Around Christmas 2015, my left hip started to hurt. I thought it might be the weather. I thought I might have accidentally “bumped” it. I took some over-the-counter ibuprofen and hoped the pain would go away. It didn’t. So I called for an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon (the same surgeon who successfully replaced my bone-on-bone knees with new titanium knees). But, of course, I had to wait five weeks to get in to see him.

My surgeon examined me, had an X-Ray taken, and told me: “You can use this cream on your hip or I can give you a shot.” I opted for the steroid shot. And he gave me this new pill, Duexis, which is 800 mg. of ibuprofen with famotidine to protect my stomach.

A week later, the hip pain is greatly reduced. The shot and the Duexis tablets are working. What a relief! How do you deal with your aches and pains?

Although Michael Fassbender (who plays Steve Jobs) and Kate Winslet (who plays Apple Marketing Executive Joanna Hoffman) didn’t win any Oscars for this movie, their nominations show that the Academy recognized the difficulty of their roles. Steve Jobs in Aaron Sorkin’s script is a passionate perfectionist and a difficult person. That combination makes him hostile to his friends and workers. Yet, the fact remains that Jobs was a genius who came up with the Macintosh computer, the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. I liked Steve Jobs but it never really found its audience. Maybe this Blu-ray will help. Special features include: Inside Jobs: The Making of Steve Jobs, Feature Commentary with Director Danny Boyle, and Feature Commentary with Writer Aaron Sorkin and Editor Elliot Graham. GRADE: B+

Tom Wainwright believes we have lost the “War on Drugs” and we need to come up with a different strategy. Wainwright is an editor with The Economist so it shouldn’t surprise you that his approach is an economic one. It’s too easy for drug cartels to ship their product to the States (and elsewhere). It’s too easy to distribute the drugs and sell them. It’s too easy to take the money out of the country. Narconomics suggests ways Government could make all of these illegal activities much more expensive. Wainwright argues for a market-based solution to illegal drugs. The old methods haven’t worked so why not try something different? I found Wainwright’s analysis fascinating and his descriptions of the “business side” of drug dealing compelling. If you have any interest in solving our country’s drug problems, Narcoomics is a good place to start. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction Cartel Incorporated
Chapter 1 Cocaine’s Supply Chain: The Cockroach Effect and the 30,000 Percent Markup

Chapter 2 Competition vs. Collusion: Why Merger Is Sometimes Better Than Murder

Chapter 3 The People Problems of a Drug Cartel: When James Bond Meets Mr. Bean

Chapter 4 PR and the Mad Men of Sinaloa: Why Cartels Care About Corporate Social Responsibility

Chapter 5 Offshoring: The Perks of Doing Business on the Mosquito Coast

Chapter 6 The Promise and Perils of Franchising: How the Mob Has Borrowed from McDonald’s

Chapter 7 Innovating Ahead of the Law: Research and Development in the “Legal Highs” Industry

Chapter 8 Ordering a Line Online: How Internet Shopping Has Improved Drug Dealers’ Customer Service

Chapter 9 Diversifying into New Markets: From Drug Smuggling to People Smuggling

Chapter 10 Coming Full Circle: How Legalization Threatens the Drug Lords

Conclusion Why Economists Make the Best Police Officers
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

I though 2015 was a strong year for movies. Of course one of my favorite movies of 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road, won’t get the respect it deserves. I liked Sylvester Stallone’s performance in CREED, but Michael B. Jordan should have gotten a nomination, too. That might have negated some of the controversy about the lack of diversity in the nomination process. Here are my guesses who will win tonight. Who do you think will win?
Best Picture: The Revenant

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

Best Actress: Brie Larson, Room

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Animated Feature Film: Inside Out

Last year Patrick saw Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn at a concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He liked their energetic banjo music. When Diane discovered that Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn were coming to Buffalo, we immediately bought tickets. You can check out the video below to sample what we’re going to see and hear tonight. If you’re in the mood for something different, I recommend Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn’s music. They’re terrific!

Last week for FFB, I reviewed Gardner Dozois’s The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Best Science Fiction. You can read that review here. For this week’s FFB, I decided to review the second volume: The Best of the Best, Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels. These short novels display the variety of themes science fiction deals with. I really like Robert Silverberg’s Sailing to Byzantium and Mr. Boy by James Patrick Kelly (no relation). Several of these stories are award winners. Once again, Gardner Dozois opts for variety in his choices. If you’re a fan of SF short novels, you’ll find a lot of quality in this anthology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
PREFACE,
SAILING TO BYZANTIUM • by Robert Silverberg,
SURFACING • by Walter Jon Williams,
THE HEMINGWAY HOAX • by Joe Haldeman,
MR. BOY • by James Patrick Kelly,
BEGGARS IN SPAIN • by Nancy Kress,
GRIFFIN’S EGG • by Michael Swanwick,
OUTNUMBERING THE DEAD • by Frederik Pohl,
FORGIVENESS DAY • by Ursula K. Le Guin,
THE COST TO BE WISE • by Maureen F. McHugh,
OCEANIC • by Greg Egan,
TENDELÉO’S STORY • by Ian McDonald,
NEW LIGHT ON THE DRAKE EQUATION • by Ian R., MacLeod,
TURQUOISE DAYS • by Alastair Reynolds,

My favorite song on this 1989 album is “When The Night Comes.” Joe Cocker, who one critic opined gargles with razor blades, is in fine form on One Night of Sin. I like Cocker’s rendition of “Fever,” the classic song usually sung by women. And Cocker does a nice job with Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man.” There’s a little bit of everything on this CD: blues, pop, and torch songs. Well worth a listen. What’s your favorite Joe Cocker song? GRADE: B+
TRACK LIST:
1. “When the Night Comes” (Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, Diane Warren) – 5:20
2. “I Will Live for You” (Stephen Allen Davis) – 4:11
3. “Got to Use My Imagination” (Gerry Goffin, Barry Goldberg) – 4:24
4. “Letting Go” (Charlie Midnight, Jimmy Scott[3]) – 4:11
5. “Just to Keep from Drowning” (Marshall Chapman, Davis) – 4:39
6. “Unforgiven” (Tim Hardin, Ken Lauber) – 3:28 – CD bonus track
7. “Another Mind Gone” (Joe Cocker, Jeff Levine, Chris Stainton) – 4:44
8. “Fever” (Eddie Cooley, John Davenport) – 3:37
9. “You Know It’s Gonna Hurt” (Rick Boston, Nick Gilder) – 3:59
10. “Bad Bad Sign” (Dan Hartman, Midnight) – 4:09
11. “I’m Your Man” (Leonard Cohen) – 3:52
12. “One Night of Sin” (Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steiman) – 3:14

I’ve read the first two books in Alastair Reynolds’s space opera series: On the Steel Breeze and Blue Remembered Earth. Poseidon’s Wake follows the template of the previous books with the conflict between human and machine civilizations. A human colony on Crucible receives a message from a nearby star system. The colony sends an exploration vessel with a secret saboteur aboard. The vessel arrives to find two very different alien artifacts. And, suddenly, one of the alien artifacts turns on. If you like space opera with Big Themes, Poseidon’s Wake delivers. However, I wish Reynolds concentrated on action and less on conversations. This is a very chatty book. GRADE: B-

Maggie Smith plays a homeless woman who somehow talks actor/playwright Alan Bennett to allow her to park her decrepit van in his driveway. For 15 years this crusty, difficult woman lives her mysterious life outside Bennett’s house. She was once a nun. She once played piano at the Proms. Alan Bennett, cleverly portrayed by Alex Jennings, shows the duality of his live by appearing with a double: one Alan Bennett who “experiences” and another Alan Bennett who “writes.” Very cool. Learning the secrets of this peculiar woman’s life and Alan Bennett’s reactions makes The Lady in the Van a classic mystery. But, you’ll be able to solve it: all the clues are in plain view. This “mostly” true story is a delight. GRADE: B+
SOUNDTRACK SET LIST:
1. Miss Shepherd’s Waltz
2. Moving in
3. Two Women – Tango
4. Re-parking
5. In Care
6. The Neighbours
7. Special Paint
8. Collision and Confession
9. Piano Concerto No. 1 – Extract
10. The New Van
11. Broadstairs
12. Impromptu in Gb Major- Extract
13. Curtain Down
14. Alive and Well
15. Freewheeling
16. The Day Centre
17. A Sepulchre
18. Remembering Miss Shepherd
19. Walk through the Cemetery
20. The Ascension (Miss Shepherd’s Waltz)
21. Impromptu in Gb Major D.899, No.3, Op. 90 – Clare Hammond
22. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op.11, 2. Romance (Larghetto)
23. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op.11, 3. Rondo

The ever generous Beth Fedyn sent me an ARC of David Denby’s Lit Up. David Denby, movie reviewer for The New Yorker, spent a year observing how reading is taught to high school students, mostly 10th graders. Denby hung out at the Beacon school in Manhattan, the James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn., and the Mamaronneck High School in Westchester. As anyone in the teaching profession can tell you, this upcoming generation of students would rather fiddle with their cell phones and tablets than read a book. Denby’s book shows how teachers are reaching some of these kids and turning them on to reading despite their short attention spans and lack of focus. This book also gives the casual reader some insights into what is happening in classrooms and the problems teachers and students have with the learning process today. If you’re interested in reading, teaching, and learning you’ll be fascinated by Lit Up. Beth, thanks again for sending this wonderful book my way! You’re the best! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION XIII

CHAPTER ONE
BEACON, SEPTEMBER: THE FIRST DAYS OF ENGLISH 10G 1

CHAPTER TWO
BEACON, OCTOBER: FAULKNER AND HAWTHORNE 12

CHAPTER THREE
BEACON, OCTOBER: SYLVIA PLATH AND CONFESSIONS 29

CHAPTER FOUR
BEACON, NOVEMBER: NUTS MATTER, AND BOLTS, TOO 35

CHAPTER FIVE
BEACON, NOVEMBER: HUXLEY 44

CHAPTER SIX
BEACON, DECEMBER AND JANUARY: ORWELL 63

CHAPTER SEVEN
MAMARONECK, ALL YEAR: PERSONAL CHOICE 78

CHAPTER EIGHT
BEACON, JANUARY: SATIRE 97

CHAPTER NINE
BEACON, FEBRUARY: COELHO AND HESSE 107

CHAPTER TEN
BEACON, FEBRUARY: VONNEGUT 120

CHAPTER ELEVEN
BEACON, MARCH: VIKTOR E. FRANKL 131

CHAPTER TWELVE
HILLHOUSE: THE YEAR 144

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MAMARONECK, SPRING: TENTH-­GRADE ENGLISH 178

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BEACON, APRIL AND MAY: DOSTOEVSKY 184

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BEACON, MAY AND JUNE: SARTRE AND BECKETT 203

AFTERWORD 222

Appendix 1: Reading Lists 239
Appendix 2: Beacon Students’ College List 242
Bibliography 244
Ac­know­ledg­ments 248
Index of Authors and Works 251
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