Category: Reviews
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Music Album Review: ‘Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin: Hush’
Yo-Yo Ma & Bobby McFerrin: Hush Artists: Bobby McFerrin (vocals), Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Year of Release: 1992 Record Label: Sony Masterworks Genre(s): Classical, Jazz Some recordings earn their place in a library because they’re impressive; Hush earns its place because it’s disarming. More than three decades after its release, this collaboration between Bobby McFerrin and…
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On Writing and Storytelling: I Needed a Sabbatical – But I Can’t Wait For It to End!
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in Album Reviews, Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan, Amazon Mexico, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon Sweden, Amazon UK, Blogging, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Life in Florida, Movie Reviews, Movies, Movies & Television, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Music Reviews, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reviews, Summer 2026, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Jim Garraty Chronicles (Series), The Summer of Two Movies, Writing and EditingSunday, August 2, 2026 — Orlando, Florida Hello, everyone. It’s a gray, humid late-summer day in Central Florida. The temperature is currently 84°F (29°C) under mostly cloudy skies, but high humidity and a 12 MPH (16 km/h) breeze from the southwest make it feel like 88°F (31°C). We’ve already reached the forecast high, and scattered…
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Music Album Review: ‘West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast Recording’
West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast Recording (1957, 1990 CD Reissue) Label: Columbia – CK 32603 Format: CD, Album, Reissue Released: 1990 Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen Style: Soundtrack, Musical West Side Story has generated several indispensable recordings, but the 1957 original Broadway cast album remains the most historically revealing of them. Released shortly…
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A Friday Musicale (No News is Good News, I Guess)
Friday, April 10, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hey, there! I’m off to a late start on this last day of the regular workweek! As I write this, it’s already mid-afternoon in my small corner of Central Florida, and the weather is typically warm for spring in the subtropical zone. With partly sunny skies and the relative…
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On Ethical Reviewing: Honesty is the Best (and Only) Policy
My Reviewing Philosophy: Loving Something Enough to Tell the Truth About It I’ve been a Star Trek fan for most of my life. I grew up with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. I admire William Shatner—yes, genuinely—and I wanted nothing more than to love Star Trek V: The Final Frontier when it premiered in 1989. I…
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Music Album Review: ‘Platoon and Songs from the Era: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’
Platoon and Songs from the Era: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Year of Release: 1986 Record Label: Atlantic, Warner Records (International) Genre: Film Score (Classical/Pop/Rock) Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986) remains, nearly four decades later, one of the most searing and authentic portrayals of the Vietnam War ever committed to film. Drawing from Stone’s own harrowing experiences…
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Movie Review: ‘Minority Report’ (2002)
Minority Report Written by: Scott Frank and Jon Cohen, based on a Philip K. Dick story Directed by: Steven Spielberg Starring: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Lois Smith, Kathryn Morris, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report (2002) is a gripping fusion of science fiction, mystery, and action, set in a future that feels…
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Music Album Review: ‘Holst: The Planets’
Holst – The Planets: Chicago Symphony Orchestra/James Levine Label: Deutsche Grammophon Released: 1991 Genre: Classical/Symphonic Review: Holst’s The Planets – A Celestial Tapestry in Seven Movements Two years before Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status (not that Pluto minds, I suspect), I wrote an earlier version of this reflection on Gustav Holst’s The Planets,…
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Being Seen in Kenya: A Quiet Thank You to Pooja
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Pooja (P.J.) Gudka, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, ReviewsThere are moments in a writer’s life when the work speaks louder than the person. When a reader—not just any reader, but one who truly listens—echoes back the emotional architecture you’ve spent years building. Pooja Gudka, the voice behind Lifesfinewhine, has done just that. Her review of Comings and Goings – The Art of Being…
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Music Album Review: ‘Tchaikovsky:1812’
Tchaikovsky: 1812 – Orchestre Symphonique De Montréal, Charles Dutoit – 1812 Overture • Capriccio Italien • The Nutcracker Suite • Marche Slave Genre: Classical (Romantic Era), Orchestral Compositions Label(s): London/Decca Year of Release: 1986 🎼 Tchaikovsky for the TikTok Era: A People’s Composer Revisited In an age where musical tastes are splintered across streaming platforms…
A Certain Point of View, Too 