About six weeks ago my right leg started to hurt. The pain started in my lower back and shot down the back of my leg to my ankle. I took ibuprofen and it lessened the pain…for a few days. Then, even though I increased my dose of ibuprofen, it had minimal effect on my leg pain. I contacted my orthopedic surgeon, got an MRI and X-ray and then attended an appointment with Dr. Stube to go over the results.

Dr. Stube, basing his opinion on the test results, diagnosed me as having spinal stenosis. From the print-out report of our meeting: “Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within your spine, which can put pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine. Spinal stenosis occurs most often in the lower back and the neck.” That “pressure on the nerves” resulted in my leg pain.

Dr. Stube told me, “I want to put you on Celebrex.” He called in the prescription, I picked it up at Rite-Aid, ate lunch with Diane, took a Celebrex (Dr. Stube advised me to take Celebrex with food)…and an hour later HALF OF MY LEG PAIN WAS GONE! For the first time in weeks, I was actually able to get a good night sleep!

The next morning, the pain was increasing so after breakfast I took another Celebrex. An hour later ALL MY LEG PAIN WAS GONE. I’ve now been on Celebrex for three weeks and I’m pain-free. Celebrex is a Wonder Drug…at least for me!

I know a number of the participants of this blog are suffering from pain. There are risks with all medications. But if the benefits–freedom from pain–out-weigh the risks (in this case, Celebrex can cause your blood pressure to go up), you might consider it. Here’s the Mayo Clinic description of Celebrex:

“This medication is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), specifically a COX-2 inhibitor, which relieves pain and swelling (inflammation). It is used to treat arthritis, acute pain, and menstrual pain and discomfort. The pain and swelling relief provided by this medication helps you perform more of your normal daily activities.”

Yesterday at 2:30 P. M. a gunman motivated by hate and dressed in tactical gear killed 10 people and wounded three others at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket where I’ve shopped.

Officials said the gunman streamed the attack on a social media platform.

The suspect, an 18-year-old white man, dressed in tactical gear, was taken into custody after shooting 13 people at the Tops Friendly Market supermarket. Four store employees, including a security guard, were among the victims. Eleven of the shooting victims are Black, two are white. The captured gunman will be charged with a Hate Crime among other charges.

You have to wonder what would possess someone to don a helmet and Kevlar armor, drive 200 miles, and shoot innocent people doing their Saturday grocery shopping. Our country continues to decline into chaos. And, if this mass shooting can happen in placid Buffalo, NY it can happen anywhere.

In the first episode of Bosch: Legacy, the sequel spin-off to Amazon Prime Video’s long-running detective procedural, an earthquake strikes Los Angeles and shakes the foundation of Harry Bosch’s beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills with cracks everywhere.

Bosch’s house, a glass-encased two-bedroom on stilts, was also featured in the Michael Mann classic Heat—it’s where Amy Brenneman’s graphic designer (and Robert De Niro love interest) Eady lives—and it’s an essential part of the Bosch experience. It’s the perfect metaphorical space for a detective to brood while playing jazz records and nursing a Fat Tire beer. Now, because of the structural damage, Bosch, never exactly a work/life balance adherent, has to sleep in his office.

With Bosch (Titus Welliver) leaving the police force and becoming a private detective, the focus becomes equally focused on the Past…and the Future. Having never known his own father, Bosch gets personally wrapped up in solving the case of a wealthy, dying client (William Devane) who seeks to discover what happened to the woman he got pregnant 70 years ago.

Played by Madison Lintz, Bosch’s daughter Maddie struggles in her new career in the police force. Honey “Money” Chandler (Mimi Rogers), a civil rights lawyer who faced off with Bosch in the courtroom over seven seasons, eventually finds she needs Bosch’s help after almost being murdered.

If you’re a Bosch fan, you’ll enjoy Bosch: Legacy. A second season has already been approved. GRADE: B

At a certain point in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Roger Zelazny became my favorite Science Fiction and Fantasy writer. Zelazny won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards so I wasn’t alone in considering him a wonderful writer.

But, as so often happens, I couldn’t keep up with Zelazny’s output. And, other writers nudged Zelazny from my Top Spot so I still bought his books…but didn’t get around to reading many of them. That’s the case with Changeling (1980) and Madwand (1981). Some critics thought Zelazny was going to launch another series like his famous Amber series with these two novels. But whatever the reason, these two books remain alone.

Changeling begins with a battle. The sorcerer of Rondoval faces defeat and death. His wife, Lady Lydia, flees while leaving her infant son, Pol. When the baby is discovered, some of the soldiers suggest killing the child. But the victorious sorcerer, Mor, decides to exile the baby to an alternate Earth (ours). However, Magic demands a balance so Mor travels to Earth with baby Pol and exchanges the infant with another infant named Mark.

As time passes, Pol grows up in a technological society where his magic powers disrupts the workings of all machinery–much to the frustration of his computer using father. Meanwhile, Mark grows up on a farm in the magic world and begins to invent useful items–which are not appreciated by the villagers. As you might guess, Changeling ends up with a battle between Mark and Pol. GRADE: B

Madwand continues Pol’s story as he attempts to learn about his past and master the magic arts. I found this sequel lacking in the intensity of the original novel. GRADE: C+

Last week I posted about Southern Rock Classics, Volume 2 (you can read my review here). The Allman Brothers Band received accolades for their songs on the compilation CD so I decided to dig out my 20th Century Masters: The Best of the Allman Brothers Band, The Millennium Collection (2000) and listen to it again.

The Allman Brothers Band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson (drums). Subsequently, based in Macon, Georgia, The Allman Brothers Band incorporated elements of blues, jazz, and country music. Their popular live shows featured improvisation and instrumentals.

Group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971.  Bassist Berry Oakley died one year and 13 days later on November 11, 1972 in a similar motorcycle accident. Butch Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 24, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 69. Gregg Allman died from complications arising from liver cancer on May 27, 2017, at his home in Georgia, also at the age of 69.

The Allman Brothers Band has been awarded seven gold and four platinum albums, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004. Great band, great music, tragic history. GRADE: A

TRACKLIST:

		Whipping Post	5:16
		Dreams	7:16
		Revival	4:03
		Midnight Rider	2:57
		Hot ‘Lanta	5:19
		Melissa	3:54
		Stand Back	3:24
		Blue Sky	5:09
		Ramblin’ Man	4:48
		Jessica	7:28
		Crazy Love	3:43

Jack Vance’s Galactic Effectuator (1980) contains the novella “The Dogtown Tourist Agency” and the novelette “Freitzke’s Turn.” Both stories feature an intergalactic sleuth, Miro Hetzel, who uses his keen intelligence to pursue unusual, challenging cases.

Miro Hetzel is hired by the head of Palladian Micronics to investigate a mysterious company, Instagam, who is suspiciously manufacturing goods at a cut-rate price. Hetzel accepts the case and travels to the planet of Maz where he finds treachery and skullduggery.

Hetzel investigates a plan to deliver weapons to the warlike, primitive “Gomaz” race on Maz in return for…something strange. Jack Vance is at the top of his game in “The Dogtown Tourist Agency.” GRADE: A

“Freitzke’s Turn” concerns Miro Hetzel taking on a case for Conwit Clent, who has had his testicles stolen by a rogue doctor. Some critics have suggested “Freitzke’s Turn” was a a loose sketch of what would become The Book of Dreams seven years later. GRADE: B

Weird westerns emerged as a genre mashup with Science Fiction, horror, and westerns thrown into a literary blender. In Outer Range, James Brolin plays Royal Abbott, a Wyoming cattle man trying to keep his struggling ranch afloat. But Royal Abbott harbors two Big Secrets.

Imogen Potts plays Amy, a strange wanderer who camps on Royal Abbott’s land. Amy holds a lot of secrets, too.

And the under-rated Will Patton plays the wealthy ranching neighbor who wants Royal’s West Pasture any way he can finagle it. So far, this seems like a conventional contemporary western.

But Royal discovers something in his West Pasture that upends everything: a circular hole about 100 feet in diameter…that’s a time tunnel.

My major complaint about Outer Range concerns its glacial pacing. I watched all 8 hours and realized the plot–after all the filler (love story, murder, various social and church gatherings)–could have been told in 2 episodes. And, of course, Outer Range ends with several cliffhangers so a Second Season seems likely. I’m not sure I’ll watch it.

Oscar Isaac stars as Marc Spector / Moon Knight and Steven Grant / Mr. Knight, two alternative personalities of a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID). Marc Spector has bound himself in service to the Egyptian Moon God, Khonshu, as his avatar.

Ethan Hawke plays Arthur Harrow: a religious zealot and cult leader associated with the Egyptian goddess Ammit looking to exact justice and judgement based on future crimes. Harrow was Khonshu’s previous avatar before Spector.  

So basically it’s a fight between Marc Spector and Arthur Harrow with wimpy Steven Grant thrown in for comic relief. Once again, there’s a lot of filler in these episodes. I’m not sure I would watch a Second Season of Moon Knight if there is one. So, here are two misses. Are you disappointed in the quality of programming on some of the streaming services? GRADE: C (for both)

I’ve enjoyed Salman Rushdie’s work from Midnight’s Children to The Satanic Verses. Languages of Truth collects Rushdie’s essays written in the 21st Century so far. In Part 1, Rushdie writes about his development as a writer, which writers influenced him, and how his writing career changed over the decades.

My favorite section of Languages of Truth is Part 2. Rushdie’s essay on Philip Roth is brilliant. He praises Michael’s favorite Roth novel, Sabbath’s Theater, and discusses Roth’s oeuvre in detail. “Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five” puts that great novel into context. Writing about his friend, Harold Pinter, Rushdie’s insights into the 2005 Nobel Prize winner’s work illuminated them for me. Pinter had some harsh comments on today’s language:

“…language becomes a permanent masquerade, a tapestry of lies. The ruthless and cynical mutilation and degradation of human beings, both in spirit and body…these actions are justified by rhetorical gambits, sterile terminology and concepts of power which stink.” (p. 137)

The rest of Rushdie’s essays include reviews, interviews, and the assorted writing he did for various magazines. The quality varies. If you’re looking for thoughtful and well written essays, I recommend Languages of Truth. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Part 1

Wonder Tales 3

Proteus 30

Heraclitus 47

Another Writer’s Beginnings 62

Part 2

Philip Roth 85

Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse-Five 101

Samuel Beckett’s Novels 111

Cervantes and Shakespeare 117

Gabo and I 120

Harold Pinter (1930-2008) 133

Introduction to the Paris Review Interviews, Vol. IV 143

Autobiography and the Novel 148

Adaptation 166

Notes on Sloth: From Saligia to oblomov 183

Hans Christian Andersen 195

King of the World by David Remnick 199

Very Well Then I Contradict Myself 205

Part 3

Truth 211

Courage 215

Texts for Pen 220

1 The Pen and the Sword 220

2 The Birth of Pen World Voices 224

3 The Arthur Miller Lecture, 2012 226

4 Pen World Voices Opening Night 2014 230

5 Pen World Voices Opening Night 2017 234

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) 237

The Liberty Instinct 243

Osama Bin Laden 257

AI Weiwei and Others 261

The Half-Woman God 265

Nova Southeastern University Commencement Address, 2006 274

Emory University Commencement Address, 2015 279

Part 4

The Composite Artist: The Emperor Akbar and the Making of the Hamzanama 285

Amrita sher-Gil: Letters 302

Bhupen Khakhar (1934-2003) 309

Being Francesco Clemente: Self-Portraits, Gagosian Gallery, London, 2005 312

Taryn Simon: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Whitney Museum, New York, 2007 319

Kara Walker at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2009 325

Sebastião Salgado 328

The Unbeliever’s Christmas 331

Carrie Fisher 335

Pandemic: A Personal Engagement with the Coronavirus 339

The Proust Questionnaire: Vanity Fair 351

About These Texts 353

It’s been six years since the first Doctor Strange movie showed up at theaters (you can read my review here) so the packed AMC theater audience who watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness might have felt–like I did–that this movie didn’t feel like a sequel to the first Doctor Strange movie.

Of course, a lot happened in those six years: Infinity War, Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. In addition, for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to make any sense, you need to know about the happenings of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff (aka, The Scarlet Witch) in WandaVision (you can read my review here), the nine-episode Disney+ series.

Director Sam Raimi has a lot of balls to juggle in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness which is filled with cameos. So Raimi can be forgiven for not developing the character of America Chavez (Xochiti Gomez) who is the object of the chases across the Multiverse because of her powers to access those worlds. Screenwriter Michael Waldron tries to makes sense of the mishmash of alternative worlds and dimensions but at times it’s a losing battle. How do you deal with Infinity?

I love Rachel McAdams (and so does Doctor Strange in all the Multiverse worlds) but she doesn’t get much to do in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has a crowded stage.

What saves Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness from interdimensional chaos is Benedict Cumberbatch’s skill in the role of the Master of Mystic Arts. Much of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dwells on serious questions, but Benedict Cumberbatch manages to inject levity at key moments in this movie to bring the audience back from the ledge. I’m looking forward to the next Doctor Strange movie that shouldn’t be so encumbered by so much Marvel baggage. GRADE: B