Comments for G.A.P Adventures – The Great Adventure People

Comment on CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Reviews by MalnMe

MalnMe — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:58:45 +0000

Review by MalnMe for CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Rating: I purchased 2 of these to bring with me to work each day. When I found out they needed to be cleaned with special tablets, I wasn't impressed. As long as one is aware that the bottle needs extra cleaning attention (whether you use the tablets or not, the mouth piece needs special attention to cleaning so you dont get fungus or micro-organisms), then you will be pleased. As for me, I will go back to using my regular sports bottles because they take less time to clean.

Comment on CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Reviews by LLK

LLK — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:20:58 +0000

Review by LLK for CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve
Rating:
I love love love this bottle! I drink a lot of water throughout the course of the day. In fact, I hardly go anywhere without a wattle bottle. What was most troublesome for me was trying to drive and drink water at the same time. Bottles with the screw-on lids were just too cumbersome: either I couldn’t get the lid off with one hand while trying to watch the road, or if I was a passenger, it never failed that the driver would accelerate while I was taking a drink and because of the large mouth of the bottle, I’d end up spilling water all over myself. This bottle was the perfect solution. It is truly spill proof, and I can easily drink out of it while driving, walking, or wherever. And its dishwasher safe!

I have the largest size, the full liter, but I’m planning to buy a smaller one too, just because.

Comment on Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by MLynn

MLynn — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:58:20 +0000

Review by MLynn for Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Rating: I picked up this book on the strength of good reviews and found myself wanting to throw it at the wall. The author is a fine writer with a good sense of humor who seemed to want to write about her journey to self fullfilment, spiritual awakening and happiness. Instead she came off as a priviledged, slightly spoiled writer who needed an excuse for a writers advance so she could travel for free. She reveals herself to be a spiritual narcissist who obsessively navel gazes. While many passages are light hearted and funny and she is oh, so very clever and witty!! there was no real depth, no real meaningful questions asked or answered except for how she could get more breaks and be FULFILLED. It seemed like an extended article for SELF magazine. Instead order books by Kathleen Norris or even Anne LaMott for God's sake!

Comment on CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Reviews by Scones and Tea

Scones and Tea — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:50:55 +0000

Review by Scones and Tea for CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Rating: I love these bottles. My kids love these bottles. They are AMAZING. We drink more water with them than we ever did before.

However, you need to know that the blue bite valve needs to be removed often for washing. I didn't realize this for the first few months I used the bottle! When I finally took it off, there was black mold all inside the bite valve and on the white straw! I was mortified! We had to bleach everything to get it clean again.

Now, I keep a slim toothbrush handy for the purpose of cleaning out the inside of our bite valves. It fits snugly inside of the bite valve and scrubs off the inside ridges.

Comment on The New Yorker (1-year) by Christopher B. Hoehne

Christopher B. Hoehne — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:37:44 +0000

Review by Christopher B. Hoehne for The New Yorker (1-year) Rating: I've subscribed to the New Yorker for at least the last 8 years. Like National Geographic, I find it hard to throw away old issues, and I wind up storing them in boxes imagining that I will someday catch up on missed articles- or revisit old favorites. With a new issue arriving weekly, this is will probably never happen, unless, of course, I suspend my subscription- which I would hate to do.Contrary to its dry and stodgy reputation among those who have never picked up a copy, the New Yorker is eminently engaging and readable. The "New Yorker Style" seems to be one of continuous vivid description- but always to serve the subject. It is like the "NPR: All Things Considered" of print. Indeed, for me, the magazine's ever varied subject matter (no subject is out of bounds for the magazine- as long as it can be presented in an interesting fashion) is often beside the point. A typical article gives a such rich sense of persona and place that makes reading on any topic- whether it be an inside look at a noted political figure or the recent turmoil in Zimbabwe or a trip inside the head of a noted film director (stuff that would hardly interest me otherwise)- a sensual delight. Put another way, one thing all New Yorker writers seem to have in common is an exceptional gift for prose.This is not to say that the magazine is all style and no substance. On the contrary, the New Yorker frequently throws a very big hat into the ring of popular discourse on a wide range of topics. Noted New Yorker writers will frequently pop up on talking-heads shows defending their controversial, yet compelling, assertions. The New Yorker is often in depth- with very little fluff space- that, with minimal page real estate eaten up by graphic designer fill- articles often run to great length. On the other hand, those who are in the mood for a bite sized morsel can read the cartoons, arts reviews at the back of the magazine, or, my favorite part- the Talk of the Town- a half dozen or so slices-of-life features with range from the oddball to the frightening.Writers such as Jeffrey Toobin are often amazingly prescient in their early analysis of various rising luminaries on the political and cultural scene. One reason to hold on to old copies of the magazine is have the ability to go back again and see how much of the political behavior of, say, Dick Cheney, had been foretold by his earlier actions.The New Yorker is also unpretentious. While many articles (and indeed cartoons) assume a bit more in depth cultural and/or pop-cultural knowledge than the unadventurous reader of USA-Today, (or, worse yet, MSN.com) might possess, the writers are not haughty or preachy. Humor abounds, especially in back pages devoted to critics. Though I frequently disagree with film critics Anthony Lane (capricious) and Terrance Rafferty (curmudgeony), their critiques make me laugh out loud. The truly unpretentious nature of the writing of the New Yorker is clearest in the "Shouts and Murmurs" section. Any magazine that prints a lovingly composed work of absolute nonsense by Steve Martin from time to time is worth giving a shot.

Comment on Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by RTCotton

RTCotton — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:34:40 +0000

Review by RTCotton for Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Rating: I forced myself to read up to page 50 or so, only because this book got so many good reviews. But each page was agony for me. This author seems overly concerned with her image. She wants to appear as a hip, clever, wise soul-searcher. Instead she comes across as a self-absorbed, vain teen-ager. And I really, truly wanted to like this book--and was prepared to like it. What I wanted was a book with real emotion, real self-searching. Gilbert's search is superficial, her snide comments come across as unfeeling, and her writing is utterly self-conscious. Blech.

Comment on CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Reviews by L. J. Klein

L. J. Klein — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:57:22 +0000

Review by L. J. Klein for CamelBak BPA-Free Better Bottle with Bite Valve Rating: This is just about the perfect water bottle. The polycarbonate is shatter proof, it holds three cups of liquid, and it has a built-in carry loop. The nozzle is easy to flip down with a built-in thumb tab, and the nozzle works by opening when you bite it. This makes the bottle pretty much leak-proof even when the nozzle is down, and since it is meant to be bitten, you don't end up with ugly teeth marks on it. The included straw makes it convenient to use, but it can be used without the straw if you prefer to tip it. I also like the vivid translucent color (I got a blue one). The only thing that would make it better is if the straw went all the way to the bottom; it stops about 1/4 or 1/2 inch above the bottom.

Comment on The New Yorker (1-year) by K. Wilson

K. Wilson — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:47:45 +0000

Review by K. Wilson for The New Yorker (1-year) Rating: you might get a better deal by calling The New Yorker subsciption office directly: 800-825-2510. My mailed renewal notice price was $89.95/2 years, but they offered me $50/2 years when I called and spoke to a CSR.

Comment on Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by R. Ernst

R. Ernst — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:44:07 +0000

Review by R. Ernst for Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Rating: I had seen all the good reviews on this book and since I am an avid traveler and reader, I was excited to read a memoir from an excellent writer. I was sorely disappointed.

Foremost, I did not even finish the book which is rare for me. I made it halfway through India before I was so disheartened by Ms. Gilbert's narrative voice. There is a difference between sounding funny, candid and likable and sounding petty, conceited and fickle.

While I was reading this book I was genuinely surprised by the lack of empathy Ms. Gilbert had for anyone. Every situation, every comment, every sidestory pointed squarely to herself and her personal problems. I was shocked that she had lived in Rome and India for months and had not been affected by the poverty and corruption. I suppose if you are so caught up in your own problems and all your own shopping and eating that it's difficult to understand that other people around you have far worse problems. Maybe, just maybe looking outside of yourself and giving of yourself you will find self-worth and purpose, self-worth that goes beyond buying new underwear or eating a gorgeous meal or bragging about having a meditation high.

If you want to read a real journey of discovery, love, Italy and food, I would highly recommend Marlena De Blasi's A Thousand Days in Venice. Her narrative voice is far superior and she reveals larger truths from her personal experiences while getting to really know the local people and appreciating their culture.

Comment on The New Yorker (1-year) by Richard Wells

Richard Wells — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:16:41 +0000

Review by Richard Wells for The New Yorker (1-year) Rating: It started in a doctor's waiting room in my adolescence. Great cartoons, and the best were Charles Addams's. Sooo macabre, and like looking at something vaguely forbidden. Then there were the one paragraph reviews - the movie reviews especially. Growing up in Erie, PA, didn't give me much of a chance to see the variety of films in the New Yorker, but that taste of what I was missing was one of the things that got me out of Erie as soon as I could "git." As I grew, so did the depth of my reading, and the New Yorker always had something to offer. I was especially pleased when a Profile of magazine length would come out - everything you never wanted to know about someone you never heard of, but if it was in the New Yorker the subject became someone worth knowing. The New Yorker expanded my world. Years of reading finally got us to Tricia Brown and her near successful attempt to ruin a great magazine. She pushed the New Yorker from an art and literary journal into celebrity journalism, and did her best to skuttle the cartoons as well. Thank goodness she didn't last. Once David Remnick took the reins the mag was back on track, and though I'm not totally pleased with the modern New Yorker Remnick has returned it to a high percentage of its former value. I just can't do without the New Yorker. When I travel out of country it's the only thing I miss. When I'm home it's the best thing in my mailbox. The New Yorker is an American treasure, and a little bit like New York itself - exciting, brash, clever, and stimulating. Subscribe!