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Sam Hill (23 KP) rated Loony Quest in Tabletop Games
Jun 21, 2019
Looney Quest is an odd game. You, and the other players, look at a game level, hen have a timed period to scribble a possible route onto a piece of acetate hitting trying to hit good things and miss traps/bombs/enemies. After he timed period you put your acetate over the level map and tot up your score.
Now the ideal market for this is younger kids, who want to participate and like scribbling on acetate, but the sheer quantity of token types and variety of effects is staggering and the kid young enough to like the scribbling is less keen on understanding what all these status effects mean.
Those of us old enough to click with all the token types, aree also going to find trying to draw what you remember to be a safe route achieving your targets dull.
Meanwhile the components are...ok, the tokens are nice thick card, but the acetate is a pain and (like most acetate screens) doesn't clean as easily as would be ideal, but the level maps are quite flimsy. If you try and replay it more than a couple of times they're going to get worn out fast.
Now the ideal market for this is younger kids, who want to participate and like scribbling on acetate, but the sheer quantity of token types and variety of effects is staggering and the kid young enough to like the scribbling is less keen on understanding what all these status effects mean.
Those of us old enough to click with all the token types, aree also going to find trying to draw what you remember to be a safe route achieving your targets dull.
Meanwhile the components are...ok, the tokens are nice thick card, but the acetate is a pain and (like most acetate screens) doesn't clean as easily as would be ideal, but the level maps are quite flimsy. If you try and replay it more than a couple of times they're going to get worn out fast.
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated Red Dwarf in TV
Jun 22, 2019
The boy's from the dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy franchise which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following.
The show follows Dave Lister, a chicken-soup-machine repairman, who is the only human survivor of a radiation leak on his mining space ship and possibly the last living human. Having come out of time stasis 3,000,000 years into the future, Lister has very little company, one in the form of a hologram of his dead shipmate, Rimmer, self obsessed Cat, who has evolved from the descendants of Lister's pregnant cat, senile ship computer Holly and Kryten an Android whose sole purpose is to serve and clean.
This masterpiece was created by Rob grant & doug naylor (GrantNaylor) and has spawned 12 series (Back to Earth counted as the unofficial 9th and a 13th series heavily rumoured) multiple books, audio books, collectibles, magazines and a mobile game.
I'm still hoping for a mainstream console game, but until then, enjoy SmegHeads!
The show follows Dave Lister, a chicken-soup-machine repairman, who is the only human survivor of a radiation leak on his mining space ship and possibly the last living human. Having come out of time stasis 3,000,000 years into the future, Lister has very little company, one in the form of a hologram of his dead shipmate, Rimmer, self obsessed Cat, who has evolved from the descendants of Lister's pregnant cat, senile ship computer Holly and Kryten an Android whose sole purpose is to serve and clean.
This masterpiece was created by Rob grant & doug naylor (GrantNaylor) and has spawned 12 series (Back to Earth counted as the unofficial 9th and a 13th series heavily rumoured) multiple books, audio books, collectibles, magazines and a mobile game.
I'm still hoping for a mainstream console game, but until then, enjoy SmegHeads!
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Feb 4, 2021
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners in Books
Oct 31, 2018 (Updated Oct 31, 2018)
Such glorious fun!
I love this author's writing style. It isn't a recitation of dry facts as some historical nonfiction books can be. She really takes you into the daily rituals associated with fashion, hygiene, sex, marriage, and manners by immersing you in the culture as a virtual time traveler visiting the Victorian era. It brushes away the romance of the time period and gets you into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty history but in a fun and frivolous way as she takes you into her confidence and shares the secrets of the past. It's a delightful romp written with light sarcasm that brought tears from laughter into my eyes. I highly recommend this book and this author. She has written another book on the history of child-rearing called Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children (Hardcover), which will be available April 16, 2019. Though I don't have children, I'm tempted to buy this book because the other was so much fun.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
Debbiereadsbook (1166 KP) rated Red Snowflakes in Books
Nov 14, 2019
nice easy read
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Dimitri has just 5 days to convince Dena she is his fated mate, or he will die.
I really rather enyoyed this short tale of a lonley vampire waiting out his fate, I really did!
It's only short, 100 odd pages, but it was a surprising read and I cannot say why!
It's not overly sexy, and at one point I thought it might turn out clean, but I would have still enjoyed it.
Dimitri is vampire, and has some skills not *usually* associated with vampires: he can change shape into anything and every thing, he can magic things up and away. I liked that, its different.
Dena is as lonely as Dimitri and she has a strong voice, and won't take any nonsense off Dimitri when he pulls the alpha male thing, and I loved that she stood up to him.
Both Dena and Dimitri have a say, in the third person, and I read this book in one sitting. A very enjoyable sitting it was too.
Not read anything else by this author, and I would like to read more.
4 good solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Dimitri has just 5 days to convince Dena she is his fated mate, or he will die.
I really rather enyoyed this short tale of a lonley vampire waiting out his fate, I really did!
It's only short, 100 odd pages, but it was a surprising read and I cannot say why!
It's not overly sexy, and at one point I thought it might turn out clean, but I would have still enjoyed it.
Dimitri is vampire, and has some skills not *usually* associated with vampires: he can change shape into anything and every thing, he can magic things up and away. I liked that, its different.
Dena is as lonely as Dimitri and she has a strong voice, and won't take any nonsense off Dimitri when he pulls the alpha male thing, and I loved that she stood up to him.
Both Dena and Dimitri have a say, in the third person, and I read this book in one sitting. A very enjoyable sitting it was too.
Not read anything else by this author, and I would like to read more.
4 good solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Institute in Books
Nov 26, 2019
Would make a great film
Supernatural abilities and horrific events are nothing new for Stephen King, but this is the first time we've seen his take on The Maze Runner/X-Men and most other recent YA novels or films. And it's really rather good.
I wouldn't say it's up there with his knockout classics or epic stories, but this is a hugely entertaining read with some endearing and well developed characters. Even the kids in this are a lot more likeable than most other whinging teens that feature as protagonists in other novels, and it's just proof that King really does know how to do characters. The story itself is interesting and a neat new take on the supernatural/superhero powers that we're so used to seeing nowadays. My biggest issue is the ending. It's not terrible or even bad at all, it just comes across as very anticlimactic after the huge build up and is rather a bit of a letdown. It just seems a little too clean and wrapped up all too quickly.
Still I struggled to put this down, especially the further I got into it, and if you like stories about supernatural abilities then this is definitely one to read.
I wouldn't say it's up there with his knockout classics or epic stories, but this is a hugely entertaining read with some endearing and well developed characters. Even the kids in this are a lot more likeable than most other whinging teens that feature as protagonists in other novels, and it's just proof that King really does know how to do characters. The story itself is interesting and a neat new take on the supernatural/superhero powers that we're so used to seeing nowadays. My biggest issue is the ending. It's not terrible or even bad at all, it just comes across as very anticlimactic after the huge build up and is rather a bit of a letdown. It just seems a little too clean and wrapped up all too quickly.
Still I struggled to put this down, especially the further I got into it, and if you like stories about supernatural abilities then this is definitely one to read.
Nick Beaty (70 KP) rated The Grinch (2018) in Movies
Dec 8, 2019 (Updated Dec 8, 2019)
Unnecessary to say the least...
Where to start with Illuminations take on this classic Christmas tale. It felt very uninspiring, underwhelming and unnecessary.
From the get go the narration from Pharrell Williams was very poor and don't get me started on the music. Every time I felt like I could get into this movie the next awful track came on and ruined the moment.
There were very few likeable Characters, with the exception of Max the dog and a screaming goat that had my 3 year old laughing, I believe this is very much their target audience though.
It is very hard not to compare it to Jim Carrey's version or even the 1966 original short which are much darker, creepier and grumpier, all of the things you would expect from The Grinch. This version looks too clean cut, the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch is too friendly in my opinion and the whole thing just feels like a sugar coated version aimed at very young children.
I personally believe there was no real need for this movie to have ever been made other than to cash in on a brilliant Christmas story, that has already been told in much better ways than this.
From the get go the narration from Pharrell Williams was very poor and don't get me started on the music. Every time I felt like I could get into this movie the next awful track came on and ruined the moment.
There were very few likeable Characters, with the exception of Max the dog and a screaming goat that had my 3 year old laughing, I believe this is very much their target audience though.
It is very hard not to compare it to Jim Carrey's version or even the 1966 original short which are much darker, creepier and grumpier, all of the things you would expect from The Grinch. This version looks too clean cut, the voice of Benedict Cumberbatch is too friendly in my opinion and the whole thing just feels like a sugar coated version aimed at very young children.
I personally believe there was no real need for this movie to have ever been made other than to cash in on a brilliant Christmas story, that has already been told in much better ways than this.
Graham Massey recommended Selflessness by John Coltrane in Music (curated)
