I was a big fan of Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” back in the mid-1970s. The surreal lyrics and the sax solo thrilled me. Apparently, “Year of the Cat” thrilled a lot of people which resulted in this re-mastered (by Alan Parsons) 45th Anniversary Edition. If you want to learn how the song came about, just click here. Are you an Al Stewart fan? GRADE: A

This 45th Anniversary edition of this special album includes a complete, previously unreleased concert recorded at the Paramount Theater, Seattle in October 1976 on the YEAR OF THE CAT tour over two CDs and a new mix of the track ‘Belsize Blues’, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in September 1975.

TRACK LIST:

DISC ONE
YEAR OF THE CAT
RE-MASTERED BY ALAN PARSONS

1. LORD GRENVILLE
2. ON THE BORDER
3. MIDAS SHADOW
4. SAND IN YOUR SHOES
5. IF IT DOESN’T COME NATURALLY, LEAVE IT
6. FLYING SORCERY
7. BROADWAY HOTEL
8. ONE STAGE BEFORE
9. YEAR OF THE CAT

BONUS TRACK
10. BELSIZE BLUES

(RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS IN SEPTEMBER 1975)

DISC TWO:
LIVE AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATER,
SEATTLE – OCTOBER 1976
PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
1. APPLE CIDER RE-CONSTITUTION (LIVE 1976)
(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
2. THE DARK AND THE ROLLING SEA (LIVE 1976)
(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
3. ONE STAGE BEFORE (LIVE 1976) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
4. SOHO (NEEDLESS TO SAY) (LIVE 1976)
(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
5. NOT THE ONE (LIVE 1976) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
6. ON THE BORDER (LIVE 1976) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
7. BROADWAY HOTEL (LIVE 1976) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
8. ROADS TO MOSCOW (LIVE 1976) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

For years I used to take Solgar’s Oat Bran tablets. They provided fiber each day and also reduced my cholesterol numbers. But for some unknown reason, Solgar discontinued their Oat Bran tablets and I was unable to find an acceptable substitute…until this month. I was searching on AMAZON for some health products when I stumbled onto these tnvitamins OAT BRAN TABLETS.

I ordered a bottle and started taking one tablet each day. I’ll be going for routine blood work in a month in preparation for my bi-annual doctor’s exam. I’ll be curious to see if my cholesterol numbers fall. Where do you get your fiber?

In Army of the Dead, Las Vegas is a walled city (of shipping containers) where inside the perimeter thousands of zombies shamble around looking for someone to eat. The U.S. Government plans to drop a tactical nuclear bomb on Sin City and destroy the zombie apocalypse once and for all.

But the owner of one of the ruined casinos hires a team of misfits to sneak into Las Vegas before the bomb hits to retrieve $200 million in his casino’s safe. The leader of the team, Scott Ward (played by Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista), recruits Tig Notaro as a helicopter pilot and Matthew Schweighofer as a safe-cracker. There are other characters on the team, but they’re mostly muscle.

As the caper progresses, more things go wrong. Plenty of gunfights and mayhem result. In typical Zach Snyder fashion, Army of the Dead has TWO fake endings which makes the last 10 minutes of this movie painful to watch. Unless you really love zombie movies, skip this. GRADE: C

Chris Buck’s Gentleman’s Club (2020) is one of the oddest books I’ve read during the Pandemic. Buck’s book is a mixture of photos and interviews with exotic dancers and their partners. In the Preface, Buck explains, “At its best, a strip club is a dive bar with a charged sexual energy and quiet sense of desperation (from the patrons and dancers). There is something about where the beautiful and the tawdry meet that hits the sweet spot for me.” (p. xi)

The men (and women) who date exotic dancers range from seemingly average people (truck drivers, office workers, etc.) to individuals as exotic as the dancers they date. In the 40 interviews, Buck shows the conflict and complexities of this intense lifestyle. If you’re in the mood for something completely different, Gentleman’s Club captures some of the incredible weirdness of this world. GRADE: A

About 20 years ago, Art Scott visited us and he picked out a new stereo system for me. It consisted of a Rotel CD player, a Rotel amplifier, B&W standalone speakers, and a Onkyo tuner. I had no problems until about nine months ago when the Rotel CD player started to skip. I took it to The Speaker Shop, our local audiophile stereo store where I originally bought my system, and the owner asked, “Do you want to fix it or buy a new one?”

I said, “Let’s get it fixed.” A week later I got the call to pick up my Rotel CD player. It worked fine until last week when it started skipping again. Time for Plan B. I returned to The Speaker Shop and bought a new Rotel 11 CD player. Patrick installed it and now wonderful music fills our house again with no skips. I listen to music every day. How about you?

After installing the new Rotel 11, Patrick chose The Corrs’s Talk on Corners: Special Edition for the first CD to play. Great Choice!!!

Tracklist

1		What Can I Do (Tin Tin Out Remix)	4:12
2		So Young (K-Klass Remix)	4:12
3		Only When I Sleep	4:23
4		When He’s Not Around	4:26
5		Dreams (Tee’s Radio)	3:53
6		I Never Loved You Anyway	4:26
7		Don’t Say You Love Me	4:39
8		Love Gives, Love Takes	3:43
9		Runaway (Tin Tin Out Remix)	4:45
10		Hopelessly Addicted	4:03
11		Paddy McCarthy	4:59
12		Intimacy	3:57
13		Queen Of Hollywood	5:02
14		No Good For Me	4:00
15		Little Wing	5:07

Heather McGhee claims racism costs us all. And then she presents the data that proves she’s right. Along with the detailed economic analysis McGhee provides, she drops nuggets like this: “A 1669 Virginia colony law deemed that killing one’s slave could not amount to murder because the law would assume no malice or intent to ‘destroy his own estate.’ ” (p. 11)

My favorite chapter in The Sum of Us is Chapter 7, “Living Apart.” McGhee steps away from her economics of racism and writes about growing up on the South Side of Chicago and learning that white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods were very different. School was very different, too. Because McGhee is highly intelligent, she was put in advanced classes where she was the only African American student. It was here where McGhee started to think about how segregation punished both races. She learned “When slavery was abolished, Confederate states found themselves far behind northern states in the creation of the public infrastructure that supports economic mobility, and they continue to lag behind today.” (p. 20)

If you’re interested in the economic consequences of racism (as well as the moral and psychological aspects), The Sum of Us lays it all out. This is not an angry book (although I got angry several times while reading about the meanness and cruelty in our history). Heather McGhee presents her case for change…and it is a powerful one. GRADE: A

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 An Old Story: The Zero-Sum Hierarchy 3

Chapter 2 Racism Drained the Pool 17

Chapter 3 Going Without 41

Chapter 4 Ignoring the Canary 67

Chapter 5 No One Fights Alone 103

Chapter 6 Never a Real Democracy 139

Chapter 7 Living Apart 167

Chapter 8 The Same Sky 193

Chapter 9 The Hidden Wound 221

Chapter 10 The Solidarity Dividend 255

Acknowledgments 291

Notes 295

List of Interviews 399

Index 401

Anthony Boucher is the sole editor of The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fifth Series because J. Francis McComas stepped away after helping Boucher edit the first four volumes of this series. The most famous story in this volume is “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. which would later be expanded into a classic SF novel.

I remember sitting in a Study Hall in the early 1960s reading the ACE edition of this book. When I read Zenna Henderson’s “Pottage”–one of her stories about The People who crash-landed on our planet and lived in fear of being discovered and killed–I remember my eyes getting misty. It’s a masterful story about a teacher and troubled children told with emotion.

I liked Anthony Boucher’s short short story “Nellthu” which is a variation on “The Three Wishes” motif. This series continues to present excellent stories with Boucher’s informative introductions. Recommended! GRADE: A-

Table of Contents: 

• 7 • Introduction (Best from F&SF 5) • (1956) • essay by Anthony Boucher
• 9 • Imagine: A Proem • poem by Fredric Brown (variant of Imagine 1955)
• 10 • You’re Another • (1955) • novelette by Damon Knight
• 44 • Survival • (1955) • poem by Carlyn Coffin
• 45 • This Earth of Majesty • (1955) • short story by Arthur C. Clarke
• 59 • Birds Can’t Count • (1955) • short story by Mildred Clingerman
• 68 • The Golem • (1955) • short story by Avram Davidson
• 74 • 1980 Overtures • (1955) • poem by Winona McClintic
• 75 • Pottage • [The People] • (1955) • novelette by Zenna Henderson
• 113 • The Vanishing American • (1955) • short story by Charles Beaumont
• 125 • Created He Them • (1955) • short story by Alice Eleanor Jones
• 136 • Silent, Upon Two Peaks … • (1955) • poem by Anthony Boucher [as by Herman W. Mudgett]
• 138 • Too Far • (1955) • short story by Fredric Brown
• 140 • A Matter of Energy • (1955) • short story by James Blish
• 142 • Nellthu • (1955) • short story by Anthony Boucher
• 144 • Dreamworld • (1955) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 146 • One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts • (1955) • short story by Shirley Jackson
• 157 • The Glass of the Future • (1955) • poem by Anthony Boucher [as by Herman W. Mudgett]
• 158 • The Short Ones • (1955) • novelette by Raymond E. Banks
• 181 • The Last Prophet • (1955) • short story by Mildred Clingerman
• 190 • Botany Bay • (1955) • short story by P. M. Hubbard
• 194 • A Canticle for Leibowitz • [Saint Leibowitz] • (1955) • novelette by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• 220 • Lament by a Maker • (1955) • poem by L. Sprague de Camp
• 221 • The Doctrine of Original Design • (1955) • poem by Winona McClintic
• 222 • Pattern for Survival • (1955) • short story by Richard Matheson
• 226 • The Singing Bell • [Wendell Urth] • (1955) • short story by Isaac Asimov
• 245 • The Last Word • [Claude Adams] • (1955) • short story by Charles Beaumont and Chad Oliver

Here are two different music compilations featuring very different selections of songs from the 1980s. On Rock of the 80s, Volume 1 there’s the only song sung in German that became a hit in America: 99 Luftballons by Nena. On MILLENNIUM ’80s NEW WAVE PARTY there are groups like Bow Wow Wow and Haircut One Hundred. Which of these two CDs would you prefer? GRADE: B (for both)

Tracklist:

1	The B-52’s–	Rock Lobster Written-By – Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson (3)Written-By – Fred Schneider, Ricky Wilson (3)	4:54
2	Devo–	Whip It Written-By – Gerald Casale*, Mark MothersbaughWritten-By – Gerald Casale*, Mark Mothersbaugh	2:39
3	a-ha–	Take On Me Written-By – Mags Furuholem*, Morten Harket, Pål WaaktaarWritten-By – Mags Furuholem*, Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar	3:49
4	Dexy’s Midnight Runners*–	Come On Eileen Written-By – Billy Adams, Jimmy Patterson*, Kevin RowlandWritten-By – Billy Adams, Jimmy Patterson*, Kevin Rowland	4:13
5	Eurythmics–	Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) Written-By – Annie Lennox, David Stewart*Written-By – Annie Lennox, David Stewart*	3:37
6	A Flock Of Seagulls–	I Ran (So Far Away) Written-By – Ali Score, Frank Maudsley, Mike Score, Paul ReynoldsWritten-By – Ali Score, Frank Maudsley, Mike Score, Paul Reynolds	3:44
7	Haircut One Hundred–	Love Plus One Written-By – Nick HeywardWritten-By – Nick Heyward	3:40
8	Madness–	Our House Written-By – Carl Smyth, Christopher Foreman*Written-By – Carl Smyth, Christopher Foreman*	3:22
9	Men Without Hats–	The Safety DanceWritten-By – Ivan DoroschukWritten-By – Ivan Doroschuk	2:45
10	The Cars–	Just What I Needed Written-By – Ric OcasekWritten-By – Ric Ocasek	3:45
11	Thompson Twins–	In The Name Of Love Written-By – Tom BaileyWritten-By – Tom Bailey	3:20
12	Toni Basil–	Mickey Written-By – Mike Chapman, Nicky ChinnWritten-By – Mike Chapman, Nicky Chinn	3:27
13	Thomas Dolby–	She Blinded Me With Science Written-By – Joe Kerr*, Thomas DolbyWritten-By – Joe Kerr*, Thomas Dolby	3:42
14	Stray Cats–	Rock This Town Written-By – Brian SetzerWritten-By – Brian Setzer	2:40
15	Soft Cell–	Tainted Love Written-By – Edward C. Cobb*Written-By – Edward C. Cobb*	2:41
16	Modern English–	I Melt With You Written-By – Modern EnglishWritten-By – Modern English	3:49
17	Gary Numan–	Cars Written-By – Gary NumanWritten-By – Gary Numan	3:59
18	Bow Wow Wow–	I Want Candy Written-By – Bert Berns, Robert Feldman*, Gerald Goldstein*, Richard GottehrerWritten-By – Bert Berns, Robert Feldman*, Gerald Goldstein*, Richard Gottehrer	2:46
19	Frank Zappa & Moon Zappa–	Valley GirlWritten-By – Frank Zappa, Moon ZappaWritten-By – Frank Zappa, Moon Zappa	3:49
20	Wang Chung–	Everybody Have Fun Tonight Written-By – Peter Wolf (3), Wang ChungWritten-By – Peter Wolf (3), Wang Chung	4:47

Tracklist:

1	The Tubes–	She’s A Beauty	3:59
2	Oingo Boingo–	Weird Science	3:49
3	The Vapors–	Turning Japanese	3:45
4	The Boomtown Rats–	I Don’t Like Mondays	4:20
5	Wall Of Voodoo–	Mexican Radio	3:58
6	Nena–	99 Luftballons	3:53
7	Duran Duran–	Is There Something I Should Know	4:10
8	The Romantics–	Talking In Your Sleep	3:57
9	Cutting Crew–	(I Just) Died In Your Arms	4:37

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apea in 1995 although I suffered from loud snoring and fatigue for years before that. My health service provider delivered a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine and a CPAP mask. I tried the mask and the mask leaked air. I got another mask to try. It leaked. I got another mask, it was uncomfortable. Finally, I tried the Puritan-Bennett ADAM CIRCUIT CPAP mask with nasal pillows. It looks like this:

The nasal pillows didn’t leak and the design of the hose over my head was way more comfortable than having the hose resting on my chest so I could get tangled up with it. Fast-forward to 2015. Puritan Bennett doesn’t exist any more. I would search for parts for my CPAP mask online and after a couple of years, the parts started to disappear, too. Time to find a new CPAP mask.

It was the same story as 1995. My heath services provider gave me six different CPAP masks to try. They leaked or were uncomfortable. I was starting to despair until Ed, my long-time CPAP supplies guy, handed me the new Philips Dreamwear CPAP mask with nasal pillows. I tried it and loved it! I highly recommend the Philips Dreamwear CPAP mask with nasal pillows!

Diane, Patrick, and I watched the first of 10 episodes of The Underground Railroad on AMAZON Prime video and plan to compete the series soon. The Underground Railroad is an Alternative Reality series where two slaves escape from their cruel Master and his cotton planation in Georgia. They ride the Underground Railroad (in this TV series the Underground Railroad is presented as a railroad that runs underground) while bounty hunters are in hot pursuit.

The Underground Railroad is directed by Barry Jenkins (best known for Moonlight). The series is based on the novel of the same name by Colson Whitehead (which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction). I liked Thuso Mbedu as Cora Randall and Aaron Pierre as Caesar. Be prepared for violence and cruelty if you watch The Underground Railroad. GRADE: Incomplete