Oh frot - Grant without Naylor

Advantages: A bit like Red Dwarf
Disadvantages: Not enough like Red Dwarf

...Rob Grant is half of the comedy writing partnership that created the cult comedy, Red Dwarf (the other half being Doug Naylor). Grant without Naylor is like any good comedy partnership - they are both good in on their own, but better together. Red Dwarf has lost it’s edge since Rob Grant left. Which was why I bought this book. Hmm. I forgot that Rob Grant was responsible for the Sky One ‘comedy’ The Strangerers. Mysteriously popular, I found The Strangerers incomprehensible and ridiculous. Grant without Naylor doesn’t so much verge on silliness as wallow in it. He has the ideas, the wit, the classic put-downs, but something is missing. He comes across as an eternal student, this book has the feel of a rag-mag. I found it hard to get into and didn’t warm to his characters, but I will probably read it...

MichelleScott 23.01.2001 (22.01.2001) · Read review
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Review of Colony - Rob Grant

Isla Taboga - Island of Flowers

Advantages: Relaxing escape, stone's throw from Panama City
Disadvantages: No atmospheric beachside bar to enjoy a beer at sunset

...Isla Taboga is a lovely little island just half an hour from Panama City's Harbour. It's quite small, and not touristy. Just a little town, surrounded by water with a great view of the Panama City skyline! A great place to visit for a day if you're in the City and want an easy escape. Take a book and some snacks, or grab a bite at one of the local eateries, and just enjoy the white sand beach and calm warm waters. It's now $11 return by boat, which leaves from the Amador Causeway - pay no more than $5 by taxi from the City! The island itself is an array of small streets and hidden paths and steps, leading up and around the packed little houses of the town. It has a small church in the middle, which is supposedly the second oldest church in the Western Hemisphere. It also has an art centre / community project in construction...

IKnowSomeStuff 23.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Isla Taboga (Panama)

How To Win Grants & Influence People

Advantages: Money!
Disadvantages: Not that much money...for arts and humanities students at least

...This category is for any advice on applying for research grants; there are of course many different types and levels of research, and a whole range of different bodies who award grants for undertaking it. I am going to write about my own personal experience in applying for research grants, which was in the "Doctoral Competition" run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (henceforth "AHRC"). The AHRC, for those of you wondering, is a body set up by the Government in 2005 as a successor organisation to the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), which was established in 1998 to fund research in the arts and humanities in higher education. They receive £80 million of Government money each year to distribute to postgraduate researchers in universities (at both Masters and PhD level), professional researchers in universities...

Collingwood21 02.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Applying for research grants, higher education advice

At least Rob Grant can see it coming

Advantages: funny, couldn't put it down
Disadvantages: finishing it

...more complex, but nothing you couldn't handle! One of the biggest highlights of the book was the sheer volume of comedy, The jokes in there are never over done or strung out and are definitely not in short supply. There is also something for everyone, ranging from comedy in its most blunt form, to a political satire in other places. The characters integeral to the plot are few, and at times can seem underdeveloped, but i can assure you they are not. Rob Grant is direct and to the point without getting bogged down with the past and it does not really detract from the characters at all. All in all Incompetence is a great book and i would highly recommend reading it. It is a laugh a minute, whilst providing a satisfactory plot and at times can be scarily insightful as to what Europe is heading towards!...

robynpennock 07.09.2005 · Read review
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Review of Incompetence - Rob Grant

Grant diaries nail it with I

Advantages: Not the usual 'life' story biography, funny and witty
Disadvantages: His film work has doubled since its release, really needs a diaries pt2

...for referring to him as Dick rather than Richard). Richard E Grant's film diaries are exactly that, diaries and not an autobiography which is a welcome change to some life stories which can be littered with everyday hum drum. I would recommend this one if you are a real fan of the man or his films but it is 10 years out of date (his last entry is June 95) and for £7.99 that seems a lot for a book which is badly in need of an omnibus (it would for instance be interesting to see his comments on the recent Argos adverts). Do look around in the second hand shops as I picked my copy up for £2. Info; Picador publishers, £7.99, paperback, 320 pages (a section of black and white film shots in the middle) ISBN - 0330349678...

Paid.Ark.Man 06.06.2005 · Read review
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Review of With Nails: The Film Diaries of Richard E Grant - Richard E. Grant

"Look at my fancy newbig boy bike!

Advantages: great customer service, great quality
Disadvantages: Matching accessories not available

...On Tuesday 27 March, my son turned three making him officially a "big boy" as he reminds us on at least an hourly basis. His dad and I thought it only appropriate to celebrate this graduation into "big-boyhood" by buying him his first "big boy" bike. Kyle is an extremely active and strong boy and the level of destruction he can cause is extraordinary to say the least so it was vital that we found a bike that could withstand the endurance test that is hurricane Kyle and unfortunately, it was doubtful that the Spiderman bike from Argos he had his eye on was going to do the trick. With this in mind I started to do some research online into different options. One brand in particular kept popping up in reviews and newspaper/magazine articles. That brand was Isla Bikes. Now, I am not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to...

ally2kc 30.03.2007 · Read review
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Review of Isla Bikes

Even Better

Advantages: An action packed read
Disadvantages: Some suspension of disbelief required

...Sibling rivalry can be either a wonderful or a horrible thing. It can cause massive arguments, or it can inspire a sibling to stretch themselves and achieve more than they might usually have done. ??Even?? is the debut novel from Andrew Grant, who is the brother of Lee Child, author of the successful Jack Reacher series and it seems that the latter point is true this time around. Late one night, David Trevellyan sees a dead body in a New York City alleyway. As a former Navy officer, he goes in to take a closer look, just as the police arrive. He?s confident he can prove his innocence and will soon be released, as if the police won?t accept the truth, his contacts at the British Embassy will secure his release. But when he is passed to F. B. I. agents on the basis that the victim was one of their undercover agents, he realises he...

Soho_Black 03.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Even - Andrew Grant

This is where I long to be......la isla bonita

Advantages: Located nicely in a good resort, large spacious rooms
Disadvantages: None for the hotel, just being on the plane for over 4 hours!

......

minxy106 15.10.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hoteles Isla Bonita y Jardín Isla Bonita, Tenerife

HEALTHY PREGNANCY GRANT

Advantages: Money for mums
Disadvantages: new system not tried it

...Further to original review, my wife and I have found it impossible to get hold of the grant forms for this. Problem with this scheme, is if you don't get the grant forms dealt with before baby is born, you won't qualify for the pregnancy grant. The telephone helpline which administers this scheme will not send the grant form to you direct, they require the mothers national insurance number and doctors surgery details, and then they say they will discuss the scheme with the doctor (the doctor / midwife still has to apply for the form, this cannot be done directly by the mother.) Our doctors surgery has indicated that it is the responsibility of the midwife team to order these forms, between the doctor, the midwife and directgov nobody has provided us with the necessary form. You may have to chase this early, if you hope to...

llbcollins 22.01.2009 (19.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with H ...

Incompitence

Advantages: Hilarious!
Disadvantages: Humour might not appeal to all....

...I became aware of Rob Grant after reading a DooYoo review of his book 'Fat' - it sounded right up my street, so I got it from BookMooch and thought it was absolutely hilarious. The other week I noticed that there was a copy of another of his books "Incompetence" available, so I mooched that too! Published in 2003, this is Rob Grant's third novel. Rob Grant Rob Grant was born in Salford, and is most famous for co-creating, writing and producing (with Doug Naylor) Red Dwarf. His other books are 'Backwards' (a Red Dwarf book), 'Colony', and most recently, 'Fat'. You can find a bit more about him here - www.imdb.com/name/nm0335621 The Story The story is set somewhere "in the far too near future" (quite scarily so), in a world where Europe is united and it seems to be virtually impossible to find...

marymoose99 09.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Incompetence - Rob Grant