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Featured Writers |
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Reviews, Books - The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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After the bare requisites to living and reproducing, man wants most to leave some
record of himself, a proof, perhaps, that he has really existed.
He leaves his proof on wood, on stone or on the lives of other people.
This deep desire exists in everyone, from the boy
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Reviews, Theatre - 15th February 05 - The Woman in White at the Palace Theatre, London By Steve Rudd
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The Woman in White is the latest box-office-busting musical extravaganza from
Andrew Lloyd Webber,
based on the famous Victorian novel of the same name that was published way, way back in
1860 by the distinguished and understandably
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Reviews, Theatre - GO WEST, to the South of the Thames and see National Anthems! By Steve Rudd
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The West End of London city centre is a magical place, packed with cinemas and theatres.
There are always some amazing shows to be seen in such theatres, whether they are full-blown
musicals or pure drama-driven plays, and I guess the most frustrating thing about taking
a trip to
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Reviews, Books - Strange Angels by Andy Bull Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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Books come no more riveting than this mini-masterpiece that reads both as an eye-opening
travelogue and close analysis of the lives - and deaths - of four all-American icons.
Marilyn Monroe. Elvis Presley. James Dean. JFK.
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Reviews, Books - The Butterfly Effect by Pernille Rygg Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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Death is nothing to young girls, except as part of the adventure, an exciting secret
whispered by a dark lover, not something you meet one evening when you're going home to your movie or father.
Such a notion is all about to change
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Places to Visit - To Hampstead Heath and Beyond ... By Steve Rudd
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So, you live in London and wish to escape the hustle and bustle of the inner city scene.
Where can you turn to? Why, the plethora of beautiful parks of course - and there are few
places nicer than Hampstead Heath, in North London, for some quality peace and quiet.
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Album Reviews - The Kaiser Chiefs - Employment (B-Unique) By Steve Rudd
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This Leeds outfit has become very, very famous in what seems like a very, very short period of time.
The scale of hype around these guys has come to rival the hype that has surrounded
Franz Ferdinand over the past year.
In a coincidental parallel
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Reviews, Books - The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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The one way to be happy is to love, to love self-denyingly, to love everybody and everything.
If you fancy a nice little slab of classic literature, then this beauty of a story might be for you.
Set on the harsh Russian Steppes back in the nineteenth century, this simple-living
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Reviews, Books - Pink by Gus Van Sant Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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Famed Hollywood-based director Gus, like actor Ethan Hawke, is now making his name as an author too.
This is his debut novel, and a bizarrely tripped-out one at that, putting the reader in the mind of
Douglas Coupland
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Reviews, Books - Ice Run by Steve Hamilton Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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This is Steve's sixth action-thriller novel, and it is arguably his most exciting and accomplished so far.
Michigan-born Steve sets all his work in such a perpetually snowbound state
(or so it would seem from reading his work),
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Single Reviews - Athlete - Wires (Parlophone) By Steve Rudd
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Athlete are back, and with a bang. This tune couldn't be any more beautiful or majestic,
as the Athlete lads return to the forefront of the UK's indie-pop-rock scene in graceful style.
Athlete's music, in its greatest moments as
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Album/CD Reviews Jimmy Chamberlin Complex - Life Begins Again (11-track album/ Sanctuary) By Steve Rudd
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Now then, here's one hell of an album to write home about, being one of the first
masterpiece albums - somewhere alongside Athlete's fantastic Tourist beauty - to arise in 2005
The JC Complex (for short) is something of a super group
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Reviews, Books - The Shark Net by Robert Drewe Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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Ok. So most movies, books or long-running TV-orientated soaps tend to
dwell on the sunnier side of living in Austrailia. Am I right?
Sure, there are instances of scandal now and again amidst the emotionally
challenged sprawl of Ramsey Street, but nothing too shocking or
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Reviews, Books - Lost Horizon by James Hilton Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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This awesome tale of adventure and intrigue was first published in 1933 and still makes for a
remarkable read, as four people are kidnapped in the Far-East and then somewhat inexplicably
left stranded in a secluded Tibetan valley, an area that they soon come to know as
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Reviews, Books - To the Poles Without a Beard by Catherine Hartley Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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This extraordinary woman was the first British woman to reach first the South Pole and then the
North Pole (along with another lady called Fiona), and this is her story...
Essentially an exquisite autobiography, this book starts out by chronicling Catherine's life -
in brief -
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Reviews, Books - Touching the Void by Joe Simpson Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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Autobiographical tales don't come much more nail-biting than this living nightmare, recalled
by mountaineer Joe who was left for dead on a snow-riddled peak in Peru back in 1985.
After getting into trouble on the 21,000 ft Siula Grande with friend Simon Yates
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Reviews, Films - Collateral By Steve Rudd
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Starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, this rollercoasting thrill-ride is
one of the coolest of action movies to have hit the screen in 2004, as Summer goes out to the
dogs and the first pangs of Autumn strike the air.
Tom, like his ex-wife Nicole Kidman, never seems to stop working
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Reviews, Books - Sitting Up with the Dead by Pamela Petro Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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In the manic style of Bill Bryson, Pamela Petro gets in her car and heads out
around America in search of exciting new people, places and - above else -
fantastic stories.
Confining her extensive travels to the Eastern side of North America and,
in particular, the South-East states of Alabama, Georgia
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Reviews, Books - Mick Ronson: The Spider with the Platinum Hair by Weird and Gilly Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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Born and bred in Hull, Mick Ronson indeed did come from extremely humble beginnings to
become one of Britain's most respected musicians and producers.
Born in 1946, it was in the early seventies that Mick first became well known
through his work with David Bowie, with ace guitarist Mick
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Reviews, Films - Alien VS Predator By Steve Rudd
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Whoever came up with the bright idea of violently pitting Alien against Predator
sure deserves a pat on the back and a raucous round of applause, for this big-budget
movie scores on many levels.
Whereas the bulk of the Alien franchise has long relied on
atmospheric tension rather than all-out action
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Album Reviews -
Confuzion - Extinguished (album sampler/ Criteria Records) By Steve Rudd
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Energetically benefiting from the refreshing and super-smooth vocal talents of Ashley Stone, this Reading-based band produces seriously poppy music of a hugely anthemic nature.
These three songs provide the first evidence of
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Single Reviews - Bastion 4 - The Tale of Gideon Strange (Single Marshco) By Steve Rudd
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Delivering bold and beautiful tunes in true style, this Portsmouth-based quartet sound set to take the country by storm with their supremely tuneful brand of indie-rock music.
Here, presenting a tune from their second album (Modus Operandi)
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Album Reviews -
Rob McCulloch - Thoughts Alone (Clockhouse) By Steve Rudd
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Rob hails from Bolton and sings and plays very much in the style of ex-Verve mainman - and
solo singer-songwriter in his own right - Richard Ashcroft.
Wistful tunes such as Taking Off With You, Take Me Whole and Doing You Wrong are beautifully
conceived
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CD Reviews -
Halflight - Subside (EP/My First Records) By Steve Rudd
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Packed with the endearing purity of The Corrs' music, Half-Light's musings are poetic,
mature and utterly captivating throughout these four tracks.
Front woman Sarah Howells has long been renowned for her quality, truthfully extraordinary
singing voice (having been the
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Album Reviews - Idlewild - Warnings/Promised (Emi) By Steve Rudd
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It might be somewhat incredible to comprehend, but these guys have been around now
for an entire decade, having got together as a band back in Edinburgh circa 1995.
Ten years down the line, and this is Idlewild:'s astonishing fifth album, packed
with twelve stunning tunes.
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Album Reviews - Scarlet Soho - Divisions of Decency (Human Recordings) By Steve Rudd
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I'm genuinely glad that Scarlet Soho: have released of album of such breathtaking grandeur.
For the past few years, this Hampshire-based band has built up something of a cult
underground following following on from their UK-roving gigs
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Places to Visit - On the Moors By Steve Rudd
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So much for me confiding to people that I thought we were collectively out of the woods
and that Spring was just around the corner.
Clearly I spoke too soon and paid for such a misdemeanour yesterday
(13th February 2005) when I ventured up onto the
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Reviews, Books - The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans Reviewed By Steve Rudd
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It was in America that horses first roamed.
A million years before the birth of man, they grazed the vast plains of wiry grass
and crossed to other continents over bridges of rock soon severed by retreating ice.
They first knew man as the hunted knows the hunter
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Single Reviews - The Ga-Ga's - Sex (Sanctuary) By Steve Rudd
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If you're fed up with second-rate rock bands that don't know a decent riff if it's injected into
their veins at birth, make a beeline for the exhilarating music of The Ga-Gas: quick-sharp.
Quite simply, it rocks like a geologist body-surfing
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Album Reviews - Rexford - Date With Destiny (9-track album) By Steve Rudd
(Updated 15/02/2005) |
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One of the most extraordinary and surprisingly thrilling albums I've heard in years,
this 9-track wonder comes from a man known as Rexford.
Every song tells its own story, and all the stories behind all the songs have
been inspired by Rexford's fascinating life.
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Reviews, Books - Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland Reviewed by Steve Rudd
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I realise that by deciding not to do things, I've lost millions of threads of chance
and opportunity to have new experiences, to meet new people - to be alive, really.
So now I'm going to start doing things I'm bad at again. Heck, I'm going to do things
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