Category Archives: Entertainment

‘Power of the Dog’ gets Standing O at Venice Fest for Benedict Cumberbatch

Above: Photo / Netflix

High quality streaming fare is rising in focus with theatrical releases uncertain…

A 4 minute standing ovation was the result of the first screening of “Power of the Dog” at the 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival on September 1st, 2021. Thunderous applause and cheers erupted at the end of the debut screening for the romantic drama that features Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst.

Based on the novel by Thomas Savage set in Montana in the 1920s, the performance, partly perhaps the ability of Cumberbatch to overcome his “Sherlock / Dr. Strange” image via the power of acting along with top flight writing and directing, appears to be the impetus for the Oscar buzz that’s already building.

It’s not uncommon for that to happen with a strong showing at the Venice Film Festival and, though this is a streaming / Netflix production, awards for quality films financed by streamers is also no longer unusual.

Previously, Cumberbatch got the nod from the Academy in 2014 for his work in The Imitation Game, and, although the award ultimately went to Edward Redmayne for ‘The Theory of Everything’, the nomination itself put a big spotlight on his career.

‘Culturally, it’s really important for streaming services to help nourish the cinema experience,’

Benedict Cumberbatch commenting on “Power of the Dog”

Naturally, it’s always great when an actual actor becomes a movie star. Benedict Cumberbatch has been in a myriad of productions recently such as “Doctor Strange“, “The Mauritanian”, “The Courier”, “Avengers” and on and on, with nearly 100 actor credits and that doesn’t even touch on his work as an executive producer.

Running the gamut from the Multiverse to spy thrillers and serious suspense his ability to portray depth and intelligence has stood him in good steed.

Going all the way back to “Tinker Tailor Solider Spy” and “The Imitation Game” (not to mention his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes) a solid body of work is has been established which hopefully will not turn into a house of cards as a result of inevitable over-exposure.

Cumberbatch’s newest role is as a rancher from Montana named Phil Burbank. “The Power of the Dog” is based on a novel by the same name. Set in 1925, Phil “inspires fear and awe in those around him”. When his brother (Jesse Plemons) brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst), Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to… the possibility of love.

Netflix gave viewers a little taste with the official teaser trailer for the film. The movie will be released initially in theaters on November 17 and will debut on the streaming platform the 1st of December.


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Created on an iPhone: Watch Selena Gomez ‘Lose You to Love Me’ video

Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Apple

iPhone users capable of entering the world of cinematography

It is no secret, and most Apple users already know, that their devices are capable, being equipped with the latest technology, to take great photos. Beautiful works of art and photography have been created not from a professional DSLR camera, but rather, on an iPhone.

More surprisingly, is the ability to create top level fully professional videos using only on Apple devices, and now, various megastar and upcoming singers are starting to use this method for their music videos. Including Selena Gomez. In her “Lose You to Love Me” video, the monochromatic shots are interwoven with transition effects, produced in shooting and editing by iPhone.

The newest iPhones (including the upcoming iPhone possible to be called the “iPhone 13”) and iPads that use Apple silicon are making huge strides forward in video production and editing capabilities.

There’s AI, machine learning, neural networking and all kinds of software under the hood that is being extended and improved constantly (in some cases via AI), and all that tech mumbo jumbo adds up to more creative potential and less costs to get in the game at a very high level. No limits.

Lady Gaga’s music video for “Stupid Love“was also shot on an iPhone and Olivia Rodrigo’s latest single “brutal” was made on an iPad.

https://youtu.be/zgJMrgDABAY

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Characters in ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ navigate to find the beauty in the everyday

Photo Collage / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

In new release, Sally Rooney harnesses Friendship and Coming of Age

Her new novel follows young Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon. Alice is a young novelist who meets a warehouse worker Felix and on a whim invites him to travel to Rome alongside her.

Alice’s best friend Eileen is reeling over a recent break-up, while also flirting with Simon, whom she has known since childhood.

The four young adults are going through the motions but life is catching up with them, the book is largely based on email correspondence between the friends as they talk about life and all things relationships: love, sex, breakups, betrayals, ect.

The author that brought readers Normal People and Conversation with Friends, “Beautiful World, Where Are You” are sure to bring the drama that easily comes along with growing up.

Rooney’s book is out starting September 7, 2021 and is available at Bookshop or Amazon.

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Olivia Rodrigo: ‘Brutal’ video is a Hybrid Hit iPad Extravaganza

Above: Photo Collage / Apple

#BrutalMasks created by iPad are a setup for singer’s AI reality in newest music video

The young and top chart-leading pop star of 2021, Olivia Rodrigo, has debuted her album SOUR. Her first song “brutal” on the album, first released back in May was met with 26.7 million streams its first week.

This week, the artist released her new music video for the song and, incredibly, it was produced exclusively on an Apple iPad. Incredible because of the way it turned out, showing how Apple is aggressively positioning itself, particularly with the iPad Pro, iPadOS 15 and the upcoming iPhone 13 as a full professional production option that will only get better with each software / hardware iteration.

Promotions leading up to her video had fans create their own #BrutalMasks to share on TikTok.

The 30 second video breaks down how some of the custom masks that are featured throughout the video were made with the FacePaint feature on the Procreate app using the Apple pencil.

https://youtu.be/Z6_J8KxIlmI

This isn’t the first time Apple has partnered with musical celebrities, other stars that have worked alongside the company include Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Billie Eilish. With the new direction in marketing and even designing updates to lean more and more towards a pro orientation, expect more major artists, as well as new upcoming ones that can benefit most from the lower cost of top flight production values to get a bump this fall. And the proliferation of creative visual and musical expression will hopefully follow…

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There are a TON of new films going live on Netflix starting September 1st

As the end of one month ends and another begins, that means many things, but for the Netflix streaming platform, is always means an influx of new content. In this case we are referring to new “classic” content, not including the the extraordinary amount of new movies Netflix plans to release now until the holidays.

Whether its TV shows, movies, Netflix originals, both old and new, we’ve compiled a huge list of everything that is coming to Netflix starting the first of September.

The list combines, truly, a digital smorgasbord of things to watch from classic movies like “Blade Runner”, documentaries including “Blood Brothers: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali” or Netflix Originals like “Kate” and “Midnight Mass”. With the selection sometimes feeling stale after a month it is good to get a refresh!

The list is a freaking long one, with over 40 plus titles, some becoming available within hours of this writing. So, without further ado, here are the shows that lie just ahead in your Netflix-future:

Available September 1

How to Be a Cowboy (Netflix Series)

Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror (Netflix Documentary)

A Cinderella Story

Agatha Christie’s Crooked House

Barbie Big City Big Dreams

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)

The Blue Lagoon (1980)

Chappie

Clear and Present Danger

Cliffhanger

Cold Mountain

Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles

Dear John

Do the Right Thing

Freedom Writers

Green Lantern

House Party, House Party 2, House Party 3

The Interview

Kid-E-Cats, season 2

Labyrinth

Letters to Juliet

Love Don’t Cost a Thing (2003)

Mars Attacks!

Marshall

Mystery Men

The Nutty Professor, The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps

Once Upon a Time in America

Open Season 2

Rhyme & Reason

School of Rock

Tears of the Sun

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

Available September 2

Afterlife of the Party (Netflix Film)

Final Account

Q-Force (Netflix Series)

Available September 3

Dive Club (Netflix Family)

Money Heist Part 5: Volume 1 (Netflix Series)

Sharkdog (Netflix Family)

Worth (Netflix Film)

Available September 6

Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 7

Kid Cosmic, season 2 (Netflix Family)

Octonauts: Above & Beyond (Netflix Family)

On the Verge (Netflix Series)

Untold: Breaking Point (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 8

The Circle, season 3 (Netflix Series, new episodes weekly)

Into the Night, season 2 (Netflix Series)

JJ+E (Netflix Film)

Available September 9

Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali (Netflix Documentary)

The Women and the Murderer (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 10

Firedrake the Silver Dragon (Netflix Family)

Metal Shop Masters (Netflix Series)

Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (Netflix Family)

Prey (Netflix Film)

Yowamushi Pedal, Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road

Kate (Netflix Film)

Lucifer, final season

Available September 13

Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 14

A StoryBots Space Adventure (Netflix Family)

Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father, season 5 (Netflix Series)

The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, season 2 (Netflix Series)

You vs. Wild: Out Cold (Netflix Family)

Available September 15

Nailed It!, season 6 (Netflix Series)

Nightbooks (Netflix Film)

Saved by the Bell, seasons 1–9

Schumacher (Netflix Documentary)

Too Hot to Handle Latino (Netflix Series, new episodes weekly)

Available September 16

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Netflix Family)

Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3, Jaws: The Revenge

My Heroes Were Cowboys (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 17

Ankahi Kahaniya (Netflix Film)

Chicago Party Aunt (Netflix Series)

The Father Who Moves Mountains (Netflix Film)

Sex Education, season 3 (Netflix Series)

Squid Game (Netflix Series)

The Stronghold (Netflix Film)

Available September 19

Dark Skies

Available September 20

Grown Ups

Available September 21

Go! Go! Cory Carson: Chrissy Takes the Wheel (Netflix Family)

Love on the Spectrum, season 2 (Netflix Series)

Available September 22

Confessions of an Invisible Girl (Netflix Film)

Dear White People: Volume 4 (Netflix Series)

Intrusion (Netflix Film)

Jaguar (Netflix Series)

Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 23

Je Suis Karl (Netflix Film)

Available September 24

Blood & Water, season 2 (Netflix Series)

Ganglands (Braqueurs) (Netflix Series)

Jailbirds New Orleans (Netflix Series)

Midnight Mass (Netflix Series)

My Little Pony: A New Generation (Netflix Family)

The Starling (Netflix Film)

Vendetta: Truth, Lies and The Mafia (Netflix Documentary)

Available September 28

Ada Twist, Scientist (Netflix Family)

Attack of the Hollywood Clichés! (Netflix Comedy Special)

Available September 29

The Chestnut Man (Netflix Series)

Friendzone (Netflix Film)

MeatEater, season 10, part 1 (Netflix Series)

No One Gets Out Alive (Netflix Film)

Polly Pocket, season 3, part 1

Sounds Like Love (Netflix Film)

Available September 30

Love 101, season 2 (Netflix Series)

Luna Park (Netflix Series)

The Phantom

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These 8 Netflix Movies are Gone after tonight- August 31, 2021

These Movie gems are about to be ….. Gone!

Some big-name movies are set to be removed from the streaming platform as it makes way for the new Sept 1st arrivals. Among the soon to be departed (including, ironically, The Departed!) there is something for everyone and it would be a real shame to miss out on anyone of these titles, especially if you have never seen them.

Whether comedies staring the likes of John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Reese Witherspoon or Jonah Hill, or a drama on the making of Facebook with Justin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg, a love story with Kiera Knightley, or a scary movie like “The Ring”, these diverse movie selections, iconically, each in their own right and unique reasons, are a must watch.

Trailers of each are below:

The Departed

Election

The Big Lebowski

Chinatown

The Social Network

Love Actually

The Ring

Superbad

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Top 5 Streaming Series out of 33 new incoming this Fall

Above:Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Apple TV+

33 Anticipated TV Shows coming out, but there’s not enough time to watch them all!

There will be no shortage of new series and movies one can stream this fall. Netflix just announced its influx of movies (42) to watch. Next comes an avalanche of new TV series, 33 already scheduled for release during the rest of 2021, including new seasons of established shows.

With what feels like the countless number of streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, Showtime, you get the point), there are almost too many options to know where the heck to start!

Don’t worry, though, the launching new streaming options won’t end in Fall, your TV watching bonanza will be far from over as the holiday season approaches. The gift of streaming will be seemingly boundless, in particular, due to the release of two upcoming Marvel series: “Hawkeye” and “Ms. Marvel” in addition to Netflix’s “The Witcher”.

The future overall looks bright in the digital entertainment realm, at least with regard to “choice” and seemingly endless options, viewers have so much to watch, even as many of us are also already waiting for the long-planned currently-in-production status of Game of Thrones spinoffs and Lord of the Rings TV series to wrap up and finally come to our screens.

In the meantime, below we picked the top 5, out of a total of 33, not including the 42 upcoming movies, that should definitely be on your list to consider for your screens this Fall.

Succession: Season 3 – HBO – October dates and times TBA:

Foundation – Apple TV+ – September 24:

Money Heist – Netflix – September 3:

https://youtu.be/htqXL94Rza4

Dopesick – Hulu – October 3:

Dexter: New Blood – Showtime – November 7:

https://youtu.be/hA-oCTUrNfE

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Netflix has 42 new movies coming: here are some of the Best Bets to Watch

Above: Red Notice / Netflix

Streaming platform heading for a strong finish with tons of new content for the rest of ’21

Netflix has pumped up the volume for the remainder of 2021! There are 42 films slated to drop, spread across the next 4 months, that’s an average of 10 releases a month!

Get ready to see tons of star power on your screens, including big names like: Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Halle Berry, Sandra Bullock, and Jennifer Lawrence and those are just Oscar award winners. Ryan Reynolds, The Rock, Michael Keaton, Idris Elba, Melissa McCarthy, Gal Gadot and so many more are also set to appear in the Fall lineup of movies (read “soon”).

There are also heavy hitters scheduled in November and December that we will report back on, once trailers have been released. Already, however, they also look to have awesome potential: “Red Notice” with The Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, “Don’t Look Up” with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence and “The Power of the Dog” with Benedict Cumberbatch.

Below are several that do have already released trailers – these are not all but our hand-picked favorites from the many on deck for your consideration:

September 3 – Worth:

October 29 – Army of Thieves:

November 3 – The Harder They Fall:

November 11 – Tick, Tick…BOOM!:

December 1 – The Power of the Dog:

December 3 (Theater) December 15 (Netflix) – The Hand of God:


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Jake Gyllenhall is a One-Man-Show in ‘The Guilty’: Netflix’s new Psychological Thriller

Above: Photo / Netflix

Remake of the Danish Award winning hit will surely translate to big-time US success

Back in 2018, during the Sundance film festival, Jack Gyllenhaal watched a Danish film “Den Skyldige” (The Guilty). Immediately after experiencing the psychological thriller he knew it could be a hit in English. 

The actor then quickly acquired the rights, and now he stars in the remake of “The Guilty“, which will get its premiere on Netflix October 1st, 2021. 

During the time that production was initially set to begin for the film, suddenly covid-19 happened, and, as we all know, that put a halt to productions across the entertainment industry.

Yet this film, if it follows the original, is almost uniquely perfect for filming during a pandemic. The movie is primarily centered around one man in one location (everyone else is mainly heard over the phone) – thus the movie was ultimately produced by way of social distance, FaceTime and zoom chats by director and producers. (which is not to say he, at least, phoned-it-in, by any means).

Gyllenhaal plays a demoted police office that now works as a 911 dispatch operator named Joe Bayler. He receives a call from someone in danger, but throughout the call, which takes place in a single morning, nothing is as it seems.

Check out the trailer for the original 2018 version with English sub-titles, of course. The 2021 version set for the Netflix streaming platform does not, as of yet, have a trailer available. Aside from Gyllenhall, additional cast will mainly be comprised of voice performances by the likes of: Ethan Hawke, Peter Sarsgaard, Riley Keough, Paul Dano, Byron Bowers, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, David Castaneda, Christina Vidal, Adrian Martinez. Bill Burr, Beau Knapp, and Edi Patterson.


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‘Malignant’ Trailer: James Wan brings new kind of Terror to Theaters & HBO

Every kill…brings…him…closer..to…you…

Warner Bros. is set to release its next big horror movie. The film is helmed by James Wan. If that name doesn’t strike a cord, one of his many many scary movies like “Saw”, “The Conjuring”, “Annabelle”, “Demonic” “Lights out”, “Insidious” or “The Curse of La Llorna” probably will.

This time around, the director wants to deviate from what he is most known for, mastering the jump scare, you know that moment when something crazy scary pops up on the screen and you are immediately jerked, or in my case, scream like an insane person. He promises that “Malignant” will be a different kind of horror movie from his past endeavors.

And I’m always trying to find new ways to reinvent myself so that I don’t get stale, so to speak… Part of the reason, too, why I wanted to make Malignant was that I want people to know that this is not a jump scare film.”

-James Wan / Malignant

In the film, “Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.”

The cast includes Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, Mckenna Grace, Jake Abel, George Young, Ingrid Bisu, Michole Briana White and Jacqueline McKenzie. “Malignant” will be released simultaneously in theaters and HBO Max (for 31 days) on September 10.

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Watch Benedict Cumberbatch as a Menacing Rancher in ‘The Power of the Dog’

Above: Photo / Netflix

At sound of a whistling in teaser video evokes an eeriness and tension between characters….

It’s always great when an actual actor becomes a movie star. Benedict Cumberbatch has been in a myriad of productions recently such as “Doctor Strange“, “The Mauritanian”, “The Courier”, “Avengers” and on and on, with nearly 100 actor credits and that doesn’t even touch on his work as an executive producer.

Running the gamut from the Multiverse to spy thrillers and serious suspense his ability to portray depth and intelligence has stood him in good steed.

Going all the way back to “Tinker Tailor Solider Spy” and “The Imitation Game” (not to mention his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes) a solid body of work is has been established which hopefully will not turn into a house of cards as a result of inevitable over-exposure.

Cumberbatch’s newest role is as a rancher from Montana named Phil Burbank. “The Power of the Dog” is based on a novel by the same name. Set in 1925, Phil “inspires fear and awe in those around him”. When his brother (Jesse Plemons) brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst), Phil torments them until he finds himself exposed to… the possibility of love.

Netflix gave viewers a little taste with the official teaser trailer for the film. The movie will be released initially in theaters on November 17 and will debut on the streaming platform the 1st of December.


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The big Multiverse reveal is here: Check out ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ official trailer

Above: Photo Credit / Marvel

The MCU dispatches a wave of villains from different timelines and also welcomes back some known entities

The official trailer for “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is here and after over a year of fans desperately trying to speculate the ultimate plot twists, the video clip confirms that viewers will get a multiverse-ial one. 

Tom Holland is back as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. In the final moments of the most recent Spider-Man sequel “Far from Home“, Peter Parker’s identity is exposed.  In “No Way Home” Parker is now fully unmasked, no longer able to separate his normal life from being a super hero, spinning his world into some serious chaos.  

Peter attempts to find a solution to being exposed by asking Doctor Strange for a spell to reverse and set things back to how they used to be, but instead, the magic plunges the two into the multiverse. 

Holland is joined by Zendaya as Mary Jane, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Marisa Tomei as Peter’s Aunt.

Villains from previous Spider-man franchises that we currently know of are Doctor Octopus (played by Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Fox) and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). 

Twists, turns and easter eggs…

There was even some rumors that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield could make a return for some sort of weird cross-universe encounter, but that is pretty unlikely (or is it?!).

Fans even have gone so far as to attempt to analyze each individual frame in the trailer, with some thinking that they saw Daredevil character Charlie Cox (arm!) hidden in the proverbial weeds (frames), although this is still very unconfirmed.

Only time will tell, when fans watch “Spider-Man: No Way Home” which is currently scheduled for theatrical release (only!) this winter, December 17, 2021.

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Apple Video showcases creative simplicity to capture incredible portraits using an iPhone 12

Above:Photo / Apple / Mark Clennon

How to take an iPhone camera and make the most of it using taste and talent

Apple offers “Today at Apple” to inspire and educate iPhone users to help them learn and be creative with their devices. The online videos range from music to photography and are centered around Apple’s latest technologies.

This most recent video teaches users how to get the most out of the iPhone in portrait mode, but really using all to the various power features that are already in the iPhone 12 and even 11.

For example, 3 lenses allow ultra-wide, X1 and X2 (tele) shots at any time just by flipping between each preset. And once a group of photos exists, simple creative cropping and framing has a huge potential to bring out the most attractive and interesting features of each shot, and can be immediately saves as a separate image.

Of course, with such a high resolution image capture in the first place, cropping retains enough image-data that even an ultra-close crop can retain beautiful depth and detail.

Learning how to use all the tools, and most of all a photographer’s eye

The five minute video features self-taught New York City photographer Mark Clennon. In the clip he shows and explains how he sets up, shoots and edits his images, mainly in-camera (that is to say “in-iphone-camera”) to capture his most powerful portraits.

With iOS 15 (released in public beta) and soon with the iPhone 13 (or what the actual name turns out to be) both expected to be revealed in early September, the potential for portrait mode will be added also, potentially, to video in addition to photos and many other upgrades and improvements are on deck.

Free and extensive software upgrades, along with the not free and not inexpensive new hardware are a yearly ritual with Apple since the very first iPhone was released in 2007. Recently, with Apple Silicon and the gradual merging of the functionality to MacOS, iOS and iPad OS the upgrades seem to be in overdrive.

We have cataloged some of the more interesting changes in stand alone articles but still have more to come as this years upgrades and changes are particularly extensive.

This video is an example of how it’s possible to take even one feature, designed to assist in one form of photographic expression, and dig deeper into it with talent and intelligent use of experience and take the resulting images to a whole other level:

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U.S. Afghanistan mistakes lasted 20 Years, Read these to help prevent 20 more

Above: Photo Collage / Book Publishers

Better than the blame game: learn and try to help

There are many ways, in hindsight, to explain the seemingly sudden collapse of the local, US backed, forces in Afghanistan. Clearly also plenty of blame to go around and, obviously, huge changes are needed to prevent a repeat of this great, long tragedy.

There are some amazing people who are actively trying to help, such as STELP.eu, based in Germany, and supporting them and others can be a big first step.

Looking further ahead, perhaps now is the time, also, to do something to prevent this from repeating or continuing in the same tragic way.

A war is bad, a “forever war” is something to be prevented in any way possible. The books below, give history, thoughts and ideas, in many cases simple alternatives that could have helped to avoid this terrible outcome.

Learning the mistakes of the past, especially in Afghanistan, can only help to inform and prepare for the great challenges that still lay ahead.

The American War in Afghanistan: A History

The American War in Afghanistan: A History

One of the longest armed conflicts in our nation’s history is now winding down with American troops set to fully evacuate at the end of the month. Author Carter Malkasian writes a comprehensive and vivid portrait of the nearly two decade long war.

Malkasian is the leading academic authority on the subject, he spent years working in the Afghan countryside and later went to serve as senior advisor to General Joseph Dunford, the U.S. military commander in Afghanistan.

Learn more on “The American War in Afghanistan

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War

The upcoming investigative story of how three presidents as well as their military commanders deceived the public about the longest war in American History.

Washington Post and three time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Craig Whitlock unearthed documents by President Bush and other administrations and provides readers with a shocking account of everything that went wrong.

This book comes out August 31, if you want to pre-order, check out more information on “The Afghanistan Papers

The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan, 2001-2014

Starting shortly after 9/11, reporter Carlotta Gall has been on the scene, getting an inside scoop from both Afghanistan and Pakistan. With American troops now leaving, the time to reflect and learn about the full history is now.

Gall uses both personal accounts as well as portraits from ordinary Afghanis who have had to endure the terrors of war for more than a decade, she knows first hand the costs to the Afghan people.

Check out “The Wrong Enemy


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Tales of Tesla and Musk in ‘Power Play’

Above: Photo Collage / Doubleday Books

The recently released book “Power Play” begins with some detailed accounts of Tesla’s rocky beginnings. The book is said to showcase behind-the-scenes anecdotes and allow readers to get an exact account of just how unusual Elon Musk is.

Musk also appeared to respond to various media activity related to the book, and accounts of his alleged behavior, via Twitter, confirming that Walter Isaacson will be penning his biography.

In his tweet, he said “If you’re curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography”. Isaacson is responsible for writing biographies on Benjamin Franklin, Einstein, Henry Kissinger, as well as Steve Jobs.

Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century

Author and WSJ tech and author reporter Tim Higgins pens the inside story of Musk, which includes some already leaked controversial stories.

Back in the good ole days, aka as the 2000’s, fast, sexy (s3xy) electric vehicles were a new concept, a novelty, one that lead to the rise of Tesla and Elon Musk’s colossal fortunes. For more check out “Power Play“.

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Marie Kondo is back, this time ‘Sparking Joy’ on Netflix Platform

Above: Photo Collage / Publishers

When you initially think of the word joy, something like tidying up and cleaning don’t usually come instantly to mind.  Marie Kondo’s method Kon Mari, transformed what it means to tidy-up one’s life (literally and metaphorically) and all the surprising benefits, often quite emotional benefits that come as a result. 

Her newest Netflix series will premiere on August 31, 2021. In celebration of the pending release, we present, below, a selection of her best books to date.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Marie Kondo’s first book, one that has inspired millions to change ones mindset on the act of simplifying your living spaces.

Within, readers will understand her category system which differs from the typical room-by-room cleaning system. Below is her companion text which is a must have as well. Click to check out “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up“.

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

In the companion volume, Spark Joy (above), the de-cluterring guru gives readers an illustrated guide, with detailed steps on how to organize almost everything. From drawings of how to fold pesky socks and shirts, to perfecting the art of organizing your closet and drawers, this is a detailed tour-de-force on the unique perspective of Kon Mari.

Her concept on joy and material also makes you rethink what is “necessary” in life. If material things are not bringing you happiness, then perhaps, it is time to let go and simply enjoy life. Click to see more on “Spark Joy“.

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life

If the need to declutter your home and living spaces are necessary, more times than not, your workplace will also be in need for some TLC.

Stacks of unorganized paperwork, notes and emails can be a drain on career progress. This kind of disorganization can easily create a negative feeling about work.

Marie Kondo utilizes her KonMari method to overcome that workplace mess so you can focus on productivity and happiness. For more details and information, check out “Joy at Work“.

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Read these 5 Books before they hit the big screen

Above: Photo Collage / Book Publishers

Written works of Action, Sci-Fi, Drama and History all soon to be movies or series

The entertainment industry is booming. As production companies are perfecting covid-19 protocols after the long pandemic hiatus, now the need for content is more pressing than ever. Best selling novels are a solid starting point and have done very well for major production companies for decades.

There are currently many books in the works to be adapted for imminent theatrical release or a major streaming platform.

Well over 20+ books! With so many to choose from, we’ve chosen the top 5 best reads that will are most likely to be a great viewing experiences in the near future.

Dune by Frank Herbert:

The Denis Villenuve’s adaptation will be hitting the big screen (and simultaneously available on HBO Max for 31 days, starting from the theatrical release date), and is anticipated to be a huge Hollywood blockbuster this October 2021. Most by now have seen teaser trailers and a glimpse of the star-studded cast.

This sci-fi film by Frank Herbert has been adapted multiple time into movies in the past. Many, however, haven’t been well received. Possibly, this time around things might be different, with millions of eyeballs waiting to see how this version stacks up to other big sci-fi and fantasy genre successes like that of GOT or Lord of the Rings. Click to buy “Dune“.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid:

Daisy Jones & The Six , as one of Reese Witherspoon’s book club (Hello Sunshine) recommendations is set to become an Amazon series in the near future. Witherspoon recently brokered a whopping $900 million deal for her company, which means many of her other book picks will be making big screen debuts. Reese already had a big success in adaptations; Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere”.

Riley Keough has been slated as the lead, playing Daisy Jones, which is perfect casting, as she looks almost identical to the pre-existing cover art of the book.  The series will follow the fictional journey and infamous breakup of the iconic rock group during the 1970’s. Click for more on “Daisy Jones & The Six“.

House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden:

A recent trailer for the film, scheduled for release this Thanksgiving, gave viewers a glimpse of the crazy over the top wealth and accompanying murder, mayhem and madness that has been a real-life drama known as the Gucci family. 

House of Gucci, the film will feature Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Salma Hayek, Jared Leto and Al Pacino, this upcoming production looks like it will benefit from being packed with a truly all-star cast. Click to read “House of Gucci“.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett:

The 2020 must read novel will now be turned into an HBO limited series for the streaming platform. The cast and script are still in the works, however there is word that Issa Rae along with author, Brit Bennet will executive produce.

The premise is sure to follow the book that chronicles a multi-generational family, centering on twins Stella and Desiree, growing up in a small town black community and later navigating racial identities.  Click for more on “The Vanishing Half“.

The Last Duel by Eric Jager:

Adam Driver, along with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jodie Comer will star in the history epic tale. 

The book version of The Last Duel, tells the true story of the trial by combat, a “last” duel during medieval France as a knight defends his wife’s honor against accusations made by a squire.

Set for theatrical release October 15, 2021. Click to find out more about “The Last Duel“.

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In Response to The Markup’s Reporting, Some YouTubers Are Ditching the Platform

Photo Credit / Will Norbury / Unsplash

They said Google’s decision to block advertisers from seeing “Black Lives Matter” and other social justice YouTube videos was the last straw

By: Aaron Sankin

Following a recent Markup investigation revealing a secret Google Ads blocklist that hides Black Lives Matter YouTube videos from advertisers—but allowed them to find videos related to “White lives matter”—some small YouTube creators have pledged to leave the platform.

“I will not post any further content on the platform,” Carrie the One, a drag queen and YouTuber with a few dozen followers, said in an email. “I hope that by walking away from YouTube, we can inspire others to join us and put enough pressure on them to change course and do better for all of us.”

“I understand it’s one of the largest media sharing sites,” wrote another streamer who goes by the name Jambo and is mostly on Twitch, “but morals matter, and theirs are not for me.”

Both said that the decision was not hard for them because they hadn’t dedicated much time to YouTube content and didn’t depend on its ad revenue for their livelihood.

Google would not comment on the defections.

The Markup’s two-part investigative series, published earlier this month, dug into the Google Ads portal that allows advertisers to pick specific YouTube videos and channels for their ads. We found that Google’s blocklist missed most of the hate terms and slogans we checked but blocked equivalent social justice terms.

When we took our findings to Google, the company blocked all but three of the hate terms, but it also increased exponentially the number of social justice terms it blocked for ad searches, eliminating advertisers’ ability to search for 83 percent of the terms on our list, including “Black excellence,” “civil rights,” and “LGBTQ.”

The Markup also found discrepancies in how different religions were treated. When we first tested the portal last November, we found that terms like “Muslim parenting” and “Muslim fashion” were blocked for searches, whereas “Christian fashion” and “Christian parenting” were not—nor were the anti-Muslim hate terms “white sharia” and “civilization jihad.”

Rather than lift its ban on phrases containing “Muslim,” Google Ads now also blocks those and other innocuous words in combination with “Christian,” “Buddhist,” and “Jewish.”

As the investigation traveled on social media last week, with thousands of people sharing posts about it, dozens tweeted that they’d had enough and would quit the platform.

We spoke to eight YouTubers who said they were quitting, each with relatively small followings of less than 2,000 YouTube subscribers apiece. They said their decisions to leave the platform reflect a desire to push back at a powerful tech company they believe has done a poor job of listening to their concerns.

“I was pretty disgusted that a platform would use such thinly-veiled tactics and exhibit such overt disregard for the experiences and voices of marginalized folks,” Carrie the One said in an email.

“We know that racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and islamophobia exist and thrive within the systems and structures that our society operates within, but to see those same forces INTENTIONALLY employed by a platform that claims to protect the same folks they are targeting was more than I felt like I could tolerate.”

Google would not respond to The Markup’s questions for the original investigation about why terms like “Black Lives Matter” were blocked—or why it expanded the block.

In response to questions for this story, Google spokesperson Christopher Lawton said in an email: “We know that many brands want to reach audiences who are interested in social justice causes and we want our creators who make videos about these topics to thrive on YouTube.”

He added that YouTube “videos about topics like Black Lives Matter, Black culture and Black excellence, can and do monetize on YouTube, along with topics related to a wide range of social justice issues,” meaning that if advertisers can find these videos despite the block, the videos themselves can run ads.  

Graham Jenkins, a video game streamer who uploads on the channel 170Out, said the revelations in The Markup’s investigation pushed him over the edge.

“It’s been on my mind to move from YouTube for a little while now,” Jenkins said in an email. “This isn’t the first time that YouTube has blocked phrases like this but allowed right-wing content to stay unchallenged. I think there was an issue where they blocked LGBT content previously, but are quite happy to allow anti-LGBT videos to remain untouched.”

He was referring to research in 2019 by a group of YouTube creators that showed the platform was systematically demonetizing videos that contained LGBTQ content. YouTube was also criticized for knowingly leaving homophobic content accessible on its platform.

Jenkins said he would stop uploading new content to YouTube as soon as he found another platform that is free for videos of any length. 

“Sadly, there are currently not any other strong distribution options out there to compete with YouTube…”

— streamer who goes by the handle Glam Shatterskull

That might not be so easy. Other YouTubers told The Markup that the platform’s massive reach and ease of use made the choice to stop posting there more difficult.

“Sadly, there are currently not any other strong distribution options out there to compete with YouTube,” said a streamer who goes by the handle Glam Shatterskull and previously posted video gaming content to the platform.

“I would love to see Twitch flesh out its video production offerings,” he said. “In the meantime I will most likely be building out my own website to host video content.”

These content creators weren’t the only ones with harsh words for Google following revelations about its advertising blocklist.

The method Google used to add previously unblocked terms to its blocklist in response to our investigation makes future similar watchdog reporting impossible.

The blocked terms are now indistinguishable in the code from the responses the portal gives for gibberish. Because we now cannot know for certain which terms are blocked, as opposed to the platform not finding any related videos, Google has shielded itself from future scrutiny of its keyword blocks on Google Ads.

This didn’t sit right with Sen. Ron Wyden (D–OR), who authored legislation in 2019 that sought to require tech companies to audit their algorithms for bias.

“Google clearly has a lot of work to do to block hateful videos from advertisers,” said Wyden, who said he plans to  reintroduce the bill. “Hiding how it screens those videos is exactly the wrong way to respond to legitimate reporting.”

Lawton, the Google spokesperson, declined to comment on Wyden’s criticism.

This article was originally published on The Markup and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

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Marvel’s ‘Snake Eyes’: #2 at Box Office in Debut

Above: Photo Credit / Paramount

G. I. Joe has proven to be a huge franchise, with years of comics, action figure toys and two big-budget movies: “G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” in 2009 and “G. I. Joe: Retaliation” in 2013. Now, in 2021, the next G. I. Joe feature film will give fans the origin story of one of the more mysterious characters, the ninja warrior named Snake Eyes.

Snake Eyes is also considered one of the more popular known members of the G.I. Joe team of commandos, his character first appeared in the Marvel Comics back in 1982.

In the past his character has been both a silent and masked assassin, which is a stark departure this time around and we get to see much more of what his character is like behind the mask.

From the looks of the trailer, a major part of the film highlights how the friendship and bond was forged between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

The origin story for Snake Eyes is said to deviate and take on a more modern spin, steering from the original comic story, which usually cause one of two reactions from fans: love or hate. Yet there is something to be said when the original writer Larry Hama gave his personal approval on the new creative twists the movie will take on. Reactions has been positive, though some have considered it a “bomb” at the box office in first weekend.

Henry Golding, best known for his roles in romantic films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Last Christmas” will take on a much different role, with more action-packed in his part as Snake Eyes. Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow.

Check out the new trailer from Paramount, as well as a featurette for “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins”.

Along with Golding and Koji, Úrsula Corberó plays The Baroness, Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Haruka Abe as Akiko, Takehiro Hira as Kenta and Iko Uwais as Hard Master.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner are producing “Snake Eyes”, which had its theatrical release July 23, 2021.

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Songs for your Road Trip Independence Day 2021

Maybe we should call this the people’s playlist…

“America The Beautiful” broadcast from Washington DC on 4th of July. Nothing wrong with that. Perhaps this year in particular – with many reasons to remind ourselves of our rights under the constitution and while we consider the future of the nation, perhaps some historical classic and meaningful titles are in order. Some great songs from our hallowed past, many with a more thought provoking auditory emanation of the American Dream, and perhaps that reflect the real lives and loves of Americans.

This Land Is Your Land

The ultimate people’s anthem. Endlessly influential, from Bob Dylan to Springsteen all the way to the present day. Not to be forgotten. Ever.

The Star-Spangled Banner (Jimi Hendrix)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKAwPA14Ni4

Misunderstood, yet insightful to the nth degree. Performed at Woodstock (50 year anniversary happening now) at the height of unrest during the Vietnam War. For many, perhaps the peak and final moments of the 60s. Has taken on mythic status and while the controversy has faded, the insight and bittersweet love for the country shines through, to this day. Hendrix was a veteran and knew exactly what “rockets red glare” really sounded and felt like.

Born In The USA

In the parade of the misunderstood “Born In The USA” may stand as the most misinterpreted song ever. Pride at being born in the USA? Absolutely. Look at the rest of the lyrics to get the more nuanced take on what it means.

America, West Side Story

What can you say? Classic all the way.

Living In America

Anything by James Brown is an American Treasure.

America The Beautiful (Ray Charles)

Ditto

A bit more from The Boss and some lesser known gems to round out the tour:

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No Prime? No Problem – Free Shipping on all Bookshop orders for Prime Day

Less than 14 hours of Free Standard shipping for all orders

Not everyone is a Prime member of the giant retail behemoth. And not everybody wants to be. And independent booksellers have not exactly benefited from the rise of the giant. If you love books, appreciate bookstores in your local area, or just know a great deal when you see it, today is your day.

In an unprecedented move, bookshop.org is offering free shipping, no membership required, no strings attached, on purchases made on June 21st and 22nd. We have compiled a list of ideas below, but feel free to just head over and browse, or even search right here:

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Above: Photo Credit / Publishers / Various

In music the famous example is Pink Floyds “Dark Side of the Moon” which, incredibly, remained in the top 100 charts for more than 18 years. When it comes to popularity and longevity, there are certain works of art and literature that exist on a whole other level.

When it comes to books, classics remain on must-read lists for centuries. During more recent times we have these examples of books that remain the most popular around for decades. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was first printed in 1988, 33 years ago. Rich Dad Poor Dad, meanwhile, was published by Robert Kiyosaki and resonated immediately with readers, and has never lost its appeal, still hovering near the top of best seller lists. The Four Agreements, similarly, has remained immensely popular for 24 years. And, finally, The 48 Laws of Power has fascinated and attracted readers, with a nearly unmatched power for 21 years.

Below we are happy to feature these incredible, evergreen wonders, along with some information on the titles.

The Four Agreements

In The Four Agreements, bestselling author don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering.

Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.

– A New York Times bestseller for over a decade
– Translated into 46 languages worldwide

First published in November 07, 1997.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

In the 20th Anniversary Edition of this classic, Robert Kiyosaki offers an update on what we’ve seen over the past 20 years related to money, investing, and the global economy.

Sidebars throughout the book will take readers “fast forward” — from 1997 to today — as Robert assesses how the principles taught by his rich dad have stood the test of time. 

In many ways, the messages of Rich Dad Poor Dad, messages that were criticized and challenged two decades ago, are more meaningful, relevant and important today than they were 21 years ago.

First published April 1, 1997

The Alchemist

Combining magic, mysticism, wisdom and wonder into an inspiring tale of self-discovery, The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho’s masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure.

His quest will lead him to riches far different–and far more satisfying–than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

First published in Spanish in 1988 and in english on April 15, 1993

The 48 Laws of Power

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.

 Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

First Published in September 01, 2000

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There are many new books emerging recently covering health and wellness that align with the goal to make healthier lifestyle choices. Whether looking for alternative health options, proven ways to build good healthy habits, wholesome food recipes, mind and bodyoptimization, or to find the best ways to shed weight, it’s better than ever now to choose a book to get started.

The books below are chosen to represent an eclectic selection on health and wellness featuring the authors’ wide ranging expertise in their respective fields. Clinical herbology, integrative medicine, neuroscience, naturopathy, nutrition, and human behavior are all represented.

Our curated selection contains the best selling and most recommended in the category of health and wellness thus far for 2020:

Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine

Click to Buy “Wild Remedies” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

Millions of people are interested in natural or alternative health–but many of them are missing out on the most important ingredient: Nature itself Wild Remedies inspires readers to rekindle their connection with nature by identifying, tending, and harvesting the plant medicine they find growing around them. Experts Rosalee de la For t and Emily Han explain the benefits of 25 commonly found wild plants, many of which are also easy to grow. Readers will also find a wealth of recipes, remedies, crafts, and activities to bring the healing and transformative powers of these herbs to life. After reading Wild Remedies, readers will view their lawns, parks, community gardens, and other natural spaces in a whole new way. Instead of “weeds,” they will see delicious foods like Dandelion Maple Syrup Cake, Nettle Frittata, and Mallow and Quinoa Patties. They will also begin to revel in nature’s medicine chest as they make remedies like herbal oils, salves, teas, and more.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Click to Buy “Atomic Habits” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving–every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

The Defined Dish: Whole30 Endorsed, Healthy and Wholesome Weeknight Recipes

Click to Buy “The Defined Dish“and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

Alex Snodgrass of TheDefinedDish.com is the third author in the popular Whole30 Endorsed series. With gluten-free, dairy-free, and grain-free recipes that sound and look way too delicious to be healthy, this is a cookbook people can turn to after completing a Whole30, when they’re looking to reintroduce healthful ingredients like tortillas, yogurt, beans, and legumes. Recipes like Chipotle Chicken Tostadas with Pineapple Salsa or Black Pepper Chicken are easy enough to prepare even after a busy day at work. There are no esoteric ingredients in these recipes, but instead something to suit every taste, each dish clearly marked if it is Whole30 compliant, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, and more. Alex includes delicious variations, too, such as using lettuce wraps instead of taco shells, to ensure recipes can work for almost any diet. And for anyone looking to stick to their Whole30 for longer, at least sixty of the recipes are fully compliant.

In the Flo:Unlock Your Hormonal Advantage and Revolutionize Your Life

Click to Buy “In the Flo” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

The bestselling author of WomanCode presents a biohacking program for women, teaching them how to use their natural 28-day cycle to optimize their time, diet, fitness, work, and relationships.

Women have a important biological rhythm they experience every month that affects productivity, weight, sex drive, energy, and mood. It is essential to be aware of and take care of this rhythm, but it has been widely ignored by medical, nutrition and fitness research. So as women, we diet, we deprive, and we cram as much as possible into our day, striving to accomplish impossible to-do lists, and scheduling our lives based on a 24-hour time cycle, ignoring the intuitive time our bodies naturally keep: a monthly cycle with four hormonal phases that offer incredible advantages.

Boundless: Upgrade Your Brain, Optimize Your Body & Defy Aging

Click to Buy “Boundless” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

What if the ability to look, feel, and perform at peak capacity wasn’t the stuff of lore but instead was within easy reach? Sure, some of us find ways to hit peak performance in one area or another–there are professional poker players, computer programmers, and race car drivers hunched over card games, keyboards, and steering wheels with optimized minds; UFC and NFL gladiators fighting for glory on television with optimized bodies; and monks and meditators roaming the planet with optimized spirits. But in a perfect world, you would be able to have it all: complete optimization of mind, body, and spirit.In Boundless, the New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Training and health and fitness leader Ben Greenfield offers a first-of-its-kind blueprint for total human optimization.

The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism in 21 Days and Burn Fat Forever

Click to Buy “The Keto Reset Diet“and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

Mark Sisson–author of the mega-bestseller The Primal Blueprint–unveils his groundbreaking ketogenic diet plan that resets your metabolism in 21 days so you can burn fat forever. Mounting scientific research is confirming that eating a ketogenic diet could represent one of the greatest nutritional breakthroughs of our time–and that it might be the healthiest and most effective weight loss strategy ever. Going “keto” by eating high fat, low-to-moderate protein and low-carb foods enables you to break free from the disastrous effects of carbohydrate dependency by resetting your metabolism and promoting metabolic flexibility–where your body learns to burns fat instead of sugar for energy, even when you go off plan.

The Healing Self: A Revolutionary New Plan to Supercharge Your Immunity and Stay Well for Life

Click to Buy “The Healing Self” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

After collaborating on two major books featured as PBS specials, Super Brain and Super Genes, Chopra and Tanzi now tackle the issue of lifelong health and heightened immunity.We are the midst of a new revolution. 

For over twenty-five years Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D. have revolutionized medicine and how we understand our minds and our bodies–Chopra, the leading expert in the field of integrative medicine; Tanzi, the pioneering neuroscientist and discoverer of genes that cause Alzheimer’s Disease. After reaching millions of people around the world through their collaborations on the hugely successful Super Brain and Super Genes books and public television programs, the New York Times bestselling authors now present a groundbreaking, landmark work on the supreme importance of our immune system in relation to our lifelong health.

Click to Buy “The 10-Day Belly Slimdown” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores

“This isn’t another gimmicky diet–it’s a powerful eating strategy that will take your extra pounds off quickly, safely, and permanently.” –Mark Hyman, MD, Director, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eat Fat Get Thin“The best gift you can give yourself is a slim, beautiful, healthy belly–and in this book, Dr. Kellyann, an expert I trust, tells you exactly how to get it.” –Mehmet Oz, M.D. The New York Times bestselling author of Dr. Kellyann’s Bone Broth Diet reveals her powerful belly-slimming plan that will help you lose up to 10 pounds in 10 days


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Although a hit ‘The Bomber Mafia’ is less known than previous Gladwell bestsellers

With “Blink” (2007) and “The Tipping Point” as well as “OutliersMalcolm Gladwell burst onto the scene with a new kind of popular non-fiction. Rather than being another single minded academic focused on a particular specific niche, it was in choosing what phenomena to study, and then taking his now patented unique approach, that he was able to excite and inspire the minds of millions of readers.

Drilling down into the exact aspects of his chosen topics to focus on just what made him choose them in the first place, and doing so with an excited air of adventure and discovery, Gladwell continues to delight, and for some, his entire body of work consists of one page-turner after another. Even his titles, like outliers and the tipping point, though in usage before, after he nailed them into more expansively defined concepts, were brought into more popular use and the widespread level of understanding to a whole new level.

Below we feature a broad selection, including his latest, for fan and the curious alike.

To make it easier they are featured front and center, below, along with descriptions, provided courtesy of the Bookshop (and the various publishers), and with some links for a variety of options of where to purchase.

The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War

 In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? 

In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?” Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge.

Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know

How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to one another that isn’t true? Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news.

He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland–throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know.

And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David’s victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn’t have won.

 Or should he have? In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks. 

Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland’s Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms—all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity. 

Outliers: The Story of Success

In this stunning book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?


His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing.

Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.

Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate.

This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

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A unique talent for choosing and presenting exactly the theme and subject of the moment, and for posterity

Above:Photo from ‘The Big Short’ courtesy of Paramount

Very few authors have the intense feeling for the “zeitgeist” that Michael has shown throughout his long career. The ability to capture the spirit of the times so well is also possibly the reason why so many of his books have been snapped up and made into successful films. Examples are “The Big Short” (Christian Bale), “Moneyball” (Brad Pitt), “The Blind Side” (Sandra Bullock), all three of these also received Best Picture Oscar nominations.

While perhaps not an author to be remembered as a high literary genius such as James Joyce or William Shakespeare, the body of work, as a chronicle of modern times seen through the lens of his minds eye is, nevertheless, substantive and engaging. While “The Big Short”, both the book and subsequent film, capture with amazing clarity a confusing period that has been in many ways glossed over, even willfully, by those that were partially responsible but never held to account.

Though it remains to be seen how the future will look back on the 2020 novel coronavirus era, “Premonition” has, once more, the same potential to become one, potentially definitive portrait, of the crisis and it’s emergence into a full blown worldwide pandemic.

Now, soon, “The Premonition” is set to be produced by Amy Pascal for Pascal Pictures, with Rachel O’Connor. Directors are slated to be Phil Lord and Chris Miller who are mostly known for lighter fare.

To make it easier a great selection of Michael Lewis’ books are featured front and center, below, along with descriptions, provided courtesy of the Bookshop (and the various publishers), and with some links for a variety of options of where to purchase.

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story

Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’s taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control.

A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society.

A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu…everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work.

Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn’t shine and the SEC doesn’t dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts.

The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren’t talking.

Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar’s Poker.

Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.

Liar’s Poker

Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon Brothers, one of Wall Street’s premier investment firms.

During the next three years, Lewis rose from callow trainee to bond salesman, raking in millions for the firm and cashing in on a modern-day gold rush. Liar’s Poker is the culmination of those heady, frenzied years–a behind-the-scenes look at a unique and turbulent time in American business.

From the frat-boy camaraderie of the forty-first-floor trading room to the killer instinct that made ambitious young men gamble everything on a high-stakes game of bluffing and deception, here is Michael Lewis’s knowing and hilarious insider’s account of an unprecedented era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortune.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Moneyball is a quest for the secret of success in baseball.

In a narrative full of fabulous characters and brilliant excursions into the unexpected, Michael Lewis follows the low-budget Oakland A’s, visionary general manager Billy Beane, and the strange brotherhood of amateur baseball theorists. They are all in search of new baseball knowledge–insights that will give the little guy who is willing to discard old wisdom the edge over big money. Also made into a hit movie starring Brad Pitt, Moneyball is a book that exposes human nature, and how it can suddenly be overcome when unique perspectives lead to innovative choices.

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game

When we first meet him, Michael Oher is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write.

He takes up football, and school, after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family’s love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game where the quarterback must be protected at any cost.

Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback’s greatest vulnerability, his blind side.

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

In Michael Lewis’s game-changing bestseller, a small group of Wall Street iconoclasts realize that the U.S. stock market has been rigged for the benefit of insiders.

They band together–some of them walking away from seven-figure salaries–to investigate, expose, and reform the insidious new ways that Wall Street generates profits. If you have any contact with the market, even a retirement account, this story is happening to you. Billions have been spent by Wall Street firms and stock exchanges to gain the advantage of a millisecond. “Is it a scam?” 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft asks during his interview with the author, It’s bigger than a scam, Lewis says.

Lewis further explains how ordinary investors are affected and argues that high-frequency traders have created instability in the stock market — for everyone. A reoccurring metaphor Lewis uses in his book “Flash Boys” is one of “prey and predators.” According to Lewis, the prey is “anybody who’s actually an investor in the stock market.”

The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy

Michael Lewis’s brilliant narrative of the Trump administration’s botched presidential transition takes us into the engine rooms of a government under attack by its leaders through willful ignorance and greed.

The government manages a vast array of critical services that keep us safe and underpin our lives from ensuring the safety of our food and drugs and predicting extreme weather events to tracking and locating black market uranium before the terrorists do. The Fifth Risk masterfully and vividly unspools the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works.

The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

Forty years ago, Israeli psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky wrote a series of breathtakingly original papers that invented the field of behavioral economics.

One of the greatest partnerships in the history of science, Kahneman and Tversky’s extraordinary friendship incited a revolution in Big Data studies, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made much of Michael Lewis’s own work possible. In The Undoing Project, Lewis shows how their Nobel Prize-winning theory of the mind altered our perception of reality.

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Above:Photo Credit / Krzysztof Kowalik on Unsplash

So much is going on in the area of Crypto-currencies, Blockchain, Alt Coins, and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) that it can make your head spin. And that is not to even mention Crypto Mining, Farming, Baking and Trading, all of which have had skyrocketing activity recently.

How much interest there is runs the gamut from the curious onlooker to the serious professional. And then there are predictions regarding the future of the world financial system, the political and legal ramifications of the rise of crypto and all the opinions going every which way, and more.

Based on all of the above it only makes sense to put together a list of fundamental ground floor guidebooks to help anyone who wants and needs to really understand what all the fuss is about. Bitcoin and the whole area of blockchain technology has come so far already, and is so established and entrenched that it is unlikely to disappear completely anytime soon, no matter which way the political winds may blow.

So if you are a beginner an intermediate or even advanced learner that wants to know more, these are the best books to really dig into the phenomena and explosion of information and viewpoints. To make it easier they are featured front and center, below, along with descriptions, provided courtesy of the Bookshop (and the various publishers), and with some links for a variety of options of where to purchase.

Mastering Blockchain – Third Edition: A deep dive into distributed ledgers, consensus protocols, smart contracts, DApps, cryptocurrencies

Buy at Bookshop

Blockchain technology is the backbone of cryptocurrencies, and it has applications in finance, government, media, and many other industries. With a legacy of providing technologists with executable insights, the third edition of Mastering Blockchain is thoroughly revised and updated with the latest blockchain research, including four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Serenity (Ethereum 2.0), tokenization, and enterprise blockchains.

Apart from covering the basics, including blockchain’s technical underpinnings, cryptography, and consensus protocols, this book provides you with expert knowledge on decentralization, decentralized application development on Ethereum, Bitcoin, alternative coins, smart contracts, alternative blockchains, and Hyperledger.

Furthermore, you will explore how to implement blockchain solutions beyond cryptocurrencies, such as the Internet of Things with blockchain, blockchain scalability, enterprise blockchains, and tokenization using blockchain, and the future scope of this fascinating and disruptive technology.

By the end of this book, you will have gained a thorough understanding of the various facets of blockchain technology and be comfortable applying them to diverse real-world scenarios.

Key Features

  • Updated with four new chapters on consensus algorithms, Ethereum 2.0, tokenization, and enterprise blockchains
  • Dive deep into foundational pillars of blockchain technology such as decentralization, cryptography, and consensus protocols
  • Get to grips with Solidity, Web3, cryptocurrencies, smart contract development and solve scalability, security, and privacy issues
  • Discover the architecture of different distributed ledger platforms including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth, Corda, and Quorum

Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Blockchain Technology& Altcoins For Beginners: Explore The Decentralized World, Investing in Crypto Blueprint, Mining Basics+

Buy at Bookshop

Do you want to understand what Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency actually is? Do you want to understand how it could change the world & finance industry FOREVER? Do you want to discover how you can get started investing in Crypto TODAY?

By now we’ve all heard of it, yet few of us understand it, and without understanding it how could you even dream of investing in it?

You hear all the tech ‘bros’ talking about it, you hear the media slandering it, you can see the bankers are scared by it’s potential, but you still don’t quite get the fuss.

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

But, luckily, this book has been written for people just like you.

The purpose of it is to demystify the world of Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Decentralization & The Blockchain.

And, if those 4 words currently sound like a foreign language to you, you’re not alone. But, after this book, you’ll be the one explaining about the ‘Crypto Craze’ to everyone you see!

Inside, we will go over the origins & history of Bitcoin, it’s potential to change the world, as well as how it could all go wrong.

And, of course, we will go over how you can invest in potentially the greatest wealth transfer the world has ever seen.

Here’s a tiny Example of what’s inside..

  • Exactly What Bitcoin Actually Is And How It Is Drastically Disrupting The Global Economy 
  • Everything You Need To Know About The ‘Bitcoin Halving’ Cycles & How To Maximize Your Gains From Them
  • What Is A ‘Blockchain’ And How It Could Quite Literally Revolutionize EVERY Aspect Of Your Life In The Coming Decades
  • What Are ‘Altcoins’ And How They Are Different To Bitcoin & What Their Purpose In All Of This Is…
  • Why We Are Still In The VERY Early Days Of The Crypto ‘Boom’

And SO Much More!

So, If You Want To FINALLY Understand The World Of Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency So You Can Actually Understand What All The Fuss Is About And Whether You Want To Get Involved, Then Scroll Up And Click

Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe

buy at Bookshop

From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus–how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.

Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.

Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number–infinity–to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.

Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.

As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

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When a pseudonymous programmer introduced “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications.

While Bitcoin is a new invention of the digital age, the problem it purports to solve is as old as human society itself: transferring value across time and space. Ammous takes the reader on an engaging journey through the history of technologies performing the functions of money, from primitive systems of trading limestones and seashells, to metals, coins, the gold standard, and modern government debt. Exploring what gave these technologies their monetary role, and how most lost it, provides the reader with a good idea of what makes for sound money, and sets the stage for an economic discussion of its consequences for individual and societal future-orientation, capital accumulation, trade, peace, culture, and art. Compellingly, Ammous shows that it is no coincidence that the loftiest achievements of humanity have come in societies enjoying the benefits of sound monetary regimes, nor is it coincidental that monetary collapse has usually accompanied civilizational collapse.

With this background in place, the book moves on to explain the operation of Bitcoin in a functional and intuitive way. Bitcoin is a decentralized, distributed piece of software that converts electricity and processing power into indisputably accurate records, thus allowing its users to utilize the Internet to perform the traditional functions of money without having to rely on, or trust, any authorities or infrastructure in the physical world. Bitcoin is thus best understood as the first successfully implemented form of digital cash and digital hard money. With an automated and perfectly predictable monetary policy, and the ability to perform final settlement of large sums across the world in a matter of minutes, Bitcoin’s real competitive edge might just be as a store of value and network for final settlement of large payments–a digital form of gold with a built-in settlement infrastructure.

Ammous’ firm grasp of the technological possibilities as well as the historical realities of monetary evolution provides for a fascinating exploration of the ramifications of voluntary free market money. As it challenges the most sacred of government monopolies, Bitcoin shifts the pendulum of sovereignty away from governments in favor of individuals, offering us the tantalizing possibility of a world where money is fully extricated from politics and unrestrained by borders.

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Billie Eilish, H.E.R. & Kid Cudi: watch Prime Day Show for Free

Above: photo from “Lost Cause” – photo credit: BillieEilish.com

Music Video Vignettes Combined into Prime Day Promotion

Amazon prime is a way for the company to combine and bundle features for a yearly subscription fee. Every year, in addition to the usual subsidized shipping, prime video and the rest, there is Prime Day, which is now upon us. This year that also includes “Prime Day Show” which is a “free” offering for Prime members, basically 30 minute music video vignettes by Billie Eilish, H.E.R. and Kid Cudi.

The long form multi song productions are enjoyable enough, however, it is also true that music videos are a form of free advertising for the artists and songs that they feature. So, in this case that makes this a kind of subsidized collaboration between the artists (presumably paid to have the Amazon moniker associated with their music) and the company.

None of this makes it less enjoyable, of course, but it is interesting how it is not live (nothing like the huge live concerts put on by AliBaba and Tao Bao for “Singles Day” in China, but rather a pre-recorded, fairly standard, traditional, music video style production).

As the shopping kicks off in Ernest later, at one minute after midnight on June 21st, this show could be a way to relax ahead of the shopping frenzy.

The first episode contains several songs by H.E.R., interspersed with short drama interludes and featuring celebrity cameos. All set at Los Angeles’ Dunbar Hotel, known in the 1930s and 1940s as the hub of the city’s Black culture, and the lavish production and assist from acting talent makes for a showcase of songs from her new album, “Back of My Mind”.

Next, in the second episode Kid Cudi goes with an outer Space theme and, similarly, has scenes linking the production extravaganzas built for each song. This is all appropriate since he is presenting songs from his album “Man on the Moon III”.

A second space connection comes from the participation in collaboration from the International Space Orchestra, who happen to be the world’s first orchestra entirely consisting of space scientists from the NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute and the International Space University. 

The closing act, of course, is Billie Eilish, and the city of Paris (or at least a studio set of it) is the conceptual backdrop used to elevate what are otherwise live performances for the purpose of creating a video, sans audiences. The first song is set in a romantic hotel room set and features the song “My Future” as well as “Lost Cause”, “Therefore I Am” and “My Power”. As a whole the set is very “jazzy” and has an intimate feel that appears to be a project rendition original version take.

All in all, while there is respectable and well produced performances and visual enhancements, at the same time there is a lack of any event style excitement or sense of a musical live performance (which is not the point, admittedly).

Perhaps the three episodes can best be seen as a kind of chestnut to show fans of the artists that “Prime” is giving back and that the bundling extends beyond free shipping, prime video, prime music, other perks and deals and into another area, event bases collaborations for the sake of commerce.

Not only are thousands of physical products on sale for Prime Day, starting tonight at midnight, but virtual deals, such as films and shows are getting big promotional discounts also. The streaming deals are already live, so if you are inclined to watch while it’s still weekend prime time, a large assortment is available.

Some examples of films currently deeply discounted to view:

Titles that are normally priced higher for rental viewing or purchase are set for a limited time to $.99, $1.99 or $2.99 depending on the title. Naturally the newer and “hotter” the choice the less likely that it is at $.99 cents, but on the other hand, we all have different taste and perhaps you can find a film or show that you have been wanting to see but did not want to pay a higher price to watch.

John Lewis, “Across That Bridge

For some reason, documentary films such as “Chasing Madoff” or “Good Trouble“, the excellent documentary on John Lewis, which is part of a Juneteenth special promotion, tend to show up at the rock bottom price. So perhaps, taking advantage of the promotion as a way to educate and enlighten oneself might be more economical than jumping in to the top hits and most current feature films.

If you do shop around, hovering or clicking on the deals designated with a “$” in the upper left hand corner, you will find at least a few titles here and there at the low $.99 cent watch price. Much more common are $1.99, $2.99 and even $3.99, which is a discount but does not feel like a huge one.

Also, since newer popular titles are normally priced much higher, up to $5.99 and sometimes more, even the $2.99 special price represents a bargain opportunity.

An example of a recently released, high quality film is “The Courier” which is currently available to watch for $2.99 (normally $5.99)

The Courier Official Trailer

All of the following subscriptions have a special “up to 2 Month” $.99 cent teaser rate:

$0.99 Deals on Prime Video Channels

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