Special Crunchy Cookies

Stills from Wall-E (Click for larger image)

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

For those about to rock!

Jam solo if that's your thing. View larger .

Or try multiplayer action. View larger.

Step to the mic. View larger.

Or go Bonzo on the skins! View larger.

* Rock Band Special Edition for Wii includes: guitar, mic, drum kit peripherals plus software.

Extensive Game Modes.
Rock Band delivers four music games in one - challenging rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals through the five separate game modes.

• Tutorial Mode: Master the basics! No need for experience. Pick your weapon of choice and ascend from beginner to rock god.
• Practice Mode: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed before hitting the main stage.
• Quickplay Mode: Instant fix of fun! Jump into any unlocked song for some quick jam time either on your own or with other players.
• Solo Tour Mode: Take it on the road! Pack up your instrument of choice and set out on the open road for a fun and challenging single player career.
• Band World Tour Mode: Conquer the world! The journey to rock stardom takes you from small town bars to world-renowned venues. Earn fame and fortune along the way to secure rock star necessities.

• Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter"
• Aerosmith "Train Kept a Rollin'"
• The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again"
• Boston "Foreplay/Long Time"
• Mountain "Mississippi Queen"
• The Police "Next to You"
• David Bowie "Suffragette City"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
• Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper"
• The Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"
• Deep Purple "Highway Star"
• KISS "Detroit Rock City"
• Molly Hatchet "Flirtin' With Disaster"
• The Outlaws "Green Grass & High Tides"
• Sweet "Ballroom Blitz"
• Rush "Tom Sawyer"
• Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• The Clash "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• Faith No More "Epic"
• R.E.M. "Orange Crush"
• Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills"*
• Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
• Metallica "Enter Sandman"
• Nirvana "In Bloom"
• Stone Temple Pilots "Vasoline"
• Weezer "Say It Ain't So"
• Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock"
• Radiohead "Creep"
• Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
• Hole "Celebrity Skin"
• Garbage "I Think I'm Paranoid"
• Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
• The Hives "Main Offender"
• Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow"
• The Strokes "Reptilia"
• Jet "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• OK Go "Here It Goes Again"
• Nine Inch Nails "The Hand That Feeds"
• Pixies "Wave of Mutilation"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Maps"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers "Dani California"
• Coheed & Cambria "Welcome Home"
• Fallout Boy "Dead on Arrival"
• The Killers "When You Were Young"
• New Pornographers "Electric Version"

On the DVD
Sleeping Beauty was the last and most lavish of Walt Disney's animated fairy tales. He told the artists not to hurry and to give him "a moving illustration": The film required almost four and one-half years and one million finished drawings. Instead of the 19th century storybook illustrations that had influenced the look of Snow White and Pinocchio, the artists adapted the flattened perspective and jewel-like colors of 15th century French illuminated manuscripts. The results remain unmatched for sheer visual opulence. However, Sleeping Beauty suffers from a weak story: the vision of an ageless princess slumbering in a vine-shrouded tower was replaced with elements of Snow White and a boy-meets-girl musical. The evil Maleficent and the three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) dominate the film, rather than Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. Sleeping Beauty was originally released in 70mm, and the Blu-ray edition restores the film to its original splendor. (Many earlier releases trimmed the wide-screen images and/or muted the glowing palatte.) The Bonus DVD looks good on a flat screen monitor, but it pales in comparison to the richness of the Blu-ray. In addition to the commentaries and a making-of documentary, the set includes myriad extras that vary widely in quality. Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the recreation of the old Sleeping Beauty's Castle attraction in Disneyland, and the TV program "Four Artists Paint One Tree" provides a welcome showcase for key talents from the film. But the CG animation of the dragon and the voice imitations of the Good Fairies fail to capture the magic of the originals in the "Dragon Encounter"; the "Maleficent's Challenge Game"--a hi-tech Twenty Questions--sounds only vaguely like the redoubtable sorceress. (Rated G: violence) --Charles Solomon




Stills from Sleeping Beauty (Click for larger image)

For those about to rock!

Jam solo if that's your thing. View larger.

Or try multiplayer action. View larger.

Step to the mic. View larger.

Or go Bonzo on the skins! View larger.

What's In the Box
Rock Band Special Edition for PlayStation 2 comes with everything you need to get you rocking right out of the box and includes: 1 wired guitar (for guitar & bass part), 1 wired mic, 1 wired drum kit peripheral, plus software, USB hub, drum sticks and guitar strap.

Extensive Game Modes.
Rock Band delivers four music games in one - challenging rockers to master lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals through the five separate game modes.

• Tutorial Mode: Master the basics! No need for experience. Pick your weapon of choice and ascend from beginner to rock god.
• Practice Mode: Perfect your tune! Breakdown any part of any song at your preferred speed before hitting the main stage.
• Quickplay Mode: Instant fix of fun! Jump into any unlocked song for some quick jam time either on your own or with other players.
• Solo Tour Mode: Take it on the road! Pack up your instrument of choice and set out on the open road for a fun and challenging single player career.
• Band World Tour Mode: Conquer the world! The journey to rock stardom takes you from small town bars to world-renowned venues. Earn fame and fortune along the way to secure rock star necessities.

• Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"
• Aerosmith, "Train Kept a Rollin'"
• The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"
• Boston, "Foreplay/Long Time"
• Mountain, "Mississippi Queen"
• The Police, "Next to You"
• David Bowie, "Suffragette City"
• Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
• Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Fear the Reaper"
• The Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop"
• Deep Purple, "Highway Star"
• KISS, "Detroit Rock City"
• Molly Hatchet, "Flirtin' With Disaster"
• The Outlaws, "Green Grass & High Tides"
• Sweet, "Ballroom Blitz"
• Rush, "Tom Sawyer"
• Bon Jovi, "Wanted Dead or Alive"
• The Clash, "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• Faith No More, "Epic"
• R.E.M., "Orange Crush"
• Iron Maiden, "Run to the Hills"
• Foo Fighters, "Learn to Fly"
• Metallica, "Enter Sandman"
• Nirvana, "In Bloom"
• Stone Temple Pilots, "Vasoline"
• Weezer, "Say It Ain't So"
• Smashing Pumpkins, "Cherub Rock"
• Radiohead, "Creep"
• Beastie Boys, "Sabotage"
• Hole, "Celebrity Skin"
• Garbage, "I Think I'm Paranoid"
• Soundgarden, "Black Hole Sun"
• The Hives, "Main Offender"
• Queens of the Stone Age, "Go With the Flow"
• The Strokes, "Reptilia"
• Jet, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• OK Go, "Here It Goes Again"
• Nine Inch Nails, "The Hand That Feeds"
• Pixies, "Wave of Mutilation"
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Maps"
• Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Dani California"
• Coheed & Cambria, "Welcome Home"
• Fallout Boy, "Dead on Arrival"
• The Killers, "When You Were Young"
• New Pornographers, "Electric Version"

• The Konks, "29 Fingers"
• Anarchy Club, "Blood Doll"
• Freezepop, "Brainpower"
• Death of the Cool, "Can't Let Go"
• The Acro-Brats, "Day Late, Dollar Short"
• Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, "I Get By"
• Flyleaf, "I'm So Sick"
• Crooked X, "Nightmare"
• Tribe, "Outside"
• Bang Camaro, "Pleasure (Pleasure)"
• Vagiant, "Seven"
• The Mother Hips, "Time We Had"
• Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld, "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld"

You've turned the tide against the demonic evils of Outland. Now the Lich King Arthas has set in motion events that will lead to the extinction of all life on Azeroth. With the undead legions of the Scourge threatening to sweep across the land, you must strike at the heart of the frozen abyss and end the Lich King's reign of terror for all time...

Rise as a Death Knight:
Master the necromantic powers of the Death Knight-World of Warcraft's first Hero Class. Create a new Death Knight character with a starting level of 55 and break the chains of the Lich King to forge your own destiny.

Battle to Level 80:
Power your way through new quests and dungeons as you seize ever greater abilities. Assault the terrifying Wrathgate, war in Lake Wintergrasp, uncover the secrets of Dalaran reborn, and much more.

Brave the Lich King's Domain:
Discover the harsh, icy continent of Northrend, the bleak heart of the Lich King's empire of undeath.

Lay Siege to your Enemies:
Command mighty siege engines to bombard your enemies and lay waste to destructible buildings in your path.

What's in the Box:
-- The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game.
-- An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm.
-- A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director's commentary, and more.
-- The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks.
-- A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend.
-- Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition.

Simplify Your Work
Your presentation will make an impact. Your documents will be professional. Your analysis will be insightful. And Office 2008 will be there.
The latest version of the industry standard for productivity software on the Macintosh platform, Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is more powerful and easier to use. Office 2008 combines Microsoft Word for Mac, Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac, Microsoft Excel for Mac, Microsoft Entourage for Mac, and Microsoft Messenger for Mac and lets you easily create high-impact documents and seamlessly share your ideas with others, whether they are on the Mac or Windows platform.

What's New in Office for Mac?

• Universal versions of the most popular productivity applications on the Macintosh platform (Universal applications run natively on Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs.)
• Microsoft Office for Mac natively supports the Open XML file formats for compatibility with Windows-based 2007 Microsoft Office products.
• A redesigned user interface and powerful new tools for simplifying work, creating great looking documents, and exchanging ideas and information with others.

Highlights of Office 2008 for Mac

• Office 2008 is a Universal Binary, was built by Mac users for Mac users, and includes many features which take advantage of underlying technologies of the Macintosh platform.
• Office 2008 uses Open XML file formats for compatibility with Windows-based 2007 Microsoft Office products. XML file formats help reduce the risk of lost information due to damaged or corrupted files and also result in smaller file sizes--up to 75 percent smaller than comparable binary documents. Office 2008 for Mac is backward-compatible with earlier file formats and users can continue to use the older .doc, .xls, and .ppt binary formats.
• Elements Gallery is the foundation of the new user interface, and gives easy access to the most commonly used tools and templates. With the new UI, you'll harness the capabilities of Office for Mac more easily than ever before.
• Office 2008 includes OfficeArt, the powerful graphics engine also used in the Windows-based Office 2007 products. You get great cross-platform file fidelity and easy access to stunning visual and graphic effects.
• Your words will make an impact with the modern styling of SmartArt graphics, which makes transforming text and bulleted lists into professional diagrams and graphics one-click easy.
• A new Themes capability simplifies the process of applying a consistent look and feel across documents. Easily apply a complete set of colors, fonts, and effects to your Office 2008 documents, and change them as easily as changing your mind.
• Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office enables you to automate Office 2008 with more than 70 pre-defined actions built to simplify your work and extend your productivity. (Available in Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition.)

Entourage 2008, the hub of Office 2008, helps it to happen, one task at a time.

Enjoy powerful new tools, over 100 designer templates, rich themes, and an intuitive user interface in Word 2008.

Entourage 2008
Your e-mails will spark ideas, you'll schedule meetings where creativity abounds. Entourage 2008, the hub of Office 2008, helps it to happen, one task at a time.

• My Day keeps you connected to the action. Schedules, tasks, and priorities in one easy, standalone interface. Time will have no choice but to be well-managed.
• Use color-coded categories, status indicators, and flexible To-Do list management humble even the most hectic schedules.
• Office 2008 for Mac and Office 2008 Special Media Edition enable users to access their Microsoft Exchange server accounts with Entourage.
• Improved Junk E-Mail filtering capabilities and phishing protection tools help shield your inbox from the scourge of junk. Your inbox will breathe a sigh of relief.
• Projects submit to your superior management skills when you unleash the power of Project Center, With project details like e-mail messages, documents, schedules, and contacts in one convenient place, Project Center helps keep your information--and your stress--under control.

Word 2008
Powerful new tools, over 100 designer templates, rich themes, and an intuitive user interface in Word 2008 will help you to make your ideas look as good as they are.

• When you turn blah into brilliant, Publishing Layout View will elevate the way you think about Word 2008. This new specialized and customizable workspace lets users create incredibly rich documents such as newletters, flyers and brochures without a degree in design.
• Great looking document construction won't require a hard hat. New Templates, Themes, and Document Elements like cover pages and bibliographies make creating professional-looking output a snap.
• Your words will make an impact with the modern styling of SmartArt, which makes transforming text into high-quality graphics and diagrams as easy as one click.
• Dynamic Guides will help you keep all of your words and graphics in line and on point.
• Mass mailings will have a personal touch and Word 2008 Mail Merge Manager will guide you step by easy step.

Inspire your audience's imagination with compelling visuals and engaging layout in PowerPoint 2008.

Analyze, share, and manage your data, and easily create persuasive charts and thought-provoking graphs for powerful results with Excel 2008.

PowerPoint 2008
Your presentation is a story. PowerPoint 2008 will illustrate it. Inspire your audience's imagination with compelling visuals and engaging layout.

• Great ideas will get their graphic due with SmartArt graphics in PowerPoint 2008. Start with a blank slide or a bulleted list, and, with a click of a button, you'll have a stunning chart, table, map, or diagram.
• Designer Themes help you give your presentation a creative look, simply and quickly.
• The new Object Palette allows quick access to all your shapes, art, symbols, and pictures--including iPhoto files--in one easy-to-access space.
• Dynamic Guides will help you place and resize your graphic element to create professional-looking presentations in a snap.
• You'll lay out custom designs to showcase your unique content with custom layout capabilities in PowerPoint 2008.
• PowerPoint 2008 integration with Apple Remote Control lets you concentrate on your words, not your keyboard. Now control your presentation and engage your audience unleashed from the podium.

  Excel 2008
  It's a numbers game. With Excel 2008, analyze, share, and manage your data, and easily create persuasive charts and thought-provoking graphs for powerful results.

  • Ledger Sheets in Excel 2008 make tracking finances, inventories, even invoices and portfolios easy with preformulated spreadsheets and automatic calculations.
  • Charting improvements artfully convey the message your data is telling. You'll see your numbers in a whole new way.
  • The new prebuilt functions tackle the most common tasks and make creating error-free complex conditional formulas easier.
  • Quick access to formulas makes functions more functional with Formula Builder in Excel 2008.
  • Your data will know virtually no limits. Excel 2008 now supports over 16,000 columns and over 1 million rows.
  • Whether you're an Excel expert or a complete novice, Excel 2008 Formula AutoComplete simplifies your calculations by providing a dynamic pop-up menu so you can select and complete your formula.

  Messenger for Mac
  Convenience is the name of the game for Mac users who want to communicate instantly with family, friends and colleagues from one convenient place. Messenger for Mac is now a Universal application, and gives you more ways to share what's on your mind or on your plate.

  Use Messenger for Mac to instantly check the status of project team members, streamline workflow by sending documents directly from Word, or offer questions or comments on document changes instantly.

  • Yahoo! Interoperability will allow personal users to connect and message with Yahoo! Messenger for Mac users.
  • Your intentions will never again be in doubt when you create your own custom emoticons in Messenger for Mac.
  • Spelling Checker is now included in Messenger for Mac.
  • Let the world know your tastes when you display your iTunes selection with the new "What I'm listening to now" feature.
  
  
  
  Pamela's Products Wheat-Free Amazing Bread Mix, 19-Ounce Packages (Pack of 6)
  
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  Braun 8985 360 Complete Mens' Shaver Special Pack
  
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  Braun 8985 360 Complete Men's Shaver provides Braun's closest most complete shave ever. 360? Complete features Gillette Blade Technology that cuts hairs close in a single stroke without pulling or tugging. Braun's patented Power-Comb lifts problem hairs that lie flat to the skin to avoid missed hairs in hard to shave areas. The 360 Complete's Clean&Renew System automatically cleans, lubricates, dries and charges to keep the shaver feeling like new every day.
  
  
  Hasbro Operation SpongeBob Edition
  
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  SpongeBob's trapped in Plankton's lab, with 12 ailments designed to make him blab! Can you help your Bikini Bottom buddy keep the Krabby Patty recipe a secret' Perform delicate undersea surgery on his Barnacle Brain, Clammy Hands and Patty Pleasure Center without setting off the buzzer. The surgeon with the steadiest hands earns top pay and saves the day. Includes gameboard with SpongeBob SquarePants "patient" and tweezers, 24 cards, 12 plastic Funatomy parts, play money and rules. Requires 2 "AA" batteries, not included.
  
  
  Very Special Liquor Filled Chocolate Bottles 48 piece Holiday Gift Box
  
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  Very Special Liquor Filled Chocolates. These delicious liquor filled chocolates come in a 48 count variety pack. Makes a great holiday gift for that special someone.
  
  
  Stevita Co. BREEZE Singles Strawberry Stevia Stick Packs Drink Mix 15 Sticks per box, YEAR END SALE!
  
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  Refreshing STRAWBERRY flavor in a convenient easy-open packet! Dissolve one 1.8 oz packet into a 16oz bottle of water (or a glass of water) 15 Sticks per Box
  
  
  Newman's Own K-Cup Single-Serving Coffee 108-ct. - Organic Special Blend
  
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  Champion Men's Double Dry Classic Fleece Pullover Hood
  
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  Working out? Hanging out? Either way, don't sweat it. Wear this Champion hooded sweatshirt to stay comfortably warm and dry
  
  
  Peek-A Who?
  
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  Nina Laden's illustrations in this simple, rhyming board book are truly magical. The format is straightforward: on alternating two-page spreads, the words "Peek a" are repeated, opposite an illustrated page with a die-cut hole, behind which lurks a cow ("MOO!"), a green ghost ("BOO!"), and a mirror (you guessed it, "YOU!"). The youngest readers will delight in trying to guess who--or what--is peeking through the window, and can easily grip the baby-fist-size holes to turn the pages for the answers. The picture of the "ZOO!" is fabulous. Through the hole, all that can be seen is a wild pattern of colors, stripes, and spots. Turn the page, and find a wild kingdom of animals, one in front of the other: peacock, zebra, penguin, cheetah, elephant, and more. Ready for more peekaboo fun? Try Nina Laden's Ready, Set, Go! . (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter
  
  
  Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
  
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  Expanding on a landmark cover story in Fortune, a top journalist debunks the myths of exceptional performance.
  
  One of the most popular Fortune articles in many years was a cover story called “What It Takes to Be Great.” Geoff Colvin offered new evidence that top performers in any field--from Tiger Woods and Winston Churchill to Warren Buffett and Jack Welch--are not determined by their inborn talents. Greatness doesn’t come from DNA but from practice and perseverance honed over decades.
  
  And not just plain old hard work, like your grandmother might have advocated, but a very specific kind of work. The key is how you practice, how you analyze the results of your progress and learn from your mistakes, that enables you to achieve greatness.
  
  Now Colvin has expanded his article with much more scientific background and real-world examples. He shows that the skills of business—negotiating deals, evaluating financial statements, and all the rest—obey the principles that lead to greatness, so that anyone can get better at them with the right kind of effort. Even the hardest decisions and interactions can be systematically improved.
  
  This new mind-set, combined with Colvin’s practical advice, will change the way you think about your job and career—and will inspire you to achieve more in all you do.
  
  
  The Dangerous Book for Boys
  
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  Equal parts droll and gorgeous nostalgia book and heartfelt plea for a renewed sense of adventure in the lives of boys and men, Conn and Hal Iggulden's The Dangerous Book for Boys became a mammoth bestseller in the United Kingdom in 2006. Adapted, in moderation, for American customs in this edition (cricket is gone, rugby remains; conkers are out, Navajo Code Talkers in), The Dangerous Book is a guide book for dads as well as their sons, as a reminder of lore and technique that have not yet been completely lost to the digital age. Recall the adventures of Scott of the Antarctic and the Battle of the Somme, relearn how to palm a coin, tan a skin, and, most charmingly, wrap a package in brown paper and string. The book's ambitions are both modest and winningly optimistic: you get the sense that by learning how to place a splint or write in invisible ink, a boy might be prepared for anything, even girls (which warrant a small but wise chapter of their own).

  Inside The Dangerous Book for Boys

  Figure 8 Knot

  Sheet Bend Knot

  The Battle of Waterloo

  Questions for Conn Iggulden

  Conn and Hal Iggulden are two brothers who have not forgotten what it was like to be boys. Conn taught for many years before becoming one of the most admired and popular young historical novelists with his Emperor series, based on the life of Julius Caesar, and his newly embarked series on Genghis Khan, while Hal is a theater director. We asked Conn about their collaboration.

  Amazon.com: It's difficult to describe what a phenomenon The Dangerous Book for Boys was in the UK last year. When I would check the bestseller list on our sister site, Amazon.co.uk, there would be, along with your book, which spent much of the year at the top of the list, a half-dozen apparent knockoff books of similar boy knowledge. Clearly, you tapped into something big. What do you think it was?

  Iggulden: In a word, fathers. I am one myself and I think we've become aware that the whole "health and safety" overprotective culture isn't doing our sons any favors. Boys need to learn about risk. They need to fall off things occasionally, or--and this is the important bit--they'll take worse risks on their own. If we do away with challenging playgrounds and cancel school trips for fear of being sued, we don't end up with safer boys--we end up with them walking on train tracks. In the long run, it's not safe at all to keep our boys in the house with a Playstation. It's not good for their health or their safety.

  You only have to push a boy on a swing to see how much enjoys the thrill of danger. It's hard-wired. Remove any opportunity to test his courage and they'll find ways to test themselves that will be seriously dangerous for everyone around them. I think of it like playing the lottery--someone has to say "Look, you won't win--and your children won't be hurt. Relax. It won't be you."

  I think that's the core of the book's success. It isn't just a collection of things to do. The heroic stories alone are something we haven't had for too long. It isn't about climbing Everest, but it is an attitude, a philosophy for fathers and sons. Our institutions are too wrapped up in terror over being sued--so we have to do things with them ourselves. This book isn't a bad place to start.

  As for knockoff books--great. They'll give my son something to read that doesn't involve him learning a dull moral lesson of some kind--just enjoying an adventure or learning skills and crafts so that he has a feeling of competence and confidence--just as we have.

  Amazon.com: You made some changes for the U.S. edition, and I for one am sorry that you have removed the section on conkers, if only because it's such a lovely and mysterious word. What are (or what is) conkers?

  Iggulden: Horse chestnuts strung on a shoelace and knocked against one another until they shatter. In the entire history of the world, no one has ever been hurt by a conker, but it's still been banned by some British schools, just in case. Another school banned paper airplanes. Honestly, it's enough to make you weep, if I did that sort of thing, which I try not to. Reading Jane Austen is still allowed, however.

  Amazon.com: What knowledge did you decide was important to add for American boys? I notice in both editions you have an excellent and useful section on table football, as played with coins. Is paper football strictly an American pastime? I'm not sure I could have gotten through the fourth grade without it.

  Iggulden: I like knowing the details of battles, so Gettysburg and the Alamo had to go in, along with the Gettysburg address, stickball, state capitals, U.S. mountains, American trees, insects, U.S. historical timelines, and a lot of others. Navajo code talkers of WWII is a great chapter. It probably helps that I am a huge fan of America. It was only while rewriting for the U.S. that I realized how many positive references there already are. You have NASA and NASA trumps almost anything.

  As for paper football, ever since I thought of putting the book together, people keep saying things like "You have rockets in there, yes? Everyone loves rockets!" Paper football is the first American one, but there will be many others. No book in the world is long enough to put them all in--unless we do a sequel, of course.

  Amazon.com: Do you think The Dangerous Book for Boys is being read by actual boys, or only by nostalgic adults? Have you seen boys getting up from their Xboxes to go outside and perform first aid or tan animal skins or build go-carts?

  Iggulden: I've had a lot of emails and letters from boys who loved the book--as well as fathers. I've had responses from kids as young as ten and an old man of 87, who pointed out a problem with the shadow stick that we've since changed. The thing to remember is that we may be older and more cynical every year, but boys simply aren't. If they are given the chance to make a go-cart with their dad, they jump at it. Mine did. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to know the book is being used with fathers and sons together, trying things out. Nothing is more valuable to a boy than time with his dad, learning something fun--or something difficult. That's part of the attitude too. If it's hard, you don't make it easy, you grab it by the throat and hang on for as long as it takes.

  The book is often bought by fathers, of course. Their sons don't know Scott of the Antarctic is a great adventure story. How could they if it isn't taught any more? Good, heroic stories don't appear much in modern school curriculums--and then we wonder why boys don't seem interested.

  Amazon.com: And finally, on to the important questions: Should Pluto still be a planet? And what was the best dinosaur?

  Iggulden: Pluto is a planet. I know there are scientists who say it isn't, but it's big enough to be round and it has a moon, for crying out loud. Of course it's a planet. Give it ten years and they'll be agreeing with me again.

  As for the best dinosaur, it depends what you mean by best. For sheer perfection, it probably has to be the shark and the crocodile. Modern ones are smaller but their record for sheer survival is pretty impressive. I only hope humanity can do as well. The only thing that will stop us is worrying too much.

  
  
  
  PUMA Men's GV Special Sneaker
  
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  Sink your foot into the comfortable and stylish GV Special sneaker form PUMA. Its smooth leather and synthetic upper has a sporty color blocking detail with intricate topstitching and a perforated vamp, and its rubber sole will give you the traction that you need. The lace-up front will keep you pulled in tight while the padded collar and insole will keep you cushy and ready whether you are just hanging out or up for an impromptu game of B-ball.
  
  
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  600D polyester backpack features: Hideaway skate straps; Padded laptop sleeve; Wet/dry pocket; Fixed flap skate holder.