Picnic Meal in a Jug

Joshua Logan directed William Inge's play on Broadway and carried it to Hollywood, earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in his screen-directing debut. Holden is years too old for the role but oozes sex appeal and makes a swoony stud when he takes his shirt off (or when, better yet, it's ripped from his back by a boozing Russell), and Novak is a lovely lost girl yearning for something she can't quite grasp. Arthur O'Connell earned an Oscar nomination as Russell's tippling boyfriend. The film was a huge popular and critical hit, but Logan's stiff and strident direction hasn't dated well. He makes his points in big capital letters--subtlety was never his strong point--and loses the natural beauty of the Kansas locations when he takes the climactic picnic scenes into an obviously artificial soundstage. Picnic remains a loved American classic, largely for Holden's tough-guy vulnerability and James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen color photography. --Sean Axmaker

The Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand is designed to cradle your laptop in cooling comfort.

Now you can be more comfortable while you work.

A single high-capacity fan, which is powered by a USB port on your laptop, sits in the middle of the cooling stand. View larger.

Hot air is channeled out to the left and right sides of your laptop. View larger.

The USB cable is neatly tucked away in a storage compartment on the bottom. View larger.

Twice the Cooling Power, Half the Consumption
In contrast to most other laptop coolers that use two fans to suck warm air from the laptop's bottom, the Belkin's Laptop Cooling Stand relies on the natural flow of heat and air circulation to do the hard work and needs only one fan to do the trick. Instead of drawing the laptop heat down to push it out, the stand takes full advantage of natural air flow and heat's natural tendency to rise by pushing the hot air upward through the channel and away from your laptop.

The single high-capacity fan, powered by a USB port on your laptop, sits in the middle of the cooling stand, and hot air is channeled out to the left and right sides of your laptop. The result is heat dissipation that's equal to a two-fan solution but that uses less than half the power. And because the fan is USB-powered, you won't have any bulky batteries or adapters (which can also both add heat!) to weigh you down. You simply place your laptop on the stand, pull the USB cable out of the convenient storage compartment, and plug it into your computer. The stand will take care of the rest.

Computing in Comfort and Style
Measuring 12.6 x 11.6 x 1 inches (W x D x H), the Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand is designed for 15.4-inch or smaller laptops. To prevent slippage, the stand features rubber pads on the feet, and a small plastic panel folds out from the bottom of the stand that elevates the rear for better ergonomics. The gentle slope reduces wrist strain, and by raising the screen height, it also reduces neck strain that is common to laptop users.

Unlike the industrial gray and metallic appearance of other cooling stands, the Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand offers an attractive, gently sloped look that you'll be proud to show off as you work. The stand's thin profile means that you can easily slide the stand into your notebook bag as you travel from meeting to meeting, or café to café. And weighing a mere 22 ounces, you'll hardly notice that it's in your bag.

Game for playtime: It's hard to have a perfect picnic party when ants keep trying to steal your food. Just say "please" and "thank you" to send those pesky ants packing and collect all the items that will make the picnic a success.

Book for storytime: Rachel refuses to use manners at the picnic with her friends. Read the book to see what happens when her big wish comes true and ends up making her feel "small."

Audio CD for anytime: Play the CD to get kids laughing, singing and sharing with a story and silly songs from Noodleboro's all-kid radio station. For 2-3 players.

This is a new game that is becoming more popular by the moment. It can be played for fun or for money!

This version of the game is called Shut the Box. It is a very solid game unit of stained finish wood and green felt and comes complete with dice.ÊRubber "feet" are on the bottom to protect your table top.

The object of the game is to get the lowest score for your round. There are numbers 1 through 10 on the board. If an 8 is rolled then the number can be shut off on the board or any numbers that add up to 8 such as a 6 and a 2 or a 5 and a 3. The round ends when a person rolls a number that cannot be taken off the board. If the person has an 11 and a 9 left then their score is 20. If that turns out to be the lowest score after everyone has taken their turn, then that person is the winner.

The game is popular as a wagering game when all players ante up a dollar or more and the winner takes the pot.

The box is 10 1/16" square and 1 5/8" tall.

"THIS IS A GREAT GAME FOR PARTIES!!!"

"THIS GAME WILL BE THE CENTER PIECE OF YOUR PARTY!!!"

How it Works:

1. Fill the ice end with as much ice as possible, then add 1/2 cup of rock salt to the pint size or 3/4 cup to the Mega size. The lid should be hand tightened--do not use the wrench.
2. Mix up your ice cream ingredients in a container, then pour the mix into the end with the metal cylinder, leaving about one inch for expansion at the top. Hand tighten the lid.
3. Have a ball! Shake, roll, and pass it around as you mix and freeze the ingredients. It's not necessary to shake the ball...just motion will do it.
4. After about 10 minutes for the pint size and 15 minutes for the Mega ball, open the ice cream end using the included plastic wrench. Scrape the sides of the cylinder to mix up the ice cream using a plastic or wooden spoon (don't use a metal spoon as it will scratch the cylinder). Then check the ice end. Pour out the excess water and add more ice and up to 1/3 cup more rock salt to enhance the freezing ability. Close the lids securely and continue having a ball for approximately 5 to 10 more minutes (15 for the Mega).
5. You will then have about a pint (or quart for the Mega ball) of delicious soft-serve ice cream. The consistency will vary based on the ice, your mix, the outside temperature, shaking frequency, etc. Once the ice cream is to the consistency of your liking, gently scoop it out and enjoy!

Important tips for using your Play & Freeze Ice Cream Maker:

• Directions and recipes are inside the Ball.
• Use cream instead of half and half for richer tasting ice cream.
• Leave about an inch of space for expansion when you fill up the can with the ice cream mix.
• After 10 minutes (15 for Mega ball) of mixing (shaking, rolling, and passing), it is important to stir the ice cream mix (it freezes more around the can). Also, drain the water and refill with ice and additional rock salt. Have fun for another 10 to 15 minutes and you're done.
• Use the provided plastic wrench to open the ball, but not to close it.

Pint Size Details:

• Weight When Empty: 2 pounds
• Weight When Full: 7 pounds
• Ice Cream Capacity: 1 Pint/16 fl. oz.
• Approximate Prep Time: 20 minutes

Mega Size Details:

• Weight When Empty: 3 pounds
• Weight When Full: 9 to 10 pounds
• Ice Cream Capacity: 1 Quart/32 fl. oz.
• Approximate Prep Time: 30 minutes with cream, 35 minutes with half and half

What's in the Box?
Ice Cream Ball, recipe booklet

Manufacturer's Warranty
One-year warranty on manufacturing defects