Imagine my surprise when I checked out the video aisle at Sam’s Club the other day and found amid the box sets of Bonanza, Wagon Train, and Saved By the Bell the complete run of La Femme Nikta. AMAZON wants $165.99 (list price $409.98) for the complete series. Sam’s Club is asking a mere $15.88 per season. So, for around $80 I’m now the proud owner of 27 DVDs of this cool spy series. Action, explosions, gunplay, and spies who look like super-models. How can you resist?

Slow Death By Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things will disturb you. Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie explore all the chemicals in our kitchens and pantries and bathrooms that are finding their way into our bodies. NEVER microwave plastic. That just releases carcinogens. Some might call Smith and Lourie alarmists, but clearly something is causing increases in birth defects, childhood autism, attention-deficit disorder, hormonal imbalances, and cancers. I’m not giving much away when I say that the authors strongly suspect plastics as one of the big contributors to our health problems. If you’re concerned about the environment and your personal health and safety, Slow Death By Rubber Duck is worth your time and attention.

Roy Peter Clark’s The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English makes compulsive reading. Tips to improve your writing leap off every page. Clark has also written another useful manual, Writing Tools which I also recommend. I found both of these books vastly superior to books like Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. GRADE: A

E. C. Tubb died on September 10, 2010. He was 91. During his long and productive career, Tubb wrote in many genres. But, I suspect, Tubb will best be remembered for his science fiction novels. I picked Tubb’s ACE DOUBLE classic, The Space-Born (with Philip K. Dick’s The Man Who Japed on the other side), because it was the first E. C. Tubb book I ever read. You never forget your first time. Over the following decades, I read dozens of Tubb’s works. My favorites were the Dumarest series where an adventurer tries to find his way through the galaxy back to his home planet: Earth. However, Earth seems to have disappeared from the star charts and most people consider Earth as a mystical place. Dumarest’s Odysseus-like quest to get home filled 33 volumes of good old-fashioned space opera. If you’d like to see the wonderful cover artwork in the Dumarest series, click here.  I hope all of E. C. Tubb’s novels eventually become available as ebooks so new audiences can discover his entertaining stories.

Maybe I’m a teenager at heart, but I really like the music on this CD. Yes, it is pure fluff, but Katy Perry rocks in these songs. You’d have to be a cadaver not to react to this pop music. Katy Perry had a break-through hit last year with “I Kissed a Girl” (written by the underrated Cathy Dennis) and this summer Katy Perry’s hit song, “California Gurls” (NOT the Beach Boys classic), seemed to be on everybody’s car radio. Teenage Dream comes in two versions: the “Explicit” version and the “Clean” version. The music is the same, the lyrics vary. Critic Ken Tucker likes Teenage Dream, too. I included his review below. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST
1 Teenage Dream 3:47
2 Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) 3:50
3 California Gurls 3:55
4 Firework 3:48
5 Peacock 3:51
6 Circle the Drain 4:32
7 The One That Got Away 3:47
8 E.T. 3:26
9 Who Am I Living For? 4:08
10 Pearl 4:08
11 Hummingbird Heartbeat 3:32
12 Not Like the Movies 4:01
13 California Gurls Bonus Track / Passion Pit Main Mix / Mix 5:12
14 Teenage Dream Bonus Track / Kaskade Club Mix / Mix 6:27

If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals, you’re going to want to read Patti LuPone’s tell-almost-all memoir of her adventures in Evita, Les Misérables, Anything Goes, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy. I know LuPone can be a diva at times, but I’ve always found her to be a hard-working performer who gives it her all. I have her Evita soundtrack and Patti LuPone Live. They get played with some regularity. This memoir also provides insights into the business side of Broadway which I found fascinating. LuPone also gives her thoughts on the demise of the Broadway musical. All in all, I found Patti LuPone: A Memoir compelling reading. GRADE: A

As I go through the process of replacing my regular DVDs with Blu-ray versions, I’m always looking for bargains. This week, Best Buy has Bullitt [in Blu-ray] (and a few other movies I had no interest in) on sale for a mere $7.99. This may have been Steve McQueen’s best movie. It’s a movie I watch every year or so. The classic car chase, the rogue cop persona, and the stylish (for its day) action sequences never fail to fascinate me. Bullitt was ahead of its time. Yes, AMAZON has Bullitt [in Blu-ray] for the same price, but if you’re a REWARD ZONE member, buying Bullitt at Best Buy helps you accumulate those $5 Bonus Coupons. Either way, Bullitt looks fabulous in Blu-ray.

With the End of the Book seemingly around the corner, a cornucopia of fabulous design and artwork is a welcome surprise. McSweeney’s, the high end literary journal, has been around for a dozen years. This volume celebrates the award-winning art and design that made the journal and the other projects so special. The Art of McSweeney’s features hundreds of images, along with interviews of collaborators such as Chris Ware and Michael Chabon. Insights into McSweeney’s quirky creative process and the visual experience of reading make this collection endlessly interesting. Wonderful eye candy! GRADE: A

After a decade of futility, the Buffalo Bills start the 2010 NFL season with most fans doubting the team’s ability to win. Many experts predict the Bills will only win three or four games this season. If such prognostications prove to be wrong, the factor that may surprise the experts is Bills rookie First Round Draft Pick C. J. Spiller. Spiller showed flashes in the dismal preseason games that he had game-breaking ability. Some of his runs were highlight reel material. If the Bills win games, Spiller will have to be their star running back. Good luck to all of your NFL teams this season!

Going the Distance is a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long (the guy from the Mac vs. PC commercials). Drew and Justin fall in love in New York City. But, Drew has to return to Stanford University to complete her degree. So the torment of a long-distance relationship generates the drama in this movie. The factors that lift this predictable film a couple of steps from mediocrity are Charlie Day as “Dan,” Justin’s wacky roommate. He plays a soundtrack of songs while Drew and Justin make out. And then there’s Christina Applegate as Drew’s neat-freak sister. She makes you laugh with her intensity. The writer and director missed an opportunity when Justin wracks his brains for some way to move from NYC to California to be close to Drew. They should have had Justin go on an audition for an Apple commercial. GRADE: B