The Crow Road by Ian Banks

Set at the beginning of the 1990's in Scotland, 'The Crow Road' centers around Prentice McHoan and all the different dynamics within his family, past and present. Prentice is a history student, bright but unsure of many things, an aspect that many young people of his age can relate to. He is estranged from his father over issues of theism, both fond and jealous of his elder and successful brother Lewis, suffering from unrequited love and constantly wondering about the mystery of his Uncle's sudden disappearance eight years ago. There are other supporting characters, such as Ashley, one of his old school chums. The banter between them is both amusing and revealing. To be honest, at first I didn't really 'get' what 'The Crow Road' was all about, I wasn't sure what Ian Banks was trying to say but I definitely grew to enjoy the book after a few chapters, depsite the non-linear plot which I occassionally found confusing. Banks is certainly a talented writer, bringing the settings and characters to life with vivid and skillful prose. His humanist and secular views are conveyed in various guises, but he does not ram them down the reader's throat like Philip Pullman did with 'His Dark Materials'. Not a classic but although I didn't 'get' it 'The Crow Road' still proved to be an enjoyable and worthy read. 7.5/10  (Contains strong language and sex)

Prometheus

Prometheus had big shoes to fill, but with Ridley Scott in the director’s chair critics myself and audiences alike have been salivating at the thought of an Alien’s prequel. With the exception of ‘The Artist’ and ‘The Grey’, the films I have seen so far in 2012 have been watchable but nothing to write home about. Perhaps for this reason I was pinning all my cinematic hopes on Prometheus to be the shining light in the drab and uninspiring season. The trailer looked great and I deliberately avoided reading any reviews on its release, just to keep the sense of excitement alive.  But alas, Prometheus joins the ranks of this year’s watchable films. The idea is good, a crew of 17 (plenty of expendable victims!) travel through space in search of the origins of the human race but only to be met with a few nasty surprises. However from the very start of the film there is something lacking in the film that was prevalent in ‘Alien’, ‘Aliens’ and to a some extent ‘Alien 3’. An edge, atmosphere, horror and suspense, call it what you will, it just isn’t there. Noomi Rapace plays the lead character Elizabeth Shaw competently enough, although her English accent is a bit dodgy at times. Guy Pearce is good as Weyland, the man who is funding the whole mission, and captures his desire for immortality and big answers. It is Michael Fassbender who really stands out in his role as David, the android, and Fassbender can add another notch to his growing list of critically acclaimed performances. The visual aspect of Prometheus is an effective blend of good CGI and hand crafted sets but in saying that maybe some of the magic of Alien was the lack of CGI. The plot has a few holes in it and at the conclusion of the film the audience ends up with more questions than answers. As a film standing alone it is certainly watchable, but compared to the first three Alien films it falls far short. The trailer is better than the actual film, which is never a good sign! 6/10     

BBC's coverage of Euro 2012 - self absorbed?

Below is an email of complaint I sent to the BBC regarding their coverage of the Euro 2012 Championship so far.

Dear sir/madam,

I am writing to complain about the BBC's coverage of the Euro 2012 football championship. I feel that too much time is being spent talking about England. When watching a non-England game, Germany v Portugal for example, during the half time anaylsis the pundits will spend more time talking about England's squad than the actual game that they are supposed to be covering. This has happened in every game I have watched on the BBC. I find this biased and self-absorbed coverage very annoying and unprofessional. Please remember that Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are part of the UK and BBC and would probably prefer the pundits to talk about the game being played rather than England's chances in the tournament. Would the BBC give Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales the same amount of attention if they were in the tournament? I am not anti-English, I just object to this type of broadcasting.

Yours sincerely,

Michael James Gilfedder

Do nice guys always finish last?

It seems to be a hard and fast rule that nice guys finish last. This is considered especially true in the context of love and work. But this common perception might be a fallacy, or at least not the full picture. It's true that in the workplace men and women bully their way to the top, doing things to achieve success that other people, more decent human beings, would not do. Office politics can be a minefield and often the victim will be the nice guy. They might not get the promotion or the credit that is their due, but at least they will have the respect of good colleagues and a clean conscience at the end of the day. Moreover, even in these difficult work environments nice guys can achieve success if they work at areas that might not be their main strengths, like confidence, assertiveness and discernment. Like Jesus once said: "I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as snakes but as innocent as doves." I think with this mindset nice guys can succeed in the workplace without compromising their principles and nice personality. In terms of love, I think the nice guy just has to be patient and keep things in perspective. How many times have I watched the Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer Show and seen three highly unattractive women fighting over a guy who is often a cheat or a wife beater? To be honest, I would rather remain single than be partnered up with these gorillas. It is indeed frustrating when the nice guy seems to get overlooked all the time but, like my dad once said, nice guys attract the nice girls and I think there is a lot of logic and truth in that. It's worth the wait, so keep being nice and in the end you'll get your nice girl. At the very least you won't end up with a gorilla for a wife!