ALISON AKA ALF

Advantages: Reminders of the 80s, raw talent, distinctive voice
Disadvantages: None

...Alison Moyet was born in 1961 in Basildon ? an Essex girl. Her career started off in a number of pub type rock groups in the late 70?s/early 80?s, but fame really took off when she became part of the duo that were known as ?Yazoo? featuring Alison as the vocalist and Vince Clark on synthesisers. Vince Clark had previously been with Depeche Mode and then moved on to Erasure, whilst Alison developed a hugely successful solo career. 1980-84 were really significant years for me musically. Music is symbolic of life changing events for me; in 1980 I was 16, left school and went to College, and met the first ?love? of my life. ?Only You?, Yazoo?s most well known hit had a profound effect on me, not least because of the distinctive, deep, expressive voice of Alison (aka Alf). After Yazoo split up, Alison released her first album in...

fantasybeliever 17.10.2004 · Read review
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Review of Raindancing - Alison Moyet

THE GIFT by ALISON CROGGON 2002

Advantages: Compelling, Exciting, Rich Storyline, Interesting Characters
Disadvantages: And so the journey just keeps going on....

..."The Gift" is the first book of Pellinor Series by Alison Croggon, an award-winning Australian Poet. I borrowed this from my friend who claims that if I liked Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Material", then I would like this one. When I first received it, I immediately hope it wasn't a heavy and long-winded book as "Lord of the Rings (LOTR)", as I gave up on that one after a few chapters. As I flicked through it, I began to dread it. It contains illustrations of hand-drawn maps (LOTR comes to mind), notes to explain how words are pronounce (LOTR again). At the back of the book, it consists of several pages of a brief history of Edil-Amarandh, where the story is set. Credit to the author for making such effort. She has thought about every single detail and has created an exhilarating fantasy world. Since I have borrowed it, and need...

Moogiekupo 13.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Gift - Alison Croggon

FREE DVDs

Advantages: Free trial, large choice, post included,new realeases
Disadvantages: see review

...I like movies and I like freebies, so when you get offered both in one swoop you?re bound to accept! I used my two week free trial with this company and remained with them for a couple of monthsbefore moving on to try many other companies free trials (and winning a new DVD player on Tesco DVD rental site on their free trial offer). I then had an email from DVDs 365 asking me to go back, and offering me a free DVD if I did so. I had just left Tesco (with my new DVD player) so I chose to go back with them. ∆◊◊ THE SERVICE THEY OFFER ∆◊◊ Basically it?s like going to a video shop and hiring films on DVD, except you don?t pay for each film you chose ? rather a monthly fee for which you can watch as many movies as you can fit in, for us this is usually around 8 a month (2 a week usually weekends...

dabmim 15.11.2004 · Read review
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Review of dvds365.com

Surprising Picture Quality - Panasonic DVD-S54

Advantages: Incredible picture quality when compared to my old non-upscaling player with a scart lead
Disadvantages: Sometimes disc drive can be really noisy when DVD's initially load.

...At first I wasn't convinced by up-scaling DVD player technology but was persuaded after reading an article in "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" magazine. Unable to afford a Blu-Ray player my sister and I bought the Panasonic DVD-S54 to match our parents brand new Panasonic TX-32LZD80 LCD television as their Christmas 2008 present. Admittedly it was a slightly selfish purchase as we both live at home and wanted to watch DVDs on the big new TV ourselves! We bought the player from the electrical retailer Comet for about £100 just before Christmas so there were no discounts applied. On Christmas day when opened we found a relatively small box tightly packed with the player in polystyrene packaging. All the components such as cables, remote and manuals were well presented in their own protective plastic bags, to keep them protected. The player...

bobbacon985 12.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Panasonic DVD-S54

Alison Croggon's 'The Gift'

Advantages: Fantastically developed world that she has created
Disadvantages: Long list of characters can be confusing at times

...As a great fan of fantasy books it surprises me to see this book classified as a book aimed at children when it is obvious to anyone who has read the book that this is far from a childs bed time story. This book ranks alongside the great fantasy novels of all time. The author has carefully built up a deep and complex history behind the story, giving her invented world a rich culture, with developed histories, music and societies. This book has the richness and depth that is normally associated with tolkiens 'The Lord of the Rings' whilst being much more easy going. From the moment I picked up the book for the first time I was hooked, finding myself drawn ever deeper into this world that Alison Croggon has made. This book has something for everyone, from fast paced action and heroic deeds to terrible betrayal and the darker sides...

bnmnmmb 05.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Gift - Alison Croggon

Alison Krauss + Union Station live - awesome stuff

Advantages: One of the most amazing voices ever.
Disadvantages: umm.. that there isn't more?

...auditorium in Kentucky, the home of Bluegrass. --- The band get straight into at the start, playing about four songs before we first hear from Alison. One thing I noticed initially was her dry sense of humour. I wasn't entirely sure whether she was actually being a smart-arse initially or whether she had a colourless way of talking, she seems a little 'spacy' when you first hear her speak, but by the time you've heard a few of the background 'stories' to the songs and the band introductions, you realise that she actually really is a wise cracking smart alec and I for one really warmed to that! For me that's one of the things I look forward to on live DVDs or cds, hearing how the performers actually interact with the audience in that setting. Here I wasn't disappointed by Alison or any other of the members of the band. And what a talented...

Lor_oz 26.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of Live - Alison Krauss

Alison Krauss + Union Station Live

Advantages: Seriously talented Bluegrass performers
Disadvantages: A few weak tracks

...I bought this CD after catching the second hallf of this concert when it was shown on BBC4. I'd never bought, or considered listening to Bluegrass before but was so taken by it that I ordered this double CD the next morning off Amazon. It turns out that Alison Krauss is pretty well known in the States and gained immediate recognition for her talent with her first album "I've got that old feeling" (1990), when she was just a teenager. I'd never heard of her. She really does have an amazing, powerful and hauntingly clear voice. In fact all my favourite tracks on this double CD are the ones that she sings. She also plays the fiddle rather well and she's nice looking - Wow, so much talent in one human being! Her band, Union Station, are all seriously talented musicians with Dan Tyminski on guitar, mandolin and vocals, Ron Block...

westie40 14.10.2005 · Read review
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Review of Live - Alison Krauss

Alison Croggon's 'The Riddle'

Advantages: A fantastic second half to the novel
Disadvantages: A slow start to the plot

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bnmnmmb 05.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Riddle - Alison Croggon

A great gift of a book

Advantages: An adventure from start to finish.
Disadvantages: Lots of description and detail.

...THE GIFT *************** The Gift is the first book in Alison Croggon's Pellinor series, which begins with The Gift and ends with The Singing. This tetralogy (or quartet, as Croggon herself refers to the books), is aimed at young adults, and is a very descriptive account of the adventures of a young girl called Maerad. The story takes place in the world of Edil-Amarandh, and the books are based on ?The Riddle of the Treesong?, or ?Naraudh Lar-Chanë? in Annaren, the language spoken in Annar, which is a region in Edil-Amarandh. THE AUTHOR ************** Alison Croggon was born in the Transvaal in South Africa, and her parents moved to England before settling down in Australia when Alison was seven years old. Alison was a poet and playwright before she became a fantasy author, publishing The Gift in 2003. On her website (see below) you...

Nienke 26.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Gift - Alison Croggon

Alison Croggon's 'The Crow'

Advantages: Another fantastic book in the Pellinor series
Disadvantages: Final book not released until September 08

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bnmnmmb 05.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Crow: The Third Book of Pellinor - Alison Croggon