I don't recall how I was introduced to Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three, the first of the five books comprising the Chronicles of Prydain. I was in my teens. The magic that enthralled me then is still there every time I reread this or any of the other books in the series.

Don't let the fact that this book or the others in the series are categorized as "Young Adult" or "Juvenile Fiction" turn you away. I think too many adults make this mistake, missing out on some very delightful reading.

Each of the books in the series can stand alone as a complete adventure. This first book introduces us to the cast of characters that inhabit the magical world of Prydain.

This book and the series rates a full five stars! That means you need it in your library.

I first heard the name Peter Ostroushko while conversing on the telephone with my wonderfully talented mother. She was excited about a new CD she had just received, "Heart of the Heartland". She let me sample a bit over the telephone. It was a little bit like listening to a 33,600 bps. RealAudio stream with additional background noise. That is to say, it was horrible sound quality. (Can you tell that I despise modem-speed sound streaming technologies for listening to music? Give me a 128 bit MP3 (or even better, a VBR OGG Vorbis (see http://www.vorbis.com) audio file I can download then listen to anytime!) Even so, I heard enough to intrigue me!

A week or more later, as I departed from a visit to my parents' house, I snagged the CD from the kitchen table and asked if I could borrow it. Once home, I popped into my CD player and cranked up the volume. Delicious! I liked it instantly. I knew that I would be buying this CD. I especially like track 3, "Puppy Belly Dance", a lively fiddle of a song!

Sure enough, I did buy it. Over the Internet, of course! (It isn't often that the local music stores have what I want in stock at a good price these days.) Don't tell Amazon.com this, but I bought it at Music Boulevard (which subsequently merged with CDNOW). The prices were the same at Amazon.com and at Music Boulevard, but Music Boulvard`'s shipping blew Amazon.com's away.

So what's the low-down overall? Buy it! You'll love it! (Unless your tastes are different than mine, of course. *grin*)

When I first saw The Incredibles with my sister in the theater, I came home astounded. Wow! At times I forgot completely that I was watching an animated movie, the action was so well done and the story practically perfect. It reminded me of watching Spiderman 2 (which I also loved).

Pixar's done it again! This movie is intense, clean, exiting, the art and design beautiful. I loved the ending credits and watched to the very end.

The instant the movie was available on DVD, I snatched it up. This is a keeper, a must-see movie.

The well-written story and fascinating, believable characters make the movie every bit as enjoyable each time I watch it again.