Bonzos, American-Style

Advantages: Short, snappy slices of melodic weirdness!
Disadvantages: It's too short!

...Constantinople)", which may give a clue as to their tastes. They even helpfully provide a trailer for the album ("Theme From Flood"), and the eponymous song "They Might Be Giants". Heck, look, it's just not possible to convey in words the sheer quirkiness of this wonderful album. Suffice to say, if you like Python, then you'll probably like this album, and buy the rest of their output, too! Go on, you know you want to wear a prosthetic forehead on your real head!...

pvincent 17.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Flood - They Might Be Giants

Dip your toe into the floodwater...

Advantages: Varied style, amusing.
Disadvantages: None

...Was it really 1989 when this was released? (I suppose so beacuse we always sang along in the car on the way to school orchestra practice)! Well, unlike me, it hasn't dated a second and when the world floods I'll take it to listen to on my desert island for sure! If up-beat, eccentric, intelligent, amusing, philosophical music is what you're looking for then you are in for a treat. From the opening title song "Flood" to the final "Road Movie to Berlin" it's non-stop entertainment. A glance at the song titles can only hint at their majesty: 1. Theme from flood 2. Birdhouse in your soul 3. Lucky ball and chain 4. Istanbul (not Constantinople) 5. Dead 6. Your racist friend 7. Particle man 8. Twisting 9. We want a rock 10. Someone keeps moving my chair 11. Hearing aid 12. Minimum wage 13. Letterbox 14. Whistling in...

Jezebel1978 10.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Flood - They Might Be Giants

The last of the Romans

Advantages: Well written, good narrative, good highlights
Disadvantages: Some more development of the general history would be welcome

...Justinian's reign was the a high point of the final days of the Roman Empire - besieged from within and without, the Roman Empire was based administratively in Constantinople, and had all but lost contact with the 'Eternal City', the home of its origin, Rome. There was a definite East/West split that had already begun to solidify linguistically and culturally, and there were increasing tensions in the now-officially Christian Empire as to just what kind of Christianity was going to be the official line. When he was born, Justinian wasn't really meant to be Emperor. His uncle Justin came to power somewhat unexpectedly, but Justinian adapted to the coming responsibility with shrewdness and ability. He has been called the last of the Romans for good purpose; the city of Rome itself had been sacked by Visigoths and Vandals in...

frkurt 18.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire - James Allan Evans

  A Cunning Linguist

Advantages: Mystery, myth, and monopeds
Disadvantages: Only available in hardback at the moment.

...The opinion title really is true is this instance, as you?ll find out below. If you?ve never read Umberto Eco this is as good a place as any to start, and if you?ve read his other work you wont be disappointed with this, his new novel. Many people will have seen the film ?The Name of the Rose? starring Sean Connery as the investigative monk and from that will have an idea Eco?s ability to construct a labyrinthine plot. Baudolino is not as complex but no less enjoyable. In this book Eco return us to the Middle Ages, but this time his hero couldn?t be more different. Baudolino is part scholar, part adventurer, a linguist and self-confessed liar! Eco has his hero tell the story by giving an account of his life to an historian, while they are both forced to hide as marauding Crusaders sack Constantinople. We are introduced to him...

netstation 19.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of Baudolino - Umberto Eco

Knowing the past, knowing the present...

Advantages: Good introduction to the Orthodox Church, broad and concise
Disadvantages: I would like a bit more detail about the specific churches.

...in the past and in the present. One key theme that is developed early in the book is that the schism between East and West was not due to one event or even one issue -- while the issue over the filoque clause might have been the last straw, in fact the dogmatic and hierarchical issues between Rome and Constantinople were growing in intensity and conflict for centuries before. Like many in the Western churches, Meyendorff speaking from an Orthodox perspective concedes that the final schism need not have happened and probably owed more to misunderstanding rather than deliberate attempts at disunion. Meyendorff includes brief chapters on the structure of the Orthodox church, Orthodox monasticism, Orthodox relations with Islam, and Orthodox relations with Communist states, particularly in Russia, the largest remaining unified Orthodox...

frkurt 07.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of Orthodox Church: Its Past and Its Role in the World Today - Fr. John Meyendorff

ENTER THE DRAGON!

Advantages: Strong, tasty and full of flavour.
Disadvantages: Dangerous in the wrong hands!

...on top of the clock tower in the Flanders town of Ghent. The statue begin life in Scandinavia (it was owned by Sigrid Magnusson a Viking king) and then traveled to Constantinople (Sigrid gave it to the city during the first Crusades) and then it ended up in Ghent (courtesy of the Count of Flanders, who was also Emperor of Constantinople). It is a beautiful statue with a really interesting past! The beer Gulden Draak is just as interesting and eye catching. It appears in white bottles and can be bought in three different sizes (one litre, 75cl and 33cl) and also on draught in selected bars. As with all Belgian beers, Gulden Draak should be served in its own unique glass ~ in this case a tulip shaped glass edged in gold, displaying the dragon symbol and the name in a rather classy red and gold. ***Vital Stats*** Gulden Draak...

tange 11.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Gulden Draak

A Medieval Gaming Crusade

Advantages: Great Graphics, Gameplay and Freedom.
Disadvantages: Takes up a lot of memory, sometimes too easy

...of Agincourt, or you can create you own scenario with relative ease, just select your map, factions and units in play and you're off to go. Campaign is slightly harder to explain. You have 2 main options, a short or long campaign. A short campaign requires you to destroy 1 or 2 factions (e.g. If you chose to be Scotland you would have to destroy the English) and conquer a given number of settlements. The Long Campaign allows you more freedom. You have to take over a certain number of settlements, including 1 named settlement which tends to be Constantinople or Jerusalem. The Battle mode allows you to play as any faction you wish, however Campaign modes limit you to just a few instantly playable and then more unlockable factions. These factions, as you may have guessed, all come with unique units and styles of battling. It is then up to you to master...

King.Joe.XII 21.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Medieval II: Total War - Gold Edition (PC)

Things you never knew...

Advantages: Interesting pieces of history
Disadvantages: -

..., the struggles for dominance between senior sees (Rome struggling for dominance; Constantinople arising as a power when the political centre of gravity shifts to the East; Alexandria striving to maintain at least second priority worldwide and unhappy at being relegated minority status). The impact of geography, the dissemination of theology, hymnody, and scripture along trade routes, the development of independent structures of the church outside the Roman/Byzantine Empires -- these are parts of the grand diversity of Christian history which is often neglected by both Catholic and Protestant historians, who, due to language barriers (few scholars read Syriac, Coptic, etc., today, languages required for careful study and understanding of these other Christian branches; even fewer scholars knew these prior to the last few generations of researchers...

frkurt 29.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions - John Meyendorff

Did Marco Polo realy go to China

Advantages: did he
Disadvantages: didnt he

...The traditional story of the Venetian explorer, Marco Polo (1254- 1324,) for those who do not know him, was that he sailed to China and the East to trade in silks and gold. Recently I watched an oldish video by Frances Wood and she suggests that Polo never actually went to China. She bases her idea on Polo's book which over the years has been interpreted and copied hundreds of times. Her argument is based on the fact the book fails to mention many great features of China. She argues Marco Polo himself never probably travelled much further than his family's trading posts on the Black Sea and in Constantinople. she says how travelers have tried to trace his footsteps have become lost at this point. On entering China it is said that entered by land and in doing so would have had to have seen the 'Great Wall of China', but there is...

paul110 21.05.2002 (28.06.2002) · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with M ...

Theological trivial pursuit

Advantages: Fun to read
Disadvantages: A bit disorganised

...or not, who might be interested in knowing the odd bit of trivia here and there about Christianity (and, truly, some of it is very odd, such as the list of those excommunicated, which includes back in 1054 both the Pope and patriarch of Constantinople; hmmm, does that mean the whole church is gone now?). Take and read!...

frkurt 24.04.2005 · Read review
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Review of A Theological Miscellany: 160 Pages of Odd, Merry, Essentially Inessential Facts, Figures, and Tidbits about Christianity - T.J. McTavish