You are probably already familiar with Maroon 5 from one or more of excellent singles released from this album including: 'This Love', 'She will be loved', 'Harder to breathe'

A good album is more than just a couple of good singles and, yes the singles are very good but they are just part of an excellent album. The first thing that hits you is the great sound: a funky fusion of rock with rhythm and blues with wonderful baselines, beautifully complemented by Adam Levin's voice. On further listening you are drawn into the lyrics which chart Levin's relationship with the Jane of the title.

This is an album that bears being listened to many times, each time revealing more and adding to the enjoyment.

Recommended

As a version Homer's Iliad this is a travesty, as other reviewers (both on Amazon and elsewhere) have noted the filmmakers have played fast and loose with the source material. This is not a terminal problem: all films adapt the source material in some way and in the past, good, even great, films have diverged significantly from the source material (although maybe not quite to this extent).

In all fairness the Iliad does require considerable work to meet the demands of cinema. Anyone familiar with the poem will be aware that even the book shows it oral roots - a huge cast of characters (that the reader is assumed to be already familiar with), lots of repetition of key phrases. The problem is the way it has been adapted. The film feels like it has been written by committee and then filtered through endless focus groups - the resulting script is timid and reliant on cliché. They seem scared to make any tough decisions. They cannot make any sense of Achilles motivation so they reduce it to a dull love story (with captured Trojan, Briseis) and only sketch his relationship with Patroclus. They cannot bear to not have Brad Pitt on screen so the death of Achilles is held over to the finale. They water down the ending so that Andromache, Helen and Hector's son amongst others escape. The extended timeline of the story is shortened to a few days and many of the most interesting characters including the gods are not included.

The film is (partially rescued) by some very good battle scenes and some very good performances. The (largely British) supporting cast makes excellent use of the sketchy material: Peter O'Toole as Priam, Brian Cox as Agamemnon, Sean Bean as Odysseus, Saffron Burrows as Andomache even Orlando Bloom as Paris are all wonderful although they are all rather under utilised. However, the star of the film is Eric Bana as Hector - he is the one fully realised character amongst a host of underwritten clichés - a warrior, a father, a statesman - he is a revelation and holds the film together. I have no problem with the portrayal of Achilles as a 'pretty boy' and Brad Pitt is actually rather good although he suffers most from the woeful script as his motivation is confused at best. More disappointing is Diane Kruger as Helen, she is rather bland and insipid (it is probably not a good idea to have the allegedly most beautiful woman in the world standing next to the lovely Saffron Burrows).

If you love the Iliad and are looking for a faithful adaptation, then this will disappoint. If you are looking for a fun action movie packed with plenty of male and female eye-candy then maybe, just maybe, you will be satisfied with this.

Gil Scott-Heron is one of the great recording artists of the 20th century; it is a shame that he is relatively unknown. His work is always interesting and I would recommend (almost) all of his albums. Pieces of a Man is one of his best, if not the best, albums.

Gil Scott-Heron draws on a wide range of influences: the music of John Coltrane, the blues, the oral traditions of the American South and many others to create fantastic music in a variety of different styles from spoken word/rap to (almost) soul. He is perhaps best known for his searing political (and personal) lyrics that are often so good that they can be read as poetry. However, he is also an excellent musician and the music always complements his lyrics. Musically this album is wonderful, interesting and varied, at times it is simply beautiful. As with much of Gil Scott Heron's best work a lot of credit must go to Brian Jackson his long time and best collaborator.

'Pieces of a Man' finds GSH at his most perceptive and penetrating, both politically and personally.

'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' is probably his most famous song - remarkably it works almost as well as poetry as it does as a song. Some of the references may now be a little obscure but it is an amazing, powerful piece of work that has lost little, if any, of its bite or relevance. 'Save the Children' is a beautiful, uplifting plea to care for and nurture the next generation. 'Lady Day & John Coltrane' is simply beautiful and a personal favourite. 'Home is where the hatred is' is haunting and wonderful, it is particularly poignant if you know anything about his personal life.

I could go on but it is almost a shame to highlight individual tracks because there isn't a bad track here and the album deserves, almost demands, to be listened to in its entirety.

GSH is unique: he combines a penetrating intellect with wit & wisdom and a talent conveying emotion and pain succinctly, often beautifully. A righteous anger permeates his work but he never descends into bitterness or becomes overly preachy. His work is tempered with optimism and a desire for change. It is this combination that defines his work and sets him apart for all others.

This album is GSH at the peak of his powers and should be a part of everybody's collection.

Buy it and treasure it

Brave New World is one of the landmark books of the twentieth century, now widely regarded as a classic. Like many, I first read this book at school (for O-level) many years ago; it is a tribute to the power to the book that even after that experience I still hold it in high regard.

Brave New World is Aldous Huxley's dystopian (not utopian) vision of the future (the far future when he originally wrote the book, although it seems much closer now). As such it blends together science fiction and social commentary.

Huxley's future is one of universal happiness although it is a facile, passionless happiness. Children are created on a production line with their social status (denoted by Greek letters) predetermined; this social status is then reinforced through chemicals and conditioning (in their sleep). Happiness is maintained chemically (mainly through a drug called soma) and by allowing the people to lead largely responsibility free lives devoted to pleasure, principally sex. Physical perfection is the norm, nobody reads (or thinks), religion has disappeared (God manifests himself by his absence), and there is no conflict: it is a global society of peace, harmony and happiness for all.

Into this world Huxley introduces his principle protagonist - John the Savage - a young man raised outside of this society. John is self-educated, largely through reading the works of Shakespeare. The book examines John's impact on this society (minimal) and its impact on him (huge and inevitably tragic).

Huxley writes well and creates a compelling book describing a society that fascinates and repels. However, the book is not without problems - the characters have no depth (because they really do have no depth). John is an unrealistic, unconvincing character, he is only there to generate conflict. I suspect the passage of time has been unkind in this respect - we struggle to empathise with John, as his attitudes no longer reflect those of the reader. Huxley is not interested in people; he is interested in exploring the society. He does this effectively and entertainingly but this is not a character led story.

Brave New World is often bracketed with 1984. This is a difficult comparison for Brave New World as Orwell is a better writer and 1984 is a much better book with a more complete and better-realised vision of the future. For much of the twentieth century 1984 also seemed to be a more accurate & realistic vision of the future but in my opinion that has changed. Today, the scenario envisaged by Brave New World seems quite prescient and much more likely - at least in the sense that happiness will be used to control society (at the expense of freedom).

A great book and well worth reading - highly recommended

This is the first Xenophobe's guide I've read and it was a very pleasant surprise. Surprisingly good, generally accurate, often funny and without much of the bile that often characterises discussions of the Welsh.

Having been born and raised in Wales, I think that the author rather underplays the enmity between North and South but he compensates in other areas, including a very good definition of Gwald (usually and inadequately translated as country).

Quite simply one of the best albums of the 90s, probably one of the best albums ever.

It is a little difficult to put your finger on why this album is so fantastic - is it Lauren Hill's wonderful voice? The way that the album seamlessly blends a variety of musical styles, including soul, reggae and hip-hop? The fantastic guests including Mary J. Blige and Carlos Santana? The excellent material (although the material is so uniformly excellent that the singles do not really stand out)?

This album has stood the test of time and sounds as fresh today as it did when it was first released.

It is an essential element in everyone's collection. If you do not already own it, find it and buy it.

History would indicate that this film should have been a disaster; almost without exception British TV comedy has failed to work in film. This is the exception - it has absolutely no business working but it does - it is fantastic fun from start to finish.

If you are familiar with Spaced (Simon Pegg's TV comedy triumph) then you will know what to expect. The formula is a collection of interesting, quirky usually slightly obsessive characters (all very well realised by a superb cast) mixed with tons of jokes spiced with even more references to movies and popular culture. It is well known that this works in sitcom format, the surprise is that it works even better as a feature film (although zombie movies and romantic comedies are rich picking grounds for pastiche and parody).

Recommended.

As noted by other reviewers, the extras are fantastic too.

I really enjoyed this excellent satire on the media, however it may not be for everybody.

There is something intrinsically difficult about satirising one type of media in another. Bachelder attempts to get around the problem by using a very fragmented structure - there are lots of very brief chapters (usually only a page or two) and even within the chapters the style is highly fragmented. He often appears to be attempting to create the sensation of media and information overload, interweaving multiple threads simultaneously (internal monologues, conversations, radio shows, baseball scores). For me, he succeeds most of the time but the style is occasionally a little wearing. It helps that the book is packed with cultural and historical jokes - often delivered in the form of malapropisms - constantly making the point that information does not equal knowledge.

The book is set in the near future where the media, primarily television and the Internet, are even more all pervasive than today. Televisions sense that the viewer is bored and changes the channel automatically. Everybody is on-line all the time. It is a future with zero attention span.

Bear v Shark is the question/joke/theme that runs through the book. "Given a relatively level playing field -- i.e., water deep enough so that a shark could manoeuvre proficiently but shallow enough so that a bear could stand and operate with its characteristic dexterity -- who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark?" In this future Bear v Shark has overwhelmed the culture, it has become the 'eternal question'. It is the only thing anybody seems to be interested in. Society is split between shark followers and bear followers (only a small minority of weirdoes is undecided).

The plot (to the extent that there is one) follows the Norman family on their way to the (next) big event of the century: Bear v Shark II. Bear v Shark II is a fight between a computer-generated bear and a computer-generated shark (a real bear and a real shark would not be realistic enough) to be held in Las Vegas (which has seceded from the rest of the USA). The plot is not really important and the characters are merely ciphers; they exist purely to drive the satire. This is not a character led drama; in fact I found it difficult to feel anything at all about the Norman family.

A successful, original, thought provoking satire. Highly recommended.

My family have been big fans of Julia Donaldson since discovering 'The Gruffalo' two years ago.

The book is another very good book from Julia Donaldson but is quite different in style and content from the books that made her name - Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Smartest Giant in Town etc

This time the illustrations are by Joel Stewart, rather than Axel Scheffler. In many ways the illustrations are even better than usual: they are beautiful and will appeal to children of all ages but they do not have the humour of Scheffler's work.

The story itself is wonderfully simple and engaging (as I read it I wondered if it was based on a traditional folk tale). As usual (for Donaldson) the story is told in verse with a simple rhyming scheme and a great rhythm that makes it a joy to read aloud.

For me, this book never hits the magical heights of her best work but it is still a wonderful book. It still satisfies the younger readers but it also appeals to a much older child.

Gil Scott-Heron is one of the great recording artists of the 20th century; it is a shame that he is relatively unknown in the UK.

Spirits, released in 1994, was Gil Scott Heron's first studio album after a break of nearly ten years. His record company, Arista dropped him, in 1985 and although he continued to tour and release live and compilation albums he did not release any new material until Spirits.

This is not Gil Scott Heron's best album (by any stretch of the imagination) but it is still very good. At the time it was hailed as a return to form but now, sadly, it seems likely to be more significant as his last album for his well documented problems with drugs seem to have finally got the better of him

The album is packed with good tracks and great music but, for me, there are a couple of very significant high-points: Message to the Messengers and the three part 'The Other Side'. In Message to the Messengers Gil acknowledges his position as one of the grandfathers of rap. However, he has some choice words for the new generation:
- "Four letter words or fours syllable words won't make you a poet, It will only magnify how shallow you are and let ev'rybody know it."
- "Tell all them gun-totin' young brothers that the 'man' is glad to see us out there killin' one another! We raised too much hell, when they was shootin' us down."
The Other Side is a brilliant reworking of a classic GSH track 'Home is where the hatred is' - utterly brilliant.

Well worth having but there are other better and more significant albums.