Bennettarium
Bennett McElwee's personal blog.
Latest Blog Posts
- The Art of Always Being Right — Arthur Schopenhauer on Nov 5, 2009 in Books Ideas Reviews
This book is not really about being right. It’s about winning arguments, even when you’re wrong. The 38 tactics include such classics as “Use your opponent’s views”, “Beg the question” and the ultimate: ̶...
- The Paradox of Choice — Why More Is Less on Oct 25, 2009 in Books Reviews book choice life
The increasing amount of choice we have now allows us to lead lives that are objectively better, but subjectively worse than before. This thought-provoking book by Barry Schwartz tries to show why the increasing amount of choice in our lives isn̵...
- (500) Days of Summer on Oct 19, 2009 in Films Journal Reviews
(500) Days of Summer (don’t forget the parentheses!) is a conventional boy-meets-girl story dressed up with a bundle of enjoyable and inventive extras. It’s a lot of fun. The film-makers dug deep into their box of tricks for this film. T...
- Sunny Disposish on Jun 5, 2009 in Music
Any time the thunder starts to rumble down Don’t let hope tumble down Or castles crumble down If the blues appear just make the best of them Just make a jest of them Don’t be possessed of them At the risk of sounding rather platitudinous...
- Ghost Town on Dec 8, 2008 in Films Journal Reviews
That guy from The Office (who despite many other noteworthy roles including this one is destined always to be known only as “That guy from The Office“) really is pretty funny. He’s much more likeable in this film than the painful id...
- Headless Chickens — live in Auckland on Dec 4, 2008 in Auckland Journal Music Reviews headless chickens live music
Headless Chickens played their first gig in almost a decade last Friday. The setlist was packed with great songs, the crowd was into it, the sound was excellent. They rocked. Headless Chickens have been one of my favourite bands since the early R...
- Earth From Space — The Bads on Jul 6, 2008 in CDs Journal Music Reviews
Mellow mellifluous melodies. The Bads are a girl/boy duo from New Zealand; you could call them a guitar-based pop/rock group, or even a “popular beat combo” (as John Peel used to say). But that would just be lazy pigeonholing, so if you p...
