Written by Shaun in Media
Broken Boy Soldiers was a great first album for the Raconteurs, but this sophomore effort is outstanding. I had heard that production was rushed, so I was expecting the album to fall a bit flat, but it turns out that it’s just business as usual. Who knows, maybe it was the music critics who started that rumor to begin with.
With less polish then their first album, Consolers sounds darker, more raw, and much more energetic. I found myself repeating four or five songs on the first album, but this one is the play-from-start-to-finish variety. Plenty of good riffs to be found, and a few Jack White leads that only appeared on live versions of Broken Boy songs.
This will be on repeat for some time to come!
Available at Amazon
Written by Shaun in Media
C’mon, I don’t even know why you would act like you don’t want copies of these books. You’re not fooling anyone, you know.
The biggest Star Wars fan I ever met was just 3 months ago. There was a new receptionist at the optometrist’s, and Star Wars came up somehow. I really have no idea how. It’s odd, now that I think back to it. Anyway, she lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment with her husband, and the entire place was packed with memorabilia. They even had a full-size Han frozen in carbon, and Star Wars wedding cake toppers.
The Complete Locations of Star Wars: Inside the Worlds of the Entire Star Wars Saga
“An encyclopedic view of the primary locations of all six Star Wars films. ” The book depends primarily on illustrations with some photographs from the films. The artwork has a great amount of detail on each location, and cutaways show multiple levels of such places as the Galactic Senate. The books design shows a good deal of imagination, to the point of including topographic maps like those in National Geographic, with lines and other annotations charting the course of various battles, and makes good use of foldouts.”
Available from Amazon
The Complete Visual Dictionary of Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga
Comprehensive guide to everything Star Wars. Profiles of every character, creature, vehicle, piece of equipment, and weapon used in all six movies. As you would expect in a visual dictionary, everything is documented via extensive photographs. Now if I could only find Albania on a map. I know it borders on the Adriatic, it’s land is mostly mountainous, and its chief export is corn. Thanks, Coach.
Available from Amazon
Written by Shaun in Media
I got this book some months back on pre-order after I heard all of the buzz the British version got. I had the lofty goal of reviewing a section each week with my son, but who knew that 2 year olds weren’t so interested in the reasons behind the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
It’s a throwback to the days of youth, if you’re over 30 or so. Or a rebellion against the current politically correct child rearing attitude that says that your kids must be protected from all harm no matter the cost. Not that I’m saying that this movement is bad. I love that my kids watch Dora and Diego, because looking back at even the “gentle” cartoons of our youth — Casper wasn’t all that friendly, you know!
The book is packed with short sections on historical events, practical skills, games, activities, literature, you name it. Many things bring back good memories — these definitely are things that I want to pass on to my son’s generation.
Some sample sections: building a treehouse, ciphers, making crystals, famous battles, making a periscope, coin tricks, timers and tripwires, the rules of rugby (cricket was removed from this Americanized version), marbles, Seven Wonders of the World.
Available via Amazon.
