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Wayne Coyne recommended Live at Leeds by The Who in Music (curated)

 
Live at Leeds by The Who
Live at Leeds by The Who
1970 | Rock
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"We've been playing The Soft Bulletin live, and you have to consider that chain of events where you make a record but then you have to become the people who play it in front of people. When I saw The Who play live in 1977, that was really a moment that changed music for me; it was no longer music, it was like a deeply religious power to me. They were still doing these songs from Tommy, in a sense like they were on Live At Leeds, where it was just utter chaos, [and] utter release. And even though people would say that at the time that I saw them they weren't at the peak of their powers, they were powerful enough on this night. That was a life-changing, fucking devastating couple of hours of music. I walked out there like I'd changed heads. And it's like that on Live At Leeds. They start to discover that psychic energy: they're feeding off each other's energy, looking at each other, listening to each other, letting that be the reason the songs sounded the way they did. And that's hard to do, to be an intuitive musician - you have to surrender and say yeah, it's like this, and that's a motherfucker, what if it sucks? You have to trust that you have it in you. So when I hear Live At Leeds I'm always reminded that these are young guys, they didn't know that they were playing at their peak, they were just playing what they felt like playing. And the way that the volume goes up, and the way they even lose themselves - the playing is so intense that they even lose the tempo - but they leave that in the record and that's what's music's about. It's not just something that's kept in time, it's people making a racket. Fuck, sometimes it's out of control. There's moments like that on 'Magic Bus' or 'My Generation', moments in those jams that I think are some of the greatest moments of that type of rock & roll. There's that invisible energy guiding them through this. In 1970 you probably had not heard music like that ever.]"

Source
  
Salvaged (Releasing the Magic #2)
Salvaged (Releasing the Magic #2)
Maya Riley | 2019 | Dystopia, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
98 of 250
Kindle
Salvaged (Releasing the Magic book2)
By Maya Riley

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

What do you do when you find out you’re the thing you fear most?

Seven months ago, the Void Virus was set loose on Earth. The world is now in chaos. The origin of the virus has been unveiled, and mysteries of my past have come to light.

A lot has changed during that time. I started out alone, struggling to survive. Now I had four guys, my sister, and Puppy who all had my back no matter what.

Not only did I gain a strange healing ability, but now Lincoln could create fire. That isn’t the last of the weird things going on, though. On top of that, I discovered I was created in a lab, with the intention to bring about a great change. Those intentions weren’t necessarily good. Now that I’m back on their radar and I know more about what I might be capable of, I have become the thing I fear most, and am left with more questions than ever.

We receive word of some sort of sanctuary for survivors. A place that promises protection for those who seek it. It could be a trap, but it could also be true. We do our best to travel in search of this place, but rotters aren’t the only things standing in our way. Our journey is filled with twists, turns, and straight up chaos.

If there is a safe place for survivors, we won’t stop until we find it.

Together, we will find The Salvaged.


So this was a struggle at first which was annoying as I enjoyed the first book so much, I still like her style of writing and the fact it wasn’t relationship led. Something was missing and it wasn’t till the last few chapters it got exciting. I’m hoping she is just setting the next book up as I was close to give this a 2 star rating. It was one of those books that just plods along not bad but not brilliant either. I’m curious to find out more about the magical side and the powers Blyss is bringing out.
  
To Catch a Dream
To Catch a Dream
Morgan Sheppard | 2021 | Contemporary, Romance
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
i wanted Will and I dont get him!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Caitlin starts a new job, and finds herself drooling over her boss. But with a rubbish childhood and still dealing with an abusive ex, she doesn't think she deserves anyone. But Will is determined, and more importantly, willing to wait for Caitlin.

OH! But for one teeny tiny thing, this would have been a 5 star! I'll get back to that, though.

Cat is still dealing with her abusive ex. He is stalking her and keeps turning up in random places, kicking her door in! So, quite rightly, she doesn't want to start anything, let alone with her boss. But Will is a sweetheart, and once he knows about the ex, he's willing to wait for Cat, as long as it takes.

I loved Cat! She's not perfect, she doesn't pretend to be, but she is working and playing hard. She wants to be rid of the ex, but he isn't taking any notice of her saying no. I LOVED Ben and Alex, Cat's best friends! Oh those guys are the BEST best friends a girl could wish for, made me wish for a male best friend! I love what they do to help her to recover from the ex. But as serious as that is, they are so much fun!

It's not especially steamy, as Cat herself finds out 😉. But that's not what this book is about. This book is about getting yourself free of a toxic relationship, giving yourself time to heal, and letting yourself love again, on YOUR terms. And it's about friendships that can help you do that, IF you let them. It's about falling in love again, when you really didn't expect to.

What that teeny tiny thing was? I wanted Will and I don't get him! He was, in his own words, smitten with Cat that first day, and he falls hard and fast, but HE doesn't tell me. And I wanted him to!

So, for that reason only. . .

4.5 stars, rounded UP for the blog!

**same worded review will appear elsehwere**
  
The Dark Side of the Wall by The Stallion
The Dark Side of the Wall by The Stallion
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is a project from Ben Wallers and Alastair Mackinven from Country Teasers. We moved in similar circles in the mid-90s. I saw them do the whole of this at the Moth Club earlier this year. You could think 'oh what a funny idea to cover the whole of Pink Floyd's The Wall', but they actually did it really well. I used to be a Pink Floyd fan, and one of the first albums I bought was Dark Side Of The Moon, but The Wall is where I parted company with them, I thought it was just a self-indulgent mess. So I was amazed to go and see that they'd actually made it palatable, they'd done something interesting with it. I know it's not coming from a take the piss point of view, Ben's got an actual affection for that record, and they'd really thought it out. The Wall is one of the most indulgent, over-produced records ever done, and so the idea of two guys on a stage at the Moth Club doing it is like 'how the fuck are you going to do that? Where's the choir, where's all this?' But it worked, it was really good. I preferred their version of The Wall to the Floyd one. I remember going to see the film version of The Wall, and Bob Geldof played the main character, and it was so rubbish and painful, the worst kind of that rock star moaning about nothing in particular. There's something in that record to do with a performer's relationship with an audience that's interesting - there is something strange about getting up on a stage and performing in front of people. In Ben's live performances as The Country Teasers or The Rebel, sometimes people think he's trying to wind the audience up or whatever, but it's always important that the audience is there and you're never allowed to be a passive spectator. I don't know if that's why he finds [this album] an interesting thing to deal with, but you could tell that there's a reason for it, it wasn't just 'let's try and do something ridiculous'. "

Source
  
Hers, Times Two (Hers #4)
Hers, Times Two (Hers #4)
Anna Adler | 2021 | Erotica, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
the steamiest of them all!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarain, I was gifted my copy of this book.

Eliza has lusted after Jackal and Zaster for some time. And they, her. But it takes nearly losing Liz for her and them to see that they could be happy together, the three of them.

Book 4 in the Hers series, and I would personally recommend you read the other books first. Book one, especially, since Alyssa and Jax play a huge part here! Chase and Holly, book 2, are mentioned but I don't think that the couple from book 3, Roth and Kaitlyn are even mentioned. Doesn't matter though. You don't NEED their stories for this one to make sense, but it might give you a better picture of what Alyssa and Jax are trying to do for Silenia.

Certainly the steamiest of the four books! But also, the darkest I think. Even from book one, where Alyssa owns Jax, this book does take a darker turn.

Liz is suffering from a drug addiction, and she is keeping it from everyone, save the medic on board. The blackouts are the biggest side effect, and could cost them all their lives, if she's flying and blacks out. But when she needs to, Liz steps up, and gets shot. Zaster, bless him, takes it the hardest. But after a conversation with Jackal and then Liz, they actually want to make things work.

And work they do! OOOOOOEEEEE! Yes ma'am. Once they admit to each other what they all want, they are all in and straight away. Liz does not waste any time getting down and dirty with her men!

I read a wide variety of books, across lots of different genres. I don't just read M/F books either. And for me, if the GUYS had had some sort of sexual contact too, this would have taken it over to the full 5 stars. That would have just been the icing on a very hot cake!

I'm sorry, Ms Adler, to keep asking for more, but write such good stories and I want to read them!

4.5 stars, rounded UP for the blog.

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
Full disclosure - I hated Iron Man 3 upon release. As a kid, growing up and reading Marvel comics, I was so excited to finally see The Mandarin bought to life, with Ben Kingsley of all people in the role. So when the Mandarin twist hit just over halfway through the runtime, it annoyed me so much that I just couldn't enjoy the rest of the film.

Fast forward a few years and I can just about look past it and find the positives in this threequel.
There's a lot less Iron Man this time around, and a lot more Tony Stark. This isn't an issue though as luckily Robert Downey Jr. is reliable as ever further proving why Iron Man has become the face of Marvel Studios.
There's also a lot of emphasis on his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), which is a great aspect of this movie. It really drills home how human Tony's story is, even with all the crazy tech flying around.

An issue I do have with Iron Man 3 is the villains however. Marvel Studios are still balls deep in the habit of having boring bad guys at this point, and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) is unfortunately another underwhelming antagonist to add to the pile (although I can appreciate that Shane Black didn't resort to another evil-person-in-an-Iron-Man/hero-suit, an issue that seems to plague these movies).
I like Guy Pearce generally, and he's doing his best to ham it up, but it just lands flat and severely de-rails the film as a whole.
Ben Kingsley is great as usual. It's not his fault that the writers fucked with The Mandarin so much, and he works wonders with what he's given.

Iron Man 3 does boast some decent set pieces. Tony's home being blown to shit is a highlight, and the finale is pretty fun and aestheticly fan pleasing with the House Party Protocol. The CGI is near flawless, even 7 years later.

Overall then, not the worst of the bunch but certainly not in the top 50% (for me anyway) but still an important part of the overarching MCU narrative.
  
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
1996 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
From Dusk Till Dawn is a good enough Tarantino/Rodriguez style crime caper for the first hour, carried by its cast and polar opposite characters. On one side of the coin, there's the wholesome Fuller family, played by Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Ernest Liu. These characters are the good guys if you will, with just enough development given to be on their team. The other side of the coin serves us the Gecko brothers, played by George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, two criminals who take the Fullers hostage on their way to Mexico. These two are fucking deplorable, Richie (Tarantino) being a dangerous psychopath with no regard for human life, and Seth (Clooney) just being an arrogant asshat who flits between condemning his brothers behaviour and encouraging it. They're so damn unlikable, but when the five characters are together, it provides us with an electric dynamic, one where they end up depending on eachother to survive.
Other than that, it's good enough. Sure it's stylish, but it's not a scratch on Pulp Fiction or Desperado in what's it's trying to be.

But then the twist kicks in, and Christ does this movie ascend to near greatness. When the Fullers and Geckos arrive in Mexico and head to The Titty Twister bar, shit hits the fan pretty quick, and it goes from good enough crime movie, to all out sticky gross gore filled vampire horror show in seconds. The mix of practical effects and CG is wonderfully balanced, and the aesthetic is hugely reminiscent of Evil Dead II. It's no surprise to see Greg Nicotero among the credits.
This second half is just a whole boat of fun, and is the reason why FDTD is rightly considered a cult classic. Tarantinos screenplay is great (casually ignoring the fact he wrote himself into a scene where he could have Salma Hayeks toes in his mouth) and the addition of actors such as Hayek, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Tom Savini, and Fred Williamson for this tongue-in-cheek, splatter fest of a third act is the cherry on top.

From Dusk Till Dawn is a blast for sure. Its stumbles here and there, but is another fine entry in the Robert Rodriguez catalogue.
  
Am I Normal Yet?
Am I Normal Yet?
Holly Bourne | 2017 | Humor & Comedy, Young Adult (YA)
10
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Holly Bourne writes about two of my absolute favourite topics: feminism and mental health.

So Evie is a teenage girl, who desperately wants to be "normal". She's been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and OCD, and is trying so, so hard to prevent them from ruling her life anymore.

Evie combats a number of issues in this book, such as the stigma around mental health, and the misuse of diagnoses (eg. "I like things neat, I'm so OCD"). She's such a real character, who makes mistakes and upsets people and keeps secrets. She shares her bad thoughts, her rituals and her worries with us, which makes this book so fantastically relatable for people with similar thoughts.

Like everyone else suffering with mental illnesses, Evie has a ton on her plate. Recovery, boy problems, friendship problems... And her desperation to just be normal for once, which leads her into a teenage guys bedroom and triggers a horrific relapse.

This doesn't have a typical happy ending. Yes, things do get better at the end, but Evie doesn't magically beat her illnesses or avoid a relapse altogether - because that's just unrealistic. Mental health doesn't work like that. Recovering from a mental illness is a rollercoaster, with about a thousand loops.

The girls - the Spinsters as they decide to call themselves - are all fabulous too. They talk about all the things that people don't talk about enough, including periods and the difference between mental health care for males versus females. I think these are all such important topics, and are covered fantastically in this novel from a teenage girl's viewpoint.

Overall, I think this is just such a wonderful, important book. For those of us who are struggling with mental health issues, it helps us to feel less alone, and lets us know that our problems are not uncommon. For other people, the more "normal" people, Am I Normal Yet? provides an accurate insight into the mind of someone who's not having such a great time mentally. I really loved this book and all the topics it includes. A new favourite of mine, with 5 stars.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Child's Play (2019) in Movies

Jun 25, 2019 (Updated Jun 27, 2019)  
Child's Play (2019)
Child's Play (2019)
2019 | Horror
This one's for 2Pac
Contains spoilers, click to show
Child's Play is really a film of two halves - the first being the better half and here's why:

The film starts off introducing us to Buddi (this remakes version of the originals Good Guys), and briefly explains that what will eventually end up as Chucky, is a defective product - a robot that connect to any device to your home, with all his safety protocols switched off.
This is the first thing that I imagine will piss off Chucky purists but it's a change that I thought was fine.
When the plot gets going and 13-year old Andy is acquainted with his new toy, is where the movie really shines. Chucky learns from Andy and just wants to make his new best friend happy, to the point that it paints Chucky as sympathetic. It's actually quite upsetting when he begs not to be shut in a dark closet, after not understanding why his violent tendencies have upset his friend.

The design of the doll itself, I thought was pretty good. He looks creepy as hell, and the way his eyes change colour just add to the whole set up... Plus Mark Hamill is clearly having a ball voicing Chucky - inspired casting right there.
The main problem I have with the cast was Aubrey Plaza, who's great in Parks and Rec, Scott Pilgrim, Legion etc, but here usual wide eye, psycho, sarcastic act doesn't really fit in with her role as mother to Andy.

Then there's the second half of the film, which to me felt very rushed, where Chucky goes full blown crazy, and starts controlling other Buddi dolls - an idea which is absolutely fine (and probably what will happen in the sequel), but the movie skirts by it pretty quickly. After building up for over an hour, a lot of explanations are left out, to make way for a violent show down finale between Chucky and Andy, that almost feels a bit unearned.

Overall though, Child's Play is a pretty fun horror trip, that sets itself apart from the original pretty nicely. I sincerely hope it's not just a one off, and we get more in the future.
  
Blue Fire
Blue Fire
Z.A. Maxfield | 2015 | LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
it hit THAT spot, good and proper!
This was a freebie in August 2019.
Jared loses his home to a wildfire, and Adam rescues him. Adam doesn’t usually follow up his rescues, but Jared calls to his soul, deeply. When Jared isn’t recovering from his depression, Adam takes a chance and takes Jared to the place Adam calls home. Just when things start looking up, Jared runs. Years later, when Jared finds out Adam has been injured, Jared has moment of clarity, and realises he might have run away from the only person who made him truly whole. Will Adam see him, let alone listen to him?
I really rather enjoyed this!
It’s not very long, some 80 odd pages, only took me an hour to read, but it was a very enjoyable hour on a wet and miserable Wednesday morning!
Jared is still grieving the loss of his husband to cancer, and now the house he built has been destroyed and Jared feels destroyed too. Adam, with his ice blue eyes, rescues Jared from the blaze and visits him in rehab. Adam feels a powerful need to look in on Jared, to look AFTER Jared, and taking him to the cabin in the hills seems just the thing. And it was, till one of them says something, that sends them both into a tailspin and Adam has to return to work. After Jared runs, three years pass, and Jared’s glass work centres around his search for that perfect blue, the one that touches his soul. But it isn’t until Adam is injured, that Jared knows he’ll never find that perfect blue in a glass bauble.
I felt for both these guys. Adam, fighting his growing feelings for Jared, and Jared who is still recovering, and fighting all kinds of inner demons of his own.
They both have a say, in the third person. It’s hot and steamy in places, and deeply emotional in others.
It just hit THAT spot, you know? The warm and fuzzies one.
First I’ve read of this author, I’d love to read more!
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**