http://www.viewpoints.com/aboutme/TaraLee Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:22:32 GMT Reviews by TaraLee http://www.viewpoints.com/Hard-Candy-Fullscreen-Edition-DVD-review-c4af4 Ellen Page is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. I hope she continues to do roles where the writing is smart and interesting. I also very much like Patrick Wilson, after seeing him in "Little Children" I decided to see what else he had done. — Well, I was quite shocked and amazed at the story line of this movie. As I was watching it the movie i kept thinking about the "First Wives Club." Female revenge on behalf of their friends against specific men who have done horrible things. — Although I think Wilson is quite good looking, his acting was such that he did not appeal to me at all in this movie. The script was excellent, and the continual twists, she is on top, he is on top twists kept me engaged from the first online chat until the very satisfying conclusion. — For me this was a very effective female revenge fantasy movie. If you have not seen it you should. —... Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:22:32 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Hard-Candy-Fullscreen-Edition-DVD-review-c4af4 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/My-Top-Movies-Favorite-15-review-25a72 I am tempted to write about my favorite movies from each era but that could get boring. My first and most simple characteristic that a movie has to have to make my list is must grab my attention and provide an escape from the daily grind. If I am looking at my watch, or nodding off then it simply is not a good movie (in my world). — In no particular order my picks are: — Beauty and the Beast- the updated version that made it onto Broadway. I think this is a great movie with a great independent, smart, girl role model. The beast is adorable (as the beast-- not so much as the Prince) and the songs and B story round out ones viewing pleasure. — The Wiz - the Michael Jackson, Diana Ross version. The urban version of the Wizard of Oz combines a favorite story and adds fantastic songs, great dancing makes this one and a lot of fun to watch. — Grease - I wanted a hickey from Kenickie in the worst way (I was 10). John Travolta in tight black jeans, when he... Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:10:37 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/My-Top-Movies-Favorite-15-review-25a72 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Family-Guy-review-8b780 I can not believe how long "Family Guy" has been on and I am shocked that I did not really take note of how funny it is before this year! — I often say that I have the sense of humor of a teen aged male, I love "South Park" and the "Simpsons" I also like Will Farrell movies, Ben Stiller, and any other low brow "potty" humor that you can think of. — "Family Guy" fits right in with my other comedic choices, but the writing is clever, and the pop culture jokes (many if not all of the joke in the show) are from my era and are quite funny. The characters are charming and the do not hide the fact that the family is similar to other long time cartoon families, like the "Jetsons" and the "Fintstones" (yes I know about how those cartoon families derive from other comedy pairs but that is for another review). — The beautiful red haired wife, the dumb fat father, and the kids who are not to bright (except for the infant) and the talking dog are all characters we have... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:52:44 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Family-Guy-review-8b780 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Dark-Knight--156296-review-22473 No need to gush over this movie, every one else has done so. I just had to write and say that The Dark Night was a wonderful dark and creepy thrill ride. The IMAX theater that I saw it in was so crowded that I sat on the stairs! and I still enjoyed my self. — — I do have to point out that it was a bit annoying how they kept switching between Chicago and NYC for Gotham, if they wanted Gotham to be Chicago, fine (though a bit odd) but stay with Chicago, don't switch. — — Other than the city based critique it is well worth your time and money to go see this film. — — On a separate note, I have to say that it was bitter sweet watching Heath Ledger be the joker. He was fantastic, with a fantastic script and great acting, although I couldn't help feel robbed that he is gone, and that the film world is far poorer for that fact. — — I left the movie trying to describe what I thought, and the only sure thing was I need to see it... Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:43:45 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/The-Dark-Knight--156296-review-22473 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Tile-Mart-Portage-MI-review-6c1a3 I bought a 55 year old house 2 years ago in Western Michigan. I love my house "Taradise." I love it here even more due to the products and services (mostly the services) we received at Tile Mart. — — Tile Mart is a local store with a few locations in Michigan and surrounding states. The one I go to is in Portage and Mike and Marge are two of the greatest people to deal with. They are both very knowledgeable and friendly. — — Mike is a true artist with tile, and he created a medallion to go on the floor of my shower that is just perfect. Their prices can not be beat, and they are very helpful and generous with their time when you are shopping for flooring. — — If you are in the area, and need flooring, dont even waste you time going to a big box store, Tile Mart has the best selection, a ton of displays and the best prices. I only wish I had more floors to do. — —... Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:09:36 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Tile-Mart-Portage-MI-review-6c1a3 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Sex-and-The-City-The-Movie-review-4b4f0 I spent my thirties living in NYC. It was a great time to be young(ish) single, well paid and living in New York City. I used to totally relate to the Sex In the City Girls ("the girls"). I am an attorney, though not like miranda, I love fashion, though I dress more reasonably than Carrie, I love dogs, though I resist dressing mine unlike Charlotte, and Samantha and I well.... lets just move on. — I thought the ending of the series was great, Carrie got Big and everyone was well situated. — I almost did not want to go to the movie because, as far as I was concerned, all they could do was ruin a good memory for me. — Thankfully, the movie did not totally ruin my memory of a great series, though I could have lived satisfied not seeing the familiar faces of the girls once again. As expected they did not age well. Carrie's fashions were as usual over the top, Big had not changed, Miranda was being bull headed-- though she dressed well, Charlotte was well...... Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:47:18 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Sex-and-The-City-The-Movie-review-4b4f0 TaraLee 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Karen-Marie-Moning-Darkfever-review-471e3 Dark Fever is the first of a very hot series by Karen Marie Moning. I have read her books in the past, but non of them have gripped me like this series. — — MacKalya, the "star" of the series is a very young 22 year old former souther belle who suddenly finds herself in Dublin searching for her older sisters murderer. If that is not bad enough she very quickly finds out that her sisters death was not your run of the mill murder, rather it has supernatural implications. — — This book takes its readers into the mystical, ancient world of the Fae. I have read Fae novels before, but what makes this most interesting is that the reader learns about this mysterious world at the same time as MacKayla. It adds to the intrigue, the mystery and the danger. — — This book (and presumably the series) is dark and fast paced. It is hard to classify this as a romance novel, and each of the 2 books that are currently published, leaves you wanting more.... Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:35:38 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Karen-Marie-Moning-Darkfever-review-471e3 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Blood-Fever-review-07523 Against my best intentions I read Bloodfever in one day. I say its against my best intentions because I did not plan to read this book yesterday, I wanted to wait until the 3rd book was about to be published (in September 2008) so I wouldn't have to wait so long between reading the books because they are that addictive. — MacKayla the star of this series is less annoying in the second book than she was in the first (see my review of Darkfever). She is less confused, more willing to start standing up for her self and is growing into her new world, and new identity. — I dont want to write a spoiler review so I will not go into much detail. However this book has characters, and creates images, and chills and thrills at a very fast pace. The Fae world in modern day Dublin is full of dark dangerous and often very sexy characters. I wouldn't necessarily characterize this book as a romance book, but there are some erotic scenes, blended in with the blood and the gore. It is... Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:26:26 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Blood-Fever-review-07523 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/Starbucked-A-Double-Tall-Tale-of-Caffeine-Commerce-and-Culture-review-a56a1 I flirt between being totally addicted to Starbucks coffee and avoiding the place and its goods like the plague. — I am currently avoiding going there for the shaken iced tea lemon aid because I am sure it has a ton of sugar. — At any rate, this book is about the company that the world loves to hate. Love their products, hate their products, the store is everywhere you turn, and this book helps you understand how the company grew to be such a retail force. — There are interesting characters at the heart of this coffee empire, infighting, control freaks, and people who just want to make and sell good coffee. "Starbucked" is a well researched book that tries to show all sides of the company, the good, the bad and the ugly. — Honestly, I agree with the nickname "Charbucks" I think their coffee is totally over roasted, and I can really only drink it with a ton of cream in it, I like some of their tea drinks, and some of the stores are clean enough to not... Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:10:17 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Starbucked-A-Double-Tall-Tale-of-Caffeine-Commerce-and-Culture-review-a56a1 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Toms-of-Maine-Natural-Unscented-Deodorant-review-0bf6 I am a deodorant wearer. I try to stay away from antiperspirant due to the aluminum and the fact that they are designed to stop a natural body function. — Tom's of Main was one of the first natural deodorant products that I tried. The first 2 days were fine. I had a slight odor, but nothing offensive, and it seemed to work fine. The third day I went to apply and noticed that my underarms were red and hot. I did not use it that day, and instead kept my arms down at my side. The rash stayed for a few days and was extremely itchy. — I did give the product one more try but the rash appeared within one use. I moved on to other deodorants, finally finding 3 that I like, one from LUSH, liquid crystal and Simone Chicken Bone rock star -- all of my reviews are on this site. —... Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:12:38 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Toms-of-Maine-Natural-Unscented-Deodorant-review-0bf6 TaraLee 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Ten-Trips-to-make-Air-Travel-more-pleasant-review-f9967 I love to travel. — However, as a frequent air traveler there are some things that if more people did these things travel would be so much better for all. — Here is my list: — 1. You are not the only person traveling. — This tip is seemingly obvious, but when you are in front of someone who is clearly impatient with the time you are taking to do what ever it is you are doing (re-ticketing, undressing for security, walking...) it is a real pain, not to mention rude to have to deal with this impatient travelers temper tantrum. If you are the impatient traveler, realize that everyone is going somewhere that is important to them, and cool your jets. — 2. When faced with a delay that is not due to human error (or even if it is) remember your manners. — Other than the travel perks that come with working for an airline, it does not appear to be a fun job, having to deal on the people end of the traveling public, so if you plane is delayed due... Sat, 21 Jun 2008 00:29:39 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Ten-Trips-to-make-Air-Travel-more-pleasant-review-f9967 TaraLee 5 http://www.viewpoints.com/ebags-com-review-cd1b4 E-bags has a great selection of bags from purses, to urban gear, to suitcases and all things in between. — I find their ratings to be very helpful and their descriptions to be quite useful. — When I lived in NYC the shipping was really fast which is helpful to me because although I have whole heartedly adapted to online shopping, I hate to wait for my purchases. — I like the fact that you can shop by many different categories. I have shopped by color, by bag type, by designer as well as function. Color is my favorite way to shop. — Using this site I have been introduced to designers and bags that I did not know existed. They have frequent sales which are quite good. So if you are looking to browse and want to be an informed bag shopper e-bags is worth a visit. —... Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:54:45 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/ebags-com-review-cd1b4 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Iron-Man-review-a3272 To be honest, I did not want to see this movie. — I do like action flicks, comic book movies can be great (the Reeves Superman series was awesome) but Iron Man? I did not even know the back story. — Before going to the movie I only knew that RDjr was in it. I had no idea that Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridge and Terrence Howard. Clearly I was not paying attention to the trailers. — I liked the ironic nods to the historical Iron Man (my sweetie is a font of all types of super hero knowledge), but I also like the fact that it was shot in the present day with contemporary bag guys. — There was enough comedy without going overboard, and the hard rock soundtrack was appropriate. — There are tons of other reviews that go through the movie in far more detail so I wont, but I do think it is very much worth going to see on the big screen simply for the splendor of it all. — Oh yes, I nearly forgot, the CGI in this movie is done very well, it did... Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:50:01 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Iron-Man-review-a3272 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Kingdom-of-the-Crystal-Skull-review-67f63 I love Harrison Ford, and am a huge Indiana Jones fan. But this movie left me cold, and angry. — I am all for escapism, and I love a good yarn. For me the ending ruined the whole movie, it was simply horrible. — I was willing to go along for the ride, even accepting the bad GCI problems. I was also willing to endure the tortured plot line. But I almost had to walk out at the ending. — Once I got over my anger at the ending (I will not spoil it but it was horrible). I tried to decipher what made me so mad. I think it was just a cheep cheezy story line, that really had no where to go but down. — The first and third movies while far fetched, were at least based on ideas that were based on familiar myths (or religious truths based upon your point of view). This one was also based on a long standing myth, but the "reality" that was discovered was so poorly executed that it was nearly laughable. — In addition I really did not like the new character... Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:40:37 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Kingdom-of-the-Crystal-Skull-review-67f63 TaraLee 1 http://www.viewpoints.com/Pablos-Mexican-Grill-and-Cantina-Fernandina-Beach-FL-review-05783 Downtown Fernandina FL is a quaint historic district filled with shopping, art galleries and restaurants. Fernandina is on Amelia Island and we ventured forth from our resort for a break from the bland American menus that were offered in every restaurant on the resort. — While wandering around the 8 block historic district we took a side street and found Pablo's. It was a great find. The food, fantastic, the service, wonderful. If you are in the area go. — The salsa was very spicy though not hot, and it clung to the chips. The vegetable fajitas were outstanding, and my YMCA chicken (yes that is what it was called) was made with fresh spinach and mushrooms. The menu was standard fare, but it had a few surprises that proved delicious. — The staff was very friendly and welcoming. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone in the area. —... Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:11:27 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Pablos-Mexican-Grill-and-Cantina-Fernandina-Beach-FL-review-05783 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Lanna-Thai-Amelia-Island-FL-review-ed165 While on vacation on Amelia Island, FL my partner and I quickly tired of the food at our resort. He is a vegetarian and the selections at the plantation left a lot to be desired. On our way in from the airport we noticed Lanna Thai in a strip mall on 95, and decided to give it a try. — When we pulled up we were a bit worried that we were the only patrons, and that the staff was sitting outside smoking. We shouldn't have worried. — The restaurant was a bit "over decorated" but not in an offensive manner (think gold lamae table clothes). The bathroom was large, very clean, and had a lovely plant in the corner. — I love Thai food, we try it pretty much where ever we can find it. Lanna Thai was a great find, a real gem. Pad Thai is generally how I rate a Thai restaurant. Theirs was spicy, full of flavor and had lovely fresh veggies in with the spicy peanut sauce. My partner had a spicy tofu dish, one he enjoys at our home Thai restaurant, and other than an over... Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:48:06 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Lanna-Thai-Amelia-Island-FL-review-ed165 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Amelia-Island-Plantation-Amelia-Island-FL--104355-review-187c3 Ahhh Vacation. — I love to travel, I love the beach and I love not being at work. Amelia Island Plantation had all of the makings of a fantastic vacation. Lush very natural almost rustic setting, beautiful wide Atlantic Ocean Beach (clean water, relatively clean beach), great weather (early June), warm, not humid, lovely ocean breeze. It is also very easy to get to from the Jacksonville airport, only a 35 min drive away. — So why only 3 stars? — First the good: As mentioned above the setting was very green and lush. Spanish Moss dripping from the trees, lots of old growth trees, flowers and green grass. Very southern, very fragrant (pine trees scent the sea air-- delicious). In addition there is a buffer zone between the hotel and the dunes at the hotel, so there is a mini wild life and flora sanctuary which is great for the beach environment. — The beach is wide and firm (compared to Miami where it is narrow, New England where beaches can be cold and... Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:32:40 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Amelia-Island-Plantation-Amelia-Island-FL--104355-review-187c3 TaraLee 3 http://www.viewpoints.com/Ben-Jerrys-Chubby-Hubby-review-17e89 Pretzels filled with peanut butter, vanilla malt ice cream fudge. — How could it be better. This is one of my favorite ice cream flavors. It has everything that I like. Salt, crunch, peanut butter and fudge. — Mmmm. Apparently two jokesters made up this flavor to trick a friend, and when he actually tasted it he brought it to Ben or Jerry's attention and a flavor was born. — I really enjoy the different creations that Ben and Jerry's come up with. I always thought that pretzels should be paired with ice cream, and not only have they done just that, but the pretzels stay crisp and salty. — Very nice. — —... Sat, 24 May 2008 03:14:33 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Ben-Jerrys-Chubby-Hubby-review-17e89 TaraLee 4 http://www.viewpoints.com/Quickie-Rollo-Mop-056-review-2f0c2 I love a clean house. I find satisfaction in cleaning up after my self, and walking into a clean bathroom, sleeping on clean sheets and using a warm fresh from the dryer towel are some of my favorite things to experience. — I also hate to clean. — With that said, when I have to I want to do a good job, otherwise I will just leave the house dirty. — I did not purchase this mop. It was purchased as a replacement for the "Wonder Mop" which wasn't wonderful at all. It seems like a great idea, roller sponge mop on one side, a scrub brush with sturdy bristles on the other. — Great, I could scrub grout and with the flip of a wrist I could mop away the dirty water. — In actual practice, the brush head prevents one from mopping close to a wall, under hanging cabinets in the kitchen, and makes it hard to mop in tight spaces. — This is one quickie to avoid. —... Sat, 24 May 2008 01:57:41 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Quickie-Rollo-Mop-056-review-2f0c2 TaraLee 1 http://www.viewpoints.com/Boboli-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Crust-review-c0fd4 I love the idea of a quick and easy way to make pizza. But the Boboli falls far short of good pizza to  me. — What I did like was the minimal packaging and the fact that I dont have to pre cook a crust then add toppings and cook again. It is also good in that you can custom pick your own sauce and toppings, using a higher quality than you may find at a restaurant. — What I dont like is the aftertaste. It is somewhat bitter and tastes like bad preservatives or chemicals. I tried it a few times to be fair, but each one had the same bitter aftertaste. — I guess I have to stick with ordering my pizza out. —... Thu, 22 May 2008 17:37:39 GMT http://www.viewpoints.com/Boboli-Whole-Wheat-Pizza-Crust-review-c0fd4 TaraLee 2