PIRATES GOODS - ITEMS DETAILS

NFT_06: WINDMILL SELECTION OF NON FICTION

2009-08-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

MYTHS, MURDERS & MYSTEREIS
Allows readers to explore the characteristics of a range of fiction genres: myths, ghost and horror, crime and mystery an science fiction. Contains 16 enjoyable stories by authors like Roald Dahl and Charles Dickens.

REAL PEOPLE, REAL PLACES
Contains non fiction writeen by a wide variety of people from a range of different cultures throughout the centuries. Includes: Autobiography, Biography, Diaries, Letters, travel Writting and Journalism.

REAL LIVES, REAL TIMES
Sutiable for Year 7-8 students. A variety of stimulating texts from different genres including: autobiography, letters, reports, diaries and information texts. Thematic units include Hautings, Travel, Hard Times and First World War

VDCDVD_05: MY MVP VALENTINE (MVP 情人）VCD

2009-08-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

In this drama based on basketball (and somewhat on the anime Slam Dunk), a Taiwanese national team basketballer, Yan Xing Shu plays the lead Duan Chen Feng, whose world consists of his 2 greatest loves: basketball and his girlfriend, Xiao Xi (Angela Zhang). They find their perfect world shattered, however, when on the day of his most important match, Duan Chen Feng has an accident on his way to the competition, and paralyses Angel (Margaret Lin), who just happens to be the sister of Iceman (David Chen), his biggest opponent since they were young. To shoulder his responsibilty, Chen Feng leaves school and his basketball so that he can take care of Angel. Xiaoxi, who does not know the reason behind Chen Feng's leaving school and giving up his beloved basketball, is heartbroken and bewildered. At about the same time, the other lead male character Tai Zi, or Prince (Tony Sun of 5566), enters the plot. He falls in love with Xiao Xi's plucky and determined character.chen feng's gentleness to angel causes angel to have feelings for him....how complicated can this love triangle be?

FIC_21: MY SISTER'S KEEPER

2009-08-08T07:57:00.001-07:00

Anna came into the world via in Vitro fertilization, so that she would be a genetic match for her older sister Kate, who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia when she was 2 years old. When Anna was born, her cord blood was donated to Kate, but when the leukemia returned, Anna then had to donate her blood and bone marrow. When Kate's kidneys fail, Anna is expected to donate one of her own, but she hires a lawyer to be medically emancipated from her parents and gain the right to make the decision herself. Her lawyer, Campbell Alexander, works for her pro bono. Anna sadly dies in the end from a car accident and her organs are donated to Kate, who ends up surviving.

ANM_09: SLAMDUNK ANIME

2009-08-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

NOTE: THE ANIME FOLLOW THE PLOT OF ITS MANAG EXCEPT THAT IT EXCLUDES THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT GAMES

Slam Dunk centers around Hanamichi Sakuragi, who starts as a delinquent outcast, becoming the leader of a gang. Hanamichi, being very unpopular with girls, has been rejected by them fifty times. Yet, he finds out that Haruko Akagi is the girl of his dreams, and is happy when she's not scared of him like all the other girls he has asked out.

Haruko Akagi, who recognizes Hanamichi's athleticism, introduces him to the Shohoku basketball team. Hanamichi was reluctant to join the team at first because he had no previous background in any sports and thought that basketball was a game for losers (also because the fiftieth girl rejected him for a basketball player). Sakuragi, despite his immaturity and hot temper, proves to be a natural athlete with potential and joins the team in order to impress Haruko and prove that he is worthy of her. Kaede Rukawa — Sakuragi's bitter rival (both on the basketball court and love, even when Rukawa doesn't acknowledge Haruko's crush on him), the star rookie and a "girl magnet" - joins the team at the same time. Hisashi Mitsui, an ex-junior high school MVP, and Ryota Miyagi , a short but fast player, both also rejoin the team and together these four struggle to complete team captain Takenori Akagi's dream of making Shohoku the national champion. Together, these misfits gain publicity and the once little known Shohoku basketball team becomes an all-star contender in Japan.

COM_05: SHAMAN KING MANGA

2009-07-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

Manta Oyamada, a shrimpy, studious middle-school student from Tokyo, attempts a shortcut one night through the graveyard to get home after a late night of cram school. While travelling through it, he encounters Yoh Asakura and his "companions": a graveyard filled with ghosts. Yoh reveals himself to be a shaman, a medium between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead. Yoh also demonstrates Shamans' ability to unite with ghosts to achieve a shared goal. Over the first few chapters, Yoh and Manta become best friends while Yoh uses his shamanic abilities to help them out through various normal tasks.

The Shaman Fight is a battle held once every 500 years between competing shamans to choose a winner who will become the highly sought-after "Shaman King", one who is able to contact the Great Spirit (the spirit that every soul will eventually go back to). The winner gains the ability to reshape the world in any way they want. Anna Kyoyama, Yoh's fiancée, soon enters the picture and prescribes a brutal training regimen, in order to prepare Yoh for the tournament. Thus begins the plot that will lead Yoh on a journey that will lead him to befriend Ryu, Tao Ren, Horohoro, Faust VIII, Lyserg Diethel, and Joco.

During the Shaman Fight, Yoh encounters Hao Asakura, a strong shaman who wishes to eradicate humans and create a world for shamans. At the end of the shaman battles where the remaining teams consist of Yoh and his friends, the X-Laws, and Hao's team, the remaining teams decide to forfeit the tournament crowning Hao the title of Shaman King. As Hao is led away, they decide to attack Hao during the time he is merging with the great spirit which is in a deep slumber. To do so, Yoh and his friends must defeat the The Patch Tribe members who are obliged to serve under the new Shaman King.

Once defeating the ten Patch members, Hao is awakened as the Shaman King. He defeats Yoh and all his friends and absorbs their souls. The souls that Hao absorbed however, work together and manage to defeat Hao. Upon his defeat, their souls are released and return back to the real world where they are reunited with their bodies.

COM_04: SAMURAI DEEPER KYO MANGA

2009-07-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

Underlying the principle story arc of Kyo's search to reclaim his body, there are many smaller arcs, each leading to the next one. The basis of many later revelations are established many volumes in advance. In the manga, it is revealed that all of the Mibu, except for Kyo, are descendants of "Battle Dolls", creatures created by the Mibu to fight for their amusement. In time, the Battle Dolls come to believe they were the real Mibu, and that the real Mibu were destroyed by in fighting. The extant Mibu are gradually being killed by the "Disease of Death". Muramasa's sister was the first to be killed by the Mibu Disease, but others soon followed. The disease manifests itself when the infected person reaches a certain age. For this reason, the aging process has been stopped in Antera, Tokito, and probably others.

COM_03: HIKARU NO GO MANGA

2009-07-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

While exploring his grandfather's shed, Hikaru stumbles across a Go board haunted by the spirit of Fujiwara-no-Sai, a fictional Go player from the Heian era. Sai wishes to play Go again, having not been able to since the late Edo period, when his ghost appeared to Honinbō Shūsaku, an actual Go player of that period. Sai's greatest desire is to attain the Kami-no-Itte (神の一手) – "Divine Move", or the "Hand of God" – a perfect game. Because Hikaru is apparently the only person who can perceive him, Sai inhabits a part of Hikaru's mind as a separate personality, coexisting, although not always comfortably, with the child.

Urged by Sai, Hikaru begins playing Go despite an initial lack of interest in the game. He begins by mimicking the moves Sai dictates to him, but Sai tells him to try to understand each move. In a Go salon, Hikaru defeats Akira Toya twice, a boy his age who plays Go at professional level, by following Sai's instruction. Akira subsequently begins a quest to discover the source of Hikaru's strength, an obsession which will come to dominate his life.

Hikaru becomes intrigued by the great dedication of Akira and Sai to the game and decides to start playing solely on his own. He is a complete novice at first, but has some unique abilities to his advantage; for instance, once he has a basic understanding of Go, he can reconstruct a game play by play from memory. Through training at Go clubs, study groups, and practice games with Sai, he manages to become an insei and later a pro, meeting various dedicated Go players of different ages and styles along the way. While Hikaru is at this point not yet up to the level of Akira, he demonstrates a natural talent for the game and remains determined to prove his own abilities to Akira, Sai, and himself.

COM_02: GENSOMADEN SAIYUKI MANGA

2009-07-18T00:39:00.000-07:00

Saiyuki is the story of four anti-heroes: the monk Genjyo Sanzo (or just "Sanzo"), the monkey king Son Goku, the half-demon Sha Gojyo, and the man turned demon Cho Hakkai (formerly known as Cho Gonou). They have been dispatched by the Sanbutsushin (the Three Aspects of Buddha, who relay the orders of heaven) to travel to India to stop the possible resurrection of the Bull-Demon-King, Gyumaoh. Along the way they are beset by inept assassins, bad weather, and their own tragic personal pasts. Meanwhile, the villains, two unlikely confidants, Gyokumen Koushou (Gyumaoh's concubine, a demon) and a mad scientist, Dr. Ni Jianyi (a human), continue their attempts to restore the long-dead king. These experiments, a forbidden mixture of science and magic, spawn the "Minus Wave", infecting all of the demons in Shangri-La with madness, shattering the fragile peace that once existed between humans and demons.

PCG_04: X-PLANE 8

2009-07-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

X-Plane is the world's most comprehensive, powerful flight simulator, and has the most realistic flight model available for personal computers.

Welcome to the world of props, jets, single- and multi-engine airplanes, as well as gliders, helicopters and VTOLs such as the V-22 Osprey and AV8-B Harrier.

X-Plane comes with subsonic and supersonic flight dynamics, sporting aircraft from the Bell 206 Jet-Ranger helicopter and Cessna 172 light plane to the supersonic SR-71 and Space Shuttle. X-Plane comes with about 40 aircraft spanning the aviation industry (and history), and several thousand more are freely downloadable from the internet. (See www.X-Plane.org as a good place to start).

X-Plane scenery is world-wide, with scenery for the entire planet Earth between -60 and +74 degrees lattiude. We also have MARS scenery! (thanks to the Mars Orbiting Laser Altimeter, which mapped that planet's elevation) You can land at any of over 18,000 airports, as well as test your mettle on aircraft carriers, helipads on building tops, frigates that pitch and roll in the waves, and oil rigs.
Weather is variable from clear skies and high visibility to thunderstorms with controllable wind, wind shear, turbulence, and microbursts! Rain, snow and clouds are available for an instrument flying challenge, and thermals are available for the gliders! Real weather conditions can be downloaded from the internet, allowing you to fly in the actual weather that currently exists!

X-Plane also has detailed failure-modeling, with 35 systems that can be failed manually or randomly, when you least expect it! You can fail instruments, engines, flight controls, and landing gear at any moment.

While X-Plane is the world's most COMPREHENSIVE flight sim, your purchase also comes with Plane-Maker (to create your own airplanes) World-Maker (to create your own scenery), and Weather Briefer (to get a weather briefing before the flight if you use real weather conditions downloaded from the net).

X-Plane is also extremely customizable, allowing you to easily create textures, sounds, and instrument panels for your own airplanes that you design or the planes that come with the sim.

X-Plane's accuracy (in flight model), scope (in aircraft and terrain coverage), versatility (in aircraft type and weather conditions), add-on programs (in aircraft and scenery editors), user-customizability, downloadable aircraft, and downloadable scenery makes it the ULTIMATE flight simulation experience for Macintosh AND Windows platforms.

X-Plane's flight model can handle flying wings and fly-by-wire systems, as needed for a B-2 simulation.

How it Works:

X-Plane reads in the geometric shape of any aircraft and then figures out how that aircraft will fly. It does this by an engineering process called "blade element theory", which involves breaking the aircraft down into many small elements and then finding the forces on each little element many times per second. These forces are then converted into accelerations which are then integrated to velocities and positions... of course, all of this technical theory is completely transparent to you... you just fly! It's fun!

X-Plane goes through the following steps to propagate the flight:

1: Element Break-Down
Done only once during initialization, X-Plane breaks the wing(s), horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer(s), and propeller(s) (if equipped) down into a finite number of elements. The number of elements is decided by the user in Plane-Maker. Ten elements per side per wing or stabilizer is the maximum, and studies have shown that this provides roll rates and accelerations that are very close to the values that would be found with a much larger number of elements.

2: Velocity Determination
This is done twice per cycle. The aircraft linear and angular velocities, along with the longitudinal, lateral, and vertical arms of each element are considered to find the velocity vector of each element. Downwash, propwash, and induced angle of attack from lift-augmentation devices are all considered when finding the velocity vector of each element.
Propwash is found by looking at the area of each propeller disk, and the thrust of each propeller. Using local air density, X-Plane determines the propwash required for momentum to be conserved.
Downwash is found by looking at the aspect ratio, taper ratio, and sweep of the wing, and the horizontal and vertical distance of the "washed surface" (normally the horizontal stabilizer) from the "washing surface" (normally the wing), and then going to an empirical look-up table to get the degrees of downwash generated per coefficient of lift.

3: Coefficient Determination
The airfoil data entered in Part-Maker is 2-dimensional, so X-Plane applies finite wing lift-slope reduction, finite-wing CLmax reduction, finite-wing induced drag, and finite-wing moment reduction appropriate to the aspect ratio, taper ratio, and sweep of the wing, horizontal stabilizer, vertical stabilizer, or propeller blade in question. Compressible flow effects are considered using Prandtl-Glauert, but transonic effects are not simulated other than an empirical mach-divergent drag increase. In supersonic flight, the airfoil is considered to be a diamond shape with the appropriate thickness ratio... pressures behind the shock waves are found on each of the plates in the diamond-shaped airfoil and summed to give the total pressures on the foil element.

4: Force Build-Up
Using the coefficients just determined in step 3, areas determined during step 1, and dynamic pressures (determined separately for each element based on aircraft speed, altitude, temperature, propwash and wing sweep), the forces are found and summed for the entire aircraft. Forces are then divided by the aircraft mass for linear accelerations, and moments of inertia for angular accelerations.

5: Get Back to Work
Go back to step 2 and do the whole thing over again at least 15 times per second. Aren't computers great?

Your X-Plane CD comes with several programs:

Airfoil-Maker (to make airfoils for your aircraft if you would like to make your own planes).
Plane-Maker (to make your own planes and helos if desired)
Weather-Briefer (to get a weather-briefing before your flight if desired)
X-Plane (the actual flight simulator)

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows: any chip, 2GHZ+
Mac: G4 or G5 or Intel 2 ghz+
Linux x86: any chip, 2 ghz+
RAM: 1 gig for speed
Disk Space: 70 gig
3-D Card: DVD-DL
VRAM: 32meg
Monitor/Yoke: USB

CSL_02: STAR WARS - JEDI KNIGHT: JEDI ACADEMY (X-BOX)

2009-07-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

Single-player
The player initially chooses the character's species and gender. The player can then create a custom lightsaber by selecting a hilt and one of five blade colors.[2] As players progress, they will be allowed the option of continuing to use a single saber or opting for dual sabers, one in each hand, or a "saber staff" similar to Darth Maul's double ended lightsaber in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Instead of moving linearly from one level to the next, the player chooses from a selection of different missions. Several missions are optional and are thus unnecessary to finish the game.[4] Between missions the player can choose one of their force skills to improve. This will increase the impact of each force power and so makes the character more powerful as the game progresses. The game also introduces player-controllable vehicles and vehicle-based levels.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer mode, one can play online or on a local area network (LAN) with other players. The player can create their avatar using a series of options similar to the character creation in single player. Alternatively the player can choose to play as one of almost all of the existing characters from Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy.

There are different Multiplayer modes such as Capture the flag, Power Duel and Siege. Depending on the mode, players can play on their own or as part of a team. Players can choose their role that they're going to play in the game by choosing a "class" for their character. There are six multiplayer modes in total.

There are many multiplayer modifications for Jedi Academy, one of the most notable is Movie Battles II which allows players to take part in lightsaber duels that featured in the Star Wars films.[9] This however, because the game was not meant to manually block, causes extreme problems with the sabering system that was put in place. The saber will hit and not respond, or players will block when clearly they were not. This in turn causes many players to move to a place deemed "Base" in the Jedi Academy community, or the only place where the real game is still played. Movie Battles lets players choose different classes of character, ranging from Jedi Knight to Wookiee. The maps are designed to closely recreate the locations seen in the films. The modification was lead by Richard Hart, who took the project on as a hobby.

Plot
The player takes the role of Jaden Korr, a new student arriving at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Jaden, along with fellow student Rosh Penin, becomes an apprentice to Kyle Katarn, the main protagonist of the previous games. As an apprentice, the player is dispatched on various peace-keeping missions across the galaxy.

As the game progresses, Jaden encounters the Disciples of Ragnos, a Sith cult who are stealing Force energy from various locations across the galaxy. The player learns that the cult is lead by Tavion, the former apprentice of Kyle's nemesis Desann from Jedi Outcast. Tavion has recovered the Scepter Of Ragnos, which has the power to drain and release Force energy. She plans to restore the Sith to power by using the stolen Force energy to resurrect an ancient Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos.

The story has two different endings, depending on which side of the Force the player chooses. After learning that Rosh has betrayed the Jedi and joined Tavion, the player can choose either killing him and turning to the dark side or letting him live thus staying on the light side.

If the player follows the dark side, Jaden kills Rosh but refuses to join the Sith or help resurrect Marka Ragnos. Jaden kills Tavion to steal the power of the Scepter of Ragnos and, after defeating Kyle in combat, embarks on a campaign of conquest. On the light path, Kyle and Jaden rescue Rosh. Jaden heads to the Tomb of Ragnos to confront Tavion. After besting her in a fight, her body is possessed by Ragnos' ghost. Jaden destroys the Scepter, banishing Ragnos' spirit back into its tomb after defeating it. In both endings Tavion is killed

CSL_01: PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 2 (X-BOX)

2009-07-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

There are three main parts to the single player game: Kudos World Series, Arcade Racing and Time Attack.

In kudos world series the player has to complete a series of races in 14 different categories of car. The player begins with just three cars in the Compact Sports Series and eventually can have access to 102 cars (118 cars after purchase of the downloadable content). Most cars can be bought in exchange for kudos tokens, although some can only be obtained by completing enough races at a high level.

In arcade racing there are 60 medals available, 20 each for street racing, timed runs and cone challenges. Each race is with a preset car and track.

Time attack does not use kudos, the aim is for the player to try to get round the circuits as fast as possible. The player can either choose circuit or car challenges. In circuit challenge the player can choose from a selection of up to 92 circuits and then choose any car to race in. In car challenge the player can choose from a selection of up to 102 cars and race on a predetermined circuit. In both styles circuits and cars may only be chosen if they have previously been unlocked in kudos world series or arcade racing. If you enter the showroom, you can view and test drive all cars on a test track. You can also race against a ghost car that got the record time. If you like the car and have enough kudos, you can buy it.

In addition to the usual performance cars and supercars, this game marks the debut of crossover SUVs to the series. The most powerful in the class is the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. It also marked the debut of pickup trucks, including the Ford Lightning. None of these would be seen in the third, though Project Gotham Racing 4 would use the GMC Syclone.

ELE_02: SAMSUNG CAMCORDER

2009-07-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Though the Samsung VP-X105L hints at great things to come for tapeless camcorders, it also proves that those heady days haven't quite arrived yet. It offers an extremely compact design--it's smaller than you'd think--and a novel external camera attachment that can be mounted on your head or shoulder to chronicle extreme sports. Unfortunately, the VP-X105L's video quality leaves much to be desired, making this camcorder a realistic option only for those who value the experience of taking videos more highly than that of watching them.

A fetching design is one of the Samsung VP-X105L's hallmarks--while testing it, no fewer than a half-dozen different friends and close relations gushed "cool camera," "ooh, where'd you get that," and other variations on same. Indeed, the VP-X105L deserves the attention; dispensing with MiniDV has allowed Samsung to shrink the camcorder into a petite number, with few of the weird bumps and none of the Velcro straps that characterize heavier camcorders that use larger media.

Those prone to dropping expensive electronics will appreciate the VP-X105L's rubberized black-and-blue body, which gives the camcorder a solid, no-slip feel. What's more, the combination of small size and a good grip makes this device well suited to long shoots; since it's physically equivalent to holding one of those battery-powered minifans in front of your face, your subject will likely tire of being filmed long before you're ready to put the camera down.

Partially owing to the VP-X105L's smallish feature set, the camcorder's controls are quite simple and easily mastered after a couple of minutes. A spring-loaded switch turns the camera on and off, and switching from video to any other mode is as simple as repeatedly sliding the switch back to the On position. The zoom controls also serve as up and down buttons when you're within a menu and are located (along with the Enter and Back buttons) within easy reach of your thumb at the top of the camcorder. The menu system is well designed and simple to navigate, though you'll have to hunt through a couple of levels before you find the setting for enabling the external camera.

FIC_20: GOOSEBUMPS: COLLECTION 9 & 12

2009-07-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

GHOST BEACH:
Jerry can't wait to explore the cave he's discovered at the beach. And he gets even more excited when he hears about the ghost and starts finding the strange little skeletons. Everybody tells him it could be dangerous but he can't help being intrigued and no one can stop him visiting the cave.

PHANTOM OF THE AUDITORIUM
Brooke and Zeke are playing the lead roles in their school play, "The Phantom", and think rehearsing will be such fun. But things start going wrong, scary things happen and strange messages appear from somewhere. Is the play cursed? Maybe there is a real phantom trying to stop the play.

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SINK
Kat and her brother have just moved to a great new house. It would be perfect, if only their dog, Killer, would cheer up and stop growling at something under the kitchen sink. They soon discover that the dog has sniffed out something awful, something that could ruin their lives forever.

THE HEADLESS GOHST
Loving Hill House, an enormous tourist attraction that is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of a thirteen-year-old headless boy, Duane and Stephanie decide to search for the ghost's head and get the biggest scare of their lives.

HOW I GOT MY SHRUNKEN HEAD
Aunt Benna sends Mark a shrunken head as a gift, all the way from the jungle island of Baladora, along with an invitation to visit her. When Mark arrives someone thinks he holds the secret to Jungle Magic, and that someone wants Mark's head. However, they don't mean the shrunken head.

The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena
Jordan Blake and his sister Nicole live in hot Pasadena, and they crave for a real winter. They get their chance when their dad takes them to Alaska. The only catch is that he wants to photograph the Abominable Snowman who isn't very friendly at all.

FIC_19: ANIMORPHS

2009-07-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

#46: THE DECEPTION:
The Animorphs and Ax have managed to contract the Andalite home world. But the battle is far from over. Visser Two has arrived to Earth, and he' not happy about the state of things. He decides the best way to take over Earth is to have the humans destroy the people and the land the Yeerks don't need. He decides to start World War III.

Ax and his friends know that Visser Two means business and there will probably only be two ways to keep him from destroying everything they know: Find a way to stop the war. Or find a way to stop him...forever.

MEGAMORPHS #3:
We found out who Visser Four is. And he has found the Time Matrix. The machine Elfangor had hidden in the abandoned construction site. The same place we met him on a night none of us will ever forget. Especially me. Now Visser Four has the Matrix, and he plans to use it to become Visser One.

But Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Ax and I can't let that happen. We can't let him alter time so that the Yeerks will win the invasion. So we're prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. And, ultimately one of us will lose this fight...

MEET THE STARS OF ANIMORPHS:
The best-selling book series is now a hit live-action TV show!! And now, you'll get the chance to find out about your favorite characters, their stories on and off the set, and even get the real deal on what it was like to train and work with the animals.
Who accidentally stuck his fingers up a tiger's nose? Who fed a hawk a chicken leg? Who was completely "terrified" auditioning in front of a television camera? Who likes a certain type of "Turkey"? And whose funniest moment on the set involved another actor "flying" (sort of)?
Get the answers to these questions and more. But remember to be careful who you share the info with. You know who is still out there...

ANM_8: GODANNAR ANIME VCD

2009-07-11T01:19:00.000-07:00

Five years ago, while battling an alien force known as the "Mimesis," Dannar pilot Goh Saruwatari first met Anna Aoi. Today, on the day of their wedding, the ceremony is interrupted when the Mimesis strike again. As Goh struggles in his battle against the alien threat, Anna stumbles upon a top secret robot known as the "Neo-Okusaer" and uses it as a last-resort to save her fiancee. At that moment, Dannar and Neo-Okusaer merge to become the mighty robot "Godannar."

PCG_03: BATTLEFIELD 2

2009-06-20T08:15:00.000-07:00

BF2 includes a single-player mode with three difficulty levels and a multiplayer mode via the Internet or a Local area network. Both player modes use the same maps and use Battlefield's conquest game mode. Single-player mode allows 16 computer controlled players,while Internet mode allows up to 64 players. Players can choose to play 3 factions, the United States Marine Corps, the People's Liberation Army, or the "Middle Eastern Coalition". Additional factions are playable through the expansion packs, such as the European Union.

In Battlefield 2, players are divided into two opposing sides (which armies they represent is dependent upon the map). There are two key concepts in Battlefield 2: tickets and control points. Tickets represent an army's ability to reinforce their position on the battlefield; each team has only a limited supply of tickets, and each casualty on the battlefield reduces the number of available tickets. Control points represent key points on the map, and are represented by flags. Control points are Battlefield 2's spawn points, and one side possessing a significant majority of the control points puts pressure on the opposing side, resulting in a steady loss of tickets for the pressured side, regardless of casualties. A round ends when one team's tickets fall to zero, the round's timer ends, or if at any point a side holds no control points, and has no soldiers alive on the battlefield (meaning the side no longer has any effective presence on the battlefield).

Battlefield 2's two game modes are Conquest and Cooperative. The only difference between the two modes is that Cooperative includes computer controlled players, whilst Conquest allows only human players. Results from Cooperative mode do not count toward global player statistics.

Infantry classes
In Battlefield 2, as with previous Battlefield titles, players are able to select from a variety of infantry classes. Each class of soldier is equipped with different weaponry appropriate to their role in the battle. Assault soldiers, for example, are general-purpose infantry with grenade-launcher equipped assault-rifles and extra armor, Medics carry first-aid equipment such as a field defibrillator, and Anti-Tank troopers are equipped with missiles which are effective against heavy armor.

Players are able to choose a class at the start of a match, or between dying and respawning once the match has begun. Players can also change their class by picking up a "kit" from the body of an incapacitated soldier, friendly or otherwise. Hence, an Assault soldier can become a Medic if they come across a fallen Medic. Possible player classes are Spec Ops, Sniper, Assault, Support, Engineer, Medic and Anti-Tank.

Heavy classes: Assault, Support, Anti-tank. They have heavy armor but lower stamina.
Light classes: Spec Ops, Sniper, Engineer, Medic. These classes have no armor, but are able to run for a long time.

This diversity between classes, along with their special abilities, provides many more tactical options than other popular shooters.

Within the infantry class, there are three support classes with special abilities. The engineer can repair with his wrench, the medic can revive with his defibrillator paddles and heal, the support can resupply ammunition with his ammo bags. These special abilities are helpful to other players. When one of the these three classes occupies a vehicle, nearby personnel and vehicles can be replenished, repaired or healed by being in close proximity.

Vehicles

A M1A2 Abrams in-game firing its main cannon.The various forces still use the trademark feature of the Battlefield series - the large stable of vehicles that any player can climb into and control.[6] There are many different types of vehicles playable in Battlefield 2. They are all based on real-life vehicles used by the militaries of different countries.

There are about 30 vehicles available for use ranging from main battle tanks such as the M1A2 Abrams to fast transports like the Desert Patrol Vehicle. In contrast to Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2 has only one purely water-based vehicle, the rigid-inflatable boat, however, the BTR-90, the MEC APC, can travel in water as well as the LAV-25 and the WZ 551, the USMC and PLA equivalents, respectively. The developers designed the game so that every vehicle would be weak to another type of vehicle, creating a situation similar to a game of rock-paper-scissors. For example, mobile anti-air was intended to effectively destroy helicopters, but are vulnerable against opposing tanks. Included within this relationship are stationary defenses such as light machine guns and anti-aircraft/TOW emplacements. The availability and number of certain vehicles are dependent on the map and its size as well as control points captured. Also, more vehicles become available to be used on the maps of expansion/booster packs. The USS Essex is the only naval ship featured in BF2, featuring two spawn points and aircraft spawn points, and is not drivable or destroyable, except for its Phalanx turrets (the placement of which does not resemble the Essex in real life).

Minimum System Requirements
1.7 Ghz CPU

512 MB RAM

128 MB video card supporting 1.4 shaders (ATI Radeon 8500 / NVIDIA FX 5700 or above)
Windows XP Operating System (does not work on Windows 2000/Me)

Recommended System Requirements:
2.66 Ghz CPU

1024 MB RAM

256 MB video card supporting 1.4 shaders (ATI Radeon X700 / NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT or above)
Windows XP Operating System (does not work on Windows 2000/Me)

PCG_02: COMMAND AND CONQUER 3 TIBERIUM WARS

2009-06-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Gameplay
Command & Conquer 3 gameplay typically requires the player to construct a base and acquire resources, in order to fund the ongoing production of various types of forces with which to assault and conquer the opponent's base. All available structures of the faction chosen by the player are constructed on-site at so-called "construction yard" or "drone platform" buildings - which typically begin as large-sized vehicles or aircraft capable of deploying themselves into the aforementioned construction yards or drone platforms - or alternatively at the supporting "crane" and "foundry" structures. When a construction yard, drone platform, crane or foundry has finished building a new structure, the player can select a spot near to a pre-existing structure in order to place it, where the prefabricated building will then rapidly unfold in a distinctive manner.

Tiberium, the game's sole resource (except for the optional "Tiberium Spikes" and occasional "money crates"), is acquired by specialized "harvester" units which bring their cargo to a "refinery" structure. This in turn will convert the Tiberium crystals into usable resources, expressed as credits. The Tiberium itself requires storage space in the form of refineries and, in the case of excess when playing as the Global Defense Initiative or Brotherhood of Nod factions, "storage silo" structures.

All three factions have structures and units with similar functions at their disposal. However, they are adjusted to fit each faction's theme and have somewhat varying properties. Units can be classified into infantry, vehicles and aircraft, each with their own subdivisions (against infantry, vehicles, aircraft, structures and combinations thereof). Unit effectiveness against opponents follows the rock-paper-scissors principle found in most real-time strategy games.

Virtually every type of structure in the game acts as a tech tree node, and additional units, structures and faction-specific abilities will become available as new structures are built and placed. Access to advanced units and abilities may be temporarily blocked if the required structures are destroyed, or if they are not being provided with adequate power by the supporting "power plant" structures.

Base defense is provided by specialized defensive towers. Later on in the game, the player can begin to build lethal defensive structures such as the Global Defense Initiative's "Sonic Emitters", the Scrin's "Storm Columns" or the iconic "Obelisk of Light" of the Brotherhood of Nod.

Single player
The story driven single player mode of Command & Conquer 3 consists of 38 missions[6], spread over three campaigns. Each campaign depicts the view of its respective faction on the globalized "Third Tiberium War", with the portrayed story being furthered by full motion video cutscenes which play in between each of the individual campaign missions. Players can select to start with either the Global Defense Initiative or the Brotherhood of Nod campaign. However, both campaigns of the traditional two factions are required to be completed before the bonus 4 part campaign of the new third Scrin faction is unlocked and becomes playable.

Each campaign mission features main objectives, the completion of which will instantly end the mission successfully. Several optional bonus objectives are additionally present, which can, when completed, make it easier for the main objectives to be completed. All campaign missions can separately be given a difficulty rating on the "theater" screen before they are started; the available difficulty settings range from "Easy" to "Normal" to "Hard".

As the player progresses through one of the campaigns, new entries in the game's "Intelligence Database" become unlocked, providing the player with additional background information on the storyline, the factions, as well as their units and structures. Several of these database entries require the player to complete the bonus objectives of the various missions before they can be accessed. However, due to bugs in the game's code two entries cannot be collected without the use of a downloaded mod. All cutscenes which the player has unlocked by progressing through the campaigns are made available for viewing at any time within the game's "Transmission Log" menu.

The skirmish mode in Tiberium Wars features numerous AI settings which each embody a type - or a combination of types - of classic RTS strategies, such as "turtler", "rusher" and "steamroller". These behavioral settings can additionally be given a difficulty rating ranging from "Easy" to "Medium" to "Hard" to "Brutal", along with "handicap" settings that can be applied to either the AI, the player, or both. Whenever a skirmish mission is successfully completed, a star is placed next to the map in the skirmish menu, showing that the player has successfully won the skirmish on a certain difficulty level.

Multiplayer
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars supports multiplayer games over LAN, and online play over Gamespy servers. Players can participate in "1v1", "2v2", and clan-based "1v1" and "2v2" ladders - each using separate Elo rating systems - or they can elect to play unranked. In addition to the official ladders, a number of independent ladders have been set up, the most prominent of which currently is "clanwars.cc".
Broadband-based multiplayer features VoIP support.

Required System:
Microsoft Windows XP
PC with 1.6 Ghz equivalent or higher processor
256 MB of system RAM
512 MB of system RAM for online play with 3 or more players
6 GB available hard disk space
8x speed or faster CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive (for the Collector's Edition)
64 MB GeForce3-class video card. The game only officially supports cards with ATI (Radeon 8500 or greater) and Nvidia chipsets, and the Intel GMA 900 and GMA 950 products. The GeForce 4 MX is not supported
Sound card with speakers or headphones
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
56.6 Kbps or better modem for 1v1 online play
Broadband connection for online play with 3 or more players
DirectX 9.0c or above.

Minimum Required Specs:
Windows XP or Windows 2000
1.3 GHz Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon processor
256 MB RAM
Nvidia GeForce2 or equivalent video card with 32 MB RAM
DirectX 9.0b compatible sound card
4 GB available hard disk space
Please note that while you will be able to play The Battle for Middle-earth(tm) with the specifications above, play experience can benefit from additional RAM, above the required 256 MB
Nvidia GeForce2 MX is not supported.

FIC_14: LONE WOLF GAMEBOOK

2009-06-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

The story focuses on the fictional world of Magnamund, where the forces of good and evil fight for control of this planet in a final showdown. The protagonist is Lone Wolf, last of his caste of warrior monks known as Kai lords. The book series is written in the second person and recounts Lone Wolf's adventures as if the reader is the main character. As Lone Wolf, the reader makes choices at regular intervals throughout the story which then change the course, and the final outcome, of the book.

VCDDVD_04: BANDS OF BROTHER VCD

2009-06-06T06:23:00.000-07:00

The Band of Brothers miniseries details, if at times exaggerated or condensed, the real-life exploits of Easy Company during the Second World War over the course of ten episodes, starting with their basic training at the Currahee training site in Toccoa, Georgia and ending with the capitulation of Germany. The experiences of Major Richard Winters (1918–) are a primary focus, as he attempts to keep his men together and safe. While the series stars a large ensemble cast, episodes generally feature one character prominently, following their particular actions during certain events (for example, the Siege of Bastogne & Operation Market Garden).

As the series is based on real-life events, characters befall the same fate as their real world counterparts. Numerous characters either die or sustain injuries, some of which lead to them being sent home or escaping from the hospital to rejoin their comrades at the battlefront. The experiences and the moral, mental, and physical hurdles the soldiers must overcome are central to the story.

VCDDVD_03: BEWITCHING ATTRACTION MOVIE VCD

2009-06-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

The movie revolves around Eun Sook (MOON So Ri), a lovely but promiscuous professor in a University, who has all the male professors wrapped around her finger. It also helps that she has slept with most of them! When a popular comic book artist Suk Gyu (JI Jin Hee) joins the environmental awareness group that she belongs to, he attracts the jealously of Mr Yoo, a group member who fears that he would steal Eun Sook from him, even though Eun-Sook does not return his intense love. What is not known to the rest is that Eun Sook and Suk Gyu attended the same junior high school where they share a secretive tragic history. Back then, Eun Sook was the girlfriend of Suk Gyu's older brother and the three rebellious teenagers indulged in sex promiscuously. Eun Sook worries that her past may be revealed. When Mr. Yoo starts snooping around Eun Sook and Suk Gyu's pasts, will their secret be kept and will they be together again?

ANM_07: GUNDAM SEED DESTINY BOX SET

2009-06-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

Cosmic Era 73. Though the signing of a peace treaty brought the war between the Naturals and Coordinators to an apparent close, tensions fueled by the continued threat of Blue Cosmos continue to run high. During a conference between PLANT chairman Gilbert Dullindal and Orb representative Cagalli Yula Athha concerning the threat of a new military arms race, an Alliance special forces team attacks the ZAFT base they're meeting at and makes off with three new Gundam mobile suits. Forced to pursue them, Shinn Asuka of ZAFT and Athrun Zala of Orb set out aboard the new space battleship Minerva, and engage the retreating Alliance strike team in combat. But just as they catch up to the fleeing ship, the crew of the Minerva receives word of an even greater catastrophe in the making, which will undoubtedly re-ignite the brutal war between the Naturals & Coordinators all over again.

ANM_06: GUNDAM SEED BOX SET

2009-06-06T02:11:00.000-07:00

Heliopolis, a so-called neutral space colony was holding a top-secret weapons research facility, producing Gundams for the Earth Alliance. ZAFT, which is composed of Coordinators (genetically modified/upgraded humans), attacks Heliopolis, stealing 4 out of the Alliance's 5 Gundams. In the battlefield, civilian Kira Yamato stumbles upon the Strike, the last remaining Gundam of the alliance, and is forced to pilot it. In the midst of battle he encounters his best friend, Athrun Zala, as one of the hijackers of the 5 Gundams, who sides with ZAFT. Being a Coordinator, he is the only one who can pilot the Gundam. But Kira is not with ZAFT, even though they're his own kind, nor the Alliance. Since the Alliance is the only place he could turn to at the time, he sides with them. He pilots the Gundam to protect his friends, and to fight his best friend, which pains both of them. It's a war between individual beliefs.

ANM_05: LAST EXILE BOX SET

2009-06-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

The story revolves around Claus Valca and Lavie Head, a young courier pilot and his navigator, and their adventures in the floating world of Prester. In this romantic sky world based on stylized Victorian fashion and society, two countries, Anatoray and Disith are engaged in a long and bloody war under the supervision of the mysterious Guild. Claus and Lavie, piloting their vanship (a small, stub-winged aircraft) find themselves involved in a plot surrounding a mysterious little girl named Alvis Hamilton, whom they must deliver as "cargo" to the much-feared neutral battleship "Silverna".

The Mysteria
The Mysteria (singular Mysterion) are the key to opening Exile. They are a set of four questions and responses which, when spoken aloud near Exile, will cause it to transform into its true form. Each one of these questions was entrusted to one of four noble Guild houses. The houses of Dagobert, Hamilton, and Bassanius had been purged by House Eraclea. Only special individuals of these houses — such as Alvis Hamilton — can speak the answers to the Mysteria. The power generated by these individuals while they are in their Mysterion trance causes them to shine like spotlights and has remarkable effects on their surroundings — small flames will flare into bonfires, complex machinery (particularly Claudia engines) will overload, and all visible atmosphere will begin to swirl around the speaker like a low-powered hurricane.

Grand Stream
The Grand Stream is an air current, continually rushing 120-knot(140 mph) storm that circles the center of the hour-glass shaped planet of Prester. The torrential storm always rages in the high altitudes of the skies of both Anatoray and Disith and is thought all but impassible – even giant capital ships must follow paths of relatively calm air current. If even a skilled pilot attempts to go into the torrents he has a great risk of getting lost, crashing, or being destroyed by the large hulking form of the Exile. Throughout the series, most believe attempting the crossing in a Vanship to be tantamount to suicide.

Prester
Prester is the world that serves as the principal setting of the series. The world of Prester (Prestale in the original Japanese language) is divided up into two lands - Anatoray and Disith - and the only way of reaching one from the other is to cross the Grand Stream. Disith is all but completely undescribed within the series – all that is truly known of it is that due to a rapidly falling temperature akin to an ice age, its people are attempting to evacuate to Anatoray. It is Anatoray that serves as the primary setting of Last Exile. It is a monarchy, and its citizens have few complaints of its leadership. It is an arid, mountainous land well into its Industrial Revolution – steel and steam engines are common. Though it is plagued by drought, it is thus able to survive due to relatively well-developed water purification technology – though most settle for potable but obviously dirty groundwater. However, First Water (the purest available in Anatoray, what modern society would call common filtered drinking water) is still not beyond the means of most - they simply treat it as an extravagant commodity. Also, due to the presence of an ore known as Claudia, it is currently experiencing a Golden Age of Aviation in the form of heavier-than-air craft known as Vanships. As Anatoray's mountainous terrain is too dynamic for rail transport, these have become quite prevalent. Gas-lit beacons dot the landscape, and aerial refueling stations extend the range of Vanships across the land.

As the series starts, it is difficult to understand how the two lands of Anatoray and Disith can only be traveled between by flying high into the sky, entering the Grand Stream, and flying through a bottle-like hurricane out to the other side. In the last episode, when the great vessel Exile is finally found and used to dissipate the Grand Stream, we see that the planet itself is actually two smaller planets joined together into an hourglass shape, with each world facing the other. Once the skies are clear, anyone standing on the surface of either land can look up and faintly see the landscape of the other.

This is what the phrase written on the book at the beginning of every episode means:

λαστ εξιλε ιν τηε βοττλε
"last exile in the bottle"

The phrase is written in Greek letters, like all other text in the series, and refers to the fact that Prester is a world shaped like a bottle, or an hourglass. It has a narrow portion in the very middle, which is filled with the Grand Stream until the last episode, and it widens out at either end, and these ends contain the miniature planets that come to be called Anatoray and Disith.

The only time Prester is truly shown in this form is on the last episode when the cast looks out from the deck of Exile and sees Prester from outer space. Up until that point, the writers and art directors of the series had been playfully toying with revealing that fact by spreading the hourglass shape all over the series on various maps, icons, artwork, and royal emblems.

In the series, during the 11th episode, the character Alister uses a sextant to plot her position according to the stars. This is when she utters the phrase, "The stars have become unreliable." She is referring to the slow, spinning motion that the enormous hourglass-shaped world of Prester is making in the heavens, giving the stars an erratic pattern across the sky when viewed from Anatoray.

Vanship
A vanship is a type of flying machine from the animated series Last Exile. It is often referred to as a "flying boat" in that it does not fly by means of aerodynamics like planes do, but rather by floating on the air and propelling itself through the use of a substance known as Claudia. Claudia is a fluorescent blue ore mined on the floating world of Prester. It is processed into liquid Claudia fuel by dissolving small amounts of it in water – the more that is dissolved, the more potent the fuel. When this fuel is "burned" in a properly designed steam engine, it generates thrust, making it a steampunk reactionless drive.

Claudia is also the primary currency of Prester, and well suited for the purpose; as it is constantly burned in Claudia engines it is not subject to monetary inflation and cannot be counterfeited. A frugal person will spend less than 80 Claudia on room and board in a week. It is also potent—in its refined state, several billion Claudia is only a fist-sized stone.

Vanships in general prior to the events of Last Exile were couriers, traveling long distances to deliver cargoes (usually messages). Some Vanships thus include tools for towing solid objects. Any Vanship intended to dock with a capital ship has a set of cables to act as anchors. All couriers receive their jobs from their local "Vanship union", which assigns each a difficulty rating: one or two stars for most jobs, three for transport into a battle zone, etc. The transport of Alvis Hamiliton to the Silvana was set at seven stars due to the inevitable interference of the Guild, and the peace message intended for Disith had an unprecedented ten star rating, because it was considered impossible—it required a courier to cross the Grand Stream for the first time in Anatoray's history.

When not earning their keep as couriers, Vanship pilots often keep their skills sharp by racing. Many of these are rallies, taking place in towns, underground waterways and canyons. Racing Vanships are small and narrow with a single, high-powered thruster. Like any Vanship intended to achieve high speeds, they have stub wings, far too small themselves to provide lift. They simply act as mounts for ailerons to provide better steering, as pivoting the thruster would put undue stress on the assembly at high speeds. Racing Vanships are permitted to utilize "boosters" (akin to Nitrous in a race car).

Passenger or cargo Vanships are the largest that can be built by any save the Guild, and are approximately the size of a bus. As these are intended for efficiency instead of speed they have multiple thrusters and no ailerons, as sufficient control is achieved merely by pivoting their thrusters. The Silvana's transport Vanships have thrusters that fold onto the side for easier stowage.

Over the course of Last Exile, Vanships are adapted for combat. The process resembles the evolving roles that aircraft held during WW1; originally developed for scouting and surveillance, but eventually equipped with bombs and machine guns to become potent fightercraft.

The Vanship fighters of Anatoray have overpowered dual thrusters for acceleration and maneuvering. They are the only Vanships equipped with onboard weapons: a pair of 600 rpm machine guns with 200-round ammunition boxes, underside racks for carrying bombs, drop-pods, and external tanks to compensate for the lower fuel efficiency of the overpowered thrusters.

Claus and Lavie's Vanship is different from all the others in the series; light and fast with exceptional acceleration like a racer, but also equipped with a unique hardened, ribbed hull. At the beginning of the series, Claus and Lavie lack the funds to fit their Vanship with a true racing engine. Instead, they have lightened it by drilling holes in its frame. This grants them an increased amount of speed and maneuverability. Lavie later acquires a booster for their Vanship as part of their preparation for the Norkia Cup.

Their ship's initial purpose however, makes it truly unique. It was specifically designed by their parents for what many would consider a fool's errand – an attempt to withstand the torrential winds of the Grand Stream and travel from Anatoray to Disith. Even though Disith makes the crossing regularly in huge capital ships, it is not uncommon for them to be destroyed in the attempt despite their size and power. Most believe that crossing the Stream (from Anatoray to Disith) in a Vanship to be impossible - but Claus and Lavie achieve this in the final episode, making their Vanship the only one to do so.

All vanships in the series were rendered as 3D images, a hallmark of Japanese animation studio Gonzo, makers of such series as Vandread and Blue Submarine No. 6.

Exile (ship)
Exile is a massive interstellar transport ship that originated on Earth and brought people to the world of Prester. Revealed in the middle of the Last Exile series, it was seen as a mysterious object throughout the early part of the series. Activated by a poem, known as The Mysterion, it has no allegiances to any of the three nations: Anatoray, Disith, and The Guild. The actual ship features no defense from attack, using a Biogenic Circulating Claudia reactor for power, but the protective cocoon that covers it is perhaps the most deadly to be found on Prester. The defense consists of a near-impenetrable cocoon, which contains massive metallic tentacles, which are strong enough to breach the armor of any ship in the world of Prester. It is also extremely aggressive, attacking anything that comes within its perception, regardless of who owns or pilots the ship. The defense will only cease from attacking if it senses a person with the activation gene on board of a craft.

Silvana (ship)
The Silvana (Silverna in Japanese) is an airborne capital ship captained by Alex Row, a former Vanship courier, who is permitted an amazing degree of liberty in its use. The vessel's Claudia unit was acquired from a renegade Guild member opposed to the rule of Maestro Delphine Eraclea. It is the only capital ship (outside of the initially secret Urbanus-class) on Prester not under the control of the Guild, and thus the only one that can effectively oppose it.

It is known to many in the Anatoray military as the "Kill-Em-All Silvana", and an object of superstition and rumor – many say that no one ever sees it and lives to tell of it. It has an impressive degree of firepower, enough to throw an entire fleet into disarray. It is well-armored, enough to withstand the metal shearing winds of the Grand Stream. It is the first ship to carry fighter Vanships.

This ship played a vital role throughout the series. It prevented the destruction of the Mad-Thane fleet during the battle of Minagese, attacking the Disith ships that were attempting to prevent its retreat. This also signaled the rise of Vanship warfare as Claus and Lavie's actions (although meant to help out) ultimately inspired Duke Mad-Thane to use Vanships in combat. While the Guild continued its attempts to capture Alvis Hamilton, she was kept safely aboard while the Mysteria were collected, and was one of two ships that embarked upon the mission to capture Exile. After Alex Row's capture, the ship was commanded by Sophia Forrester in the final battle.

ANM_04: SOL BIANCA ANIME VCD

2009-06-06T01:49:00.000-07:00

The name of the OVA is also the name of the ship that serves as both the home and the interstellar headquarters for an all-female band of notorious pirates. Thanks to a stowaway who hides himself aboard their ship following one of their raids, they learn of the ultimate treasure: the Gnosis (pronounced "G'Nohsis" in dialogue), an artifact reputedly from old Earth itself.

Unfortunately for them, the Gnosis happens to be in the hands of Emperor Batros, the brutal ruler of the planet Tres (pronounced "trez" in dialogue) who is executing great numbers of enemies, real or speculated, as a result of his military occupation of the neighboring planet Uno. Armed with a little luck, a sniper gun that can shoot from orbit, and a technologically advanced ship, the crew of the Sol Bianca are about to make a run for the greatest prize of all.

ANM_03: MABURAHO BOX SET

2009-06-06T01:39:00.000-07:00

Maburaho is set in a world where every character has the ability to use magic, however everyone's magic is not equal. Each person in the story has a different degree of magic and a set number of times that they can use their magic. The average person is able to use magic less than a hundred times, however some people are able to use magic several thousand times. Because of this, a person's social standing is determined by the number of times that he or she can perform magic. If someone uses up all of their magic, his or her body turns to ash and is scattered into the winds.[5]

The series first introduces us to Kazuki Shikimori, a second year student from an elite magic school, Aoi Academy. However, unlike his classmates, Kazuki can only use his magic eight times before he turns to dust. As a result, he is at the bottom of the school's social pecking order. However things change one day when Yuna Miyama shows up in his dorm room and declares that she is his wife. Moments later, Kuriko Kazetsubaki and Rin Kamishiro appear at Kazuki's dorm, the former in order to obtain his genes and the latter to kill him to escape her obligation to marry him. Kazuki learns that he is a descendant of most of the world's greatest magicians from both the eastern and western worlds. Even though he has a feeble spell count, his offspring has the potential of becoming a powerful magician.

Despite his weak spell count, each spell he performs is treated as an epic event. Kazuki's magic is referred to as the most powerful magic in the world able to achieve miracles. Due to Kazuki's kindness, his spell count begins to drop as he uses his magic on behalf of each girl. First by making it snow in the middle of summer to cheer up Yuna. Second by pulling Yuna out of a vortex that also merges the boy's and girl's dorms together. Kazuki uses his magic again to destroy two Behemoths in order to save Kuriko, who was unable to defeat them. And then, Kazuki reverses time to save Rin's homemade box lunch. And finally to save his childhood friend Chihaya Yamase after a monster summoned by Kazuki's classmates appeared at the school festival.

Each event leaves an impression on the girls and they attempt to keep Kazuki from using any more of his magic and eventually search for ways to increase his spell count. However, their attempts fail when half way through the series Kazuki uses the last of his magic to save Yuna from a magical retrovirus. However, while Kazuki turned to ash and the ashes scattered, his ghost remains.

At this point in the story, Shino Akai appears in order to capture Kazuki and add him to her ghost collection. The girls try to protect Kazuki from Shino and eventually learn that Kazuki's ashes had been scattered into each of their own hearts. But before Kazuki's ashes were completely returned to him, Shino informs Rin and later the rest of the girls that this is not the first time someone's ashes have been scattered and later restored. However, when Kazuki's ashes are returned to him and his body restored, he will lose all of his memories. Knowing this, the girls still return Kazuki's ashes to him. At the very end of the anime series, it is shown that instead of losing his memories as a side effect of restoring his body, Kazuki has now split into ten different bodies.

In the novel, the side effect of Kazuki's restoration was gaining a special magical body that can cause disaster to the whole world if he lets out his magic powers. Another side effect of Kazuki's restoration is the overflowing of his magical powers every now and then causing minor mishaps and sometimes great chaos.

ANM_02: HANADA SHONEN BOX SET

2009-06-06T01:34:00.000-07:00

After being hit by a truck and getting 9 stitches in the back of his head, Hanada Ichiro, the local troublemaker in a small village, becomes able to see ghosts, all of whom want him to fulfill their unfinished business.

ANM_01: SPEEDGRAPHER BOX SET

2009-06-06T01:23:00.000-07:00

Speed Grapher follows the exploits of former war photographer Tatsumi Saiga, who investigates a secret fetish club for the ultra-wealthy called the Roppongi Club. He tries to photograph the club's "goddess," a 15-year-old, exploited girl named Kagura, but is discovered. As he is about to be killed, Kagura kisses him, granting him the ability to destroy anything he photographs. Saiga soon discovers that Kagura's body fluids, like her saliva, can give people bizarre abilities relating to their secret desires, fetishes, and obsessions. Club members strive for the honor of becoming "gifted" via Kagura's power. Saiga soon becomes entangled in this secret underground society and the powerful and corrupt Tennōzu Group mega-corporation that operates it. He attempts to free Kagura, a move that puts the two of them on the run from the Tennōzu Group and blood-thirsty members of the club with bizarre and often horrifying special powers.

Kagura's body fluids contain a chemical that activates a dormant Euphoria virus responsible for the transformation of humans into Euphorics, such as Saiga. This virus has the rare ability to attach itself to the victim's DNA and alter their body on a genetic level, granting supernatural powers. Apparently, to become a Euphoric, the virus must be carried before absorbing Kagura's fluid. If one doesn't carry the virus before receiving Kagura's fluid, the ritual will result in death.

Speed Grapher can also be considered a blunt, inconspicuous critique of the capitalism and materialism of modern Japanese society. Kagura is the daughter of the wealthiest woman in the world, but she is kept prisoner and nearly starved. Her mother, Shinsen Tennōzo, bribes any person who tries to help Kagura. The main villain, as a display of his own vast wealth and power, smokes cigarettes rolled with 10,000 yen bills. In a stark juxtaposition, the male protagonist of the series is a photographer whose lifestyle and beliefs contrast greatly with those of the antagonists. His self-sacrifice and personal aversion of greed is what ultimately saves him and those around him.

VCDDVD_02: SINGAPORE DREAMING DVD

2009-06-05T02:07:00.001-07:00

Poh Huat (Richard Low), the father of the Loh family, works as a lawyer's clerk. He is married to Siew Luan (Alice Lim), a housewife who brews liang teh (herbal tea) for the family. Poh Huat has a habit of buying lottery tickets in hope of winning and enjoying a better life. He also keeps newspaper cuttings of car models and condominiums and stores them in a box in his room.

The family has one son, Seng (Dick Su), and one daughter, Mei (Yeo Yann Yann). Despite Mei's superior academic performance, the family has consistently shown favouritism for Seng. Even though he was ostensibly the academically poorer sibling, dropping out of school in Secondary 3, his parents still chose to fund his overseas polytechnic education instead of furthering his sister's education. Seng is due to return after two years at Idaho Polytechnical University. To fund his overseas studies, he had to borrow extra money from his fiancée, Irene (Serene Chen), who stays with Seng's parents.

Mei works as a secretary who maintains a friendly working relationship with her boss. She is due for delivery in two months' time, and for maternity leave in a month's time. Her husband, Chin Keong (Lim Yu-Beng), quit his job in the Singapore Armed Forces a month before and is now selling insurance, though unsuccessfully. He is therefore belittled by Mei. Even though they cannot afford it, they frequently go to a condominium showroom to take a look, revealing their aspirations for a more luxurious lifestyle.

Seng returns from the United States. Tensions escalate in the family between Mei and Seng, due to the family's apparent favouritism for Seng. Seng goes for several job interviews, but is unsuccessful. He becomes immensely disappointed, and lies to his family about the sanguinity of his job prospects.

Poh Huat strikes the Toto lottery, winning S$2 million, and the family is ecstatic. Seng decides that he wants to try starting a business. He gains his father's approval, who gives him effectively unlimited funding through a credit card. Seng also buys a car, without Irene's knowledge. Irene is infuriated when she learns Seng has been overspending without working first.

Initially thrilled by his sudden elevation to the higher social class, Poh Huat dies suddenly of a heart attack while he was at a country club for a membership interview. Siew Luan goes into shock. At the funeral, Seng quarrels with Mei over the funeral expenses. Mei vents her anger on CK, who shows his displeasure by throwing the carton of drinks on the floor and storming off.

Mei is called back to work one afternoon, even though she is still managing the funeral. CK expresses his outrage at this unreasonable request, but Mei says out of frustration, "Singapore is like that, everywhere is like that, [do we have a choice]?" and returns to work. At work, Mei's boss, frustrated at the incapable temporary secretary, vents his anger at Mei and demands her to photocopy a stack of documents and brew coffee for him. Mei flips at the triviality of the task.

Back at the funeral, Mei realizes that S$500 has gone missing from the pek kim, and wrongly accuses her Filipino maid, Pinky, of stealing the money. CK reveals shortly after that the money is actually with him. Pinky, indignant at the wrong accusation, spits at Mei. CK goes to a nearby coffee shop for a drink. A beer girl from Mainland China approaches him at his table to talk to him, and CK ends up confiding his worries about life. The girl notes, "You Singaporeans are always complaining. Do you think your life is tough?"

While Poh Huat's funeral wake is being held, Seng reveals to his family that he, in fact, did not graduate. Initially unbeknownst to him, Irene is standing nearby at the door, and hears his confession. Irene is greatly disappointed with Seng, and resolves to leave him.

A few months later, CK, Seng and Mei, with her newly-born son, are called to a lawyer's office by Poh Huat's former boss's daughter. It is revealed that Poh Huat's will has been found (made before either of them are born): he had left all his assets to his wife Siew Luan. However, the family has chalked up a debt of S$1.2 million in sending Seng overseas. Siew Luan is absent from the meeting, so the lawyer announces that, of the remaining S$800,000, Mei is getting S$300,000, while Seng is getting S$1,000. At the movie's end, Siew Luan hands some money over to Poh Huat's mistress and illegitimate son in a show of benevolence, and leaves Seng to stay in rural Malaysia. Irene decides to go abroad to pursue a degree in photography.

VCDDVD_01: THE IRON LADIES 2 VCD

2009-06-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

The Iron Ladies II is filled with the same cast members and depicts the early years, before the teammates shot to stardom. The Iron Ladies is the name of the team of gay men, transvestites and transsexuals who became famous in Thailand for winning the national men’s volleyball championships. However, soon after their win, the team splits in two. Nong heads one faction and creates his own team with the financial support of Kitti. Joining his team is April, May and June as well as Nhong, the gigantic gay guy who is Nong’s new buddy. Meanwhile, the original team seems to have lost its touch and suffers a series of defeats. In the national Thailand league, Nong’s team goes head to head against the original Iron Ladies team and beats them three times. Nong argues incessantly with Jung; the two former best friends are now bitter enemies, hurling insults at each other. Jung and Chai decide to make a journey to Xishung Banla in China to see Pia, the beauty queen who’s now making a career as a showgirl. It is not just a long rough trip to meet a friend. It’s also full of sweet, spicy and hilarious memories of the early years when they first met at university. Each of the members relates how they first met, got to know one another, and formed the volleyball team. In Bangkok, Nong is hurt when he finds out Kitti has appointed Nong’s archenemy and notorious homophobe, Muangman, as the team leader. Nong asks Mon to take him to Xishuang Banla in China to visit Pia. Everyone assembles there only to discover that Pia has planned to get all the former friends together again. In Xishuang Banla, the Iron Ladies are invited to a match with the local team. Old wounds are healed, and the magic of the Iron Ladies returns. The crowd goes wild. Later the team goes back to Lampang, where their story first began, in order to become the representative team for District 5…while on the other side of the net is their eternal enemy Muangman.

FIC_13: FRIEDRICH BY HANS PETER RICHTER

2009-06-05T01:23:00.000-07:00

This book traces the fortunes of the two families. The unemployed German who joins the Nazi party shares in Hitler's success. He finds work and can afford a holiday. Slowly, decree by decree, the Jewish family have everything taken away from them. Friedrich's father is forced to retire from his job in the civil service. Friedrich has to leave the German school and attend a special Jewish school. The movements of Jews are restricted by curfews, they must carry Jewish identity cards, they may not go to the cinema, they must wear yellow stars on their clothes.

The gradual decay into lawlessness is fascinating and revolting. Friedrich's friend is in a difficult position. He is a member of the Jungvolk (the Hitler Youth movement) and even finds himself swept along in the mob violence. But he still considers himself to be Friedrich's friend. Friedrich's mother is attacked by a mob in her own home and dies from her injuries. Friedrich's father is arrested and taken away. And that leaves the seventeen year old Friedrich alone.

What does his friend's family do to help him? Was there anything that could be done, at that late stage to help him? Why wasn't anything done sooner? Was it good enough just to offer Friedrich's father a bit of advice?

PCG_01: SWAT 3

2009-06-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

GAMEPLAY
As the name indicates, the game is based on CQB tactics. The player is in charge of a 5-man SWAT element, and unlike other tactical shooters, such as the comparable Rainbow Six games, the player is a police officer; therefore arresting rather than simply shooting suspects on sight is the primary objective. The improper use of deadly force (when a suspect is wounded and unable to use weapons, has surrendered or poses no threat) is penalized in the game.
The single player game features four elective weapons; the HK MP5 and MP5SD, the Benelli M1 Super 90 and the Colt M4A1, in addition to the modified Springfield M1911 side arm issued to all LAPD SWAT officers. All of these feature a flashlight and some have modifications to give SWAT a tactical advantage in certain situations; for example, the M4A1 can fire 'beanbag' less than lethal rounds which hurt but do not kill targets, and the M1 Super 90 has secondary breaching ammunition for shooting locks out of doors. Others have a selection of full metal jacket and expanding hollow point ammunition, whose effectiveness depends upon the situation and the target.
The pre-mission loadout screenUnlike some other games, some weaponry and ammunition is actually able to penetrate through walls, which makes spray-firing a risk, as a stray bullet can pass through a wall and hit an innocent.
Firearms are augmented by a number of tactical aids, such as CS gas and flashbang grenades, chemical lightsticks, breaching explosives and the 'opti-wand'; a miniature camera on a telescopic wand used for searching around corners, an update to the mirror-on-a-stick solution used by real life police.
SWAT officers are outfitted much like in real life, with some advancements for the game's near-futuristic (in 1999) setting; these are used to explain elements of gameplay, such as the HUD; officer's fully enclosed helmets have relevant information, such as ammunition counts and a target reticule projected onto the faceplate.
Instead of traditional health points, SWAT3 has a health 'scale' more similar to a life bar, representing sensors monitoring blood loss and body temperature. Wounds cannot be healed mid-mission, and an officer can take very few hits before being incapacitated. This necessitates the use of flashbangs when entering an area, to distract and disorient armed suspects waiting in ambush.
SWAT officers confronting a suspectThe game has three difficulty levels; easy, medium and hard, which increase the aggression and tactical intelligence of suspects and reduces their likelihood of surrender. There is also a 'response time' options for AI officers and suspects, ranging from 1 to 20 milliseconds, which dictates how quickly officers and suspects respond to changing situations.
Within a mission, the game has two 'modes': stealth, and dynamic. In stealth mode, officers move slowly and cautiously, use the opti-wand on doorways and corners, speak softly, do not use flashbangs and pick locked doors instead of destroying them. Suspects are unaware of or can lose track of the police in stealth mode, and the police gain an element of surprise, especially if the player opts to start the mission in stealth mode. When a suspect is encountered, the game automatically switches to dynamic mode. In dynamic mode, officers move quickly, speak loudly and shout, and use flashbangs and breaching explosives when appropriate. The player can switch freely between stealth and dynamic modes.

FACTIONS:
There are a number of militant or terrorist factions encountered by SWAT over the course of the game, of various nationalities and agendas. The Kurdish People's Party is a small, disorganised US splinter of a group seeking the independence of Kurdistan from Turkey. The cell is led by Lokman Damar. Malta is a US terrorists-for-hire group led by a man named Ric 'Dog' Peters. The People's Liberation Party, also referred to as the PLP, is a Russian Communist group which seeks the reunification of the Soviet Union. The group is quite large with a number of different leaders, and prefers hostage-taking to achieve their goals, holding many people around the world. Sovereign America is one of the main antagonist factions in the game; a militia recognized as a domestic terrorist group by the US Government after the bombings of courthouses and other municipal buildings. Sovereign America asserts that the US Government is part of a 'new world order' that will take away their freedom. Accordingly, they reject all Government authority, including police. Sovereign America is led by Tobias Stromm, self proclaimed minister and preacher of "end of the world rhetoric".

SETTING:
The game is set in Los Angeles in 2005, shortly before the signing of a United Nations Nuclear Abolishment Treaty. The player and SWAT have the responsibility of ensuring that the treaty is signed safely. A number of fictional domestic and foreign terrorist groups serve as antagonists, who plan on using the signing as a platform for their demands. To make matters worse, lost Soviet portable atomic demolition devices ("suitcase nukes") are reported to have buyers in the LA area.

MISSSIONS:
The original game had 16 missions total, ranging from fast deployment to VIP protection. Some of the maps are based on true locations such as the LA City Hall and the Convention Center. The expansions added more maps, but neither of them is used on the 5-man campaign, only with the additional 10-man campaign that was distributed later on Sierra's website.
The earlier missions are more routine SWAT call outs, keeping the learning curve shallow for new players, the first being search warrant service to the home of Martin Brenner, a suspected freeway sniper. This serves as a basic introduction to the game. The next mission introduces Sovereign America for the first time, with an arrest warrant served on one Victor Getts, suspected of vehicular manslaughter, bomb making and membership of Sovereign America.
The bombing of the Turkish embassy, and kidnap of ambassador Jemil Kemal introduces the Kurdish People's Party. This is followed by an invasion of the home of Donald Foreman, CEO of a large cable provider by a heavily armed group, holding Foreman, his wife Linda, and his two children to ransom.
The Orthodox Patriarch Alexei III and his retinue are held in an Orthodox Cathedral by an armed group is the first incident connected to the treaty signing, as the bishop is visiting Los Angeles to attend the signing. Matters are complicated by the private security team hired to protect Alexei. This security team provide an unknown variable. Completely randomly, they will either attack the SWAT team, attack the terrorists or do absolutely nothing. This changes every time you play the mission and there is no way of knowing what they will do.
The downing of the aircraft of the Algerian president by a Surface-to-Air missile becomes a serious international incident and marks the entrance of the People's Liberation Party. The resulting chaos caused by the shutdown of LAX has created a significant number of vulnerable targets for more missiles, including the plane of Russian president, Igor Stomas. The missile is traced to a waterworks construction site, and SWAT is dispatched to investigate. Soon after, the PLP storms a television studio during an afternoon talk show, holding LA Mayor Marlin Fitzpatrick, Tolerance Defense League Chairman Herman Moyer, host Donna Briggs and many members of the audience and station staff hostage. The group demands an international broadcast of their message of Soviet reunification. The People's Liberation Party again targets President Stomas at his penthouse suite at the Carlysle Hotel, demanding a flight to Moscow with the intention of taking Stomas with them.
Hotel Carlysle, hostage and threatSWAT's next task is the arrest warrant for Ric Peters at his nightclub, The Phoenix, when he and Malta are finally identified as the mysterious group responsible for both the Foreman home invasion and Cathedral incident. They also have to deal with a failed bank heist by Sovereign America, who have holed themselves up in the bank.
In the final run up to the treaty signing, SWAT is given VIP protection duty for dignitaries at a pre-signing meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center (which, until 2006, regularly hosted the E3 video games convention). The day goes smoothly until multiple armed suspects attempt to disrupt this meeting, holding several important politicians hostage.
The People's Liberation Party strike again after the convention center incident in another attempt to disrupt the treaty signing, creating a national emergency by taking over the LAX control tower, broadcasting false Air Traffic Control information (resulting in a midair collision) and installing another Surface-to-Air missile launcher at the top of the tower, threatening aircraft carrying dignitaries headed to the treaty signing. Air Force One is briefly in the area but is diverted quickly to Edwards Air Force Base. Despite danger the President of the United States being averted, there are many more civilian planes waiting to be diverted to other airports, the FAA closing down LAX after the earlier collision. SWAT storm the tower from the basement and soon restore order.
SWAT is required for VIP protection duty at a World Trade Organization conference at the Ventura Hotel, accompanying the Treaty signing. Death threats have been received by some of the attendees from various militia factions, and several militia men storm the building. This is followed shortly afterwards by the bombing of an electric substation leaving most of LA without power, save for Municipal buildings with backup generators. This was apparently a diversion, to allow Sovereign America forces led by Tobias Stromm (A Fred Phelps type character) himself to take over City Hall, for what Stromm calls an "end of the world vigil". It transpires that Sovereign America was the winner of the auction for one of the suitcase nukes, now installed and guarded by Stromm at the top of the tower, and Sovereign America intends to destroy the entire city in a last stand, but thankfully SWAT, after a tremendous battle, arrest Stromm and save the city.
During the final preparations for the Treaty signing, and the celebrations afterward, suspicious personnel observed entering the storm drain system near UCLA, where a parade is supposed to pass, carrying heavy equipment and overheard talking about demolitions. The storm drain system had already been cleared once by police officers - after being alerted to these developments, SWAT is sent in to investigate, finding a mysterious armed group disguised as gas masked maintenance workers.
Finally, SWAT is tasked with protecting the Treaty signing. In a last ditch attempt to stop the signing, the People's Liberation Party attack, hiding a second suitcase nuke in the building and taking many dignitaries hostage. Despite this, with the intervention of SWAT, the treaty signing is completed successfully. Mission failure results in the nuclear destruction of Los Angeles.
On the Bank level one of the people in the bank has a name of Marie Bonds. She says her husband is in the harbor division. This is "Sweet Cheeks" Marie from the Police Quest series. She is the wife of Sonny Bonds. This is an obvious reference of the Sierra Police Quest series.

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENT:
Microsoft Windows 95/98, Pentium 233 MHz, 32 Mb RAM, 550Mb Hard Disk Space, 4 Speed CD-ROM, 800x600 SVGA High Color Monitor, 4 Mb Video Card, DirectX 7, Windows-compatible soundcard

FIC_12: THE YOUNGER GODS: BOOK 4 OF THE DREAMERS BY DAVID AND LEIGH EDDINGS

2009-05-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

In this thrilling conclusion to The Dreamers, the Vlagh prepares for one final, merciless attackone that will pit her forces against the might of both the Elder Gods and the Younger Gods. But all the painstaking preparations of these noble allies might come to naught if they continue to ignore a growing threat within their ranks. For Aracia, sister of the goddess Zelana (The Elder Gods), is nearing the end of her cycle, and has begun to lose her mind. Her insanity, if it is not recognized, will place the entire land of Dhrall in turmoil, making the dreaded coming of the Vlagh look like a childs game by comparison.

FIC_10: THE UNDOMESTIC GODDESS BY SOPHIE KINSELLA

2009-05-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

FIC_09: LAST ORDERS BY GRAHAM SWIFT

2009-05-29T07:09:00.001-07:00

Four men gather in a London pub. They have taken it upon themselves to carry out the last orders of Jack Dodds, master butcher, and deliver his ashes to the sea. As they drive towards the fulfillment of their mission, their errand becomes an extraordinary journey into their collective and individual pasts. Braiding these men's voices, and that of Jack's widow, into a choir of sorrow and resentment, passion and regret, Swift creates a testament to a changing England and to enduring mortality.

"Swift has involved us in real, lived lives...Quietly, but with conviction, he seeks to affirm the values of decency, loyalty, love."--New York Review of Books

"A beautiful book...a novel that speaks profoundly of human need and tenderness. Even the most cynical will be warmed by it."--San Francisco Chronicle

FIC_08: THE SILVER LAKE: BOOK 1 OF THE WARRIORS OF ESTAVIA BY FIONA PATTON

2009-05-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

In Anavatan, the city of the Silver Lake, the gods manifest on a regular basis. But if you are among the unpledged, it is hard to survive, especially during the three-night-long chaos known as Havo's Dance. When Havo's storms sweep through Anavatan, anyone who is unaffiliated had best find a safe place to hide or they risk madness or death. But this year, three young street orphans have been chosen for special attention by Incasa, the god of prophecy.When that God's dice roll during the height of Havo's Dance, these three boys-thieves and con artists-will discover their destinies. One will be bound by a life-or-death pledge that will see him marked as the future Champion of the War God, another forced to walk a perilous road as he seeks to master his talent as a seer, and the last will be cast forth from the city and claimed by the hungry spirits seeking a way into Anavatan and the precious power contained in the Silver Lake.

FIC_07: SAINT JACK BY PAUL THEROUX

2009-05-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

At one time, expatriate Jack Flowers was the youngest drinker at Singapore's Bandung Club. Now, at 53, he is a fixture. But he is beginning to fear death, alone and vulnerable in the alien tropics. And Jack still dreams of success. How can he convert his "perfect dream of magic" into reality, away from the seamy waterfront that has become his home?

FIC_06: ABSOLUTE FRIENDS BY JOHN LE CARRE

2009-05-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

An absolutely triumphant bestsellereverywhere hailed as the masterpiece toward which John le Carr has been building since the fall of communism. This epic tale of loyalty and betrayal spans the lives of two friends from the riot-torn West Berlin of the 1960s to the grimy looking-glass of Cold War Europe to the present day of terrorism and new alliances.

FIC_05: ASSORTED STORYBOOKS

2009-05-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

THE MUD SCENE: Nick goes to an open-air pop concert, where he meets Ches. When the weather turns wet and makes the concert field muddy, it’s Nick and Ches who saves the day and their favourite pop group.

KAMPONG CAPE: A collection of fond reminiscences of life in a village in Singapore. Its special appeal lies not only in the fact that its author is an American adopted by a Chinese family, but 9n the blend of irresponsible good humour, affectionate regard, and sharp perceptiveness that he brings to bear upon his narration of the whole range of his kampong experiences. These include grappling with the intricacies of learning to wear a sarong, admitting final defeat in attempts to share in the nation-wide propensity for the durian, and understanding basic human fears and needs behind the many beliefs and customs related to the supernatural. Retold with wit and charm the book is enjoyable yet thought provoking.

WUTHERING HEIGHTS: A dramatic story about two families living in the Yorkshire Moors and the tragedies brought into their lives by Heathcliffe, an orphan boy. In her desire for security, Catherine Earnshaw tries to escape from her love for Heathcliffe by marrying Edgar Linton. Heathcliffe’s revenge and passion for Catherine bring deathcto both families. The book ends on a hopeful note in the marriage of Catherine’s daughter to Hareton Earnshaw and an end to the family feud.

FIC_04: MR. MIDNIGHT

2009-05-29T03:48:00.000-07:00

DON’T GET OFF AT THE 13TH FLOOR!: Natasha, her brother and friends are trapped in a mysterious world on the 13th floor. Can they escape from their hideous captors?

MY SHOES HAVE GONE NUTS: Ho Kit’s new shoes can make him walk up walls. He has fallen under the power of an evil enemy and not even his friends can save him.

FIC_03: THE FAMOUS FIVE

2009-05-29T03:45:00.000-07:00

FIVE GET INTO A FIX: The excitement of skiing and toboganning suddenly turns into adventure when the Five are led to investigate an old house – complete with underground passage – and uncover a startling secret.

FIVE HAVE PLENTY OF FUN: An American girl to stay, mysterious visitors to Kirrin Island and a kidnapping combine to make this the adventure of a lifetime for the Five.

FIVE ARE TOGETHER AGAIN: Their seventeenth gripping adventure takes the Five on a winter holiday to Wales where the Five investigate the mysterious of an old house – complete with underground passage – and uncover a startling secret.

FIC_02: MYSTERY BOOKS

2009-05-29T03:38:00.000-07:00

THE SECRET ISLAND: A little island with sandy beaches, deep caves, shady trees – surely no one will find the four friends on the secret island?

THE SECRET MOUNTAIN: A rescue mission that seems doomed to fail. Where is the secret mountain? Who are the strange people who live there? Then, the children are taken captive.

THE ROCKINGDOWN MYSTERY: Rockingdown Hall is empty. So why can strange thuds and gurglings be heard coming from the cellars? Roger, Diana and Snubby are looking forward to a good holiday in Rockingdown village. Then their new friend, Barney disappears. He’s trapped beneath the hall. How can he escape to tell the others of his startling discovery before it’s too late?

THE RILLOBY FAIR MYSTERY: The Green Gang strikes again! Thieves have stolen rare valuable papers, and seem to have escaped through locked doors and fastened windows. How did they do it? Is there a connection with Rilloby Fair where Barney is working? Roger and Diana think so. But which of Barney’s workmates is the thief? And where will he strike next?

FIC_01: USBORNE PUZZLE ADVENTURE/ SPINECHILLERS BOOKS

2009-05-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

DANGER AT DEMONS' COVE: What is the secret of the flashing lights at Demon's Cove? Join Max and Sally as they piece together an ancient chart and follow the dangerous trail through an ancient chart and follow the dangerous trail through a maze of smugglers' tunnels to the buried treasure.

ESCAPE FROM BLOOD CASTLE: Join Intreprid Ivor as he pursues his quest for all-important Papers and tries to escape form Blood Castle.

THE HAUNTING OF DUNGEON CREEK: Dungeon Creek is a town with a troubled past. When Boz and JJ buy an old oil painting in the town market, that past seems to reach out to haunt them. But what dark secret does the oil painting hold? And why are so many people interested in it? Boz and JJ find themselves drawn deeper and deeper into the strange history of the old coastal town until the story reaches its spinechilling climax on the treacherous rocks of Dungeon Creek.

GHOST TRAIN TO NOWHERE: Staying with their Uncle Jack in what was once Seabry Station, twins Alf and Chrissy find themselves drawn into a series of strange events. Everything seems somehow linked to the night of a terrible storm over eighty years before, when the local bridge collapsed and the steam train The Gypsy Bell was lost with everyone on board. A ghostly cry foe help reaches the twins from across the years, but what are they expected to do, and who exactly can they trust?