The latest Stainless Steel Rat book keeps up the spirit of the other nine. Chronologically, it follows The Stainless Stell Rat Goes to Hell and involves the entire DiGriz family, Slippery Jim and his lovely wife Angelina, and their two sons, James and Bolivar.

While no one will ever accuse this book (or any other in the series) of even pretending to approach high literature, when you're in the mood for a light, fast, action-packed sci-fi adventure where the criminal is the good guy, look no farther. Just like the other books, this one is full of fun and makes me laugh aloud.

Just as an FYI, here is the list of Stainless Steel Rat books in chronological order (not the order they were written in, but in order of the stories' chronology):

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born
The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues
The Stainless Steel Rat (The original novel)
The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge
The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World
The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!
The Stainless Steel Rat For President
The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell
The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus

This latest in the series earns a rating of 3 1/2. It's a fun, quick read, well worth the trouble.

I wanted my own CD recording of "The Four Seasons" for quite some time, but hadn't yet got to it. Then my sister, who had raved and raved about her CD recording of Orpheus' performance, brought it over to my home. I was instantly captivated as I listened to track 10, Allegro non Molto from Winter. I had to have my own copy of the CD. Needless to say, I was soon the owner of my own copy and I've not regretted it even the least bit.
I love it, in fact.

I usually preferred a small ensemble performance over a larger group unless the larger group has insane precision and clarity, both in choral works, and string works. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra's crisp precision backing Gil Shaham's own amazing accuracy and skill blend together making this a recording that I give a whole-hearted rating of 5.

This is recording of "The Four Seasons" is a must have for any collection. Get it!

I missed this one when it was out in theaters. I probably wouldn't have seen it so soon after it came out on video if it wasn't for a friend of mine bringing it over one evening. So we watched it with some other friends.

Prior to my seeing The Kid my sister, whose opinion I value and trust when it comes to things of the cinema, told me that yes, it was a good movie, but she and her friend had fixated on the music soundtrack all through the movie and so described the music as distracting, the "circuis-like" music never seeming (or very rarely) to stop.

So I had mixed expectations that evening. What a pleasant and delightful surprise, then, to discover that this was indeed a good movie, a funny movie. I liked it. A lot more than I thought I would. The music wasn't distracting to me at all. Sure, like many Turteltaub movies (While You Were Sleeping comes to mind), the music is a bit much, but not unpleasantly so in the least. Not every movie can will find the balance of background music that I thought God's Army (see http://www.zionfilms.com/) found.

This is a good show. A good family film. As I watched, I knew I would have to add it to my DVD collection. I haven't yet (as of this writing), but I expect to buy it this very evening. I give this show a very enjoyable 3 1/2 rating.