Nikita remains on the bubble about being renewed for next season. I’m a big fan of Maggie Q (even though the writing in this series could have been a lot better). The CW hasn’t decided whether there will be a Season Two. The plot about a rogue government agency opposed by a talented former agent resonates with me. The cast is solid. I hope this two-part Season Finale generates enough of an audience to tip the CW suits into renewing Nikita.

More details are leaking out about the operation that resulted in bin Laden’s death. The elite Navy SEALS Team Six practiced in a mock-up facility modeled on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The operation took eight months of planning and preparation. Only when the 20-25 members of Navy SEALS Team Six were in the air headed for Abbottabad were they told their target was Osama bin Laden. Something always goes wrong on these operations. One of the helicopters lost altitude and clipped its rear rotor on one of bin Laden’s 20 foot concrete walls. The chopper was forced to land and the second helicopter (with the SEALS who were supposed to rappel down) landed, too. A fire-fight broke out and the SEALS had to fight their way up to the third floor where bin Laden was waiting. One of the SEALS shot bin Laden’s youngest wife in the leg and then shot bin Laden twice in the head. The SEALS collected intel and computers and then the helicopters took them with bin Laden’s body to USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Sea. More photos and details will be released. Books will be written. We’ll see some movies of this operation next year. But for now, we should all thank the brave men who succeeded in closing a chapter of our war on terror.

Replacing my old DVDs with Blu-ray versions continues with my latest acquisition: The Maltese Falcon. This classic film starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor, directed by John Huston, has a plethora of added features: commentary by Bogart biographer Eric Lax, featurette The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird, breakdowns of 1941: studio blooper reel, makeup tests, Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart, Warner Night at the Movies 1941 short subjects gallery: Newsreel, musical short The Gay Parisian, 2 classic cartoons: Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt and Meet John Doughboy, Trailers of this Movie, 1941’s Sergeant York and 1936’s previous Falcon movie adaptation Satan Met a Lady. Audio-only bonus: 3 radio show adaptations–two featuring the movie’s original stars, plus another starring Edward G. Robinson. GRADE: A

Katherine Jenkins has long been a favorite of mine. I have all her CDs. But this Ultimate Collection CD is perfect for listeners who want to sample the music of this astounding singer. Classically trained, Katherine Jenkins is equally adept at arias and pop ballads. There’s something for everyone on this disk. Check out the samples on your favorite music site and listen to the sample below. GRADE: A
TRACK LIST
1. Time To Say Goodbye 3:46
2. Hallelujah 4:47
3. L’Amore Sei Tu (I Will Always Love You) 4:21
4. I Vow To Thee, My Country 3:08
5. Quello Che Farò (Sarà Per Te) 4:15
6. Nella Fantasia 5:09
7. Hymn To The Fallen 4:31
8. The Flower Duet 3:50
9. Pie Jesu 3:38
10. Calon Lan 2:27
11. Caruso 3:51
12. Vide Cor Meum 4:01
13. O Mio Babbino Caro 2:37
14. Music Of The Night 5:46
15. I Could Have Danced All Night 2:33
16. I’ve Dreamed Of You (Questo E Per Te) 3:36
17. Don’t Cry For Me Argentina 6:17

Margorie Garber’s The Use and Abuse of Literature jumps from topic to topic at warp drive. One chapter deals with writers who “abuse” literature by lying: James Frey and Ben Mezrich are invoked. And, Kitty Kelley. Then, Garber delivers some stiff doses of Freud and Marx. Suddenly, Garber plunges into a diatribe about the Literary Canon. Then Garber does an analysis of Love in Shakespeare. As you might have guessed by now, The Use and Abuse of Literature leaps from topic to topic without resolution. None of this jells together. I can’t recommend this book. GRADE: C

The Buffalo Bills shored up their inept defense by picking Marcell Dareus, the massive 320 lb. defensive lineman from Alabama, in the First Round. The Bills then improved their secondary by choosing Aaron Williams, the corner back from Texas, with their Second Round pick. In the Third Round, the Bills picked Kelvin Sheppard, linebacker from LSU. The Bills have many needs: quarterback, offensive lineman, tight end, linebackers, etc. But with this Draft, the Bills need to start to take steps toward respectability. It’s been 11 long years since the Bills have been in the NFL playoffs. Most of the damage has been self-inflicted: terrible draft picks, staggeringly bad trades, incompetent coaches, and a culture of mediocrity. Coach Chan Gailey and GM Buddy Nix have a plan to make the Buffalo Bills competitive again. But it starts (and ends) with acquiring good players and coaching them to excellence.

G. K. Chesterton, one of the great writers of the 20th Century, is seldom read now. Although he wrote essays, novels, poetry, and memoirs, Chesterton is best known today for his Father Brown mystery stories (some of the best are included in this collection). If you love clear, lucid writing Chesterton exemplifies this school of writing. This new Everyman collection displays all Chesterton’s talents with a broad range of his writings. This 800 page tome is easily the best one-volume collection of Chesterton’s works that I know of. I’m a huge fan of the Everyman series of classic literature. This Chesterton volume is outstanding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Hearsay Evidence
The Man with the Golden Key

CHARLES DICKENS
The Dickens Period
The Boyhood of Dickens
The Pickwick Papers
The Great Popularity
Dickens and America
Dickens and Christmas
The Time of Transition
Later Life and Works
The Great Dickens Characters
On the Alleged Optimism of Dickens
A Note on the Future of Dickens

THE VICTORIAN AGE IN LITERATURE
The Victorian Compromise and Its Enemies
The Great Victorian Novelists
The Great Victorian Poets

ORTHODOXY
Introduction in Defence of Everything Else
The Maniac
The Suicide of Thought
The Ethics of Elfland
The Flag of the World
The Paradoxes of Christianity
The Eternal Revolution
The Romance of Orthodoxy
Authority and the Adventurer

THE EVERLASTING MAN
Introduction: The Plan of This Book
The Riddles of the Gospel
The Strangest Story in the World
The Witness of the Heretics
The Escape from Paganism
The Five Deaths of the Faith
Conclusion: The Summary of This Book

ST THOMAS AQUINAS
On Two Friars
The Aristotelian Revolution
A Meditation on the Manichees
The Approach to Thomism
The Permanent Philosophy
The Sequel to St Thomas

FATHER BROWN STORIES
The Blue Cross
The Queer Feet
The Wrong Shape
The Resurrection of Father Brown
The Miracle of Moon Crescent
The Dagger with Wings
The Doom of the Darnaways
The Song of the Flying Fish
The Red Moon of Meru
The Chief Mourner of Marne
The Scandal of Father Brown
The Quick One
The Blast of the Book
The Green Man
The Crime and the Communist
The Vampire of the Village

POEMS
Wine and Water
Antichrist, or the Reunion of Christendom: An Ode
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
Lepanto
The Secret People
The Rolling English Road
The Donkey

Most music fans know Aretha Franklin’s great hits while she was recording for Atlantic Records. But few realize that Aretha Franklin recorded seven albums with Columbia Records first. “The package includes CDs of Aretha’s seven full-length albums for Columbia; two CDs reflecting her collaborations with producers Bobby Scott (in 1963) and Clyde Otis (in 1964); and a bonus CD of singles produced by Bob Johnston and rarities that were “sweetened” and released after Aretha left the label.” Also included is a 48-page booklet with Aretha’s complete discography. The bonus DVD holds five Aretha Franklin performances on The Steve Allen Show. If you’re a fan of the Queen of Soul, this set is a must-buy!

America’s longest war hasn’t been with a country. As Peter L. Bergen points out, our longest war has been fighting a shadowy multinational organization: Al-Qaeda. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict Between America and Al-Qaeda tells the story of how terrorists led by Osama bin Laden targeted the United States and carried out their plots. Bergen is one of the few Western journalists to have interviewed bin Laden. His insights into the terrorist movement that continues to operate in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan explain where this struggle is headed. If you want to read a detailed history of the war on terror, The Longest War provides the analysis needed to understand the dangers in the future. GRADE: A

Santa Sangre is one of Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies.” First released in 1989, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surreal film manages to keep the audience guessing from start to finish. I’d be hard pressed to name a more bizarre movie. Part of the movie takes part in a circus that is touring Mexico. Another part takes place in a mental hospital. Fenix, the lead character, is initially introduced as a man who thinks he’s a bird. Disaster after disaster befalls Fenix, both as a child and as a man. Jodorowsky seems to be channeling Philip K. Dick because questions of Reality keep popping up. If you’re in the mood for a completely unique movie experience, watch Santa Sangre. But be prepared for the Unusual. You’ve never seen a movie like this before. GRADE: A