Book Review Roundup: Entangled Ecologies in Nature Writing

 For the past two years I have been living between a city centre and an industrial estate. The closest roads are main arteries to and from the city, and the biggest open spaces around are the shopping centre and the middle of the canal. It's fair to say that there has been very little nature to relax and inspire me. In these two years, I have made a personal discovery: I need nature to relax me. And since I have such a lack of green pastures and long walks in the fresh air nearby (the canal hardly counts - a single dirt track for the "riverside walk" leading to a built up shopping area in the docks) I have taken desperate measures to get my fix of plants and trees: I have turned to nature writing.

Infinity War Shows Marvel Is Not Over Its Villain Problem... And Now It Has A Hero Problem Too

Stay tuned, because this is going to be a serious rant about Avengers: Infinity War. IW was one of those movies that set off my fatigue-o-meter, everything I saw spoke of a bloated mess which wouldn't have time to tell a decent story. From the trailers, I assumed it would be an effects-heavy hammer with no depth and no character.

I have to admit, in a lot of respects I was wrong.

I Decided to Rank Every Song Called "Need Your Love" For No Reason!

So this is continuing, for lack of a better idea. No special reason, this was just the next song name I had prepared (seriously, I looked through like every artist in this list, no connection to late July - maybe the month Peter Green left John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers to start Fleetwood Mac?). Anyway, rules as usual: all songs are by professional artists, no X-Factor/bedroom covers, and they're in date order because I am insane or something. Let's learn which "Need Your Love" deserves our love the most...

George Romero: A Reflection

Confession time: I've never thought much of George A Romero's movies. To be fair, that's my own fault, as I seem to be watching them in reverse order. I like Land of the Dead well enough, although it felt a bit schlocky for my tastes, rather cheesy. And I've only seen the final act of Dawn of the Dead, so I can't really comment on it. I remember thinking what I saw was very B-movie, there was a lot of gore there and I couldn't see the reason.

That's because George Romero's movies only make sense in the context of the whole.

I Decided to Rank Every Song Called "Sparks" For No Reason!

As summer really gets going, let's take a look at a classic Coldplay song. "Sparks" was part of their debut album, an album that reached number 1 in the UK on its release in 2000 and won the Grammy award for Best Alternative Music Album two years later. And it was released on the 10th July 17 years ago.

Wow. I'm getting good at making these relevant.

I Decided To Rank Every Song Called "Thinking About You" For No Reason... PART 2!

Alright, last week was a list of amazing songs which were nearly impossible to rank because they all had great qualities, but in the end the top three went to the oldest, the newest, and the most like Lily Allen. Well I have good news for you guys today: this week, we're doing EVEN MORE SONGS WITH THE SAME DAMN NAME.

Fun fact: In 2016 alone there were over a dozen songs released called "Thinking About You" or some variation thereof. The shortest time between releases of songs called "Thinking About You" in 2016 was one day.

Usual rules apply: only originals and covers by professional, licensed artists, and any and all electronic remixes are fair game.

So let's think about "Thinking About You". Again...

I Decided to Rank Every Song Called "Thinking About You" For No Reason... PART 1!

This one might turn out to be a bad idea. I was stuck for song titles yesterday, but today I had a brainwave: what about "Thinking about You"? There's gotta be at least a few songs with that title! Maybe some remixes too, because it's kinda an obvious title.

How wrong I was.

This is coming at you as a two-parter because I have twenty-nine songs to get through. This list stretches from 1985 all the way to the 2nd of June this year so I hope you're ready for some serious genre shifting. As usual, rules apply: professionals, covers by professionals, and club/disco/electronic remixes only. Entrants will be in date order because that's fair or something, even if there's only a week or so in between some of these. Yeesh.

Oh, and I'm saving Sting and Radiohead for next week's list.