Joseph Baneth Allen's Blog, page 8
July 21, 2025
On The Other Hand, Death
Just finished watching "On The Other Hand, Death - A Donald Strachey Mystery" released by Here Media back in 2018.
"On The Other Hand, Death" was the third Donald Strachey mystery brought to the small/streaming screen by Here Media. It is based on the second novel in the Strachey series written by the late Richard Stevenson Lipez, who wrote under his pen-name Richard Stevenson.
My review copy of "On The Other Hand, Death" has been sitting in one of piles of unwatched DVDs until I finally got around to watching the series. I'm not always quick on the uptake when it comes to review books, movies, audio dramas, and music.
Strachey is brought onto the case when an elderly lesbian couple are being targeted by a vicious campaign of vandalism that is escalating into violence due to a stalled real estate deal.
Strachey must untangle a web of lies that have lead to murder and relationships based on deception.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Hand-Dea...
"On The Other Hand, Death" was the third Donald Strachey mystery brought to the small/streaming screen by Here Media. It is based on the second novel in the Strachey series written by the late Richard Stevenson Lipez, who wrote under his pen-name Richard Stevenson.
My review copy of "On The Other Hand, Death" has been sitting in one of piles of unwatched DVDs until I finally got around to watching the series. I'm not always quick on the uptake when it comes to review books, movies, audio dramas, and music.
Strachey is brought onto the case when an elderly lesbian couple are being targeted by a vicious campaign of vandalism that is escalating into violence due to a stalled real estate deal.
Strachey must untangle a web of lies that have lead to murder and relationships based on deception.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Hand-Dea...
July 20, 2025
Shock To The System
Just finished watching "Shock To The System - A Donald Strachey Mystery" released by Here Media.
Now a reminder about reviews. If you're offended by movies and books that feature gay characters, well, too bad because the only limits on what I read, watch, and listen to is that it can not be x-rated and even though I may not practice the life-style in question, I also read books and watch movies that feature Christians and Christian ideals. That doesn't mean I'm going to convert.
It's rather a pity that I have to place disclaimers on certain reviews because people get triggered and send nasty emails and/or post comments that get promptly deleted and the person blocked.
A little back ground on the character: Donald "Don" Strachey is a fictional character who appears in novels by mystery writer Richard Stevenson. "Shock To the System" is the third movie of four movies in the Donald Strachey series produced for Here Media and is actually based on the fifth book in the series, "A Shock To The System" that was published back in 1995 by St. Martin Press. There are 16 novels in the Donald Strachey mystery series.
This time around Strachey is hired by a mystery client to track down the whereabouts of a missing man - and his client, who just happens to be the poster boy for a gay conversion therapist, is murdered. To gain entrance into the conversion program to figure out who murdered his client, Strachey must confront the painful decisions he made in his past as an Army Intelligence officer which lead to the death of his lover at the time.
A very intense and believable murder mystery.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Shock-System-D...
Now a reminder about reviews. If you're offended by movies and books that feature gay characters, well, too bad because the only limits on what I read, watch, and listen to is that it can not be x-rated and even though I may not practice the life-style in question, I also read books and watch movies that feature Christians and Christian ideals. That doesn't mean I'm going to convert.
It's rather a pity that I have to place disclaimers on certain reviews because people get triggered and send nasty emails and/or post comments that get promptly deleted and the person blocked.
A little back ground on the character: Donald "Don" Strachey is a fictional character who appears in novels by mystery writer Richard Stevenson. "Shock To the System" is the third movie of four movies in the Donald Strachey series produced for Here Media and is actually based on the fifth book in the series, "A Shock To The System" that was published back in 1995 by St. Martin Press. There are 16 novels in the Donald Strachey mystery series.
This time around Strachey is hired by a mystery client to track down the whereabouts of a missing man - and his client, who just happens to be the poster boy for a gay conversion therapist, is murdered. To gain entrance into the conversion program to figure out who murdered his client, Strachey must confront the painful decisions he made in his past as an Army Intelligence officer which lead to the death of his lover at the time.
A very intense and believable murder mystery.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Shock-System-D...
Moana 2
Just finished watching "Moana 2" released by Walt Disney Studios.
If you suffer from seizures, you may wish to avoid watching "Moana 2" or if you have fond memories of "Moana."
"Moana 2" was originally designed as an original multi-episode show for Disney's Streaming Service and it was edited into a movie that sees Moana being tasked by the ancestorial wayfarers to find a mythical island that will restore the ocean's currents and bring the people of the world together again, otherwise the story of Moana and her people will end.
There is some controversy about "Moana 2" because Moana does become a demi-god after she dies and is brought back to life, a first for a Disney heroine - though there is an argument to be made that Snow White is the Bride of Christ, and the Seven Dwarfs and Prince Charming do pray to her.
Anything can be twisted into what you want it to be.
Now interesting to note, while "Moana 2" took in over a billion dollars in box office, and there was a mid-credit scene which screams that there is an unresolved cliff hanger, "Moana 3" is not a confirmed, done deal.
"Moana 2" has the feel of Disney's old direct to DVD sequels. It's okay, but not great and lacks the fun and soul of the original Moana and the songs fall flat.
Two-and-a-Half Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Moana-2-Blu-ra...
If you suffer from seizures, you may wish to avoid watching "Moana 2" or if you have fond memories of "Moana."
"Moana 2" was originally designed as an original multi-episode show for Disney's Streaming Service and it was edited into a movie that sees Moana being tasked by the ancestorial wayfarers to find a mythical island that will restore the ocean's currents and bring the people of the world together again, otherwise the story of Moana and her people will end.
There is some controversy about "Moana 2" because Moana does become a demi-god after she dies and is brought back to life, a first for a Disney heroine - though there is an argument to be made that Snow White is the Bride of Christ, and the Seven Dwarfs and Prince Charming do pray to her.
Anything can be twisted into what you want it to be.
Now interesting to note, while "Moana 2" took in over a billion dollars in box office, and there was a mid-credit scene which screams that there is an unresolved cliff hanger, "Moana 3" is not a confirmed, done deal.
"Moana 2" has the feel of Disney's old direct to DVD sequels. It's okay, but not great and lacks the fun and soul of the original Moana and the songs fall flat.
Two-and-a-Half Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Moana-2-Blu-ra...
July 17, 2025
Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain
Just finished reading "Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain" by Robert Venditti, Gavin Guidry, Jordie Bellarie, published DC comics.
DC's "Superman '78" series picks up from the events of the the 1977 Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve as Superman and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.
One of the great things about this run of DC Superman comics is that it accurately captures the chemistry and likability that Reeve and Kidder brought to their respective characters on screen.
"Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain" collects the six issues of "The Metal Curtain" which explores the Soviet Union's desire to bridge the superhero gap by creating their own kryptonite powered superhero Metallo.
"Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain" takes place between the first two Reeve Superman movies and greatly explores and show why Superman is a symbol of hope and inspiration. Something James Gunn and Hollywood should have remembered.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Superman-78-Cu...
DC's "Superman '78" series picks up from the events of the the 1977 Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve as Superman and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.
One of the great things about this run of DC Superman comics is that it accurately captures the chemistry and likability that Reeve and Kidder brought to their respective characters on screen.
"Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain" collects the six issues of "The Metal Curtain" which explores the Soviet Union's desire to bridge the superhero gap by creating their own kryptonite powered superhero Metallo.
"Superman '78 - The Metal Curtain" takes place between the first two Reeve Superman movies and greatly explores and show why Superman is a symbol of hope and inspiration. Something James Gunn and Hollywood should have remembered.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Superman-78-Cu...
July 16, 2025
Sundiver
Just finished reading "Sundiver" by David Brin, first published back in February 1980 by Bantam Books as part of my "Great Re-Reading of My Favorite Books from My Youth" project.
I first discovered "Sundiver" by David Brin in the new arrival section for Science Fiction and Fantasy books section of Michelle's Bookstore in the Bryn Marr Shopping Center in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
I believe "Sundiver" was David Brin's first published novel; but I'm not sure if he previously had any short fiction published. It is also the first novel in his Uplift universe.
"Sundiver" is a classic space opera mystery. Humanity has reached the stars and have established three colonies in other star systems when contact is made with a galaxy-spanning civilization consisting of various alien races who serve as Patrons to other lesser intelligent races by "uplifting" them. Of all the races in the known universe, only humanity was never uplifted and is referred to as the "Wolfing" species that achieved intelligence and reached the stars - something no other intelligent race has done without being uplifted by a Patron. A clue to the fate of humanity's Patron may exist within the Sun where a form of intelligent life may exist; but the Sun Sprites have already proven threatening and deadly by killing the crew of a previous expedition to the Sun.
"Sundiver" is classic science fiction with it's mystery and sweep.
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Sundiver-David...
I first discovered "Sundiver" by David Brin in the new arrival section for Science Fiction and Fantasy books section of Michelle's Bookstore in the Bryn Marr Shopping Center in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
I believe "Sundiver" was David Brin's first published novel; but I'm not sure if he previously had any short fiction published. It is also the first novel in his Uplift universe.
"Sundiver" is a classic space opera mystery. Humanity has reached the stars and have established three colonies in other star systems when contact is made with a galaxy-spanning civilization consisting of various alien races who serve as Patrons to other lesser intelligent races by "uplifting" them. Of all the races in the known universe, only humanity was never uplifted and is referred to as the "Wolfing" species that achieved intelligence and reached the stars - something no other intelligent race has done without being uplifted by a Patron. A clue to the fate of humanity's Patron may exist within the Sun where a form of intelligent life may exist; but the Sun Sprites have already proven threatening and deadly by killing the crew of a previous expedition to the Sun.
"Sundiver" is classic science fiction with it's mystery and sweep.
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Sundiver-David...
Fibber McGee & Molly - The Good Listener
Just finished listening to "Fibber McGee & Molly - The Good Listener" released by Radio Spirits.
"Fibber McGee and Molly" was one of the earliest radio comedies to use an ensemble cast of regular characters played by actors other than the leads, nearly all of whom had recurring phrases and running gags, in addition to numerous other peripheral characters unheard from over the course of the series.
Real life husband and wife Jim and Marian Jordan were the vaudeville actors who brough the McGees to hilarious life.
My favorite shows in this collection are: "The Con Men," "The Snapshot Contest," "Making Christmas Cards," "$1.19 Inner Tuber," and "Dress Maker's Dummy."
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Fibber-McGee-M...
"Fibber McGee and Molly" was one of the earliest radio comedies to use an ensemble cast of regular characters played by actors other than the leads, nearly all of whom had recurring phrases and running gags, in addition to numerous other peripheral characters unheard from over the course of the series.
Real life husband and wife Jim and Marian Jordan were the vaudeville actors who brough the McGees to hilarious life.
My favorite shows in this collection are: "The Con Men," "The Snapshot Contest," "Making Christmas Cards," "$1.19 Inner Tuber," and "Dress Maker's Dummy."
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
TEN STARS!
https://www.amazon.com/Fibber-McGee-M...
July 14, 2025
Issunboshi
Just finished reading "Issunboshi" by Ryan Lang, published by Oni Press published back in 2024.
I was instantly drawn to "Issunboshi" when I discovered it on the shelves of the Coliseum of Comics off of Roosevelt Boulevard here in Jacksonville because of my love of Japanese folk tales - which always got me in trouble in elementary, junior high school and high school because my teachers though I shouldn't be reading them - the original Japanese folk tales are dark and don't have happy endings.
In the original tale, a childless old couple prayed to the Sumiyoshi sanjin to be blessed with a child, and so they were able to have one. However, the child born was only one sun (around 3 cm or 1.2 in) in height and never grew taller. Thus, the child was named the "one-sun boy" or "Issun-bōshi".
Now there are several versions Issunboshi and Lang's retelling has Issunboshi as a forest god who decides to be reborn in order to fight a great evil - so this has a Western take on the folk tale. Lang, who is also the artist, does an excellent job with the illustrations.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Issunboshi-Gra...
I was instantly drawn to "Issunboshi" when I discovered it on the shelves of the Coliseum of Comics off of Roosevelt Boulevard here in Jacksonville because of my love of Japanese folk tales - which always got me in trouble in elementary, junior high school and high school because my teachers though I shouldn't be reading them - the original Japanese folk tales are dark and don't have happy endings.
In the original tale, a childless old couple prayed to the Sumiyoshi sanjin to be blessed with a child, and so they were able to have one. However, the child born was only one sun (around 3 cm or 1.2 in) in height and never grew taller. Thus, the child was named the "one-sun boy" or "Issun-bōshi".
Now there are several versions Issunboshi and Lang's retelling has Issunboshi as a forest god who decides to be reborn in order to fight a great evil - so this has a Western take on the folk tale. Lang, who is also the artist, does an excellent job with the illustrations.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Issunboshi-Gra...
A Crack In Everything - How Black Holes Came In From The Cold And Took Cosmic Centre Stage
Just finished reading "A Crack In Everything - How Black Holes Came In From The Cold And Took Cosmic Centre Stage" by Marcus Chown, published by Head Zeus Books in 2024.
In "A Crack in Everything: How Black Holes Came in from the Cold and Took Cosmic Centre Stage" begins with Einstein and Schwarzschild and traces the evolution of theory and observation about Black Holes and the related science to the present.
Except for Einstein, for the most part it is a story developed by outsiders. In 1930, Indian physicist, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, on a voyage to England, calculated that if at the end of its life a star had a mass about 1.4 time the mass of the sun it would collapse into a Black Hole. Still, there was skepticism. Schwarzschild’s work was for a stationary star, but stars rotate. In 1963, New Zealand physicist Roy Kerr at a fledging Austin Texas Physics Department worked out the mathematics for a spinning Black Hole. Confirming observations followed, and here, in a male-dominated science, women distinguished themselves. In 1967, Jocelyn Bell discovered White Dwarf or Neutron Stars. In 1973, Paul Murdin and Louise Webster deduced the presence of the first Black Hole from a rapidly orbiting star. In 2015, Gabriela Gonzalez led a team who identified Gravity Waves produced with the collision of two Black Holes (99 years after Einstein’s original prediction) with the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (“LIGO”).
Chown has written an enjoyable history of how black holes were theorized and proven to be real.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1804544337/...
In "A Crack in Everything: How Black Holes Came in from the Cold and Took Cosmic Centre Stage" begins with Einstein and Schwarzschild and traces the evolution of theory and observation about Black Holes and the related science to the present.
Except for Einstein, for the most part it is a story developed by outsiders. In 1930, Indian physicist, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, on a voyage to England, calculated that if at the end of its life a star had a mass about 1.4 time the mass of the sun it would collapse into a Black Hole. Still, there was skepticism. Schwarzschild’s work was for a stationary star, but stars rotate. In 1963, New Zealand physicist Roy Kerr at a fledging Austin Texas Physics Department worked out the mathematics for a spinning Black Hole. Confirming observations followed, and here, in a male-dominated science, women distinguished themselves. In 1967, Jocelyn Bell discovered White Dwarf or Neutron Stars. In 1973, Paul Murdin and Louise Webster deduced the presence of the first Black Hole from a rapidly orbiting star. In 2015, Gabriela Gonzalez led a team who identified Gravity Waves produced with the collision of two Black Holes (99 years after Einstein’s original prediction) with the Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory (“LIGO”).
Chown has written an enjoyable history of how black holes were theorized and proven to be real.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1804544337/...
The Haunted Stars
Just finished reading "The Haunted Stars" by Edmond Hamilton, published by Torquil Books back in 1960.
I read "The Haunted Stars" as part of my "Great Re-Reading of Favorite Books from My Youth" project. I first found and bought "The Haunted Stars" back in the 1970s from Twice Told Tales, a used bookstore in the New River Shopping Center back in Jacksonville, North Carolina; and I found my reading copy in Chamblin's Uptown here in Downtown Jacksonville.
"The Haunted Stars" was written and published before the advent of manned space flight and projected a space race between the West and Communism with Iron Curtin tensions that have spread to the lunar bases of the Soviet Union and the United States.
American explorers stumble across a lunar space station which is intact but has been damaged by a space battle. There are no corpses, no weapons, no spaceships. The only thing they know is that the station is its age - thirty thousand years old. Older that the recorded history of mankind.
The Americans see this discovery as a way to get a leg up on the Soviets. They create, as quickly as possible, an interstellar ship, by combining technology they find at the station with what they already know. Then they send a small crew on a mission to a portion of space that has been ascertained as the home solar system of those who built the Lunar Space Station.
Yet the answers that await on the homeworld of the Vanryn are not what the American explorers expected.
A very cautionary tale of what interstellar explorers may eventually find.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RFRED4/...
I read "The Haunted Stars" as part of my "Great Re-Reading of Favorite Books from My Youth" project. I first found and bought "The Haunted Stars" back in the 1970s from Twice Told Tales, a used bookstore in the New River Shopping Center back in Jacksonville, North Carolina; and I found my reading copy in Chamblin's Uptown here in Downtown Jacksonville.
"The Haunted Stars" was written and published before the advent of manned space flight and projected a space race between the West and Communism with Iron Curtin tensions that have spread to the lunar bases of the Soviet Union and the United States.
American explorers stumble across a lunar space station which is intact but has been damaged by a space battle. There are no corpses, no weapons, no spaceships. The only thing they know is that the station is its age - thirty thousand years old. Older that the recorded history of mankind.
The Americans see this discovery as a way to get a leg up on the Soviets. They create, as quickly as possible, an interstellar ship, by combining technology they find at the station with what they already know. Then they send a small crew on a mission to a portion of space that has been ascertained as the home solar system of those who built the Lunar Space Station.
Yet the answers that await on the homeworld of the Vanryn are not what the American explorers expected.
A very cautionary tale of what interstellar explorers may eventually find.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RFRED4/...
he Destroyer #96 - Infernal Revenue
Just finished listening to "The Destroyer #96 - Infernal Revenue" released by Graphic Audio.
Keep in mind that "The Destroyer" series is a satirical take on the action genre that offers biting social commentary on social and political trends of the time it was written in. In other words, "The Destroyer" series is not for everyone - especially those who are so easily offended. I've had this for nearly 20 years before I finally got around to listening to it.
Friend, a fiendishly clever AI program that wants to control all the world's wealth, covertly hijacks the new computer system at CURE and manages to cripple CURE by stealing its funding , and Harold Smith must figure out a solution without his computer network.
Friend's fiendish strategy screws up the data base so efficiently that both Remo and Chiun quit - bad timing now that Friend has released a stealth virus that will attack systems everywhere, holding the world hostage to technoterrorism.
With CURE's intelligence network rendered useless and the IRS at his door, Smith's only option looks like a suicide pill. But when Friend overplays his hand Remo and determined Chiun are back on the payroll and get powered up to foil Friend once and for all.
Great Fun.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Reven...
Keep in mind that "The Destroyer" series is a satirical take on the action genre that offers biting social commentary on social and political trends of the time it was written in. In other words, "The Destroyer" series is not for everyone - especially those who are so easily offended. I've had this for nearly 20 years before I finally got around to listening to it.
Friend, a fiendishly clever AI program that wants to control all the world's wealth, covertly hijacks the new computer system at CURE and manages to cripple CURE by stealing its funding , and Harold Smith must figure out a solution without his computer network.
Friend's fiendish strategy screws up the data base so efficiently that both Remo and Chiun quit - bad timing now that Friend has released a stealth virus that will attack systems everywhere, holding the world hostage to technoterrorism.
With CURE's intelligence network rendered useless and the IRS at his door, Smith's only option looks like a suicide pill. But when Friend overplays his hand Remo and determined Chiun are back on the payroll and get powered up to foil Friend once and for all.
Great Fun.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Reven...
