I was an early fan of Orphan Black even though the series took a downward plunge towards the end. The same with She-Hulk which also plunged to cancelation. It wasn’t Tatiana Maslany’s fault. Maybe her luck will change with Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, the new AppleTV+ 10 episode series that was just released.

Tatiana Maslany plays a recently divorced mom who seemingly witnesses a crime. She’s having a session with a sex-model on her computer when apparently, he’s kidnapped. Is it a scam? Is it real? Nine episodes from now, we’ll find out. GRADE: Incomplete but trending towards a B

“Throughout the first half-hour, Bryan Cranston, Paul Rudd, Tim Meadows, Tig Notaro, and Ryan Reynolds interrupted various usual Colbert bits, mostly with the mock assumption that they might be the unnamed final guest. Instead, Colbert welcomed Paul McCartney, highlighting the show’s occupation (and CBS’s impending abandonment) of the refurbished Ed Sullivan Theater, where McCartney famously performed back in 1964 with the Beatles. In retrospect, this was tipped early on when, after a clever montage of talkshow history stitched together to ‘introduce’ Colbert, the episode was advertised as featuring ‘Hello, Goodbye’.”

Diane and I have been watching the brilliant Stephen Colbert for years. From his time on The Daily Show to his succession of David Letterman on The Late Show on CBS, Colbert’s comedy has resonated with an intelligent audience. But, finally, Colbert’s mocking of Trump triggered his cancelation.

Billionaire David Ellison brought MTV, Nickelodeon, and CBS together in $8 billion merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media that officially closed on August 7, 2025. But the deal needed FCC approval and according to insiders, Trump insisted that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert be cancelled to get that vital approval. And, so it was.

Diane and I fear that this is just the beginning of the end for Late Night shows with Jimmy Kimmel (who Trump has tried to get ABC to fire), Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers. Anyone who makes fun of Trump has a target on their back. Are you a fan of Stephen Colbert?

Director Jon Favreau–best known for Elf and Iron Man–delivers the first Star Wars movie in seven years. I found The Mandalorian and Grogu short on story and long on violence. Essentially, the movie lurches from fight scene to fight scene. Of course, Grogu (aka, “Baby Yoda”) steals every scene he’s in. Pablo Pascal plays The Mandalorian (with two other actors credited: Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder) under the helmet that supposed to never be removed. Sigourney Weaver, a leader in The New Republic, has about two minutes of dialogue in this two hour movie. And, inexplicably, the famous Martin Scorsese provides the voice of four-armed Ardennian shopkeeper Hugo. Go figure…

Jeremy Allen White voices Rotta the Hutt, the target of the deadly duo of The Hutt Twins, siblings and successors to deceased crime-lord Jabba the Hutt. The Twins promise to provide information to The Mandalorian but only in exchange for his rescuing Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt from a criminal syndicate run by former Empire Lord Janu. The Mandalorian receives a new Razor Crest-ship as a pre-payment for this mission.

The AMC Theater was full of Star Wars fans–some in costume!–when Diane and I watched The Mandalorian and Grogu. But, on exiting, it seemed that most were as disappointed as we were. GRADE: B-

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the first four books in the Detective Sergeant George Cross series (you can read my review here). I’ve read the fifth and sixth books in the series and can’t wait to read more!

The Monk (2023) is my favorite George Cross mystery so far. A brutally beaten body is found near a monastery. Cross and his forensic team determine the murder victim was a monk from that monastery. Why would anyone murder a beloved monk?

Cross comes to believe the motive for the murder lies in the monk’s Past. He and his team dig into the talented young man who made a fortune working for a 300 year old bank in London…and suddenly quit to become a monk. Sifting through the Past is one of Cross’s strengths and he finally comes up with evidence that makes the murder understandable. GRADE: A

The Teacher (2023) is an 80-year-old retired teacher who is found stabbed outside his room in a stairway. Cross is struck by the number of people who hated the teacher. As a headmaster of a private Catholic school, the teacher was a brutal disciplinarian, beating the young students with his sticks (which he named). The teacher’s son, a young man who had success with a hedge fund and then became a member of Parliament, now is a disgraced figure. He hopes to resurrect his political career and impedes Cross’s investigation of his father’s death. Cross also has to deal with an investigator from Kent who sexually attacks one of Cross’s team.

Having a murder victim with a plenitude of suspects who hated the man makes Cross’s investigation complicated and far reaching. A serial abuser of young children under the guise of “discipline” is not a sympathetic victim, but Cross moves to find the killer in his usual detailed way. GRADE: B+

“The ‘core four’ figures of Springsteen, Seger, Petty, and Mellencamp are familiar and important, but this book also examines the lives and work of musicians who never truly broke through to mainstream audiences. As heartland rock has long been consider the domain of white men, I’ve also sought to hight the vital contributions of women and people of color.” (p. 3)

Erin Osmon’s Won’t Back Down (2026) explores the 1980s music scene and focuses on four key figures who dominated much of the music of that era: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, and John Mellencamp. “Working-Class Rock” (aka, Heartland Rock)–epitomized by songs like Mellencamp’s “Small Town” and Seger’s “Against the Wind”–“unlike American folk music, heartland rock was highly commercial, broadcast on nearly every radio station, and sold in every shopping mall, truck stop and local record store.” (p. 11)

MTV and VH1 helped fuel heartland rock by playing Springsteen, Seger, Petty, Mellencamp, and other music videos of that genre in heavy rotation.

“The best heartland rock songs make the listener sentimental for a youth they never had. John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack & Diane,’ Bob Seger’s ‘Night Moves,’ Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Glory Days,’ Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Can’t Help Myself,’ Tom Petty’s ‘Even the Losers,’ Lucinda Williams’s ‘The Night’s Too Long,’ Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer,’ Bruce Hornsby’s ‘Mandolin Rain.’ Each evokes a specific time and place to the artist, but are rendered to such a tender and evocative way that they become personal, cozy even, to the listener. These songs imprint on the psyche like a handknitted scarf or a mother’s lasagna.” (p. 132)

I’m impressed by Erin Osmon’s Won’t Back Down and the ride it takes the reader down Memory Lane in the 1980s. Are you a fan of Heartland Rock? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — 1

1980 Running Against the Wind — 7

1981 Ugly Truths and Hard Promises — 30

1982 Machines of the Year — 56

1983 Hometown Heroes — 88

1984 New Patriotism — 111

1985 The Year of Aid — 139

1986 The Way It Is — 175

1987 Growing Pains — 206

1988 Turning the Tables — 240

1989 The Storm Ahead — 264

Afterword — 283

Acknowledgements –– 291

Appendix. 150 Essential Heartland Rock Songs — 293

Notes — 301

Index — 315

TRACK LIST:

TRACK LIST:

David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer’s The Space Opera Renaissance, a 941 page mammoth volume from 2006, is divided into six sections.  I’ve already reviewed Section 1 (you can read my review here) and you can read my review of Section 2 here and Section 3 here.

Dan Simmons, once a resident of Western New York, scored Success in Science Fiction with his Hyperion Cantos (winning a Hugo Award), and Success in the Fantasy/Horror fields with novels like A Winter’s Haunting (2002). “Orphans of the Helix” deals with a distress call that leads to a First Contact situation. GRADE: B

Colin Greenland, a British SF writer best known for his Plenty series, delivers a canny story of the Future of artistic endeavors with “The Well Wishers.” GRADE: B-

Peter Hamilton started his Science Fiction career in the early 1990s with three SF detective novels: Mindstar Rising (1993), A Quantum Murder (1994), and The Nano Flower (1995). Hamilton’s story, “Escape Route,” has the same flavor with a crew of a spaceship for hire contracting to take an “investment” team into a remote area to search for an asteroid full of gold. But appearances are deceptive… GRADE: B

David Weber is best known for his Honor Harrington series: 15 primary novels with the main storyline beginning with On Basilisk Station (1993) and concluding its current arc with Toll of Honor (2024). Weber has written that he has based his Honor Harrington series on C. S. Forester’s Hornblower series.

Honor Harrington is a young woman who rises through the space navy while confronted with many problems and crises. “Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington” tells the story of Harrington’s first assignment–on the starship, War Maiden, a heavy cruiser. Harrington has to contend with a bullying senior officer and a space battle to prove she belongs. GRADE: B+

Catherine Asaro’s “Aurora in Four Voices” blends space opera and romance into a suspenseful adventure. GRADE: B

R. Garcia y Robert’s “Ring Rats” presents an entertaining space pirate story. GRADE: B

Allen Steele’s “The Death of Captain Future” won the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Novella. Steele would go on and write Avengers of the Moon (2014)–you can read my review here–as a homage to Edmond Hamilton’s wonderful character. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

IV. Volunteers: Revisionaries (early 90s)

“Orphans of the Helix” by Dan Simmons — 311

“The Well Wishers” by Colin Greenland — 344

“Escape Route” by Peter Hamilton — 379

“Ms Midshipwoman Harrington” by David Weber — 415

“Aurora in Four Voices” by Catherine Asaro — 493

“Ring Rats” by R. Garcia y Robertson — 524

“The Death of Captain Future” by Allen Steele — 557

I have an aversion to mysteries where cats, dogs, and other creatures solve crimes. So you can imagine my reaction when Diane said, “Let’s go see The Sheep Detectives.”

Life is all about compromise–and Diane is coming with me to see The Mandalorian and Grogu later this week–so away we went to our local AMC Theater. Diane will watch anything with Hugh Jackman in it and I feel the same way about Emma Thompson.

Hugh Jackman plays a Shepard named George who loves his sheep and names all of them. His favorite is Lily. George reads mystery novels to his sheep and Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) can solve the mystery before George gets to the Big Reveal every time!

(Mild Spoiler Alert!) George gets murdered and the sole policeman–Officer Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun)–in the small English town of Denbrook…is baffled. So Lily and her sheep pals of the flock– Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) and Mopple (Chris O’Dowd)–to help him find the murderer.

The suspects include an innkeeper (Hong Chau) with a crush on George, a minister (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) who was accepting large cash payments from George for an unknown reason, a neighboring shepherd (Tosin Cole) who George considered a “Bad Shepherd”, a butcher aptly named Ham (Conleth Hill), and George’s not-seen-in-many-years daughter from America, Rebecca (Molly Gordon).

Based on Leonie Swann’s Three Bags Full, The Sheep Detectives follows a the similar pattern as Babe. Director Kyle Balda (an animation specialist who has co-directed three features in the “Despicable Me” universe), went with a throwback feel to the movie with the exception of the digital sheep. Diane and I both enjoyed the verbal interplay between the sheep as they worked on their investigation. If you’re looking for something different, give The Sheep Detectives a try. GRADE: A

It’s Graduation Season and Jodi Kantor’s slim 100-page book, How to Start: Discovering Your Life’s Work (2026), shows up at exactly the Right Time. Jodi Kantor, a New York Times investigative reporter, won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service by revealing the Dark Side of Harvey Weinstein’s abuse of women. When Columbia University, her alma mater, asked Kantor to deliver the Graduation Address, she agreed. When Kantor reached out to Columbia students about to graduate, she found them in a panic.

Cuts to internships, programs, and scholarships reduced options for students. The impact of Artificial Intelligence on the job market–effectively eliminating many entry level professional positions–caused many students to wonder if the years spent at Columbia University–and the money–were wasted.

Jodi Kantor uses her own career experience to deliver some sensible advice to these Columbia Graduates. Kantor originally went to Harvard Law School after graduating from Columbia University. But Kantor soon realized she wasn’t interested in becoming a lawyer. Her true passion was to become an investigative journalist…so she dropped out of Harvard to the dismay of her friends and parents. Instead, Kantor launched her successful career.

If you know some student who is graduating from college, I can’t think of a better gift than How to Start. It’s a book filled with practical suggestions, success examples, and…hope. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction –1

Craft — 17

Need — 31

Money — 41

How to Start — 53

Why to Start — 85

Acknowledgements — 93

Yes, that “CONGRATS YOU HAVE GRADUATED FROM COLONOSCOPIES!” was the highlight of my PROCEDURE SUMMARY after my colonoscopy.

Last November 2025, at my annual physical, my doctor noted, “You’re due for a colonoscopy.” So I called my gastro guy (who had done the previous three colonoscopies) and talked to his scheduling nurse. “I’d like to book a colonoscopy appointment, but not during the Christmas and New Year’s season.” She laughed and said, “Our earliest date is May 10, 2026.”

So I took it. But in February 2026, I got a letter saying: “We have to reschedule your colonoscopy appointment. The doctor will be out of town.” So I called again and was told, “Our earliest opening is May 14, 2026.” So I took it.

Before I knew it, it was May 13 and I was taking 2 Dulcolax tablets and drinking a mixture of 64 ounces of Gatorade and 238 grams of MiraLAX. Self-induced Diarrhea is No Fun!

Diane and I got up at 5:45 AM the next morning and I drove to Sisters Hospital. We checked in at 7:00 AM and by 7:15 I was ushered into the Colonoscopy Suite. After my nurse, Megan, checked my vitals, I was gowned up and taken to the Operating Room. A nurse hooked me up to an IV and as soon as the Versed hit, I was unconscious. I woke up in the Recovery Area and before I knew it, I was dressed and wheel-chaired out to Diane’s waiting vehicle. I came home, had some toast and coffee and went back to sleep.

I have recovered and I’m happy that I have a No Colonoscopy Future! What’s your colonoscopy situation?