JPod - Douglas Coupland

Advantages: It has a nice cover
Disadvantages: The stuff in between is bad

..."Oh God, I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel." "That asshole" "Who does he think he is?" As opening lines to novels go that was a first for me. I've never known an author name check them self so brazenly and I have to say it set me off on the wrong foot with this book. I've never read Coupland before so wasn't really sure what to expect. As the celebrated author of 'Generation X' I was looking forward to an IT literate book for the information age. What I got was something far less, a self serving work lacking irony and intelligence. A book that wastes the reader's time and provides little in return. But I'm rushing to a conclusion so let me step back and tell you a little about it before I completely trash it. The story follows events over a year or so of Ethan Jarlewski's life. A regular kind of guy he...

brereton66 07.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of JPod - Douglas Coupland

Generation X - Douglas Coupland

Advantages: An intelligent read
Disadvantages: A bit on the light side

...I must be such a sucker. A year or so back I bought the book Jpod by Douglas Coupland and hated it with a degree of hostility out of all proportion to its inherent quality, yet here I am shelling out good money for another one. I?d bought that first book largely on the basis of the author?s reputation as a modern, zeitgeist surfing writer with a savvy appreciation of the turn of the century world. A reputation almost entirely earned with this break through novel; ?Generation X?. Unfortunately, Jpod was so annoyingly self-regarding, so out of touch with the 21st century that I felt almost personally insulted that I had been so duped ? hence my disproportionate loathing. Still, once bitten ? never learn is my motto and I resolved to go back to the source of all this trouble and actually read Generation X, the book that created a reputation...

brereton66 11.03.2009 (15.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Generation X - Douglas Coupland

BLACK DOUGLAS

Advantages: Strong malt flavour
Disadvantages: Hard to find on draught

...The BLACK DOUGLAS - A legendary brew named after a legend?......... Not quite. It's more like a very good beer named after a well known figure from Scottish history, but the first description sounds a bit more enticing, I think. David Younger, a descendant of the George Younger brewing family of Alloa, founded BROUGHTON ALES in 1980, in the pretty little village of Broughton (Brote-un), near Biggar in the Scottish Borders. It was one of the first of the new generation of Scottish breweries and in fact their Greenmantle Ale - which used to be extremely popular - was one of the first real ales I ever sampled, way back in the days when I thought the antithesis of 'real' ale was wholly imaginary. Official website: http://www.broughtonales.co.uk/ The 500 ml bottle is a sturdy, dark brown affair with a couple of Saltires...

proxam 04.12.2002 · Read review
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Review of Black Douglas Ale

Peppers Beach - Expensive, but you do get what you pay for.

Advantages: Very high quality, very modern, clean, beautiful hotel!
Disadvantages: Cost

...television. The bedroom also had a balcony. The bathroom had a walk in shower with frosted glass wall. (whoever was in the bedroom could see the silhouette of the person in the shower, nice affect!) There was also a washer and dryer. Everything was new looking, modern and very clean! THE POOL The pool was quite cold, but was truly beautiful. It had a waterfall and lapped up to a small man made beach. The sunbeds were large and very comfortable and you could always get one as the hotel didn't seem at all full. Probably because theres so much to do around Cairns and Port Douglas that hardly anybody spent any time in the hotel itself. SURROUNDINGS There's the beach which is a very short distance away and shops are a short walk too. But for the other activitiess e.g. rainforest walks, coc farm etc, it is definately advisable to...

bunnybell78 31.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas, Queensland

  Port El Kantaoui

Advantages: Beautiful Beaches
Disadvantages: Mainly For Couples, Hassle From Local Shopkeekers

...Port El Kantaoui is a purpose built Holiday Resort on the Northern Coast of Tunisia in North Africa. It is situated just a few kilometres North of Sousse, Tunisia's second largest City after the Capital Tunis. It was built in 1979 with a modern 300 Yacht capacity Marina as its focal point. In recent years this Marina has become a popular mooring location for the rich and famous undertaking their Mediterranean Cruises and the Marina here is said to rival those long established Marinas of Nice and Marbella on the Southern Coast of Europe. It is now also Tunisia's most popular Holiday Resort. I stayed in Port El Kantaoui between the 2nd and 9th July 2006 and found the experience to be a rather interesting one. Since it was my first visit to Tunisia I was a little unsure of what to expect and as my Holiday approached I began to hear...

micksheff 22.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Port El Kantaoui (Tunisia)

Bon Vacances at Port Bourgenay

Advantages: Masses to do, something for everyone.
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit pricey in high season

...beyond our budget if it wasn't for the Clubcard vouchers that are worth four times their face value, but after much debate and research we plumped for Port Bourgenay, run by Pierre et Vacances, as it looked like it was in a perfect location, is close to the beach, and there seemed to be a lot to do. It cost somewhere in the region of £1000 for the accommodation (£250 in deals) for seven nights and £300 for the return ferry. ~*~ Location ~*~ We live in the south west, so a Portsmouth - Cherbourg crossing is ideal for us. We always get the earliest ferry (around 9am) so we arrive in France around 3pm which gives us plenty of time to drive to our accommodation and settle in by bed time. Or so I thought! This really wasn't the easiest place to find at all. We knew the main towns that we had to head towards: Rennes, Nantes, La...

chilcott1 28.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Pierre & Vacances Port-Bourgenay, Talmont

"Calem" Port the taste of Porto

Advantages: Port lovers paradise
Disadvantages: Too many to try for one visit.

...We spent a wonderful long weekend in Porto. One of our places to visit if we get round to it. Whilst we where there we visited the Port Wharfs, due to the name and my love of Port. We set off on the Sunday morning, and had a varied trip to get there by the tram, vehicular and the old trolley bus. We travelled over the bridge designed by Eifel who designed the Eifel Tower, in fact he designed two bridges that span the Rio Douro, both well worth walking over if you have a head for heaths go on the top level if not use the lower level, your choice. As you are on the higher level looking over the Douro River you have a vista of all of the Port houses, all the names that you have heard of at Christmas on the TV, and seen in the adverts in the papers and magazines. We opted for ?Calem? as it was open on the Sunday...

bostonianbeer 11.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Calem Port Wharf, Porto, Portugal

Pleasure Port

Advantages: walking distance from city centre
Disadvantages: none

...Barcelona's Port Vell is a fabulous oasis of restaurants, bars, a huge aquarium (the largest in Europe), a shopping mall, and an Imax cinema. An amazing bridge takes you across to these delights. We came across Port Vell by accident, we had walked along Les Ramblas and as we got to the bottom we could glimpse the sea and a huge wooden wave suspended in air, which intrigued us. The huge wave was part of a fantastic swing bridge, which is as wide as it is long and is on two levels. Judging by the amount of people making the crossing we decided that there must be something to see at the other end. After stopping half way across and sitting on one of the many benches scattered over the bridge we watched the world go by relaxing with the sun on our faces and the sea and boats swaying in the gentle breeze. A large shopping mall...

Freddydog 22.03.2001 · Read review
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Review of Barceloneta & Port Vell

Douglas Adams Douglas Adams Douglas Adams

Advantages: Really great and well written ideas
Disadvantages: No movie, and the sad news of Douglas Adams’s death

...I wouldn’t say Douglas Adams was a hero of mine but he is someone I admired a great deal. I love the way he wrote and the ideas he came up with, it wasn’t until his death a year ago that it really came home to me of how much a part he played in my life, he will be very missed. I have written a couple of opinions about Douglas Adams’s lately, and have done several, most of the following I wrote but left out due to the length of those ops. So seeing as a new revised edition of what is essentially a biography of Douglas Adams has just come out and been read by this fan I thought I’d include it here. ~~Don’t Panic - Douglas Adams & The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy~~ Written by Neil Gaiman and originally came out as ‘Don’t Panic: The Official Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Companion’, in 1987. It was revised by David K...

seagulls-lost-horizon 14.08.2002 · Read review
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Review of Don't Panic - Douglas Adams & The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy - Neil Gaiman

Whip it Real Hard... Rick Ross - Port of Miami

Advantages: Thumpingly Seductive and Addicting Songs with Phenomenal Production
Disadvantages: Rick Ross may be the worst lyricist on Earth; lots of crap

...I can't lie: Rick Ross has got some bangers. Yes people, I know he's possibly worst lyricist in existence. I know he's a fat, obese, fried-chicken-eatin motherfucker. I know he's cocky. I know he fakes the funk about sellin' drugs. I know, I know, I know. I can't deny it though. A lot of the songs on Port of Miami are simply dopalicious (lame). Yeah, like a lot of albums of this caliber, we're loaded with several pieces of utter donkey nut, but unlike a lot of these albums, we're treated to some legit bangers. Take "Push It". While the song-title might make one initially think it was about Ross' mother painfully pushing his disgusting, bearded baby out of her snatch, nope. It's about pushing drugs and hustling. Surprise Surprise. A rapper talking about hustling? No Way! But I digress, "Push It" is sick. Rick samples "Push it to...

bigdiship-hop 12.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Port Of Miami (Parental Advisory) [PA] - Rick Ross