I’ve seen Spamalot twice and laughed a lot each time. Of course, I grew up watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam presenting their own unique brand of humor. Some of that quirky humor shows up in Spamalot because the musical is based on the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical offers a highly irreverent parody of Arthurian legend, with the title being a portmanteau of Spam and Camelot.

The original 2005 Broadway production directed by Mike Nichols received 14 Tony Award nominations, winning in three categories, including Best Musical. During its initial run of 1,575 performances, the production was seen by more than two million people and grossed over $168 million.

While Eric Idle was working with Mike Nichols on developing Spamalot, he kept a diary about the give-and-take of getting a musical to Broadway. If you’re interested in how a musical is put together with stars like Tim Curry (as King Arthur), Audra McDonald (as Lady of the Lake), Hank Azaria (as Lancelot), David Hyde Pierce (as Robin), and Roger Bart (as Galahad), The Spamalot Diaries takes you behind the scenes to see how a show comes together. I found The Spamalot Diaries fascinating and revealing! Are you an Eric Idle fan? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — xi

To New York City for the first read — 1

Anxiety and final rewrites before rehearsal — 35

New York rehearsals begin — 49

November in New York — 75

December in Chicago — 87

The New York opening — 145

Afterword — 185

Acknowledgments — 187

The 3-11 New England Patriots take on the 11-3 Buffalo Bills in a “flexed” game that was moved from the 1:00 P.M. time-slot to the 4:30 time-slot. The Bills are 14-point favorites.

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen is on fire! In the past three games, Allen has 1,027 total yards, 14 total touchdowns, no turnovers and has not taken a sack. He’s tallied seven passing touchdowns, six rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown in that stretch.

Allen has led Buffalo to at least 30 points in eight straight games, tying the longest such streak in NFL history.

How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

During the Holiday Season, I like to enjoy eggnog. I’ve tried over a dozen different brands of eggnog over the years–both non-alcoholic and alcoholic–and currently my favorite eggnog is Southern Comfort Traditional Non-Alcoholic Eggnog. It has a rich, creamy flavor. If you’re a fan of eggnog, you’ll love this!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Almost as good as Southern Comfort Traditional Non-Alcoholic Eggnog is Turkey Hill Eggnog. And, as a bonus, Turkey Hill also sells Turkey Hill Eggnog Ice Cream during the Holiday Season! Yummy!

I’m also fond of Hood’s Golden Eggnog which tastes like melted ice cream: thick and rich. You can’t go wrong with any of these three wonderful eggnogs! Do you like eggnog? What’s your favorite?

Just in time for the Holidays, Hard Case Crime offers a gift for that Hard-to-Buy-For person on your Gift List. Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal features a new collection of classic detective stories featuring a P. I. at her graphic best.

Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal is the fifth volume Hard Case Crime has published in their Ms. Tree series. Max Allan Collins and artist Terry Beatty provide these noirish tales with plenty of action and adventure.

Who wouldn’t want a fabulous book like Ms. Tree: Heroine Withdrawal under their tree? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

Vonda Shepard–	This Christmas Backing Vocals – Jeff Young (2), Vonda Shepard Bass – Jim Hanson Drums – Andy Kamman Guitar – Val McCallum Piano, Keyboards – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Donnie Hathaway*, Nadine McKinnor	3:51
2	Vonda Shepard–	The Man With The Bag Arranged By [Horn] – Jerry Hey Bass – Jim HansonDrums – Fritz Lewak *Guitar – Bruce Watson Piano – Jeff Young (2) Saxophone – Larry Williams Trombone – Bill Reichenbach (2) Trumpet – Gary Grant, Jerry Hey Written-By – Dudley A. Brooks*, Hal Stanley, Irving Taylor	2:34
3	Vonda Shepard–	Please Come Home For Christmas Bass – Jim Hanson Drums – Andy KammanGuitar – Val McCallum Organ [B-3], Organ [Wurlitzer] – Neil Larsen Piano – Vonda Shepard Synthesizer – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Charles Brown, Gene Redd	3:06
4	Vonda Shepard–	Silver Bells Backing Vocals – Davey Faragher, Jeff Young (2)Bass – Davey Faragher Bells [Sleigh] – Pete Thomas Celesta – Vonda Shepard Drums, Percussion – Andy Kamman Guitar – Bruce Watson Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz Piano – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Jay Livingston, Raymond Evans	1:42
5	Vonda Shepard–	Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow Acoustic Guitar – Val McCallum Arranged By [String] – Jerry Hey Cello – Stephen Erdody *Concertmaster [Violin] – Ralph D. Morrison III *Pedal Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz Piano – Vonda Shepard Viola – Roland Kato Violin – Rachel R. Purkin *Written-By – Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne	2:15
6	Macy Gray–	Winter Wonderland Backing Vocals – Dawn Beckman, Sy Smith Bass – Greg Richling Chamberlin – Patrick Warren Drums – Matt Chamberlain Producer – Andrew Slater Recorded By, Mixed By – Dave Way Turntables [and DJ] – Kiili Beckwith *Written-By – Dick Smith (3), Felix Bernard	2:54
7	Jane Krakowski–	Run, Rudolph, Run Backing Vocals – Brandon Adams, Melanie Taylor, Renée Goldsberry*, Terron Brooks Bass – Davey Faragher Drums – Andy Kamman Guitar – Bruce Watson Piano – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Johnny Marks, Marvin Brodie	2:14
8	Lisa Nicole Carson–	Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney Bass – Jim Hanson Drums – Andy Kamman Guitar – Val McCallum Percussion – Vonda Shepard Piano – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Billy Moore, Jr., William D. Hardy	1:27
9	Jane Krakowski–	I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Backing Vocals – Renée Goldsberry*, Sy Smith, Vatrina King *Bass – Jim HansonDrums – Andy Kamman Guitar – Val McCallum Piano – Jeff Young (2) Written-By – Tommie Connor	2:30
10	Calista Flockhart–	Santa Baby Backing Vocals – Carmen Carter, Lynn Davis, Vatrina King *Bass – Davey Faragher Drums – Rob Ladd Guitar – Val McCallum Piano – Jeff Young (2)Saxophone – Dan Higgins Written-By – Joan Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer	2:11
11	Vonda Shepard–	Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Arranged By [String] – Jerry Hey Cello – Stephen Erdody *Concertmaster [Violin] – Ralph D. Morrison III*Guitar – Michael Landau Piano – Jeff Young (2)Viola – Roland Kato Violin – Rachel R. Purkin *Written-By – Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane	2:33
12	Robert Downey Jr.–	River Arranged By [String] – Jerry Hey Backing Vocals – Vonda Shepard Cello – Stephen Erdody *Concertmaster [Violin] – Ralph D. Morrison III *Guitar – Bruce WatsonPiano – Neil Larsen Viola – Roland Kato Violin – Rachel R. Purkin *Written-By – Joni Mitchell	4:07
13	Robert Downey Jr. & Vonda Shepard–	White Christmas Arranged By [String] – Jerry Hey Cello – Stephen Erdody *Concertmaster [Violin] – Ralph D. Morrison III* Guitar – Val McCallum Piano – Neil Larsen Viola – Roland Kato Violin – Rachel R. Purkin *Written-By – Irving Berlin	2:41
14	Vonda Shepard–	What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve Arranged By [Strings] – Jerry Hey Bass – Davey FaragherCello – Cecilia Tsan, Stephen Erdody*Concertmaster [Violin] – Ralph D. Morrison III*Drums – Pete Thomas Guitar – Val McCallum Piano – Neil Larsen Viola – Roland Kato, Victoria Miskolczy *Violin – Jacqueline Brand*, Josefina Vergara, Karen Jones (2), Katia Popov, Margaret R. Wooten *Written-By – Frank Loesser	3:25

Here are three more albums that were mis-shelved and languished for over a decade. The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (2007) came out before Swift was a superstar. Jo Dee Messina is an underrated Country Western singer. Messina’s A Joyful Noise (2002) is a more traditional Christmas CD with plenty of standard Christmas songs. It’s easy to tell that Messina loves these songs! Willie Nelson’s Pretty Paper came out in 1979. If you like Willie Nelson, you’ll enjoy his enthusiastic renditions of these familiar Christmas songs.

I’m glad I rediscovered these Christmas CDs. Listening to them takes me back across the decades to a kinder, gentler time. Do you have a favorite Christmas song? GRADE: B (for all three)

TRACK LIST:

1		Last Christmas Written-By – George Michael	3:29
2		Christmases When You Were Mine Written-By – Liz Rose, Nathan Chapman, Taylor Swift	3:10
3		Santa Baby Written-By – Joan Ellen Javits*, Philip Springer, Tony Springer	2:41
4		Silent Night Arranged By – Taylor Swift	3:31
5		Christmas Must Be Something More Written-By – Taylor Swift	3:52
6		White Christmas Written-By – Irving Berlin	2:33

TRACK LIST:

1		Winter Wonderland
2		I’ll Be Home For Christmas
3		Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
4		The Christmas Song
5		Silver Bells
6		Sleigh Ride
7		Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
8		What Child Is This?
9		O Holy Night
10		Silent Night
11		A Joyful Noise
		Bonus Track
12		Keep The Faith

TRACK LIST:

Pretty Paper	2:26
		White Christmas	2:48
		Winter Wonderland	2:25
		Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer	2:12
		Jingle Bells	2:11
		Here Comes Santa Claus	1:54
		Blue Christmas	2:38
		Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	2:14
		Frosty The Snowman	2:26
		Silent Night, Holy Night	3:46
		O Little Town Of Bethlehem	1:31
		Christmas Blues	3:12

I had never heard of Jennifer Rowe (1971-2021) until I read Jon L. Breen’s comment in The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Third Annual Edition (you can read about it here) declaring Rowe’s Death in Store: A Holiday Mystery was the best mystery story collection of 1993. So, of course, I had to track down a copy and read it.

Rowe’s detective, Verity Birdwood, is a quirky solisitor with a knack for solving crimes. In “Forbidden Fruit,” Verity solves a murder while she’s just a child because of her keen eye for detail.

In “Rabbit Killer,” Verity is called on by an old friend to clear her mentally disabled brother who the police suspect as the killer of a neighbor. Verity works her magic and discovers the real murderer.

The title story, “Death in Store,” makes this book “A Holiday Mystery” because a department store Santa gets murdered. Verity Birdwood investigates the stabbing killing with scissors as the murder weapon. Verity’s solution brings some Christmas cheer. If you’re looking for a character with a Miss Marple vibe and an Australian setting, these Verity Birdwood stories deliver. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Forbidden fruit — 3

Rabbit killer — 20

Death warmed up — 59

Flashpoint — 72

Death in ruby — 89

Roses for do-hoppy — 105

Ladies’ day — 123

Death in store — 139

THE VERITY BIRDWOOD MYSTERY SERIES:

• Grim Pickings (1987)
• Murder by the Book (1989)
• Death in Store (1993)
• The Makeover Murders (1994)
• Stranglehold (1995)
• Lamb to the Slaughter (1996)

I admit I’m a sucker for the Disney+ Star Wars spin-offs even though most of them–except for The Mandalorian–are mediocre. The series starts with an attack on a space freighter by pirates. Then the scene shifts to an urban planet and a kid named Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) who dreams of leaving his placid planet for adventure. And…Wim gets it when he discovers a buried starship. Two girls, Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) who sports a flying jacket and rides a hover-bike and her sidekick KB (Kyriana Kratter), a tech whiz aided by a cool helmet/visor gadget (my favorite character) and Wim’s friend, Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) who looks like a blue elephant, get swept up by the starship and leave the planet…and get lost. Nick Frost extends the list of British actors to be cast in Star Wars as the voice of a snarky droid–SM-33–who has too few comic moments.

Crimson Jack (Jude Law) shows up to get the action started as the kids are desperate to return to their home planet. But, of course, their planet is a “lost” planet that was purposely hidden. I’ve only watched three of the eight episodes–a new episode drops every week–but Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has enough juice to hold my attention. Are you a Star Wars fan? GRADE: INCOMPLETE, but treading towards a B.

Alex Edmans, a Professor of Finance at London Business School, takes a deep dive into the manipulation of data and information so common in so much of our communications and “news.” The key element Edmans focuses on is our tendency to believe “facts” and “stories” that support our biases. If we’re pro-women running corporations, we’re much more willing to believe “studies” that show women CEOs out-perform male CEOs (according to Edmans, the jury is still out on this issue).

The other major culprit in skewing information is data mining. Data mining is a technique to search data for “facts” that support whatever you’re trying to prove. There may be a 1000 studies on whether breast-feeding increases a baby’s IQ, but data mining will find the studies that support your belief that infant formula works just was well. Whether it does or not, is another question.

With all the “research” being done, Edmans warns that anyone with a computer can find “evidence” to support just about any position–whether it’s true or false. That’s how conspiracy theories grow and thrive on junk science.

Deliberate confusion is the norm today. So many random facts are thrown about in the game of bewildering and baffling us. Is red meat bad or good? Should we drink a shot of vinegar (or extra virgin olive oil) each day to improve our heath? Are electric cars really better than gas powered cars?

I came away after reading May Contain Lies with a renewed skepticism and wariness about current “research” and social trends. I’m more liable to look at multiple sets of facts about an issue now and not just reject “evidence” that conflicts with my biases. Like Joni Mitchell suggests, I need to consider Both Sides Now. You might want to think about that, too. GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

Introduction — 1

PART I: THE BIASES 
1. Confirmation Bias — 15
2. Black- and- White Thinking  — 17

PART II: THE PROBLEMS 
3. A Statement is Not Fact — 57
4. A Fact is Not Data — 59
5. Data is Not Evidence: Data Mining — 89
6. Data is Not Evidence: Causation — 115
7. When Data is Evidence — 168
8. Evidence is Not Proof — 192

PART III: THE SOLUTION 
9. Thinking Smarter as Individuals — 211
10. Creating Organizations that Think Smarter — 235
11. Creating Societies that Think Smarter — 259

Appendix: A Checklist for Smarter Thinking — 283
Acknowledgements — 293
Notes — 295
Index — 313

The 10-3 Buffalo Bills travel to Patti Abbott Country to take on the 12-1 Detroit Lions. Some sports “experts” are hyping this game as a Super Bowl Preview. I don’t know about that. Both teams have plenty of injuries so we’ll see who shows up to play this game. The mighty Lions are 2½ point favorites. I’m not optimistic that the Bills can win this game.

How will your favorite NFL team perform today?