Harold and the Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition (Harold & the Purple Crayon (Hardcover))
by Crockett Johnson
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (10 August, 1955)
list price: $15.99 -- our price: $10.87
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Editorial Review

"One night, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight." So begins this gentle story that shows just how far your imagination can take you.Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, young Harold draws himself a landscape full of beauty and excitement. But this is no hare-brained, impulsive flight of fantasy. Cherubic, round-headed Harold conducts his adventure with the utmost prudence, letting his imagination run free, but keeping his wits about him all the while. He takes the necessary purple-crayon precautions: drawing landmarks to ensure he won't get lost; sketching a boat when he finds himself in deep water; and creating a purple pie picnic when he feels the first pangs of hunger.

Crockett Johnson's understated tribute to the imagination was first published in 1955, and has been inspiring readers of all ages ever since. Harold's quiet but magical journey reminds us of the marvels the mind can create, and also gives us the wondrous sense that anything is possible. (Ages 4 to 8) ... Read more

Reviews (76)

This is a Great Book for Children!
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson is a great book and one that I fondy recall checking out of the library several times as a child in the 70's and reading and it is today still a great book for children that shows how much fun they can have by using their imagination and I highly recommend it!

Clever idea; very well executed
This book follows the adventure of Harold and his purple crayon. Harold draws things with his purple crayon and then interacts with the things that he has drawn. The text is simple but the story is strong - the illustrations are basic (they are just pictures that you could draw with a purple crayon!) but very effective.

Great fun and very stimulating. When I read it with my son (4) after having forgotten about the book for a while it provoked a huge number of quite complicated questions about the nature of reality and imagination.

Highly recommended.

Such a simple idea, but so well done!
Harold is a toddler who can make real objects by drawing them with his purple crayon. This simple device is the springboard for a series of adventures that will captivate and charm reader and listener alike.

For example, when he is trying to find his way back home, he draws a policeman so that he can ask for directions. But the policeman just points in the direction that Harold was going anyway, so he walks on, trying to figure a way home.

Harold's drawings are all childlike, but other than Harold himself, there are no other more realistic pictures to measure them against. Harold himself never speaks, so the text is all provided by simple narration.

Fifty years after it was first published, this book is still delighting parents and children; it's difficult to put your finger on exactly what makes this series work so well, but work it does. I'm not sure that the concept holds up well throughout the enormous series, but the idea is fresh and exciting in this series opener, and some of the other earlier books.
... Read more

Isbn: 0060229357
Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. Bedtime Stories    3. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Classics    6. Fantasy    7. Fiction    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Night    10. Juvenile Fiction / Classics   

The Color Purple
Director: Steven Spielberg
Average Customer Review:
DVD (14 September, 2004)
list price: $19.96 -- our price: $15.97
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Editorial Review

Steven Spielberg, proving he's one of the few modern filmmakers who has the visual fluency to be capable of making a great silent film, took a melodramatic, D.W. Griffith-inspired approach to filming Alice Walker's novel. His tactics made the film controversial, but also a popular hit. You can argue with the appropriateness of Spielberg's decision, but his astonishing facility with images is undeniable--from the exhilarating and eye-popping opening shots of children playing in paradisiacal purple fields to the way he conveys the brutality of a rape by showing hanging leather belts banging against the head of the shaking bed. In a way it's a shame that Whoopi Goldberg, a stage monologist who made her screen debut in this movie, went on to become so famous, because it was, in part, her unfamiliarity that made her understated performance as Celie so effective. (This may be the first and last time that the adjective understated can be applied to Goldberg.) Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and actress (supporting players Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were also nominated), it was quite a scandal--and a crushing blow to Spielberg--when it won none. The digital video disc requires flipping to play the whole movie. --Jim Emerson ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Widescreen
• Closed-captioned
• Dolby

Reviews (138)

Great movie for a book adaptation
Having read the book, I must say that the movie is pretty closely aligned to the story written by Alice Walker.Realizing that it is impossible to completely portray a book as a film (you can't show the character's thoughts, for example) this movie has grown to be one of my favorites since it was first released, and I was in junior high school.

The actors do an outstanding job depicting the characters with all their flaws, weaknesses and beauty. Even the more prominent men in the movie (Harpo, Mister) have another side--both seek the affection and approval of a father who withholds it.

Those who dislike the movie because of its portrayal of men, particulary African-American men, overlook the minor roles of Rev. Samuel, the missionary who adopts Celie's children; Buster,the boxer who dates and doesn't try to overrule the strong-willed Sophia; and even, Shug's husband,Grady, who (in the movie version) accepts Shug for who she is, knowing her past.

While I agree that Hollywood needs to promote many movies that depict African-American men in a positive light, that was not the purpose of this movie (or book). The story is about the women, who overcome disappointment, shame, low-self esteem and abuse to accept and love who they are, just as they are.

Hindsight is 20/20......
but all the controversy from the mid-1980s was undeserved.This is a great film.

Some critics said the movie is not lesboerotic enough.I finally read Alice Walker's book and while Celie clearly does not like men and only likes women, the book is not filled with lesbian activity.Thus, in the film when Margaret Avery and Whoopi Goldberg kiss while listening to jazz with a windchime in the air, I thought it was powerful and appropriate.

Can you believe that heterosexist naysayers played a role in preventing Oprah, Whoopi, Steven and many others from losing Oscars!?

Do see this film.It is just as powerful for women of color as "Joy Luck Club" or "Frida" is.

postscript:
Martin:Gina, I rented yo' favorite movie "Purple Rain"!
Gina:Martin!I said my favorite movie is "The Color Purple"!

PLZ STOP THE WHINING THAT THIS FILM BASHES MEN (yawwwnnn)
This movie is completely flawless and one of the most moving films of all time.

I'm truly exhausted with the trite, insipid statements that this movie is man bashing, or even worse bashing on white people.Are you paying attention?Acknowledging the social realties the characters are living in?So what if YOU personally cannot find a "positive" man in the movie - also, what exactly does that mean?This film is about redemption and even forgiveness.The story is written by a woman and told by the point of view of a woman - it should be respected as being a REAL movie.One cannot be concerned with how a GROUP of people are being represented- a true artist must do what comes from the soul not being worried about positive representation for black men or white people.Anyone who thinks this film is bashing anyone is simply not paying attention.

This is a story about women, or more specifically, poor black women who do not have freedom.White women are able to fall back on their whiteness.Black men are able to fall back on their maleness.Black women suffer a double oppression especially in the days and times of the Color Purple.

Steven Spielberg did a magnificent job along with strikingly good performances from all of the actors - it all seemed they were born to play those roles.Every scene, image, line and sound was immaculate.In addition, the DVD is incredible explaining the making of the Color Purple with important interviews from the iconic Alice Walker.Everytime I watch this movie I see something new ........ and the best line from the movie is, "I'm poor, I'm black and I may even be ugly, BUT dear God .. i'm here, i'm here." ... Read more

Asin: 0790729717
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Deep Purple - In Concert With the London Symphony Orchestra
Average Customer Review:
DVD (15 August, 2000)
list price: $24.99 -- our price: $22.49
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Features

• Color
• Dolby

Reviews (15)

A little slow to start, but great once it gets going
This DVD is from a 1999 performance by Deep Purple, along with various guests, including the London Symphony Orchestra. They probably should have called it "Deep Purple And Friends", for reasons that will soon become obvious.

The show gets off to a slow start, with two ballads featuring Purple keyboardist Jon Lord on grand piano and the orchestra. The first, Pictured Within, has a singer named Miller Anderson on vocals. The second song, Wait Awhile, features Sam Brown, a female vocalist who has recorded several solo albums, and has also toured with Pink Floyd as a backup singer. Neither of these songs is very good, and are the primary reason why I'm not giving this release a five star review.

After the dull opening, Lord and orchestra are joined by most of his Deep Purple bandmates, bassist Roger Glover, drummer Ian Paice, and guitarist Steve Morse, along with Ronnie James Dio. With this configuration (plus a few backup singers and violinist Graham Preskett) the group performs two Glover penned songs, Sitting In A Dream and Love Is All. These songs are drawn from Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast, a conceptual work that Glover released in the mid 70's. It's interesting that the band would choose to spotlight such obscure songs, but I think in the end, these two songs are played rather well.

Following this, Dio and Morse both leave the stage, and the remaining three members of Purple and Preskett, plus the infamous Kick Horns (who ruined many a classic song when they toured with The Who in 89) tear into the classic Purple instrumental Wring That Neck. I suppose if this was someone else paying tribute to Purple, I'd regard this as a great arrangement, but I was expecting to hear Steve Morse play on this track. Like I said, it's a good arrangement, and I suppose the band gets points for trying something different.

After this, show the REALLY picks up steam, as they present Lord's Concerto For Group And Orchestra, a piece that Purple originally recorded in 69, and which hadn't played much since then, until circumstances brought upon the inspiration to resurrect the piece 3 decades later.

So, what does the Concerto sound like? Well, it sounds like exactly what I had imagined it to be, ie a mix of an orchestra playing classical sounding music with the classic Purple sound. Some of the orchestral interludes seem to go on a bit, but I think in general, it's very successful in mixing classical and hard rock music. There's a couple bits during the second movement, where Ian Gillan sings, but it's mostly an instrumental piece.

After the Concerto, the band performs a handful of 90's era songs, before ending the set with Pictures Of Home. The encore is, of course, Smoke On The Water, performed with the full cast of musicians, along with members of The Steve Morse Band and a second guitarist who isn't really identified (he's not mentioned on the back cover, though presumably his name is amongst those listed under the word "Guests" in the closing credits). Dio and Gillan trade off on vocals, and suprisingly, the orchestra, Kick Horns and even the back up singers (I HATE back up singers, what does a rock group like Deep Purple need back up singers for?) sound great.

To those who demur at the idea of Deep Purple without Ritchie Blackmore, I might point out Steve Morse is a genius. He's had a long career playing with The Dregs during the 70's as well as The Steve Mores Band and Kansas during the 80's. He twice got so sick of the business of the music industry that he quit and took a normal job, but found the pull of playing music too strong to stay away from his first love. He does a perfect job at filling Blackmore's shoes.

As I said before, the only reason I'm giving this DVD a four star review instead of five is because of the two boring Jon Lord songs that open the disc. I think it would have been better if they had started out with a few Purple songs, then the Concerto, then more Purple material to wrap up with. Maybe they could have stuck the songs the songs featuring Miller Anderson (WHO IS Miller Anderson, anyway?!), Sam Brown and Ronnie James Dio in the middle someplace, but I think it was a bad idea to start with them.

Anyway, I think this is a nice release, and once they get into the actual portion of the show that features Deep Purple, it's fantastic.

Deep Purple 30 yrs later !
Nice DVD...starts out mellow, with guest vocalists and the orchestra with Jon Lord in charge. Concerto for Group and Orchestra kicks in, and is great. Differences in the '69 version for sure (which is worth buying, also). The group rocks out more..all original members except Blackmore replaced by Steve Morse who can handle the guitar duties great. would have been a great concert to have been at--they did it all.

STEVE MORSE HAS LOUSY VIBRATO
It is blasphemy! Steve Morse butchers the songs with his funky off pitch string bending. He has the most horrible vibrato. If no one else notices it they need their ears checked. Steve Morse is left handed but plays righty which is the problem with his vibrato that cannot be ignored. Yngwie Malmsteen would be better fitting in Deep Purple but he is too into himself and his controlling other players to have joined this legendary band. ... Read more

Asin: 6305908648
Sales Rank: 13218
Subjects:  1. Music Video - Pop/Rock   

Machine Head
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 October, 1990)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $10.99
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Editorial Review

Home of "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star," Machine Head blends proto-metal density with epic arrangements, resulting in a record that's far more grandiose than the sum of its parts.--Jon Wiederhorn ... Read more

Reviews (108)

one of the greatest hard rock albums
machine head is amongst my favourite hard rock albums.deep purple is my favourite band and this is their masterpiece.this classic album contains all their hits like highway star,space truckin and smoke on the water which is one of the greatest rock songs ever made.ignore the one star reviews and get this brilliant album.hugely recommended.

Guitar "Riff Rock" At It's Best!!!
This would have to be on my list of "must have" albums. It contains the famous "Smoke On The Water" which is played the world over by aspiring 14 year old rock guitarists. Then we have the classic "Space Trucking" with it's very inventive lyrics. This band invented "Guitar Riff Rock" and their music sounds as fresh today as it was back in 1972. Just listening to this album will make you want to go out and buy a Marshal Amplifier and Fender Stratocaster in the hope that you can rock like Ritchie Blackmore!!!

one of the greatest rock music albums ever
machine head is most certainly amongst the greatest hard rock albums along with paranoid from black sabbath.this fantastic album contained immortal classics like highway star,space truckin and the scintillating anthem smoke on the water with one of the greatestriffs from ritchie blackmore.this is an absolute must have along with deepest purple their best of collection.very very highly recommended.five stars. ... Read more

Asin: B000002KHB
Subjects:  1. Arena Rock    2. British Metal    3. England    4. Hard Rock    5. Heavy Metal    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Rock & Roll   

Polaroid i-zone Lazer Cut Purple Splat Magnet Photo Frame
Average Customer Review:
Electronics
list price: $4.99
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Editorial Review

This cool little magnetic frame is the perfect size for your tinyPolaroid i-zone prints. You can use color film for mini prints or cool stickerfilm. This is the perfect accessory to Polaroid's latest "go everywhere, must- have item" that will let you express yourself. Choose from a variety ofdifferent frames. You can collect, trade, and wear these neat little photoholders--or use them as calling cards, put them on your desk, or stick inlockers. But hey, this is more than fun; the Polaroid i-zone accessory set hasstyle and colors to mix and match with your i-zone camera. ... Read more

Features

• Fresh look for a fun, decorative keepsake in your room
• Showcase your pictures in this colorful frame
• Purple SPLAT! holds your favorite pics
• Perfect for i-zone size prints and stickers
• Magnetic backing for metal surfaces

Reviews (2)

cute and useful
perfect for sticking to your desk or refrigerator. very durable and a good size for a small picture. very easy to carry around. only NEGATIVE thing is that the frame doesnt have a little plastic cover for the photo area. otherwise, it's all good!

Great Frame
This is a really great frame because i own a i-zone and i always wonder where to put the little picture and this frame is just perfect... it looks really good in lockers, ... Read more

Asin: B000050NPD
Subjects:  1. i-zone (izone) (eye-zone) (eyezone)    2. frame (frames)    3. Picture Frames    4. izone   

This is pretty fashionable for a one-time use, point-and-shoot camera. With its see-through colorful purple case instead of the usual paper cover, it's hard to hand it over to the film developers. The Keystone LeClic comes with an electronic flash; high-quality, 400-speed, 27-exposure, preloaded film; and a battery. ... Read more

Features

• High-quality 400 ASA/27-exposure film preloaded
• Supercompact size
• High-quality alkaline battery, preloaded
• Translucent purple color
• Electronic flash

Asin: B00004U2JO
Subjects:  1. Camera (Cameras)    2. 35 mm (millimeter)    3. Photograph (Photography)    4. Disposable (camera)    5. Photography, Photograph   

Game Boy Color Console in Atomic Purple
Average Customer Review:
Game Cartridge
list price: $69.99
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Reviews (91)

Game Boy Color
I don't see all the hype in this portable gaming device. The games graphics are so terrible (So is Game Boy Advance). The only good Nintendo graphics is the brand new Nintendo DS which has Nintendo 64 graphics which isn't too shabby. But I really hate the Pocket and Color because it's a waste of money. Why would you get something in black and white with terrible graphics and then get one with only some colors (It's not that good) and plus the addition of bad graphics...now that's what I call a bad deal.

great and fun
this isnt bad i have it and it works great i think this is better then alot of older systems like game boy or super nt but still its a good system.

Ok..... but not as good as ngpc.
I got this system last year and it worked fine until a month ago. then the sound blew out. Also the graphics on many games suck. Still it's a hardysystem and I would recommend buying it if you like a classic look in color, but if you want something with good graphics, nice small comfortable size, and a motherload of great games, buy an NGCP(neogeo pocket color). ... Read more

Asin: B00000J97G
Sales Rank: 2048
Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. Hardware    3. Game Systems    4. Nintendo Game Boy (Gameboy)    5. Console   

Game Boy Belt Buddy Hip Clip - Atomic Purple
Average Customer Review:
Electronics
list price: $7.99
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Reviews (2)

What a handy accessory!
This accessory is great! It allows me to keep my gameboy handy and my handsfree for travel! Its so cheap too. I bought one for a friend of mine as a gift and he loved it. I am also surprised at what high quality it is as well.

Good, but scratchy
I think this is a great item to have, if you own a Game Boy Color. The only problem is sometimes it scratches the Game Boy, so you almost need to put padding inside it. Trust me that's not easy, but on the whole it works great. The reason it scratches is because the Game Boy isn't put in just right. As long as you put it in right it works fine. ... Read more

Asin: B000050GCN
Sales Rank: 11738
Subjects:  1. Video Games    2. Nintendo Game Boy (Gameboy)    3. Cases (Case)    4. Protectors (Protector)   

Unless you've been hiding for the past few decades, you're sure to recognize this classic from Mag Instrument. The solid dependability of Mag flashlights is hard to top, which explains why the brand is so popular with police officers, security guards, and other people who can't afford to be left in the dark. This three-D-cell model is great for home use and an essential part of any home emergency kit. It shines as bright as anyone could ask for, and a simple twist of the head changes the beam from a spot to a luminous floodlight. Having a Mag flashlight on hand can keep an inconvenience, like a November blackout, from becoming a small disaster. It is also a great light for illuminating the woods and keeping the bears at bay on summer camping trips. The weighty feel of a Mag flashlight also offers a sense of security in the dark that other flashlights just don't have, enough to give you the confidence to confront any basement bogeyman or mountain monster. --Brian Trinen ... Read more

Features

• Limited lifetime warranty
• High intensity adjustable light beam
• Sealed O-rings for water and shock resistance
• Precision-machined, high strength aluminum alloy case
• Spare lamp in the tail cap

Asin: B00004SZ5Y
Subjects:  1. Flashlights    2. (Flash Lights)