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Pudge & Prejudice
Pudge & Prejudice
A.K. Pittman | 2021 | Romance, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Do you like Pride and Prejudice? Well, I have a love/hate relationship with the story as I love Darcy but want to clobber him at the same time! However, this retelling of the story… is extraordinary. From the first chapter, I was fascinated by Elyse and the way Allison Pittman immersed me in her story. Elyse and Billy Fitz (how cool are their names?!) played off each other so well, I loved their conversations, the letter passing in class, and how both cared so much about the people around them. Allison Pittman also did a great job telling interweaving themes that are so prevalent and realistic into the characters’ thoughts and actions, such as body positivity and being careful who your friends are. Elyse’s older sister Jayne, and Billy’s best friend Charlie, plus the other beloved characters’ help make this story truly unique and engaging.

I loved the setting (Northenfield, TX), the 1980s drama, and the emphasis on music. Plus, all the 1980s references throughout the story helped to shape thing into a funny, realistic, and heart touching retelling of the original. Yet, it stands out as one of the most memorable renditions of Jane Austen’s works, that I have ever had the pleasure of reading. It was also interesting to see how Allison Pittman took the 1800s classic and evolved it into a new classic.

Overall, I think any age group would enjoy this book especially if you enjoyed the original. I know it will be going down as one of my favorite stories this year. 5 out of 5 stars.

*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.

IF Y’ALL LOVE ’80S MUSIC BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE PLAY LIST THAT JENN FROM<a href="https://thatswhatshesreading.com/2021/02/05/pudge-and-prejudice-book-review/">THAT’S WHAT SHE’S READING</a> PUT TOGETHER!
  
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
1986 | Horror
If you were to show someone who had never watched a Friday the 13th movie, one single film from the franchise, then Part VI would surely be the one. It does everything that this series aims to do so well - it's easy to see why it's such a fan favourite.

Part VI marks the turning point into supernatural territory. Jason is back properly this time, risen from the grave, essentially a zombie, and even more unkillable than he was before. In the entries preceding this one, Jason has always been an imposing figure sure, but this time around C.J. Graham makes him feel like a proper tank (something that would be carried on wholeheartedly by Kane Hodder).
Most of the cast are typical slasher types purely here to up the kill count, but Tommy Jarvis appear once again to round off his trilogy of films, this time played by Thom Mathews, easily the most recognisable and iconic portrayal of the character.
The kills come thick and fast, and although certainly not the bloodiest of the series, it still has some memorable moments (a dude gets folded in half like a deckchair, which is suitably ridiculous) and the general pacing of the movie is well realised.
The comedic tone is just right as well. It's not quite as goofy as Part V, and the humourous parts are genuinely funny. The dumb script just adds to this. The paintball scene is a little too much though, silly music and all.
Talking of music, Harry Manfredini returns to score, and his work continues to be one of the best parts about the franchise.

Jason Lives is a good time, through and through. It's a shining example of what can be great about 80s slashers - it's fun, it's violent, just the right amount of hammy, and is simply one of the best Friday the 13th films out there.
  
Power Corruption &amp; Lies by New Order
Power Corruption & Lies by New Order
2009 | Rock
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I love Power, Corruption & Lies. I also love Movement and I play it all the time, as it was the first album after Joy Division. It still has a bit of that Joy Division darkness, almost with a sense of defeat about it, which is kind of how I felt when I was a teenager in the late fucking '70s. But I think Power, Corruption, the record after it, there's more light in it. It's more joyous, it's more lyrically lighter. And I think Bernard Sumner found his own voice, loosened up and just became Bernard when he came out of Ian Curtis's shadow. This album is a huge inspiration and I was fascinated at the time by the way that New Order would take electronics and the sequencer sound, which I loved from Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', and they took it and applied it to rock & roll. They first did this with 'Temptation', which was released before 'Blue Monday'. I was previously in a band on Factory called The Wake and we'd opened for New Order. I'd had a tape recorder and I'd recorded some of their shows. They were playing 'Temptation' live, long before it was released as a single. I was obsessed by the way they took that tut-tut-tutut-tut-tut-tut sequence inspired by Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder's arpeggio sound. To this day, that's still a big influence on Primal Scream. I'm just saying thank you to Bernard, Hooky, Stephen and Gill because I remember buying that record when it came out with a beautiful Peter Saville sleeve. The reason there's no writing on the album cover of Screamedelica is in total homage to Saville and Factory Records. A lot of our albums have no writing on the cover either. I mean, 'Age Of Consent': What. The. Fuck. Is. That? Playing with New Order back in the early '80s was like a fucking dream at the height of their fucking power!"

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It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Public Enemy
1988 | Rock
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It was a real wake-up call. Hip hop until 1984, 85 was fun but for the most part it was party music. Living outside New York we'd listen to WBLS and Kiss FM where they played a lot of hip hop and me and my friends liked it, but it was very lighthearted. The Fatboys are the perfect example, or the Treacherous Three, where they have disco basslines and this fun vocal. Then almost out of nowhere Public Enemy happened. Everything about it was different. The lyrics were different, Chuck D's vocal approach was different, the subject matter and the production, the Bomb Squad. I remember hearing it for the first time and thinking how did they do this, because they've basically made punk rock hip hop, the sounds they were using, the way they were distorting basslines, it was a lot of the same ways industrial records were being made but they were making hip hop. It was so revolutionary. You can refer to musical culture in New York as before and after Public Enemy, it changed the city. New York was so dangerous then, it had the highest murder count, people were getting stabbed and shot and the crack epidemic was decimating communities and people were dying of AIDS. You'd go out to nightclubs in the late 80s and you'd hear these apocalyptic Public Enemy songs that perfectly described the city that you lived in, but they were oddly celebratory and you could dance to them. For better or worse one of the reasons I've left New York is because the city I grew up with is still there, but it's become a much meaner, safer version of its former self. I still love New York, but it's become primarily the domain of hedge fund managers and wealthy tourists, so I don't know how many more Suicides and Silver Apples and Public Enemys and Eric B & Rakims are going to come out New York City."

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    Phosphor 2

    Phosphor 2

    Music

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Full manual available at the Audio Damage website. Phosphor is an unique instrument modeled on the...

Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
1982 | Horror
Disclaimer: I still like this film, in the same way I like the whole franchise for better or worse, but man, Part III is a struggle to get through at times.

The main issue is the pacing and dialogue. I always found Part 2 Jason to be pretty intimidating, almost like a feral animal, but this time around, he's sneaking about Higgin's Haven, causing all kinds of hijinks and skulking in the distance. Leave that shit to Michael Myers and give me the Jason that's an unstoppable bull in a china shop!
This approach to Jason means that there is a ludicrous number of fake out scares in the first half of the film. It becomes trying pretty quickly.
The script is absolutely piss poor, no two ways about it - although I do appreciate the more frequent attempts at humour than what came before. Some of the characters are memorable in their own way - Shelley and Fox to name a couple, but none of the characters are developed much - watching the special features, it was made clear that the use of 3D and the increased technical issues that came with it took up most of the attention whilst filming - a classic case of actors doing the best with what they were given, which wasn't much in this instance!

Although all of this ensures that the end product doesn't begin to touch the first two in terms of quality, there are still some positives of course. This was the entry that gave Jason his iconic hockey mask for starters, and the make up work done on actor Richard Brooker is impressive even today. The practical work put into the films many death scenes is easy to appreciate, and the overall look of the film is pure 80s slasher, which is never a bad thing.

It's not the best film in the series, and certainly not the worst, and if you like slashers as much as I do, then there's definitely something for you here, even if the end result feels a bit aimless.