Melodious

I listened to the new Pink Floyd and now the new Hookworms

Ugh! I've been given a new med by my doc and it's put my head into a tailspin. I feel so woozy and light headed. I can't get any reading done or much else for that matter.

I'm really keen to read Smoke Gets in your Eye by Caitlin Doughty. She's a mortician who has a youtube channel that discusses topics on death in a light hearted, quirky manner. It's about giving people more control over their rememberance and attempting to challenge the stigma of fear when it comes to death. I also read a chapter of her book (not published until next year in the UK) and I loved her writing style. Seems like it could be a very interesting memoir. A link to her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi5iiEyLwSLvlqnMi02u5gQ The episode where she talked about pets death and gave her own account of what she did when her cat died was really emotional and heart warming. Home death & wake for your pet its called.

Thanks Kylie I've made no progress with reading lately but I will hopefully get a couple of reviews up this week. A lot of my time has been unexpectingly eaten away. lately and I haven't been here as much as I would have liked. @Janet - I haven't seen or listened to any of his plays. I love his writing and wit from what I've seen around the web but Dorian Grey was just a let down. @Anna - I think Beyond Good and Evil is a good starting point for him.

I watched a few recently. Re-animator - Great film, just enough cheese and humour. Nosferatu - The 1979 Herzog version. I really liked the angle he plays that the vampire is a lonely soul who misses love more than anything. I still think the original is one of the creepiest movies ever made. Miami Connection - So bad it's good 80s action film about a band (who are all black belts in taekwondo) who take on gangs and motorcycle ninjas. Hilarious, and the music is something else!

I LOVE QI. I don't really watch TV (I haven't had a signal on my TV for about 12 years) but I love catching up that show. @Athena they get uploaded to youtube if you don't mind watching on there

New soundgarden song http://www.spin.com/articles/stream-storm-soundgarden-new-song/?utm_source=spinfacebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spinfacebook

I've read Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead and Anthem by Ayn Rand. On a whole her philosophy is silly and unworkable and a bit fantasy if you ask me BUT there is still some merit to her work and I cite Atlas Shrugged as one of the most influential books of my life. I may try with the Nietzsche for you but its a difficult one for me. It's the first book by him I read and I found it disappointing, very overbloated and some of it no doubt went right over my head. It's not like his other works (so I've been told) as he usually is straight to the point and coherent while Zarathustra is the opposite. I guess I expected/wanted a parable outlook with philosophy intertwined with the stories of his travels. Kinda like Jesus does in the bible but instead its just a lot of monologues with himself. Perhaps this wasn't the best starting position with Nietsche but maybe when I've read more of his work and more familar with his outlook it might be worth another shot. Have you read any Nietsche Anna? I have Anti-Christ/Twilight Idols in the wings.

Since I'm starting over half way through the year I'll just list what I've read this year with my rating (Same as Goodreads) and I'll also write a couple of mini reviews for any books I thought were significant to me over the past 12 months. I'll also put a link to my Goodreads page below. I've only really started to use it for the past 18 months but I signed up a few years ago. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3084339-david-riley Jan The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch - Philip K Dick 4/5 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 3/5 Youth - Joseph Conrad 3/5 The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle 3/5 Utopia - Thomas Moore - 4/5 Feb The Steampunk Bible - Jeff Vandermeer 4/5 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami 5/5 The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins 3/5 Love is a Dog From Hell - Charles Bukowski 3/5 Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among Pirates 3/5 April The Difference Engine - William Gibson 3/5 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 4/5 May Cosmos - Carl Sagan 5/5 The History of Mythology - Veronica Ions 3/5 June Capitalism: As If the World Matters - Jonathon Porritt 4/5 Mother Night - Kurt Vonnegut 4/5 July Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche 3/5 East of Eden - John Steinbeck 5/5 September Feral: Rewilding the Land, Sea and Human Life - George Monbiot 4/5 Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage - Haruki Murakami 3/5 Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut 5/5 Sane New World: Taming the Mind - Ruby Wax 3/5 October A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess 4/5 Last Exit to Brooklyn - Hubert Selby Jr 3/5 Looking back I certainly didn't read as much as I would have liked with two months of no reading at all I've had a difficult year though and focus and sleeping hasn't been great. A couple of abandoned books: Moby Dick - Loved the beginning and the scene with Ishmael sharing a bed with Queequeg was hilarious but it soon delved into chapters of whale biology and crew mates singing that didn't seem to have any significance on the story and it pulled me right out of the story. I think it's one to pick up and try again one day. The Picture of Dorian Grey - I love the concept behind the book but I HATED every character in the damn thing. Silly dramatics and unlikeable/believable characters just wanted me to hurl it across the room as I really wanted to see it through (I know the story to the end anyway) Shame. Mrs Dalloway - Liked it but I'm having trouble concentating and sleeping at the minute and her writing style/language requires focus I decided to leave it for now until I can give it the attention it deserves. I would like to come back to it one day for sure.

Has anybody ever seen The Fall? Such a beautiful film, a real labour of love. I think it took about 5 years to make and all the locations are real (not cgi) which is more astounding.

It is I saw it in the cinema (on my own!) when it first came out and it was fun to revisit it.

I love futurama but I haven't seen any of the new stuff since it was cancelled the first time.

Ha ha ha Miss Trunchbull when I was a kid for sure Cathy from East of Eden is up there and Alex from A Clockwork Orange is a good shout too.

Just about to settle in watch The Pirates! with a pizza

That book caught my attention a while ago and its one I think I may pick up before long. I also hate that red thingy on the cover and as a side note all stickers on books/cds/vinyls that aren't easy peel should be outlawed

I love the lyrics to this, so simple but yet so powerful and the distortion towards the end of the song is so poignant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ1KkorXdBY

I hardly re-read things as there's always something new to discover. I think I read Lord of the Rings about 3 times in 18 months when I first read it though I'm making an effort to round of the year by revisiting some old favourites and it has been probably about 5 - 8 years for most of them. It's the same with films it's many years usually before I watch them again but there are exceptions if they are particulary good or funny.

That book spa sounds amazing!!! I wish I had something like that in my area. Has anybody in the UK looked at this? http://www.thewilloughbybookclub.co.uk/ It's a subscription service where they send you a book every month based on your taste and reading habits. I quite like the mystery aspect of it.

You gave up tea! BLASPHEMY Beer has a similar effect on me sometimes. Once you break that seal you're forever going the toilet.

Well first off I need to set up my reading blog on here I'm also looking to do some re-reading. I don't tend to do that as there is always something new to discover but I've had the urge to do so recently. Hopefully 1984, Lord of the Rings, Matilda (Roald Dahl) and maybe Slaughterhouse 5. I take reading as it comes, I always have a pile to read next to me but what I do read comes down to my mood on the day I'm looking to start something new. Sometimes that's the pile or a trip to the bookshop or library can also influence.

The Orphanage isn't that much of a horror film in all honesty. More of a thriller I thought. The original Ring and The Grudge should be on there and are creepy as anything. Also I would make a case for Alien to be on there. Probably my favourite horror film but most people label it as sci-fi. Incredible build up, original horror, very tense, claustrophobic and it keeps you on edge for long periods. Atmosphere is the main ingredient for a good horror film IMO not gore or a dude in mask.

Liverpool vs Real Madrid

Ha ha ha yes. Tea just goes straight through for me.

I think you'll get on fine with those two then Well worth seeking out. I haven't seen Mr Fox though.