It’s just like deja vu all over again…only worse! Back in January 2021, there was hope the vaccines would end the Coronavirus Pandemic. Sure, we got our Moderna shots and Booster, but millions of anti-vaxxers and anti-mask doofuses set the stage for the Summer surge of the Delta Variant. And now we’re facing the even more contagious Omicron Variant. The chances of contracting Covid-19 have never been greater!

The velocity of the spread of Omicron staggers our healthcare system. We’re dealing with early a million new positive tests per day, the last 7-day average of Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. was 1,664. On top of that, a shortage of Covid-19 test kits, Ron DeSantis’s casual insouciance in throwing away a million test kits “because they weren’t necessary,” long lines at testing sites, and a huge undercount of infections because people testing positive at home aren’t factored into the statistics adds to the mess.

Our hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients. Elective surgeries have been canceled. Most schools and colleges in our area retreated to “remote learning.”

Amid all this chaos, the wit and wisdom of Patti, Jeff, Deb, Rick, Beth, Todd, Art, Willam, Maggie, Bob, Tracy, Carl, Lauren, Steve, Jerry, Wolf, Stan, Dan, Neeru, Michael, Byron, Elgin, Angela, Scott, Jim, John, Kevin, Randy, James, Kent, Fred, and Matthew as well as all of you who make this blog a part of your day brought hope and sanity in these times of despair and outrage and frustration.

Thank you, thank you very much.

The NY Jets vs. Buffalo Bills game has been “flexed” from a 1:00 P.M. kickoff to a 4:30 P.M. kickoff. No matter. It will be rainy and windy whenever they play this game today. If the Bills defeat the Jets–the Bills are 17-point favorites–they become the Champions of the AFC East and get to host a home Playoff game next week. How will your favorite NFL team perform today? Are you happy with this season?

For the first time in decades, I didn’t snowblow in November or December. Yes, I had Big Orange tuned up and ready to go, but all we received in November and December were dustings of snow that melted away the next day.

But yesterday, Buffalo was hit with 18 inches of snow from a Lake Effect event. It snowed constantly all day long. We, in North Tonawanda, just a few miles north of Buffalo, received only 3 inches of the White Stuff. But that was enough snow to qualify for revving up Big Orange and cleaning our driveway and sidewalks. Two lady neighbors were struggling shoveling their driveways so Big Orange and I helped them out, too.

Are you getting any snow? What’s the weather like in your neighborhood?

This volume from 1964 includes two of my favorite SF stories: Jack Vance’s “Green Magic” and Richard McKenna’s “Hunter, Come Home.” I’m also fond of Ron Goulart’s Max Kearny stories of a supernatural events investigator. “McNamara’s Fish” is my favorite story of that series.

Other outstanding stories are Alfred Bester’s “They Don’t Make Life Like They Used To” and one of the better Zenna Henderson stories of The People (with powers), “Deluge.” All in all, another solid anthology. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 Introduction by Avram Davidson — i

The Golden Brick (1963) by P. M. Hubbard — 6

Peggy and Peter Go to the Moon (1963) by Don White — 18

Now Wakes the Sea (1963) by J. G. Ballard — 21

Green Magic (1963) by Jack Vance — 34

Captain Honario Harpplayer, R.N. (1963) by Harry Harrison — 49

Treaty in Tartessos (1963) by Karen Anderson — 61

Hunter, Come Home (1963) by Richard McKenna — 67

McNamara’s Fish [Max Kearny] (1963) by Ron Goulart — 112

Niña Sol (1963) by Felix Marti-Ibanez — 131

They Don’t Make Life Like They Used To (1963) by Alfred Bester — 150

What Strange Stars and Skies (1963) by Avram Davidson — 188

Eight O’Clock in the Morning (1963) by Ray Faraday Nelson — 212

Deluge [The People] (1963) by Zenna Henderson –219

I’m not sure these particular “20 Huge Hits” define the 1980s but I’m guessing most of you recognize a majority of these songs. The outlier for me is Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit.”

Who doesn’t like Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”? My main complaint about these twenty songs is that only three of them are sung by women. Many female groups and solo artists rocked the 80s, but they’re not represented here.

Do these songs bring back the 1980s for you? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

When I was about 11 years old, I discovered Rudyard Kipling. Actually I discovered The Jungle Book and all the wonderful stories about very strange places and creatures. I immediately grabbed The Second Jungle Book and loved that almost as much as the first book. Later, I read Kipling’s novels, Kim and Captains Courageous.

Somehow I missed Kipling’s Just So Stories (1902). Maybe I saw an edition with the full title: Just So Stories for Little Children and thought I was too grown up for that since I was on the cusp of becoming a teenager.

But now, at 72, I finally read Just So Stories and came under the spell of Kipling’s magic again. So did Jonathan Stroud but he has me beat by decades. Stroud’s father loved Just So Stories and read them to his small son. Stroud remembers his father making him laugh with these stories that blend silliness and cleverness.

Rudyard Kipling was a born story-teller and these Just So Stories appeal to children of all ages. If you’re looking for some delightful stories to read, here they are. Are you fan of Kipling? GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Jonathan Stroud — v

1. How the Whale Got His Throat – why the larger whales eat only small prey. — 1
2. How the Camel Got His Hump – how the idle camel was punished and given a hump. — 13
3. How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin – why rhinos have folds in their skin and bad tempers. — 25
4. How the Leopard Got His Spots – why leopards have spots. — 37
5. The Elephant’s Child/How the Elephant Got His Trunk – how the elephant‘s trunk became long. — 53
6. The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo – how the kangaroo assumed long legs and tail. — 71
7. The Beginning of the Armadillos – how a hedgehog and tortoise transformed into the first armadillos. — 83
8. How the First Letter Was Written – introduces the only characters who appear in more than one story: a family of cave-people, called Tegumai Bopsulai (the father), Teshumai Tewindrow (the mother), and Taffimai Metallumai, shortened to Taffy, (the daughter), and explains how Taffy delivered a picture message to her mother. — 99
9. How the Alphabet Was Made – tells how Taffy and her father invent an alphabet. — 119
10. The Crab that Played with the Sea – explains the ebb and flow of the tides, as well as how the crab changed from a huge animal into a small one. — 141
11. The Cat that Walked by Himself – explains how man domesticated all the wild animals, even the cat, which insisted on greater independence. — 161
12. The Butterfly that Stamped – how Solomon saved the pride of a butterfly, and the Queen of Sheba used this to prevent his wives scolding him. — 183
13. The Tabu Tale (missing from most British editions; first appeared in the Scribner edition in the U.S. in 1903). and missing from this volume.

BONUS MATERIAL: Author File, Who’s Who in the Just So Stories, Some Things to Do…, Did You Know…?, and Glossary.

Boba Fett, the enigmatic bounty hunter from the Star Wars series, shows up on Disney+ with an seven-episode season. Temuera Morrison plays Boba Fett. Ming-Na Wen plays assassin Fennec Shand, Fett’s partner.

Boba Fett and Fennec Shand attempt to make a name for themselves in the galaxy’s underworld by taking over the territory once controlled by Jabba the Hutt. The series is set on Tattooine between the events of Return of the Jedi (1983) and the second season of The Mandalorian (2020).

The first episode featured flashbacks to explain how Boba Fett landed in the circumstances he finds himself in. I’m more interested in Fennec Shand. Ming-Na Wen was one of my most favorite characters in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Melinda May. I love her projection of menace as an elite mercenary and assassin.

If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll enjoy The Book of Boba Fett as a fun diversion until The Mandalorian returns. Are you a Star Wars fan? GRADE: B+ (so far)

If you took Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and put them in a blender, you’d get something like The Library of the Dead. Ropafadzo “Ropa” Moyo is a teenage girl with the power to speak to ghosts. Ropa eeks out a meager business of delivering messages from the ghosts to the Living. Ropa supports her younger sister, Izwi, and her elderly Gran in a caravan home in Edinburgh, Scotland, living in poverty.

When a ghost begs Ropa to find her missing grandson, Ropa initially rejects the plea because the ghost has no way to pay her. But Ropa’s Gran convinces Ropa to search for the missing child. That leads Ropa to the secret Library of magic hidden under David Hume’s tomb and a confrontation with an Evil beyond her powers to contend with.

Although The Library of the Dead is being marketed as a Young Adult novel, there are some disturbing parts of the book that might upset younger readers. I found some of the plot meandering. A good Editor would have tightened up the action. But, all in all, I enjoyed The Library of the Dead. The title page says: Edinburgh Nights Book One–so I’m assuming more volumes in this series are on their way. I’ll read them. Are you a fan of The Hunger Games and Harry Potter? GRADE: B

After the Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots 33-21 despite a depleted roster because Covid-19 infections, it would be natural for the Bills to have a let-down. While the 9-6 Bills are favored over the 7-8 Atlanta Falcons by 11 points, upsets are common at this part of the NFL season. Nervous Bills fans will be glued to their TV sets for this one. Those 70,000 Bills fans who go to Highmark Stadium to watch the game in-person will have to contend with 15 degree windchills. How will your favorite NFL perform today?

Do you have any New Year’s Resolutions?