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The Satanic Bible
8
5.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
โœชโœชโœชโœช 4 Stars

One look at the title and front cover of this book and one might be like 'ooooh shock horror'...but it's really not like that. This book isn't about worshipping Satan, or any deity, it is about worshipping yourself. It actually makes a really good self help book when it comes to accepting and believing in yourself. Instead of being spiritual based it focusing more on the physical being, the enjoyment of the flesh and the enjoyment of the here and now.
The only reason I dropped a star was because it contradicted itself about half way through. It was made clear that this wasn't about Satan worship but then it went on to give us pages of rituals, spells and numerous hail satans. Although I found these very interesting it lead the whole book into a different direction away from the self which I thought was the whole purpose.
I am not a religious person and I picked this one up due to curiousity, I'm glad I did.
  
Miami EP by Starflyer 59
Miami EP by Starflyer 59
2020 | Rock
songwriting (2 more)
mood
guitar solos
Another great Starflyer release
The "Miami EP" is a pretty clear follow-up to last year's release, "Young In My Head," which I awarded 10 bombs. In fact, two of the five tracks on this release are either spiritual twins or direct successors to tracks from YIMH.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, while I was listening to the final track "Bored" for the first time and I was able to sing along with it, it slowly dawned on me that it was a continuation of the song "Cry" from YIMH, which was cool. I hadn't expected it. It isn't the same song at all, but it has some of the same tune and lyrics in a new form.

The other three tracks on the EP are new and fresh and have a killer surf-rock/shoegazer/British rock vibe. Starflyer 59 has evolved and changed so much in the past 27 years, but their songs are distinctly "Starflyer" which is no mean feat.

This is another great release that is well worth a listen.
  
Star Dust by Arthur Fiedler / Boston Pops Orchestra
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"When we talk about great American songs, this is the ground zero for the way that I listen and write. Or at least aspire to write. In at least a moment in my career, there's a timeless gem embedded at the heart of it, like 'When You Wish Upon A Star' or 'Star Dust'. It's not making songs for the moment, it's stepping out and making the best you can, making it timeless. It's not a great way of saying it, but a lot of the songs on my Baker's Dozen list have moments in them. They can still hit you as hard as they can hit people in 1938. That is something I feel is worth aspiring to. It's not something you can dial up in a program, you can't force it or pretend you've got it when you haven't; it's just there. It's a higher spiritual essence that you know is there in you; on your best days you're just hoping to reveal some of it."

Source
  
Devi (Matefinder #2)
Devi (Matefinder #2)
Leia Stone | 2020 | Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
160 of 200
Kindle
Devi ( Matefinder book 2)
By Leia Stone

When Aurora found out that the vampires were after her blood to procreate, she thought she knew her mission. Take out the vampires and live happily ever after with Kai and their pack. But when the witches discover something about her, everything changes. Maybe Aurora doesnโ€™t have as much control over her fate as she thought and sometimes allies become enemies. Aurora and Kai must defy all odds if their future is to end in happiness.




This is the second in this series and I loved it more than the first. We catch up with Aurora and Kai and get to see them married and mated fully despite everyone trying to capture or kill her. Leia writes a very easy to follow story as well as building her world and these characters up. They all have more depth than the first book. Aurora also goes on a spiritual trip of self discovery. Also the wolves are out of the closet so it will be interesting to see how the world responds!
  
Everyday Life by Coldplay
Everyday Life by Coldplay
2019 | Pop
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Violin (5 more)
Adventurist metaphors
Spiritual
Equality
Reality
Vocals
Lacking depth (0 more)
Adventurous album taking on the uplifting but also brutality of reality and it's every day themes.
A new (different) album from Coldplay, which is definitely revealing their experimentation. The band take on heavy themes of love, war, racism, faith, gun control, friendship, climate change, police brutality and other every day themes in life. It is a double album consisting of 'Sunrise' and 'Sunset', which reveals the difference between the every day highs and lows of the above mentioned themes.

The opening of 'Sunrise' is set beautifully with string arrangements, with the lead violinist doing an excellent job of playing uplifting but also emotional tones to set the mood for the themes. Good versus bad, happy versus sad.

Coldplay never venture far from meeting with Eastern and Western sounds to encourage the acceptance of different religions and ethnicities.

'Sunset' is accompanied with loungey rhythm and blues tones which compliment the themes and meaningful lyrics.

However I can't help but note that I feel some depth is missing to convey their messages.
  
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
2004 | Comedy, Horror
It's like Spaced with a bigger budget and zombies. (0 more)
It's not as good as Spaced. (0 more)
Spaced on the big screen
In principle, I really don't like comedies. Yes, there are examples of the genre out there that I like, don't get me wrong. But generally-speaking I just don't dig them. I won't go into my anti-comedy rant in great detail here, but I think that one of the main reasons for it is that I love the craft of filmmaking and most comedies are severely lacking in any kind of interesting creative decision that make me appreciate a filmmaker's craft. Now Edgar Wright, there's a director who knows his craft, and it is very much evident in Shaun of the Dead. It is very slickly shot and edited, brilliantly-paced, pitch-perfect in tone and yes - it's funny! There aren't many comedy-horror movies that work, but this one really does. Also, I am a huge fan of Spaced, which is up there in my top 5 tv shows of all time, and this film is very much a spiritual successor to the show.
  
Burial Rites
Burial Rites
Hannah Kent | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
9
7.9 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Remarkable re-telling of an Icelandic murder case
Hannah Kent's detailed historical true crime story is fascinating, as she fills in the gaps about Iceland's last known case to end with the death penalty of a woman.

It isn't a murder mystery, more a fictional portrayal of Agnes Magnusdottir, who was condemned to death after the murder of two men, one of whom was her employer. It surrounds her last months kept in the home of a lawman and his family, as they grew closer to her and as she revealed more about the case to them. She confides in a young assistant priest, Toti, appointed as her spiritual guardian.

Here we find a rather ambiguous story about her so-called heroic employer, who seems to be more callous than what most thought about him. It is moving to read about the intense poverty she faced, and the loveless life she led, forcing people to behave in many different ways. There is a recurrent theme of jealousy throughout the book which shows what people are truly capable of. It is a battle for survival in a harsh, wintry landscape.
  
Sunshine (2007)
Sunshine (2007)
2007 | Drama, Sci-Fi
Frantic, superhuman space escapism (spacapism? spacecapism? spacescapism?) which revels in chucking its cast of unfortunate characters head-first into ludicrous amounts of mental anguish, bodily torment, and spiritual deformation with nary a single solitary moment of repose. What do you do when you can't even trust your own mind (especially if it's scarier when you can) and don't even have the time to be sure before you act? Part sumptuous feast for the senses, part wildly fun men-on-a-mission space adventure, part bonkers slasher flick, part volatile mindfuck. Still one of the best looking movies you're likely to find, I'm never any less than blown away with how orgasmic this looks and sounds - the CGI is just immaculate. And the tech-fetish is so striking but never intrusive. Bonus points for being a pre-apocalyptic, time sensitive future sci-fi thriller that doesn't turn into a surface-level lecture on misplaced technophobia or "maybe *we're* the real virus" nonsense. Boyle and Garland are a dream team duo, knocked it right out of the park with this one - five hundred times the movie ๐˜š๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ is.
  
The Gift: The Story of an Ordinary Women's Extraordinary Power
The Gift: The Story of an Ordinary Women's Extraordinary Power
Mia Dolan | 2004 | Biography, Mind, Body & Spiritual, Paranormal
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I picked this book up and instantly felt drawn to read the blurb. After that I had to read the prologue and from there I couldnโ€™t put it down.
Miaโ€™s paranormal and spiritual experience is amazing to read about, she doesnโ€™t try to prove to anyone what she can do and to start with thought she was going crazy. You can tell it took her a lot of time to accept her gifts and went through a lot of hardships throughout her life which have knocked her confidence in both her life and her spirituality.
She writes with such clarity that I could feel the emotions of each of her life events as if I was there experiencing it along with her.
The one thing that I think will stay with me is when she spoke about souls and why people have a harder life than others, the answer? An older spirit who has been on earth a number of times has the ability to deal with the harder lessons of life.
This was a beautifully written memoir and something I would recommend to anyone who has an interest in spirituality and psychics.
  
Viy (Spirit of Evil) (1967)
Viy (Spirit of Evil) (1967)
1967 | Horror
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Soviet horror movie from the 1960s rather unexpectedly turns out to be a close spiritual cousin of the kind of films that Hammer et al were making in the west at the same time. A trainee priest finds himself compelled to spend three nights reading prayers over the body of (supposedly) a wealthy landowner's daughter - but the corpse bears a striking resemblance to that of a witch he earlier killed...

Not the longest of films, which is just as well as the pacing may require patience on the part of the viewer; after a very eerie sequence early on, there's a long wait until the stuff with the protagonist's vigil in the second half. Nevertheless, it's worth it, mainly because the special effects are remarkably good, well up to the standard of equivalent western films of the same period (and probably better). Not particularly scary or graphic by modern standards, but the climax has a creepy sort of power to it and the overall impression is of a classy and well-made film; if there's a political subtext to it, it's very well-hidden.