Last week I blogged about The Band’s Stage Fright and The Best of the Band. Just by coincidence, the new Criterion Collection version of The Last Waltz arrived the next day and I spent time watching it. I have a couple different versions of The Last Waltz, at least one DVD version and a Blu-ray. This new Criterion Collection disc is a Blu-ray and the quality is very good. The colors are crisp and the sound is sharp.

Not only do you get to see and hear The Band play its final performance, you get to see them share the stage with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, the Staple Singers, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, and Mavis Staples. Martin Scorsese’s classic rock documentary from 1978 looks remastered for the 21st Century! Terrific! GRADE: A

MUSICAL NUMBERS:

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Martin Scorsese, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack supervised and approved by musician Robbie Robertson
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Two alternate soundtracks: the original 1978 2.0 surround mix, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio, and an uncompressed stereo mix from 2001
• Two audio commentaries, featuring Scorsese; members of the Band; members of the production crew; and performers Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, and Mavis Staples
• New interview with Scorsese, conducted by critic David Fear
• Documentary from 2002 about the making of the film
• Outtake
• Interview from 1978 with Scorsese and Robertson
• Trailer and TV spot
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic Amanda Petrusich

Daniel Holzman & Matt Rodbard’s Food IQ is subtitled: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts. With years of cooking experience Holzman and Rodbard share many of their cooking secrets.

I, of course, went directly to their advice on baking wonderful pizzas! Despite the many different kinds of pizzas you might want to bake, the authors focus on the importance of the dough. Most people do not have pizza ovens in their kitchen (able to reach over 600 degrees) so some temperature compromises must be made.

The chapter on pasta dishes also drew my attention. I learned by pasta always tastes better in a restaurant–unless you know the secret.

Finding out the strengths and weaknesses of various kitchen tools was useful, too. If you want to become a better cook and prepare more tasty food, check out FOOD IQ. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — xi

Misunderstood, undiscovered, overlooked, and underappreciated … ingredients — xxi
Tools and technology — 44
Hacks, technique, and really good advice — 84
Busting some myths — 138
This sounds fancy. This sounds intimidating. What is it? — 194
12 favorite (essential, life-changing) things to cook forever — 238
Weekend cooking projects: is the juice worth the squeeze? — 282

Epilogue — 324

Acknowledgements — 325

Index — 326

Forty years after a devastating war between Old Earth’s Central Governance and its space colonies, the sisters of The Order of Saint Rita embark on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard a living starship called Our Lady of Impossible Constellations.

Lina Rather covers a lot of ground in 159 pages with Sisters of the Vast Black (2019). The nuns are unaware of the surprises that lurk aboard their starship. Their mission of mercy turns into something much more sinister. My favorite nun is Sister Faustina–maybe the most intelligent sister who solves the puzzles threatening her Order. I also liked Sister Gemma who has to make a life-changing decision.

Sisters of the Forsaken Stars (2022) picks up where Sisters of the Vast Black left off. The nuns are on the run from Old Earth’s Central Governance. Two women show up to “join” their Order, but both women come with secrets. This blend of politics, violence, betrayal, and religion produces a couple of engaging space operas. If you’re in the mood for some off-beat SF, Lina Rather’s nuns will surprise you! GRADE: B (for both)

John Jakes became a best selling writer with his Civil War trilogy, North and South, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. He is also the author of The Kent Family Chronicles. But, before all this success, John Jakes wrote Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Although best known for his Brak the Barbarian (a Conan clone) series, Jakes also wrote a couple of paperback originals for Lancer Books in the early 1970s. Master of the Dark Gate (1970) introduced a solider of fortune named Gavin Black who found himself in an adventure involving multiple Earths and a cabal that was about to invade our Earth and conquer it.

Witch of the Dark Gate (1972) picks up where Master of the Dark Gate left off. Gavin Black battles the High Kings of Shulkor (rulers of Earth Three) to stop them and their evil plans. Jakes provides plenty of fighting, battles, and lovely women. But, to be truthful, the best thing about Witch of the Dark Gate is Frank Frazetta’s classic artwork on the cover. GRADE: C

Last week we learned of the death of Teen Idol Bobby Rydell at the age of 79. My sisters loved Bobby Rydell and even joined his Fan Club in the early 1960s.

In 2006, Time Life issued an 8 CD set of Malt Shop Memories. I only have two of these compilations but Malt Shop Memories: Jukebox Gems includes two Bobby Rydell hits: “Wild One” and “Volare.”

I remember Bobby Rydell best for his role in Bye, Bye Birdie in 1963. In the 1980s, Rydell joined a trio called The Golden Boys with fellow former teen idols Frankie Avalon and Fabian Forte and he continued to tour up until his death.

I’ve reviewed over a dozen Hank Davis anthologies and collections. You know you’re in good hands with Hank Davis whose ability to choose excellent stories and to provide insight into the author and the story is stellar!

At 463 pages, Time Troopers is one of Hank Davis’s longer anthologies. This happens because Davis includes two novellas: A. E. Van Vogt’s “Recruiting Station” (aka, Master of Time and Earth’s Last Fortress) and H. Beam Piper’s “Time Crime.” Both are about 100 pages long.

In addition to the long Van Vogt and Piper stories, Davis brings some classics like Robert A. Heinlein’s classic “All You Zombies…” I should have known this before, but Davis tells the story about Playboy reaching out to Heinlein to write a story for that magazine. Heinlein submitted “All You Zombies…” but the folks at Playboy didn’t know how to deal with it. So they returned it to Heinlein who sent it to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The rest is History!

Davis likes to surprise the readers with uncommon stories like Keith Laumer’s “The Long Remembered Thunder” and Paul Anderson’s “Delenda Est.” Edmond Hamilton wrote many time travel stories and novels, but “Comrades in Time” is one of his best. Fritz Leiber, like Leinster, wrote some excellent time travel stories. One of his best, “The Oldest Soldier,” shows how versatile a writer he was.

If you’re a fan of time travel stories, you need to check out Hank Davis’s Time Troopers. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction: From Here to Eternity… and Back Again by Hank Davis — 3
“All You Zombies—” by Robert A. Heinlein (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1959) — 17
“The Archaenaut” by Christopher Ruocchio (original to this volume) — 31
“The Long Remembered Thunder” by Keith Laumer (Worlds of Tomorrow, April 1963) — 55
“Delenda Est” by Poul Anderson (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, December 1955) — 91
“Evading History” by Hank Davis (original) — 133
“Recruiting Station” by A.E. Van Vogt (Astounding Science-Fiction, March 1942) — 139
“The Oldest Soldier” by Fritz Leiber (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 1960) — 221
“House of Bones” by Robert Silverberg (Terry’s Universe, 1988) — 239
“Free Time” by Sarah A. Hoyt & Robert A. Hoyt (original) — 261
“Choosers of the Slain” by John C. Wright (Clockwork Phoenix, 2008) — 281
“Against the Lafayette Escadrille” by Gene Wolfe (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972) — 289
“Doctor Quiet” by Jacob Holo (original) — 293
“Remember the Alamo” by T.R. Fehrenbach (Analog Science Fact – Science Fiction, December 1961) — 313
“Comrades of Time” by Edmond Hamilton (Weird Tales, March 1939) — 325
“Time Crime” by H. Beam Piper (Astounding Science-Fiction, February and March 1955) — 359
About the Authors — 455

Metal Lords is full of surprises. You might think Metal Lords might be a School of Rock knock-off. But you would be wrong. Metal isn’t just music to high school student Hunter Sylvester (Adrian Greensmith). It’s an obsession. You have to live it and breathe it. Every day, all the time.

That kind of commitment is a little further than Hunter’s one and only friend, Kevin Schlieb (Jaeden Martell), is willing to go. But Kevin doesn’t have any other friends either, so he agrees to play drums, which he can’t really play, for Hunter’s band–Skullfucker–with no bass player.

Hunter and Kevin hope to find a bass player in time to compete the impending “Battle of the Bands”–which Hunter is convinced they can win–and thereby achieving schoolwide fame, victory over the bullies–and—most importantly—sex.

My favorite character is Emily Spector (Isis Hainsworth). Emily first appears in Metal Lords as a delicate-looking creature, screaming obscenities at the band director—who has offered some critical but not unkind advice about Emily’s role in the marching band—and then heaving her clarinet so it sticks like a javelin at about the 50 yard line. Clearly, she’s disturbed (later we learn Emily had stopped taking her meds before this incident).

Kevin uses one of the high school rehearsal rooms to work on his drumming, after hours. He hears music from another rehearsal room: a first-rate version of a Bach cello suite. Of course, it’s Emily.

But the story in Metal Lords doesn’t run as expected. Hunter hates the idea of a girl cellist in Skullfucker and rejects Emily. But, Kevin is drawn to the talented, troubled Emily. More problems ensue.

Metal Lords is a cut above most of the John Hughes teen comedies mostly because it offers surprise after surprise. You might think you know what’s going to happen…and then Metal Lords throws you a curveball. Check it out! GRADE: B+

I listen to music every day and according to neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin that is a Good Thing. Music affects the brain in many positive ways.

In The World in Six Songs uses a series of songs as platforms for Levitin to present research findings. In This is Your Brain on Music, Levitin takes a more technical approach to music showing how it works by analyzing pitch, timbre, rhythm, loudness, and harmony.

Humans evolved over time with increasing musical awareness. Levitin terms this a survival trait. My favorite chapter in This is Your Brain on Music is Chapter 8: “My Favorite Things: Why Do We Like the Music We Like?”

I learned a lot from both of Daniel J. Levitin’s books. If you love music as much as I do, you’ll enjoy all the knowledge in these two volumes. How often do you listen to music? What kind? GRADE: A (for both books)

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Taking It from the Top or “The Hills Are Alive . . .” — 1

Music and poetry. The two uniquely human components of the music brain.

Chapter 2: Friendship or “War (What Is It Good For)?” — 41

Social bonding, synchronous coordinated movement, the evolution of emotional bonding, protest music for group cohesion.

Chapter 3: Joy or “Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut” — 83

The first song. Neurochemical effects of music and music therapy.

Chapter 4: Comfort or “Before There Was Prozac, There Was You” — 111

Why we listen to sad music when we’re sad. Lullabyes and the blues. (And a short story about depressed restaurant workers pushed to the edge by a happy song.)

Chapter 5: Knowledge or “I Need to Know” — 137

Music as an information-bearing medium. Learning, memory, and oral histories.

Chapter 6: Religion or “People Get Ready” — 189

The role of music and ritual in creating order, reducing ambiguity, and commemorating important times and events.

Chapter 7: Love or “Bring ‘Em All In” — 229

The sense of hearing and the prefrontal cortex. Tools, musical instruments, and shaping the environment. The evolution of social structure.
Notes –291
Acknowledgments — 331
Index — 333

Table of Contents:

This Is Your Brain On Music

Introduction
I Love Music and I Love Science—Why Would I Want to Mix the Two? — 1

1. What Is Music?
From Pitch to Timbre — 13

2. Foot Tapping
Discerning Rhythm, Loudness, and Harmony — 55

3. Behind the Curtain
Music and the Mind Machine — 81

4. Anticipation
What We Expect from Liszt (and Ludacris) — 109

5. You Know My Name, Look Up the Number
How We Categorize Music — 129

6. After Dessert, Crick Was Still Four Seats Away from Me
Music, Emotion, and the Reptilian Brain — 165

7. What Makes a Musician?
Expertise Dissected — 189

8. My Favorite Things
Why Do We Like the Music We Like? — 217

9. The Music Instinct
Evolution’s #1 Hit. — 241

Appendices — 263
Bibliographic Notes — 271
Acknowledgments — 301
Index — 303

“How did America begin? What was its primordial element?

I think it was money.” (p. 1)

Lance Morrow traces the development of money and religion in American History. Early waves of settlers, the Puritans and other religious groups, found that life in the New World required resources. Later, those “resources” included slaves. Morrow believes these early immigrants needed to strive to be virtuous in the demanding sight of God. “They must justify America’s great fortune–and find some deeper purpose for it.” (p. 2)

The split between God and Mammon solidified early in American history. “In 1702, Cotton Mather preached that the Christian must row to heaven with two oars–the oar of his spiritual calling and the oar of his material calling. If he pulls on only one of them, the boat goes in circles and the Christian can never reach the safe harbor of salvation.” (p. 4)

As America developed, money infused its politics and its culture. Money–or the lack of it–determined social standing. As Morrow points out, the fact that Trump insisted he was a billionaire (he wasn’t) attracted more uneducated people to his Base.

The scandals of TV evangelists with sex and money mount up over the decades. As Alexis de Tocqueville noted: “One usually finds that love of money is either the chief or a secondary motive at the bottom of every thing the Americans do.” (p. 2)

What’s your take on money? Does it rule your Life, or do you have it under control? GRADE: B+