Advantages: Different Designs
Disadvantages: So many to choice from

...Anodised Design of Brass door handles can be anything you want. Most ironmongery companies can offer your own personal design part, where you the client can actually design what you want, though this can be quiet expensive. Most Ironmongery companies and the likes of Homebase, B&Q and others like that offer standard design ranges and door handles you would probably find in a hospital or public place. Standard off the shelf door handles are not very expensive and would only cost less than a fiver. The upper part of the market can set you back about £15.00 / per set. At the end of the day it all depends what meets your requirements and your needs. If you want to buy from a respectable source and find the best manufacturers, go to the web site of " The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers" this organisation will recommend ironmongery companies... Read review

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Advantages: Entertaining.
Disadvantages: Painfully realistic.

...A small English minning community is the backdrop for "Brassed Off", a gentle tragicomedy which primarily concerns the exploits of the local pit brass band. The films main theme is that of the relationship between two of the band's members, one played by Ewan McGregor. This strand of plot is entertaining enough, but the film's real strength lies in its ability to explore the consequences of pit closure on the surrounding people. The issue is sensitively, but realistically dealt with and the use of humour provides light relief, if it is sometimes painfully in contrast to the rest of the plot. Music is used as the medium which holds the community together at a time when it seems like it could fall apart and this remains an uplifting story at the end. The cast is excellent and full of well known British thespians who make the best... Read review

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Advantages: very moving
Disadvantages: none

...Brassed Off was shown the other evening on More 4 and as there was not much else on I thought I would give it a go and I was so glad I did. It is a beautiful emotional film which will call on a whole range of emotions as you watch it! I felt that it was two hours watching which was time very well spent. 'Brassed Off' is a film set in the early 1990s at a time when there was a lot of political unrest and Margaret Thatcher, the then prime minister, was not very popular amongst the working classes. A major reason for this was the relentless push to close the coal pits, putting countless miners out of work with very few prospects of finding new employment. The film is set at Grimley Pit where the miners are facing the same threats of closure. Also, as was a very strong tradition, many of the miners were also members of the pit's brass band... Read review

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Advantages: great script, very funny
Disadvantages: I'll never look at a Scottish toilet in the same way again

...Trainspotting is another landmark film, one of the truly great 'great' British films of the nineties. Where 'Brassed off' and 'The full monty' were hyped-up so much so that they ultimately disappointed, this film is worth all the plaudits. Ok, so it is grim, and it centres on a bunch of junkies, but contrary to what some critics have said, it does not advertise heroin as such, rather that there can always be light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how low you are. Acting is excellent, with Ewan Macgregor shining throughout, and there is also plenty of dark humour.... Read review

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Advantages: Eternal Champion novel, Can be read and enjoyed by any age group
Disadvantages: Makes some assumptions that the 'Runestaff' books have been read

...that the ghosts of his lost friends are haunting the lands outside his castle, accusing him of being a traitor and murderer. On investigating these reports he ends up teaming together with the 'ghosts' and setting off on an adventure that takes him across not only the world, but also across the multiverse in pursuit of two enemies from his past. Michael Moorcock's style and storylines have not dated much since they were written, and even after the sheer number of Eternal Champion stories he has written, he finds no problems writing a twist in the tail every time. His depiction of a world which is strange, yet almost familiar is excellent, and his characterisation work is among the best I have personally read. Moorcocks strength throughout his books is that he is not only an author, but he's also a storyteller, and with Count Brass (as with most... Read review

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Advantages: Great acting, wonderful story, need I go on?
Disadvantages: None whatsoever.

...Brassed Off is one of my favourite films. I've seen it more times than I can count, yet it still manages to make me laugh and cry (well, almost - a big lump in the throat at the very least!) every time. I grewn up in a mining community, and I can say hand on heart that some of the situations shown in this film are real. People did struggle to pay off debts incurred during the miners' strike, marriages were pushed to breaking point, and whole communities struggled to fill the gap left by pit closures. What the film does show is that the spirit (and sense of humour) of these communities is hard to kill. The story revolves around the fortunes of Grimley Colliery Band (Grimley is fictional, but it's based on the real community of Grimethorpe) as it's members struggle to cope with the threat to their livelihood and the demands made... Read review

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Advantages: Lush backing synth.
Disadvantages: Doesn't have that "Moog" sound.

...Now here's a rare classic from my studio collection. The Moog Opus 3. Granted, it's only a sandwich synth, which to those that don't know is (in this case) a unit with 3 synths inside it. Each of these can be played individually, or in combination. The best part is the string section, which is perfect for that Jean-Michel Jarre style synth string from Oxygene & Equinox. You can use the effect section to have the strings wash in and out like waves. It also has a brass section, which is limited, but you CAN play with the sound to get a hint of that classic Moog sound. YAY. There's also a VERY nice alterable organ section with a lovely lowrey style rotary effect. These can all be combined and mixed with an onboard level mixer. Best sound - full strings with that washing effect, 60% organ to give depth, and about 30% brass for a nice... Read review

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Advantages: Great patriotic tracks
Disadvantages: none

...I'm sure many of you out there remember the release of the film Brassed Off in 1996, which reminded many people of the strife of a miner, and sparked in the UK a new interest in brass bands. For those who never saw Brassed Off (with the lovely Ewan McGregor :o) ), it follows the life of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, made up of members of the Grimethorpe Colliery (that's miners to you and me!). Watch the band (featuring McGregor, Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald) as they try and work their way to the National Brass Band Finals- do they make it? The original film soundtrack was released in 1996, and when listening to it, it's easy to understand why it sold 50,000 copies and got the UK into brass band music! I think there's something quintessentially British about brass bands, and spark a patriotic pride in all of us. Plus, with tracks... Read review

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Advantages: very funny satire, causes media to be up in arms when the programme satirises them without them knowing it
Disadvantages: some will be offended

...Brass Eye is once again showing up on TV on Thursday nights on Channel 4. The man behind it is Chris Morris and if you haven't seen it then you are missing out on pure comedy genius. The show is in the style of a hard hitting current affairs programme that every week exposes some truly horrific plights in the world. Only they are not real. But Morris doesn't tell his guests that. One of the shows questions the merits of science. Morris takes on the guise of a serious young presenter and is joined by fleet street big wig Eve Pollard. She is horrified at the footage shown to her of a scientific experiment that went wrong and resulted in the birth of a large testicle which was being incubated as it was premature. Obviously Eve took this very seriously and declared it wrong for science. Anyone with any common sense wouldn't be able... Read review

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Advantages: It's a great album
Disadvantages: Tails off slightly towards the end

..., peaches then dives off into a rapid series of melody changes, starting with a vibraphone melody backed up with a few piano rolls before leading into a guitar/wind section. This barely has time to register before we’re off into a lovely brass/wind part where several instruments complement the main melody. Next up is a guitar and flute duet, with the flute being replaced by a gentle organ, which in turn gets a bit more strident and replaces everything. It goes on in this fashion for just over three and a half minutes, chopping and changing without ever really clashing. A perfect way to start the album. * Willie the Pimp * The only non instrumental track on the album opens up with a scratchy violin riff quickly doubled up by a ragged guitar. Captain Beefheart, a friend of Franks with a similar mindset musically, turns up and all but hams up... Read review

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