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Johnny Marr recommended track No Solutions by The Only Ones in Even Serpents Shine by The Only Ones in Music (curated)

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No Solutions by The Only Ones

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"""Rather than going into the technicalities about them as a band, with The Only Ones it’s more about what it says about me as a teenage fan. I went to a lot of places to watch them, I slept in at least two bus shelters and on the kitchen floor of someone I didn’t know once. Sometimes I’d have tickets and sometimes I’d sneak in to see them and not just in the North, I came down to London and saw them at Dingwalls and The Lyceum. “Peter Perrett was feminine, and if you were a real fan of The Only Ones he had this thing where you’d almost imagine him as a really cool older brother who you didn’t know, that was the way I used to look at him. He led the gang, but he was small and I was small, and he got really involved when he played and that’s the thing, they were a really tight, great rock band. In a way he was almost like my Syd Barrett, he had a very poetic aspect to him. I was already well into studying what the rules of being a bohemian were about and he was it really. “John Perry was an amazing guitar player. Even then, when I was really learning my thing, I was aware it sounded exactly like a Jimi Hendrix lick crossed with a Jeff Beck lick from The Yardbirds, he was of that generation, probably a second generation Marquee, Wardour Street guitar player. They had a really fantastic drummer too, Mike Kellie from Spooky Tooth. They were a great ensemble and I knew they were really rehearsed and it really mattered to them. Peter Perrett never turned up like some druggy mess. “‘No Solution’ is a lesser known one, everybody knows ‘Another Girl, Another Planet’, but it’s the fan in me turning people onto one I think they’ll like but might not know. Fans of The Only Ones will know this song, but when I say fans I’m talking about the people in the audience, I think there were only five of them and I’m probably the only one still left alive!"""

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BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Art of Hiding in Books

Sep 24, 2020

The Art of Hiding

Amanda Prowse | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

7.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

3.5 stars

The main character in this book was Nina, a mother of two boys and a wife of a wealthy businessman. After her husband’s unexpected death, she finds out, that she was living in a bubble, and her husband left them bankrupt. Kicked out of her beautiful home and with pennies in her pocket, she needs to find out the way to survive.

I really liked Nina as a protagonist in this novel. I really liked her strength and her relationship with her boys. She had huge changes to endure, but I think she handled the situation pretty great. This novel was mostly told from Nina’s perspective, sometimes throwing in other character’s thoughts. My least favourite was Nina’s older son, I do understand he is a teenage boy, but a little bit of understanding and common sense from his part would’ve saved Nina so much stress. :S But again, what do I know about kids.

The narrative of this book was very absorbing to me, I was very intrigued of where the life will take Nina and her boys. There was so much loss, that it was really heartbreaking to see them struggling so much. I really enjoyed the topics which author has discussed, such as family relationships; the differences between being poor and rich, and how it affects people; use of survival skills after they were subdued for a very long time, and many more. Even though the story was engrossing, some parts were pretty repetitive for me, and that made my interest drop until a turn or surprise came along.

This novel is very well written and the language used was very easy and pleasant to read. It has decent chapter length which was divided into smaller parts as well, so the book didn’t drag to me. The ending of this novel rounded this story pretty well and left me satisfied with the outcome. So, to conclude, I enjoyed this story, filled with life-changing events and pretty strong characters. I did admire Nina and her life journey, and I do recommend to give this book a try, it has great life lessons to offer.

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Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) in Movies

Sep 16, 2020

Contains spoilers, click to show

25 years after their Bogus Journey, Wylde Stallions are on the verge of splitting up only to be told that they only only have 70 minuets to wright and perform the song that will bring harmony to, not only all of time but reality itself.

Bill & Ted Face the Music is an amalgam of the two previous films that is designed the trilogy or pass it on to the next generation and is split into two narratives. Bill and Ted head to the future to try to find the song, save their marriage and avoid being killed by robot from the future whilst their daughters have their own Excellent Adventure, travelling back in time to put the ultimate band together.

Bill & Ted Face the music tries to replicate the feel of the previous films and, for the most part succeeds, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter both do well in portraying an ageing Bill & Ted who are trying to live up to their destiny whilst keeping their lives together as well a number of future Bill and Ted's who all have their own agenda and it's nice to many of the original cast back in their original roles, even George Carlin makes a cameo as Rufus (kind of).
New comers to the franchise, Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine do a fair job as Thea and Billie, Bill & Teds teenage daughters, both of whom are exactly like their respective farther's but more modern.
The only two complaints I would have is that the robot is very annoying, he's meant to be but it just doesn't seem to work. Also I didn't know who Kid Cudi was (Showing my age and musical tastes here).

Bill & Ted Face the music is great, fun film that is, in essence, a tribute to the enjoyment and power of music, it fails only in the fact that it doesn't really have an effective bad guy, it tries to replicate De Nomolos, or at least his robots from Bogus Journey but, like Excellent Adventure it would have worked (almost) without him as he was really only used for one reason.
Oh and FYI there is an end of credits scene so make sure you sit through to the end.

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Divergent (2014) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

Divergent (2014)

2014 | Action, Sci-Fi

6.6

(31 Ratings)

Movie Rating

𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. Unabashed (better) 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 ripoff which doesn't just have nothing to say - but worse - it has nothing to say yet *thinks* it has something to say. A fucking terrible metaphor about conformity depicted through surface-level teenage angst and wince-worthy 2014 YA genre tropes while deliberately (and frustratingly) refusing to provide any world-building above routine exposition, but sometimes it's fun! Woodley is pretty crappy but everyone else is solidly engaging, Teller is great as a piece of shit and James is shockingly one of the better 'faceless white beefcake' roles - but of course the winner goes to evil Kate Winslet in full Hillary Clinton mode, pantsuit and all. I fully admit to being enchanted by this movie's stupid little world and it's never unwatchable either, often quite enjoyable - but can we talk about how idiotic of a system this is? You're telling me in order to stop discrimination and foster peace (from some conveniently absent events just known as "the war" [ugh]) they thought it'd be a good idea to make distinctly unconnected factions based on - essentially - a Buzzfeed "What's Your Personality Type" quiz, which aren't allowed to communicate and all of whom evidently hate each other that they then force a bunch of moody TEENAGERS to choose which one they want to be in - the single MOST IMPORTANT AND PERMANENT LIFE DECISION they'll ever make - and AREN'T ALLOWED a single switch EVER (because... reasons, ostensibly you aren't allowed to change as a person); and if they fail or want to choose a different path they just become HOMELESS FOR LIFE. (A sadly close unintentional riff on capitalism, actually). Anyway I like when this gets trippy and when it acts as a slideshow of these supposedly helpful organizations (which don't serve their respective purposes here at all) just start doing a bunch of fucked up things to their new recruits literally from day one but all its non-politics aside I'm sick of when movies like these make the blandest character in the movie not only lead the whole thing, but also make their only discernable personality feature that they're "not like the rest of us". Yeah, no shit they aren't - they're way less interesting.

Kudos

BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Burning Girls in Books

Jan 26, 2021

The Burning Girls

C. J. Tudor | 2021 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

9.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

The protagonist in this book is Jack, a female vicar, that has been sent to a little village to take over the church that has been vacant. Her daughter Flo is a teenager that had to change her life from Nottingham to Chapel Croft. I really loved the brilliant selection of characters. They are all mysterious, intriguing and different. I thoroughly enjoyed Jacks thoughts about being a priest, the church’s role and religion in general. It was very modern and stigma defining. I really liked Flo as well, she seems like a very smart young lady, full of curiosity and teenage rebellion. 🙂

Like always, the narrative is creepy, mysterious and very well planned out. There are multiple stories running through this book. This book is told from multiple perspectives, and I absolutely adored that. Jack’s perspective investigates a story of two young ladies that disappeared thirty years ago and a mysterious suicide of the previous vicar. And Flo’s perspective shares very creepy encounters with local youth. The whole book is covered in a mysterious shroud, suspense is seeping through the pages, and the story simply had me absorbed. The topics discussed in this book are religion, evil youth, parenting issues, over the top religiousness, church work, vicar’s life, tight community nuances, murder and many more.

The writing style of this book is impeccable. C.J. Tudor’s writing is evolving with every single book. The setting and the mood of this book is perfect for horror, and the mystery just drives suspense through this novel. The chapters are pretty short, so it is a fast and gripping book. The culmination and the ending are brilliant, and I loved how the book was rounded up. I have to warn the reader, that this book has murders, pretty gross stories, burning people and psychopaths.

So, to conclude, this was my first book of 2021 and is going straight to my top 10 of this year. I loved everything about this novel, it has very unique and complex characters as well as an amazingly delivered plot full of twists, intriguing stories and mystery. I strongly recommend to anyone who loves Stephen King or a good mystery.