Reviews by tartan_skirt

Personally think this is one of the better Wayans brothers comedies. A good comedy for some mindless watching is always good once in a while.

Yes, the disguises are laughable and the acting generally average, but at least the story was something a little different than some of the generic comedy of more recent years. It definitely has its moments, and the whole subplot featuring Terry Crews' character was just hilariously silly. I like to think of it as a more comedy-focussed Miss Congeniality.

Want to give your brain a rest? Turn it off and have a laugh at this.

**May contain spoilers**

Taking a break from heavy reading I decided to pick up a James Patterson book to give my brain a rest. As usual I got what I expected in that respect as his books as easy to get through with exceedingly short chapters that will make you say "It's only two pages, just one more chapter for tonight" over and over again. Patterson is one that tries to make his work interest as many people as possible as he throws in plenty of easy to read thriller-style twists, a mystery to be solved and of course there is the love interest.

I'm slightly confused by this book. I was expecting a regualar crime-fiction thriller with a medical/scientific explaination at the end that is Patterson's regular style, but got a sort of fantasy twist instead. I was slightly disappointed by the ending as I wanted it to actually have made sense rather than turning out that the "savior" was born.

Now, back to some serious reading!

For students trying to learn Higher history in Scotland, this is an alright textbook, laying down the main framework of the topics, but it does not cover nearly enough detail for the construction of a decent, passing essay. I studied most of the topics in this textbook and there are many more resources that I had to use along with it. It has some good pictures and sources like that, but the main text is lacking.

Also, I spent a good deal of time wondering why on earth there were random historical accounts and opinions from somebody called "John Kerr". Only after staring at the front cover did I realise it was obviously a relation to the author. Not exactly the best historical account to quote in an essay...

Conclusion: This shouldn't be used on its own as a resource. Don't be afraid to branch out and dig up other related information as this only provides the bare facts most of the time.

Ebichu may look like Hamtaro, but believe me, this is not for kids! Ebichu is a cute hamster that loves cheese and ice cream, and all she wants to do is keep her master happy. Her master is a 25 year old Office Lady and has a loser of a boyfriend, often taking her anger out on Ebichu, but that doesn't stop Ebichu!

Innocently packaged adult humour that plays upon the Japanese language, often using sexual innuendo in the jokes, and uses quite a bit of hamster-related violence. It's a hilarious piece of work, and any sexual scenes stay away from the explicit and are purely there to be humourous.

A great example of how anime is not just for kids!

This is a wonderful live album from Rasputina. A fan may know that the band calls their concerts "recitals", hence the title.

From this album we are able to experience a glimpse into the atmosphere of a Rasputina recital. Obviously they are more of a small capacity and thus there is more casual banter directed at something in particular that an audience member has said and of course there is less crowd noise disturbing the actual music. Melora's comments between the songs are often amusing and entertaining and the music is fantastic. Even the editing seems perfect as the changes between songs does not interupt any of the aforementioned banter. The album holds a nice range of songs also.

A must-have for the Rasputina fans!

**May contain spoilers**

Whit has proved to be another one of Iain Banks' wonderfully written works which successfully surprises the reader throughout. It is about Isis, the Elect of God and member of the fictional Luskentyrian cult in Scotland, and how she is sent on a journey to bring back her missing cousin Morag in time for the Festival of Love, a festival that takes place every four years and is meant to try and ensure that another Elect of God will be born in following year on February the 29th. The number 29 holds especially huge impact for the characters, and Banks cunningly decided to encase all of this in a 29 chapter book. ;)

Banks' sarcastic wit reverberates throughout, echoing into the naive character of Isis and showing the modern world through her inexperienced eyes. Her development as a character is an interesting one as she makes her jouney across Britain and back, discovering the hidden truths of her family and the founding of the faith she follows.

Whit is an excellent and a satisfying read, chiming with the early works of the author in various ways which are sure to delight fans of his work.

This is another of those weekly shows that I try to catch but usually come across by accident anyway.

Something for the Weekend is a nice blend of interests that is sure to appeal to a wider range of people than just the average weekend cooking show. There is a section devoted to gadgets (this week it was the £10,000 home projector, the vibrating dumbbell and the briefcase barbeque XD), clips from different shows that have been on TV that week (or previews of the next), and an interesting segment on how to spot a con (or perhaps carry one out as they do give an awful amount of information). As for the actual cooking, it is interesting and they have a weekly celebrity guest who has to help out as well, which may interest some.

On the downside I find the presenters can be a little annoying sometimes, and the cooking isn't as strong a section as it is in other shows. Tim Lovejoy just tries too hard... Anyway, it's a good enough show with quite a lot going in to interest almost everyone.

It was a huge letdown for me that Israel were knocked out in the semi-finals, as their song "Push the Button" was one of the slightly unEurovision type things that makes the show worth watching. Oh well...

Generally this was hilarious watching. One hell of a lot of off-key singing and bad outfits, but there was a distinct change in the types of music prevailing. Last year's winner (Lordi) definitely opened up a niche within the competition which has been filled by more rock-based music.

Of course the British entry was atrocious. Probably not the worst we've had (anyone remember 2003 when Jemini gave us our first no points?) I just can't believe Malta chose to give us their 12. That was hilarious..

I was so surprised at the band chosen to fill in between the end of voting and the announcing of the points: Apocalyptica! Cello rock! An awesome performance along with all the stage show of acrobats, fire juggling and other performers of different types. Makes such a great change to Eurovision.

For once our announcer (Terry Wogan) didn't get drunk! He actually said he wasn't allowed any alcohol, but of course that didn't stop him insulting everyone. :P

And as for the votes... The usual political ties, of course. Eastern Europe sticks together and everyone hates the UK (but the lack of votes for us weren't completely political because also, we suck), and of course there were the Scandinavian alliances. I love it when Terry Wogan gets the allied votes right.

The rather butch woman from Serbia won??? At least it wasn't the Ukraine! And I suppose it was quite nice for Serbia because it was their first time participating (not including as Serbia & Montenegro). I was quite disappointed that Bulgaria didn't win, as they were quite interesting, and probably my favourite of the bands in the finals.

This has been a very interesting year! My questions left open for next year are as follows:

1. How can Britain get any worse?
2. When genre will Germany attempt next year? (They tried country and jazz/swing this year and last.)
3. Will the political voting ever stop? (Hah!)

I'm looking forward to it already!

I'm not sure why, but watching cooking shows seems to be a weekend tradition for me, and since they've all but taken over the slot that used to be comprised of morning childrens TV programmes on terrestrial, it is even moreso for me now. This is all the more strange seeing as I don't really cook for myself (propery) yet, and the dishes shown are usually a bit too advanced for starting off... though they do have more simple recipes which I'm just to lazy to search for and make. Plenty of things to make your stomach rumble!

I quite like this show as it seems to be the most organised of lot that have popped up lately, and it has a good stock of celebrity chefs with some awesome recipes that I swear I will try *some* day in the future. The show is worth checking out if you're a Brit and like cooking, and seeing as it's on ITV on Saturdays (and it's tie-in Daily Cooks is usually on weekdays) currently, it is pretty hard to miss. ;)

This is probably one of my favourite modern British comedies to date. Black Books brough a fresh brand of comedy that is made up of elements found in older sitcoms, but is altogether more of a result of the combination of Bill Bailey and Dylan Moran's respective brands of comedy, which is backed up so well by the role of Tamsin Greig. Both bring their own personal wit and humour to the show and the result is a fantastical mix of physical, absurd and simple humours and jokes.

Who wouldn't love a show about a grumpy Irish bookstore owner and his two friends? A definite recommendation to fans of British comedy.