The wretched hive...

No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels by Jay Dobyns


BATF agent Jay Dobyns tells the story of his two-year investigation of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. One thing is for sure, the biker gangs don't live (or eat) nearly as well as the drug lords and mobsters. The wear and tear shows on Dobyns, too, who seems to have come much closer to losing himself in his role than Joaquin Garcia did as "Jack Falcone."

Godfather of Night: A Greek Mafia Father, a Drug Runner Son, and an Unexpected Shot at Redemption by Kevin Pappas


This story is so outrageous that I have to take it with some grains of salt... but I suspect it is mostly true. Kevin Pappas is the unacknowledged son of a Greek mobster who made a fortune running a drug gang in Atlanta, got caught and sentenced to hard time, then made another fortune (and got out of jail) brokering information between criminals on the street, rich criminals in the pen, and law enforcement.

His most interesting point is that for him, the real thrill of the business was about controlling the other people in his life. He determined how (and sometimes whether) his crew and assorted hangers-on lived, and he calls this feeling of control an addiction. I'm curious if this is true for other mob bosses and tycoons. What drives them more, the money or the control?

Here's the email we sent around to our mailing list (and hey, if you want to get onto that list, please let me know. I promise we don't overwhelm with spam!). If you're local and want to hear some tunes, think about coming to one of these performances!

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It's the start of December, which means there's a passel of holiday gigs in our future! In fact, the first of many is this Saturday at the Acoustic Showcase at the Starbucks in Lexington. We'll be performing with 3 other groups to give you a wide variety of music, both holidayish and not. Come grab a cup of coffee and a scone or two and relax this Saturday evening with us!

WHAT: Acoustic Showcase
WHEN: 5-8pm, Saturday, 12/5
5pm Chris Eastburn and Mike Barrett
6pm Alyssa Zahka
6:30pm Random Chants
7pm Robert Cedrone
COST: Free!
WHERE: Starbucks, 60 Bedford Street, Lexington
http://acousticshowcaselexington.blogspot.com/

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We've got two other public gigs lined up for the holiday season, so get them on your calendars now! We'll be doing our traditional performance at the Holly Fair in Harvard Square on Saturday the 12th, so you can listen to music and do your holiday shopping at the same time. And if you need to track down still more presents, come join us the next day at the Newburyport Farmer's Market.

WHAT: CCAE's Holly Fair
WHEN: 12 Noon, Saturday 12/12. A ~40 minute set of holiday tunes.
COST: Free!
WHERE: Cambridge Center for Adult Education (CCAE)
Brattle House, 42 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
http://www.ccae.org/hollyfair.html

WHAT: Newburyport Fall Farmer's Market
WHEN: 10:30am - 12:30pm, Sunday, 12/13. Two 45 minute sets of songs both seasonal and not.
COST: Free!
WHERE: Market Lounge, Tannery Marketplace (indoors)
50 Water St, Newburyport
http://thenewburyportfarmersmarket.org/

Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family by Joaquin "Jack" Garcia


A retired FBI undercover agent tells the story of how he nearly became a made man with the Gambino family, along with a few side trips into other investigations. Lots of good procedural stuff here, and a compelling portrait of Greg DePalma, an old-school Mafioso who still believes in going to trial and denying the existence of La Cosa Nostra.

What's impressive is how he was able to juggle identities -- sometimes several at once -- over a period of months or years, apparently without ever raising the suspicions of his targets. What's a little disturbing is just how thoroughly the Mafia and other corrupt organizations seem to be worked into the everyday fabric of life, at least in New York City. It makes you wonder about this whole "rule of law" thing, especially when the FBI seems to be all too willing to close down an investigation early and claim a smaller victory than it could otherwise have gotten.

Buddha Volume 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka


Interesting graphic novel telling the life of the Buddha, with occasional side trips into anachronism and artist cameos. As is typical with the pacing of manga, this takes 400 or so pages just for the Buddha to be born. We'll see how this all comes together in another volume or two (or six...).

Carry a Chicken in Your Lap: Or Whatever It Takes to Globalize Your Business by R. William Ayres


This book brings back a lot of memories of my ex-pat childhood. Over five years in Japan, I met several of the types of people described in this book, and heard horror stories about the rest. Based on that, this book rings true to me.

A lot of the advice in the book is classic "how to get along overseas" advice; what's new is the argument that some business people can not get along, and should never be sent. I think that's always been true, but I've never seen anyone dare to say it before.

It's also fun to read a book where the co-author is an old friend. There is a story involving Bill and some visiting Japanese dignitaries, and I can just hear him calling out a greeting to them.

Overall, a very solid book and a must-read for anybody new to the international business scene.

High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals by Jerome M. Mileur


Lifelong St. Louis fan Mileur tells the story of the 1942 Cardinals, who overcame almost impossible odds to beat the Dodgers for the pennant and the Yankees in the World Series. The baseball part of the story is okay, but what's more interesting in the snippets of life in wartime America. I could have used more of that and less play-by-play action.

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt


I nearly gave up on this book. Actually, I did give up on it, given that I started the book in July and haven't touched it in months. I usually like McDevitt's work, but this time I found the characters flat and the plot dull.

That said, I picked it back up a few nights ago and blazed through the last half of the book. I don't know if the story picked up steam or if I was just in a better mood for it but in the end... yeah. I'm down with it. Not sure I would read it again, but I'll probably check out his next one.

Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories: 15 Secrets from a 3,000-Year-Old Food Culture by Lorraine Clissold


Not a cookbook, through there are some recipes in it. Instead, it's a thoughtful explanation of some basic principles of Chinese cooking -- the why of mixing various ingredients and flavors.

I don't buy into the mystical aspects of the Chinese approach to food, but the basic principles make a lot of sense: eat more vegetables, fill up on rice, balance a variety of ingredients and flavors, cook gently to retain nutrients while making them more digestible. We do some of this but not enough; this book is encouraging me to do more.