Night Shade Books is offering 50% off all their books (and forthcoming books!) from now to March 21. Go to the Night Shade Book web site here to start shopping and saving! You might want to consider the new Fritz Leiber anthology. Or the fifth and final volume of Clark Ashton Smith’s collected short stories, The Last Hieroglyph. I’m going to order Best Horror of the Year 2 and a few more books. You have 150 wonderful Night Shade Books’ titles to choose from. What are you waiting for!

COLUMBIA PICTURES FILM NOIR CLASSICS I bundles five noir classics: The Sniper, The Big Heat, 5 Against the House, The Lineup, and Murder By Contract. This collection presents restored and remastered versions of these great films. You’ll see memorable performances by Lee Marvin, Kim Novak, Eli Wallach, Glenn Ford, and Gloria Grahame. The movies are introduced by Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann, and Christopher Nolan. This is a must-buy box set! I can’t wait for the next volume in this wonderful series! GRADE: A

As a diabetic, I’m always on the lookout for good tasting beverages that are also low-carb. I found a 12-pack of Welch’s Diet Peach Twist at Sam’s Club for less than a buck a bottle. It tastes great! There are only 10 calories per 14-oz. bottle. Only 20mg of sodium, zero carbohydrates! Welch’s also has Berry Pomegranate and Black Cherry flavors, but I haven’t tried them yet. According to the Welch’s web site, all three beverages are flavored with Splenda. I’ll be going back to Sam’s Club to buy more! Try it, you’ll like it!

GREEN ZONE is the thriller The Hurt Locker tries to be. Directed by Paul Greengrass, whose work on the last two Jason Bourne movies made them so compelling, GREEN ZONE presents a scathing critique of the invasion of Iraq. The manufactured intelligence, the faulty claims of “weapons of mass destruction,” and cover-ups all enter into the breakneck pacing of this movie. Matt Damon shows off his action-hero chops. If you’re looking for a thrill ride with some serious political implications, go see GREEN ZONE. It will leave you breathless…and pondering. GRADE: A

When I was a horny teenager back in the Sixties, Carter Brown books held a mesmerizing fascination for me. Initially, it was the siren song of the fabulous Robert McGinnis covers that compelled me to buy them. But, believe it or not, I just didn’t drool over those sexy covers, I actually read those Carter Brown books, too. Carter Brown had a number of series characters: curvaceous (though ditzy) private detective Mavis Seidlitz; Al Wheeler, a homicide lieutenant from the fictional Pine Country, California, and Hollywood detective Rick Holman. The White Bikini (1963) features Rick Holman, a private detective who somehow always has a case that features slinky blonds and willing women. That was pretty hot stuff back then when I was 14. Alan G. Yates published about 150 Carter Brown novels that sold millions of copies. Today, they’re getting tougher to find. But, if you haven’t read any Carter Brown books, your life is incomplete.

I’m a sucker for a book like this. Thirty writers tell about that “special something” that most influenced them. For example, Joyce Carol Oates writes about the impact Nabokov, Donald Barthelme, John Gardner, Lewis Carroll, and Poe had on her writing. Jay Cantor remembers taking a class at Harvard with Bernard Malamud who inspired him to write. For Denis Johnson, it was reading Leonard Gardner’s cult classic Fat City that ignited Johnson’s passion to write. Each of the writers in this volume describe the person or book or place or an event that changed their writing lives forever. I loved reading their insightful essays and I bet you will, too. GRADE: A

Peter Gabriel is one of my favorite artists. I first followed him when he was with Genesis. During his solo recording career, Gabriel recorded one of my favorite songs, “”Solsbury Hill.” I enjoyed Gabriel’s Top 40 singles “Sledgehammer” and “In Your Eyes.” When I first heard that Gabriel was recording an album of cover songs, I was excited. But then I heard rumors that there would be no guitars, no drums, only an orchestra backing up Gabriel’s vocals. That gave me pause. Scratch My Back was released last week and I’ve listened to it a couple of times. Both experiences were painful. I have never listened to more mournful music. Every song sounds like a dirge. This is sad, sad music totally lacking in joy. The only album I can think of that is about equally depressing is Joni Mitchell’s Blue. GRADE: D (for dismal and dull)
Track list:
Disc 1
1 Heroes 4:09
2 The Boy In the Bubble 4:27
3 Mirrorball 4:48
4 Flume 3:00
5 Listening Wind 4:22
6 The Power of the Heart 5:51
7 My Body is a Cage 6:12
8 The Book of Love / Hungarian Orchestrat 3:52
9 I Think It’s Going To Rain Today 2:34
10 Après Moi 5:13
11 Philadelphia 3:46
12 Street Spirit (Fade Out) 5:06

Disc 2
1 The Book of Love / Hungarian Orchestrat Bonus Track 3:40
2 My Body is a Cage Bonus Track / Oxford London Temple Version / Version 6:03
3 Waterloo Sunset Bonus Track / Oxford London Temple Version / Version 3:49
4 Heroes Bonus Track / Wildebeest Mix 4:06

I was disappointed in The Hurt Locker. The movie meanders for 130 minutes which is about 30 minutes too long in my book. Jeremy Renner plays Sargent Will James, leader of a bomb squad in Iraq. We follow the bomb squad on various missions. We see the grim results of IEDs. The film counts down the number of days the guys have until their tour of duty is over. That’s pretty much it. Too much dead time robbed The Hurt Locker of any suspense. And, really, there’s no plot here. It’s just incident piled upon incident, one damn thing after another. No surprises, except how did this movie get nominated for BEST PICTURE…and WIN? GRADE: C

Diane and I have seen Natalie MacMaster in concert three or four times and Donnell Leahy in concert a couple of times. MacMaster and Leahy are brilliant fiddlers who ended up getting married. They are now touring together so this was a new experience for us. Backed up by two pianists, Natalie and Donnell played jigs, reels, waltzes, strathspeys, marches, and traditional folk songs. If this kind of music appeals to you, and the Master of the Fiddle tour comes to your area, check them out. Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are two of the best fiddlers on this planet. GRADE: A