Smashbomb

"Old Rottenhat is an album that came out in 1985, and Works In Progress is an EP from the same time. They get grouped together on a compilation album called Mid-Eighties. On that album, he's using a lot more synthesiser, and a lot less acoustic and jazz instrumentation. I heard that when I was working at Domino where I used to work a few years ago, and it was just on in the office. I'd heard plenty of other Robert Wyatt but this was the stuff that I liked the most. I liked the combination of his very frail, beautiful voice mixed with properly 80s-sounding synthesisers. I like the claustrophobic sound, and the reverbs, and the synths. They're not nasty-sounding synths. For me, it's just very colourful-sounding music. I got to work with him more recently with Hot Chip, because we were such fans, and it was a real pleasure to be in the studio with him. He gave a lot of himself to the project, and came up with some amazing parts to add to our tracks. He would sing one song of mine, but he wouldn't sing another because he needed them to feel like something he had lived. I have to feel like stuff resonates with me. I liked his honesty, and what he bought to those recordings was amazing. There's a lot to learn from him - he's very political, and I'm not like that at all. And one of the things he was doing when he made Old Rottenhat was creating lyrics that nobody could misunderstand, in terms of political meaning. I was impressed by him not hiding anything, and that's something I like to do with my music in terms of the emotional content."

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Allied Intelligence Handbook to the German Army 1939-45

Stephen Bull

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Book

What did the British or American soldier know about the German Army? Was this knowledge accurate -...

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Wish Upon (2017) in Movies

Jul 11, 2019

Wish Upon (2017)

2017 | Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

5.9

(18 Ratings)

Movie Rating

We often wonder what wishes we would cast if given the opportunity. We think of the riches, second chances, and various selfish or generous choices we would make. In Wish Upon, we bear witness to how this plays out for one teenage girl.

Wish Upon stars Ryan Phillippe as a widowed father to a teen daughter, Clare, played by Joey King (Ramona and Beezus). Working as a salvager, he comes across an antique Chinese Box that he gives to her for her birthday. Clare quickly understands that the box has the ability to grant wishes, but her limited understanding of Chinese prevents her from being able to decipher all of the characters on it which reveal an all important disclaimer: each wish will result in the death of someone you know.

The film is ambitious with its premise yet falls flat in its execution. What seemed to be a promising mix of The Box and Final Destination, resulted in an uninspiring teen thriller that, at times, seemed more slapstick than a film that would grab your attention and fill its viewers with anxiety and tension. Wish Upon checks off many of the cliché boxes with respect to their storytelling and interactions between characters and provides little originality.

Wish Upon misses the mark in not finding an identity. It jumps from being a slasher, to being a teen comedy, to being a romance. This would not be problematic if it incorporated all of these facets into creating a film that takes advantage of these aspects, but it does little to allow for the story to seem as one that would be memorable. Wish Upon will leave audiences wishing they had made a different choice at the box office.

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Erika (17789 KP) created a post in Dear Smashbomb....

Aug 31, 2019

So, I'm having an issue at work, and I don't know if I'm blowing it out of proportion or what. Any advice would be helpful.

My team lead left at the beginning of August, leaving his position open. I've been with the state for a year and eight months. We never get raises because it all depends on funding from the legislature. This position would be a hefty raise, and I would definitely excel at the job. I've been a mentor and in management type positions since for over 14 years now (starting at age 18). I know I'm perfect for it, because I have the skills and knowledge asked for with the application.
It's an internal position, so my current boss is doing the interview. Here's the problem: the other chick I'm going against, who's been with the state for 13 years, not in leadership roles the whole time. This woman is kind of a b, and plays the office politics. She happens to be a favorite of my boss.
So, I'm afraid this interview is just a formality, and my boss is going to give it to this other lady. My job's a little different, and she's said before that she hates it, because of the research portion. Yet, this lady would be my boss. I've gotten to the point where I think I may be slightly deluded into thinking I have a chance, and I don't expect to get it anymore,
Am I being too fatalistic? I don't want to get my hopes up, only to get passed over. This same situation was one of the many reasons why I left my old job, when I was passed over for the management position in favor of someone who was buddies with the hiring manager, then was asked to train the person.