#MusicMonday

And Monday is here again. We are all tired and fed up with the reality - Weekend is over and we have 5 working days ahead of us. No way we can survive until friday!

And this is where I come in and try to make the beginning of the week a little bit more bearable for you. #MusicMonday post is here and this time we are taking on a London band which hit the fame this year. We all love them. We all get lost in their music and melancholic tunes. 

Yes this week's #MusicMonday features BASTILLE - one of the best band in current charts! Oh how much we love Bastille in our house. And i have to take the credit for introducing my housemates to the wonderful voice of Dan Smith. Their album BAD BLOOD took over the UK charts and you can hear their Pompeii everywhere. 

And lucky me, and as a perk of being a blogger, I am off to see them with Claire Bear tonight!!! Yes, I am that LUCKY!! And smart enough to purchase the tickets on the first day of sale. 

Anyways, to get you in the mood for the gig ( and make your jealous cries a little bit softer), let me share with you my favourite tracks from BAD BLOOD!

BASTILLE

Oblivion

Flaws

Pompeii

Weight of Living Part I

Icarus

I have chosen a various versions of the studio songs. I think Bastille is a band which is absolutely fantastic live and I cannot wait to see it for myself. I've been blown away by Tom Odell last week, so Bastille has a big shoes to fill. But somehow, I am not worried. 

Bastille has their unique sounds which captured my interest a long time ago, so I am positive that their gig tonight will be incredible. Don't worry I am taking my camera with me so you will all hear about it in the post soon. 

Happy listening lovelies!

50 Shades of (D)read: Chapter 2 - Cable ties?

So everyone can breathe a sigh of relief; Ana managed to gather up her lolling tongue from the floor, get her overly flushed form into Kate's car and managed to drive back to Portland without veering off into a hay field after being dazzled from the memory of intensely glaring 'bright grey' eyes.

Kate is very happy with Ana's interview results (of course she is, she didn't have to do sweet F all; she was curled up in a fluffy pink onesie at the time and didn't so much as incur Mr Grey's death stare at the mention he may bat for the other team) Kate seems like the real winner in this story, mainly on the improbability that she merely finds Christian Gravy a 'good looking son of a bitch' and not the epitome of male beauty, sexuality and general wanton lust.

I do find it annoying that she says she's sorry that she didn't give her a biography to make her look like she at least knew the basics of the person she was interviewing and to be honest I can understand why Ana is a bit miffed: Kate love, a biography wasn't necessary, a fragging sheet of bullet points would have sufficed.
It wouldn't have been that taxing.

'Thanks for doing this Ana, oh by the way this guy Christian Grey is a twenty seven self made millionaire, no real social life or girlfriend so obviously he's a raging homo and so absurdly good looking you better pack your knickers with Tena Ladies just in case you cream yourself if he so much as breathes down wind of you.'

But in the end it matters not to Kate, she's busy transcribing the interview and pleased as punch to get her exclusive scoop and is there purely to keep reminding Ana that it sounded like Christian Grey was taken with her *shock*

Naturally Ana won't have any of this nonsense; 'Mr Grey taken with me? Oh surely not, he was far too abrupt, far too handsome and I was far too staring at him like a starved poodle on heat' So despite all the evidence of the last meeting and the fact that Dick-Hard Greyson was practically shagging her with his eyes, Steeley An' is adamant that it's all in her head. At this point in the story this girl couldn't read the signs if they were 20 foot tall, covered in fairy lights made by real fairies, holding lit torches in the formation of giant 69 and all of them singing 'Let's Get It On'.

Maybe he should have rodgered some resolution into her from the off after all, save us a few chapters of needless busy deliberation and metaphoric foreplay of will they,won't they (yes, of course they freaking will) at least. Then again at this particular stage, even after the diiiirty deed had have been done, Ana is such an insecure drip she'd have probably spent the entire, newly uncomfortable drive home pondering whether she lead him on or was it all because of something she was wearing.

Also in this chapter the Twilight fan fiction origin comes into full swing with the introduction of Jose...Pitch, I think I'll call him; Ana's best friend who is tall, dark, hot, muscular, likable and he wants her, but she sees him only as a brother and I'm surely not going to be only one to call bull shit on this am I?

"He's tall, and in his jeans an t-shirt, he's all shoulders and muscles, tanned skin, dark hair and burning dark eyes" (you and me Miss James are going to have to have a word about your nonsensical contrasting light/fire metaphors. Any more and I will ignite your arse with my icy stare of exasperation)

"Yes, Jose' is pretty hot but I think he's finally getting the message that we're just friends"  (and that his sculptured, globed shoulders serve only for crying on in times of not getting any)


By her own inner voiced admission she says he's good looking and they get along really well but she's just never found anyone attractive enough to want to ride like a goddamn buckaroo until she hits a 6.9 on the Greyscale?


Say it with me... BULL SHIT!


This is a classic example of the author projecting their fantasies onto us. It's not enough they are so starved of excitement that they have to write about 2 guys fawning over their self based projection character but they have to do so with the perfect embodiments of male specimen since Rocky Horror and Hugh Jackman in Australia. But obviously you have to be PC about this so as much as you want to you can't bang them both, so what better than to be a giant cock tease to the one you're actually friends with? But even though he's just a friend you have to also make him, not just nice to you but ridiculously good looking too to make the fantasy complete.

 If you are going to create a self projected dream case scenario for yourself but want to be taken seriously as a writer; stop making the 'like a brother but wants more' character hot enough to give Arthur Brown pyrophobia. If the guy is that nice and that attractive then she would be with him. No ifs. No buts. No other fecking possibilities. Moving on.

Ana has a part time/full time job at a hardware store (kay...) the owner of the store's son has a massive thing for her (naturally) and Tristan Grim himself turns up out of the grey (oh sod off)

But hey that's rich people for you; with the right kind of money you can find out anything about a person you want to stalk (You best think of that too the next time you piss off a rich friend by not sleeping with them).

After Ana has composed herself to remind both Christian (and herself) of what her own name is, he eventually reveals the purpose of his stupidly long, drawn out and out of the way journey.

He's here to buy cable ties

Cable ties?

Cable ties

Cable... ties?

Yesssss ,cable tiesssss

(In my opinion, when the inevitable 50 Shades of Musical comes out they have to name one of the songs 'Cable Ties' *jazz hands*)

He must need them for .... tying something... possibly cables. Who knows? Ana sure as crap doesn't.

He also wants masking tape and five yards of natural filament rope. Now either he's a murderer covering his tracks, an rich S&M practitioner that has been, most likely driven 300 miles to the very shop she works in so he can sexually mess with her poor confuddled head by buying things he get a runner to fetch with his morning coffee and copy of Bound & Gagged, or he works for the US postal service. Given that she knows he's got a job that doesn't involve dealing with hyperactive dogs (apart from those 'gagging' for it poodles) then she makes the Holmes like deduction he must be none of the above and is doing some DIY instead.

*headdesk*


He does however agree to a photo shoot to go with the interview (something that would have taken Kate 5 years to procure, if only she'd known the key to man's private life was in his trousers) and he also gets really abrupt again when Mr Son of the Boss get's familiar enough to hug Ana in front of his very presence 

'the hell does this guy think he is?!' most likely murder muses The Grey Man as he shakes this... Paul's hand.

But soon after Paul disappears, Grey becomes bright again, pays for his sex aids and jauntily throws the plastic bag over his shoulder as he exits the store after leaving Ana his personal business card.

The image and act of carrying that small plastic bag in that manner is so ridiculous not even Samuel L Jackson could make it look cool. Try it when you're next in Tescos and feel a wally too.

But at least, after all that, Anastasia has come to the startling, Earth shattering conclusion that there may be just the slightest possibility that indeed, yes.....

She does like him



*headdesk*

Book Review: Insurgent

Insurgent

By Veronica Roth

First things first, i loved how the first chapter of this book followed seamlessly from the last chapter of the previous book. Having pounced on Insurgent as soon as i finished the review of Divergent, i felt like i hadn't missed a thing. It also kept the action at a high and made the story hit the ground running and in the thick of the action. 

I liked the way the story progressed with the Dauntless seeking asylum with Amity. Their faction was well constructed, thought through and impressed me with the thought that went into their eco-systems and technological advancements. The fact that they made and kept every one high by spiking the bread was comical!!! Especially when they injected Tris with a serum making her wired out of her face. This was brilliant. Her senses, her thought processes, everything being wonderful, sparkly and having love for everything and everyone with the desire to express it all. Brilliant, i enjoyed reading this.  

Throughout the story, there were little details and aspects that eventually come to be a major aspect of the plot. I picked up on these quite easily and thus had a good idea of what was coming next. Maybe a younger reader may have not been as perceptible  but this would not be a bad thing. It would only heighten the element of surprise.

I did get to a point where the levels of action within the progressing story seemed to reach a plateau. Nothing massive seemed to be happening. As with most sequels,  they are the medium to deal with the after effects of the previous, to set-up and prepare the reader for the finale of the third book, yet still demand a high-action scene so the reader doesn't die of boredom. They also tend to be long-winded. In some parts, this almost happened, but since i read this book in four days, it would be unfair to say i became bored. I didn't.  I still think Divergent was better than Insurgent and i expect Allegiance will also outmatch it.  After all, Allegiance will conclude the trilogy! 

The last chapter gave me mixed emotions. With the relationship between Tris and Tobias being so volatile and turbulent throughout the entire book, i constantly wondered how and when they would 'have it out' to put things right between them. (Spoiler Alert!) The story was cleverly constructed this way in order for Tris to ally with Marcus in the end, and defy Tobias. However, the lies, secrets and feelings they held from each other covered a good 95% of the book! They drove a huge wedge between themselves and their relationship, all in the name of stubbornness. The distance between them was palpable and the argument needed to 'bridge this chasm' was a scene i was looking forward to reading. Things being thrown around, screaming, shouting, to the bone comments etc, but this did not happen. In fact the only effort that occurred to bring their relationship back together again was done in five lines. 

"You were right. I do know who you are. I just needed to be reminded." Followed by a nauseating scene where 'he holds my face in both hands and kisses me back.' and they press their bodies against each other 'crushing the secrets we have kept and the suspicions we have harboured-for good'...

...Excuse me while i go and put my fingers down my throat!

I thought this was heavily insufficient to carry the weight of what the scene was probably actually supposed to. It was a poor attempt to try and translate to the reader the total forgiveness that was implied? 500 pages of their frustrations towards each other, attempted to be righted in five lines? No, in no way does this balance. So many questions are left unanswered throughout the whole book and especially in the final scene between the two of them. His behavior towards her in Janine's lab. His 'hard and critical' rage he has toward her. Refusal to react and respond to her words. He doesn't even contradict her when she says he never loved her, that whatever feelings he had towards her merely crumbled under the slightest test of them?! Was he acting all along?

Another question left unanswered is Tobias's access to the computer. Sure, what Tris said prompted him to look and find out. He obviously listened to her venemous last words to him. But i find it hard to believe this would have happened when he and Tori alike were all for the destruction of Erudite and all things related. Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't the book about the factionless having no interest in the data being held? Or knowledge of the secret data for that matter? Just the destruction of Erudite, all it's knowledge and the faction system?

Another niggle, throughout the attack, it does not mention the whereabouts of Evelyn. Surely she would have been in the party that stormed Janine's lobby? But there was no mention. In fact her presence during the storming was unheard of, until her important speech after the fighting. Surely such an important figure in the story should have had a stronger input and contribution to the fight scene, especially since she was the brains behind the attack? No? 

Despite Johanna's part at the end of the book being quite small, her wise words made me believe she will be a big character in the final instalment of this trilogy. I think she could be a great character and her story could be well developed and exploited. She has proven her strength-of-character and keen observational eye for human behaviors and their consequences. 

I had been guessing at the ending for some while, so it did not come as a surprise to me as such. The other idea i had was more of 'A Trueman Show' where they were experiments sectioned in a compound to see how long they would last before they wiped one-another out. Obviously this was not the case. Despite saying that, i was not disappointed by the ending of Insurgent what-so-ever. It has psyched me up ready and eager for the final installment of the trilogy, 'Allegiant', which comes out on Tuesday!!! I am ready to be launched back into the thick of the action with the first chapter following directly from the last. A style i quite like!

For a sequel  i was relatively happy with the way Insurgent turned out. Divergent was left at a point where Insurgent could aptly take the events, wrap them up and progress forwards towards what is ultimately going to be Allegiance. It had several scenes that kept me gripped and the story-line turning. The build up to the invasion was abit long winded. But it wasn't devoid of action. The relationship between Tris and Tobias was at extremes. They were either having nauseating love moments or ripping each other apart emotionally. :-/

Overall, i enjoyed reading Insurgent. For a sequel i was not disappointed, as can often happen. I am looking forward to see what will happen in Allegience. 

Quotes:

"People, i have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you,  buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them."

“The truth has a way of changing people's plans.” 

“I asked you not to do this. You made your decision. These are the repercussions.”

“Grief is not as heavy as guilt, but it takes more away from you.”