Editorial Product Review: :Simon Kieth's popular comic book was adapted for television in this multipart animated series first broadcast on MTV. A little confusing, the series--which concerns a kind of hulking superhero and his attachment to a female therapist and her teenage client--is actually mesmerizing and surprisingly touching. The writing is unusually sophisticated, and Kieth's ability to create complex female characters and provide their incisive dialogue should be the envy of any male scribe. Parallel action set in a so-called outback--an escape from reality--is wild and evocative ...
Editorial Product Review: :In 'Treehouse of Horror,' the first Halloween special, the Simpsons spoof The Amityville Horror when they find the house of their dreams, which turns out to be desperately haunted. Then the Simpsons are abducted by aliens, who seem to be fattening them up to eat them. A deliriously funny episode. In 'Bart Gets an F,' Bart is threatened with being held back if he doesn't pass history, which he is in danger of failing. So he makes a deal with smart-kid Martin, who will ...
Editorial Product Review: :'This year's episode is even worse,' Marge Simpson warns of 'Treehouse of Horror II,' a sequel to the Simpsons' first Halloween special. 'It's scarier and more violent and I think they snuck in some bad language, too.' Thus the stage is set for a night of candy-binge-induced nightmares that haunt Lisa, Bart, and Homer. In Lisa's dream, a wish-granting Moroccan monkey paw brings 'grave misfortune' to the Simpsons, whose wishes inadvertently lead to an alien takeover of the Earth. Bart's dream, a takeoff on ...
Editorial Product Review: :In 'The Crepes of Wrath,' Bart gets in so much trouble for flushing a cherry bomb down a school toilet while Principal Skinner's mother is on the commode that Homer and Marge agree to send him to France as part of a foreign exchange. Bart, expecting the good life, instead winds up as a slave to a pair of vintners. The Simpsons, meanwhile, wind up with a perfect child from Albania, who happens to be a Soviet spy. In 'Krusty Gets Busted,' Kelsey Grammar ...
Editorial Product Review: :In 'Bart the Daredevil,' Bart takes his career cues from daredevil Captain Lance Murdock--who nearly dies in a hilarious stunt involving a motorcycle jump over a tank filled with sharks, piranhas, electric eels, alligators, and a lion--and starts making leaps on his skateboard to impress friends. But when he threatens to jump Springfield Gorge, Homer steps in (and does a great Lance Murdock imitation). In 'Itchy, Scratchy & Marge,' Marge becomes alarmed at baby Maggie being influenced by the hyperviolent Itchy & Scratchy cartoons ...
Editorial Product Review: :One of the funniest episodes in the series' history, 'Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish' features Mr. Burns's corrupt run for governor in order to alleviate the nuclear regulations that hamper his business. It's a dizzying send-up of political cynicism. In 'Bart Vs. Thanksgiving,' Bart gets sent to his room without dinner for torching Lisa's Thanksgiving centerpiece, then runs away from home to the wrong side of the tracks. There, he gives blood to get money, then enjoys a ...
Editorial Product Review: :This tape contains two solid, uncut Simpsons episodes. In 'There's No Disgrace Like Home,' Homer gets upset that his family isn't as happy and contented as the other families he sees at the company picnic. So he takes the advice of a TV commercial and brings the family to see media psychotherapist Dr. Marvin Monroe, who winds up wiring the family to devices that allow them to shock each other, only to see them zap each other at will--hilariously so--and take down the entire ...
Editorial Product Review: :Two classic episodes: In 'Bart Gets Hit by a Car,' Bart gets hit by Mr. Burns and goes to both heaven and hell in a riotous out-of-body experience. But when Homer tries to milk the injury for a windfall lawsuit, he makes the mistake of employing Dr. Nick Riviera ('See that dark spot on the x-ray? That's whiplash!') and lawyer Lionel Hutz (voiced by Phil Hartman). In 'One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish,' Marge talks Homer into trying a sushi restaurant and he ...
Editorial Product Review: :In 'Homer Vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment,' Homer gets an illegal cable hookup and makes a slew of instant friends by offering them a free viewing of a pay-per-view fight. But Lisa worries that her family is headed for hell for stealing and becomes Homer's annoying conscience. In the delightful 'The Way We Was,' Marge and Homer tell the kids the story of how they met, which is both touching and funny, as well as a hilarious satire of the mid-1970s, when Homer ...
Editorial Product Review: :In 'Three Men and a Comic Book,' Bart, Milhouse, and Martin invest their joint savings in a rare copy of a Radioactive Man comic book then succumb to greed and paranoia as each vies for the chance to keep it in his possession overnight. In 'Lisa's Substitute,' Miss Hoover is out sick with Lyme disease, so Lisa's class gets a substitute teacher: the highly engaging Mr. Bergstrom, who not only actually makes learning interesting but recognizes Lisa for the special child she is. Voiced ...
On paper, the Mio DigiWalker P550 looks to be an attractive gadget for the mobile professional, combining the capabilities of a PDA and GPS into one device. However, its poor battery life and subpar navigation skills tell a different story.
Though it won't appeal to the masses quite yet, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet is a nice, portable device for on-the-go Web browsing, and it has some worthy upgrades.
Diesel vehicles have nearly a 50-percent market share in Europe, thanks to tax incentives and diesel-friendly legislation across the EU. Diesels are so passé there that you can buy a BMW 730d and no one will think it odd that your luxury car burns oil. Pull up in a diesel 7-Series in America and people would leer at you like you've alighted from an amphibious vehicle reeking of saltwater and dead trout.
But now, thanks to the oft-reported combo of newly-raised CAFE standards, not-so-newly-raised gas prices, and the 50-state diesel engine, GM, Ford, and Chrysler are about to dip more than a hesitant toe into the diesel game. Chrysler offers a diesel in the Grand Cherokee, but soon all three automakers will offer diesels in their best-selling lineups of light trucks -- the Dodge Ram 1500 is expected to offer a 50-state diesel after 2009. Light trucks are being used to lead the charge since those buyers stand to gain the most with the least amount of (perceived) sacrifice.
Diesels currently have 3.2-percent of the American market. Some estimates put them at 15-percent by 2015. That's a huge leap, and diesel still has plenty of hurdles. Diesels will come with a cost premium over gasoline-engined cars. That should be easy enough to conquer -- incentives and some quick cost and longevity calculations should convince people of the benefit. The real hurdle is the nagging issue of perception. The plan will probably be to attack that with a price that makes the proposition unbeatable. Said Chrysler's director of environmental affairs, "If it's priced right, we can sell diesel here. Diesel can give you an immediate poke in fuel economy -- 20 to 40 percent. Not many technologies can deliver that today."
Diesel vehicles have nearly a 50-percent market share in Europe, thanks to tax incentives and diesel-friendly legislation across the EU. Diesels are so passé there that you can buy a BMW 730d and no one will think it odd that your luxury car burns oil. Pull up in a diesel 7-Series in America and people would leer at you like you've alighted from an amphibious vehicle reeking of saltwater and dead trout.