I remember seeing Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in a theater as a kid. Later, the movie showed up on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color TV program. Loved it! Now Snow White is available in Blu-ray format. Great color and resolution! Check out the Special Features:
In Walt’s Words — For The First Time Ever, Hear Walt Himself Talk About SNOW WHITE
Iconography — Explore How This Film Influences Pop Culture, Art And Fashion
Disney Animation: Designing Disney’s First Princess
Disney Artists Discuss The Design Of SNOW WHITE And How It Influenced The Look Of Some Of Your Favorite Disney Characters
The Fairest Facts Of Them All — Disney Channel Star Sofia Carson Reveals Seven Intriguing Facts About Snow White
Alternate Sequence — Never-Before-Seen Storyboard Sequence Where The Prince Meets Snow White

If you’re a fan of Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs you’ll enjoy this package.
What’s your favorite Disney film? GRADE: A

WHO’S PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gestures as the key speaker at the annual Reagan Republican Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, October 25, 2013. (David Peterson/MCT via Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton ajusts headphones at Echo Moskvy radio station Wednesday morning, Oct. 14, 2009. Clinton is wrapping up a five-day tour of Europe on Wednesday with a series of informal meetings in Moscow and the Russian republic of Tatarstan aimed at helping redefine U.S.-Russian relations. (AP Photo/ Alexander Zemlianichenko)

“The ransom of the soul of a man is his wealth.” This phrase from the book of Proverbs (13:8) launches Peter Brown’s incisive study of how Christian thinking evolved from 250 A.D. to 650 A.D. with regards to money. Money played a more and more active role in the Catholic Church in these years as wealthy believers took more elaborate steps to protect their souls and the souls of their families by building fabulous burial sites, buying influence among the church elites, and making lavish donations to build monasteries and funerary chapels. Peter Brown traces the growing influence of money on the Catholic Church and the effect of wealth on religious doctrine. Fascinating reading! GRADE: A

John O’Neill at BLACK GATE reviewed this massive collection. Somehow, it slipped past my radar. I went online and found a copy for a penny (plus Shipping & Handling). Yet this book is worth its considerable weight in gold. Exploring the Norizons comprises two separate collections, Explorers and The Furthest Horizon, bound together in this omnibus edition. Just take a look at the Table of Contents to see the quality of stories in this 916-page tome. And the John Berkey cover is eye-popping!  Highly recommended!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXPLORERS:
Preface by Gardner Dozois
“The Sentinel,” by Arthur C. Clarke (10 Story Fantasy, Spring 1951)
“Moonwalk,” by H. B. Fyfe (Space Science Fiction, November 1952)
“Grandpa,” by James H. Schmitz (Astounding Science Fiction, February 1955)
“The Red Hills of Summer,” by Edgar Pangborn (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1959)
“The Longest Voyage,” by Poul Anderson (Analog, December 1960)
“Hot Planet,” by Hal Clement (Galaxy, August 1963)
“Drunkboat,” by Cordwainer Smith (Amazing Stories, October 1963)
“Becalmed in Hell,” by Larry Niven (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1965)
“Nine Hundred Grandmothers,” by R. A. Lafferty (If, February 1966)
“The Keys to December,” by Roger Zelazny (New Worlds, August 1966)
“Vaster Than Empires and More Slow,” by Ursula K. Le Guin (New Dimensions 1, 1971)
“A Meeting With Medusa,” by Arthur C. Clarke (Playboy, December 1971)
“The Man Who Walked Home,” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Amazing Science Fiction, May 1972)
“Long Shot,” by Vernor Vinge (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, August 1972)
“In the Hall of the Martian Kings,” by John Varley (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1977)
“Ginungagap,” by Michael Swanwick (TriQuarterly 49, 1980)
“Exploring Fossil Canyon,” by Kim Stanley Robinson (Universe 12, 1982)
“Promises to Keep,” by Jack McDevitt (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, December 1984)
“Lieserl,” by Stephen Baxter (Interzone #78, December 1993)
“Crossing Chao Meng Fu,” by G. David Nordley (Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December 1997)
“Wang’s Carpets,” by Greg Egan (New Legends, May 1995)
“A Dance to Strange Musics,” by Gregory Benford (Science Fiction Age, November 1998)
“Approaching Perimelasma,” by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov’s Science Fiction, January 1998)
THE FURTHEST HORIZON
Preface by Gardner Dozois
“Guyal of Sfere,” by Jack Vance (The Dying Earth, 1950)
“Old Hundredth,” by Brian W. Aldiss (New Worlds Science Fiction #100, November 1960)
“Alpha Ralpha Boulevard,” by Cordwainer Smith (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1961)
“Day Million,” by Frederik Pohl (Rogue, Feb/March 1966)
“Bumberboom,” by Avram Davidson (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1966)
“Coranda,” by Keith Roberts (New Worlds, January 1967)
“Nightwings,” by Robert Silverberg (Galaxy, September 1968)
“Pale Roses,” by Michael Moorcock (New Worlds 7, December 1974)
“Anniversary Project,” by Joe Haldeman (Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, October 1975)
“Slow Music,” by James Tiptree, Jr. (Interfaces, February 1980)
“The Map,” by Gene Wolfe (Light Years and Dark, November 1984)
“Dinosaurs,” by Walter Jon Williams (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, June 1987)
“The Death Artist,” by Alexander Jablokov (Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, August 1990)
“Sister Alice,” by Robert Reed (Asimov’s Science Fiction, November 1993)
“Recording Angel,” by Paul J. McAuley (New Legends, May 1995)
“Genesis,” by Poul Anderson (Far Futures, December 1995)
“The Days of Solomon Gursky,” by Ian McDonald (Asimov’s Science Fiction, June 1998)

Last week Diane and I flew to Jacksonville where Patrick rented an SUV and drove us to the Hampton Inn in St. Augustine. Diane and I thought going to Florida in February would be a warm holiday get-a-way. But no, the temperatures in Florida stayed in the 40s. People were walking around St. Augustine bundled up like Eskimos and wore gloves! I was comfortable in my Spring jacket.

My niece Kristen, an occupational therapist, married Harrison, an electrical engineer. They own a condo in St. Augustine. Nice ceremony, nice reception.

I would describe St. Augustine as “Quaint.” Plenty of little shops. Plenty for tourists to explore. I found two used bookstores. In Anaconda Books, I found a First Edition of Jack Vance’s Throy for $5. In Second Read Books, I found a Simon Green Nightside paperback I didn’t have and James Blaylock’s steam-punk novel, Homunculus .

If you’re looking for a nice vacation destination, I’d recommend St. Augustine, FL.

Alexander Stille’s Excellent Cadavers tells the story of two Sicilian magistrates–Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino–who attempted to prosecute members of the Mafia. Both men were assassinated in 1992. Falcone and Borsellino uncovered a pattern of corruption in the government that led to the Mafia. While reading Excellent Cadavers I was reminded of the same type of corruption by the drug lords on our continent. If you’re in the mood for a vivid history of crime and punishment and more crime, I highly recommend Excellent Cadavers. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Excellent Cadavers/3
Notes/422
Select Bibliography/413
Acknowledgements/450
Index/453

I’m a fan of Cole Porter’s music so factor that into your opinion of this review. Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd star in this movie-bio. The music is great and this film features a bunch of artists: Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, Alantis Morissette, and Robbie Williams. For me, it’s all about the music. Special Features include commentary by the Director, Irwin Winkler, and the scriptwriter, Jay Cocks. I liked the “Making of De-Lovely” featurette. There are also “Deleted Scenes” and the original theatrical trailer included on this DVD. If you like this music, you’ll really enjoy this film. GRADE: B+

I’m a big fan of Christopher Hitchens. He was a gadfly who shifted political stances several times in his career. Some I agreed with, some I didn’t. But Hitchens was always a top-notch writer with something to say. His best collection is Auguably. This new collection, And Yet… collects a lot of dated material. Do you really want to read about the political hanky-panky in Ohio during the 2004 election? The best of the essays in And Yet… focus more on literature. I really liked “Charles Dickens Inner Child,” “G.K. Chesterton: The Reactionary,” and “The Importance of Being Orwell.” Just terrific essays! I enjoyed Hitchens’s views on Edmund Wilson, Paul Scott, and V. S. Naipaul. If you’re a Hitchens fan you’ll want to read this book. If you just want to read Hitchens very best work, I’d highly recommend Arguably. GRADE: B
TABLE OF CONTETNS:
Che Guevara : goodbye to all that
Orwell’s list
Orhan Pamuk : mind the gap
Bring on the mud
Ohio’s odd numbers
On becoming American
Mikhail Lermontov : a doomed young man
Salman Rushdie : Hobbes in the Himalayas
My Red-state odyssey
The turkey has landed
Bah, humbug
A.N. Wilson : downhill all the way
Ian Fleming : bottoms up
Power suits
Blood for no oil?
How uninviting
Look who’s cutting and running now
Oriana Fallaci and the art of the interview
Imperial follies
Clive James : the omnivore
Gertrude Bell : the woman who made Iraq
Physician, heal thyself
Edmund Wilson : literary companion
On the limits of self-improvement, part I : of vice and men
On the limits of self-improvement, part II : vice and versa
On the limits of self-improvement, part III : mission accomplished
Ayaan Hirsi Ali : the price of freedom
Arthur Schlesinger : the courtier
Paul Scott : Victoria’s secret
The case against Hillary Clinton
The tall tale of Tuzla
V.S. Naipaul : cruel and unusual
No regrets
Barack Obama : cool cat
The lovely stones
Edward M. Kennedy : redemption song
Engaging with Iran is like having sex with someone who hates you
Colin Powell : Powell valediction
Shut up about Armenians or we’ll hurt them again
Hezbollah’s progress
The politicians we deserve
Rosa Luxemburg : Red Rosa
Joan Didion : “Blue nights”
The true spirit of Christmas
Charles dickens’s inner child
G.K. Chesterton : the reactionary
The importance of being Orwell
What is patriotism?

The Carolina Panthers have what I believe is the best quarterback in the NFL. Denver has the best defense, but they haven’t seen a QB like Cam Newton. Peyton Manning looks like he’s on his last legs. The Vegas point-spread oscilates between 5 and 6 points. No matter. I think the Carolina Panthers will win this Super Bowl easily and beat the spread. Who do you think will win? And who picked Coldplay for the Half-time band? At least Beyonce will make a cameo appearance.