Melissa Ruiz

The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn

payal — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:00:00 +0000

While the dramatic story of Anne Boleyn is familiar to many, very few actual facts are present in the typical retelling. In The Lady in the Tower, historian Alison Weir takes a day by day look at the life of Anne Boleyn and the social and political culture which influenced her fate.

In her time, Anne Boleyn was one of the most recognized women in the world. Anne was the first woman to be made Queen solely for love, rather than for political alliance or financial gain, and for this alone; she was the subject of much scandal. King Henry VIII had abandoned both social convention and the political protocol of the monarchy, defied the Pope and declared himself the head of the English Church, all in order to set aside his aging wife, Katherine of Aragon, and marry Anne, Katherine’s maid of honor.

Katherine had failed to produce an heir, and that task now fell to Anne. Anne’s position depended solely on the King’s love for her, which dwindled as one pregnancy after another failed to provide the King with the son he required. He needed a legitimate heir, and this required that he have a wife capable of bearing sons. As Katherine before her, Anne’s downfall began when the King’s eye began roving for a more suitable candidate.

Henry VIII had waited six years to marry Anne, yet after only three years of marriage, Anne was arrested on charges of adultery, incest, and treason and sentenced to death. The Lady in the Tower details the last four months of Anne’s life, from her conviction until her death on May 19, 1536, and the changes wrought on the political climate by her execution.

While exceptionally well researched, the record is exhaustive, and the scholarly tone offers little in the way of entertainment. Based largely on excerpts of letters and formal court correspondence, this book reads more like a very long and well annotated thesis paper than anything meant for widespread publication. The bibliography alone shows the results of what was likely years of document collection and cataloguing. This book is clearly not intended for the casual reader, as following the narrative requires general knowledge of the events and persons involved. I have a great interest in the Tudor era, and this book was still often poisonously dull.

The Lady in the Tower would be an extremely helpful resource if you were writing about the subject, but for the general reader, I cannot see that there would be any appeal.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, March 3rd 2011

Girl Crush: Women's Erotic Fantasies

tina — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:00:00 +0000

Edited by R. Gay

Cleis Press

Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting to like Girl Crush. I wasn’t expecting well written girl-on-girl erotica. I wasn’t expecting to have my breath taken away.

My first crush was Elizabeth; she was my assigned seventh grade science lab partner. She was so beautiful that I was embarrassed to sit by her. I spent the whole semester in awe, watching her when she wasn’t looking, trying to talk to her, longing to touch her. I was smitten. I dreamed about being her friend, holding her hand, going to sleepovers together, and kissing her. I wanted to be just like her: beautiful, mysterious, alluring, and anything else she wanted me to be. She was the one constant in my sexual awakening; the girl I always had a crush on and the more I learned about what I wanted, the more I wanted her.

I never expected to see those feelings in print, but the stories in Girl Crush capture that extraordinary mix of longing and awe that comprise a crush on a girl. These writers know exactly what it is to be consumed by desire, to be overtaken by lust and envy. The characters experience the held breath, the tentative gesture, the sidelong glances, the profound hope that somehow, you will get to see this girl naked. These stories do not disappoint; the girls do get naked. The sex is wonderfully explicit and the details show that this is not just about sex, it’s about wish fulfillment. The hottest dreams made real, getting to do what you’d only imagined.

If you’ve ever had a girl crush, these stories will grab you and not let you go until you’ve turned the last page. Whether you’ve wanted a friend, a colleague, or a customer, this collection has a story for everyone. It’s a sexy reader for those still lusting from afar and a wash of memory for those lucky enough to have had their dreams come to fruition. If you’re like me, you’ll close the book just long enough to reopen it at the beginning.

As for Elizabeth, no, I never got to kiss her. We keep in touch and twenty-five years later, I’m still hoping to see her naked.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, December 28th 2010

The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East: 150 Asian-Inspired Recipes—from Soba Noodles to Summer Rolls

tina — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Mark Reinfeld, Jennifer Murray

Da Capo Press

The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of the East is a compilation of recipes from India, Thailand, China, and Japan. There’s an additional section on Asian Fusion, featuring recipes from Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Tibet, and Nepal, as well as little known recipes from Iran and Afghanistan. Basically, this cookbook allows you to make vegan versions of your favorite Asian dishes in less time than it would take a delivery person to arrive.

Trying to obtain a vegan version of a menu item is difficult in most restaurants, especially if you frequented the restaurant in your pre-vegan life. I’ve had a restaurant owner swear that a particular dish could be made meatless, but once the food arrived it was clear that I received the standard dish. As a result, I began looking around for a cookbook that would have vegan versions of what I wanted to order in a restaurant. A lot of the cookbooks I found had the recipes, but both ingredient lists and cooking times were too long to be practical on a daily basis.

This cookbook solves both problems; it provides recipes you want in versions that can be made in thirty minutes or less and the ingredient lists provide item descriptions and any alternate names the items may go by. The book provides substitutions for those who do not have access to fresh ingredients, and a list of resources for those who prefer to shop for ingredients online.

The book is divided into sections by country and recipes are listed in menu order (soup through dessert), making it simple to pick and choose your meal plan. Recipes also include serving suggestions in the form of complementary dishes. All directions are easy to follow and recipe variations are provided to show how each dish can be prepared differently or with different ingredients. Recipes that take longer than thirty minutes are marked with a clock at the top of the page. Pages marked with a heart at the top are recipes for raw food items or items with raw variations.

Sidebars, Chef’s Tips and Tricks, and The Asian Pantry provide preparation tips and shortcuts, along with information on ingredients specific to the recipe’s country of origin. Appendixes include an informative preparation tutorial, a glossary, and a thorough listing of vegan resources for online shopping, education, and related topics of eastern spirituality and culture.

If you gave up a dish when you became vegan and never thought you’d see it again, have a look at this book; you’re likely to find it here. If you don’t see it immediately, read a few recipes in the area and you might find it under a different name. I found my long lost Tom Yum Gai under the name Galangal Lemongrass Soup. Once you find your lost beloved, try a new recipe to go with it. You’ll be glad you did!

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, December 18th 2010

Fast Girls: Erotica for Women

tina — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Cleis Press

Fast. The word itself is a contradiction. By definition, fast can mean unrestrained and held tight; reckless and secure; promiscuous and faithful. A fast girl can be one way and then another or often both at once. A fast girl can be wild, even when caught in the firmest of knots.

In Fast Girls, fast means quick thinking and quicker action. Fast girls see what they want and take it, cleverly making the most of circumstances around them. Fast girls crave attention, thrive in the spotlight, and live in the moment. A fast girl goes all the way, every time, and loves it. A fast girl makes her own choices and loves to defy expectation. Taking her pleasure as she chooses, a fast girl follows no rules of conduct.

The women here are connected by their willingness to experience life as it comes, taking chances and being handsomely rewarded for their bravado. These stories cut directly to the action, focusing on the sex rather than on preliminaries. From quiet arousal to public masturbation, sex in a communal shower to exploration of marital roles, this collection has something for everyone. Many stories explore the darker side of erotica, as women find their pleasure in pain, submission, and public displays of need and desire.

Orgasm is a given in each of these stories; each woman knows what she needs to reach it and she will not be denied. Explicitly detailed, you are privy to each woman’s thoughts, her reactions to every touch, lick, slap. With a lover, stranger, or customer, the woman’s body is the focus and her pleasure the priority.

Fast Girls is a celebration of sexual liberation, where women single-mindedly follow their desires. They have girl on girl sex, sex with boys and sex in groups. They have sex where, when, and with whom they want, without offering any apology. If you are looking for explicit, edgy erotica, dive in anywhere. These girls like it fast.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, December 15th 2010

Black Diamond Beaver

mandy — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:00:00 +0000

By AdultSexToys.com

I chose the Black Diamond Beaver vibe because it was one of the larger shaft sizes available, and the picture made me squeal out loud. It’s definitely the sexiest beaver vibe I’ve ever seen.

Black Diamond Beaver didn’t disappoint once the box was opened. It has a sleek, shiny, black body and a see-through shaft that houses three rows of spinning silver beads. A silver beaver and diamond-like crystals all around the base complete the aesthetic package, and running through its settings while just holding it in my hand was exciting in itself.

Packed with several handy features, this vibe is multi-speed, with separate controls for vibration strength and rotation speed. A center control reverses direction of rotation, and this clever selection allows for some interesting maneuvers. All of the controls are set into the base and light up to show their present setting.

The shaft and head of the vibe are anatomically representative, with a beaver vibrator/stimulator attached along the top length. The beaver’s tongue oscillates with the speed of vibration selected. The motor sound is really only noticeable on the highest settings, and it was not loud enough to be a distraction.

Black Diamond Beaver is waterproof for shower or pool use, and is also phthalate free. I did have to let it air out for a day or two to dissipate the strong plastic smell, but washing it a few times sped up the process.

A few design flaws came up swiftly during my solo trial run. The control pad is flush to the base, and the buttons are not raised, so you can’t tell which one you are pressing until the action occurs. This is a distinct problem when the buttons are now upside down, facing away from you, your hands are covered in lube, and the button you just pressed was exactly the opposite of the one you were aiming for.

Also, although the head and shaft are a nice size, and the head has a good solid feel, the center see-through section is only a thin layer of covering over the bead spinner, so even a small amount of pressure stops the rotation completely. This causes the motor to whine and you have to abruptly stop whatever it was you were attempting. No squeezing allowed, my friends.

The portion of the shaft between the beaver and the head is very short, it is almost impossible to have any recognition of the inserted head before being impaled by the beaver. I understand you buy this kind of vibe because you want the beaver, but in this case it presents two problems. First, there is very little clearance between the shaft and the beaver, so if you are at all thickly made, it is hard to get the beaver’s tongue to reach its target, and it just ends up poking you. The second is that the tongue is surprisingly hard, and when going at high vibration it actually feels quite sharp.

I could have gotten around the beaver issue by just flipping it onto the bottom side, but the head and shaft above was a miserable tease. The shaft head was lovely; it had a nice texture that picked up body heat and worked well with lube, but once just past the head, you slide immediately onto the collapsing center section, at which point the motor freeze bursts whatever fantasy bubble you were busily constructing.

This is a clear case of beauty over function. If you are looking for something visually exciting, and you have a partner who likes strong clitoral sensation without much insertion, this would be a great choice. During partner play, you would be able to choose the desired settings and have control over the action sequences. But if, like me, you’re looking for full insertion capability coupled with the additional features, this beaver is likely not the right animal for you.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, September 15th 2010

The Truth About Delilah Blue

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Tish Cohen

Harper Perennial

After first reading The Truth About Delilah Blue's jacket blurb, it struck me as a beach book. It turned out I was only slightly incorrect; it's an airplane book, most satisfying when you really have nothing else to do and nowhere else to go.

Delilah, also known as Lila, is working as a nude model in an attempt to absorb the art education she cannot afford. Her father, a successful salesman who has long been the center of her world, now seems to be having trouble navigating the world on his own. It is at this point that Lila's long-lost mother reenters the scene, bringing a little sister and a family secret, both of which cause Lila to reexamine her viewpoint and direction in life.

The story’s center is a question: how do you solve a mystery that explains your entire life when one parent is too self-absorbed to recognize her part in the story, and the other parent is losing the part of his mind that remembers? Is it more important to go back or to go forward?

The Truth About Delilah Blue is well written, with an almost soothing narrative voice and descriptive prose that allows one to forgive the formulaic plot. Recipe for a summer’s read: Mix one plucky heroine with a family crisis, add a plot twist that no one will expect, sprinkle in a few quirky extras, and let combine for a hundred pages or so, more or less according to taste. Our heroine conquers her issues, shows them all, and lands the hot boyfriend just as she should, and voila, everybody’s fine. The story would have been sufficiently likable if it hadn’t tried to be more than it is, but unfortunately that’s not the case here. This book appears to be convinced it is a novel, not just a shortcut to a screenplay, but we have too many loose story threads, too many characters that enter with detail but drift off without explanation. Many concepts are touched on but none are done justice, from the pain of abandoned children to the sadness of a parent with Alzheimer’s and the anger at a parent that just won’t grow up. Any of these could have made for a successful story, several or all of them together if handled correctly and with enough detail. Unfortunately, Cohen sprinkles in only a little of each, and just ends up with soup.

The book is slow to start, and is most interesting in the middle third. The ending really isn’t one; only the father’s character sees resolution, while the others are left adrift in a sea of what ifs. Lila makes plans to be the one to gather up and hold together the loose ends of her family, and you expect to see how she manages the feat. Instead, the story just stops.

The Truth About Delilah Blue is enjoyable if you enter with little in the way of expectation. It’s just the thing to pick up before your next flight.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 16th 2010

Things Seen

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

By Annie Ernaux, Jonathan Kaplansky

Bison Books

From the baby carriage to the grave, life unfolds more and more between the shopping center and the television set. – Annie Ernaux

Born in 1940, and a published author since 1974, Annie Ernaux is known for writing in depth about her own life: her parents, her marriage, her abortion, and later, her breast cancer. In Things Seen, Ernaux turns her gaze outward, both to Paris and the world.

Written as a journal, the book feels as though it traveled in a coat pocket, pulled out to pass the time in train stations and grocery stores, riding on the Metro and eavesdropping in cafes. The writer states the journal is a result of the “simple habit of putting life into words.”

Events are recorded through the initial reaction felt by the writer. Refreshingly absent is the expected self-examination and excuses made for the content of the reaction. We hear the writer’s thoughts as she thinks them, without editing. There is no need to place additional weight on any one topic, as one would in conversation; the narrative flows over war, racism, and homelessness as swiftly as it does hair appointments, grocery shopping, and visits to the dentist. This does not render the writer shallow or uninterested; it reminds the reader of all the passing commentary we also make to ourselves in our day-to-day lives. The commentary doesn’t need to make sense to anyone else. In fact, upon reflection it might not make sense at all.

The idea I found most resonant in the book is that while one may feel they are the only true individual in a crowd, to each other person, one is just part of the nameless crowd. The writer’s viewpoint is that of a passive audience, watching other people's lives unfold in front of her with little more emotion than one would actors on a stage. A memorable example is that of the many different beggars encountered on the Metro; the writer finds it easier to give change to someone playing music than to someone who might actually be starving. It is easier to give the same coin for pleasantry than to accept the concept that someone might literally die without that help.

The writer is distanced from actual events, and this makes the book speed along, as we do not stop to analyze the thoughts themselves; we simply follow the words at the pace of life, just as the writer recorded them.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 15th 2010

Heartfelt Advice

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:01:00 +0000

By Lama Dudjom Dorjee

Snow Lion Publications

Heartfelt Advice is a record of ninety-five conversations between the Lama Dudjom Dorjee and his student Aaron Price. In each section, a small portion of a Tibetan text was read to Mr. Price, who then recorded both the translation and the explanation. The result is not the typical recitation of concepts one finds in most introductory writings on Buddhism. Instead, the concepts are explained via the personal experiences of Lama Dudjom Dorjee, and have a more intimate tone than only the translations would provide.

I am a sucker for books on Buddhism. I have a full shelf of books on the subject, and I find myself in the section nearly every time I visit the bookstore. I am enticed by the serene faces of the smiling monks on the covers, and the words of the sutras seem calming even if I sometimes don't understand them.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ve gotten past the second chapter of any of the books I’ve purchased. Usually by that point, I find myself overwhelmed, depressed, and feeling more than a little guilty. The initial chapters are always confusing, full of indecipherable imagery and vocabulary. Very early on, it begins to appear that the path to peace and enlightenment requires superhuman devotion; you must utter no bad words, think no bad thoughts, and perform no bad actions. You must accept that nothing is permanent and give up all attachment; to your life, loved ones, ideals, even the very idea of yourself as an individual. This is where I get depressed, feeling that I am just not up to the task of being that devoted. I begin to feel guilty when I contemplate that millions of people worldwide practice this religion and live by its teachings, and I can’t even manage to stop swearing.

This book is somewhat easier to handle. The conversational feeling of the sections allows you to absorb the concept at hand without having to fight so hard to understand it. That is not to say that this book sugarcoats any of the concepts; there is plenty of what Westerners term “hellfire and damnation," especially in the sections on the wheel of karma. The puzzling vocabulary is still present, but this book has the extremely helpful addition of a glossary. The book's format is also helpful, as it doesn’t require you to read the chapters in order: each section deals with a different topic, so flipping through the book is allowed, and may actually even be encouraged.

If you are anything like me, and approach Buddhism with as much attraction as apprehension, this book might just be the stepping stone for you. It shows that yes, studying Buddhism is a lifetime commitment, but it makes it seem a little less daunting than usual.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 14th 2010

The Tricking of Freya

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

By Christina Sunley

Picador

The Tricking of Freya is a multi-generational family story narrated by a girl named Freya Morris, following her life from early childhood through middle age. Freya grows up in suburban Connecticut, but her heart lives in a small village called Gimli, the Canadian settlement of her Icelandic ancestors. In Gimli, her family is revered as the descendants of two of Iceland’s best-loved poets. Freya learns early that Icelanders love words so much that many immigrants carried heavy books in their suitcases as their only belongings. She grows to love words as well, hoping to become a writer in the tradition of her family.

As an adult, Freya lives in New York and is composing a series of letters to the as yet unknown cousin she is desperately seeking. The story of her life is recalled through the events of the family past to present, much as one would update an out of town relative on all the gossip from back home. We see a tragedy that will shape the future of the entire family, as well as lead to Freya’s uncovering a long buried secret that she must try to solve by retracing her steps through the past. The story moves from the history of the immigrant settlers of Gimli to that of the descendants of those who stayed in Iceland, and is rich with the folklore, dialect, and culture of the country.

The story carries you along with Freya through her adventures, with beautiful descriptions of Iceland and its inhabitants, as well as poignant descriptions of family members lost and sought. The “tricking” referred to in the title is a mystery at the core of the story, which the reader solves along with Freya, coming each to their own conclusions about what may be real, what may be believed, and which of those is closer to the truth.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 13th 2010

Try To See It My Way: Being Fair in Love and Marriage

admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:42:00 +0000

By B. Janet Hibbs, Karen J. Getzen

Avery Books

“That’s not fair!” A common refrain in any relationship, heard from child to parent, between spouses, and, eventually, from parent to child. The question inherent in resolving these conflicts is: who is fair? We all like to think of ourselves as reasonable, kind, just people; and most of all, we like to think of ourselves as right. However, when both people in an argument believe that they are the rational one, how do we come to a resolution?

Try to See it My Way introduces a new way of determining what’s fair, by a consensus between you and your partner. The book begins with an overview of relationship ethics, showing how your upbringing taught you what was fair in your family, and thus, why your partner’s upbringing will have taught him or her a different set of rules. Often these expectations and behaviors are learned by example rather than actually being verbalized, and may be handed down through many generations without anyone questioning whether they are appropriate.

Hibbs provides many stories of couples in therapy, but also includes self-reflection exercises in each section to aid you in identifying your behavior in the examples given. We all make decisions about whether we are being fair, and whether others are fair to us, without really considering outside information, and often without even verbalizing that we have made the decision.

Hibbs suggests that you identify what rules you and your partner are operating under currently, and how to form new rules together which can apply within your relationship. Once you have made a new bond of fairness with your partner, you can then learn how to extend your new viewpoint to the rest of your life. The changes you make with your partner will affect how you relate to your parents, your children and your friends.

Issues of trust, loyalty, and expectations of what a relationship should or should not provide are explored in detail, and suggestions are provided as to how to make changes for the better in your own life. If the phrases “you should”, “you never” or “you always” are heard frequently in your household spats, this book could prove to be a life saver.

While this book would not replace a marital therapist, completing the exercises provides a good look into the issues you both bring to your relationship, and is helpful as you both find new ways of coming to agreements. I found the author extremely insightful, and the exercises very revealing. This book is an easy read, is not overly academic, and does not use a judgmental tone. It serves as a safe space to access your memories, as a guide to let you make your own discoveries, and a place to create a new model of fairness that really feels fair to everyone concerned. Highly recommended!

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, June 9th 2009

To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed

admin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:46:00 +0000

By Alix Kates Shulman

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Two a.m. When you are young, this is the time that bars close, new love springs unbidden in doorways, and entire dramas are played out in the time it takes a traffic light to change. When you are older, with marriage and children under your belt, it is the hour at which a ringing phone wakes you in terror, not annoyance; when a voice in the darkness signals illness, not invitation; when awakening in a strangely empty bed, one will know that something has gone awfully wrong with the person whose warmth still lingers in the covers. It is that hour which opens To Love What Is.

At 2 a.m. Alix awakens and realizes her husband is no longer in bed with her. Instead, he is on the floor some nine feet below their loft bed, utterly still and grievously injured. While this would be sufficient trauma to begin any proper memoir, we are then informed that Alix’s husband is seventy-five years old, and no ambulance is cutting a wailing path to his aid. Their seaside cabin was chosen for the very qualities which now jeopardize her husband’s life: no running water, no electricity, no neighbors for miles, and a road that is cut off by the tide. Alix’s husband Scott survives, but is irrevocably changed by the traumatic brain injury he sustains in the fall.

The story evolves as we see Scott’s physical injuries resolve while his mental condition does not improve. Scott recovers enough to leave the institutionalized world of hospital care, but is in no way mentally capable to resume his former life as an artist. The accident changes the course of two lives; as Scott is enveloped in a mental twilight, his wife is left to become his caretaker, his guide, his translator, and his advocate.

The poignant center to this book is a decision. Alix Kates Shulman, an accomplished writer and avowed feminist, was accustomed to her independence. She was used to having time on her own, a place to write, a life separate from that shared with her husband. Indeed, her marriage was founded on the preservation of these ideas. As it becomes clear that her husband’s mind will never fully recover, that he will need her constant care for the balance of his life, Alix’s friends advise her to place him into attended care, to continue her life alone for the sake of her art. Alix’s choice is not made lightly, nor does her decision resolve the issues at hand. She chooses love and honors her vow of commitment to her husband, all the while trying valiantly to hold on to her sense of self. She does not allow the role of caretaker to subsume her; instead, she remakes the role to fit her.

When she cannot make enough time to write alone, she begins to write about the ordeal of caretaking and, in doing so, finds a way to reconnect with her husband. In Scott’s lucid moments, she reads him the passages she has completed, and their shared memories form a dialogue running throughout. We see the couple as college students in the first blush of love, see them separated by circumstance, and see them come together again decades later, marrying only after each has lived a life apart.

It is the choice that faced Shulman that resonates with me. How many of us, when embarking on a committed relationship, have not contemplated those same presumably far away what-ifs? Richer, poorer, sickness, health… questions we hope not to have to answer before death does part us. When pressed, how far would our vows carry us? Alix rises to the challenge, caring for her husband while tending to herself, and maintaining her voice throughout. We see the darkest hours, when Alix fears the husband she knew has been lost forever, and the beautiful hours when he emerges from the shadows of his mind and enlivens the page, showing us the person Alix treasures.

As the book moves backward and forward in time, we fall in love with Scott just as Alix did, and we see in the end that there was never a choice to be made, only a new twist in the path to be navigated. The book closes not with Scott’s demise, as I had feared, but simply with the couple looking into the future (albeit one reshaped as neither could have expected), with their love altered, but not diminished.

I read this book straight through, morbidly convinced that nothing would come out well in the end. I feared along with Alix that the husband she knew was gone forever as surely as he sat breathing before her, and I cheered when she found ways to connect with him again after all. This book was oddly comforting, showing that even if the worst thing imaginable does occur, there can still be joy, laughter, and as Scott terms it, fucky-fucky. I loved this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, married or not.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, September 27th 2008

Ma Fleur

admin — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 21:18:00 +0000

By The Cinematic Orchestra

Domino Records

Imagined by frontman Jason Swinscoe as the soundtrack to a movie which has yet to be made, Ma Fleur does have a grand and sweeping feel to it. It sounds especially pretty on a rainy afternoon, but I found it far too solemn to be tried on a sunny car trip. While this is a band made up of gentlemen, it is the female guest vocals that shine on this album. Seventy-seven year old soul singer Fontella Bass brings light and warmth to two tracks, "Familiar Ground" and "Breathe." My favorite track, "Time and Space," provides a lush background for Lou Rhodes’ heartfelt vocals, which are sweetly reminiscent of Marianne Faithfull. Patrick Watson, on the other hand, bears a vocal resemblance to Coldplay’s Chris Martin, which to me, is the extremely icky aural equivalent of stepping on a bug with bare feet.

In the nature of a soundtrack, this album seems meant as a backdrop for other scenes to unfold upon, which makes it lovely background music for conversation or meditation. Good for shoegazers and Coldplay fans, but also fine for those who prefer the slower songs on Moby’s Play, I have to thank this album for introducing me to Miss Rhodes, whose solo album I will now be procuring.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, July 23rd 2007

Natural Contours' Superbe

admin — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:34:00 +0000

By Boudoir Essentials

Several years ago, when I first read that Candida Royalle was going to start making vibrators, I couldn’t wait to try one out for size. The price, however, kept me from making their acquaintance. With a list price now around $25, that problem has now been remedied, but a new one has taken its place. As with many a first time, I came away wishing it had been just a little bigger.

Five inches long with a curve in the middle, the Superbe couldn’t reach both ends of my girly parts at the same time. This could have been sorted out, if I hadn’t been distracted by that NOISE! The speed switch starts on high, then goes to medium and low. The expected buzzing was not excessive, but was accompanied by a loud rattling, as though the motor were loose inside the hard, plastic casing. I ended up having to do the deed under the covers, which was a visual buzz kill, and still noisy. The rattling also made me a little nervous about when the fire was going to start. This vibe is cute in an anime sort of way, and is definitely non-threatening to both new users and size conscious husbands. If you can get past the rattle, this could be a good choice for those looking for something petite.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, July 22nd 2007

Eight Verses for Training the Mind

admin — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:36:00 +0000

By Geshe Sonam Rinchen, Ruth Sonam

Snow Lion Publications

Billed as a clear explanation of one of Buddhism’s most basic texts, Eight Verses for Training the Mind opens more as if you have walked in on a conversation well in progress. This is a dialogue with those schooled in Buddhist rhetoric, delivered by a speaker who has no interest in bringing you up to speed.

This book explores eight verses to be meditated on from a root text written in the eleventh century. The first sentence contains a footnote, a constant in this lingo heavy writing, which explains that these eight teachings belong to a category unique to “the Great Vehicle.” Flipping to the notes section offers little clarity, as you learn that “the Great Vehicle” consists of “the causal Perfection Vehicle and the resultant Secret Mantra Vehicle.” If you feel like you just stumbled into the wrong seminar, take heart, the note goes on to state that “these practices are suitable for practitioners of the very highest caliber.”

The eight verses themselves occupy the last two pages of the book proper, and are lucid and easy to follow. Resolving to cherish others, do good works and view those who hurt and betray you as your spiritual teachers are easily recognizable themes for even the most casual student of religion. The book dedicates a chapter to each of the eight verses, and seems focused on making each as inexplicable as possible.

While there are familiar points made in each chapter, they are buried under layers of reference and terminology, indecipherable to the common reader. Even with the omnipresent footnotes, many of the concepts referred to remain impenetrable.

Best suited to those already well versed in Tibetan Buddhist terminology and concepts, this book would make an adventurous read for those willing to swim in unfamiliar water. However, if you really want to learn to pilot that Secret Mantra Vehicle, this is the manual for you.

Written by: Melissa Ruiz, May 20th 2007