Ryan Day, Head Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, required all of his players to read Rick Fields’ Chop Wood Carry Water. When I read about this in the Wall Street Journal, I was curious about why a coach would require his team to read this particular book. Once I started reading Chop Wood Carry Water, it all made sense.

Chop Wood Carry Water presents many stories illustrating how you should deal with the problems we all encounter in Life. Glance at the Table of Contents below and you’ll see the topics Chop Wood Carry Water addresses with illustrative stories and aphorisms.

I was impressed with Rick Fields’ choice of stories to reveal the messages he was trying to communicate. The hundreds of aphorisms–from famous people to infamous people–fill the margins of this book with Good and Profound Advice. Well worth a look! GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chop Wood Carry Water Introduction — xi
1. Beginnings — 1
2. Learning — 19
3. Intimate Relationships — 35
4. Sex — 59
5. Family — 79
6. Work — 105
7. Money — 127
8. Play — 143
9. Tuning the Body — 159
10. Healing — 181
11. Technology — 203
12. The Earth — 219
13. Social Action — 235
14. Inner Guidance — 249
15. Perils of the Path — 287
Afterword — 287

I’m not typically a zombie fan, but I got caught in the web of Marvel Zombies by accident and found I was surprisingly entertained. Marvel Zombies is an adult animated TV miniseries created by Bryan Andrews and Zeb Wells based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.

Marvel Zombies is set in the alternate timeline introduced in the “What If… Zombies?!” (2021). Marvel Zombies basically follows a group of survivors as they fight superpowered zombies to survive and save the world. There are four episodes to this series and the promise of more if the ratings are right.

For those of you who enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ll surprised–as I was–by the number of Marvel characters who show up in Marvel Zombies. Check out the list below. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards a B

Cast and characters

• Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel:
  A teenage mutant from Jersey City who wears a magical bangle that unlocks her ability to harness cosmic energy and create hard light constructs. Vellani said Kamala was central to the series, with the creators describing her role as “the Frodo of the story” in reference to the character Frodo Baggins from J. R. R. Tolkien‘s novel The Lord of the Rings (1954–55).^[3]
• Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams / Ironheart: A former MIT student and genius inventor from Chicago who created a suit of armor that rivals the one built by Tony Stark / Iron Man^[4]
• Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop: A young woman who trained to become a master archer after being saved by Clint Barton as a child^[4]
• Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y.: An artificial intelligence (AI) created by Stark^[5]
• Kenna Ramsey as Okoye: A zombie and the former general of the Dora Milaje, Wakanda‘s all-female special forces^[6]
• Todd Williams as Eric Brooks / Blade Knight: A half-vampire “daywalker” who hunts vampires and has become the avatar of Khonshu, Moon Knight^[7][8]
• Kari Wahlgren as Melina Vostokoff: A seasoned spy and scientist trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow who is a mother figure to Yelena Belova^[5]
• Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova: A highly skilled spy and assassin who was trained in the Red Room as a Black Widow^[4]
• David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian: The Soviet super soldier counterpart to Captain America and a father figure to Belova^[4]
• Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi:
  A highly skilled martial artist who was trained at a young age to be an assassin by his father Xu Wenwu.^[4] In the series, Shang-Chi was bitten by a zombie on his right arm, and so he uses the mystical Ten Rings to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of his body.^[9]
• Awkwafina as Katy Chen:^[10] Shang-Chi’s best friend and former co-worker as a hotel valet^[4] who wields the Ten Rings alongside him^[11]
• Randall Park as Jimmy Woo: A former FBI agent^[4]
• Feodor Chin as Xu Wenwu: Shang-Chi’s father who is the leader of the Ten Rings organization and the original wielder of the mystical Ten Rings^[12]
• Wyatt Russell as John Walker: A former captain of the U.S. Army Rangers^[2]
• Rama Vallury as Helmut Zemo: A Sokovian baron and terrorist^[5]
• Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Red Queen / Queen of the Dead: A former Avenger turned zombie who can harness chaos magic, engage in telepathy and telekinesis, and alter reality^[4][10]
• Hudson Thames as Peter Parker / Spider-Man: A young man who received spider-like abilities after being bitten by a radioactive spider^[13]
• Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man:
  A former petty criminal and superhero. The character’s still-living head was preserved in a jar after he lost his body in the same process that cured him of the infection, as depicted in the What If…? episode “What If… Zombies?!” (2021).^[2]
• Greg Furman as Thor: The Asgardian god of thunder and a founding Avenger, based on the Norse mythological deity of the same name^[5]
• Adam Hugill as Rintrah: A minotaur-like being from R’Vaal who is a former student at Kamar-Taj^[5]
• Daniel Swain as London Master: A Master of the Mystic Arts^[5]
• Sheila Atim as Sara: A Master of the Mystic Arts^[5]
• Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie: The last survivor of an all-female group of Asgardian warriors^[2]
• F. Murray Abraham as Khonshu: The Egyptian god of the moon^[5]
• Zenobia Shroff as Muneeba Khan: Kamala’s mother^[5]

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.” –Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (2002)

Amar Bhide, Professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, takes a deep dive into probabilities and knowledge management in Uncertainty and Enterprise: Venturing Beyond the Known (2025).

Bhide stresses the importance of facts and reliable data in the process of making decisions. But Bhide also analyzes the work of Frank Knight, John Maynard Keynes, Hebert Simon, and many other researchers who wrote about uncertainty in making decisions.

The old saying, “Garbage in, Garbage Out,” applies to the process of decision making. False “facts” and “fake” news damage the process of making the right choice.

My favorite chapter in Uncertainty and Enterprise was “Daniel Ellsberg’s Ambiguity: A Simplifying Side Trip.” I only knew about Daniel Ellsberg’s Vietnam War role in the Pentagon Papers case. But Bhide examines Ellsberg’s 1961 article, “Risk, Ambiguity, and the Savage Axioms,” which support Bhide’s claims that not dealing with risk and ambiguity in decision making precisely encourages choices that contravene standard patterns and can lead to disasters…like the Vietnam War.

If you’re having trouble dealing with known unknowns and unknown unknowns, Amar Bhide’s book will bring you some needed enlightenment. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — ix

Part I: Invitation to the Voyage

1. The Offering — 3

2. Uncertainty as Doubt — 10

3. Conjectures about Justification — 23

4. Applications to Enterprise — 33

Part II: Formidable Obstacles, Forgotten Beacons

5. Frank Knight: The Spark That Did Not Ignite — 43

6. Practically Omniscient Microeconomics — 52

7. Imperfect Market Theories: Realism without Fallibility — 60

8. John Maynard Keynes: Help to Distraction — 69

9. Herbert Simon: Faded Guiding Star — 90

10. Daniel Ellsberg’s Ambiguity: A Simplifying Side Trip — 110

11. Kahneman and Tversky: Gaining Acceptance, Dropping Uncertainty — 126

12. Richard Thaler & Co.: Building the New Behavioral Boomtowns — 148

Part III: The Specialization of Enterprise

13. Including Uncertainty: Recapitulation and Preview — 165

14. “Bootstrapping” Improvised Startups — 176

15. Calculating Capitalists: VCs and Angels Investors — 197

16. The Evolution of Dynamic Bureaucracies — 217

17. The Dominions of Giants — 232

Part IV: Imaginative Discourse

18. The Aims of Discourse — 259

19. The Devices of Discourse — 268

20. Stories As Side Dishes — 281

21. Spillovers from Popular Stories — 298

Part V: Coda

22. The Case for Widening — 315

Acknowledgments — 335
Notes — 337
References — 383
Index — 405

The 3-0 Buffalo Bills host the 0-3 New Orleans Saints. And we’ll be hosting 13 of Diane’s former colleagues for the Annual Buffalo Bills Party today. We’ll have the usual: pizza, chicken wings, shrimp (not radioactive!), salads (green, fruit, potato, and pasta), and for dessert, carrot cake, lemon cake, and an apple pie.

The Bills are favored by 16 1/2 points. Check out the Josh Allen merch! How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Slow Horses returns for its Fifth Season on Apple TV+. The six episodes–one episode dropped each Wednesday–are based on Mick Herron’s London Rules (2018).

Someone is trying to assassinate one of the Slow Horses, but no one knows why. Who would want to murder a failed spy? Jackson Lamb (played brilliantly by Gary Oldman), the head of Slough House, initially rejects the idea anyone would be gunning for one of his rejected agents of MI5. But Lamb is nothing but loyal to his crew so he gets involved.

Like the previous four seasons, Slow Horses presents a plot that seems inexplicable, but then unravels in surprising ways. Must See TV! GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards an A

London Rules: GRADE: A

Yalum was first introduced to readers in Passengers and Perils back in 2022 (you can read my review here). Yalum and his partners, Conn Labro and his lover Jenore Mordene, operate a futuristic Uber enterprise, ferrying paying passengers around the Galaxy.

In Yalum, the Captain of the starship takes center stage as a plot to return Yalum to his planet of origin leads to kidnapping and murder.

Along with the implications of Yalum’s past, the Galaxy is about to undergo a Change where machines will cease to work and magic will rule. Yalum, Conn Labro, and Lenore Mordene travel to Old Earth to investigate the disaster that is about to occur. They also put together a plan to survive the Change by setting up a farm in a safe, protected rural area.

I enjoy Matthew Hughes’s tendency to expand the stories of secondary character in his books. Yalum is a good example of this. If you’re looking for an entertaining and compelling story about a world that is about to turn upside down, I recommend Yalum. GRADE: B

Two of my favorite singers have released new albums. Better Broken is Sarah McLachlan’s first album in 11 years. Van Morrison’s Remembering Now is his best album in the past 20 years.

Sarah McLachlan, a three-time Grammy winner, creates a very listenable–dare I say it…Easy Listening–album. For the first time, McLachlan is working with producers Tony Berg and Will Maclellan—known for their collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. The sound is amazing on this album in part because of contributions by Prince alumna Wendy Melvoin, drummer Matt Chamberlain, and pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz. GRADE: A

After listening to some of Van Morrison’s recent albums–a jazzy one, a bluesy one, an album of covers–Remembering Now is a return to the style of music I appreciate. Remembering Now includes a Van Morrison song entitled, “Back To Writing Love Songs,”  which sounds like it was recorded in the era of “Tupelo Honey.” A review in Mojo claims Remembering Now “might be Morrison’s best album since 1991’s Hymns To The Silence.” I agree.

This new album is full of soaring romantic lyricism missing from Van Morrison CDs in the 21st Century. One of my favorite songs on this album is “I Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder”–and Remembering Now proves it. GRADE: A 

TRACK LIST:

A1		Down To Joy Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Kelly SmileyBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Percussion – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPiano – Stuart McIlroySaxophone [Sax] – Paul O’Reilly (5)Trumpet – Mike BarkleyVocals – Van Morrison
A2		If It Wasn’t For Ray Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Jolene O’HaraBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Backing Vocals – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ], Backing Vocals – Richard DunnPercussion – Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket*Piano – Stuart McIlroySaxophone [Sax] – Paul O’Reilly (5)Trumpet – Mike BarkleyVocals, Electric Guitar – Van Morrison
A3		Haven’t Lost My Sense Of Wonder Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Jolene O’HaraBass – Nicky ScottDrums – Eamon FerrisElectric Organ [Hammond Organ], Piano – John McCullough (3)Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Van Morrison
A4		Love, Lover And Beloved Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Jolene O’HaraBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Backing Vocals – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ], Backing Vocals – Richard DunnPiano – John McCullough (3)Vocals, Electric Guitar, Saxophone [Sax] – Van Morrison
B5		Cutting Corners Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Jolene O’HaraBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Percussion – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPiano – Stuart McIlroyVocals, Saxophone [Sax], Electric Guitar – Van Morrison
B6		Back To Writing Love Songs Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Jolene O’HaraBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPercussion – Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket*Piano – Stuart McIlroyVocals, Electric Guitar – Van Morrison
B7		The Only Love I Ever Need Is Yours Acoustic Guitar – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Jolene O’Hara, Pete Wallace (3)Bass – Nicky ScottElectric Organ [Hammond Organ], Piano – John McCullough (3)Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Van Morrison
B8		Once In A Lifetime Feelings Acoustic Guitar, Bouzouki – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Jolene O’HaraBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ], Electric Organ [Philicorda] – Richard DunnPiano – Stuart McIlroyViolin – Seth LakemanVocals, Electric Guitar – Van Morrison
C9		Stomping Ground Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Jolene O’HaraBass – Nicky ScottElectric Organ [Hammond Organ], Piano – John McCullough (3)Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Saxophone [Sax] – Van Morrison
C10		Memories And Visions Acoustic Guitar – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Elle Cato, Jolene O’Hara, Pete Wallace (3)Bass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPiano – Stuart McIlroyVocals – Van Morrison
C11		When The Rains Came Backing Vocals – Chantelle Duncan, Teena LyleBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Backing Vocals – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Dave KearyElectric Organ [Hammond Organ], Electric Piano [Rhodes], Backing Vocals – Richard DunnPercussion – Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket*Violin – Seth LakemanVocals, Acoustic Guitar – Van Morrison
D12		Colourblind Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bouzouki – Dave KearyBacking Vocals – Crawford Bell, Jolene O’Hara, Pete Wallace (3)Bass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPercussion – Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket*Piano – Stuart McIlroyVocals, Electric Guitar, Saxophone [Sax] – Van Morrison
D13		Remembering Now Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Kelly SmileyBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Percussion – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPiano – John McCullough (3)Saxophone [Sax] – Paul O’Reilly (5)Vocals, Electric Guitar – Van Morrison
D14		Stretching Out Backing Vocals – Crawford Bell, Dana Masters, Kelly SmileyBass – Pete Hurley (3)Drums, Percussion – Colin Griffin (2)Electric Organ [Hammond Organ] – Richard DunnPiano – Stuart McIlroyVocals, Electric Guitar – Van Morrison

TRACK LIST:

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	“Better Broken”	Sarah McLachlan Benjamin BockMatthew Morris	4:00
2.	“Gravity”	McLachlan Thomas Doucet	5:00
3.	“The Last to Go”	McLachlan	3:34
4.	“Only Way Out Is Through”	McLachlan Tony Berg	4:01
5.	“Reminds Me” (featuring Katie Gavin)	McLachlan	3:49
6.	“One in a Long Line”	McLachlan Anne Preven	3:44
7.	“Only Human”	McLachlan	3:48
8.	“Long Road Home”	McLachlan	4:02
9.	“Rise”	McLachlan Doucet Preven	3:38
10.	“Wilderness”	McLachlan	4:38
11.	“If This Is the End…”	McLachlan Berg	5:35
Total length:			45:53

In his Preface to Tales of the Impossible, Bill Pronzini cites Carter Dickson (aka, John Dickson Carr) collection of locked room and impossible crimes, The Department of Queer Complaints (1940), as the book that ignited his fascination with “miracle problems.”

Over his long and successful career, Bill Pronzini has published many stories involving locked room mysteries and impossible crimes. This new Stark House volume collects 19 top-notch stories in that genre.

My favorite story in Tales of the Impossible is one of Pronzini’s stories about his most famous character: the Nameless Detective. The Nameless Detective in “Booktaker” is hired by a bookstore owner to investigate the thefts of several rare and expensive items from his secure Antiquities Room. Despite locks and security monitors, valuable items have vanished. Kerry Wade, the Nameless Detective’s love interest, plays a key role in the solution of how the thefts were accomplished.

Also entertaining are the Carpenter and Quincannon stories set in the 1890s. Pronzini sets his stories in a mausoleum, a gold mine, a sawmill camp, a locked office, and in ghostly surroundings. John Quincannon, who thinks he’s “indisputably the foremost detective west of the Mississippi if not the entire nation,” proves this might be the case as he solves the eight crimes he’s investigating in Tales of the Impossible.

Tales of the Impossible displays the quintessence of Bill Pronzini’s locked room and impossible crime stories. The bizarre crimes, complex puzzles, the tantalizing enigmas make Tales of the Impossible one of the Best Books of the Year! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PREFACE: The Game of Miracles — 7

STANDALONES

The Arrowmont Prison Riddle — 12

Proof of Guilt — 31

The Half-Invisible Man (with Jeffrey Wallmann) — 40

The Terrarium Principle — 50

Vanishing Act (with Michael Kurland) — 54

NAMELESS DETECTIVE

Where Have You Gone, Sam Spade? — 70

Something Wrong — 97

A Nice Easy Job — 102

Dead Man’s Slough — 119

Ace in the Hole — 129

Booktaker — 139

CARPENTER AND QUINCANNON

The Horseshoe Nail — 172

Devil’s Brew — 192

The Chatelaine Bag (with Marcia Muller) –209

The Body Snatchers — 223

The Gold Stealers — 238

Smoke Screen — 255

It Couldn’t Be Done — 270

The Carville Ghost — 290

Bibliography — 312

Back in the mid-1960s, S. E. Hinton, a teenager, wrote The Outsiders, which became a surprise best seller. Now, over 50 years later, The Outsiders: The Musical is touring the country with a blend of West Side Story and Grease. The Broadway version won the Best Musical Tony.

The story is set in Tulsa in 1967. The city has two warring groups: the Greasers (poor teenagers) and the Socs (upper-middle class teenagers) (pronounced /ˈsoʊʃɪz/ SOH-shiz—short for Socials). The musical includes several fights including an epic battle in the rain.

 Ponyboy Curtis, a Greaser with aspirations, finds himself on the run after a vicious incident with the Socs. For a musical aimed at a younger audience, there’s a surprising body count.

While my favorite song is “Stay Gold,” I found many of the songs in The Outsiders merely passable. GRADE: B

MUSICAL NUMBERS:

1. ACT ONE:	Tulsa ’67
2	Grease Got a Hold
3	Runs in the Family
4	Great Expectations
5	Friday at the Drive-in
6	I Could Talk to You All Night
7	Runs in the Family (Reprise)
8	Far Away From Tulsa
9. ACT TWO:	Run Run Brother
10	Justice for Tulsa
11	Death’s at My Door
12	Throwing in the Towel
13	Soda’s Letter
14	Hoods Turned Heroes
15	Hopeless War
16	Trouble
17	Little Brother
18	Stay Gold
19	Finale (Tulsa ’67)