Advantages: Great jazz tunes from the Golden Age
Disadvantages: None

...This is real jazz, from the real Golden Age of Jazz. It's got the pace, the rhythm, the fluid trumpet playing, the relentlessly enthusiastic, rolling piano playing and the clear diction of some excellent singing of vocalists who could not only hold a tune, but who could capture your heart and soul, too… There's musicians with such great names as Muggsy Spanier, Meade Lux Lewis, King Oliver and Sidney Bechet. You do not get musicians called Muggsy nowadays. I wonder why? As well as straight out jazz such as the Dippermouth blues, there's also the dreamy and melodic April in Paris from Charlie Parker. Some jazz aficionados reckon that Charlie Parker eventually sold out. Well, perhaps he did. But some of his earlier work still stands the test of time. Jack Teagarden is on this CD, with So Many Times, a rather nice, well... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: thought provoking, easy to read.
Disadvantages: highly pessimistic so don't expect laughs.

...to be said, Love songs in age, Naturally the Foundation will Bear your Expenses, Broadcast, Faith Healing, For Sidney Bechet, Home is so sad, Toads revisited, Water, The Whitsun Weddings, Larkin on a train, notes how many couples are happy on the train as newly weds and scorns their lives as fake and farcical, all a facade. Self's the man, Take one home for the kiddies, Days, A lovely 6 or so lined poem which describes the days in which we live in such a short space of words I find it fascinating how the message is brought across so well. MCMXIV (1914), Talking in bed, The Large Coll Store, A study of readiing habits, As bad as a mile, Ambulances, The importance of elsewhere, Sunny Prestatyn, First sight, Dockery and Son, Ignorance, Reference back, Wild oats, A humorous poem how Larkin or the character chooses an ugly woman instead... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Gorgeous
Disadvantages: Gloomy

...be painful, but it is painfully honest too. If such an attitude strikes you as bleak rather than bracing, there are celebrations of life among the gloom in this slim volume. Sidney Bechet's clarinet is like "an enormous yes". "Earth's immeasurable surprise" awaits lambs born into snow when spring arrives. A simple glass of water becomes the basis for a religion. Leaves, trees, growth and decay are recurring images, suggesting that being part of natural processes is the nearest we can come to a purpose for our existence. The fact that 'The Whitsun Weddings' presents this view of life with such uncompromising clarity, such determination not to be conned, makes it worth reading for me. That, and the freshness of its language and accessibility of its form. When we often have so little time to consider what life is all about, there should always... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great Tourist Attractions, Nice Beaches, Hot, Cheaper in some places than the UK
Disadvantages: Long Flight, Not easy to get around

...Since I was a teenager I had always wanted to tour Australia, and finally as I hit 18 I booked my first visit to Sydney. From the minute I stepped on Emirates Airlines I was satisfied. It was a fabulous, unforgettable experience. I flew from London Heathrow to Sydney and spent three weeks staying in Hotel InterContinental Sydney, which was probably the most expensive but luxiourus hotel I have ever stayed in. I spent the first two or three days relaxing at the hotel, going to it's gym, the pool and having a look around the city. We spent the time looking at the tourist attractions, including The Sydney Opera House, where we dined and watch a production, which was absoultey spectacular, we did a Captain Cook Dinner cruise around the Sydney harbour which had a tasty menu, which we enjoyed and ofcourse I could not leave Sydney without... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent City, Clean streets, Great Transport, Loads to do
Disadvantages: Changable and Blustery in Winter, A Bit too far from Ireland

...I stayed in Sydney for over 10 months in 2003 and the hardest thing I had to do was to leave the place. Sydney is an amazing city, with so much to do you will never get bored. From the Harbour area to the beaches of Bondi - theres something for everyone. When we arrived we did the usual tourist trips, Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Trips on the Harbour Ferries, Centrepoint Tower but as time went on we found a hidden Sydney. These are areas or items in Sydney which are not on the usual tourist trail. Places like Suzannah Place in the Rocks which documents early life around 1830, and how the working classes lived. It is a living museum. Other areas of interest included Balmain, Manly, Paddington and Potts Point. We were lucky enough to be there for the New Years Eve fireworks and they are as amazing as people say. However if you... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: fun, especialy in multiplayer
Disadvantages: sore thumbs ;)

...In short if you like the button bashing variety of sports game you'll love this. I found Sydney 2000 to be a vast improvement over International Track And Field, the animation is nothing short of excellent and the stadiums look great (the white water in the Kayak Slalom looks particularly impressive) . Although the game play is still in the classic button bashing guise you feel the developers have really made an effort in the one player game. As anyone who has played International Track And Field will know the single player experience can be tedious. Not so with Sydney 2000 where you can train a team up through local and national competitions preparing them for the games in Sydney. In summary I found Sydney 2000 to have that must-go-back-for-more feeling that other similar games have lacked. If you only buy one sports game this year... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap and easy to use
Disadvantages: none

...My wife and I went to Sydney for our son’s wedding in November 2003. We didn’t know what to expect but had a brilliant time and can’t wait to go back and enjoy everything we didn’t get chance to do and all those things we’d like to do again. Getting around Sydney is easy and cheap. You can start saving immediately you arrive at the airport by purchasing a “TravelPass”. These can be purchased at the International rail station, which is located below T1 (International Terminal) and is reached from inside the terminal on the arrivals level. The journey into Sydney takes 13 minutes and trains run every 10 minutes. The station in Sydney links directly to the City Circle which means that most city attractions and hotels are within a few minutes walk of either Central, Museum, St James, Circular Quay, Wynyard and Town Hall stations. However... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: There is everything here to suit everyone
Disadvantages: nuffink

...Sydney is great, full to the brim of wacky and weird people which is what I like to see in a major city. Variety! There are many areas in Sydney that would take a very long time to explore properly. As you know, the Olympics are here in the year 2000, September! When they won it was beer on the house! Great stuff. One of the most controversial areas in Sydney is Kings Cross, with night-clubs that stay open until 7 am, (just in time for work!), great restaurants and scenes that will probably make your jaw drop. Sydney is the gay capital of the world and things just go crazy when the Mardegra is on, you can see it all in Kings Cross. From Kings Cross, if you wander towards Woomolloo, there is a great pub that plays great live acts. From there, you're not too far from the Opera House and the city. The Opera House is absolutely... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: EXCELLENT WEATHER
Disadvantages:

...Sydney is the most amazing place that I have ever been,it has absolutely fantastic views in and around the harbour, the harbour bridge gives probably the best view of all.Sydney is an extremely vast place the town and suberbs seem to go for ever.Where ever you stay in Sydney it still wont take long until your out and about either along the coast or futher inland,so it makes a fantastic base,to explore in and around.Sydney has a very diverse culture,you can find just about every culture in the world there,and thus creates the most amazing mixture of peoples.Their is an seemingly endless list of places to go,things to see,the area abounds with history old and new,and I can highly recommend a visit.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great atmosphere, food and freindly people
Disadvantages: Distance to travel to get there

...Sydney is a great city to visit, with lots to see and do that will interest all the family. Children will love the ferries that operate in Sydney harbour that make 'getting there' part of the fun of a good day out. The best views of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge can be seen from the ferry from double bay! The Opera House is an amazing sight, but we found it prety inaccessible with a buggy. nearby there is the Rocks which on Saturday and Sunday is home to a fantastic craft market where you can but all sorts of goodies at great prices. Eating out is cheap, by UK standards, and there are so many places to choose from - buy a copy of 'Cheap Eats' which lists pretty much every restaurant in Sydney worth going to (not just the cheap ones). we particularly enjoyed Doyle's Fish Restaurant at Watsons Bay, Limoncello in Double Bay... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful