The House of Yes
- Valse June / Love's Hesitation Waltz
Girl with a Pearl Earring centers on Vermeer's prosperous Delft household during the 1660s. When Griet, the novel's quietly perceptive heroine, is hired as a servant, turmoil follows. First, the 16-year-old narrator becomes increasingly intimate with her master. Then Vermeer employs her as his assistant--and ultimately has Griet sit for him as a model. Chevalier vivi! dly evokes the complex domestic tensions of the household, ru! led over by the painter's jealous, eternally pregnant wife and his taciturn mother-in-law. At times the relationship between servant and master seems a little anachronistic. Still, Girl with a Pearl Earring does contain a final delicious twist.
Throughout, Chevalier cultivates a limpid, painstakingly observed style, whose exactitude is an effective homage to the painter himself. Even Griet's most humdrum duties take on a high if unobtrusive gloss:
I came to love grinding the things he brought from the apothecary--bones, white lead, madder, massicot--to see how bright and pure I could get the colors. I learned that the finer the materials were ground, the deeper the color. From rough, dull grains madder became a fine bright red powder and, mixed with linseed oil, a sparkling paint. Making it and the other colors was magical.In assembling such quotidian particulars, the author acknowledges her debt to Simon Schama's classic study! The Embarrassment of Riches. Her novel also joins a crop of recent, painterly fictions, including Deborah Moggach's Tulip Fever and Susan Vreeland's Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Can novelists extract much more from the Dutch golden age? The question is an open one--but in the meantime, Girl with a Pearl Earring remains a fascinating piece of speculative historical fiction, and an appealingly new take on an old master. --Jerry Brotton
In the cutthroat New York judicial system, if youâre intelligent, ambitious and new, thereâs only one way to get things done â" with Conviction. Get ready for all 13 gripping episodes of The Complete Series from award-winning creator Dick Wolf (Law & Order). When five young assistant district attorneys enter the world of public justice, they struggle to make sense of their challenging caseloads and equally provocative personal lives. Under the leadership of bureau chief Alex Cabot (Stephanie March, Law & Order: SVU), these rookie prosecutors are about to get a crash course in love, life and the law. Also starring Eric Balfour, J. August Richards, Anson Mount, Jordan Bridges, Julianne Nicholson and Milena Govich.Created by Dick Wolf, the seemingly unstoppable mastermind behind the Law & Order franchise, Conviction tells the stories of a group of young, driven, and g! enetically gifted prosecutors working for the New York District Attorney's office, which is led by Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March). Cabot was last seen as a young gun assistant district attorney herself on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. There she was a crusading and idealistic lawyer fighting to buck a corrupt system. But on Conviction, her character has turned into the type of bureaucrat she used to despise--one who thinks more about the bottom line than the true meaning of justice. Though she obviously still has feelings for her underling and former beau Jim Steele (Anson Mount), she becomes engaged to a well-connected man (the day after she and Steele have a one-night stand).
The series, which was canceled after its first season in 2006, has a more soap opera feel than Wolf's other shows. While the meat of the 13 episodes is in their fight to lock up rapists and murderers, the heart of the show lies in the private lives of the young attorneys. St! eele has a "just sex" relationship with Jessica Rossi (Milena ! Govich), a promising young lawyer who butts heads with him at work. Nick Potter (played by Beau Bridges' son, Jordan) left a six-figure salary at a private law firm to work for the people. Billy Desmond (J. August Richards), who hasn't lost a case, finds himself falling for a mess of a girl despite himself. And ladies man Brian Peluso (Eric Balfour) and wide-eyed cutie Christina Finn (Julianne Nicholson) find it easier to play verbal footsie than admit their feelings for each other.
Though the dramatic content isn't lacking, there are some moments where even suspending your belief in reality really doesn't help much. In one episode, a murderer takes some of the attorneys hostage in a courtroom. Demanding respect, he refuses to answer their questions unless they address him in legalese. It's almost laughable watching the supposedly terrified lawyers popping up and down to address him as "your honor." In another scene, Finn warns another gunman--who has already killed another hosta! ge--that the police may be trying to trick him. But overall, the series has a nice rhythm that could've carried over for another solid season or two. NBC was quick to ax the drama, just as it did with Wolf's 2005 series Law & Order: Trial by Jury. It's too bad because Conviction--which could've been retitled Law & Order: The Wonder Years--showed a lot of promise. --Jae-Ha KimCONVICTION - DVD Movie
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is the fifth installment in the wildly popular Splinter Cell series. A stealth-action combat game centered around the continuing adventures of black ops agent Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell: Conviction continues where the storyline of the earlier Splinter Cell: Double Agent left off. Packed with a mix of an engaging story, classic Splinter Cell stealth action, unique co-op gameplay and new gameplay mechanisms that are applicabl! e to both single player and multiplayer modes, it is a worthy ! addition Splinter Cell catalog of games.
A few years have passed since the cliff hanger conclusion of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, in which Agent Sam! Fisher undertook a particularly dirty mission, full of questionable actions, in the shadow of the inexplicable and unmourned death of his daughter. Fisher is now a renegade operative digging into the events of the past and he doesn't like what he has found. His personal investigation into his daughter's death reveals that he's been betrayed by his former agency, the Third Echelon. The agency responds by pursuing him, but as he works to elude them he becomes aware of a deadly terrorist plot that threatens millions. He is uniquely positioned and prepared to act against this, but success is doubtful without the help of former friends from the Third Echelon team, resulting in a series of life and death situations for himself and the country where trust can by no means be assumed. Gameplay Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, as with all games in the Splinter Cell series, is a tactical stealth-action game. In single player modes players take on! the role of Sam Fisher and engage in a series of missions uti! lizing h igh-tech weaponry, gadgets, lethal hand-to-hand combat and interrogation skills. Overall objectives and the necessary steps to achieve them are challenging, yet always clear via dual verbal and visual expression that seamlessly alerts players as they progress through missions. In addition, Conviction enhances the world of stealth combat that has made the Splinter Cell franchise a runaway hit for years through a series of revolutionary new gameplay features. These include:
Prologue, the co-op story mode included in Splinter Cell: Conviction is available either in split-screen local play or via Xbox LIVE. Prologue offers an exclusive prequel campaign to that found in single player mode and features new characters and settings, three difficulty settings, three sub game modes and four ! maps. Designed to stand apart from, as well as supplement the ! single p layer campaign, gameplay mechanics available within it include shareable Mark and Execute target points and Last Known Position, as well as teammate revival functionality via a portable defibrillator, the ability to work with a teammate to eliminate enemies who have captured you, and more. Key Game Features
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The awa! rd-winni ng, patented iLap is a versatile stand that lets you use a laptop comfortably on your lap or on a desk. As a lap stand, the iLap keeps you cool by shielding your body from the laptop's heat, and it does so comfortably with its two velvet cushions. The front cushion supports your wrist while you type and the back swivel base contours to your lap.
| Cool laptop, cool lap, and cool posture. Learn more. |
The iLap's lightweight aluminum base acts as a heat sink to keep your laptop cool too, so it'll run more efficiently and last longer. As a desk stand, the iLap provides better ergonomics by raising the laptop screen higher to reduce neck and shoulder strains.
It also tilts the keyboard so you can type with your wrist straight to prevent carpal tu! nnel syndrome. An external keyboard is not required.
The iLap 15" W fits the Apple MacBook Pro 15" and Powerbook 15". The iLap comes in six other sizes to suit both Mac and PC notebooks. Awarded Laptop Magazine Editor's Choice for laptop stand.
Features include:
What's in the box
iLap laptop computer holder, detachable front cushion
BALROG AWARD WINNER'S SCIENCE FANTASY CLASSIC!
Were the alien and his robot here to help or hinder humankind? Find out the surprising answer in the original story that inspired the classic 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here is a must-read for any science fiction lover, for, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says, "the film lost the story's ironic ending." Discover for yourself what Hollywood left out in this first-ever collection of the best work of the legendary 1930s idea man, Harry Bates (1900-1981). Rounding out this collection of sophisticated plays-on-ideas that stood traditional science fiction on its head are "A Matter of Size" and "Alas, All Thinking" (1935). These three short novels, which the Encyclopedia calls his most "notable stories," have never before been gathered in one book. Bates' "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1940 under the title, "Farewell to the Master"), with its poignant, haunting last line, would posthumously bring him the coveted Balrog Award (1983). When you have read it, you will understand why long-time science fiction fans rank it and its creator, Harry Bates, among the greats.
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BALROG AWARD WINNER'S SCIENCE FANTASY CLASSIC!
Were the alien and his robot here to help or hinder humankind? Find out the surprising answer in the original story that inspired the classic 1951 science fiction movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Here is a must-read for any science fiction lover, for, as the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says, "the film lost the story's ironic ending." Discover for yourself what Hollywood left out in this first-ever collection of the best work of the legendary 1930s idea man, Harry Bates! (1900-1981). Rounding out this collection of sophisticated pl! ays-on-i deas that stood traditional science fiction on its head are "A Matter of Size" and "Alas, All Thinking" (1935). These three short novels, which the Encyclopedia calls his most "notable stories," have never before been gathered in one book. Bates' "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1940 under the title, "Farewell to the Master"), with its poignant, haunting last line, would posthumously bring him the coveted Balrog Award (1983). When you have read it, you will understand why long-time science fiction fans rank it and its creator, Harry Bates, among the greats.
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Klaatu Barada Nikto! This is an all-new recording of Bernard Herrmann's magnificent otherwordly score for the science fiction classic.