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I’d rather re-read a book I’ve loved than slog through something new that doesn’t inspire me. For example, in spite of it’s being Elon Musk’s favorite novel, I gave up on Neal Stephenson’s “Seveneves” after less than a hundred pages. It’s like my 20-minute rule for movies; blame short attention span or just my slow, deliberate reading style, but I want language that’s thrilling to read, not just cool ideas. Stephenson says his book about an exodus from a doomed Earth was inspired by a book he read long ago, the title of which he’s forgotten. I’m pretty sure he’s talking about “Exit Earth” by Martin Caidin, which was way cool. (I especially loved the use of bamboo as a renewable and strong building material within the Caidin’s ark!)
But I put “Seveneves” down and picked up - for the third time - “The Boat of a Million Years” by Poul Anderson, a gorgeously-evocative history of civilization as witnessed by a handful of people who just happen to have an “immortal” gene, not aging past 25 and whose bodies are also highly resilient. They can be killed like anyone else, but, barring that, they have to deal with watching their loved ones fade and pass away, over and over. They also have to reinvent themselves, because their agelessness eventually cause whatever community they’re in to begin to regard them as something evil. The idea of beginning over many times through the centuries sounds exhausting, but these few are always 25, a pretty resilient, energetic and lusty age. Most of the book deals with how they find each other, and it ain’t easy, because of their need for secrecy, and simply because the world - from ancient Greece, the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, the middle ages and even more modern times - is disconnected and dangerously brutal. What I found so impressive were the characters and their environments, which are described with an abundance of descriptive skill, such that you can imagine being in these ancient places and times. “The Boat of a Million Years” came out in 1989, so recent history isn’t part of the story. I imagine a movie version that would incorporate our digital world, leading to the coming singularity of A.I. and nanotechnology, when man and machine may be integrated in some form of intellectual immortality. This idea is addressed in the story, but without the perspective we have now. It provides the plot point for a final, futuristic phase for our immortals. But for me, the delight of this book is the glimpses of past civilizations and lives. Read it as history, not just science fiction. Use the link below to purchase the book. Once you do, you'll see that used copies are less than $2.
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I’ve tried to stay lean and fit all my adult life. For much of that time, I had lots of energy and skipped meals. I was into supplements and tried various snacks. I’ve tried most vitamin bars. In the last year, Shashi and I have gotten into the Bulletproof thing, along with our paleo diet. “Bulletproof” is the brainchild of multi-millionaire Dave Asprey, who, after a huge investment and worldwide research, wrote “The Bulletproof Diet” and produced a line of products with great health benefits, and which also taste really good! You’ve probably heard of the coffee; it’s touted as the best, and has the least mold. It’s made at home with a dose of grass-fed butter, a shot of a superior form of coconut oil (known as MCT, “XCT” or - the best - “Brain Octane”), and a hit of grass-fed, pasture-raised beef gelatin, then blended. (I use a Vitamix.) The effect is sustained energy without the drop-off coffee usually has. One or two will get you through the day! Once we were hooked, we looked into the other Bulletproof products. My favorite among these is the bar, specifically the Vanillamax flavor. It puts any other “power bar” I’ve ever tried to shame. You’ll feel a jolt of energy with the first bite. It’s got 12 grams of protein and is gluten-free. It contains the collagen and oil of the coffee formula, and is based on cashew oil and cashews. (I like to keep dental floss handy.) Best snack ever, especially with a banana!
In the last weeks, Disney has given us two blockbusters in which animals have almost all the speaking parts. (The exception is Mowgli, the human boy in “The Jungle Book”.) Both “Zootopia” and “The Jungle Book” are major hits, and each teach lessons of tolerance. This is needed very much today, I think. It may be too late for most adults to appreciate these films as anything but entertainment, but children are much less prejudiced, and I believe will get the deeper meaning, having little racial bias compared to previous generations. And, as entertainment, both films do succeed admirably. “Zootopia” is 3D animation, and takes place in a civilized community where all the animals get along. An adorable police bunny is paired with a wily fox in search of a missing character. There’s a macho bull of a police chief, a lion as mayor and a lamb as the assistant mayor. Eventually, the carnivorous predators fall under suspicion, and the seeds of distrust are sown. For comic relief, there’s a particularly hilarious episode at the town’s DMV, where the sloth who’s the clerk moves at a glacial pace. “The Jungle Book”, directed by “Iron Man”’s Jon Favreau, is an Avatar-like, CGI/motion-capture world. It’s stunning to look at, and much more dramatic and serious. Based on the earlier Disney animated version of Rudyard Kipling’s book, it tells of a young boy raised by wolves in the jungle. His nemesis is the ferocious tiger (Idris Elba) who killed his father when he was an infant. Looking after him are a black panther (Ben Kingsley) and a bear, unmistakably voiced by Bill Murray. The bear’s eyes are very expressive and clearly based on facial capture techniques that have advanced considerably since Andy Serkis’ original Gollum character in “Lord of the Rings”. My favorite is a scary giant ape (Christopher Walken), who breaks into song before unleashing hell. Scarlett Johanssen is a boa constrictor, in perhaps the only role in which you wouldn’t want her to squeeze you. (OK, not in "Under the Skin", either.) She also sings an end credits song, quite charmingly. It seems that Disney, also having acquired Marvel and Lucasfilm (“Star Wars”), is on an incredible roll. The child in me applauds!  
It's sort of like Christmas for me when one of the quarterly movie preview issues of Entertainment Weekly comes out. Yesterday,I received the summer movie preview, with "Captain America: Civil War" on the cover. It covers pretty much all the films coming out May-August. ("The Jungle Book" already came out, and I can't wait to see it!) There are SO many listings than interest me! If you're not a subscriber to EW, I highly recommend picking this issue up at the newsstand! 
The first-time director, Alex Garland, has written good sci-fi before, “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine”, both for Oscar-winner Danny Boyle (Best Picture “Slumdog Millionaire”). Garland uses many of Boyle’s British team, and they do him proud. The movie doesn’t look like it has a limited independent budget.
The cast is essentially the three leads and a lovely, silent Asian woman. And each of these three are major up-coming talents. The young man is played by Domhnall Gleeson, who was so excellent in the don’t-miss fun family fantasy “About Time”. The genius is played by Oscar Issac, who to me is the new Al Pacino; check his range from “Inside Llewlyn Davis” to “A Most Violent Year”. (Both actors appeared in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.) Alicia Vikander is Hollywood’s new “It” girl, and she ROCKS the part of Ava; you can tell by her movements that she’s trained as a ballerina.She won nan Oscar for “The Danish Girl”, and was captivating in the WWI drama “Testament of Youth”. There’s a lot of dialogue. It’s pretty smart. You’ll be thinking about this one for a while, which I can’t say for tentpoles like “The Avengers: Age of Ultron”, “Jurassic World” or “Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation”. “Ex Machina” is out on Blu-ray now. I was into it pre-theatrical release, but I wasn’t blogging yet. In the future, I’ll try to be ahead of the curve for you.
Co-written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (not related to Lee Child of the Jack Reacher series), the Pendergast novels are truly thrilling. Pendergast first appeared in the authors’ breakout, “Relic”, which was a "Jurrassic Park"-like thriller that takes place in the cavernous Museum of Natural History in New York City. (Preston is an expert on the place.) There were several memorable characters introduced in that story. Interestingly, when the #1 movie was made, Pendergast's part was left out. There was a sequel, “Reliquary”, set in the underground below the subway system in NYC. After a few other books, the authors realized that Pendergast was the gem in the mix, and they came out with “The Cabinet of Curiosities”, which has been named as one of the 100 best American mystery novels.
I won’t go into the details of the story, but suffice to say that it ROCKS! There’s a healthy dose of the supernatural underpinning these stories, and the bizarre and fascinating Pendergast family history begins to emerge. This is continued effectively in “Stll Life With Crows”, the Diogenes trilogy (“Brimstone”, “Dance of Death” and “The Book of the Dead”) - once again set in the museum -, and “Wheel of Darkness”, which features arcane Tibetan mysticism. 18 Books in all. Just don’t blame me if you lose sleep reading these!
To begin with, I’d like to give you the links to a jazz compilation that I came up with a few years ago. It had been percolating for years, and is based on undisputed jazz favorites of the late ’50’s and early ’60’s, a “Golden Age” of creativity that produced what I consider essential songs by the greatest performers. Download these eight songs in the recommended sequence, and you will find that this becomes one of the most played list in your collection. It’s perfect for a relaxing or sexy mood, and will work impressively on “repeat”. It’s the synergy of this sequence that’s magic. It’s exactly one hour long, so it’s easy to burn to a CD.
“Concierto" by Jim Hall (19:20) *See note below “Flamenco Sketches” by Miles Davis (9:27) “Soul Lament” by Kenny Burrell (2:46) “Autumn Leaves” by Cannonball Adderley (11:03) “Round Midnight” by Miles Davis (5:57) “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” by Charles Mingus (4:51) “Alone Together” by Chet Baker (6:54) “My Funny Valentine” by Chet Baker (2:20) Here are the links to the tracks. I’m an affiliate of Amazon and other service providers. Every time you click on one of these links it helps this site to keep going. I SO appreciate your support! *Note: The song "Concierto" alone isn’t available for download. If you click on the album link below, you’ll see an option for a $5 mp3 version of the album. Considering that the title tune is a 20-minute epic, I think it’s worth it!
Here are the links to the full albums I recommend:
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