We've made a point of cultivating some of the best Midcoast reviewers when it comes to suggestions on what to read, what to see and and what to hear each month.  At turns insightful and often hilarious, let Lacy Simons of hello hello books,  Jim Dandy and Tiffany Howard of Opera House Video and Nathaniel Bernier of Wild Rufus Consignments fill you in on this month's killer book, movie and music reviews.

Books

On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
 
This month, the fascinating and beautifully illustrated On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks by Simon Garfield, author of Just My Type. You know how there's all this fury about how bad Apple's new Maps program is? (My biggest complaint: Rockland is no longer Rockland; now it's "Blackinton Corners.") Simon Garfield probably has a lot to say about it. Things like "Keep it in perspective. At least your town appears on the map at all, even it is incorrectly named.” Or “Don’t whine, for heaven’s sake; you have an advanced cartographic tool early mapmakers would have killed their moms for, and you drop it on the damn ground twice a day like it’s no big whoop.”

He’d say it better, actually. He’d tell you about the history of humans and their maps, the "boastful dealers, finicky surveyors, guesswork philosophers, profligate collectors, unreliable navigators, whistling ramblers, inexperienced globe-makers, nervous curators, hot neuroscientists and lusting conquistadors" responsible for the creation, publication and usage of some of the western world's most significant cartographical landmarks. And you’d love hearing about it, and love how it shifts your sense of the world a bit. And you’d curse a bit less at your smartphone while reading it.

Lacy Simons is the owner and operator of hello hello books, which opened in August 2011 adjacent to Rock City Cafe, in Rockland. She is a reader, a maker, and a collector of fine-point pens and terrible jokes. To find more picks and reads: facebook.com/hellohellobooks Twitter: @hellohellobooks.

Movies

Samsara

by Jim Dandy

If there were one word that could be simultaneously synonymous with beautiful, spiritual, sensuous, haunting, fascinating, disturbing, and incredible...it would be Samsara. From the makers of Baraka comes Samsara, a non verbal guided meditation on the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. There is no way to see Samsara and remain emotionally unaffected. It reflects who we are as humans. Our cultures, our rituals, and our relationship with the world around us.

Samsara artfully shows us contrasts and similarities between ancient civilization and modern industry. From minimalist to the extreme, East versus West, and poverty versus opulence. At times it made me feel like an alien observer in my own world. Beautifully filmed in the most visually stunning locations around the world and presented with an emotionally charged soundtrack, you will want to see it again and again.
I'm sure there are some really intelligent reviews on this film out there, if you care to look for them, but I can sum up in just one word. Awesome!

Tiffany Howard and Jim Dandy co-own Opera House Video, an independent video rental store in downtown Belfast featuring an extensive collection of new releases, foreign films, documentaries, classics and television series. Each takes turns writing the movie review. Find them on Facebook at Opera House Video.


Music

Time Out

by Nathaniel Bernier

As a continuation of last month's tribute to recently departed jazz musician, Dave Brubeck, this is Part II of Bernier's review.

1959 saw the release of Brubeck's masterpiece, the timeless Time Out on which one of my all-time favorite jazz songs appeared: Take Five.  The year before this release, the Newport Jazz Festival took place on the shore in Rhode Island.  My father was there and he has since remarked how unbelievable the performance was.  I can only imagine!  The Brubeck Quartet out there, perhaps playing some of these tunes only a handful of times before, there, in front of thousands, pounding out these memorable tunes, amazing!  Without going into much detail I will say simply this: if you must buy one jazz record this year or this decade, make sure that this one is it.

Nathaniel "Natty B" Bernier, owner of Wild Rufus Records previously retail and now online, has immersed himself in music for 35 years, hosting several radio shows, deejaying at clubs and parties, writing music reviews and interviewing artists.  He lives on the coast of Maine and continues to live through music.   Find him at www.wildrufus.com or wildrufus.blogspot.com/