Bookazine Book Review: Things Thai - Crafts and Collectibles
By Poppy This movie has an incredible cast: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It’s a remake but the story is completely different this time and the tools are more advanced. George Clooney plays ringleader Danny Ocean, a scoundrel whose unflappable reply to the standard why-were-you-in-prison question (a tart “I stole things”) tells you all you need to know. Newly paroled, he immediately contacts best pal Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), currently employed teaching Hollywood heartthrobs to play poker, and unveils a scam to end all scams.
George Clooney is hilarious in this movie; he’s perfect for his role. The plot is interesting and keeps you engaged for the whole time the movie is showing. There isn’t one slow moment in the film. The storyline is great and I would recommend this movie to anybody at all. You can take any age person, as there are no inappropriate moments. Directed by Steven Soderbergh Cast: George Clooney as Danny Ocean, Brad Pitt as Dusty Ryan, Julia Roberts as Tess Ocean, rest of cast listed alphabetically: Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy, Frankie J. Allison as Casino Boss, Scott Caan as Turk Malloy, Don Cheadle as Roscoe Means, Holly Marie Combs as Herself, Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell, Mark Gantt as Bartender, Andy Garcia as Harry Benedict, Elliott Gould as Ruben Tischkoff, Topher Grace as Himself, Joshua Jackson as Himself.
Metallica by Mott the Dog No Title, No Stars For the greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll swindle look a little further than “The Sex Pistols” and you will find those fellahs from Metallica looking a little sheepish. After 3 albums of very average thrash / speed metal (they had to fill their live set with other people’s numbers to make it bearable), the boys from Metallica and their management held a little conference to work out a policy to hold this bunch together. A complete sell out was decided upon; forget the old roots of true rock and go for the radio friendly mainstream stadium poodle rock. Out went the jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers and in came leather, studs, chains, moustaches, biker boots and the impossibly big hair. A selection of by the numbers rock songs were laid down and Bob Rock was brought in to produce the whole sham, giving it that very F.M radio friendly sheen. Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett was taught a guitar solo, which he proceeded to show off in every song, sometimes at different speeds, but mostly not bothering, just blazing away. The bass & drums sound as though both players are wearing boxing gloves, severely impairing their ability for any variety. But it’s James Hetfield who got the worst of the deal as he had to actually sing the lyrics, trying to sound sincere. How does... “Liberty of death, what we so proudly hail Once you provoke her, Rattling of her tail”From “Don’t Tread On Me” ... grab you? It’s all about the same, find a word that rhymes & stick it in. The marketing was so crass it worked. A mock horror movie (copying of all people Michael Jackson) of a video for 1st Single “Enter The Sand Man” got them plenty of M.T.V. airplay, no title for the album, an all black cover (opposite of the Beatles white album, very avant - garde). Almost mimicking “Smell The Glove” by “Spinal Tap”, only difference being that the “Tap” was meant as a joke, and the music was better. On the strength of this Metallica toured the stadiums of the world to adoring fans for five years, making themselves a license to print money, with long bass and drum solos and stolen riffs, all the time shaking dandruff from their long locks all over the impressionable kids down the front, playing air guitar, thinking its cool, and screaming Ye- Hah at the top of their little lungs. Unfortunately it all had to come to an end, when under increasing public pressure they had to release a follow up album “Load” in 1995. Even before its debut the band were admitting it was rubbish, so they followed up with the aptly titled “Re - Load” which sunk without trace. Then in 1998 as a last desperate attempt at street credibility, despite them now looking more like bank managers than bank robbers in their publicity shots, they released “Garage Inc” a collection of 27 cover songs, but as with all things of this nature, the covers stood no comparison with the originals. Nothing has been heard from Metallica in a few years now, except for perhaps the sound of them laughing all the way to the bank. Don’t be conned. Musicians James Hetfield - guitars, vocals Track Listing 1. Enter Sandman
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sangwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
Each
chapter covers a different type of craft or collectible and gives a
detailed history with the relevance to the present day. King Ramkamhaeng
in 1292 AD specifically mentioned free trade in silver and gold. And, for
example, did you know that Petchburi is now the site of gold craftsmanship
being kept alive by the descendants of the early goldsmiths?
The
idea is to break into the vault of the Bellagio in Las Vegas, home to the
receipts from three casinos owned by the smart and ruthless Terry Benedict
(Andy Garcia). Given a hotel security system rivaling that of a nuclear
weapons arsenal, the job would have to have a payoff worthy of its risks:
$150 million to be exact split among the 11 crooks needed to make it happen.
Mott’s CD review:
