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Friday, June 24, 2011

Midnight Sun-By Stephenie Meyer

This is for all those star-struck girls still drooling over Edward Cullen. You have your wish fullfilled in the form of Midnight Sun i.e. Twilight with Edward's perspective. Excited?? Don't be as this is only a partial draft...I say partial because Stephenie Meyer couldn't finish this book before it was leaked and so it didn't even went through the editing stages. It is unclear whether she'll continue this book in the future. It's been put on an indefinite hold; but even if she does decide to continue, it'll be only for Twilight. She won't be writing New Moon, Eclipse or Breaking Dawn from Edward's point of view
Still, Edward fans will surely have fun reading this one.

You can download it here:
Midnight Sun PDF Download-eBook
(Right click and save target as)

You gotta have GUTS to read GUTS (By Chuck Palahniuk)

I really got a good laugh out of this. I had weak arms during one part, but I got through it. I just knew I had to read this when I heard that 75 people worldwide passed out after reading this short story. Well, I didn't pass out, but do understand why one would.

The key is to read this on an empty stomach.

"Gutsy" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

The best way to utilise this story is to read it aloud to your friends and hopefully you can make them faint or atleast puke!

To download this click on the following link:

*Warning-Not for the faint hearted!*

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hungry to Read? Read The Hunger Games Triology!

Before I start into this review, I would like to pose a question. Why is it so hard to talk about the books we love? I have been having just an unrelenting bitch of a time writing this review. I keep falling into holes and back-pedaling, not wanting to sound too squee or insincere and bring ruination on my real love for this book. Maybe it's because it's YA, about a plucky girl who surmounts incredible obstacles – but then, there, I'm doing it again – implying in my flip description that I'm somehow too adult and worldly to fall for this narrative. (And, I did it again.) I did fall for this narrative, hard, and I'm going to have to just suck it up and soldier on.

I started this book thinking the idea was preposterous: a government choosing to squelch rebellion by forcing its citizens to give up their children as contenders in the ultimate reality show of death to the last survivor. Yeah right, and yet it reminded me a lot of the absurdity of the Nazi party. I realized I believed a government could be this arrogant and wrathful. When people are pitted against each other instead of turning on the establishment they often fight each other within the failed system, fighting for that elusive top spot or ignoring the pain of others grateful to escape tragedy themselves.

I soon found myself intensely involved in the Hunger Games and hoping for a certain outcome that would certainly bring about the death of many children but save our brave little heroine. Once you're in, what option do you have but to play and survive? Collins did an amazing job of taking an unbelievable and predictable storyline and making it believable and unpredictable. Complete with an impossible love interest, twists in the arena to keep you guessing, and both sympathy and hatred for the other characters, the book is hard to put down. I stayed up late to reach the conclusion that would seem obvious but was still evasive when I could conceive many alternate endings. In some ways the story reminded me of Lord of the Flies, but without as frustrating of a dues ex machina ending.

I found it interesting that even in this life and death situation, the kids refused to do anything that would displease the capitol and make them look rebellious or unwilling to play, or worse emotional and disturbed by death. They did not bond with each other, help each other, or ever want to be indebted by anyone's kindness. Sad that the gravest error would be vulnerability of spirit because the tough ones are the ones to survive. There is obviously a lot of death hashed out, but only a handful experienced by our narrator. There is one death that I wonder if it may be a little overboard, but for the most part, what could have been a gruesome story was handled very tactfully. Nonetheless the subject matter is not appropriate for younger children.

My one compliant about the novel would be the overuse of fragments. As a grammar freak, I'll let powerful fragments go. On occasion. As a literary device. But you throw five and six back to back. Just for effect. And all I'm doing is counting. How many are going by before we're back to complete sentences. There were a few paragraphs with way too many. But that's just a style difference. And the story is worth it. A good tale and a thinker.

Even after I closed this book, I found myself mulling over the statements about society, our gruesome need for reality TV, how much a community will let others suffer as long as they are safe, and the strength of the human spirit when backed up against the wall. I enjoyed Katniss' emotionally detached character, Peeta's vulnerable goodness, and Rue's small but fighting spirit. Now I want to learn more about Gale(Which I did in Catching Fire). A good strong female protagonist and a great set up for the sequel which I've already read. How will the capital be brought down? Who will Katniss chose? Can she stand by and let another gruesome show go by training the tributes from her village without action? You must be intrigued and hungry for more.


DOWNLOADS:

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games 1) PDF Download
Catching Fire (The Hunger Games 2) PDF Download
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games 3) PDF Download
Have Fun. Happy Reading!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

This Is US- Backstreet Boys

    Album Art-'This Is Us' by 'Backstreet Boys'

I've been listening to this amazing album for quite a while now and still I never seem to get enough of it. People say that BSB have lost its pop charm of which they were the pioneers during the nineties but I whole-heartedly, disagree.
I've rated all the songs on my iPod just as mentioned below and all of them feature in my favorites! A short description of every song is as follows...
 
1."Straight Through My Heart" 5/5 (Peppy, Catchy, Superb!)
2. "Bigger" 5/5 (Smooth and slow, great tune)
3. "Bye Bye Love" 5/5 (Another Hottie, upbeat tune)
4. "All of Your Life (You Need Love)" (4/5 Really Nice one as well)
5. "If I Knew Then" (4/5 R&B Tune, lush music, A.J's voice so great in this one....!)
6. "This Is Us" (5/5 The perfect song in terms of defining the album, great harmony of voices, as always!)
7. "PDA" (4/5 The funky-tuned song, typical disco beats and catchy rhymes)
8. "Masquerade" (5/5 Another great song....disco tune, along with typical BSB rockin'!)
9. "She's a Dream" (5/5 Another one of those BSB beauties, that sound different and are still are lyrically and musically peppy!)
10. "Shattered" (5/5 Mah most favorite song from the album, remind you of old BSB along with the tunes of this modern era, the modern derivation of Show Me The Meaning....
11. "Undone" (5/5 You get typical 'George Michael' feel when you listen to this and the music is so good that it crawls and grows on you, you can feel the song on yourself when you listen to it. Nick sounds so matured in this one and you can feel it. Not just he, A.J, Brian and Howie all sound great as always.....)
12. “International Luv” (4/5 A very up-to-the-beat song, with some seriously cool music!)

Love This Album! What an album This Is! Or should I say, THIS IS US!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Graffiti Vs Hip-Hop?...Not true!


Graffiti culture resonates at the roots of hip hop. The link between hip hop culture and graffiti occurs as early graffiti artists practised other aspects of hip hop and also because graffiti was practised in places where hip hop was evolving as an art form. A well-known graffiti artist HAZE created album covers for the Beastie Boys’ early albums and also worked with Chuck D from public enemy. The word graffiti originates from the Greek word ‘graphein’ which means to write. The word itself is a plural of the Italian word ‘graffito’. Graffiti is writing, tagging or aerosol art on a private or public surface which often makes it illegal. In 1971 the New York Times published the first article about graffiti. The article focused on the tags of Taki 183. A tag is a stylised signature. Taki was described as a bomber. This means that he was a type of graffiti writer who specialised in writing their name in as many places as possible. Taki is short for Demetaki which is another version of his Greek birth name Demetrius. He lived on 183rd street in Washington Heights which may explain his tag. He was the first New Yorker to become famous for writing graffiti. Other early graffiti artists include Top Cat, Cornbread and Tracy 168.  The graffiti documentary STYLE WARS was released in 1983. This introduced the mainstream public to hip hop graffiti.
The Manhattan Transit Authority claimed they spent equivalent to the domestic product of many Third World countries trying to stop graffiti artists on public transport. Gang members often used graffiti to communicate messages to their gangs and also outsiders. The greatest insult to a graffiti artist is if someone ‘slashes’ their work. Slash in this context means to put a line through or tag over someone’s tag.
Some scholars state that this is an art form and graffiti is similar to cave paintings or hieroglyphics. A message is being delivered and we need to interpret its symbolic meaning. Others see it as vandalism. Personally I admire the art of graffiti writing. Graffiti does symbolize our need as humans for communication, our need for meaning and it enables us to produce something which displays our existence is this crowded, busy world.  Graffiti can really bring to life dull or drab environments, it can brighten your journey on a tube or train. It can also beautify and alter our everyday surroundings unexpectedly and that I believe is the joy of graffiti.