Diane’s sister, Carol, complained: “The letters on the keys of this keyboard are worn off!” Art Scott, during his last visit to North Tonawanda, also noticed the keys with worn-off letters. But Art’s complaint was the ergonomic design of my Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard. “How do you type with this thing?” Art demanded.

Actually, I type very well on my Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard (I know where the keys are!). When I was teaching at the College, I spent hours typing on the computer answering student emails (thousands!), typing up exams (hundreds), and filling out bureaucratic paperwork (tons!). Using conventional keyboards gave me a painful knot in the base of my neck. I read some reviews about ergonomic keyboards and bought the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard. It was love at first type! I could type for hours and not get that pain in my neck.

I requested a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard for my College computer, too. If you’re tired of neck and back pain from using a conventional keyboard, here’s the solution! Yesterday, the “P” key stopped working so I quickly bought a new Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard and I’m typing this post on the new keyboard right now! What kind of keyboard do you use? GRADE: A

I really liked Robert F. Young’s “Jungle Doctor”, but the classic stories in this anthology are “The Game of Rat and Dragon” by Cordwainer Smith and “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Cordwainer Smith’s story showed a very unique future. Walter M. Miller’s post-nuclear holocaust story captures the role of religion in the hardscrabble life where knowledge and technology are shunned. Frank Riley explores robotics in the legal system. Robert Bloch’s clever story has a sting at the end. All in all, T. E. Dikty’s selection of stories is an accurate reflection of science fiction stories in the mid-Fifties. GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The Science-Fiction Year, by T. E. Dikty
“Jungle Doctor”, by Robert F. Young (STARTLING STORIES, Fall 1955)
“Judgment Day”, by L. Sprague de Camp (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, August 1955)
“The Game of Rat and Dragon”, by Cordwainer Smith (GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION, October 1955)
“The Man Who Always Knew”, by Algis Budrys (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, April 1956)
“Dream Street”, by Frank M. Robinson (IMAGINATIVE TALES, March 1955)
“You Created Us”, by Tom Godwin (FANTASTIC UNIVERSE, October 1955)
“Swenson, Dispatcher”, by R. DeWitt Miller (GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION, April 1956)
“Thing”, by Ivan Janvier (FANTASTIC UNIVERSE, March 1955)
“I Do Not Love Thee, Doctor Fell”, by Robert Bloch (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, March 1955)
“Clerical Error”, by Mark Clifton (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, February 1956)
“A Canticle for Leibowitz”, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, April 1955)
“The Cyber and Justice Holmes”, by Frank Riley (IF, March 1955)
“The Shores of Night”, by Thomas N. Scortia (aka, “Sea Change,” ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, June 1956)
The Science-Fiction Book Index, by Earl Kemp

“Women have to live so much of their life in the in-betweens.” (p. 317) Megan Abbott’s narrator of Give Me Your Hand is Kit Owens, a young scientist laboring in a highly competitive academic lab. Kit is on the cusp of being selected for a position on a potentially ground-breaking study that could lift Kit out of the obscurity of the laboratory to scientific super-stardom. But, in a surprise move, Kit’s boss–the brilliant and ambitious Dr. Severin–announces a new candidate for a position on her prestigious study: Diane Fleming. In a series of flashbacks, we learn Kit and Diane had a friendship in High School when they were lab partners and ran on the track team.

Diane has a secret and Kit has a secret. When the secrets are shared, their friendship ends. But now, 12 years later, Diane and Kit are thrown back together in the high pressure research environment. Megan Abbott captures the stress and strain of academic competition. The suspense ratchets up as both women deal with the consequences of their past. Friendships, rivalries, and the riddles of blood swirl throughout the plot of this suspenseful mystery. Give Me Your Hand is Megan Abbott’s best novel so far! GRADE: A

I’ve enjoyed the previous two volumes of Andrew Cartmel’s “The Vinyl Detective” series (you can read my reviews of Written in Dead Wax here and The Run-Out Groove here). Although the Vinyl Detective specializes in finding rare vinyl records, this time he’s pushed to his limits to find 78 rpm shellac records from World War II featuring the Flare Path Orchestra (who actually beat the Glenn Miller Band in a competition). Of course, the search is complicated with neo-Nazis and a couple of murders. I really enjoy these frothy frolics in mystery and record collecting. Perfect Summer Reading! GRADE: B+

I nominate screenwriter and playwright Tracy Letts’s family in August: Osage County (2013) as the most dysfunctional on film. Meryl Streep plays Violet, a troubled woman dying of cancer and who is popping painkilling pills like they were Tic-Tacs. One of Violet’s daughters, Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) is harboring a Secret. Violet’s husband (Sam Shepard) hires a Native-American woman (Misty Upham) to cook and clean their house and then he “goes fishing.” Violet’s rebellious daughter, Barbara (Julia Roberts), arrives with her soon to be ex-husband (Ewan McGregor) and her sullen teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin). Violet’s “baby” daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis), has her new “fiancé” Dermot Mulroney) in tow. As if this weren’t enough of a combustable mix, there’s Violet’s sister, Mattie Fae (Margo Martindale) who has nothing but distaste for her son, Little Charles (Benedict Cumberbatch), and love for her husband (Chris Cooper). The family dinner scene where Violet attacks everyone rockets up the Horrific Scale. You won’t see a more stark and nasty example of verbal abuse. Although unpleasant, August: Osage County packs a punch with its outstanding cast. GRADE: B (for brutal)

Tracy Letts won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play August: Osage County.

Simon Blackburn’s slim, 142-page book addresses one of the most vexing problems of our Times: the devaluation of Truth. Blackburn writes that people “have been denied trustworthy sources of information.” The result is they “take refuge in believing whatever they would like to be true.” Yes, Magical Thinking rules right now. Of course, there is a cost to ignoring Truth. Sooner or later, all the Fake News and propaganda lead to disasters. Problems that don’t get addressed tend to grow.

Blackburn criticizes Religion because it “deliberately stupefies the understanding” with “explanations” like “The Lord works in mysterious ways” and “God will provide.” Using Religion to justify polices like Jeff Sessions has done is another perversion of Truth. Lies and exaggerations corrupt. We’re in for some Tough Times ahead. And that’s the Truth! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Preface
Part I: The Classic Approaches
1. Correspondence
2. Coherence
3. Pragmatism
4. Deflationism
5. Tarski and The Semantic Theory of truth
6. Summary of Part I
Part II: Varieties of enquiry
7. Truths of Taste; Truth in Art
8. Truth in Ethics
9. Reason
10. Religion and Truth
11. Interpretations
Notes
Further investigations
Index

Action, action, and more action. That’s the strategy behind Mission Impossible–Fallout written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Tom Cruise plays Ethan Hunt, head of the Impossible Missions team. His sidekicks, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg, provide technical assistance and banter. The Impossible Missions Force faces a nuclear threat by terrorists led by Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a former MI6 agent gone rogue. The plot races from Paris to London to Kashmir. In each location, there’s an eye-popping or jaw-dropping ballet of violence and serious stunt work. Tom Cruise was injured during the incredible helicopter sequence and his face shows it on the screen. No CGI stuff during these wild chases and perilous acts of cinematic physicality! The Real Deal up on the screen crackles with authenticity. Don’t miss this one! GRADE: A

The classic story in this anthology is Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations,” a story of Life and Death. Walter M. Miller’s “The Will” shows how a young boy, dying of cancer, finds a way to deal with his fate. Andre Norton makes her first appearance in this series with a clever little story, “Mousetrap.” Frank Herbert’s first SF story, “Nightmare Blues,” launches his career. My favorite story is Clifford D. Simak’s version of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, “How-2.” More science fiction magazines find representation in this volume. You can see the changes in the mid-1950s taking hold. GRADE: A-
TABLE OF CONTENTS:T
The Science-Fiction Year, by T. E. Dikty
The Cold Equations, by Tom Godwin (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, August 1954)
“Of Course”, by Chad Oliver (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, May 1954)
“Dominions Beyond”, by Ward Moore (The Saturday Evening Post, August 28, 1954)
“Guilty as Charged”, by Arthur Porges (The New York Post, Sunday November 27th, 1955)
“Careless Love”, by Albert C. Friborg (aka, “Push Button Passion,” THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, July 1954)
“Memento Homo”, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (aka, “Death of a Spaceman,” AMAZING STORIES, March 1954)
“Mousetrap”, by Andre Norton (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, June 1954)
“Christmas Trombone”, by Raymond E. Banks (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, January 1954)
“One Thousand Miles Up”, by Frank M. Robinson (SCIENCE STORIES, April 1954; by “Robert Courtney”)
“How-2”, by Clifford D. Simak (GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION, November 1954)
“Heirs Apparent”, by Robert Abernathy (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, June 1954)
“John’s Other Practice”, by Winston K. Marks (IMAGINATION, July 1954)
“The Inner Worlds”, by William Morrison (THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, April 1954)
“The Will”, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. (FANTASTIC, January-February 1954)
“Felony”, by James Causey (GALAXY SCIENCE FICTION, July 1954)
“The Littlest People”, by Raymond E. Banks (IF, March 1954)
“One Way Street”, by Jerome Bixby (Amazing Stories, December 1953-January 1954)
“Axolotl”, by Robert Abernathy (aka, “Deep Space,” THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, January 1954)
“Exile”, by Everett B. Cole (ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, January 1954)
“Nightmare Blues”, by Frank Herbert (aka, “Operation Syndrome,” ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION, June 1954)
The Science-Fiction Book Index, by Earl Kemp

Have you heard Dionne Warwick sing “Walk On By” in German? I have. And I’ve heard Dionne Warwick sing “Reach Out For Me” in French and “The Windows of the World” in Italian. Odds & Ends collects some of the rarities from the Scepter Records vault and remasters the 60-year-old sound.

I was a big fan of Dionne Warwick in the 1960s when she was singing all those Burt Bacharach and Hal David hits. I’ve only seen Dionne Warwick in concert once, but she was excellent. After listening to her music for decades, this new CD with odd versions of her songs is a delight! Are you a Dionne Warwick fan? Do you have a favorite Dionne Warwick song? GRADE: A
TRACK LIST:
1. I Say a Little Prayer (Alternate Version)
2. Monday, Monday
3. A House Is Not a Home (Italian Version)
4. He’s Moving On (Stereo Single Non-Soundtrack Version)
5. Amanda (Stereo Single Non-Soundtrack Version)
6. Walk On By (German Version)
7. Don’t Make Me Over (Alternate Version)
8. Reach Out for Me (French Version)
9. The Good Life (Studio Mix)
10. Loneliness Remembers What Happiness Forgets (Alternate Version)
11. Walk Little Dolly (Italian Version)
12. If You Let Me Make Love to You, Then Why Can’t I Touch You
13. La Vie En Rose (English Version)
14. You’ll Never Get to Heaven (German Version)
15. As Long as There’s an Apple Tree (Extended Version)
16. Our Ages or Our Hearts
17. How Many Days of Sadness (French Version)
18. I Love Paris (Studio Mix)
19. Silent Voices (Stereo Mix)
20. The Windows of the World (Italian Version)
21. C’est Si Bon (Studio Mix)
22. Odds & Ends (Alternate Version)
23. A House Is Not a Home (French Version)
24. Walk On By (Italian Version)
25. Do You Know the Way to San Jose (Alternate Version)
26. Dionne Radio Promo Spots & Public Service Announcements