This may go down as one of the most over-hyped computer games in history. Don't get me wrong, the game is pretty good, but it has been touted for so long, and delayed so many times; various reviewers over the last few years have carried on about its remarkable flexibility and wonderful graphics and game engine. In the end, it's good, but doesn't quite live up to the hype.

The game is intended to be a political simulator. You play an insurgent or visionary in an Eastern European country, part of the former USSR. The aim is to overthrow the President and become president yourself. You do this by recruiting helpers with various skills and abilities, and putting them to use in turning the population of various cities to support you. Amongst other things, you can leaflet a district, arrange for the bashing of a rival to weaken their resolve, vandalise an opposing factions' district to weaken their support, and hold public rallies to build up popular support. In this way, it is quite flexible.

However, this is essentially a turn-based game; the ever-running clock merely limits the time you have to decide on your actions in each turn. Also, the manual and 'tutorial' in the game are not well written and therefore not very helpful. As such, you'll find yourself learning as you play and it will probably take some time before you find all the commands and options you have access to.

Perhaps my biggest gripe is that the ideology model is quite one dimensional, with anti capitalism/pro-union on the left, freedom/democracy in the centre, and capitalism/free-market on the right. Then again, while real world politics has many more dimensions, this is probably a relatively accurate portrayal of major parties in many countries.

Overall, if you are interested in politics and want to try a very different sort of game from your average first person shooter or RTS, I'd heartily recommend it, but don't be fooled by all the hype from the last few years.

There is some irony that a record of 'beat' music should pay such homage and debt to the Beat generation.

This is actually the original UK version of the Clear album, which seems to have recently been re-released for America as a remixed album, even though it is the American version that contains remixed tracks.

Bug Powder Dust sets an import starting point for this album, beginning with the quote "And now it's time to disucss your philosophy of drug use as it pertains to artisitic endeavour". This is sampled from the movie "Naked Lunch", which is based on the novel of the same name by William S Burroughs - a seminal and defining work of the Beat generation. The Beat novelists/poets experimented with and documented their addiction to drugs, as a way of pushing societal boundaries, similar to some elements of the modern electronic music scene.

This album follows the same path - tracing paths of drug addiction, particularly in tracks such as Braindead and 5ml Barrel, and songs such as Bug Powder Dust are written inthe style of the Beat writings. Lyrically, this is an excursion on addiction and its effects.

Musically, this is a great electronic album and an absolute classic. I bought it solely for Bug Powder Dust, but was surprised at what a good and cohesive album it is. This is not my favourite genre of msuic, but this is a classic.

Buy this one, and not the American version of 'Clear'.

This is a great collection of Tom Stoppard plays, and includes some of his best works.

Arcadia is one of Stoppard's greatest plays - a bizarre combination of physics, mathematics, poetry, a good old-fashioned academic stoush and romance (or lust) to boot. A fantastic play to see, but very good to read also.

The Real Thing, Hapgood and Indian Ink are also among Stoppard's more mature and better plays, and nicely round out this collection. These are some of Stoppard's better known plays (and you can read reviews of them on their own pages) but I'll just summarise by saying that I think they are fantastic.

Night and Day is an earlier Stoppard play and maybe not quite as good - it is concerned with journalism in war-torn Africa and does take a deep look at issues faced by a journalist in that situation. However, in comparison to the other plays in this volume, it just doesn't seem quite as good - however it is still a fine play in its own right and does make for interesting reading nonetheless.

Overall, I definitely reccomend this volume, particularly since it's cheaper than buying each of the plays individually.

Personally, I don't like the 'Star 69' song at all, but that said I thought that some of these mixes were better than the original version.
However, the beauty of this CD is not in the Star 69 remixes, but in the video of 'Weapon of Choice', starring Christopher Walken and directed by Spike Jonze. This video has received a huge amount of airplay and acclaim, so it was great to have my own copy to play at my own convenience, even if I am limited to playing it on my computer. I love the funky dancing and Walken just has the perfect demeanour, facial expression and great moves for this clip.
So - if you're going to buy this CD just for the music, I would give it just one star, but the official 5 star rating I gave it reflects just how much I think of this video.

The New Bible Dictionary is more like an encyclopaedia than simply a dictionary. The scholarship is first-rate and the book is an almost essential resource for those who are conducting more in-depth study of the Bible.

It contains a number of articles from a range of good Christian scholars on pretty much every person, place, book and other thing in the Bible. For example, when discussing a book of the Bible, the article would contain information about the author, the date of writing, some of the scholarly issues concerning that book and would give a broad overview of the purpose and theology of the book.

This book is an invaluable resource for both lay person and Ministers, and would be useful to anyone who is involved in writing Bible studies or talks on the Bible, or who is undertaking formal study of the Bible or who is simply serious about examining more closely what the Bible really says.

If you fit one of these categories, you should definitely buy this book.

This book is *the* reference guide for the man pursuing that elusive, important goal that separates a real man out from the philistines around him: the quest for the perfect, stylish wardrobe.

This book was given to me as a 21st birthday present, which was shortly before I finished university, and I have found it to be an invaluable resource in building a good wardrobe and in discovering a good sense of style as I've set out to forge my own way in the 'real' world.

The book presents a very detailed examination of classic men's fashions in various aspects of life and their corresponding wardrobes: work, leisure, sport, winter, summer, accessories, ties, cufflinks - and so on. This book gives you an insight into what defines the classic fashion in each of these areas and gives some tips and general rules about how you should construct your wardrobe in each of them.

The book is also very 'cool' - it is very well presented with lots of great photos and illustrations. The variety of classic quotes from books, films, etc that are used to illustrate various points work really well and help to maintain your interest and the sense of coolness about the book as well.

It should be noted that this book is not an exhaustive guide to what is fashionable, and is almost quite the opposite. Rather than focusing on clothes or wardrobes that are fashionable, this book presents only those things that are never likely to go out of fashion (like the classic two or three button, black or dark blue suit, or a well-made trenchcoat). So, don't buy this if you're looking for an analysis of the latest in men's fashions, but do buy it of you are into timeless classics and don't plan ever to go out of style.

This would also make a good companion piece to other books on "how to be a man", and in fact it does address this question in part as well.

The first time I saw the film "Trois Couleurs: Bleu", the music simply blew me away. I have seen other films, notably "Mr Holland's Opus", which aimed to feature a simply amazing piece by a great composer - however "Bleu" is the only film I have seen where the music lived up to the reputation of the character in the film.

The highlight of this CD is the "Song for the Unification of Europe", which is the feature piece of the film. This song is fantastic - a very passionate and beautiful piece, and the way it sets the text of 1 Corinthians 13 to the beautiful msuic is a highlight of the film and of this soundtrack. The CD is worth buying simply for this song.

That said, the rest of the soundtrack is also fantastic - the music is quite simply beautiful, and if you enjoyed the film or if you simply like deeply emotional music, this CD is worth buying.

The only detraction I noted is that all of the pieces are quite short - the "Song for the Unification of Europe" being the longest at a bit over 5 minutes. While this is not a problem in itself, and it does present the music as it appears in the film, I find it a little annoying at times and would have liked it if longer versions of some of the pieces were performed for the soundtrack.

This is quite simply one of the best Christian books I have ever read, short of the Bible itself, and is one of the books I find that I keep coming back to time and time again, for new insight and for its continuing challenge and reminder to think about the way I pray.

In this book, Carson systematically works through all of Paul's prayers in the New Testament. For each one, he presents a careful exegesis - working carefully through the passage and explaining its meaning. He then goes on to show Paul's priorities in his prayer - which are inevitably caught up with Paul's focus on trusting God intimately and on his other-person centredness. Finally, for each prayer, Carson presents some background theology on surrounding issues and shows how this relates to our lives today.

In addition, Carson is extremely practical in the way he provides practical advice and pointers for the way we should be praying. He gives useful advice on what and how we should be praying, based on the passages he works through, but also on how to manage a daily prayer time.

If you are a Christian, you should definitely read this book, particularly if you are keen to think more about the way you should be praying or if you are looking for pointers on how to pray in a Biblical way. If you are not a Christian, this book will still give you a useful insight into what Christians are doing when they pray and why they do it. And you never know - you might even find it challenging and realise that there is something in this Christianity 'thing' after all...

This double CD is part of a re-release of classic recordings on the Deutsche Gramophon label, and it certainly shows the heights to which classical recordings can aspire. I bought this CD purely because I wanted to listen to Mozart's Requiem, and this was one of the first recordings I came across when I went looking for it. Personally, I never particularly enjoyed Mozart until I heard the Requiem on this CD, so this review will focus on that particular recording.

The first CD contains Symphonies 39, 40 and 41, which are beautiful recordings in and of themselves. While they are certainly pleasurable to listen to, and among Mozart's better works, they do not compare to the passion and beauty of the Requiem.

The Requiem was Mozart's last work - it was unfinished at the time of his death, but was later finished by one of his students, giving us the version that we hear today. One of Mozart's biographers quoted him as saying, just before his death, "Did I not say that I was writing this Requiem for myself?" Whether this was the case or not is lost in history, but the sombreness and passion of this Requiem must have been influenced by Mozart's sense of his own impending mortality.

This recording is fantastic, in that it captures the flavour and essence of the Requiem - it is passionate, without being grandiose and the emotions that it conjures up can seem almost overwhelming. Karajan always conjures up a fantastic performance from the orchestras he conducts, and this recording is no exception. I have since heard other recordings of the Requiem that are more subdued - I could not help but think that they couldn't conjure up the same emotional reaction, and therefore didn't compare to this recording.

If you like passionate, beautiful, heart-felt and emotional music, or if you want music that can conjure these emotions in you, I recommend that you purchase this CD post-haste.

This is one of *the* classic books of Japanese folk-lore.

Ten Foot Square Hut is a short(ish) philosophical piece. Personally, I found it harder to read, but I can see the value in it, and admit that it is probably my understanding that is limited rather than the piece itself.

The Tales of the Heike, on the other hand, I have to rave about. Also known as the Heike Monogatori, this epic poem is basically just an account of the great war between the Heike and Genji clans occurring in approximately the 12th Century. These two opposing clans were locked in a major war for the control of Japan, which would culminate in the destruction of one of the clans and the national dominance of the other. However, this is an account written in the Homerian style, with lyric, flowing poetry which works to heighten the whole experience.

Tales of the Heike is one of the first military tales of Japan, which is not particualrly surprising, as the war between the Heike and Genji was formative in Japan's history: it was a time when the Samurai code, Bushido, was still developing and when the Samurai tradition was still in its infancy.

This is a great book and well worth reading, both in its own right, and also for the background it provides for other works on Japanese history and for understanding the evolution of Japanese culture in feudal times.

For an interesting tale in a different medium that draws upon Tales of the Heike, check out the comic Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai, and the 'Grasscutter' storyline in particular.