All Around My Hat - Steeleye Span

Advantages: Great variety of songs, enough tracks to keep anybody occupied for some time.
Disadvantages: Slightly genre-specific, I suppose.

..., Celtic-inspired voice singing what would ordinarily be the choirboy's part. However, this album contains a further thirty-four tracks, most of which will not be familiar in this form to those of the public who do not venture into the folk-music scene. They are an eclectic mixture, of which my personal favourites are the heart-rending 'Lovely on the Water'; the gloriously mischievous 'Marrowbones'; 'Long Lankin', the band's take on the Northern folk-story; the wonderfully bouncy 'All Around My Hat'; and 'John Barleycorn', an electrified folktune whose melody established itself recently in my head and refused to decamp for a fortnight. I cannot say whether this album would be accessible to the general public, given that I am personally a fan of folk-music. What I can say, however, is that Steeleye Span are never static in their style... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Looks elegant, keeps my eyes shaded.
Disadvantages: None whatsoever.

...for around 20 GBP whereas the top products can fetch a retail price of 1000 GBP. What is the difference between fine and coarse hats? Weaving begins at the apex of the crown, a spiral of rings or vueltas spans out from there, it's the number of vueltas that determines the quality of a hat, the cheaper quality has up to ten vueltas, the expensive one can have as many as forty. From the net: " The greatest weavers work only by the light of the moon or when the sky is overcast. Constantly dipping their sharp pointed fingers in water, they split the fibres razor thin, and with all the virtuosity of a spinning wheel, plait ring after ring of palm into fabric so soft and dense that it equals silk. The hats are then pummelled and trimmed and groomed and scrubbed. . . . "The sides and crown are carefully beaten to even them out, but... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: I get to talk about something I know a lot about - me!
Disadvantages: I'll probably bore anyone who reads this!

...A levels, however a month after starting them, I met a man - who I'll call Martin - and fell in love. I starting missing classes so I could go to the phonebox and ring him - we used to speak for about 6 hours every day. Before I knew it I was too far behind to catch up with my schoolwork. The Head of Year asked if I wanted to try, but I declined. I'd been working at weekends in a restaurant, so I asked for more hours there and left school. Growing up..... I hated my job in the restaurant, but I was obssessed with Martin, and all I wanted to do was talk to him all day. I didn't usually start work until 5pm, which left me all day to be on the phone. As the relationship got more serious, Martin began objecting to me going out, or seeing friends. In the end my friends drifted away because I was always making excuses not to see them. I found... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful