A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 1995 Berkley Books Before his untimely death on October 1, 2013, the late Tom Clancy wrote 16 best-selling novels which focus on many aspects of America's national security community. Starting with his now-classic The Hunt for Red October (1984) and continuing all the way to his final Jack Ryan novel (2013's Command Authority ), Clancy's cast of characters included soldiers, airmen, sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and special operations troops, not to mention a certain CIA analyst who eventually becomes President of the United States. All of these books - including Red Storm Rising, one of only two novels that are not set in Clancy's "Ryanverse" - are not only successful because they tell great stories, but also because they are the result of a lot of research and Clancy's ability to network with many people in the military and other branches of government. In addition to his works of fiction, Clancy wrote a seven-book series of non-fiction bo

(C) 2008 Reprise Records On May 13, 2008, Reprise Records released Frank Sinatra: Nothing But the Best, a compilation album of songs recorded by Frank Sinatra for Reprise (the label he founded in 1960) in the 1960s and '70s. Its release was timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Sinatra's death (May 14, 1998), although at least one edition of the album - the British - was issued on May 9, 2008. Nothing But the Best is not an overview of Francis Albert Sinatra's entire career - a period that began in 1935 when he sang with Harry James and His Orchestra and officially ended in 1994. Most of the 22 songs in the album are from the 1960s, although at least one (Frank's cover of 1977's  New York, New York ) was originally recorded for 1980's three-record set Trilogy: Past Present Future.  The album (which was released in three different versions: the one-CD edition, the Christmas 2-CD set with Nothing But the Best and a Sinatra "Christmas song&quo

Package of the DOS version of M1 Tank Platoon (C) 1989 MicroProse Software In 1989 - that annus mirabilis marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Soviet domination in Eastern Europe, MicroProse Software published the original version of M1 Tank Platoon: The Definitive Simulation of Armored Land Warfare.  Part vehicle simulator and part real-time tactics map-based game, M1 Tank Platoon was the first tank warfare game to break away from the "one tank against the entire Red Army" trope in other games set in a conventional World War III scenario. Instead, M1 Tank Platoon put the player in command of a four-tank platoon of M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks and, depending on the mission type selected, a wide array of supporting forces that included M2/M3 Bradleys, AH-64 Apache attack helos, OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopters, A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets, Improved TOW Vehicles, infantry squads, 107mm mortars, 155mm artillery, and Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS)

(C)  1994 Berkley Books Before his unexpected death on October 1, 2013, Tom Clancy wrote 19 novels, 17 of which were set in what reviewers and his legions of fans refer to the "Ryanverse" (so-called because they feature either his central character, John Patrick Ryan, Sr. and a large supporting cast that includes his son Jack Ryan, Jr.). Most of those novels were best-sellers; including The Hunt for Red October, Red Storm Rising (the only best-seller that was not set in the Ryanverse), and the last Jack Ryan/Jack Ryan, Jr.  books he co-wrote with Grant Blackwood and Mark Greaney between 2010 and 2013, In addition to his works of fiction, Clancy also wrote many non-fiction books about various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the seven-book "Guided Tour" series that began with 1993's Submarine: A Guided Tour of a Nuclear Warship and ended with Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces  (2001).  These books were co-written with res

As an occasional computer gamer, I often find it difficult to find a World War II strategy game along the lines of the late and much lamented Microprose Software's 1986 game Crusade in Europe.  Created by the now-legendary game designer Sid Meier with Ed Bever, Crusade in Europe was a map-and-icons simulation of the Allied campaigns to liberate Northwest Europe; as the product's promotional blurb put it, it put players in command of either the Allied or German forces  "from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge!" Cover of the user's manual for Crusade in Europe. (C) 1986 MicroProse Software I've already written several posts, including a reminiscence , about Crusade in Europe so I will try to not repeat myself much here. I will, however, try to make a case for asking Firaxis Games (where Sid Meier holds court now) or any other game developer to follow up that classic with a modern-day sequel. Now, there are plenty of computer strategy games with Wor

"Main Title" screen from MicroProse's M1 Tank Platoon. (C) 1989 MicroProse Software In the late 1980s and early 1990s, MicroProse Software was one of the most innovative and successful computer and video game publishing companies in the world. Co-founded by retired Air Force pilot  "Wild Bill" Stealey and Sid Meier, the Maryland-based company created some of the gaming industry's most popular titles, including Silent Service, its sequel Silent Service II, the three-game F-15 Strike Eagle series, Red Storm Rising, and the classic world history simulation Sid Meier's Civilization.  Although MicroProse's catalog included games from various genres, many of its titles were military simulators. This isn't surprising; the company's co-founder was a veteran, and many of its best-selling games were simulators of combat aircraft ( F-15 Strike Eagle, F-19 Stealth Fighter ), submarines ( Red Storm Rising, Silent Service II ) and even helicopters (

(C) 1962, 1990 RCA Records/RCA Victrola One of my fondest memories from my college days (now almost two decades ago) centers upon the first time I heard Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique:  Épisode de la vie d'un artiste ... en cinq parties .  It was a cool (by South Florida standards) afternoon and I was in my Humanities class. Our professor -- Jay Brown, who aside from being an instructor at Miami-Dade Community College was, and still is, a talented musician who can play various instruments, including the glass harmonica -- touched upon many different topics ranging from epistemology to ethics. But on that day we were discussing music: the transition from the Classical period of Mozart to the Romantic era of Beethoven, Schubert, and Berlioz. More to the point, the topic of the afternoon was the advent of the big orchestra, and the prof played a selection or two from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique:  Épisode de la vie d'un artiste ... en cinq parties  (

(C) 2013 Signum Classics Records One of the (many) benefits of being an Amazon Prime member is that, in addition to getting free shipping on most of my Amazon orders, I also have access to Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Music, two streaming services that allow me to watch or listen to many movies, Amazon Original Television shows (such as Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan ), and a wide selection of music albums, free of charge. Obviously, not everything on Amazon's video or music catalog is offered gratis, but I've been lucky enough to add some really cool albums to my Amazon Music queue thanks to my $119-a-year Prime membership. One of my more recent musical discoveries is Signum Classics' 2013 2-disc set The King's Singers: Great American Songbook, a 2-disc, 25-track collection of songs written between the 1920s and early 1960s by songwriters such as Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler, Mack Gordon & Harry Warren, Richard Rod