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    Pedi STAT

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    Pedi-STAT is a rapid reference for RNs, paramedics, physicians and other healthcare professionals...

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    BlutdruckDaten

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    * Voted as Top Health App 2014 by doctors at HealthTap * Recommended by the Austrian society for...

Side Effects (2013)
Side Effects (2013)
2013 | Drama, Mystery
4
6.4 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Steven Soderbergh has been toying with the notion of retirement for a couple of years now, and has said that “Side Effects” will be his final film. I certainly hope not.

As its title intones, “Side Effects” is a movie about what can happen when prescription medications, such as anti-depressants, can do at their worst, leading to anyone who taking them wishing they weren’t. The movie certainly starts out looking like a propaganda-film about how Doctor’s push these drugs onto patients as they are paid by pharmaceutical representatives to test their drugs. It seems that everyone in the film is taking meds of some form or another. The cast for the film should be a recipe for success: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum. But because of this perception, the first two-thirds of the film nearly put me to sleep. And then a twist happened that the made the plot extremely complex and worth watching. In many ways, the less said about “Side Effects,” the better. This may produce a better experience for you than I had. But here’s the basic idea of the movie:

Emily Taylor, played by Rooney Mara, is introduced when she is visiting her husband Martin (Tatum), a man convicted of insider trading who is about to be released after four years behind bars. Martin’s discharge happens uneventfully, but adjusting to the new life of poverty rehashes the depression that first plagued Emily when her husband’s prison term started. This leads to Emily crashing her car head-on into the wall of the garage in her apartment building. While in the hospital, rules force her to see psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Law).

Up until this point, I had trouble connecting with Mara’s character. While it is revealed that she had mental problems prior to this episode, you don’t really completely grasp what it is until later in the movie. Mara seemed to be very stiff, and way too much like her emotionless character from “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” But then we enter Jude Law. Law’s character, Banks, is friendly, approachable and caring. He is what first drew me deeper into the movie. Though, you soon discover that he is a doctor who believes in the power of drugs. This character kept me interested because I couldn’t quite nail if he was going to be an antagonist or protagonist.

Of course our dear Dr. Banks prescribes some medications to Emily and she begins showing some disturbing side effects and… The side effects lead to really terrible, bloody things which ruins careers, lives, and even drive people to madness. Or does it?
  
American Horror Story - Season 7
American Horror Story - Season 7
2017 | Horror
Season 7 of American Horror Story, subtitled Cult, is a weird one. Instead of focusing on the supernatural, ghosts, witches, haunted houses, Cult is a trip through the delicacy of the human mind. It instead looks at fears, real world issues, and of course, the presence of an all too familiar cult like family.
This makes for some of the best and worst aspects of AHS Cult. The plot leans heavily into politics this time around, originally airing not long Donald Trump was sworn in. I personally like that this season takes this real world event, and explores the horror that some people experienced during this time. Others would argue that it's very on-the-nose, which is somewhat true. Some of the political leanings carry all the subtlety of a stampeding cattle herd, andnat times can feel heavy handed.

Underneath all of the IRL shit that's going on, we also have a plot of intrigue and mystery, as the main character Ally (Sarah Paulson) is being apparently being stalked and pursued by clowns - her worst fear. We are given reason to believe that perhaps Ally is losing her mind, off her meds, upset with the election result, but as the season continues, you find yourself questioning whether she is in fact being gaslighted. Manipulation of what you believe to be true or false is a terrible horror all on its own, and a big reason why I rate this season highly.
The star of Cult for me though was of course Evan Peters. Playing a deranged political candidate called Kai Anderson, it's not long before his extreme right views Garner him a following, and the titular cult is created. To say anymore would be considered spoilers, but rest assured that all of these plot strands weave together by the time the story climaxes.
Evan Peters role in Cult is my favourite performance if his to date. His character is simultaneously charming, terrifying, smart, and unhinged, and he does a fantastic job in bringing him to life.

The plot also touches upon other real world figures, such as Charles Manson. Those parts were pretty interesting, but when the show flashes back and focuses on Valerie Solanis (Lena Dunham), it lost me a bit. I like when AHS includes real life characters, and it's always fun to see how they are interpreted in this kind of media, but it goes a bit overboard with it's hammy stuff (again) at times - the whole Andy Warhol plot was a massive eye roll in my book - and the Solanis stuff is just plain unenjoyable to watch.

This whole side plot really drags down the quality of cult to me, but the strong performances by Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters is enough to keep it in a higher placing for me.

Certainly not my favourite, and certainly not my least, Cult sits somewhere in the middle, and I can only praise the writers for trying something new with the horror element. Good stuff.
  
Forged Contracts (Tribal Spirits #3)
Forged Contracts (Tribal Spirits #3)
Katherine McIntyre | 2019 | Paranormal, Romance
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
straight back up to 5 stars!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

 When Finn left, Raven's wall came down. She had been hiding behind that wall, and Finn, for years. Now that barrier is gone, Raven had to face just why she had been hiding, or rather WHO she had been hiding from. Jeremiah didn't want to be pack beta, but Sierra choose him and he would do his best. raven at his side would be a bonus, but would she be there, when she finds out his bi-polar meds are all gone? When Raven's past comes to town, they both have to face up to what they feel for each other and join together with both the Red Rock pack AND the Silver Springs pack when that past turns deadly.

This is book three is the Tribal Alliances series but all can be read as stand alones. BUT I would strongly recommend that you read at least book two, Forged Decisions, before this one. There is much in that book that has a direct impact on this one.

Raven is hiding, she doesn't want to face what she really feels about Jer. When he finds out about her past, she'll be heart broken if she lets herself fall. So she used Finn, and he used Raven too, to hide from those feelings. With Finn gone, she cannot hide anymore and just one kiss explodes the mating bond between them. Raven tries hard, so very hard to not let it develop, but neither she nor Jer can deny it any longer.

And it it GLORIOUS watching them fall! Emotional, dark and deadly, best describes this one!

Raven's past still haunts her, and when the true horror of that becomes clear, Jer goes all Alpha-protect-whats-mine. He pulls his head out his ass and accepts Raven's help to get himself back on track, cos now, not only does his pack need him, as beta, but his MATE needs him too. It takes Jer a while to see what Raven feels, putting the pieces together not quite fast enough, but he does get there in the end.

Raven manages to overcome her past in the most bloody way! The past she had been hiding, the one she didn't want anyone to know about, isn't so much of a secret from Sierra, since she is pack Alpha and Sierra makes Raven see that we all have a past. And that's where it needs to stay, in the PAST.

A previous baddie makes (mostly) good here and I wonder if he will get a book. Be nice, I think, for him to come full circle. He's not the next one, that book belongs to Lucas, of the East Coast Tribe and the Landsliders will be back, making much trouble again!

We slipped a bit from 5 for book one, to 4 stars for book two, but I had no idea why. This one, however, shoots straight back up to 5 stars! One sitting read, and it ain't a short book!

5 full and shiny stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**