The Queue
Dame Stella's light, formulaic spy fiction has been enough of a break from the altogether more cynical & sinister world of Len Deighton; so, after Spy Sinker I'll dive right into the third Bernard Samson trilogy—also the trilogy with the least-cute titles—Faith, Hope, & Charity. The next Tattoo Shop Mystery, Driven to Ink, will keep until after Deighton has finished running Samson through the wringer. Somewhere on the horizon there is more of Kipling's prose & an experiment: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Recently
Stella Rimington, At Risk (№ 1 in the series)
Stella Rimington, Dead Line (№ 4)
Stella Rimington, Secret Asset (№ 2)

Currently
Stella Rimington, Illegal Action (№ 3)
Len Deighton, Spy Sinker (3 of 3, № 7 overall) ***postponed***

Presently
Len Deighton, Faith (1 of 3, № 8)
Len Deighton, Hope (2 of 3, № 9)
Len Deighton, Charity (3 of 3, № 10)

The Rebel Black Dot Songs of the Day
Queen, "Flash" from Greatest Hits I (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: I love Flash Gordon: not as dearly as I love The Shadow, but more than I love The Phantom. (Categorized together because of their origins in the 1930s & non-continuous endurance to the present day, unlike Superman & The Batman.) I enjoy the 1980 film Flash Gordon, even though it's campy dreck; I wanted to like the '00s television series Flash Gordon, but 'twas lifeless & mundane, devoid of the sense of grand adventure that is the very heart of Flash Gordon. No, gentle readers, if you want a good non-comic strip Flash Gordon story, go right to the master, to Olympic gold-medal winning swimmer Larry "Buster" Crabbe & the trio of out-of-this-world Flash Gordon serials released by Universal Pictures in '36, '38, & '40.

Freitag, 11 März
Fountains of Wayne, "The Girl I Can't Forget" from Welcome Interstate Managers (K. Steeze)

Commentary: Steeze didn't nominate "The Girl I Can't Forget" as a R.B.D.S.O.T.D., but he regaled me with a tale that brought the song to mind.

Donnerstag, 10 März
Elvis Costello & The Attractions, "Oliver's Army" from Armed Forces (T.L.A.M.)