already written, why write another? Well, I have my opinion on things that may have already been covered in other reviews but I'm too lazy to read 770 of them.

The first complaint is that this comes only as a two tape set. It appears that the reason is that one tape is supposed to be the instructional tape to get you started before moving on to the basic workout. Well, the Instructional tape serves fairly well in that capacity. Aside from the sweet blonde in the back who's not featured enough (okay, a frivilous remark), the tape has other flaws. It does show how to do the punches and kicks. It doesn't tell you how to loosen up to be able to do the kicks better. Some stretching and flexibility suggestions would help. The other factor is that according to the opening notes, one should be able to do this tape before moving on to the Basic Workout. Well, this is NOT a workout tape. Blanks often just does the exercise on one side of the body and doesn't repeat on the other. So, the Instructional tape is somewhat disappointing. Besides, several people I know went straight to the Basic Workout without ever viewing the Instructional tape and have done great.

As for the Basic workout, it is good. Not great. Good. As a newcomer to this exercise, I am able to follow it well enough and get a decent workout for a beginner. I don't like the special effects used during the double-time segments. It distorts the speed of the exercise. Some of the combination moves are challenging and take time to nail. Blanks also takes breaks during the routine under the guise of instructing. Personally, I don't see the need for the little comments he makes and my cynical nature feels he just needs to "take five." Not fair.

Since this is two tapes, the price is high. If it was for two useable tapes, it would be alright but since only one tape is really needed, it is too much. Blanks should either market these separately or make the Instructional tape more useful. In the end, it seems like a good introduction to Tae-Bo or cardio-kickboxing or whatever you want to call it and provides a decent workout.

The other reviewers do a god job of criticizing the toning and aerobic portions of this video, so I'll leave that out. They also do a good job evaluating the Stretching segment but I want to add my two cents. There are probably better stretching videos out there and I'll keep looking, but meanwhile, this is a good one. Flexibility is a real problem for me as a result of decades of weight training without the requisite stretching. Kathy's routine is doable even for someone like me. Taking it from the start . . . It appears that the stretching exercises actually begin while Kathy is talking about the segment. That's a flaw. Also confusing. When she does start officially, the exercises are easy and doable but also effective. A plus in this video is that she refers to left and right from the viewer's perspective. Less confusing. So, when she says lean to the right, she's actually leaning to her left but the viewer can simply mirror the move. Clear? I hope so. It's a plus. After a few weeks of doing this routine, I can feel improvement and it's encouraging. The first few times you do the routine, you may have to watch carefully to get the movements correct. After a bit, you can go by her voice commands only. Another flaw is in one of the seated exercises where she asks you to tuck the hips. She never really gives a clear camera angle at how this is effectively done. One can deduce it but a clearer shot from the side of someone doing it would have helped. Another good point is that Kathy doesn't speak while doing the routine. It is a voice-over. I find that more relaxing. In all, I feel it is a good routine for a beginner and intermediate. Since many videos only offer only one short segment anyway, buying this for the stretching alone is not a waste of money. Who knows, you might even like the Toning and Aerobic segments. To each his own.

My doctor recommended this book and it was worth the money and the time. There are no magic formulas espoused, only common sense suggestions. The books mentions certain weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers, TOPS, OA, and Jenny Craig as sources of help but clearly states that we are to take responsibility for losing the weight. This book does give a sample Exchange Diet program in the back but it isn't a diet book per se. The book focuses on making changes in our lifestyle, not just in our eating habits. It talks about the need to be flexible, to have support, to engage in non-food related activities and have non-food related rewards. It talks about allowing ourselves to slip without giving up and how to deal with lapses. It recommends exercise but also tells that some Masters (people who have taken off considerable weight and kept it off) lost and maintained without exercise. It tells the reader to consider a weight loss plan that will also be feasible as a maintenance plan. It discourages fad diets and recommends sensible eating. It is a source of many good suggestions. This book doesn't make foolish promises or guarantees. It simply contains excellent guidelines to establish sensible practices for healthy mental and physical well-being.

I ride a Harley and love music so I thought this was a good buy. It was disappointing. Some may rave about it but I personally didn't care for many of the songs on this (and Vol. 2 and the Country version). It's a matter of personal taste, of course. I'm not saying the CD is bad, just that not all the songs were appealing to me. This is often the case in any anthology collection. If you want tunes to ride with or just like hard driving biker music, make a tape of your own favorites. If you want to buy this or the others in the series, look over the songs first to be sure there are enough you like.

My rating is the average of the movie as simply an FBI in the mob movie (5 stars) and as an account of the true story of Agent Joe Pistone (1 star). Much as I like the work Al Pacino and Johnny Depp did in this movie, the film version pales in comparison to the book. It does not do justice to the book. The real Agent Joe Pistone and the one portrayed in the film have notable differences as does the real Lefty Ruggiero and Pacino's character. As a fictional account of FBI undercover work in the mob, this is a good, perhaps even great movie. Since I saw the movie before reading the book, I was able to enjoy it. However, once I read the book, the inconsistencies between the book and movie were obvious. Too bad Hollywood couldn't see the merit of the true story. There are too many distortions of the facts and characters. So, if you want to enjoy the movie at all, see it before reading the book. Then read the book and enjoy the real story.