If you’re a fan of Soul Music, you’re going to enjoy Saun and Starr’s Look Closer. Saun and Starr have spent the last five years as backup singers for Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Now they get to step up to the mike and belt out some great soul songs (check out the sample below). My favorite song on this CD is “Sunshine (You’re Blowing My Cool), but all the songs are fun to listen to. Unless you go back and listen to your Motown CDs, you’re not going to hear music like this today. GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:
1 Look Closer (Can’t You See the Signs?) (3:45)
2 Hot Shot (3:31)
3 Gonna Make Time (2:52)
4 Sunshine (You’re Blowin My Cool) (4:02)
5 If Only (3:36)
6 Another Love Like Mine (3:43)
7 Big Wheel (3:18)
8 Your Face Before My Eyes (2:07)
9 Dear Mr. Teddy (3:14)
10 In The Night (2:43)
11 Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah (4:29)

Brad Bird directs Tomorrowland like an action movie about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time, Tomorrowland gets a little preachy. Britt Robertson (who played “Angie” in Under the Dome) portrays a precocious teenager named Casey Newton. Casey is given a Tomorrowland pin by a mysterious girl (Raffey Cassidy) with the unlikely name of Athena. When Casey touches the pin, she’s teleported to Tomorrowland. Of course, Tomorrowland is very very cool. Rockets blast off, folks fly around with jetpacks. But, something is afflicting both our world and Tomorrowland. Casey holds the key, but first she has to find George Clooney. Together, they have to take on the Bad Guy played by Hugh Laurie. Clooney and Laurie are not given enough to do. And, there needed to be more action and less talking in a movie like this. But, I was mildly entertained and you will be too. GRADE: B

I’ve read plenty of William Campbell Gault’s mysteries, but not many of his short stories. This Crippen & Landru collection from 2002 features an informative Introduction by Bill Pronzini and an Afterward by Shelley Gault. I really liked the Joe Puma tales in this book. And the non-series stories are very good, too. If you’re a William Campbell Gault fan, you probably already own this book. But if you’re a fan of classic private eye fiction, you’ll find a lot to like in Marksman & Other Stories.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Bill Pronzini
Non-Series Tales
“Marksman”
“They’d Die for Linda”
“Tin-Pan Alibi”
“Creature of Habit”
“Dead End for Delta”
“Conspiracy”
Joe Puma Stories
“The Unholy Three”
“Deadly Beloved”
“Down’t Crowd Your Luck”
“No Client of Mine”
“Stolen Star”
Afterword by Shelley Gault
Sources

Carl Richards’ slim little book packs a lot of solid financial information in a compact package. Richards has a simple approach to handling money. He analyzes common financial problems (like too much debt) and shows how to solve them. Here’s a short list of money topics Richards covers:
•avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low;
•avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice;
•invest all of your assets-time and energy as well as savings-more wisely;
•quit spending money and time on things that don’t matter;
•identify your real financial goals;
•start meaningful conversations about money;
•simplify your financial life;
•stop losing money!
If you’re looking for a brief but effective financial management book, look no further. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Explaining financial planning through napkin sketches
The behavior gap between smart investments and emotional decisions
Past performance really doesn’t predict future results
Start with a plan instead of a product
Paying off debt is a great investment, maybe even before funding a 401(k)
Follow Warren Buffet’s advice and buy an index fund
Ignore all investment gurus
More money doesn’t solve money problems
Financial plans are much less important than the process of creating one and being flexible with them

I still miss Barry Weiss, but this reality series still entertains me. No matter how many times they cut the lock and lift the storage unit door, I still feel a thrill at what might be luring in those piles of boxes. The cast has become more diverse over the years (which is a Good Thing) and the oddities found in the storage units keep getting more…odd. Are you still watching Storage Wars or have you moved on?

P. F. Kluge’s mystery Eddie and the Cruisers forms the basis of the cult movie of the same name. Eddie and the Cruisers made great music in the Fifties. But Eddie dies in a car crash (or does he?) and the group breaks up. Twenty years later, a British group starts playing Eddie and the Cruiser songs and a revival takes place. Rumors that Eddie made some tapes of new music before he died kicks off a quest to find the missing tapes. There’s duplicity and murder and plenty of twisty plot elements in the book. The movie is more straightforward. This new Blu-ray edition of Eddie and the Cruisers includes the terrible sequel Eddie and the Cruisers II. Some critics have called it one of the worst movies of all time. But the original is a classic.

The Flash became the highest rated program on the CW Network. Sure, the love interests grate on me. And the villains need an upgrade. But Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is convincing as an average guy who suddenly acquires super-speed. In tonight’s episode, The Flash will try to time-travel into the past to attempt a rescue of his mother who was murdered by the Reverse-Flash. I’m guessing a cliff-hanger will occur. Have you been watching The Flash? What do you think of this series? It’s been renewed for a second season.

Last year, I enjoyed George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’ Old Mars. You can find my review here. The concept behind both Old Mars and Old Venus is to present stories based on the pre-1960s visions of these two plants: Mars, a desert and Venus, a swamp. When NASA space vehicles visited Mars and Venus, we found out those assumptions were very wrong. But, no matter. Martin and Dozois recruited an excellent band of SF writers to write about Old Mars and Old Venus in the old-style of pulp writing. My favorite stories were Jon R. Lansdale’s “The Wizard of the Trees” and Mike Resnick’s “The Godstone of Venus.” If you like the sound of that, you’ll enjoy both of these huge anthologies. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION, by Gardner Dozois
FROGHEADS, by Allen M. Steele
THE DROWNED CELESTRIAL, by Lavie Tidhar
PLANET OF FEAR, by Paul McAuley
GREEVES AND THE EVENING STAR, by Matthew Hughes
A PLANET CALLED DESIRE, by Gwyneth Jones
LIVING HELL, by Joe Haldeman
BONES OF AIR, BONES OF STONE, by Stephen Leigh
RUINS, by Eleanor Arnason
THE TUMBLEDOWNS OF CLEOPATRA ABYSEE, by David Brin
BY FROGSLED AND LIZARDBACK TO OUTCAST VENUSIAN LEPERS, by Garth Nix
THE SUNSET OF TIME, by Michael Cassutt
PALE BLUE MEMORIES, by Tobias S. Buckell
THE HEART’S FILTHY LESSON, by Elizabeth Bear
THE WIZARD OF THE TREES, by Joe R. Lansdale
THE GODSTONE OF VENUS, by Mike Resnick
BOTANICA VENERIS: THIRTEEN PAPERCUTS BY IDA COUNTESS RATHANGAN, by Ian McDonald

One of the best TV series ever ends tonight. All the characters seem to be dispersing as their agency has been swallowed up by a much bigger advertising agency. Joan (perhaps my favorite character) has left in disgust with the rampant sexism of the acquiring ad agency. Pete Campbell is taking a better job with Learjet. And Don Draper just walked out of his job to take a baffling road trip. My guess is Don will jump out a window before the end of the program. I’ll miss the quirky stories and characters in Mad Men. And I’ll miss these marvelous actors. This is the end of an era.