Carrie Vaughn’s latest Young Adult novel is set in near-future society that has been devastated by disease and super-storms. Enid, a young investigator, is brought to a rural town to investigate the death of a handy man named Sero. The community has a lot of secrets that Enid slowly unravels. I’ve enjoyed Carrie Vaughn’s work, especially Martians Abroad (you can read my review here). If you’re in the mood for a clever SF mystery, give Bannerless a try. GRADE: B+

To clear up some misunderstandings, this new collection is The Complete Psychotehnic League, Volume One not to be confused with Poul Anderson’s Polesotechnic League series (seven volumes also published by BAEN Books). Anderson wrote the Psychotehnic League stories from 1947 to 1968. Set in a post-World War III world, the Psychotechnic League attempts to influence government and popular opinion with science. Yes, some of these stories are dated. But Poul Anderson’s story-telling ability shines through. I’ll be buying the next two volumes of The Complete Psychotechnic League as soon as BAEN Books publishes them! If you love classic SF as much as I do, you’ll enjoy The Complete Psychotechnic League! GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Psychotechnic League by Sandra Miesel
Marius
Un-Man
The Sensitive Man
The Big Rain
Afterword by Poul Anderson

WARNING! If you’re not a fan of the Blues, you’ll probably not like this new Van Morrison CD. Morrison unleashes his bluesy singing voice and the 15 tracks on this CD are all blues songs. Some are new, but most are older tunes. I liked “Transformation” and “Benediction” the best. Your mileage may vary. Not my favorite Van Morrison CD. GRADE: B-
TRACK LIST:
1. “Roll With the Punches” (Van Morrison & Don Black)
2. “Transformation” (Van Morrison)
3. “I Can Tell” (Bo Diddley & Samuel Bernard Smith)
4. “Stormy Monday / Lonely Avenue” (T-Bone Walker / Doc Pomus)
5. “Goin’ To Chicago” (Count Basie & Jimmy Rushing)
6. “Fame” (Van Morrison)
7. “Too Much Trouble” (Van Morrison)
8. “Bring It on Home to Me” (Sam Cooke)
9. “Ordinary People” (Van Morrison)
10. “How Far From God” (Sister Rosetta Tharpe)
11. “Teardrops From My Eyes” (Rudy Toombs)
12. “Automobile Blues” (Lightnin’ Hopkins)
13. “Benediction” (Mose Allison)
14. “Mean Old World” (Little Walter)
15. “Ride On Josephine” (Bo Diddley)

Some of you might recognize Benny Andersson as one of the members of the super group ABBA. This new CD, Piano, features Andersson playing a solo piano. The music is a blend of ABBA music, music from the play (and movie) Chess that Andersson wrote, and various other tunes from Andersson’s repertoire. Some ABBA fans will miss the full musical experience, but I enjoyed the soothing piano playing and sensitive music. If you’re an ABBA fan, you’ll want to give Piano a listen. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. I Let The Music Speak
2. You And I
3. Aldrig
4. Thank You For The Music
5. Stockholm By Night
6. Chess
7. The Day Before You Came
8. Someone Else’s Story
9. Midnattsdans
10. Målarskolan
11. I Wonder (Departure)
12. Embassy Lament
13. Anthem
14. My Love, My Life
15. Mountain Duet
16. Flickornas rum
17. Efter regnet
18. Tröstevisa
19. En skrift i snön
20. Happy New Year
21. I gott bevar

Tom Cruise (aka, The Smirking Dwarf) channels former TWA pilot Barry Seal perfectly in this movie “based on true events.” It’s the late 1970s and the CIA approaches Barry Seal with a proposition: quit TWA and fly planes down to Central America on reconnaissance missions. Seal likes the sound of that and does the fly-overs of Communist bases. The CIA is so happy with Seal’s photos, they give him additional missions: deliver money to Colonel Noriega in return for top secret intel, deliver some weapons to insurgents, etc. Barry Seal decides to free-lance a little and starts bringing cocaine into the U.S….lots of cocaine. And, Seal makes millions of dollars. Part of the fun of American Made shows the difficulty of stashing bags and bags of cash.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. The CIA dumps Barry Seal, the D.E.A. busts him, and Colonel Oliver North sends Seal down to Central America for “one last mission.” Tom Cruise perfectly captures the arrogance, greed, and lunacy of Barry Seal. American Made is a cautionary tale that stings at the end. GRADE: B

Diane and I finally drove up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada for the Shaw Festival. Each year, the Shaw Festival presents compelling plays by George Bernard Shaw and plays related to the Shaw era. The second largest repertory theatre company in North America was founded in 1962.

The Madness of George III is based on the true story of King George III who experienced a bout of “madness” that threatened to topple the Government. I’m a fan of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys (both the play and the movie version). Bennett has the skill to present grim realities with wit and humor. Watching Tom McCamus’s (you’ve seen him in Orphan Black and Room) descent into madness on the stage is one of the finest performances I’ve seen at the Shaw Festival in 20 years! Brilliant!

The movie version, The Madness of King George (1994), featured Nigel Hawthorne as the King and Helen Mirren as the Queen. It was nominated for four Academy Awards.

The horrific treatment of mental illness, the Royal politics of those times, and Courtly behavior swirl around King George’s story. I highly recommend The Madness of George III. GRADE: A

The Bills scored a 26-16 upset over the Denver Broncos last week. This week, the Bills take on one of the NFL’s undefeated teams, the Atlanta Falcons (the other undefeated team is the Kansas City Chiefs). The Bills are 8-point underdogs to the Falcons. I’m not optimistic about this game. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

Peter and the Starcatcher: A Grownup’s Prequel to Peter Pan is a wacky play by Rick Elice based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. An ensemble of actors enters a bare stage and addresses the audience. Suddenly, the stage is transformed alternately as a pirate ship–the Neverland and a British frigate–the Wasp. The plot revolves around the contents of two identical trunks–one with magical star material and the other filled with sand. Plenty of silliness follows.

Peter Pan begins the musical as a wretched, frequently beaten orphan. Peter and two Lost Boys–Prentiss and Teddy–are rescued by Molly, the plucky daughter of Lord Leonard Aster. Together the children resist the pirates, but find themselves stranded on a strange island. I enjoyed the wild antics of the pirates and the constant bravery of Molly. If you’re in the mood for something very funny and very different, check out Peter and the Starcatcher if it comes to your neighborhood. GRADE: A-

Remember those cool (and creepy!) horror paperbacks from the 1970s and 1980s? Well, Grady Hendrix presents over a hundred paperback covers and provides entertaining facts about the writers from that era. The Horror genre was huge back in the 1970s and 1980s. Part of the appeal was the wild and weird covers on those paperbacks. Hendrix picks many of the representative covers (but he forgot Good-Night Moom, the Bill Crider classic–maybe it will show up in the sequel!).

Clearly, this is a labor of love. Hendrix loves these horror novels and shows why the lurid covers only made the books more popular. If you’re a fan of paperbacks, Paperbacks From Hell is a must-buy! Do you have favorite horror novel? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION 7
PROLOGUE 10
CHAPTER 1: HAIL SATAN 10
CHAPTER 2: CREEPY KIDS 46
CHAPTER 3: WHEN ANIMALS ATTACK 78
CHAPTER 4: REAL ESTATE NIGHTMARES 102
CHAPTER 5: WEIRD SCIENCE 124
CHAPTER 6: GOTHIC AND ROMANTIC 144
CHAPTER 7: INHUMANOIDS 168
CHAPTER 8: SPLATTER PUNKS, SERIAL KILLERS, AND SUPER CREEPS 192
SELECTED CREDITS AND PUBLISHER BIOGRAPHIES 226
AFTERWORD 234
CREDITS 237
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 248
INDEX 250

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years since The Rolling Stones unleashed Their Satanic Majesties Request on the world. This was the Stones’s response to The Beatles’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which explains the costumes on the album cover (both cover photographs were taken by Michael Cooper).

Keith Richards claims in his 2010 memoir Life that “none of us wanted to make [Satanic Majesties], but it was time for another Stones album, and Sgt. Pepper’s was coming out, so we thought basically we were doing a put-on.”

I’ve always considered Their Satanic Majesties Request a quirky album. The variety of songs and styles constantly surprise with each listening. The “hit” on this album was “She’s a Rainbow.” This CD has been totally remastered in both mono and stereo. A vinyl edition is also available. Are you a Rolling Stones fan? What did you think of Their Satanic Majesties Request when you first heard it? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1. Sing This All Together
2. Citadel
3. In Another Land
4. 2000 Man
5. Sing This All Together (See What Happens)
6. She’s A Rainbow
7. The Lantern
8. Gomper
9. 2000 Light Years From Home
10. On With The Show