Sweet As Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa by Various Artists
Album Watch
In 1988, on the eve of a two decade civil war, Somalia's authoritarian ruler Siad Barre launched...
world pop compilation
Marianne Faithfull: A Life on Record
Book
A tribute to the life and work of one of the great musical icons of the twentieth century, reflected...
Posters: A Global History
Book
Posters are ubiquitous. They hang on office walls, bedroom doors and bus shelters. But what...
Homegrown: Austin Music Posters 1967 to 1982
Alan Schaefer, Joe Nick Patoski and Nels Jacobson
Book
Before Austin became the "live music capital of the world" and attracted tens of thousands of music...
Ban This Filth!: Letters from the Mary Whitehouse Archive
Book
In 1964, Mary Whitehouse launched a campaign to fight what she called the 'propaganda of disbelief,...
Nick Friesen (96 KP) rated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) in Movies
Jul 14, 2017
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) in Movies
Mar 18, 2019
Very distinctive if nothing else, even if Richard O'Brien's claims that it's a mash-up of Hammer horror and the Carry On films seems a bit spurious on reflection. The plot is, frankly, incoherent, and becomes increasingly peripheral as the film continues - this is basically just a collection of pastiche rock 'n' roll songs belted out with great gusto by a cast who are really going for it. Luckily, most of the songs are really good. I'm not entirely sure why this has become the type specimen of the modern cult movie, but it's entertaining enough to watch.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Abominable Science!: Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids in Books
Mar 23, 2018 (Updated Mar 23, 2018)
Pretty much guaranteed to make your average Bigfoot hunter or Nessie spotter squeal in outrage, but the writers' main proposition - that the famous cryptids are essentially products of 20th century pop culture - is coherent and well-argued, if nothing else. Some of the chapters are a bit more accessible than others, and they do take a variety of approaches - the section on sea serpents mainly focuses on the cultural development of the idea of such a creature, while the one on the Congo dinosaur is a fierce critique of creationist attempts to hijack science. A thoughtful and persuasive book.
As Easy as Pi: Stuff About Numbers That isn't (Just) Maths
Book
In this day and age it's hard to imagine a world without numbers. Our lives are centred around...
Board Game Design Lab
Podcast
The Board Game Design Lab came into existence for a very simple reason: I could never find the game...
BoardGames Games Design interviews