Rushmoras

Sixth Roxette album Have a Nice Day (1999). IMO, so far, it is their best work. Also, like the changed sound (they added synths).

So, completed today James Clavell's Tai-Pan: Book One. It ended on a weird BDSM-esque-domestic-violence-esque note, which, yeah... Yeah... I mean, it is one way to end your first volume...

Fifth Roxette album Crash, Boom, Bang (1994)

Just listened to the newest Taylor Swift album that dropped (decided to go with the simple, not extended/deluxe version on Spotify). The songs that stood out the most in her album for me was Fortnight, Florida, Guilty as Sin, Whose Afraid of Little Old Me? & Cara Bow. However, most of the album sounds exactly the same. I guess, she has been consistent with this ever since her third album, I guess? Overall, from first listening I'd rate it 6.9 out of 10. So, actually on par with her best albums for me (1989 (Deluxe Edition) [6.9 out of 10 as well for me] & Folklore (Deluxe Version) [7.1 out of 10 this one].

Fourth Roxette album "Tourism" (Extended Version).

Oh, yes, his books are very lengthy. I'd say it takes me up to a month to finish one ~500 pages book for me these days (if there are no interruptions; but since generally there are [interruptions] - it takes even longer. I think I began to read it in January, and now it's almost middle of April lol).

I have been reading James Clavell's Tai-Pan: Book One (1999). It is set somewhere around the period, where the English began their Opium Wars with China, and follows the adventures of Dirk Struan - a smuggler-slash pirate-slash merchant wanting to be on top of everybody else, but running in to some financial trouble, and is forced to seek aid from local pirate and slum lords for funding... That's the general premise of it. Forty or so pages left until the end. I don't know, as I'd rate his previous book "Shogun" an 8 or 9 out of 10, this one I'd rate a 6 or 7 out of 10. More or less the same as "Shogun", but is very drama centred; almost no action whatsoever. P.S. I also have been reading some older DC (1987-2008 currently) and Marvel (1962-1966 currently) comics, but I doubt that this is a place to post my impressions on them :D

Third Roxette album "Joyride" (Extended Version). Also another good album of theirs.

Second Roxette album "Look Sharp!" (1988). Just as good as the first one.

Started Roxette discography. So far, their first album Pearls of Passion (1986) is pretty good in terms of first albums.

And with Alchemy Project (2022), which was basically collabs with other bands, completed Epica discography. Best songs in the album: As always, subjective assessments: 1. The Phantom Agony (Expanded Edition) (2003) - 6.8/10 [Best songs: Cry for the Moon, Run for a Fall & Triumph of Defeat] 2. Consign to Oblivion (Expanded Edition) (2005) - 7.8/10 [Best songs: Force of the Shore, Mother of Light - A New Age Dawns 2 & Trois Vierges] 3. The Divine Conspiracy (2007) - 8.5/10 [Best songs: Chasing the Dragon, Never Enough, Safeguard to Paradise & Sancta Terra] 4. Design Your Universe (Gold - Deluxe Edition) (2009) - 6.8/10 [Best songs: Martyr of the Free Word, Burn to Cinder & White Waters] 5. Requiem for the Indifferent (2012) - 8/10 [Best songs: Storm the Sorrow, Guilty Demeanour, Deter the Tyrant, Serenade of Self-Destruction & Nostalgia] 6. The Quantum Enigma (2014) - 6.4/10 [Best songs: Chemical Insomnia, Reverence - Living in the Heart, Canvas of Life, Natural Corruption & The Quantum Enigma - Kingdom of Heaven, Part II] 6.1. The Quantum Enigma - B Sides (2014) - 6.7/10 [Best new song: Dreamscape] 7. The Holographic Principle (2016) - 7.6/10 [Best songs: Beyond the Matrix, Tear Down Your Walls & Dancing in the Gypsy Camp] 8. The Score 2.0 - An Epic Journey (2017) - 6/10 [Best songs: Under the Aegis, Angel of Death & Quietus - Score 2.0 Version] 9. Epica VS Attack on Titans Songs (2018) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: If Inside these Walls was a House & Dedicate Your Heart!] 10. Omega (2021) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Gaia, Kingdom of Heaven Part 3 - The Antediluvian Universe, Synergize - Manic Manifest - & Twilight Reverie - The Hypnagogic State] 11. The Alchemy Project (2022) - 5.7/10 [Best song: The Miner] Average Score: 7.1/10

Penultimate album from Epica "Omega" (2021). Best songs:

9th Epica Album "The Score 2.0 - An Epic Journey" (2017), which is, as I understood it, an instrumental soundtrack for a movie probably. The album technically consists of 40 songs, but from 21st track it just remastered versions of previous songs in the album.

Akira Kurosawa Drunken Angel (1948). A movie about a small town's doctor trying to help out a member of the yakuza, who has tuberculosis, but is reluctant to take treatment, because healthy life-style gonna crash with his hedonism... I'm not gonna lie, out of all Kurosawa's movies that I've seen since 1943 and up to 1948, this one had the most quality and was the most interesting so far. I even would say that disregarding the action scenes in the end, it holds up even by today's standards. And, what surprised me, is that this movie does not re-use the same actors from previous of his movies; well, I'm lying, I think the actor who played the father in the No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) is playing the small town's doctor, but, mainly, that's it.

Sixth Epica album "The Quantum Enigma" (2014).IMO, it's their best album in terms of production, sound and lyrics so far. Best songs: