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1423 reviews | 4.3 out of 5
My son is in his second year with Upward basketball. This is a good beginner set - solid and not too hard to put together. I was able to get it together in about 1 and a half hours, with only one 10-minute "assist" from my wife. Adding sand took an additional hour, but I did it in two half-hour shifts over two days (make sure you have a funnel and small scoop/cup to scoop the sand). It takes about 6 bags of 50-lb sand. I'm not sure if he'll continue to play, but it is currently doing the trick - he's a better shot. PROs: Price, adjustable height from 7.5 feet up to regulation 10 feet. CONs: Read the directions CAREFULY before each step. Orientation of pole/parts is IMPORTANT! I didn't have a problem with this. I usually organize the parts before and read each step before I do it, but if you're the blazing your own trail type, you might run into problems.
It took a little time to put it together, but this hoop is great and I would totally recommend it for the price. NO need to spend $150 to $200 on a starter hoop for kids. This will last them a great while, and it's been fun for the whole family.
This is a great hoop for the money. It wasn't as hard to put together as some people have said. Two women put it together in an afternoon.
For the price, this hoop can't be beat. I keep it in the garage and wheel it out when we want to play. Everyone loves it. Incredible value for price paid.
I bought this online because even with shipping to my home the cost was less than buying what was in stock at the local stores. I set it up the same day it arrived with the help or my son and his best friend. Set up took about an hour and the instructions were written in such a way that an eight and nine year old both read them to me and I did as they directed. I would buy this again.
My 12-year old son and I put this together in about an hour and a half. It isn't rocket science, but be sure you have the tools needed. We've had this for over a month now, and my son loves it.
This product is excellent for average basketball players.My wife bought it for my 11 year old and,my 10 year old sons.And boy what a time they have with it.They play from 4pm to whatever time at night.One day they played from 2pm to 11pm for a second I thought they were turning into Michael Jordan.I don't say any thing to them because if they go to the NBA I can retire.HA! HA!
its prettty good product!easy to assemble but difinitely needs to people to do it. as soon we got it done, weve been playin. great value!
I have three kids that love to play basketball and when the last one broke I knew I would have to find a replacement fast. I went on line and quickly found the one I wanted- the Lifetime 1221 44" Pro Court Basketball Hoop. It has already sustained much use and is still intact. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a sturdy, reliable Basketball Hoop. I have to move it frequently and it is easy to manuver.
I thought that the instructions were pretty good. You do need to pay very close attention to the drawings and pay attention to the placement of the direction of the bolts, etc. I chose to add sand, because I felt water could cause issues with freezing and busting the base. I had to buy the sand extra. 7 bags of 50 lbs of sand each costed me about $20 plus a wide funnel that was only about a buck. The problem is the hole is about 1.5" wide, and you have to add the 300+ lbs of sand through that silly little hole. Also, the sand I brought was wet in the bags, so it didn't slide down into the base AT ALL. I had to push it in with rod and tap the funnel against the base to knock the sand down the funnel. VERY SLOW GOING & HARD ON YOUR BACK! The sand would have gone in faster if it is DRY, but I did not have room to spread it out to dry. Also, it is in early March in Illinois and cold and wet. The unit is now together and workable, but basketball goal is tilted back when attached to the plastic backboard. Tighten your bolts snug but do not overtighten against the plastic backboard, which may've been what I did. Strong winds pulled the bolt heads almost through at the middle of the backboard. Since then, I've reinforced with wide washers and different nuts and reversed the bolts to go front to back. Overall ok for the price but they HAVE GOT TO come up with a bigger opening to add the optional sand and seal it up with a good cap. Hope this info helps folks.
Purchased this item online with ship to store and came faster than promised. Assembly took 2 people about 2 hours. Instructions are not great but we got there. Here's a hint: When you are ready to attach the backboard, only finger tighten the screws that attach it to the pole. When you have to attach the arms to the backboard you may need a bit of wiggle room. That was the hardest part for sure. We filled our base with water as we had no sand at the time. Seems fairly stable with water. Will have to do something different when winter comes. Seems a good value for the money. Purchased this for a 10 year old and at the lowest height works well for play.
We recently purchased this portable basketball hoop for my son's 9th birthday, which he was ecstatic about. My husband assembled it rather quickly and we were both amazed by the size. This is a full size hoop made of high quality materials. Adjusting the height is simple and even I can move the hoop from our garage to our driveway and back without any difficulties - and I'm only 5'4"!! Overall, we are very pleased with this purchase. When shopping around I realized that some of these hoops sell for over $1,000. At just over $100, plus free shipping, this one was the perfect choice. I would highly recommend this portable basketball hoop to anyone.
I bought this for my 14 y.o son, it has been a month and he is getting a lot of play time out of it, he plays everyday after school.
We put it together (my son & I) in a little bit under 2 hours, it wasn't that complicated, assembly instructions were helpful, although a bit confusing at some points, but for the most part fairly easy to follow.
It is very sturdy and esay to move form point A to point B once it's assembled, my son can actually move it by himself once he got the hang of it. It breaks down easy enough to put it away in our garage.
It was a really good deal at the regular price but to top it all when I went to order it it was on sale for an even better price, it shipped for free and it arrived the evry next day which was a surprise because we did not expect it for a whole week.
All in all we are very happy with this purchase, the price, the quality and the service that we got, I recommend this hoop to anyone looking for a hoop that it is good enough for theirr kids to play and enjoy at a very good price.
This basketball hoop was the gift of the year for my son. He is excited about it every day, and I think it is the perfect anti-dote to his video games.
Hight adjustment does not require tools, but you will need tools during assembly. All the component parts are quite light. No heavy lifting involved. Extra helping hands are recommended at the end, but I was able to do everything alone. The trick was to use a trash can as a prop, and to rotate the whole thing from side to side, as needed.
The instructions are minimalistic, but the drawings have all the necessary details. I had to be very careful, in order to be sure that everything went into the right place and order.
Once fully assembled and filled with water, the hoop can be moved without great effort. It is not sturdy, compared to wall-mounted hoops, and the pole is a little too close for comfort, but we have a lot of fun with it. For the money, it is a very good deal.
Easy to set up. I did it alone. Some people (and instructions) say you need 2 people, but it can be done alone if backboard is facing down with rim lined up underneath (you'll know when you get it). It is what I expected, except that the backboard is one big dead spot. No bounce. As long as you hit the backboard, the ball will drop almost straight down. Bad for adults, great for kids! My 7 year old gets so many baskets, so he is happy. And, it's easier on me because I don't have to chase after rebounds! The unit is somewhat easy to move around. It is heavy, but I pull it forward with all my weight so I can reposition it with the wheels that are in the front. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase as it is perfect for my needs (this will not be perfect for someone who is somewhat competitive though).
I ordered this goal, and it came within 1-2 weeks. Well before the estimated time. I used the site to store shipment so i didnt have to pay for the ship. I read the other reviews saying that "2 adults are need mostly" but me and my 15 year old brother got it done in about 1 dollar. Me being 14. Great hoop. The assembly was challenging, due to the horrible art work in the manual. But its okay, we figured it out. The hoop overall is great. I use it everyday, looking foward to playing on it. right now we have it on 7 ft so we can have jam fest. you can dunk on this hoop, if your not looking to hang of rim, and make sure your not running a 15 meter dash before dunking. Great value
This hoop was extremely easy to put together. I was discouraged by the many reviews citing missing parts, complicated instructions, difficult assembly, etc. I ALMOST did not purchase that item as I am a single mom with no one to call on if I ran into trouble. I am thrilled with the hoop that was purchased for my four and six year olds!!! 1)There were no parts missing! I actually had three washers left over (No I didn't forget to install them someplace! I double checked everything.) The net is included (seriously! I can't imagine anyone actually selling a a hoop without a net!) 2) As for the instructions not being in English ... They are not in any language! The instructions are displayed using pictures! (Really people just calm down and look again!) 3) As for the assembly I ran into two problems. The first was my mistake. (Yep, I was takin' my time and then the kids came along and wanted to play 20 questions!) It really would have been easier with someone to steady the hoop while I tightened things up (only needed for attaching the hoop). It could be difficult too as it is heavy and awkward at this stage. ( I managed by laying it over my kid's wagon.) It probably took me two hours to complete (I really took my time to ensure no mistakes). It would definitely be helpful to have a rachet wrench. (Only wish I'd thought of it sooner!) Definitely worth the investment (especially for small kiddos!)! FYI It holds either 25 gallons of water or 319 lbs of sand. I was pricing play sand until an employee at Home Depot (THANKS, Mike) suggested I use sand from the building materials department. Saved a few $ with his suggestion! Be prepared. Stay calm. HAVE FUN!!! (PS my 6 year old swished his first shot! Maybe he has a future in this sport. lol)
I read all of the reviews both on Walmart and Amazon before making this purchase. I had no problems putting this together by myself (even filling the base with 7 bags of sand at 50 lbs a piece. You can assemble the backboard to the pole prior to lifting it up which makes things very easy. I used a wooden carton, automotive funnel, and a bungee cord (to hold the funnel in place) to fill the base with sand. Everything popped right into place. Too easy... It looks great and works really well with my family.
Bought it for my 6 year old and we have already gotten our monies worth. We all have so much fun as a family playing. We had to raise it higher within a week.
The goal was really easy to asseble, until I got to the rim.. The design of the bots to hold the rim in place were really hard to tighten, and once I got it all tighten up the rim was facing the sky more that being level.. I was also a bit dissapointed with the quality of the backboard. but, for the money it was an overall decent purchase.. I just wish now I would have spent the little bit extra for the next quality up and I'm sure I would have gotten a better quality system!! But, I guess you get what you pay for... It's a great starter kit for younger kids but if they are anyolder than 8 yrs old I would reccommend to spend the extra money and get something a little nicer that will hold up better!!


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(6 reviews)

subset: commoncrawl


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I've been anticipating this release forever! Pure inspiration. You can listen to the album in its entirety right here. What do you think? How does it compare to Speak for Yourself, or Details?
11 thoughts on "The New Imogen Heap Album: Ellipse"
Just finished my first listen. Overall I like it, and I would say (tentatively, based on only one listen) that it's about as good as Speak for Yourself overall. It seems to be more consistent but lacks a good handful of accessible standouts like the previous album had. In my opinion, neither album comes very close to Details, and I'm skeptical that a solo album of hers will ever top it. Still, this is a solid release overall.
I'm about halfway through, and musically, I love it! Immy is wonderful at crafting compelling sonic landscapes. The mastering is driving me crazy though! The dynamics are not only lost, they're reversed. The loudest parts are the intimate "soft" sections, and the parts that are supposed to be loud have no impact. It's really a shame. The mastering on Speak For Yourself was bravely conservative, and allowed the full range of emotion to shine through. I hope I can get past it to enjoy the album, but I fear I won't. It's a curse. 😉
Also have been looking forward to this : after a few years of bigging it up on her blogs etc, it not a masterpiece. I agree with Caius: it just rambles on like the worst parts of Speak for Yourself, but without the highlights. Only Last Train Home really does it for me. The lyrics are so introverted and contrived idea wise, it just sounds like someone who should get out more. You cant write every song about some insubstantial detail.
Musically, I find its over staccato format boring after a couple of songs, and there is no development in the arrangements : bits of ear candy come and go, but aren't developed. And melody wise, you really cant just sing the root of each key and then add very synthetic sounding harmonies and expect it to sound interesting for very long, even if you cover it up by trying to to pull the rug out from under the listener with harsh cuts in arrangement as a distraction.
So all in all, nice to listen to for a couple of minutes, but goes nowhere, does nothing, as they say in star trek: LOL.
Oh just to add : first train sounds very suspicously like the primative radio gods to me 😉
I had the pleasure of mastering "Last Train Home" for a publisher compilation a few months ago, and the dynamic issue struck me immediately. Some might think it's just something about streaming over the internet, but that's not it. Anyway, enough about that!
Personally, I'm happy to listen to it just for the ear candy and the sound of her voice. I trust my brain will catch on to the arrangements in time. I've been following her Twitter feed, but only for a few months, and not enough to be familiar with the songs. After only hearing a few tracks once through, for all I know it could be her best work musically and lyrically. I agree that sometimes the lyrics can be a little silly (on the other hand, who am I to talk?).
I can hear a little resemblance to Primitive Radio Gods, but nothing to go to court over. 😉
When I first saw that on your website, I thought you produced/mastered it.
Now that would've been a treat!
Am I the only one who just finds her kind of annoying? Her voice has this extremely distinct cloying effect, like a piercing needle to the "KILL!" section of my brain. She was pretty good with Temposhark, but I have to agree with Brian, she is just emphasizing the wrong sections of her music.
I'm actually quite taken with her voice, yet I can understand why it might not work for everyone. There's a good chance that the volume mismatching is completely a product of the mastering. I've listened through the whole thing now, and think the album could be a little treasure for me if not for the technical issues.
Ooh! Connections:
* I came here searching for "imogen heap" "mastering". I haven't noticed the volume mismatching as much — then again, I have hyperacusis. But, the album is overall mastered relatively soft compared to other contemporary records I have. This surprised me, but if Immi consciously signed off on it, save for what Brian noted above, then that could be one step in the right direction vs. the Loudness Wars.
* As for the rest of her musical content, there's a lot of beautiful melodies. Imogen is on-the-record about being meticulous re: her arrangements. But, I think that sometimes falls into the 80/20 (90/10) rule, time-wise. I read an Electronic Musician interview in which she sounded like she spent copious amounts of time doing, say, the beatboxing on Earth. Or crafting delays and removing sibilance MANUALLY instead of a warm reverb. But, I really can't tell — and if subtlety's the point, that's the goal, but compared to something like BT's audible stutter-edit production, I was expecting more ear candy.
* I like Thesis theme very much too.
* I'm familiar with Color Theory because of a Depeche Mode cover I heard awhile ago! Took awhile for that to surface but AHA! So, pleased to be here, and keep being creative!
Thanks for stopping by Torley!
My impression is that the volume of the album is on par with most these days. On the other hand, "Speak For Yourself" is quite conservative and sounds wonderful to my ears. So to my way of thinking, this is a step backwards.
It's always nice to find a fellow practician of the 80/20 rule! I can appreciate some of the detail work on headphones, but it's more something that I note with interest rather than connecting with musically.


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Ski apartment to rent in Borovets
Borovets / Royal Plaza
Apartment / 2 bedrooms / sleeps 4 / 1 night min stay
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£380 - £660 / week
Key info: Ski; Great for children of all ages ; Car not necessary;
13 Nov 2011
"can't fault this accomadation, clean, tidy and well kept."
I have been to borovets on a few ski holidays and this is definatley the best I've stayed. its perfect position on the strip so its only a 2 minute walk to either the gondola or the ice angels so both… More
5 Nov 2011
"Excellent Accommodation, Superb Location"
I stayed in this apartment last winter and it was absolutely perfect for our visit to Borovets. The place was very good value, clean & comfortable - perfect for me & my friends. The best thing about t… More
4 Nov 2011
"Fantasic apartment in a fantastic location"
To get to the Royal Plaza from Sofia airport takes around 40 minutes. I have been going back to Borovets now for 5 years and to the same Royal Plaza apartment. Set in a fantastic central location you … More
Ski studio to rent in Borovets
Borovets / Royal Plaza
Studio / sleeps 2 / 1 night min stay
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£200 / week
Key info: Ski; Not suitable for children; Car not necessary;
Borovets ski apartment to rent.
Borovets / Royal Plaza
Apartment / 1 bedroom / sleeps 4 / 3 nights min stay
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£149 - £350 / week
Key info: Ski; Great for children of all ages ; Car not necessary;
19 Jan 2014
"Best winter apartment for my family"
Royal Plaza has best central position in Borovets. It is situated in the heart of the village between two best known hotels Rila and Samokov. In the front of the building there are many interesting sh… More
27 Jan 2012
The apartment is spacious, the furniture is new and comfortable. While it is located in the center of the resort, the windows overlook the quiet part of the street. The apartment is serviced and clean… More
28 Dec 2011
"Fantastic accommodation"
Stayed for a long weekend at the beginning of December. Clean, modern and spacious. Lovely apartment with great underfloor heating right in the middle of the resort. Booking now for our annual ski … More


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If you want to read a truly gripping memoir of addiction, try this
If you want to read a gripping addict's memoir, and you have not yet read this new book, then I strongly recommend Candia McWilliam's What to Look for in Winter: A Memoir in Blindness. The book deals with this Scottish novelist's failing eyesight, a result of blepherospasm, a condition which forces the eyelids shut. But she also tells, in parallel, the story of her alcoholism and subsequent recovery.
What to Look for in Winter is a compelling mixture of fine writing, searing self-examination, precise observations of the degrading reality of addiction – and some humour as well. By McWilliam's account, she was one of those alcoholics who would drink anything. When she was alone, she drank, and that could include household cleaning products, disinfectant, and "a substance called Easy-Iron that lends smoothness to laundry but is not a smooth drink". As a result, she laid waste to her physical health. As she writes:
Alcohol tells you not to answer the telephone, not to answer the door, not to open the curtains, not to eat, not to wash… Alcohol tells you that you need a drink at four in the morning. It then tells you that you need to sick up that drink to get the way clear for the next drink. You obey it and you sick up blood. In the end your ears, nose, eyes and mouth are streaming blood. You shit blood. You piss blood.
For McWilliam, recovery from this appalling self-destructive cycle came after a spell at Clouds House, the treatment centre in the Wiltshire countryside. Her description of the rigours of the Clouds regime is spot-on, as are her observations concerning her peers. She notes, for example, the dietary sensitivities and hypochondria of heroin addicts.
There's nothing like an addict for saying he's allergic to gluten, nuts, chilli or what have you. As in, 'The smack's never done me no harm, it was all the takeaways. I can't take rice.'
The author's loss of eye-sight gave her a pretext to write something more than a "misery memoir". She's a very stylish writer, cool, and a bit over-the-top at times. She wanted to write "a book about addiction that somehow touches the addictive synapses of other addicts, as a novel touches the synapses of those who are addicted to fiction". I think she has succeeded, but why not try the book and judge for yourself.
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Gibson suffers sprained MCL
Gibson suffers sprained MCL
February 26, 2013, 10:30 am
The knee injury Taj Gibson suffered in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 102-72 loss in Oklahoma City has turned out to be a sprained left MCL.
Gibson will be sidelined for "at least a week," due to the injury, a person with knowledge of the situation told CSNChicago.com Monday night.
The Chicago Tribune first reported the extent of the injury.