Capsule Review Day

Bucket List: Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are simultaneously diagnosed with terminal cancer and decide to have one last trip to do everything they never did. Does a good job of mixing the sentimentality with steady doses of humour and only drags a little bit. The actor who plays Jack from Will and Grace puts in a surprisingly good performance as Jack Nicholson's assistant, and proves that there's occasionally life after television.
Final Grade: B+

Aspects of Love: A remastered edition of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that flopped. With the exception of one extended scene, there's nothing new in the recording, although it probably does sound a little better than the 1989 version. Catchy music, weak story, and Michael Ball sounds a little wavy. Only a worthwhile purchase because Paige has my original CDs.
Final Grade: B-

Ray Stevens Boxed Set: This low-budget release is a three-CD set of Ray Stevens' hits (both comedy and serious). Because of licensing issues, the classics are re-recorded (apparently it's cheaper to perform it again than buy an old recording) and are not as high quality as they once were. The package is weak except for the price: $14 for the entire set -- cheap enough for the nostalgia kick.
Final Grade: B+

Design Patterns in Ruby: A hybrid book on Design Patterns and on the Ruby programming language, written by a coworker of mine. It's high on interesting content and low on padding, making it an easy and educational read for all four hundred million Zone readers who program in the Ruby language. You can read my entire Amazon.com review here .
Final Grade: A