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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 24, 2020 (Updated Mar 24, 2020)  
Check out this fascinating interview with Lisa Johnson, author of the emotional and heartfelt biography POSTCARDS FROM LONNIE on my blog, and enter the #GIVEAWAY to #win a signed copy of the book - two winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/03/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-postcards.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
It all started on Christmas Day 1993. Lisa and Lonnie were sitting on their mom's rickety yard swing, when Lisa's curiosity took over. She asked Lonnie questions about his life on the street, about being homeless. To her surprise, he answered honestly, humorously, and thoughtfully.

That conversation continued throughout the next four years as Lisa wrote questions on postcards addressed to herself, then mailed them in packets to Lonnie at the flower shop on his corner. He wrote his answers and mailed them back. Lonnie answered a lot of questions and even asked a few, too. His detailed, matter-of-fact responses gave Lisa an unfettered view of a population living on the fringes of society and the issues they face every day.

Postcards from Lonnie is a dialogue between Lonnie, who speaks through the postcards, and his sister, who not only learns a lot about her brother but also about herself. Intimate and revealing, this is a unique family memoir and a universal story of love, respect, family, and ultimately hope.
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#LSBBT #LoneStarLit
     
40x40

Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) created a post

Apr 6, 2020  
Thank you for all staying with me during this difficult time. I've been trying hard to knuckle down and watch a lot of movies at home at the moment but I am finding it really hard to focus inbetween still working and with the pressures of the current situation constantly on my mind. I am also missing @fandomfanatichere a lot too but we have since found other ways to spend time together ie in the beautiful stars of @nomansskyoffical. ------------------------------------
I would like to say things will return to normal soon but as I can't my simple advice to anyone struggling at the moment is to just try and distract yourself in any way you can. Be it by watching films, playing games, turning your music up loud and singing, reading, cutting your own hair, eating nice food, drawing, crafting, buying that geeky statue you've always wanted or by just enjoying the peaceful bliss of doing nothing for a few weeks its all about looking after you and your mental state first. --------------------------------------
So please please please stay at home, keep yourselves safe and just think after all this blows over how much stronger the bond between loved ones will be, how much you will of learnt about yourself and how amazing its going to feel seeing all those people you have missed again. Love you all. Neon Nans 💜
     
The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins
The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins
Irvine Welsh | 2014 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not a pleasant read
Having recently read and enjoyed Trainspotting, I decided to give this book a go as I was intrigued to see how Welsh writes when it’s not in Scottish. Sadly I think I prefer the Scottish!

This is not a pleasant read, in more ways than one. The main character Lucy is a horrendous person, which is intentional but it doesn’t make for a nice read. There’s nothing redeemable about her at all and the longer the book goes on, the more repulsed you become by her behaviour. She’s not meant to be massively likeable, but I really didn’t enjoy reading a book where the main character is that disgusting. It’s a shame as the actual plot itself is quite decent and has a lot of interesting aspects and developments. The problem though is the characters and the fact that this is far too explicit and crude, it’s entirely unnecessary. The writing style also grates a lot in this. It seemed to work for Trainspotting but in this it just seems inappropriate - why Welsh can’t write conversation and paragraphs with proper punctuation and paragraphs I’ll never know. And finally the ending in this is just laughable. After such a horrific story the ending seems so out of place and so undeserving for such characters. If you want to read Irvine Welsh, read Trainspotting. Don’t bother with this.
  
 The Righteous Gemstones
The Righteous Gemstones
2019 | Comedy
Pretty entertaining
I'm not a fan of Danny McBride but I kept seeing the trailer for this show, so figured I'd give it a try. I have to be honest & say that I watched it whilst working from home, so my attention wasn't 100% but I think this may have been for the best.

This was surprisingly a fairly entertaining show. I was expecting a lot of crude or ridiculously stupid humour, but in fact I found a lot of the humour to be fairly understated and dark in parts, which I definitely preferred. This didn't have as much humour in as I expected, there was a much more serious plot and even some heartwarming emotion mixed in with all the dark humour. The cast was good overall, there are some great actors in this and I didnt even mind Danny McBride for a change. The story was wacky and fun, even if maybe slightly predictable in parts.

My biggest issue is that it didnt blow me away. It was good, entertaining but it was ultimately a show that I could give or take another series. If I happened to have nothing better to watch then a second series wouldn't be bad, but I wouldnt go out of my way to recommend this as an absolute must see show.
  
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Horror
The dead should die...
I wanted to like this film so badly, but when I wanted to turn it off less than an hour in, i had to admit it wasn't for me. Although I did at least persevere until the end, even if it wasn't worth it.

I'm all for off beat and dark humour and wit, but I'm afraid for me this film was just too far in the left field. I liked the deadpan aspects and humour and also how it surpassed the fourth wall, the problem was the laughs were still few and far between. I like how this poked fun at today's society and there was a lot of social commentary, it was just so deadpan that a lot of the witty remarks were lost. The plot development too was so slow. The film was virtually over by the time it felt like it was going anywhere, and even when the zombies emerged in full they couldn't breathe any life (ha) into this. Strangely such a stellar cast were wasted too. Tilde Swinton's wacky funeral director was by far the most fun but even she got on my nerves by the end.


I'm all for your non-typical comedy, but sadly this film just wasn't for me. There are some good ideas in this but they feel wasted
  
Gemini Man (2019)
Gemini Man (2019)
2019 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
I believe that this movie has taken A LOT of flack due to unrealistic expectations. One of the things that I heard a lot before I saw it was that the CGI that made Will Smith appear younger was really poor. Let's take into consideration what is happening with this. They are making a man look over 20 years YOUNGER. FOR AN ENTIRE MOVIE. While the current version of said actor stands next to him. Of course it isn't going to be perfect. Nothing ever could be. But I think Ang Lee and company did a helluva job with it. The action was at times a bit generic but nothing that I would put in the terrible column.

The story itself was pretty original. I won't give too much away, as I try to avoid spoilers when I review things, but you'll likely be surprised on a couple of different occasions.

In regards to the action, I have to admit that it was all kinds of gnarly to see Will Smith fight himself. And due to his acting ability you believed the shock on his face and in his actions as it was happening for the first time.

Don't listen to all the hate, this movie isn't awful. Definitely worth a viewing if you're a science fiction fan.