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From the Corner of the Oval
From the Corner of the Oval
Beck Dorey-Stein | 2018 | Biography
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fun, Quick Read - great insight into working in the White House (0 more)
A LOT of relationship DRAMA (0 more)
Super Fun Look of a Young Obama Admin Employee
From the Corner of the Oval is the EXACT book you want to read for all the revealing scoop inside the Obama Administration White House and what it would be like to work inside. We see what it's like to work alongside the president, travel the world and hang out with other staffers. MINUS the boring political swill and old school players in Washington, DC. OK, well there ARE technically players, but of a "sleep me with and then don't talk to me for months" kinda way.

It's not so much about the inner workings of Obama's administration - you aren't going to learn any federal secrets or inside Obama family scoop - but follows one young woman's journey working in the depths of the white house on a super-low rung of the totem pole, as she builds some pretty fun relationships and interactions between the staffers.

Beck Dorey-Stein is living in Washington D.C. at an all-time career low (out of work teacher) when through of all things - a vague Craigslist ad - is hired as a stenographer in the Obama White House. She is totally out of her element and finds herself navigating the DC elite, finding out who she is and what she wants from life and making WAY TOO MANY HORRIBLE mistakes in love.

I LOVED getting all the inside looks to what a day could be like in the White House from a 20-somethings' perspective. She zooms all over the world in Air Force One following POTUS to just about every speaking engagement he had throughout almost his entire administration. She has several fun interactions with him, and sees and experiences high and lows of our country and our world that she will never forget. All the while, she is navigating falling in love and trying to find where in this world she fits in.

She has a really fun group of friends and I thought every character in the memoir deserved some more attention. I do wish there was a bit more development or backstory of some of the people she is closest to, but we mostly learn about Beck's life here. At some points you can feel how hard she truly tries to make relationships work, but it gets really intense and a bit annoying, and you're like "Get your Sh*t together already woman!" But that's the story - Beck is trying to get her Sh*t together and it's a fun journey to follow!

There's some super colorful language - so if calling Congress a 'Bag of D*cks' is not your thing... be forewarned! I personally enjoy a good F-bomb every now and again, so it only made the story more light and fun. I TORE through this. It's fun, and fascinating, and I wanted so much more!!
  
The Joe Rogan Experience
The Joe Rogan Experience
Comedy
9
7.8 (33 Ratings)
Podcast Rating
Informative (2 more)
Great guest on all sorts of topics
MMA devoted episodes
What needs to be said about a pod that has over 1000 episodes??
I've been a fan of Joe Rogan for almost twenty years. His stand up comedy is some of the funniest shit I have ever heard. So naturally I become a fan of his podcast as well. Listening to Joe's chemistry with his guests and how well and articulate he speaks makes people forget he's also a full time color commentator for the UFC. The man has a wealth of knowledge at his Beck and call and he shows that. Keeping up with conversations involving astrophysicists, doctor's and Eddie Bravo(insert laugh track here).
His devotion to the pod can give listeners three to four new episodes a week. The vast library of episodes have something for everyone, including but not limited to comedians, doctors, fighters and other sports figures. Joe keeps the listener intrigued and involved and wanting more. Even if it's a goofy episode involving pod regulars and Fighter and the Kid podcasters Brian Called and Brendan Shaub, where the guys do nothing but drink, smoke weed and watch fights. They never just talk about the fights... They cover a wide variety of topics that are both serious and hilarious.
Ear candy for those who want to be informed...or misinformed... Depending how serious the episodes are.
Great podcast. In my top 5 for life.
  
40x40

Tom Chaplin recommended Sea Change by Beck in Music (curated)

 
Sea Change by Beck
Sea Change by Beck
2002 | Folk, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

"When we signed our record deal in America, it was a really exciting time and I remember going over there and, at that point, they were basically doing anything to sign us! We went to Interscope Records. We had no money that that point, we were struggling musicians and this woman just opened up this kind of cabinet that was full of every record that Interscope had put out and the one that she chose was Sea Change, saying, “You should listen to this one, it’s only just come out”. And I’d never really been into Beck, I’d just found it sort of contrived but it completely changed my perspective of him. It was just when I met my girlfriend at the time, who’s now my wife. Sea Change is a break-up album but we fell in love to this break-up album, it was the soundtrack to our car journeys at the time. It was really peculiar; normally an album reflects where you are at the time and whenever I hear the songs from it, I’m transported back to this really happy time when we were getting together. That’s what I like about it, because it’s so bare, from what I remember he wrote it just after splitting up from his long-term partner. Trying to convey the misery of such a messy break-up in such a direct way, I was just blown away by that."

Source
  
Tortured with Love is the sad yet horrible story of how a children's nurse gives up everything she has and becomes a killer, all for love.

Ray was married but his wife and children were in Spain. Martha was divorced with two children and felt old. Her life changed when her friend signed her up for a correspondence dating agency and Ray wrote to her. He was already scamming women at this point and Martha was next in line.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Martha Beck was an innocent. No, I think she knew perfectly well what she was doing. It's just her love and infatuation with Ray was too much and she would do anything for him.

I thoroughly enjoyed every word of this book. Written in such a way as to be educational and informative, it was such a gripping story I read it in one sitting. The thing I love about J.T. Hunter's books is he doesn't just go for the 'glory' story. Instead, every book I have read by him has been thoroughly researched, giving the reader more information about whichever subject he is talking about. This one is no different.

A fantastic True Crime read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
1984 | Horror
8
7.2 (21 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Sleepaway Camp 1984: Not The Final Chapter
Well its been a good Friday The 13th, i reviewed Parts 2 and 3, and to conculded Friday The 13th, I though reviewing Part IV aka The Final Chapter aka Not The Final Chapter. Siskel and Ebert said it perfectly in their review of this movie, that even though its called "The Final Chapter", it wont be the final chapter, their will be more to come, cause it gets alot of money.

Also my third favorite charcter is in this movie and that's Crispin Glover's charcter. Behind Jason and Shelby of course. I also like the kills in this movie. Axel- throat slit, and head turned around. Paul- Spear in the crotch, Jimmy- he stabbed him with a corkscrew and a meat clever.

Part IV- recaps parts 1, 2, and 3. Which is great, telling the story about Jason and showing his kills.

And of course you cant forget about Tommy Jarvis. This started, his trilogy. Tommy is my 4th favorite charcter.

The plot: A carefree lakeside vacation is interrupted by the re-emergence of killer Jason Voorhees (Ted White). After he escapes from a morgue, leaving bodies in his wake, Jason travels to Camp Crystal Lake where a group of friends is staying. The teens meet some locals: Tommy (Corey Feldman) and Trish (Kimberly Beck), as well as secretive hiker Rob (Erich Anderson). As the group of teenagers engages in drunken debauchery, their numbers begin to dwindle, and pieces of the past resurface.

See next Friday The 13th.