Who's smarter than a fourth-grader?

I've been very, very busy for the past few months and the blog has suffered. I hope that I'll soon be back to posting more frequently--at least once a week.

For now, here are some thoughts:

Part of the "very, very busy" was preparing for the 27th Children's Literature Festival on Oct. 27. (I'm on the Festival's Board of Directors.) We hosted 650 local third- through sixth-graders at Davenport's River Center for a day of exciting literary activities. We had over 700 kids registered but some canceled due to the flu. Now that we've had a couple of weeks to catch our collective breath, it's time to begin planning for next year's festival.

My fourth-grade neighbor Sophie wasn't able to attend the Lit Fest, so she persuaded her teacher to invite me to her school to talk about writing. That was last week. Yesterday, Sophie delivered a packet of thank-you notes from her classmates. I only wish that book critics were as exuberant as fourth-graders. Here are some favorite comments: Grace was "soooo happy" I came; Lilly thanked me "so, so, so much for coming"; Emme thinks that I "have a great imagination"; Abe says "thanks for inspiring us"; and Philip summed up, "Thank you!!!!!" Aren't fourth-graders wise beyond their years?

Check out this piece by writer James Collins on Jane Austen in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703683804574531863687486876.html
I willfully ignored Austen for decades but finally gave in and read Pride & Prejudice and Emma this past summer. My assessment appears here: http://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=6442180479921974747&searchType=ALL&txtKeywords=&label=Jane+Austen
Hint: I'm now a fan.

Last year, I reviewed Daemon, a debut novel by software developer Daniel Suarez. See my review here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/books/book-reviews/military-bookshelf-mid-winter-chills--thrills It was a surprisingly good apocalyptic thriller. I've just finished an advance copy of the sequel, entitled Freedom and due in stores in January, 2010, and it's as disappointing as Daemon was enthralling. It quickly degenerates into a fuzzy jeremiad against capitalism and globalism and an even fuzzier anthem for a kind of modern feudalism. Capitalism in Suarez's view is essentially a global conspiracy. Here's my favorite quotation from the book: "What he saw was very nice, indeed. Just the way he liked a woman--young, nude, and tied up." Indeed!

My advice is to stay away from this one.

CLEAR EYES. FULL HEART.

"Friday Night Lights"

Recently I watched all thirteen hour-long episodes of "Season Three" of this addictive drama in three consecutive evenings. ("Friday Night Lights: Season Three," DVD-2009. $29.98, Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Many things changed in football-mad Dillon, Tex., during the third season, but one important thing didn't. "Friday Night Lights" still reigns as the best drama on television. I've been a fan since the 1990 publication of H.G. Bissinger's eponymous story about a year in the life of a Texas high school football team. See my review of the book and the feature film and television series that it spawned here: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,147561,00.html. See my review of the second season of the television series here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-must-see-dvd-for-spring

Want a second opinion? Then check out critic Sara Mosle's review on Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2189688/

Now, about those "Season Three" changes I mentioned: 1) There's a new quarterback in town. Talented freshman J.D. McCoy (Jeremy Sumpter) battles incumbent Matt Saracen (Zack Gilford) for the coveted starting quarterback spot while his wealthy, overbearing father Joe (D.W. Moffett) looks to undermine Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler). 2) Matt loses his starting job but finds solace (and sex) with former girlfriend Julie Taylor (Aimee Teagarden). Yes, that would be the coach's young daughter. 3) Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) and bad-boy Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) corral football scholarships and are off to college as are good-girl Lyra Garrity (Minka Kelly) and class slut Tara Collette (Adrienne Palicki). 4) Coach Taylor's wife Tami (Connie Britton) is appointed principal of Dillon High. 5) The Dillon High Panthers overcome lots of distractions to make the finals of the state playoffs. 6) Coach Taylor is fired at the urging of boosters led by Joe McCoy, but is named head coach at the newly-opened East Dillon High.

Fortunately for those of us who love this show, NBC and DirecTV have renewed the series for two more seasons of thirteen episodes each. DirecTV will air the episodes first starting on Wednesday, October 28, on its 101 Network. NBC will show them next spring. If you can't wait until then, check out the official website for a "Season Four" promo: http://www.nbc.com/Friday_Night_Lights/video/clips/getting-ready-for-season-4/1166310/

Conflict is at the heart of all drama, and the show's producers have set up a matrix that promises plenty of drama this season and next. The opening of a second high school in Dillon, of course, has the potential to divide the town. Not to mention the Taylor household since Tami remains Dillon principal while hubby Eric takes up the coaching reins at new rival East Dillon. Intriguingly, based on what little we can glean so far, there also is going to be an economic and social divide between the established Dillon High and the fledgling East Dillon: a rich school, poor school dichotomy. Of course, Coach Taylor will want to prove his enemies wrong, but it will be an uphill battle as he struggles to build a new program from scratch.

As they say in television, Stay tuned!

CLEAR EYES. FULL HEART.

Willa Cather's America

The days are getting shorter. The leaves are turning. Friday night lights are glowing again.

And, my summer reading is winding down. This summer, I've been making an effort to read many of the classics that I've avoided in the past: Nabokov, DH Lawrence, and Jane Austen among them.

But, I've saved the best for last.

I've been hearing about Willa Cather, the poet laureate of the American prairie, since high school. But, her name was always found in sentences with words like farmers, pioneers, and Nebraska, and I shied away from the books themselves . . .

. . . Until a couple of years ago when I included Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning One of Ours in a series I was doing about women novelists and World War I. The novel was about farmers and Nebraska and the Great War, and I enjoyed it immensely. I decided then and there to find time to read more Cather. My review of One of Ours is here: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,88609,00.html

I finally got back to Cather this August. I started with O Pioneers and proceeded to My Antonia. Both are bittersweet masterpieces. And, yes, they revolve around the farmers—male and female, especially female—who struggled against long odds to tame the Nebraska frontier. But, that's like saying Moby Dick is about a whale hunt.

Cather's heroes and heroines also are universal reflections of the indomitable human spirit that drives human progress. More than any other American novelist, Cather captures the essential ingredients of the American success story pre-1945: risk-taking, sacrifice, hard work, quiet courage, and self-reliance.

Armed with those attributes, Cather's—and America's—immigrant farmers subdued a vast continent, one frontier after another. Later, when the population tide reversed and streamed from farm to city, the refugees from rural America brought their values to the urban frontier.

The very values that once defined the American character—the values on prominent display in Cather's fiction—are now derided as conservative in many circles and have become seriously frayed in the last half-century. The $64,000 question is whether an American character that is increasingly dependent on government, risk-averse, and quick to claim victimhood is ready for primetime in the 21st Century?

Quotable: My Antonia

"Because he talked so little, his words had a peculiar force; they were not worn dull from constant use."

"When boys and girls are growing up, life can't stand still, not even in the quietest of country towns; and they have to grow up, whether they will or no. That is what their elders are always forgetting."

"'Old men are like that, you know. It makes them feel important to think they're in love with somebody.'"

"Some memories are realities, and are better than anything that can ever happen to one again."

"His sociability was stronger than his acquisitive instinct."

Quotable: O Pioneers!

"Bergson went over in his mind the things that had held him back. One winter his cattle had perished in a blizzard. The next summer one of his plow horses broke its leg . . . and had to be shot. Another summer he lost his hogs to cholera . . . . Time and again his crops had failed. He had lost two children . . . . Now, when he had struggled out of debt, he was going to die himself. He was only forty-six, and had, of course, counted upon more time."

"The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman."

"The trouble with Lou is that he is tricky . . . . Politics being the natural field for such talents, he neglects his farm to attend conventions and to run for county offices."

"'Isn't it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as it they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years.'"

"'The trouble is you almost have to marry a man before you can find out the sort of wife he needs; and usually it's exactly the sort you are not.'"It's just as well. I wasn't mature enough for Cather.

Lady Chatterley's Revenge

With Dog Days upon us, summer's slow fade into autumn is underway. Slow also describes my summer reading program. My summer resolution was to read classics that I've ignored over the years. I've made some progress, but I keep getting sidetracked by more recent titles.

For example, in Jane Austen's formidable wake, I took up Amy Bloom's novel Away. Ms. Bloom teaches writing at Yale and is best known, so far, for her short stories. If Away is any indication, she's also quite adept at longer formats.

Set in the 1920's, Away chronicles the immigrant odyssey of Lillian Leyb from Russia to New York City, across America, and on to the Alaskan frontier. Lillian flees Russia after her family is killed in a pogrom and settles among Jewish immigrants in New York. When she learns that her three-year-old daughter is alive and living in Siberia, she sets out with little more than a mother's love and determination to find her.

With Away, Bloom hits a trifecta: an unforgettable heroine, a timeless story, and graceful prose.

QUOTABLE:

"Lillian works for a prostitute and is being courted by a pimp, and it is not the worst thing that has ever happened."

"'I think the most important thing in the world is being brave,' Gumdrop says now, in the dark. 'I'd rather be brave than beautiful. Wouldn't you? Hell, I'd settle for acting brave.'"

"We live and we love the world, Lillian thinks, and we kid ourselves that the world loves us back."
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After being diverted by Away, I got back on track with D.H. Lawrence. All things being equal, I likely would have chosen Lawrence's Sons and Lovers. But, my wife already owned a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover. Advantage: Lady Chatterley.

I wasn't disappointed. Set in 1920s England, the novel follows the extramarital affair between the aristocratic Lady Chatterley and commoner Oliver Mellors, her husband's game-keeper.

Extramarital sex is, of course, universal, but that's not what makes this a classic. Lawrence also tackles universal themes: especially the proper balance between mind and body; nature and reason.

Lawrence finds post-war modernity and industrialization debilitating in its soullessness. His sexually-frustrated heroine Connie Chatterley, whose husband Clifford was left impotent by a wartime injury, only finds redemption when she yields to her physical needs.

While few 21st Century readers will find much to object to here, the novel's sexually-explicit nature and four-letter words caused a scandal when it was published in 1928. Of course, that only added to its appeal.

D.H. LAWRENCE UNCENSORED:

"But, alas, counterfeit love is good cake but bad bread."

"But that is how men are! Ungrateful and never satisfied. When you don't have them they hate you because you won't; and when you do have them they hate you again, for some other reason. Or for no reason at all, except that they are discontented children, and can't be satisfied whatever they get, let a woman do what she may."

"The world is supposed to be full of possibilities, but they narrow down to pretty few in most personal experience. There's lots of good fish in the sea . . . maybe . . . but the vast masses seem to be mackerel or herring."

"[The mental life] is rooted in spite and envy, envy and spite."

"Sex and a cocktail: they both lasted about as long, had the same effect, and amounted to about the same thing."

"The care about money was like a great cancer, eating away the individuals of all classes."

"'It's astonishing how Lesbian women are, consciously or unconsciously. Seems to me they're nearly all Lesbian.'"

"[T]he mass of women are like this: most of them want a man, but don't want the sex, but they put up with it, as part of the bargain."

"'I believe the life of the body is a greater reality than the life of the mind.'"

"Apparently one grows more carnal and more mortal as one grows older."

Nymphets & Penance

It's summertime and the living's easy. The blogging? Not so much.

To be honest, I'm reading as much as ever. I'm just not writing about it.

Mostly, I've been reading some of the classics that I've avoided for decades. Jane Austen. Vladimir Nabokov. D.H. Lawrence.

Partly to assuage my guilt. I'd read Reading Lolita in Tehran (see my review here: http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,091505_Axis_Evil_II,00.html), but not Nabokov's masterpiece itself. How could I not feel like a philistine? And, yes, it was Nabokov who said, "Nothing is more exhilarating than philistine vulgarity." But, his meaning is less transparent than it appears.

So, I read Lolita. And wasn't particularly impressed. It's equal parts travelogue, confessional, and clever word-play.

For those who still haven't read this classic, here's the Cliff's Notes version:

"For there is no other bliss on earth comparable to that of fondling a nymphet."
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Like Nabokov, Miss Austen also has been the source of professional guilt. Although I'd never read any of her classic novels, I didn't shy from reviewing (often archly) the movies based on her writing and life. See here my reviews of "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "Becoming Jane": http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-valentines-viewing

So, as penance, I began with Pride and Prejudice—Who was this Mr. Darcy anyway?—and graduated to Emma. I must admit that I was enchanted. It's too early to say whether I also learned anything about women—another of my goals in reading Miss Austen. I do know that I won't soon forget Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, Mr. Churchill, and Mr. Knightley.

The Wit & Wisdom of Jane Austen

From PRIDE AND PREJUDICE:

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance."

"'Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility.'"

"'Those who do not complain are never pitied.'"

"'Is not general incivility the very essence of love?'"

"'I am going tomorrow where I shall find a man who has not one agreeable quality, who has neither manner nor sense to recommend him. Stupid men are the only ones worth knowing, after all.'"

From EMMA:

"'One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.'"

"It may be possible to do without dancing entirely."

"With insufferable vanity had she believed herself in the secret of everybody's feelings; with unpardonable arrogance proposed to arrange everybody's destiny."
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It hasn't been all classics all the time here in Hog Heaven this summer. I've also managed to work through a short stack of more recent vintage. Among them, I've been particularly impressed by Rachel Kushner's atmospheric tale set among the American community in Cuba in the waning years of the Bastista era, Telex from Cuba, and Daniel Silva's The Defector, the latest entry in his series of spy thrillers featuring Israeli assassin (and art restorer) Gabriel Allon.
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When I saw her in Colorado in June, Kate Carroll recommended (again) that I sample Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight Saga" novels this summer. I saw the big-screen adaptation of the first book in the series and wasn't particularly impressed. Kate is smart, sassy, and sexy—a potent trifecta—but I'm still resisting. And, summer is waning.

Audie Murphy

This past Saturday (June 20) was Audie Murphy Day in Texas—officially designated by the Texas Legislature and former Governor George W. Bush—and Murphy's hometown of Greenville, Tex., is holding its annual Audie Murphy Days Celebration.

Audie Leon Murphy, for those who don't know, was the most decorated combat soldier of World War II—earning thirty-three decorations including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor. For all things Audie, check out this website: http://www.audiemurphy.com/

A Texas sharecropper's son, Murphy enlisted in the Army at eighteen and rose quickly through the ranks, eventually earning a battlefield commission. A member of the 3rd Infantry Division, he fought in nine campaigns and was wounded three times.

After leaving the Army in 1945, Murphy surfaced in Hollywood where his boyish good looks led to a movie career that spanned two decades and included forty-four feature films—the most successful of which was "To Hell and Back," which is based on his best-selling autobiography of the same title.

A box office hit, "To Hell and Back" remained Universal Studio's most profitable film until it was swamped by 1975's "Jaws." The Dallas Times Herald's interview with the star on the eve of the movie's Texas premiere is here: http://www.audiemurphy.com/newsclip/dth_08-14-55.pdf

Murphy also was a successful songwriter, penning dozens of songs with composers like Guy Mitchell. Dean Martin and Eddy Arnold, among others, recorded Murphy's songs.

Despite his success, Murphy was plagued by flashbacks related to the war and suffered from insomnia and depression. At one point, he became addicted to sleeping pills and suffered through a harrowing withdrawal.

Murphy died prematurely, killed in a plane crash on Memorial Day Weekend of 1971. He was 46-years-old.

Much of Murphy's Hollywood output fell into the B-movie category: the majority of them westerns. His best-known films include: "To Hell and Back," "The Red Badge of Courage," and "The Quiet American." All three are available on DVD.

"The Red Badge of Courage" was directed by the legendary John Ford and also starred iconic combat cartoonist Bill Mauldin. "The Quiet American," based on Graham Greene's excellent novel of the same title, also was directed by a Hollywood legend, Joseph K. Mankiewicz.

Murphy was ambivalent about making "To Hell and Back," but the resulting film is a surprisingly good combat drama that made Universal a lot of money. If you watch it, look for David Janssen (Lt. Lee) who later won fame and fortune as television's "The Fugitive," and Denver Pyle (Thompson) who capped a long career as a character actor as Uncle Jesse on "The Dukes of Hazzard."

How many other combat veterans were also Hollywood stars? That includes vets like Jimmy Stewart who was a star before flying bombing missions over Germany during World War II. Maybe we can come up with a "Top 10 Actors with Combat Experience."

Post your nominees below.

The Secret Speech

If you like historical mysteries and miss the Cold War, check out Tom Rob Smith's latest starring Leo Demidov, a surprisingly complicated and sympathetic Soviet cop.

The Secret Speech, by Tom Rob Smith. Grand Central Publishing, $24.99 (405p) ISBN 978-0-446-40240-8

Smith, a rising star in the historical mystery genre, brings back Leo Demidov, a Soviet-era secret police officer and the protagonist of his acclaimed debut novel, Child 44, for this gripping tale of conspiracy and revenge. (See my 2008 review of Child 44 here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/books/book-reviews/military-bookshelf-spring-potpourri-part-deux. A mass-market paperback edition was published in April, 2009.)

To set the stage: Long-time Soviet dictator Josef Stalin is dead, and following a secession struggle, has been replaced by his former protégé Nikita Khrushchev. The new numero uno, however, has a big surprise in store for his colleagues.

On Feb. 25, 1956, speaking before the 20th Party Congress, Khrushchev shocked the assembled delegates by denouncing his former patron's murderous regime. The address, justly renowned, is known as "the Secret Speech" or "the Khrushchev Report."

Khrushchev later ordered that the speech be read in all Soviet schools and factories. The long "conspiracy of silence . . . was over." That event and its aftermath is the back-story for Smith's thriller. For more on the origins of this surprising, and disingenuous, episode—including Stalin's bloody reign and Khrushchev's calculated rise to power—see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Speech

Smith's protagonist Demidov, haunted by his service as a member of the secret police, now runs a homicide bureau in Moscow and is trying to build a stable family life with wife Raisa and adopted daughters Zoya and Elena.

His life is upended, however, when someone starts killing retired secret police officers: an "agenda of revenge" that is led by one of Demidov's former victims and has him as its ultimate target.

When Zoya is kidnapped, Demidov is sent on a harrowing odyssey through the Soviet gulag system to save her.

What looks like a straight-forward story of revenge, however, is far more complicated. It turns out that the plot targeting Leo and his former colleagues is supported by unreformed Stalinists who hope to undermine Khrushchev's reforms.

The sprawling tale takes Demidov from the treacherous underbelly of Moscow to the frozen hell of a Siberian gulag and the rebellious streets of 1956 Budapest in a race to save his family and his soul. Smith has crafted a tale that's eerily plausible and utterly addictive.

Honoring Heroes

I've been away for awhile (Cannes!?), but I'm back. Just in time for Memorial Day. To honor all those who have served and their families, I'm reprinting a book review that I wrote last May. Since then, the book has been a finalist for a National Book Award and come out in paperback. It's a timeless memorial of service, sacrifice, and loss.

See here for the National Book Award citation and an excerpt from the book: http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_nf_sheeler.html

Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives, by Jim Sheeler. Penguin, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-59420-165-3

Marine Major Steve Beck has one of the toughest jobs in the military—one that he says "'has changed me in fundamental ways'"—and it's thousands of miles from a war zone.

Major Beck is a casualty assistance calls officer—the one responsible for "the knock." The moment that all military families live in dread of.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Rocky Mountain News reporter Sheeler had already attended a dozen military funerals when he met Major Beck at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver in 2004 and asked if he could shadow him.

This poignant and powerful chronicle of courage, sacrifice, grief, and recovery—gradual, halting, and never complete—is the result of Sheeler's two-year journey of discovery.

The narrative structure is circuitous. "The knock" comes first and with it an initial introduction to the families—wives, children, and parents—left behind. They, in turn, introduce us to the fallen soldiers and Marines—narratives that are completed by the testimony of their comrades. Later—as much as two years—the reporter returns to see how the families are coping.

The stories, however tragic, are important for Americans to hear if only to understand how much a few are sacrificing. There's amazingly little rancor here, but Sam Holder, Sr. admits that it bothers him "how disproportionately" the burden of military service is spread. (Marine Staff Sergeant Sam Holder, Jr., was killed in Iraq when he exposed himself to draw enemy fire away from an injured comrade. Holder earned the Silver Star for what his platoon leader called "'the most courageous act I have ever seen.'")

No matter how tough you are, you will be moved. And, you should be. I was stopped cold more than once and had to put the book aside for a while. My worst moment came when Dakota Givens, the young son of Army PFC Jesse Givens, who died when his tank plunged into a Euphrates River canal, asked if God would let him "be a little boy again" when he got to heaven so that he could play with his dad.

There are lots of heroes in this important book. Only some of them ever wore a uniform.

Running with the Devil

Running from the Devil, by Jamie Freveletti. William Morrow, $24.99 (310p) ISBN 978-0-06-1684227

Write what you know. That piece of advice has been repeated often enough that it's become a cliché. That doesn't mean that it can be safely ignored. But, in the course of a novel, a writer covers lots of ground—some familiar, some not so much. For the latter, there's research. Otherwise, the author risks the slow accumulation of credibility-sapping missteps.

I was reminded of this while reading debut novelist Freveletti's thriller. A trial lawyer by trade and a recreational runner, Freveletti knows the law and courtrooms. Sidewalks and trails. But hers is not a courtroom drama or legal thriller—terra firma for someone with her background. No, she opts for an international thriller set in the Colombian badlands and peopled by paramilitary thugs, drug lords, terrorists, Special Forces soldiers, and mercenaries: a slippery slope for the uninitiated. The resulting stumbles are enough to compromise an otherwise crisply-written debut.

When guerillas hijack and crash land a British Airways flight bound for Bogotá, Colombia, passenger Emma Caldridge, a chemist and ultramarathoner, is thrown clear of the wreckage. Hiding in the surrounding jungle, Emma watches as the guerillas corral the surviving hostages and march them off. Alone and without a compass, she decides to follow at a discreet distance.

Meanwhile, official Washington gears up for a response. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, the Executive Branch brings in Darkview, a security consulting contractor, to help. Darkview is headed by the suave and deadly Edward Banner who clashes with the arrogant Secretary of Defense.

Back in the jungle, Emma manages to rescure hostage Cameron Sumner, an American anti-drug agent, and they set about devising a plan to save the other hostages whose safety is further complicated by infighting among paramilitaries, drug cartels, and guerrillas A contingent of U.S. Special Forces, already in Colombia, also mounts a search and rescue operation.

Besides the hostage drama, there's also a mystery running beneath the surface here: What secret mission—"to set right the tremendous wrong she had done"—has brought Emma to Colombia in the first place and how does it relate to hostage drama?

All of this is fine and even has a "ripped from the headlines" quality. Just Google "Colombia and hostage rescue" and you'll see what I mean. And, the improbable scenarios, Indiana Jones escapes, and reflexive anti-business slant have become conventional fare for thrillers.

But, unforced errors are especially egregious. Unforced as in avoidable.

The Army doesn't wear desert camos anymore. Soldiers have been wearing the ACU (Army Combat Uniform) since 2006. Moreover, Green Berets try to blend in with the locals so they usually improvise anyway.

Except in the pages of the occasional thriller, you're not likely to encounter a Special Forces soldier with the rank of private. No private is special. Except to a parent.

Special Forces are uniquely-skilled, highly-trained soldiers who are in great demand around the world. They don't spend much time guarding private property. That's what we have Blackwater for. (In fact, the small contingent of SF soldiers in Colombia—strictly limited by Congress—is engaged primarily in training Colombian troops.)

Not to disrespect the Green Berets, but another SOF outfit, DELTA Force, specializes in hostage-rescue operations. In Freveletti's world, nobody even thinks of bringing DELTA on board. Even for advice. Who needs the professionals of DELTA Force when they've got a defense contractor?

Green Berets are not raw recruits. They are seasoned warriors. They do not talk loudly on patrol deep in hostile territory. They don't thoughtlessly kick litter spotted along the trial.

If you're going to write about the military and have no firsthand knowledge, do your homework. It's not rocket science.

Quotable

"All the money in the world doesn't buy class."

"Arguing with a force more powerful than you is always a mistake."

Beautiful People

A Day in the Life: One Family, the Beautiful People, and the End of the 60s, by Robert Greenfield. Da Capo, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-0306-81622-2

Reading about the Sixties often is like watching a smashup in slow motion.

The Boomers, of course, won't like that judgment. Many of them—the leading edge really—came of age in the Sixties and will always wax nostalgic about it. But, the reality is that the decade set in motion much of what's wrong with America today.

That's not the thrust here though. Greenfield, a former editor at Rolling Stone and author of several rock biographies, sets his biography of Londoners Tommy and Susan "Puss" Weber against the backdrop of the psychedelic Sixties, but the era is very much in the background. The spotlight falls squarely on the glamorous and privileged young couple and their hedonistic lifestyle. Yes, the Sixties offered certain inducements for destructive behavior, but you can easily imagine a similar outcome for these two in other eras as well.

Tommy Weber and Susan "Puss" Coriat seemed to have it all: aristocratic connections, generous trust funds, public (i.e. private) school educations, and great looks. Tommy was rakishly handsome and a dare-devil. Puss, who was described as "a honey pot at age fourteen," was inordinately beautiful and dangerously romantic. Both were combustible.

The two met in London in the early '60s and immediately fell in love. When Puss discovered she was pregnant in 1962, the couple wed—in Tommy's words, "a shotgun marriage."

Neither seemed much interested in working. Tommy raced motor cars for a spell; speculated in real estate; and fell in with a drug smuggler eventually. Puss did a little modeling and dabbled at running a New Age restaurant.

But, both were heavily into the swinging scene—anchored in drug use and rock music—that defined London in the Sixties. The lifestyle was especially dangerous for Puss who famously "lived in her imagination." Soon, Puss was experimenting with LSD and lesbian love affairs. Along the way, the couple had two young sons that neither was really equipped to raise.

As with many Sixties' stories, this one ended badly. After Tommy and Puss separated, Tommy moved in with actress Charlotte Rampling. A junkie and a drug smuggler by then, he eventually ended up in prison.

After attempting suicide in 1968, Puss was admitted to a mental hospital in 1970 "suffering from LSD-influenced schizophrenia." Following her release, she overdosed on sleeping pills on June 7, 1971.

I'm not sure if there's anything new to learn from Tommy and Puss' tragic story. To his credit, Greenfield does not romanticize them—or the Swinging Sixties—but in the end, one wonders if there's any point in an account of pointless lives, no matter how well told.
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While reading Greenfield's account, I couldn't help being reminded of the story of Edie Sedgwick, an American equivalent to Puss Coriat Weber. Rich and beautiful, Edie arrived in New York in 1964 just as the Sixties subculture of sex, drugs, and rock-in-roll was gathering momentum. She joined pop artist Andy Warhol's merry band and was soon being celebrated in the media as a "Superstar"—perhaps the first media creation to be famous for being famous.

Alas, like Puss Weber, Edie was serially self-destructive—anorexia, cocaine, heroin, LSD, speed, and casual sex—was in and out of mental institutions and finally overdosed on barbiturates on Nov. 16, 1971—just five months after Puss' death.

Her life has been the subject of books and movies, including the 2006 biopic "Factory Girl" starring Sienna Miller. For a multimedia overview see here: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,143641,00.html

Weekend Adviser

It's May! Here in Hog Heaven it's time to plant the corn that will grow up to be ethanol and pork chops. That is, if the fields are dry enough. Farming is a lot of waitin' and worryin' sandwiched between a couple of slices of intense activity.

But, real farmers are few and far between. Even here in Iowa—the heart of farm country—most of us don't know a rootworm from a corn borer. And, just like everybody else, we just wanna have fun. So, for all those who're still trying to fill their weekend planner, here are a few suggestions.

If you can't get enough of comic book heroes, you're in luck. The latest in the X-Men franchise, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," opens today. It stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and it has fan boys everywhere in a lather. Industry estimates predict gonzo opening-weekend box-office in the $100 million range. Early reviews have been mixed, but this genre is immune to movie criticism. That said, you can check out "Variety's" take here: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940156.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

The main competition is romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. In a caustic review, critic Nick Schager dismisses it as "formulaic" and an "assembly line studio rom-com" here: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film review.asp?ID=4256

For the stay-at-home movie crowd, the selection of newly-released DVDs is also limited this week. Besides the forgettable romantic comedy, "Bride Wars," there's not much other than re-releases. "Bride Wars" stars Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson as best friends forever until they schedule their fairy-tale weddings in the same venue on the same day.

Given that May is Sweeps Month, even TV offers slim pickings this weekend. ABC's got "Harry Potter 3" on Saturday night, but who needs all those commercials? Rent the DVD if you must and save yourself forty-five minutes. HBO has the continuing saga of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" on Sunday night, and Showtime features "The Great Debaters" on Sunday evening.

Sports fans fare a bit better. The best-known horse race in the U.S., the Kentucky Derby, comes down the home stretch on NBC late Saturday afternoon. It's the perfect entertainment for an attention-deficit nation: two weeks of sizzle and two minutes of meat.

Later on Saturday evening, HBO will televise the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton junior welterweight championship fight from Las Vegas. Where else?

Elsewhere, the never-ending NBA and NHL playoffs continue. Wake me when they're over.

Given the paucity of entertainment choices, I'm going to suggest something radical: Read a book. And, I've got one in mind: Jim Sheeler's Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives. It's just out in paperback this week, and it's a powerful, unforgettable experience. It's the story of some of the young Americans who have paid the ultimate price in the War on Terror and the families they left behind. I reviewed the book when it came out in hardcover in 2008 here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/books/book-reviews/military-bookshelf-honoring-heroes

With Memorial Day coming along at the end of the month, you might want to pass it along when you're finished.

Back to the Future

Call me romantic. Call me nostalgic. Call me the Duke of Ted.

For some reason, I've always enjoyed time travel movies. Maybe it's from growing up reading the "Alley Oop" comic strip every day in the paper. The strip featured a time machine that whisked Alley Oop back into history: e.g., ancient Egypt, the Old West, and Homeric Greece. So, from an early age, I was intrigued with the notion of time travel. Especially backward. Maybe that's why I became a historian.

I also was a faithful reader of "Dick Tracy," but all his futuristic devises—especially the iconic Two-Way Wrist Radio—didn't spark in me a similar interest in the future.

It is generally accepted that H.G. Wells, whose The Time Machine was published in 1895, coined the term "time machine," and if he didn't invent the concept of time travel, he at least popularized it. Wells' protagonist used his invention to visit the distant future, not the past. But, there was nothing to prevent Wells' time machine from moving backward as well as forward in time.

I can't recall the first time-travel movie I saw, but I can enumerate my favorites.

My all-time favorite isn't a single movie but the "Back to the Future" trilogy. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the franchise follows young Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) as he travels back and forth among past, present, and future in a tricked out DeLorean. The DeLorean time machine is the creation of local eccentric Dr. Emmett (Doc) Brown.

Of the three movies, my favorite is the first which takes Marty back to 1955 where he tries to ensure that his parents meet. Otherwise, there'll be no Marty. Funny how that works. I grew up in the 1950s and can identify with much in the film—including the clothes, music, cars, and values.

The second "Back to the Future" film takes Doc Brown, Marty, and Marty's girlfriend to the future and then to an alternate—and very dark—1985.

The final movie finds Doc Brown and Marty back in the Old West of 1885 where Doc works as a blacksmith and local tinkerer. Here, Zemeckis pays tribute to H.G. Wells and gets in some friendly ribbing of the Western genre, including one of its most popular stars: Clint Eastwood.

When I stumble across "Peggy Sue Got Married" while channel surfing, I never fail to stop and watch. Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) married her high school sweetheart, Charlie (Nicolas Cage), but twenty-five years later, they're separated and contemplating divorce.

When Peggy Sue attends her 25th reunion, she faints and . . . wakes up in 1960 when she was a high school senior. So, she gets a second chance at senior year. That, I believe, is the primary attraction of this movie. Who hasn't wondered if things might have turned out differently if only?

This is fun. This is nostalgic. This is improbable. Whatever the physics, time travel is likely unrealistic given the extent of our knowledge. But, most writers and film makers who use the concept try to make it at least remotely plausible. But Francis Ford Coppola, the Oscar-winning director of the "Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now," makes no effort to explain Peggy Sue's time travel. There's no DeLorean. No wormhole. No nothing. I faint; therefore, I travel.

No matter. It's still a favorite. And, it's moral is always timely: Some things were just meant to be. Or, as Doc Brown warns Marty, the space/time continuum is nothing to play with.

Doc Brown's warning about messing with the space/time continuum is also on the minds of the officers onboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in "The Final Countdown." After sailing into a freak electrical storm, they are transported back to the eve of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Can they—or even should they--try to prevent the attack? It's an intriguing proposition; the movie features some good performances (Martin Sheen, Charles Durning, Kirk Douglas, Katherine Ross, James Farentino); and there's a surprise waiting at the end.

I usually prefer my travelers to go back in time, but forward travel can be intriguing too. In "Time after Time," the past intrudes on the future when serial killer Jack the Ripper uses writer H.G. Wells' time machine to escape to 1979 San Francisco. Soon enough, Wells shows up to track down the killer. This cross-genre piece is part sci-fi, part romance, part thriller, and all fun. With Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Mary Steenburgen. You might recall Steenburgen as Doc Brown's love interest in "Back to the Future Part III."

"The Terminator" and its sequels and prequels belong on any list of time travel favorites. The original, of course, features Arnold Schwarzenegger as the indestructible cyborg who travels back in time.

I'm also a sucker for father/son movies so it's no surprise that "Frequency" makes this list. It's a sci-fi thriller starring Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel as a father and son who communicate across time (thirty years) via a ham radio: a time paradox that's made possible by a couple of fortuitous solar storms.

Add baseball to the father/son and sci-fi elements and throw in an Iowa setting and you've got one of my sentimental favorites: "Field of Dreams." The problem is that the operative concept here seems to be travel between two dimensions of space—heaven and Iowa—and not across time. Doc Graham (Burt Lancaster), however, might be the exception that keeps this Kevin Costner fable on the list.

Bill Murray stars as a weatherman who's forced to relive Groundhog Day again and again in sci-fi comedy "Groundhog Day." The cause of the time warp Murray's character falls into is never explained, but that doesn't deflect from the fun.

Bruce Willis delivers a convincing performance in "12 Monkeys," another time travel thriller. Willis plays a convict who's sent back from 2035 to 1996 to retrieve a sample of a deadly virus that has laid waste to the planet.

For juvenile fun, there's "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as Valley boys trolling the past via a phone booth for a show-and-tell history project. I doubt that this one would be on Einstein's list.

That's ten. Check 'em out. Or, not. As Doc Brown said, "Your future is whatever you make it."

Semper Fi

I just finished a new book detailing the Marines' fight for security in the Hindu Kush (Afghanistan) back in 2005. It's an often-harrowing tale of endurance and courage against long odds. In other words, it's exactly what we've come to expect from Marines.

Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers—The Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, by Ed Darack. Berkley Caliber, $25.95 (316p) ISBN 978-0-425-22619-3

In the summer of 2005, the Second Battalion, Third Marine Regiment (2/3 Marines) conducted two operations—Red Wings and Whalers, named after National Hockey League teams—in Afghanistan's isolated and forbidding Hindu Kush region. The first was a disaster; the second, "a masterpiece of light infantry operations." Writer/photographer Darack was there—a Marine embed—and reports in this paean to Marine courage and sacrifice.

When the 2/3 Marines arrived in Kunar Province in the rugged border region of northeast Afghanistan in 2005, it was the "most austere" and "least tamed" pocket of the country. Its valleys housed "some of the most dedicated, well-trained, and fervent Islamic fighters" in the world. The 2/3 Marines' primary mission was to establish security in the run-up to national elections in the fall.

The chief threat to security in the area was Ahmad Shah, a rising Taliban leader. Operations Red Wings and Whalers were designed to isolate and destroy Shah's small, but growing army.

Red Wings was a joint op with SOF (Special Operations Forces) and was compromised when a SEAL (Navy Special Operations) reconnaissance team was spotted and attacked. Racing to reinforce the SEALs, a Chinook flown by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) was shot down by Shah's fighters. All sixteen on board were killed: "the greatest disaster for the 160th, Navy Special Operations Forces, and all of USSOCOM [U.S. Special Operations Command] since the command's founding in 1987." Of the SEAL recon team, only one member—badly wounded—managed to escape.

The Marines extracted their revenge in Whalers. Despite having to overcome the opposition of risk-averse and micro-managing senior commanders and operating in intolerable conditions—at high altitude and under searing temperatures—the Marines flushed Shah's army out its sanctuaries, blocked its escape route, and decimated it.

It's an important and largely overlooked—until now—story of incredible endurance and courage. It deserves to be told.

I respect and admire Marines, but I have a couple of problems with the author's account. First, the narrative is weighed down by rambling sentences and melodramatic prose. The reader would be better served if the author used more periods and less colons, semicolons, commas, and dashes.

Second, the Marines would be better served if the author was less worshipful. I have no doubt that the Marines of 2/3 fought valiantly against long odds in the Hindu Kush and deserve recognition and honor. But, balance equals credibility. Darack is entirely uncritical in the case of 2/3's Marines. That strains credulity.

That said, Darack's detailed account of the two operations puts the reader in the middle of the action and reveals today's Marines to be worthy successors to those who fought at Belleau Wood, Edson's Ridge, Chosin Reservoir, and Hue City.

Weekend Adviser

It's shaping up to be a nice spring weekend across the country. The northern Plains look a bit on the cool and wet side, but that's not unusual. Much of the rest of the country should enjoy above average temps with an early taste of summer in some spots.

That means lots of outdoor time, but we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't note what you'll be missing if you spend all your time outdoors.

Actually, you won't be missing that much at the Cineplex. Of the movies premiering widely this weekend, only "The Soloist" looks interesting. It stars Jamie Foxx as a brilliant but troubled homeless musician and Robert Downey, Jr., as the reporter who befriends him. Check out the movie's official site here: http://www.soloistmovie.com/ and an early, enthusiastic review here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052480101050043.html

The other movies opening widely this weekend include "Obsessed," a "Fatal Attraction" clone starring Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter, and "Fighting," which looks like a "Fight Club" derivative. "Fighting" stars Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, and Luis Guzman.

Better to stay home and check out the excellent crop of new DVDs. First, there's "Frost/Nixon," director Ron Howard's fascinating dramatization of celebrity journalist David Frost's interviews with disgraced former President Richard Nixon in 1977. The film garnered five Oscar nominations including one for Best Picture.

"The Wrestler," a redemption drama starring Mickey Rourke as an aging professional wrestler looking to make a comeback, was another Oscar contender. Rourke was nominated for Best Actor and Marisa Tomei nabbed a Best Supporting Actress nomination playing his stripper girlfriend.

Finally, there's "Caprica," a feature-length prequel to the Sci Fi Channel's hit drama "Battlestar Galactica." Set fifty years before the events portrayed in "Battlestar," the movie will serve as a feature-length pilot episode for a new series set to debut on Sci Fi in 2010. "Battlestar" ended its four-season run this spring, but "Caprica" promises to continue the franchise's provocative story-telling. See my take on "Battlestar" and an earlier feature-length movie spawned by the series, "Battlestar Galactica: Razor," here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-stocking-stuffers

Except for diehard NFL fans, the TV listings look rather slim this weekend. Showtime has the Vietnam War drama "Rescue Dawn" on Sunday evening, and over on rival HBO, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" continues its delightful run. See my 2007 review of "Rescue Dawn" and a companion documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-an-american-hero

For those who can tolerate The Donald, NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" slouches on Sunday evening with Red Carpet mavens Joan and Melissa Rivers, Playmate Brande Roderick, and country-music star Clint Black still in the mix. Which raises the question: Where have all the jocks gone? Four--golfer Natalie Gulbis, androgynous bad boy Dennis Rodman, running back Hershel Walker, and skater Scott Hamilton—started the competition. None remain.

For those aforementioned pro football fanatics, ESPN will be televising the most over-analyzed event in human history: the NFL draft. Try to contain yourself. It'll be all draft, all the time. I don't understand this particular fascination, but millions seem mesmerized by it. Heck, an entire cottage industry has sprouted up around it. Check it out here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft

How anyone can find any residual drama in the actual draft is surprising. Various analysts—real and imagined—have been handicapping the draft for weeks. Just Google "mock NFL draft" and you'll see what I mean. ESPN has enough on its draft webpage—from mock drafts to player profiles, podcasts, and blogs—to keep fans busy for weeks.

And, just think, some of these guys will actually make it.

Go Green

Go Green

Seems that everybody's green today. Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to a sensible environmental agenda. Few Americans have a smaller carbon footprint that I do. But, I have more faith in Mother Nature than Al Gore and Henry Waxman.

Here's an idea for Earth Day: Turn off the big-screen TV. Read a book. You and the environment will benefit.

If you like spy thrillers, here's one I've just finished:

The Venetian Judgment, by David Stone. Putnam, $25.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-399-15573-4

Stone, the pen name for a former military intelligence officer, continues his best-selling Micah Dalton series (following 2007's The Echelon Vendetta and 2008's The Orpheus Deception) with a sprawling spy thriller that spans three continents.

For the uninitiated, Dalton is a CIA cleaner—an agent who cleans up the messes left behind by fellow agents. His last assignment, however, ended with his lover, Cora Vasari, seriously wounded and Dalton deeply depressed and having long conversations with the ghost of his friend and colleague Porter Nauman. Nauman shows up at odd times, offers his old pal some sage counsel—it's from the other side, how can it not be sage?—and disappears. Dalton seems happy enough to see him.

Cora won't—or can't, Dalton's not sure—return his calls and neither will Deacon Cather, his boss at the Agency. So, he's stranded out in the cold. Left to his own devises, Dalton methodically hunts down and kills the Serbian Mafiosi who tried to assassinate Cora. That helps some but our hero's still in the dumps.

But with his boss under investigation as a Russian mole, Dalton snaps out of his funk and partners with the lovely and eager Mandy Pownall, an Agency colleague, to uncover the truth and exonerate Cather.

There is indeed a long-time mole within the Agency, and the Russians are desperate to protect his identity. It seems that they fear that a National Security Agency (NSA) project to decrypt Cold War intercepts from the 1970's will expose their man. So, they've set out to sidetrack the project. Since the Russians don't do subtle, this includes the torture killing of an adviser to the NSA project and the kidnapping and brutal murder of the son of the project's Senior Coordinator.

With all this going on and the Russians planning more mayhem, Dalton and Pownall blaze a bloody trail from London to Santorini, Istanbul, and Ukraine to expose the real traitor before the Russians destroy the evidence.

Dalton is actually a more complicated character than you'd expect from a cold-blooded killer, and Stone is adept at laying out intriguing scenarios. Add in enough action to keep an adrenaline junkie sated and you've got another winning spy thriller.

Quotable

"[E]veryone who goes to Bryn Mawr is expected to do something very clever afterward."

"Dreadfully earnest, the young. Utter bores."

"[W]ith men the journey is always better than the arrival."

"I work for the Central Intelligence Agency, and I am here to totally f--- up your world."

[B]eating up suspects in Turkey was considered a man's job."

Richard Price

What attracted me to writer Richard Price is his uncommon ability to charm the critics and still remain highly marketable. Two of his best-selling crime dramas—1992's "Clockers" and 1998's "Freedomland" (1998) have been adapted for the big screen. Spike Lee directed the former and the latter was a vehicle for Samuel L. Jackson. Price wrote both screen plays.

I had seen the movies but had not read the books. When Price's most recent novel was named a N.Y Times Notable Book and Best Book of the Year by both the Boston Globe and Washington Post, I knew I couldn't pass it up. So, when the paperback edition appeared last month, I grabbed a copy. Here's my take:

Lush Life, by Richard Price. Picador/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $15 (455p) ISBN 978-0-312-42822-8

"Lush" is an appropriate adjective (metaphor?) for Price's depiction of Manhattan's Lower East Side as a predatory urban jungle: a place where moral ambiguity thrives and justice is a moving target. And perhaps most tellingly, Price (Clockers, Freedomland) allows none of his many characters—none, zero, zilch—to be happy. In fact, most are victims of one sort or another. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Eric Cash is a 35-year-old aspiring writer working as a restaurant manager on the Lower East Side. Cash, like legions of actors, writers, and assorted artists pouring drinks and waiting tables in the city, struggles mightily with an "unsatisfied yearning for validation."

So, too, do wannabe gang bangers Tristan Acevedo and Little Dip Williams who live in public housing amidst poverty, drugs, and violence.

For Cash, validation is a finished screenplay. For Acevedo and Williams, it's a random mugging. One man's validation is another's nightmare, I always say.

One late night as Cash and two friends—aspiring actor Steven Boulware and writer/bartender Ike Marcus—are staggering home after an evening of bar-hopping, a host of aspirations intersect. In the urban jungle, mugging has a distinct advantage: a .22 pistol.

Boulware faints. Cash hands over his wallet. But Marcus refuses to comply and steps toward Acevedo and Williams. A startled Acevedo shoots him in the chest—the mugging now a homicide.

The case falls to detective Matty Clark, who has his own personal struggles. He's divorced and his two estranged sons—one of them a cop—are dealing drugs.

Clark and his partner zero in on Cash as the shooter and relentlessly grill him for hours before arresting him. By the time Boulware has sobered up enough to confirm Cash's account, the cops have lost twenty-four hours and are behind the curve.

The police brass don't expect an arrest and want to let the case quietly disappear. But Clark refuses and doggedly pursues it—perhaps for his own validation.

To be fair, this is a powerful, addictive tale of the seamy side of urban life. My problem with it is that it's so utterly dark. Surely, there are content, if not happy, souls to be found on the Lower East Side. A few would have added some balance to this otherwise impressive novel.

Quotable

"People say they're one thing or another. Then at some point, they just are what they are."

"This kid ever had an original thought, it would die of loneliness."

Weekend Adviser

Weekend Adviser

Driving across Nebraska last weekend, I noticed that the migratory waterfowl that stop off along the Platte River on their northward journey were mostly gone. Just another sign that the gradual arrival of spring here in the upper Midwest and on the northern plains is now likely irreversible.

That means, of course, that my to-do list just got longer. Besides the weekly chores, there's the annual rite of spring cleaning. Not to mention the yard which needs lots of work. And, with the arrival of Daylight Savings Time, there are more hours to get it done. Of course, that means less time for relaxing which means less time for entertainment.

Less time doesn't mean no time though. Plus, who knows, it might rain.

With that in mind, I'm making a list of possible weekend diversions. Take a look in case you find yourself with some unexpected free time.

The best bet at the Cineplex this weekend looks like political thriller "State of Play." It stars Ben Affleck as a bright young political star tripped up by the murder of his research assistant cum mistress and Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams as reporters searching for the truth. In another thriller—of sorts—assassin Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) returns to wreak vengeance on his enemies in "Crank: High Voltage." Amy Smart reprises her role as Chev's girlfriend Eve. The original played like a videogame. With directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor returning for the sequel, I'd expect a similar result. For a change of pace, there's "17 Again," wherein a middle-aged Mike O'Donnell (Matthew Perry) becomes . . . yes, seventeen again (now played by Zac Efron) and tries to change his (past) future.

"State of Play" sounds interesting but not $9 interesting. More like $2.59 interesting. In other words, I'll wait for the DVD.

I'll also wait for the DVDs of two other films opening elsewhere this weekend: "Every Little Step," a documentary on the rehearsals for a revival of the smash Broadway hit "A Chorus Line," and "Tyson," a documentary on the boxer and bete noir. Documentaries almost never play here in my corner of Hog Heaven where Showcase Cinemas has a virtual monopoly.

Speaking of DVDs: I've stocked up on a few recent releases and a couple of old favorites for weekend viewing. The former includes "The Reader," a Holocaust-themed drama starring Kate Winslet (who won an Oscar for her performance); "Rachel Getting Married," another dysfunctional-family drama starring Anne Hathaway (who snagged a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role); and a 50th Anniversary Edition of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day classic romantic comedy, "Pillow Talk." I'm particularly looking forward to the new bonus material on the "Pillow Talk" disc, including a "Making of" feature and commentary with three prominent film historians.

Instead of "17 Again," I've got a couple of my personal favorite high-school redux/time travel movies on hand: "Peggy Sue Got Married" and "Back to the Future." "Peggy Sue" is a rare comedy from director Francis Ford Coppola and stars Kathleen Turner as an unhappy wife who goes back—via a nasty bump on her head—to high school and meets her husband (Nic Cage) again. The "Back to the Future" trilogy is directed by Robert Zemeckis and stars Michael J. Fox as teenager Marty McFly who travels back—via a nuclear-fueled DeLorean—to 1955 where he meets his high-school age parents. That's just the beginning. Before the trilogy is over, Marty has visited the future, an alternative 1985, and the Old West. I've seen it several times, and it never gets old.

(Sometime soon, I'm going to do a "Top 10 Time Travel Movies." The older I get, the more I enjoy the genre. Must be nostalgia. Stay tuned.)

As usual, there's a lot on TV. And, some of it is worthwhile! Saturday evening brings the premiere of the original HBO film "Grey Gardens," starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as eccentric relatives of Jackie Kennedy. For more on the film see here: http://www.hbo.com/films/greygardens/

Botswana's first and only female detective continues her winning ways on Sunday evening on HBO. If you haven't made the acquaintance of Mwa Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," check out episode 4 this Sunday. You won't be sorry. For more on this captivating series, see here: http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/

Also on Sunday evening and over on CBS, a new Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler," tells the remarkable story of a Polish social worker who helped rescue some 2500 children in Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto from the clutches of the Nazis. Oscar- and Golden Globe-winner Anna Paquin (for "The Piano" and HBO's "True Blood," respectively) stars as the heroine. For more, see here: http://www.cbs.com/specials/courageous_heart/

Holocaust heroes like Irena Sendler are a particular inspiration. I don't believe that an individual can save the world, but he/she can save a life or 2500. That's no small thing. Moreover, when others rationalized that they were just following orders, some—too few surely—chose to follow something else: their conscience. Their stories should be heard.

Secret Agent Man

Secret Agent Man

Spy thrillers are one of my favorite genres, and I read as many as I can work into a busy schedule.

Because I also like lists, I've been thinking about what a Top 10 Fictional Spies list would look like. But after jotting down ten names in ten minutes, I've decided that this isn't going to be easy. You'll find my initial ten in the following paragraphs.

But, it's only a start. And, a modest one at that. So, I could use some help. Check out my admittedly tentative suggestions and then weigh in with your own ideas. Perhaps together we can come up with a definitive list.

My son, an Army captain, likes Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy's intelligent hero), John Wells (Alex Berenson's skeptical hero), and Mitch Rapp (Vince Flynn's indestructible hero). I love my son, so I'll have to try to find them a place. I have no problem with Jack Ryan: the early Clancy novels were thoroughly engrossing. Wells is intriguing; the novels are fun; but the action is too improbable. Rapp is the spy on steroids.

My son and I also agree on Jason Bourne: Robert Ludlum's amnesic assassin and actor Matt Damon's signature role.

We'll have to wedge James Bond in there somewhere, but the Hollywood version—suave sophisticate, babe magnet, AND cold-blooded killer who cracks jokes in the face of almost-certain death—is thin gruel. The latest incarnation—courtesy of director Martin Campbell and actor Daniel Craig—is a big step in the right direction.

George Smiley (John le Carre's Cold Warrior) will need a spot. So, too, the delectable "La Femme Nikita" (Peta Wilson). And, Joseph Conrad's Mr. Verloc from the classic The Secret Agent.

I also like little-known spies like the reluctant secret agent Alicia Huberman (played by Ingrid Bergman) in Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious."

I imagine that Alden Pyle will be found somewhere near the top of my list. Pyle is the naïve American spy in Graham Greene's The Quiet American. Pyle represents what's good—the optimism and idealism—of American foreign policy and what's not—the naïve arrogance, especially.

Greene's novel should be on everyone's must-read list. Hollywood has adapted the novel for the big screen twice: an unfortunate 1958 rendering directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Audie Murphy and Michael Redgrave. (I plan to blog on Audie Murphy one day: An unlikely World War II hero—including the Medal of Honor—and a troubled movie star.)

Hollywood tried again in 2002 with Phillip Noyce directing and Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser starring. This one is a noticeable improvement, but it still fails to capture the brilliance of the novel. Not everyone, of course, agrees with my lukewarm opinion of the movie. See critic David Sterritt's enthusiastic review in The Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1122/p14s02-almo.html

Count 'em. I'm already at ten and I've hardly warmed up. I warned you that this isn't going to be easy. Anyway, post your suggestions and I'll see what I can do about that Top 10 list.

No Cannes Do

No Cannes Do

It's exactly one month until the 62nd Festival de Cannes—a.k.a. the Cannes Film Festival—opens along the beautiful French Riviera. Before making your plans, check out their website at: http://www.festival-cannes.com/en.html

When I wrote for Military.com, I needled my editor annually about sending me to cover the Festival. See my 2007 lament at: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-news/another-cannes-of-worms

The answer was always the same: No. No. And, NO.

I couldn't quite figure it out. There was always plenty of cash for backdated stock options for the big boys. But, let one of the little people ask for a perk, and you'd think the outfit was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Anyway, now that I'm working for myself, I figured that the boss would say yes faster than a politician contemplating a bribe.

Was I in for a surprise. Cannes was out. Too expensive. Okay, maybe some other, less pricey, destination would pass muster. So, I looked around.

And, I found that there are lots of film festivals—hundreds in fact. There are sixty-four in France alone. The French obviously take their movies seriously. Which begs the question: Why are there so few good French films? But, if Cannes is out, so is the rest of France.

After some more digging, I identified plenty of intriguing festivals. Bulgaria (Bulgaria?) hosts something called the Love is Folly Film Festival. Sounds like the story of my life. I like that Bulgaria is bargain-priced. Anyway, who needs the Mediterranean when they've got the Black Sea?

Speaking of love, I was especially intrigued by London's Tongues on Fire Film Festival. It sounds salacious. Like a lyric from a Rolling Stones' song. But, London's expensive.

I guess that if I want salacious, I should try something closer to home. Maybe Philadelphia's Big Bang Film Festival.

There are lots of Jewish Film Festivals. I can understand the one in Jerusalem, but Hong Kong?

Perusing a list of film festivals, you begin to understand the reach of movies in today's world. Even in the grip of starvation and a cholera epidemic, Harare hosts the Zimbabwe International Film Festival. Mugabe must be a fanboy.

There's also the Sarajevo Film Festival in war-torn Bosnia; the Reggae Film Festival in Jamaica; and the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival in Nepal. If Nepal is too out-of-the-way, there's also the Himalaya Film Festival in Amsterdam. Yes, Amsterdam.

Me? I've decided to go for something less exotic. The Johnny Mack Brown Film Festival in folksy Dothan, Alabama. You can check it out here: http://www.johnnymackbrownfilmfestival.com/

Mr. Brown, a Dothan native and University of Alabama football hero in the 1920s, starred in dozens of B-movie Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to screening Mr. Brown's films, the Festival includes activities like wagon rides, exhibitions of trick roping, and Native American dancers. You won't see that at Cannes!

So, that's it. Pack up the boots and plaid shirts. I'm going to Dothan. But, I've got a secret. I was born in Dothan and grew up nearby. Most of my family still lives there. I can kill two birds with one road trip: a visit home and a blog from the Johnny Mack Brown Film Festival.

How can the boss say no?

Weekend Adviser

I'm in Colorado Springs this week visiting my Army officer son who's stationed at Ft. Carson. As much as I love books and movies, I also love the Great Outdoors. So, much of my time this weekend will be spent hiking in the mountains looming on the city's west side.

That still leaves lots of hours for entertainment.

There's not much new for adults at cineplex this weekend. Your tweens might insist on seeing "Hannah Montana: The Movie," wherein the teen queen, returns to her Tennessee hometown for some downhome perspective. Don't fight it: Miley Rules. For the boys [of all ages], there's the sophomoric comedy, "Observe and Report," with slacker Seth Rogen.

While the kids are away, the adults get the big-screen TV for a while. This is a good time to catch the newly-released DVD of "Doubt," the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the eponymous Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play. It's a provocative drama about a rigid nun (played by Meryl Streep) who accuses a popular priest (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) of pedophilia. The problem is that she has no proof.

Also new this week is a 2-Disc Collector's Edition in Blu-ray of "No Country for Old Men," the 2007 Best Picture Oscar-winner from the Coen brothers. It's a sprawling thriller that defies genre: chase movie, modern Western, noir. The film starts with a drug deal gone bad and an unfortunate loser who chances upon the scene and helps himself to $2 million. That choice sets in motion a relentless and bloody chase to recover the purloined cash. Set in West Texas desert country, the sweeping vistas are even more spectacular in Blu-ray. This edition also includes over five hours of new bonus features. For my review of the original release of the "No Country for Old Men" DVD, see here: http://www.military.com/entertainment/movies/movie-reviews/dvd-picks--pans-march-madness-pt-2

March Madness is over, but baseball is back. Check your local listing for games in your area.

I'd also encourage you to set aside an hour on Sunday evening for the latest episode in HBO's dramedy "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." See my review of the pilot episode here: http://flyover-culture.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-1-ladies-detective-agency.html

And, finally . . . The season finale of the best show on television, "Friday Night Lights," airs tonight on NBC. If you haven't discovered this gem yet--and too many viewers haven't--take a look. I'll have more on "Friday Night Lights" next week.

Stay tuned.

Robert B. Parker

One could argue that best-selling mystery novelist Robert B. Parker has exquisite timing. Just as another season is getting underway, he's bringing out another in his popular series featuring former baseball prodigy and current small-town police chief Jesse Stone.

Growing up, I loved baseball as much as reading. As it worked out, I was a better reader than hitter. But, I still follow the game, and readers of this blog can expect occasional baseball-related posts. Right now, I have a request in for a copy of Odd Man Out, a new memoir of one young pitcher's short minor-league career (recently excerpted in Sports Illustrated.) Stay tuned for a future review.

But for today, here's my review of Parker's latest mystery:

NIGHT AND DAY, by Robert B. Parker. Putnam's, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-399-15541-3

This is the eighth Jesse Stone novel—and more than half-a-hundred overall—for the prolific Robert B. Parker.

Stone, a former minor league baseball prospect and Los Angeles Robbery Homicide detective, is police chief of a 12-man department in small-town Paradise, Mass. Chief Stone's personal life is a mess: he drinks too much; talks to a poster of baseball great Ozzie Smith; and sees a shrink about his obsession with his ex-wife, a television personality whose "M.O. is to sleep with men who can advance her career."

Things are getting a little bizarre at work too. First, Betsy Ingersoll, the principal of the local junior high, creates a firestorm of protest when she conducts "the great thong search" before a school dance. The parents are outraged and demand action. It doesn't help Jesse's investigation that the principal's husband is a prominent Boston attorney.

Meanwhile, a Peeping Tom who calls himself the "Night Hawk" is at large in usually-bucolic Paradise. Soon enough—and against the odds—the incidents escalate from peeping to home invasion. At gunpoint, the voyeur forces women to undress and takes nude pictures of them.

If that's not enough, Jesse discovers the existence of a local swingers club that might be linked to the crimes. All in a day's work for our laconic hero who races to uncover the perpetrator before someone gets hurt.

After a long career, Parker remains a dependable author. NIGHT AND DAY is just the latest in a long line of first-rate mysteries.

QUOTABLE

"Baseball was the most important thing that didn't matter that he'd ever known."

"God is undoubtedly an ironist."

"Lots of women like to be looked at. If they'd just admit it."

"Police work is boring to describe."

"You sure you don't want another one of these doughnuts? It's cop food. You're a cop."

Graham Greene Lite

Graham Greene Lite

The late British writer Graham Greene is a personal favorite. In fact, his The Quiet American, set in the final days of the French war in Vietnam—also the early days of U.S. involvement—is the only novel that I've read more than twice. (The only book that I've read more often is William Strunk and E.B. White's The Elements of Style. I alone am responsible for the continuing deficiencies in my writing style.)

So, when a publisher touts a novel as reminiscent of Greene, I usually take a look. I'm usually disappointed, of course.

That's what led me to read The Secret Keeper, a new novel by Paul Harris, the U.S. correspondent for Britain's Observer newspaper. And, there are similarities to Greene's work: a remote, dangerous setting; morally ambiguous characters; questions of right and wrong.

But, alas, author Paul Harris is not Graham Greene. That doesn't mean that his novel isn't worthwhile though.

The Secret Keeper, by Paul Harris. Dutton, $25.95 (321p) ISBN 978-0-525-95094-3

Foreign correspondent Harris draws on his four years in Africa for this uneven debut novel set in Sierra Leone, the site of a destructive decade-long civil war in the 1990s.

Harris' hero, British journalist Danny Kellerman, cut his teeth covering the fighting in Sierra Leone. Back in London four years later, Kellerman receives a cryptic letter from former lover Maria Tirado, an American aid worker who stayed behind after the killing stopped. Tirado, who works for an agency that rehabilitates child soldiers, writes that "I'm in trouble," and appeals to Kellerman, "I need you."

Kellerman soon learns that Tirado is already dead: killed in an apparent kidnapping attempt. Suspecting that there's more to the story, he heads to Freetown to uncover the truth.

Two parallel stories unfold here: the first set in the closing year of the war reveals Kellerman and Tirado's brief but intense affair and the second follows Kellerman's desperate—and increasingly dangerous—search for the truth behind Tirado's death.

Tirado was exotic, beautiful, and enigmatic. Even Kellerman didn't suspect the true nature of her secrets.

Harris' descriptions of Sierra Leone and the casual brutality that marked the war there are vivid and powerful. His characters, with one important exception, are sharply-drawn and credible, and he moves the action along briskly. The book's weak link is the author's hero—and apparent alter ego. Kellerman, naïve, weak, and self-centered, makes for a decidedly unsympathetic character. It's hard to believe that he would have lasted long in a place like Sierra Leone.

That's the key. Even Greene's protagonists weren't always sympathetic. But, they were always credible.

Weekend Adviser

Forget the groundhog and other faux harbingers of Spring. I now have incontrovertible proof of its long-delayed and much-anticipated arrival here in Hog Heaven: a truck load of mulch piled high in the driveway. Its (the season and the mulch) presence means that my wife has BIG plans for me this weekend. Plans that don't include reading the latest thriller or watching basketball. At least not while the sun shines.

But, the sun can't shine all the time. That leaves at least some hours when I won't be blowing leaves out of the flower beds and spreading a fresh layer of mulch.

Even so, I likely won't be catching any of this weekend's movie premieres. (DVDs mean never having to say you're sorry.) That includes "Adventureland," another coming-of-age piece. This one is set at an amusement park (surprise!) and costars the delectable Kristin Stewart. The word is that her elegant neck is safe. For now anyway. For those who can't get enough testosterone, there's the latest in the "Fast & Furious" franchise. This one brings back the original stars: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Paul Walker. I also won't be seeing "Sugar," a baseball drama that was partially filmed just down the road in Davenport, Iowa. The movie follows the hopeful odyssey of Latino baseball players from impoverished homeland to the American minor leagues and has won kudos from audiences at film festivals. It's on my must-see-soon list.

I also probably won't watch as March (April?) Madness reaches a climax with the Final Four on Saturday and the Championship on Monday. Why? No underdog. Except for the fans of the four remaining teams, who really cares if North Carolina, Michigan State, Villanova, or Connecticut win another NCAA title? Since I'm only mildly interested in college basketball anyway, it takes a cinderella to keep me watching.

If you're staying in on Saturday night--like moi--and eschewing televised roundball, there are a couple of new DVD releases that might appeal to you. The first is the acclaimed--Academy Award for Best Picture--Bollywood drama "Slumdog Millionaire." Directed by Danny Boyle, it's the life-affirming story of an orphaned Mumbai street kid's unlikely success on an Indian "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

The other, for those interested in a TV series marathon, is the first season of the USA Network hit "In Plain Sight." The series stars Mary McCormack as U.S. Marshall Mary Shannon who works for the Federal Witness Protection Program. Besides the assorted criminals she works with, there's an eccentric cast of characters in her personal life. It makes for a funny and suspenseful hour. For much more on the series, including info on the Season Two premiere coming up on April 19, see here: http://www.usanetwork.com/series/inplainsight/

Some of you will undoubtedly be watching vampire romance "Twilight" which has sold 5.2 million copies since the DVD was released, making it the year's top-selling release. There's no recession for vampires.

There's one thing for sure: I've reserved an hour on Sunday evening for the second installment of HBO's delightful adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's Botswana dramedy, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." For more on last Sunday's pilot, see here: http://flyover-culture.blogspot.com/2009/03/no-1-ladies-detective-agency.html

Long Lost

Long Lost, by Harlan Coben. Dutton, $27.95 (384p) ISBN 978-0-525-95105-6

Prolific best-seller Coben returns with his ninth Myron Bolitar thriller (after 2006's Promise Me). This time out the former basketball star and current entertainment agent is caught in a fiendish terrorist plot that has him piling up the frequent-flier miles.

It all starts out innocently enough. The forty-something Bolitar, who's involved in a relationship with a "Nine/Eleven widow," gets a call from old flame Terese Collins. The two once shared a passionate three weeks in the Caribbean, but Terese, a former CNN anchor, disappeared shortly thereafter and hadn't been seen in eight years.

"Come to Paris," she asks. Bolitar is reluctant, but his best friend and business partner Win Lockwood, reminds him of Terese's "world-class derriere" and before long our hero is headed for Paris.

As it turns out, Terese has more than sex on her mind although there's that too. It seems that her ex-husband, investigative journalist Rick Collins, has disappeared and she wants Bolitar's help in finding him.

Things get complicated thereafter. Collins turns up dead. DNA tests of the blood at the scene show that Collins' daughter also was present. The only problem—and it's a big one—is that Collins doesn't have a daughter. He and Terese had a daughter once—seven-year-old Miriam—but she died in a tragic traffic accident. That's why Terese disappeared. To darkest Africa, it turns out.

Then, things get really complicated. It further turns out that Collins—and now Terese and Bolitar—have stumbled onto an international terrorist plot of diabolical proportions. Before it's over—and is it ever over?—Bolitar will encounter all manner of challenges: Mossad, anti-abortion activists, CIA black sites, Interpol, rendition, waterboarding, stem cell researchers, and enough facile jokes to embarrass a lesser man.

Bolitar's best buddy, the forty-something Win, has a twenty-something Oriental girlfriend. Her name is Mee, pronounced "me." Win, it seems, loves Mee jokes. Maybe he knows that they're lame, but he can't help himself. Here's an example: "Win slapped my back. 'Feel good about yourself, Myron. After all, I feel good about Mee.'" It gets tiresome. To his credit, Coben doesn't resort to the ultimate Mee joke: "The devil make Mee do it."

People are dying right and left, and these two middle-age professionals manage to keep up the frat boy humor throughout. It does have a way of diminishing the suspense.

Nevertheless, Coben knows how to keep the action moving along briskly and the reader turning the pages. The plot twists like a mountain road but Coben ties everything together in a tense climax. It's not Robert B. Parker. It's not even Randy Wayne White. But, Coben's fans likely will be happy to see Bolitar back again.

Embattled & Embedded

Tomorrow, the Naval Institute Press will publish former Marine officer Wesley Gray's account of his seven months advising the Iraqi Army. Since General Petraeus' strategy for success in Iraq and Afghanistan includes building up capable indigenous security forces, Gray's reflections on his own experiences in that regard are worth a careful reading. I believe that the author is too cynical about Iraqi culture and too pessimistic about Iraq's future prospects, but who knows? The future is a moving target.

Embedded: A Marine Corps Adviser Inside the Iraqi Army, by Wesley Gray. Naval Institute Press, $28.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-59114-340-6

Former Marine officer and Iraqi War veteran Gray saw a lot during his seven months as an adviser to the Iraqi Army. What he didn't see was the future. Nobody can, of course. But, that doesn't stop him from venturing into the void.

In mid-2006, Gray was assigned to a MiTT (Military Transition Team) team embedded within a battalion of the Iraqi Army in Al Anbar Province in western Iraq. Their mission was "to train, support, and advise the IA [Iraqi Army]." That turned out to be a frustrating challenge.

Despite pre-deployment training for their mission in Hawaii and in-country training in Iraq, Gray and his teammates were overwhelmed by what they found awaiting them. "[Nothing] can prepare anybody," he writes, "for the levels of ineptitude, laziness, and lack of motivation rampant in the Iraqi army."

What follows is a litany of complaints: Iraqi officers use their soldiers as servants; the logistics system is "inept and corrupt'; Iraqis "are glorified beggars" and employ "selective hearing"; there are "few true Iraqi patriots"; torture is "part of Iraq"; and laziness is endemic and epidemic. To his credit, Gray offers ample testimony to support his charges. And, he tries to put his conclusions in context: Laziness, he concludes, is "a survival mechanism" in a hostile environment.

As the only member of the MiTT team who spoke Arabic, Gray spent many hours socializing with the Iraqis. He seems to have been tolerated if not liked, and the troops gave him an affectionate nickname: "Jamal."

The Iraqis loved to talk about sex, but the author found them sexually illiterate. One reason was that they got much of their information from internet pornography. How was it, they asked Gray, that American men were so well endowed and could perform so long? When Gray tried to explain that porn actors tended to be above average in size and that the movies were edited to prolong the action, his audience was not convinced.

By the end of his tour, a disillusioned Gray had come to believe that the U.S. is "wasting time and resources in Iraq," and that a civil war is inevitable once the Americans depart. He concludes that the Iraqis "probably never will be successful."

Events might yet prove Gray right. But, for the moment, a stable and prosperous Iraq remains a viable possibility. The recent successful provincial elections and continued security gains are steps in the right direction.

There appears to be a consensus among the military and political leadership that success in Iraq and Afghanistan depends upon building up competent security forces (police and military) in those nations. The MiTT teams are on the front lines of that effort.

Despite his pessimism, Gray's unvarnished memoir is a revealing look at the enormous challenges facing MiTT teams in this Long War. Read as a cautionary tale, it's a valuable contribution to our ongoing assessment of the way forward in Iraq.

With luck, a critical mass of Iraqis will surprise the author and embrace the future. Maybe, after all, Iraqi culture is less deterministic and Iraqi society less static than Gray assumes.

QUOTABLE

"'The only time a woman is allowed on top in Iraq is in the bedroom.'"

"Those who succeed in Iraq learn to deal with Iraqi culture; those who fail in Iraq try to change Iraqi culture."

"[S]ix sleeping bags were filled with Iraqis, dreaming about pork chops and unveiled women."

"In their [Iraqis] mind, lazy people are wise people."

"Relying on Iraqis for anything besides a cup of chai (tea) with heavy sugar was rarely solid advice."

"Sure, they [Iraqis] were selfish, lying, untrustworthy, backstabbing, begging bastards for the most part, but they were my friends."

No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Ten years ago, Alexander McCall Smith, an African-born, Scottish academic published a
modest little mystery set in Botswana. The result has been anything but modest.

The book, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, follows the exploits of Mma Precious Ramotswe, the first and only female detective in the southern African nation of Botswana. Mma Ramotswe, with no background in detection but armed with common sense, uncommon intuition, and keen powers of observation, sets out to help others and her beloved country.

The book was an instant hit with reviewers and readers. Publishers' Weekly called it "a little gem of a book"; the Wall Street Journal judged it a "literary treat"; the L.A. Times settled for "smart and sassy"; and the N.Y. Times dubbed Mma Ramotswe "the Miss Marple of Botswana." Before long, the book was delighting readers everywhere and climbing the best-seller lists.

Smith, a professor of medical law at the University of Edinburgh, followed that first title with nine more in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series including the most recent, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009).

The prolific Smith is the author of two additional mystery series—the Sunday Philosophy Club and 44 Scotland Street—as well as academic texts and children's books.

Last night, HBO, in partnership with the BBC, brought the endearing series to the little screen with a two-hour pilot episode that's sure to please both fans of the books and those who are new to Mma Ramotswe and her friends. Written by Richard Curtis and the late Anthony Minghella and directed by Minghella, it's a consistently faithful adaptation of Smith's wryly humorous series. If the six follow-on episodes—written by Nicholas Wright and Robert Jones and directed by Charles Sturridge and Tim Fywell—sustain the initial momentum, HBO should have a hit on its hands.

The production, shot entirely on location in Botswana, looks great, and the actors are uniformly solid. American singer/actress Jill Scott plays the detective heroine with just the right balance of charm and good-natured determination. Anika Nonie Rose is spot-on as Mma Ramotswe's prim and proper secretary, as is Lucian Msamati as Mr. JLB Matekone, the proprietor of Speedy Motors.

Media outlets have been consistent in their praise of the pilot. USA Today calls it "perfect." That's a bit extreme, of course, but the nation's daily is not a stranger to hyperbole. See their review here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2009-03-26-ladies-detective-agency_N.htm?csp=23&RM_Exclude=aol

The more-circumspect Detroit News pronounces it "a winner." See here: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090328/OPINION03/903280314/HBO+s++Ladies+Detective+Agency++a+winner

The New York Daily News says it's "full of charm" here: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/03/28/2009-03-28_the_no_1_ladies_detective_agency_stories.html

For much more on the series including an interview with Alexander McCall Smith, check out the official site: http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/

Weekend Adviser

March is going out like a lion—entertainment wise.

March Madness continues to build with the Elite 8 round this weekend. After Sunday, only four teams will remain standing. Ironically—for an event advertised as March Madness—the semifinals and championship game will be played in April. That seems to be the rule in sports anymore: seasons expand until they're out-of-season. Hockey in June. Baseball in November. Football in February. Who knew?

With fewer hours of basketball action this weekend and baseball's return still a week away, there's more time for other things this weekend. If you missed last Saturday's release of the "Twilight" DVD and you dig teenage vampires, maybe now's the time to check it out. On the other hand, if you're from Mars, there's the latest in the James Bond franchise, "Quantum of Solace," newly-released on DVD. It's the second—following "Casino Royale"—to star Daniel Craig as the iconic spy in the early stages of his career as a double-O and continues to take the franchise in a darker, and more realistic, direction.

For those with lots of time on their hands and few responsibilities, CBS has just released the eighth season of its hit series J.A.G. J.A.G., of course, is the Judge Advocate General branch and is the military's legal eagles. Each of the three services has its J.A.G. branch, but these are Navy lawyers. The lawyers include Navy Cmdr. Harm Rabb (David James Elliot), a former fighter pilot turned lawyer, and Marine Lt. Col. Sarah "Mac" MacKenzie (Catherine Bell). (The Marine Corps, of course, is not a separate branch of the military but part of the Navy.) The eighth season (2002-2003) features cases involving murder, treason, and terrorism. If you've got eighteen spare hours this weekend, maybe there's a J.A.G. marathon in your future.

I've already set aside a couple hours Sunday evening for the premiere of HBO's newest series: "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." Based on a delightful set of mysteries by British writer Alexander McCall Smith—nine so far including the latest, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built—the series follows the exploits of Botswana's very first (and only) female private detective, Mma Ramotswe (played here by American singer/actress Jill Scott). Mma is an unconventional detective, relying on observation and intuition to solve cases instead of cynical bravado. Mma is assisted by her prim secretary Mma Makutsi (Anika Noni Rose) and encouraged by her friend (later husband) Mr. Matekone (Lucian Msamati), the owner of Speedy Motors. With unique (and lovable) characters, eccentric mysteries, and an exotic setting, I suspect this will be must-see TV. For more, see here: http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/ And, I'll have more on the HBO series and the books next week.

There's not much of note opening on the Big Screen this weekend. Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon lends her voice to the animated sci-fi flick "Monsters vs. Aliens," and there are two derivative thrillers: "The Haunting in Connecticut" and "12 Rounds." In "Monsters vs. Aliens," Witherspoon channels "Die Hard" hero John McClane in her role as a monster who battles aliens to save the planet. Take the kids. You might enjoy it too. I'd check the reviews before forking over eight bucks (or more) to see either of the thrillers.