Search

Search only in certain items:

SA
Smoke and Mirrors ( Harem of Freaks 3)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
103 of 220
Kindle
Smoke and Mirrors ( Harem of Freaks 3)
By Crystal Ash
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The hardest part of being ringmistress? Juggling my feelings for three men.

Connor, my stubborn protector always battling his demons. Hunter, the dashing wolf shifter who sends my heart into overdrive. And Razvan, the dragon I wish I could stop thinking about.

What was supposed to be a fun, lighthearted date turns into a shocking discovery about myself. I wasn't ready for this, and I'm not sure I'm up for the responsibility this discovery brings me.

I'm so consumed by the shifter visions in my head, I don't realize how much Connor is hurting. He's walking down a dark path and this time, I'm not sure if even I can save him.

Step right up and take a front row seat to my heart breaking.

I like this series it’s an easy enjoyable read. This did not disappoint at all I literally finished it within 2 hours. We find out what kind of supernatural Melody is and her link to these 3 men is growing stronger. Also those pups are just too cute.
  
Morels
Morels
2012 | Card Game, Educational
Ahh mushrooms. Such a wonderful foodstuff that I am trying to teach myself to enjoy. I just have never really liked them. Imagine my surprise when several years ago this game about mushrooms was causing some buzz and after some research decided I absolutely had to have it. Back then my wife and I played games together a lot. So 2-player games were our jam. Now we have kids, and we game with more people usually. But, I still never forgot about this little card game, and if you play it, you won’t either.

Imagine yourself hiking in the forest with your loved one or a friend, or straight up mushroom hunting like Josh enjoys. You come across many species of fungus, and that makes you super hungry. Well, why not collect those mushrooms and cook them into a delightful little snack for you and your traveling partner? This is the premise of the game Morels.

DISCLAIMER – The focus of this review is for vanilla base game Morels. Should we add in the “Foray” expansion in the future we will add that information here, or add a link to the expansion material review. -T

I do not intend to paraphrase the entire rulebook here, but will hit on some of important factors so my readers can get a sense of how the game plays. A row of cards will be splayed out in the middle of the table to create the walking path you will traverse. On your turn you may collect one of the cards closest to the draw deck, play a card from your hand, exchange like mushroom cards for walking sticks, cook like mushrooms (adding any butter or cider you may have), or collect all the cards from the decay pile. Only cards that you cook will score at the end of the game, so be mindful to collect enough frying pans and bonus cards to improve your scores. WATCH OUT for the Destroying Angels that temporarily poison you and need to work their way through your camp. If you can make it through the forest with the highest quality snacks being cooked you win!

Components. This game consists of a giant pile of cards that barely fit back in the box when sleeved, and some cardboard chips. Honestly, I have had my copy of the game sleeved for so long I do not remember the quality of the cards, but I am sure they are great. The cardboard chips are fine. I got rid of my insert from my box so that I can use my sleeves and arrange it the way I want – actually, I am thinking of crafting my own foamcore insert for this game too. The art is good. It straddles the line between realistic and quasi-cartoony but I like it all the same. Iconography is clear and the night-time cards are especially fun to inspect.

The game play is simple card drafting, set collection, and hand management, but it’s a light game to be enjoyed by two players with minimal direct interaction. I do love the weight of the game. It is light, but you also have to think and make some very difficult decisions. Do you grab the decay that has two Morels and a Destroying Angel? It could definitely be worth it if you can stomach having that Angel in your camp. Should you bolster up on frying pans or maybe you should sell those other shrooms for walking sticks so you can choose better cards from the path. It’s really a great game that I am very happy to still have in my collection. With that said, Purple Phoenix Games (with an assist from my wife, Kristin), give this one a relaxing, but not really delicious to me yet, rating of 13 / 18.
  
Do you like slowly wandering around the woods with no particular aim than to take in the surrounding beauty, breathe in the fresh air and be present and at one with nature? Then this book Shinrin-yoku: The Japanese Way of Forest Bathing for Health and Relaxation by Yoshifumi Miyazaki, should definitely be on your bookshelf! Honestly, if you’d asked me if there was such as thing a couple of weeks ago, I would have laughed at you and told you, you were just lazy. But it really is a thing.

Shinrin Yoku or ‘forest bathing’ was developed in Japan in the 1980s and brings together ancient ways and wisdom with cutting edge environmental health science. Believe it not, (oh, you must!) there are now forest bathing stations and walkways scattered throughout Japan, but you don’t have to all the way over there (although I would love to) to experience this simple, calming practice. No! With this book you can learn the art, strap on your walking shoes and get on out there and start your own Shinrin Yoku pathway.

Although, reading the book, it’s got a certain appeal and much more “hippyish” in China, including an itinerary of forest therapy (and tree-hugging), soba-noodle making, pottery workshops and stargazing – and that’s just day one! Can also include mediation, yoga, aromatherapy and forest concerts.

Involving all the senses, and taking all the greenery around you (and green is a very relaxing colour) you will find Shinrin Yoku benefits you in ways you didn’t know were possible. Numerous tests and studies have been made for this book. One example I’d like to share was how subjects were monitored (and properly measured) after just 15 mins walking in the morning, and 15 mins sitting and viewing the greenery in the afternoon. This short break in everyday life – reduced stress, blood pressure, pulse rate and cortisol, and increased a whole range of feelings from comfort and calmness with a decrease in anxiety.

Another great example showed the effects of just staring at a Bonsai tree for 60 seconds. Well, I tell you, I’m getting everyone I know who needs de-stressing a Bonsai tree for Christmas! It will be the best bloody present they could ask for – even if they do look at me as if I’m going mad when I ask them to just do one thing for me. Sit and stare at it for 60 seconds every day…

Now. Are there any Bonsai specialists in the UK? I want one or two.
  
40x40

Jonathan Higgs recommended Electro-Shock Blues by Eels in Music (curated)

 
Electro-Shock Blues by Eels
Electro-Shock Blues by Eels
1998 | Indie, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I heard 'Novocaine For The Soul' on the radio and bought the album the very next day. And with their second record, I got it expecting more of the same. This was pre-internet, so there wasn't a lot of information about it, but it would appear that he lost his sister and mum, and so he wrote this record about being in hospital and watching people die. It was extremely sad, and for a teenager it was like, ""Holy shit! What is this?!"" Kids are always intrigued by sob stories of one kind or another - Nirvana being a perfect example - but this guy had clearly been through a lot. He writes very short and simple yet very affecting songs, not produced in a twee way, but very cold and using lots of samples. They didn't really sound like a band at all. Again, they were a three-piece, and a very simple band. He had a really cool voice and a story to tell, and that again really made me think about the fact that the band doesn't have to be that thing which I always thought they were: that you played your drums and you play your bass, when actually it can be anything you want. That really influenced the way I write music. I used a lot more technology after I got into that album. I started to integrate my live sounds - my guitar for example - with my laptop, and I started using a lot more sampling, thinking I want to be a lot more like Eels. I think an element of his very black humour has crept into my music. You always get the sense that he is talking about something very grave, but he does so in a slightly distracting way. Take 'Susan's House': it's got this ridiculous, quite clearly silly motif, which sounds like Neighbours - he knows it does! He's talking about his problems at Susan's house as he's walking past all these awful things in the street, like a kid who has been shot and a pregnant teenager, but it's couched in this happy, jaunty, slightly sarcastic world, and that is precisely where I'm at in my own music. Like the song 'Get To Heaven' is all about the same thing, walking past horrors but with a smile on your face, whistling a jaunty tune. I think a lot of influence came from Mr Everett, because of his outlook on life, where you can be in a very dark position but music doesn't have to abide by those rules, it can subvert it."

Source