If you thought you’d seen everything, check out this video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo. This incredible “sand animation” is performed by Kseniya Simonova, the 2009 winner of the Ukraine “Got Talent” television series,. Simonova’s performance tells the story of life during WWII, explaining the emotional reactions of some of the audience. Ukraine was the area most devastated by the war, even more than Germany. It was a conflict that saw nearly one in four Ukrainians killed. Ukraine sustained almost 20% of all the causalities suffered during WWII. The scene ends in 1945, with the death of Hitler and the end of a long war.The text at the end where they’re staring at the sailor’s ghost says: “You are always nearby”. The 24-yr-old artist’s prize was 1,000,000 Ukrainian hryvnia, approximately $125,000. I’ve never seen a sand art performance like this and found it very moving.

Last Friday I chose Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia Highsmith where I praised Highsmith’s case study of writing one of her most compelling works, The Glass Cell. Then Rick Robinson made the excellent suggestion that I review The Glass Cell which I immediately thought was a great idea. The Glass Cell is the story of Philip Carter, an engineer, who is falsely blamed for fraud in the construction of a school. Carter is convicted and sent to prison. Shortly after he’s incarcerated, Carter is viciously tortured by sadistic prison guards. This leads to a pain management problem that Carter can only solve with injections of morphine. Carter serves six brutal years of a ten-year sentence. Meanwhile, Carter’s beautiful wife Hazel, is having an affair with David Sullivan, a lawyer who Hazel believes is trying to get Carter a pardon. Highsmith ratchets up the suspense as Carter gets released from prison and has to confront life as an ex-con and his wife’s adultery. The case study in Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction shows how Highsmith rewrote The Glass Cell after Harper & Row rejected it. Highsmith says the book began to take form when she realized that even though Carter was out of prison, the effects of his horrific prison experience never really left him. I highly recommend both The Glass Cell and Highsmith’s slim, savvy writing guide.

AMC is currently developing an “update” to the classic THE PRISONER series starring Patrick McGoohan. When I first watched THE PRISONER 40 years ago, I really didn’t know what to make of it. McGoohan plays a “retired” spy who wakes up in an isolated place called “The Village” protected by a strange bubble device. Escape is seemingly impossible, but McGoohan (assigned the ID: No. 6) tries just about every week to flee The Village. The audience, and McGoohan, don’t know if The Village–filled with ex-spies and government officials who possess secrets–is run by the British Government or the Soviets or someone else. Of course, after 40 years, I don’t remember all that much about the series except that the final episode was surreal. AMC is making the original 16 full episodes available for view FOR FREE at their web site at: http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/ so you know what I’ll be doing for the next week or two. If you want to own THE PRISONER: THE COMPLETE SERIES AMAZON has it for $52.99.

Disney’s purchase of Marvel for $4 billion means we’ll be seeing more marketing of Marvel’s huge backlist. Last week, X-Men: Volume 3 and Volume 4 were released. Best Buy had them on sale for $14.99 ($5 off if you bought both volumes). These animated programs follow the comics closely. If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll want these before Disney “puts them in the vault” as they are annoyingly prone to do, taking them out of circulation for five or more years. The women superheroes–Storm, Jean Grey, Rogue, Jubilee, etc.–are prominent and powerful.

I’ve made no secret of my admiration of Murray Perahia’s playing of Bach. Where other pianists “interpret” Bach–Glenn Gould is an extreme example–I find Perahia’s playing to be graceful and precise. It sounds like the “real” Bach to me. And I love the recorded sound of this new CD. The recording process makes the music as clear as glass. Murray Perahia is appearing in concert in LA and NYC in October. I’m sure Perahia will be featuring some of these marvelous partitas in his concert performances. GRADE: A

I promised my daughter that I would watch this Season Six 2-hour premiere episode, but the antics of the writers and producers of House over the past two seasons have driven me away from the series. House attracted me from the beginning with the medical mystery format. Every week, Dr. Gregory House and his medical team tackled strange and bizarre medical conditions. I found the program clever, intelligent, and compelling. But, a couple years ago, the series changed its focus from the mysterious medical conditions of the patients that needed diagnosis to House’s drug habit. I almost quit watching House at the end of Season Four when–incomprehensibly–the writers killed off the best actress and compelling character (other than Hugh Laurie), Amber. Then, last season, they brought Amber back as a hallucination. Weak! So I’ll tune in tonight and keep my promise, but I’m done with House.

The Martin Scorsese Collection (After Hours/Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore/Goodfellas/Mean Streets/Who’s That Knocking At My Door?) goes for $50.49 on AMAZON. Sam’s Club is selling it for $26.46. Scorsese’s movies possess a fascination and a unique energy lacking in other movies. Some people consider Goodfellas to be the best gangster movie ever made, trumping The Godfather II. All of Scorsese’s films challenge the viewer with great acting and intelligent plotting. To buy this package of five great movies for a little more than $5.00 a DVD is truly a steal. Don’t miss out!

Steve Berry’s books seem to be everywhere: in drug stores, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Borders, and Barnes & Noble. So I figured I’d pick one up and read it. I chose The Templar Legacy because I’ve always had an interest in the Templars. This happens to be the first book to feature Cotton Malone, a former government agent who’s retired and become a bookstore owner. And, of course, the core of The Templar Legacy are the secrets to be found in rare books. There’s some gunplay, action, codes, and plenty of puzzles. In a lot of ways, The Templar Legacy resembles a low-rent version of Angles & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I found out a lot about the Templars, but Steve Berry’s explanations resemble info-dumps. If you enjoy this kind of historical puzzle novel, The Templar Legacy earns a mild recommendation. GRADE: B-