Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (5000)

Content

Rabbit – Watch Together

Social Networking and Photo & Video

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

• Watch movies, TV, videos together in sync • Free video and voice chat • Free 1-1 and group...

The Snail and the Whale

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

"How I long to sail!" said the tiny snail. One little snail longs to see the world and hitches a...

Nick McCabe recommended All Things Must Pass by George Harrison in Music (curated)

All Things Must Pass by George Harrison

1970 | Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter

7.5

(4 Ratings)

Album Favorite

"My dad used to work on the buses, and the bits of the vinyl from the triple set turned up on the back of the bus. It went into lost property and never got claimed and he got to keep it, which was pretty fortunate for me. You know how there are certain mainstays in your life that you keep coming back to? It works several ways for me now. I was five-years-old when I became aware of that record and the atmosphere struck me really. It's a Phil Spector production and it's kind of cinematic in its sonic aurora. The use of the acoustics of the room – typical Phil Spector tricks – and coupled to those songs… it had a haunting effect on me as a young lad. I've come to realise that some of the sounds on there have become signature sounds for me. I've been informed by that, you know, how a band's supposed to sound together. It's created a bit of a problem between me and recording engineers for most of my life. Thankfully I can do everything myself now. To me, that's how things are supposed to sound. They should sound like the room they're recorded in. The gentle wisdom of the album really has got me through bad times. I dunno if it's because it reminds me of home, but there's a lot of wisdom contained in those lines. I think George Harrison in general is quietly inspirational for a lot of people. He conducted himself with grace, for people in the dynamics of a band with rather large egos – he sets a good precedent. I can't claim to have always followed that to the letter but it's something to aspire to at least."

Source

Kudos

Kyera (8 KP) rated Day 21 (The Hundred, #2) in Books

Feb 1, 2018

Day 21 (The Hundred, #2)

Kass Morgan | 2014 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(5 Ratings)

Book Rating

This is going to be much shorter as I've already reviewed the first book (plus this isn't out yet). Also, fair warning there will be spoilers in this one as its difficult to talk about without giving away any plot points or the development of relationships. I will attempt to reveal as little as I can.

While I am not well versed in the side affects and speed of oxygen deprivation, I suspect the portrayal of it is utterly inaccurate. What I do know is that a person can experience deadly CO (carbon monoxide) levels in less than a day when locked in an airtight room. Obviously, these people are not in an airtight room, but their spaceship is leaking the only oxygen that they do have at an alarming rate. One could calculate the time, but as I do not know the number of people in Walden or Arcadia, nor do I know the size of those two areas of the ship.

There is a <a href="http://kimberlymoynahan.com/2012/04/friday-fiction-facts-trapped-in-an-airtight-room/">great article</a> for fiction writers that allows you to calculate the amount of time that your character would be able to survive in an airtight room. It also describes some of the effects that they would experience. While I do not expect the oxygen deprivation/carbon monoxide poisoning to be perfectly explained and accurate - I do expect there to be some degree of <i>believability</i>. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Immediately upon the sealing of the craft, the author makes the reader believe that the people are already being affected. What makes the situation worse is that people begin to panic, using up the precious oxygen they need to rid their bodies of the carbon monoxide. In case you weren't aware, you take in oxygen so that it will bond with the carbon monoxide and be expelled from your body as carbon dioxide. (Obviously this is a very simple explanation, but I'm just trying to get the general idea across.) As they lose the oxygen around them, more and more carbon monoxide builds up in their lungs. With the number of people on the ship, I expect that after a few hours and certainly after a day they will have (if not run out) be dangerously low on oxygen. Yet, later on two of the characters have spent a number of nights together and the lack of oxygen hasn't caused them to fall unconscious.

With the size and population being what it is, it seems unlikely that there would be oxygen left (as it's steadily leaking out.) And if there was any that there would still be enough to breathe relatively normally. This is what immediately made the pseudo-scientist in me question how much research was done. Honestly, it doesn't take much to make it marginally realistic.

The characters are not as well thought out as they should be. Although flaws are to be expected, contradicting actions/personality aspects just make the reader confused. As obsessed as one character is with his sister, her well being, and at times her location - he seems to quickly thrust her aside when the new girl gives him attention. Just as before, the relationships are like roller coasters. One act tears them apart, then in the next moment all is well. Such an emotionally tiresome existence.

The first book had shadowy allusions to prostitution, a case of teen pregnancy, and the most emotionally indecisive characters that I have ever had the privilege to read about. This book has Stockholm Syndrome, inaccurate science, and trigger happy humans. As with the other book, it is enjoyable enough as a silly, simple read. Don't expect it to be more than that or you will be disappointed.

Kudos

MissCagey (2652 KP) rated A Few Good Men (1992) in Movies

Oct 10, 2017

A Few Good Men (1992)

1992 | Drama, Mystery

8.8

(26 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Brilliant court room drama

I hadn't watched the film in ages and then suddenly it popped up on tv so I recorded it. I didn't watch it straight away as I thought I really remembered most of what happened but when I did watch it there was so much I had forgotten about!
Some reviews say that Demi Moore is wooden but I actually think she holds her own in this film. Cruise is brilliant as always, playing the part of the cocky but clever lawyer who goes after one of the big guns (Jack Nicholson).
For anyone who hasn't watched it, you really should, you won't be disappointed! Are we clear?