Description

Each kit contains video, audio and print components plus a special bonus mail-in coupon.

VIDEO COMPONENTS: (1) Professor Toto + Eric's Day Animation Parts 1 & 2 (Target Language, 2 DVD's); (2) Parts 1 & 2 (English, 1 DVD); and (3) Professor Toto's Word Power (Target Language + English, 1 DVD);

AUDIO COMPONENTS: (1) Sing and Learn with Professor Toto (Target Language, 1 CD), (2) the Eric's Day story (1 CD);

PRINT COMPONENTS: (1) Sing and Learn with Professor Toto Full-Color Picture Book (Target Language); (2) Color and Learn with Eric, 100-page Coloring Book, (3) Parent's Guide, (4) Complete Scripts (Target Language + English, 2 books).

SPECIAL BONUS: Mail-in coupon for a free Professor Toto tote bag and a free Professor Toto’s Favorite Traditional Songs (Target Language, 1 CD). ... Read more

Description

Travel around the world for a firsthand look at volcanoes - perhaps the most dazzling but destructive natural force on earth. Massive volcanic eruption can turn day into night, releasing the power of an atomic blast, spewing toxic avalanches of lava, gas, and ash. National Geographic Video transports you to some of the world's most notorious volcanoes, including Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines and Japan's Mount Unzen. Join volcanologists in their dangerous quest to forecast eruptions and save lives and experience the explosive excitement and human drama surrounding volcanoes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Real Toasted Coast!
This is one of NGs better productions - partially because the subject itself is so fascinating - partially because of the spectacular footage of the eruptions of Mt Unzen (Japan) and the famous blast at Mt Pinatubo some years ago. Overall, the program gives a good general description of the geological issues, the different types of eruptive activity, as well as larger historical and disaster mitigation subjects. The material is well organized and presented. The DVD version is much better than the original VHS release, and has some additional programming of particular interest.

For all the "sound and fury" of some of Hollywood's recent forays into Volcano disaster movies - this one has the best "special effects" - it's all real!

For further reading (notwithstanding the technical nature of the contents), you should definately aquire the recently published Encyclopedia of Volcanoes (Haraldur Sigurdsson, et al. - Academic Press). Here's what truly lies beneath!

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Description

Doc sits down with Steve Kaufman, a top-notch flatpicker in his own right, and shows how he plays some of his most beloved songs and instrumentals. He and Steve trade licks and play duets, and Doc slows his playing down so that you will be able to follow along as you learn to play these fabulous tunes.

Starting with the old gospel song "Open Up Them Pearly Gates," Doc shows how he uses hammer-ons and pull-offs to easily add notes to his accompaniment. He then launches into a crosspicking solo, moving effortlessly up the neck in simple movable positions that create a complex-sounding break. Moving to the classic ballad "Little Sadie," Doc explains how he devises his licks and positions in D minor. On "More Pretty Girls Than One," "New River Train" and "White House Blues" he slows down the flashy runs that punctuate each line of the song. This is one of Doc's signature guitar techniques that has baffled many students of Doc's guitar style. He then carefully breaks down of the solo to each song.

Doc and Steve launch into breathtaking versions of classic fiddle tunes "Salt Creek" and "Ragtime Annie," showing you the lead and back-up, as well as the "twin" harmony parts. (Try these out with a friend.) These show stoppers are also slowed down so you can really see what these two incredible guitarists are playing.

Changing gears, Doc teaches his version of the hauntingly lovely "Goodnight Waltz," as well as his improvisations to the country and jazz tunes, "When It's Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia" and "Sweet Georgia Brown." Finally, as an extra treat, Doc brings on his grandson Richard Watson for a demonstration of three bluesy songs they have been performing together: "Walk On, Boy," "Chicago Blues" and the evergreen "Summertime." ... Read more

Description

Lost in a sea of variables?Master the intricacies of Algebra with our complete, FOUR disk series at a discounted price:Pre-Algebra 1&2 and Algebra 1&2. ... Read more

Description

This is the ultimate course in Jorma Kaukonen’s unique and influential blues and country guitar fingerpicking style, filled with invaluable wisdom, advice and techniques for learning pickers at all levels. Jorma gears this material to players who have little knowledge of the fingerpicking basics while skillfully engaging more experienced guitarists as well.

You’ll learn five traditional and original songs, each one becoming a springboard for important musical information that will be applicable to any songs you want to play. Jorma teaches at a leisurely pace, taking care to point out all the possible variations that will enable you to make each song your own.

Reviewing the chord positions needed for each song, Jorma slows them down phrase-by-phrase so that almost anyone will be able to play the piece with a little practice. He discusses his alternate bass thumb work, and adds runs, bends, double-stops, bass walk-ups, blues licks, turnarounds, endings and ornamental notes to enhance your fingerpicking and blues arrangements.

In addition to the instructional material, these sessions feature a dynamic "live" performance of each song by Jorma and his touring partner Barry Mitterhoff. They include much-requested tunes "I’ll Let You Know Before I Leave," "Trouble in Mind," "Tom Cat Blues," "Genesis" and "Vampire Women." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good for moderately experienced pickers
For those wishing to improve on their picking style and learn the unique riffs of a master--this is for you.
Ignore the whiney quibblings of reviewer Bob Tolstoy below--I checked his review history and he put the same thing on any item that was related to Jorma Kaukonen. Sounds like someone has a personal vendetta.

Jorma is my teacher!
This is absolutely the coolest DVD AND the best guitar instruction approach that I have tried, and I have tried a number of them. Jorma [and one of his buddies] play the song, then Jorma goes through step by step and show you how to play the tune. Thanks to DVD technology, you can easily backtrack at tough parts or stop and return later after your fingers recover. Thanks to Jorma, a rich tradition in guitar blues survives today with a significant following. I would not recommend this for beginners, but any 40-somethings or 50-somethings will be glad to know how to play these songs. [The guy who wrote the review below is total sour grapes with a vendetta.]

Tired blues taught by an old tired white dude!
Don't waste your time! Go buy some real music by Charlie Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, and Gary Davis! ... Read more

Description

Do you have a little bit of background with the Spanish language, but want to build on that foundation? Then !Estes el programa para ti! (Translation: This is the program for you!) First, the award-winning Standard Deviants will review the basics of Spanish, like gender, agreement, conjugation all the stuff you should already know. Then they ll go over irregular verbs, new verb constructions, making comparisons, adverbs, prepositions, direct and indirect object pronouns, and even prepositional pronouns. In short, a whole bunch of stuff. This program is also chock full of fun scenes and conversations that will help you master the concepts covered.

The Standard Deviants Advanced Spanish: Building on the Basics covers review, gender, masculine, feminine, definite articles, indefinite articles, demonstrative adjectives, subject pronouns, possessive adjectives, verbs, infinitives, conjugation, present tense, adjectives, agreement, the impersonal hay, irregular verbs, conjugation patterns, stem-changing verbs, the present progressive tense, the immediate future tense, helping verbs, present participles, irregular present progressives, comparisons, mas + adjective + que, menos + adjective + que, tan + adjective + como, adverbs, -mente ending, prepositions, direct object pronouns, indirect object pronouns, prepositional pronouns, the personal a, pronoun placement, multiple pronouns.

With our DVDs, you can jump around with the touch of a button and skip over those sections you have already mastered. These highly interactive DVDs also permit you to interact directly with the tutorial through drill-style quizzes and multiple-choice tests. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Small segments of this dvd were extremely valuable.
Is is difficult to review this DVD because there are so few video language DVD's on the market. The valuable part of this dvd are a few troublesome area's of Spanish, such as 'direct and indirect pronouns'. I found that section to be most valuable. For example, as best I recall, they explain how to convert ' Juan escribe unas cartas a Marie y Jose', into 'Se los escribe'. These pronoun substitutions are a tricky yet prevalent part of the language.

As for the remainder of the DVD, there were alot of grammer lessons which I found a bit boring. I'm not sure what audience this dvd was written for, at times too easy. However, I did find a few sections to be useful, therefore, I would have to say that you should consider buying this dvd if you want alot of stuffy grammer lessons, or if you want to improve areas like indirect pronouns. Overall, I would recommend this dvd.

The Standard Deviants - Learn Advanced Spanish
I can't imagine why anyone would want to learn a language from a source that is not accurate! These people try hard but they mispronounce or stress the wrong syllable in many words. I would not recommend this product to anyone learning or reviewing spanish.

I was very satisfied
While it's true that I wouldn't label the DVD "Advanced Spanish" I also wouldn't label it "Spanish Review for Kids." In fact, it is more like an intermediate Spanish review. While I already knew everything they teach, they still use some tips I wish I had heard when I was taking formal college courses. The visual element is compelling - far more useful for imparting and retaining information than audio tapes and textbooks alone. I bought the whole series, and I almost felt like I had gotten to know the actors personally. I hated it when the last DVD came to an end. Sure they speak with American accents - they're mostly Americans! It's not like they're unintelligible. By the time you get to the end of this DVD, you're speaking some pretty darned sophisticated Spanish. The interactive element is great - there are opportunities for self-testing and the DVD format offers chances to review sections much easier than with VCR tapes. I would like to see another DVD that covers past subjunctive, conditional, and the other perfect tenses that were left out of the series. Also, I'd like to see a discussion of por versus para and other tricky grammatical constructions. There's definitely room for at least one more DVD in the series. How about it Standard Deviants? Make it and it will sell.

Juvenile, not advanced!
The title is misleading. This really is not advanced Spanish. They spend the first quarter of the program reviewing basics (noun genders, adjective agreements, etc.) so that's wasted. By the time we reach the end, we're just learning about direct and indirect object pronouns. These are the things you learn in an Intro II Spanish course at the local community college. (The proof is in the syllabus of a course I took!)

Another gripe is the presentation. They use a kind of silly, juvenile format with embarrassingly bad, scripted comedy. It's like something you'd see on Saturday morning cartoons.

Last, of the six or so youngsters who deliver the course (they all seem to be about 19 years old), only one or two of them has a good (i.e., native) Spanish accent. The others all speak with that flat, nasal American sound that sounds so bad in Spanish! And one of the presenters made a bad grammatical faux-pas when he said, "No problema" which is a Bart Simpson-ism. It should be, "No hay problema".

Apart from the bad accents I would have no qualms with this DVD if they'd just labeled it correctly, for instance, "Spanish Reveiew for Kids".

Unbelievably easy to use
I desperately needed help with Spanish because of my job. I'm not a rocket scientist when it comes to picking up a new language and all of those audio tapes are so damn boring. These DVD's really work - they're fun and really useful. Besides, the Standard Deviants silly troupe is also filled with hotties. What a way to learn! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This may not work in your DVD player...
I have a one year old Zenith 5 disc DVD player and it doesn't work for me.

Spanish-Sesame Street Style
I have taken college Spanish and tried to teach myself off and on, but have been unsuccessful. So since I was working graveyards and could view this on the DVD player on my laptop, I decided to give it a try.

Sock puppets, and insulting words that make for good jokes were the first vocabulary introduced. Loco, stupido, etc. Fast moving colors and lots of different people relaying information kept it entertaining.

By looking at the outline it didn't look like it covered much, but I would say that it covered in it's two hours what a student would be expected to learn in a week on a college campus.

I didn't know everything like I thought I might, so it will be useful to me. But the tests on the DVD don't seem to work half the time. It would show question one...then the answer and then the voice would say question two but wouldn't become visible until I hit the next button and then it would give me the answer as well. (could be a problem with my computer, but don't know)

I think it is a good purchase to stimulate former knowledge and a great introduction if you are looking to start the language.

I rated it four cause I would have liked to see more without having to buy another DVD...and I struggled with the tests working.

Thanks Standard Deviants, you are the only game in town for education on DVD's. I will be replaying this until I have it down. Good Job!

Very helpful
This video is a great extra for leaning those tricky verbs, not to mention "las muy bellas!"

Great tape for fun learning
I love the way the Standard Deviants teach. This video is a fun, step by step way of learning Spanish. I can't forget some of this stuff because of the style. ... Read more

Description

WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THAT ENERGY KIDS HAVE?

Finally, your kids have a positive outlet for all that energy.Kids that exercise feel better; have improved concentration and rest easier.

GIVE YOUR CHILD A HEALTHY, ACTIVE START!

Physical activity and proper nutrition has a tremendous impact on your child’s physical, emotional, and mental development.Research has proven that children who exercise are more inclined to build positive habits that lead to happier, healthier lives into adulthood.

IT’S LIKE HAVING YOUR KIDS’ OWN PERSONAL TRAINER!

Kristi Dear, a Certified Personal Trainer and mother of two, specifically designed each section to positively energize children to GET FIT through fun sing-a-long songs improving their major muscle groups and cardiovascular system.Along with her buddy, JoJo Fitz, Kristi presentsChildren with an alternative to sugary snacks that will make eating right fun!

Your child will learn how muscles work and the importance of strengthening them.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT GET FIT KIDS:

"GET FIT KIDS is a sensational video that combines fun, educational exercises, while encouraging healthy eating.I would definitely recommend this video to help young children develop a healthy lifestyle." Pediatrician, Dr. Robert Neal

"My children love to hop, jump and move to GET FIT KIDS. JoJo Fitz is their new best friend and they already can label their muscles groups.It’s amazing!"

Kathryn Hollis, mother of 3.

© 2004 Kristi Dear, Paul M. Lewis.

All Artwork in video and on cover © Paul M. Lewis and Licensors.

All Rights Reserved. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

I highly recommend this DVD!
My kids aren't couch potatoes, but they are introverts. After various failed attempts to get them involved in this or that sport, martial arts class, or age-appropriate gym activity, I'd finally decided that all my kids (ages 4 and 7) needed was the enjoyment of chasing one another at the park or jumping on the bed. Still, I fretted a little about their physical engagement in the world. Early readers both, they preferred the quiet company of each other and their books. I tried modeling good exercise habits. They smiled and nodded. "Nice Tai Chi moves, Mom!"

I wasn't expecting much from an exercise DVD, but Kristi Dear's Get Fit Kids was an immediate hit. The top-notch graphics captivated my four-year-old daughter right away, and although her older brother thought the show was a bit "babyish," he eventually joined in. Well, knock me over with a feather! This short video is led by an engaging certified personal trainer (and a computer-generated teddy bear) and is a thorough aerobic work-out, complete with warm-up, sing-along songs about the major muscle groups in the body, and tips on how to avoid sugary snacks. We never had a real issue with healthy eating in this household, but given the constant media onslaught of junk food commercials kids are exposed to, it's nice to have our family's eating style so gently reinforced in this video.

I highly recommend this DVD to any parent who wants to give young children a wholesome head-start on positive lifestyle habits. -Deb Salazar

What a Great Video!
As a mom of 3, I am always looking for ways in which my children can have fun and learn.With this video they are able to do that, plus get some physical exercise as well.My 5 1/2 year old loves to do the exercises and sing all the songs, my 3 1/2 year old acts the whole video out with Kristi, and my 15 month daugher has so much fun dancing around and trying to do the exercises.We all have so much fun following the video together!

Fun and educational!
My 5yo son and 3 1/2yo daughter loved exercising to Get Fit Kids. I watched the video with them as they moved around and sang along. And my 11 month old loved dancing around to the songs!

The songs are catchy and fun to sing along with (which we all did!). My children were able to follow along with all of the exercises. I like how Kristi interacts with and educates her viewers in a child-friendly way. As another reviewer posted, I too loved the nutritional information.

I'm so glad I bought this DVD for my children!

This is the best exercise video for children!!
As a father of four, and a teacher, I have seen so many children's exercise videos, but none of them live up to this one. Get Fit Kids is so creative and unique, and that's what makes it #1 in my book. Instead of just dancing around, Kristi, the kids, and the animated bear named JoJo Fitz, do real exercise moves that improves motor skills, balance, flexibility, coordination, self-esteem, and the list goes on. Kristi actually interacts with the children asking question's like do you know were your muscles are? She has the children feel for their muscles, teaching them why it's important to strengthen them, and move around.


I love the nutrition section of this video!!! Every time I show my classroom this section each one of them ask to eat healthy, such as asking for an apple, carrot, or grapes. Get Fit Kids is a must have!!!! Every child needs to learn how to live a healthy lifestyle from Kristi Dear. She makes it so much fun.

Loved it!

I just had to write in and say how much I love this video.As a teacher it is tough to find a video that will keep the attention of young children. Kristi Dear did such an excellent job putting this video together, and interacting with the children.Her great personality, and cheerful demeanor really inspire my classroom children to exercise and eat healthy!

Hopefully there will be another one like this soon.

... Read more

Description

Janelle and Justin are back!!!-- with friends and familiar faces from the first two 'Learn to Hip Hop' videos AND plenty of newcomers that bring their own unique style and flavor to hip hop!Join them ALL for their personally choreographed and step-by-step instructed routines done just for you!Whether you are a beginner or a more seasoned dancer, or you just want to learn fun new dance sequences and freestyle, this video is for you AND the whole family!

You can learn new and exciting hip hop dance and freestyle moves that will impress all of your friends!Jam-packed with SEVEN individually instructed routines by your own peers, this video includes a special double-segment on 'popping' and 'locking' PLUS two bonus individual freestyle dance circle sections that will have everyone moving for hours!Approx. 60 minutes. ... Read more

Description

This presidential trivia game runs on just about anything - including Windows PCs and Macs with DVD drives, DVD players, XBox and PlayStation II game consoles.The game has both text and voice interactive playing modes.The text mode allows players to read presidential biographies.The voice mode has players listening to clues about each president, as the "mystery" president's picture slowly fills in, one puzzle piece at a time.Using the DVD remote, or arrow keys on your computer, players pick the correct president from four possible answers before the picture completes itself.The game keeps your score automatically, and the game is also randomized keeping each session fresh.This is a great game for students who are learning about the American Presidents in school, and for adults looking to test there presidential knowledge. Have fun learning historical facts, as well as some wacky trivia.Do you know which president wore size fourteen shoes? ... Read more

Description

Research shows that children who learn foreign languages at an early age receive life-long benefits:

- Near-native fluency
- Better overall performance in school
- Greater career possibilities

Introduce your child to one of the most useful languages of the future – Mandarin Chinese. Learn Chinese with Billy and Benboo Vol. 1 teaches Mandarin Chinese to children in a fun and accessible manner. Filled with colorful images and modern sing-along songs, this video is sure to engage your child from start to finish. Billy and his cute Shih Tzu dog, Benboo will teach children (and parents) useful phrases and vocabulary words appropriate for everyday situations: meeting and greeting, bathing, eating, and much more. To help develop correct pronunciation, this video also explains pinyin tones in a truly unique and enjoyable way.

* Perfect for beginner students with no previous exposure to Mandarin Chinese.

* Narrated in English with dialogue spoken by native speakers from Mainland China. * Co-developed by a Stanford University Cognitive Scientist and an instructor of Chinese at UC Berkeley.

* Includes six complete lessons with phrase/vocabulary review and songs to reinforce the lessons.

* Accompanied with a support booklet in English, Chinese, and pinyin so parents can follow along and get involved in the teaching process ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Educational & Entertaining
My family and I loved the video. It is highly educational and entertaining. By the time you finish watching it you will want a Shih Tzu dog, if you don't already have one! The visuals really helped us remember the tones and words in pin yin too.

Learning a new language can be easy and fun!
I watched both the level 1 and level 2 videos with my American-born elementry school nephew and pre-school niece.

The video was appealing to them because it's like a cartoon video. The scenes in the video are very visual and focused, it's directly related to the dialog, so it's very easy for children to understand what the video is teaching.

The music and songs in the video are also great! I love the tunes, they are very catchy. The children learned it really fast, and soon they are singing along.
I also like the fact that the song lyrics are made up of phrases from the teaching material, and repeat itself over and over. This helps the children to learn through repeatition.

My nephew and niece are both attending private after school program to learn Chinese. I saw far more progress after watching the videos for few weeks, than they going to 1-1/2 years of language school. Plus if I watch the video with the kids, I know exactly what was taught in the video, it's much easier for me to start practcing with them. As oppose to going to the language school, which I have no idea what they are teaching, therefore it's hard for me to start a conversation in Chinese with them.
Also the materials from the video are related to things we would normally encounter in real life, so there are many occasions to take the opportunity to practice the vocabularies.

Lastly, the story of all the videos are centered around Billy and BenBoo, the two main characters, and their family, so you'll be familiar with the characters after the first video, and easy to move on to the next. I especially love the adorable dog Ben Boo, he's so playful and brings so much energy!

Thanks Language Tree for making learning so much fun!!! I can't wait to see the next video!

Fun and Learn
With my eight year old son and infant daughter, I reviewed "Mandarin Chinese Beginning Level 1" presented by Language Tree. What amazes me the most is they make the language learning process entertaining, rather than the traditional way of "pain".

Several songs throughout the video make the whole process fun! Literally, you can dance with the songs while you and your children are learning - that's what I did with my kids. The short sentences are easy to follow, and for every scene you get a quick review on what you just learned. The multiple story sessions are situations you bump into daily. It is amazing that all of the above is packed in just 30 minutes! I am waiting for Language Tree's next video to be produced.

Martin Liu... ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Educational DVD for Everyone!
This DVD is so cool! I was having a hard time understanding Macbeth so I went online to see if I could get some help. Someone on a chat line told me about this DVD and I am so glad. I learned so much and it even had great extras for teaching (which I shared with my teacher). My older sister said she wished she had something like this to help her understand Macbeth. Hope they make more of these!

Great for students
I bought this DVD to help me learn Macbeth and it was really good. I liked that it was modern. I also liked all the DVD-ROM extras.

Good for teaching and learning
As a teacher, I thought this DVD was great. The educational extras in the DVD-ROM section are extremely useful.

Quite Good
Although the production of this video is a little weak, I have to say that some of the acting is great and the educational extras we're pretty helpful in teaching this play to my class.

Great DVD, Wonderful Acting
This DVD was so useful and I thought the acting was just great. It was easy to understand the text of the play, and we all know Shakespeare isn't always easy to learn. Thanks for creating this wonderful tool; I hope you make more. ... Read more

Description

In the last 3-4 years, the popularity of signing with children as young as 6 months old has skyrocketed. Say it With A Sign video series meets this demand by providing a highly effective, entertaining, and interesting tool for teaching kids basic communication through sign language.

Say it With A Sign Volume 1 teaches 44 signs by using a very simple but effective combination of ASL signs (with a few small modifications for tiny hands), spoken word, written text, still images, animation, live video, sound effects and colorful graphics. The video is underscored with a completely original musical soundtrack specifically composed and performed for the video series. All of these elements are edited together in a repetitive but visually interesting format that will captivate and hold a baby’s attention while they learn to sign along. It is a great tool for any parent wanting to give their child an early advantage in speech, language, and communication. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Engaging DVD
My son is 10 months old and this video holds his attention and interest. The three signers do a wonderful job of demonstrating each sign while using expressive voices and faces. While practicing each sign, there are meaningful and interesting pictures, as well as children signing or demonstrating the word.

The signs are divided into categories like Food, Family, Animals, Hobbies, and Body Parts. This video offers the following words: Eat, Drink, Milk, More, Water, Apple, Banana, Cookie, Please, All Done, Thank You, Cat, Dog, Bird, Fish, Cow, Pig, Sheep, Monkey, Mother, Father, Blanket, Bottle, Book, Diaper, Play, Ball, Throw, My Turn, Sing, Dance, Eye, Ear, Nose, Hands, Feet, Bath, Sleep, Night-Night, Yes, No, Love, Kiss, and Bye-Bye.

We've only been using the video for a few weeks, so he is not signing yet. But he is definitely paying attention.
... Read more

Book Description

Here, at last, is the definitive lesson by one of the greatest guitar flatpickers of all time! In a wide-ranging and detailed session, Tony Rice demonstrates his world-famous technique, gives invaluable advice, analyzes some of his best-known pieces and discusses his style, influences, guitars and favorite players. This exceptionally rich two-part set is filled with fascinating conversation and the amazing playing we've all come to expect from this master picker. Songs: The Last Thing on My Mind * Bury Me Beneath the Willow * Wildwood Flower * Nine Pound Hammer * Stony Lonesome * Billy in the Lowground * Shenandoah * Danny Boy * Little Sadie * Jerusalem Ridge * Salt Creek * I Am a Pilgrim. 2-DVD OR 2-VIDEO SET * 140-MIN. * LEVEL 3 * INCLUDES MUSIC + TAB ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Intimidating, but good
This is an excellent DVD, but there are a few minor negatives. Compared to his earlier VHS "lesson," (An Intimate Lesson w/TR) this one was more difficult for me to follow because Tony isn't talking to you, the viewer. He's talking to Happy Traum. This makes it a little more difficult to match with the tablature because Tony will do a variation after Happy asks a question. The older VHS is straight forward - we're going to learn this one now. This new DVD really is like sitting in on two musicians playing around but not noticing you're there. The pieces are more difficult than the older video as well - I find myself very intimidated by how fast and clean he plays these more complex tunes - but that may be because I haven't learned them yet!!! Other than those nitpicks, it's always great to get a closeup view of just what in the world Tony's doing, hear stories, listen to that amazing old Martin and his very impressive newer Santa Cruz. And the ability to slow forward and easily rewind the DVD is magnificent. The selection of tunes is very good, the audio quality is excellent and the camera work is very good. Now if I could just get Tony to come to my house and teach me this stuff . . .

Great Stuff
This dvd is a great buy. It is priceless,really. You feel you are in Tony's living room, hanging out. The tab is good too. He talks about his technique, equipment, and feelings behind what he plays. He breaks down several songs, including Little Sadie and Jeruslem Ridge. Well worth the price of a couple of lessons. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

A total ripoff!Where the hell is the box set?!
While this particular dvd is great...for those who didn't see the entire series at the theater....this is a great start!Only problem is....IT'S NOT THE ENTIRE SERIES!!!!This dvd sucks because it only shows 30 mins, yes 30 pathetic minutes, of the part that I thought was lame to begin with in the whole series of the Cremaster Cycle!Why not the entire series Mr. Matthew Barney?!When is that ever going to be available to the public?Ever think that maybe it would make you a lot of money in the end for your artistic masterpiece?Why only this part?Where is the rest ?I feel cheated and wish to slap Mr. Barney in the face for being the way he is about not releasing the entire Cremaster Cycle series on dvd....LAME!!!!

Great Work with Illuminating Commentary
As someone who has seen the entire Cremaster Cycle in order at the cinema, this DVD is highly recomended as a taste of the entire cycle.

The commentary by Barney is rich and detailed, he does not hide behind any philosophical rhetoric and is extremely generous with infomation on the concepts as well as the more practical matters.

But if anyone is just waiting to buy the entire DVD set, forget it. Barney sold (extremely) limited editions of the films in glass cases and mounted on materials pertaining to the films, apparently for around one million dollars each, so there is no way that you will be able to buy a complete film on dvd without going to Barney's art dealer with a big wad of cash, what a pity.

Homebrewer
The Cremaster Cycle is a series of five films shot over eight years. Although they can be seen individually, the best experience is seeing them all together (like Wagner's Ring Cycle) - and also researching as much as you can beforehand. To give you an idea of the magnitude, it has been suggested that their fulfilment confirms creator Matthew Barney as the most important American artist of his generation (New York Times Magazine).

The Cremaster films are works of art in the sense that the critical faculties you use whilst watching them are ones you might more normally use in, say, the Tate Modern, than in an art house cinema. They are entirely made up of symbols, have only the slimmest of linear plots, and experiencing them leaves you with a sense of awe, of more questions and inspirations than closed-book answers. The imagery is at once grotesque, beautiful, challenging, puzzling and stupendous. Any review can only hope to touch on the significance of such an event, but a few clues might be of interest, so for what it's worth ...

Starting with the title. The 'Cremaster' is a muscle that acts to retract the testes. This keeps the testes warm and protected from injury. (If you keep this in mind as you view the piece it will be easier to find other clues and make sense of the myriad allusions to anatomical development, sexual differentiation, and the period of embryonic sexual development - including the period when the outcome is still unknown. The films, which can be viewed in any order (though chronologically is probably better than numerically) range from Cremaster 1 (most 'ascended' or undifferentiated state) to Cremaster 5 (most 'descended'). The official Cremaster website contains helpful synopses.

Cremaster 3 is the longest (3hrs) and most complex of the Cycle. It charts the construction of the Chrysler Building and looks at the forces of spiritual transcendence (which can in itself be taken as a metaphor). It quotes Lombardi: "Character is an integration of habits of conduct superimposed on temperament ... Character is will, exercised on disposition, thought, emotion and action." We have a mythological prologue, then an Apprentice who scales the Chrysler Building by means of one of the lift shafts and takes part in a Masonic ritual. Before winning his Masonic instruments he must become the master of lust and his own ego. This penultimate stage is set in a section called 'The Order' comprising Five Degrees of Initiation.

The Guggenheim Museum (which houses a parallel exhibition) describes the Cremaster Cycle as "a self-enclosed aesthetic system consisting of five feature-length films that explore processes of creation." As film, the Cremaster Cycle is one to experience in the cinema if you have the opportunity to do so, or to experience and re-experience at leisure on DVD (the boxed set is promised for late 2004 and will be a gem for lovers of art-cinema fusion).

Barney plays the Entered Apprentice and his opponents include the Order of the Rainbow for Girls (who look a lot like the Rockettes), Agnostic Front and Murphy's Law (two New York Hardcore bands), Aimee Mullins, and Richard Serra. Molten Vaseline, dental surgery, a demolition derby by vintage Chrysler Imperial New Yorker cars and a gorgeous creature who is half-cheetah/half woman all figure in this latest edition of Matthew Barney's fever dream. Much of the action takes place in two New York landmarks, the Chrysler Building and the Guggenheim Museum, as well as at the Saratoga Racetrack (upstate NY), the Giant's Causeway (Ireland) and Fingal's cave (the Scottish Isle of Staffa).

Not suitable for people with functional cremasters
Go to www.cremaster.net and download the trailer for the full cremaster cycle. . . . then realize how awesome it looks and how much this dvd sucks. I was wondering where the movie was on this DVD, but then realized you only get a 30 minute clip and can watch lots of alternat shots of the same stuff.The minute long trailer on the website is SOOOOO much better.

Highlight: Camera Movement is kool when it moves all slow and stuff.

Barney is a Genius!
This is the craziest s--t I have ever seen!The world would not be complete with out it.A five dimensional masterpiece. ... Read more

Product Description

Watch this DVD and learn to play the turntable like your favorite DJs and create your own style! Equally ideal for the beginner or experienced DJ, this disc will help you: master the essentials and develop your own style behind the decks; see the step-by-step practice exercises; learn basic equipment set-up; develop beat matching and creative mixing skills; perfect scratching techniques like cutting, stabs, crabs and flares; and much more! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Teacher
The guy on this DVD is a professor at the Berkeley school of music.It shows.He is excellent at explaining things.He breaks them down in to small steps and makes them very easy to understand. You can tell he has been teaching for a long time.

In the section on creative mixing, he shows many ways to combine two records. He even takes the snare from one record, or just a horn section, and flies them in over the other record. This got me thinking in totally new ways about my mixes.

There is a lot about setting up that you can get from the owners manuals, but the scratching stuff is also very clear and well done.

I wish the professor would put out a DVD with QBert---his clarity of teaching combined with QBert's chops would be awesome! ... Read more

Amazon.com

In its usual engrossing fashion, National Geographic presents The Incredible Human Body. Starting with the science of conception, this special takes you from one couple's journey through in-vitro fertilization to the removal of a man's brain tumor (while he is awake!) to the amazing memory of London cab drivers. Our body consists of 206 bones, 650 muscles, and a heart that will beat three billion times in our lifetime. How and why does our body develop the way it does? DNA expert J. Craig Venter says, "It's just like solving a jigsaw puzzle, only the jigsaw puzzle in our case has 27 million pieces [and] it came in a very big box and there was no picture on the cover." The Incredible Human Body explores how the brain and body interact to not only function, but adapt and learn. Narrated by actress Kate Burton, The Incredible Human Body is a fascinating lesson in mind-body interaction. --Dana Van Nest ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The Best Geographic Video I've Seen
I gotta say that this is the best National Geographic video I've seen and I have a whole bunch on my video shelf. The animation is fantastic. I'll remember the story of the school teacher and his brain tumor as long as I live. I also liked seeing behind this scenes of thast basketball team as it was something I hadn't seen before. I highly reccommend this video.

Amazon.com.uk have a much better option...
The Human Body is a good theme, but this one is "no-so-good" approach (very rare, because NGS make very good videos). The better documentary I ever seen about it, is the Dr. Winston's The Human Body, from BBC. Only available from Amazon.com.uk (please American Amazon's friends, what do you are waiting). I recommend to wait.....believe in me !.

Below the average
I thought this DVD slightly below an average National Geographic video once there is more personal dramas than scienfic information. However I was moved by the story of a teacher with a brain tumor and his family anxiety.

An Incredible DVD on the Incedible Human Body
I found this DVD fascinating. It is a great blend of live footage, real life stories and beautiful animation. There is a fun sequence on the brain's of London cab drivers which is followed by a very moving portrait of a school teacher in need of brain surgery. You also get to see the actual conception of a baby and then follow the pregnancy at every step. I was with it every step of the way. By the way, I also really liked the narrator, Kate Burton. ... Read more

Description

This lesson brings a beginning bass player firmly into intermediate territory with the teaching of minor scales, leading tones, a variety of time signatures and more complex chord changes. Todd Phillips provides invaluable exercises to help you strengthen and stretch your fingers and develop strong rhythmic technique. Important advice is then given about how to function as a bassist in a group, listening, supporting and responding to other players.

You’ll get detailed instruction in the proper way to hold your instrument to develop strength and stamina, and you’ll learn the mechanics of playing as well as the music theory necessary to "connect ear to hands to bass."As in Video One, our unique on-screen diagrams and close up camera work will help you make sense of the scale patterns, and will enable you to accurately locate the notes on the fingerboard. Todd’s careful, step-by-step approach will demystify the upright bass and will show you how to play with professional-level tone, timing and technique. ... Read more

Description

Is your astronomy grade plummeting to earth? Well, rocket it back up with a little help from the Standard Deviants. Review the contributions of astronomers such as Ptolemy, Galileo, Newton, and Kepler. Now, when you gaze upon the skies, you'll be able to explain what's up there and how it works. Includes such topics as: the history of astronomy, light and the spectrum, Kepler's Laws, telescopes, Galileo, the Earth, Newton, the moon, universal law of gravitation, the planets, layers of the sun, asteroids, fusion, comets, hydrostatic equilibrium, meteoroids, and sunspots. ... Read more