UK

Crap Towns: The 50 Worst Places to Live in the UK
$14.95
Anyone who has had the good fortune to travel to the UK will hit many of the great sights and cities - London, Edinburgh, York, Durham, Bath and more. But in your quick travels you may have wondered what the British locals feel about those unassuming or even visually disagreeable towns you zip past by train or drive through to get to Stonehenge, the Lake District, Glencoe, Glasgow, searching for Robert the Bruce.

At the beginnings of Rick Steves European Guidebooks, there are large maps of the country in question. All of the larger cities are marked in colours of black or grey. Black locations are "places of touristic interest". But the grey locations are "places of little or no touristic interest." What are these "grey places"?

There is now a remedy - The book "Crap Towns" showcases and exposes those areas of grey, with despair, boredom, and poor council planning leading the way. The lack of jobs, a future, or simple healthy entertainment can lead to a downward spiral of alcoholism and chaz violence. Thatcher's dream fulfilled, and one unlikely to be fixed any decade soon.

Readers of the UK "Idler" magazine submitted letters filled with memories, testimonial, fear, dismay, sadness, bemusement, hope for the distant future. All so that a book could be compiled of the 50 worst cities and towns the UK has to offer.

I will only list a few of the 50 - the fun is in being surprised. Hackney, Hull, Peterhead, Croydon, Morecombe, St. Andrews, Bexhill-On-Sea and Brighton.

The book is thoughtful, blunt, bitter and humanist. The letters written to the Idler and put into the book are thoughtful, funny and informative. The black and white photographs are perfectly chosen and will leave you invigorated in your bleak mood. (Although you may find photos of shattered cars, strewn garbage, misappropriated human waste and the polluted (and unnaturally warm) ocean next to Leiston nuclear power plant

Because this is a British book with British readers in mind, it helps to have a good feel for British slang, culture and perhaps history. But no matter. I cannot recommend "Crap Towns 1" (or its equally strong sequel) highly enough.

Wildcatology Trivia Challenge: Kentucky Wildcats Basketball
$8.95
Updated with fun and interesting facts through the end of the 2007-08 basketball season, Wildcatology Trivia Challenge - Kentucky Wildcats Basketball offers Wildcats fans the opportunity to relive Kentucky's greatest moments, including: -National Championships
-Conference Championships
-Player of the Year Awards
-Team Records
-Player Records
-Hall of Fame
-Player Awards
-Key Player Stats
-Coaching Records
-Key Coaches Stats
-Key Rivalries
-And Much More
Each of the book's 210 MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS set up in game format allows players to give informed answers even for the book's more ambitious questions. In addition, most answers include in-depth supportive background offering the book's players even greater knowledge about correct responses. Here are two sample questions: -Who is the only Wildcat to have won SEC Player of the Year more than once?
-Has Kentucky ever had a player drafter number one overall in the NBA Draft? The book also includes the publisher's unique COOL FACTS placed at the end of each of the first four sections. Cool Facts allow the book's researcher more freedom to highlight and expand on particularly interesting or thought-provoking facts about the team and its history. Two SCORE SHEETS located at the end of the book permit players to record their answers as they play, to calculate their scores for each of the book's five sections as well as their final overall score, and to determine winners for multi-player situations. Free downloadable score sheets are also available from the publisher's Web site. All of this makes Wildcatology Trivia Challenge - Kentucky Wildcats Basketball a great gift for yourself or for friends and family. ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Kick The Ball, Ltd was founded by Paul F. Wilson & Tom P. Rippey III in 2006. Though our company had humble beginnings, a commitment to continual improvement and to maximizing the value of each of our trivia game books has been a part of our vision from the start. The current editions of all of our books represent incremental steps in their evolution. Avid sports fans ourselves, we strive to publish trivia books that we too would want to play at home, at tailgate parties, as we travel, or anywhere else the urge may strike us. We sincerely hope you, your friends, and family enjoy playing our trivia game books as much as we do ourselves. ABOUT TOM P. RIPPEY III AND PAUL F. WILSON
Thompson P. Rippey III is a life-long sports fanatic and entrepreneurial minded Columbus, OH native and current Lewis Center, OH resident. When not spending time with his family and friends Tom can be found absorbing all the day s sports news. Active in the community, Tom has also coached several of his son's little league sports teams. Paul F. Wilson is from Florence, CO and now resides in Aurora, CO. Paul's earliest memories of sports date back to watching football on Sundays with his dad and the many sports he participated in growing up. Paul particularly enjoys creatively bringing an idea to life and then sharing it with someone who truly appreciates it.

Danger Money
$16.98
I'm not sure how Eddie Jobson allegedly "remastered" the three UK albums, "UK," "Danger Money" and "Night After Night," but they sound AWFUL! Stay away and try to track down the original Editions EG pressings. Anything on Glo Digital sounds atrocious! I'm now stuck with these three horrible discs because the retailer would not take them back since they were already open.

Live in America
$12.98
This group of virtuoso's I believe had the potential to rival Yes, King Crimson and the like if they had stayed together for a few more years. The rhythm section of Bruford and Wetton ranks with the best ever (Bruford/Squire, Bruce/Baker, Levin/Bruford, Moon/Entwhistle, Shirley/Ridley, Bonham/Jones etc). Alan Holdsworth is one of the most accomplished and creative guitarists ever and Jobson really good with keyboards and violin. They sound like a cross between ELP, Yes and King Crimson. What a pity they only had one studio album and a couple of live recording with this line up. A selection from the first album and soon to be be relaesd second. Danger Money was a fine record, but to me just lacked electric guitar to embelish the sound, particularly in concert (dont know if that line up ever made a live recording). This is worth getting if you like the seventies style of innovative rock music played live, plus a few Wetton live recordings thrown in to show he does have a decent voice (Asia were too pop orientated and wasted their talents as far as i am concerned).