The quest to become a better writer is one that inspires many a conversation with authors one admires. A reviewer has the opportunity to meet many authors with whom one can have inspiring conversations. These conversations are increasingly feeding into the posts on this blog, so I thought it would be timely to start a… Read More Author Spotlight: Carina Axelsson
Beginner Mind is a honey-laced, 11-song album that combines folk, country, gospel, and other intimate forms of acoustic music focusing on topics such as the happiness the artist has found in creating a home with his wife and child. From North Caroline, Jay Brown is a blend of James Taylor, Willie Nelson, and Cat Stevens,… Read More Music Review: Jay Brown – ‘Beginner Mind’
Merriam-Webster defines slang as “words that are not considered part of the standard vocabulary of a language and that are used very informally in speech especially by a particular group of people”, and “an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech”. While this alternative… Read More Music Review: The Slang – ‘The Slang’ EP
Discovering music is an adventure. Some stay within their comfort zones, others step out of it with the hope of being rewarded by finding something that resonates with them. But sometimes even the most thought out musical experiment, however talented the band, does not pay off. I find myself with a band featuring talented members,… Read More Music Review: Xombie – ‘Capital X’
They used to be two peas in a pod. Being inseparable from Brianna made a lot of things easier, including navigating middle school with lethal food allergies. Her friend is the reason why Nina was able to avoid sitting at the table reserved for others like her – other students with food allergies, who presence… Read More Book Review: ‘My Year of Epic Rock’ by Andrea Pyros
Australian artist Billy Roberts has put together a 10-track album titled The Last Of The Originals which, although marketed as country, it’s also Americana (with folk and blues elements) and even features traces of hard rock. With Roberts on the guitar and taking care of the vocals and Billy Anderson on the piano and drums,… Read More Music Review: Billy Roberts and the Rough Riders – ‘The Last Of The Originals’
Celebrity culture pervades our day to day lives. We have an unhealthy relationships with the people that influence our lives, placing them on pedestal and deifying them. When it comes to someone like Coco Chanel, whose influence, even a little over 40 years after her passing, infuses to many lives around the world, that deification,… Read More Book Review: ‘Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History’, by Rhonda K. Garelick
He apparently calls himself a DIY artist and says that he does things without taking into consideration what others judge as good or bad. Little wonder then that rapper Oswald’s songs are so different from the offerings of mainstream hip hop and rap. In his debut EP, Ride, the young artist stands head-to-head with hip… Read More Music Review: Oswald – ‘Ride’ EP
Combining sounds that reminded me of a diverse group of bands, from Oasis to The Beatles and including Nirvana, Dog Society’s Bruce Erik Brauer (guitar, backup vocals), Rich Guerzon (bass, backup vocals), Brian Schnaak (lead vocals) and Joe Ranieri (drums) from New York have put together a catchy rock album. While the sounds and the… Read More Music Review: Dog Society – ‘In the Shade’
I have to confess from the beginning that I am particularly demanding when it comes to books written for preteens. After all, they are particularly vulnerable to the influences of their environment, be they positive or negative. The Prank List by Anna Staniszewski made for an interesting read. The main character, Rachel Lee, is set… Read More Book Review: ‘The Prank List’ by Anna Staniszewski