Abraham Lincoln once wrote in a book review: “People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.” Though Lincoln was certainly writing about a book other than Dan Brown’s recent novel, The Lost Symbol, the quote is extremely applicable.

Those who enjoyed the fast paced informed style of Brown’s writing (Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code), will find more of the same. Those who enjoyed the various puzzles layered on top of each other will again find more of the same. Those who find Brown’s repeated references to [Robert] Langdon’s claustrophobia a bit tiresome, are likely to do so again. Thus, in style and tone, the book is very similar to the last two. So, the question is, how does the book stand on its own merits?

The book, this time set in Washington D.C., weaves a story surrounding the secret society of the Freemasons. It is possible Brown merely wished to avoid the large scale protests that the Catholic church had in response to Brown’s first two Langdon novels. After all what self-respecting secret society member is going to go carry a picket sign in front of a movie theater. More likely, Brown found the Freemasons too interesting a group to pass up writing about. With secret initiations and acceptance of members of every religion, Brown had thousands of symbols to choose from and a wealth of rumor, mythology, and religion at his disposal.

Drawing on every major current and former religion (at least I don’t think there are any Zoroastorists around), Brown raises interesting philosophical questions concerning what is means to be human as well as ones place within the greater universe. As he raises these questions, he provides his own answers, certainly not answers everyone will agree with, but debate is always part of the fun with a Brown book.

While I recommend the book, it is certainly not for everyone. In fact, the book is rather tailor made for me – I have Masonic family, I lived in Washington D.C., I love puzzles, I often use symbols in my work, I have studied history and politics for many years, and the short chapters are great to read with my wife before bed. Ninety-nine percent of the population, probably more, cannot say the same thing. So, why do I think most people will enjoy the book, well, … everyone loves a mystery.

Guest Author Bio: Joshua Milton Anderson graduated from Daniel Boone High School and Rhode Island College. He completed 5 years of graduate work in history and political science at University of Nebraska at Omaha and Bowling Green State University. Currently, he teaches and runs tournaments for Silver Knights Chess, as well as some eBay work, and spends his free time on a variety of history/puzzle projects. He lives in Paoli, PA, with his wife, Brandy, and a menagerie of plants and animals.

JLG365 is looking for guest authors and new interview subjects! This is an excellent opportunity to gain free publicity for yourself on a website that has a dedicated readership as well as thousands of unique page views each month.

As far as subject matter goes, you can write about anything you want. Maybe you would like to write a movie, music or book review. Maybe you would like to write about your opinion on current events and/or politics. Or maybe you would just like to write about what it is that gets you out of bed each morning. The possibilities are endless!

If you are interested, please send an e-mail to either myself or one of my staff. Kindly include your name, age, location and what you would like to write about. You will receive a response within 24 hours or sooner.

TWEETED @JLG365:

STUDY: 30% OF YOU ARE PREDISPOSED TO DRIVE POORLY
Scientists scientifically studied the brains of 29 people. Of those, 22 had normal brains while the other seven had a genetic variant that stops their brain from secreting something called a neurotrophic factor (BDNF). FULL ARTICLE

BTC BRISTOL TATTOO CLUB: THE SKUSE FAMILY — GENERATIONS OF KILLER INK
The legendary tattooist, and founder of the Sandusky Tattoo Club, Al Schiefley lived and worked out of Sandusky, Ohio where he opened his famous Pearl Street shop that dutifully operated for over a quarter of a century. FULL ARTICLE

GROUNDED FOR TWO MONTHS:

NY TIMES: USING MARIJUANA STORES TO MARKET FOOD
A new print ad — by TDA Advertising and Design of Boulder — for Hapa Sushi, a restaurant chain based in Boulder, features a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots. Four dots are red, representing the four Hapa locations, and the remaining 59 are blue, representing medical marijuana dispensaries, some of which, it turns out, are just a stone’s throw from the restaurants. FULL ARTICLE

ROBOT COW RECTUMS: FOR EDUCATIONAL, NOT RECREATIONAL PURPOSES
The ‘Haptic Cow’ recently won Sarah Baillie the Most Innovative Teacher of the Year Award. FULL ARTICLE

POSTED ON JLG365:

• Exclusive Interview: The Master Maor Is In

• Oy: Enjoy What We’re Giving You

• WS Recap: Two Cheater Minimum To Win

There’s nothing like a fair playing field. When it comes to Major League Baseball, that’s what you expect. The game is about tradition, history and family. Steroids? Dynasties? Players looking forward to next season when their team is in the World Series? Nah.

But, that’s what made the Phillies’ run so amazing. Call me a die-hard fan or a sore loser, but when you’re going up against a team with the highest payroll in baseball, twenty-six world championships, a minimum of two cheaters, and a shortstop so pretty he even distracts opposing hitters, what more can you do? Based on the circumstances, I think the Phillies played their hearts out.

(Speaking of heart, broadcaster Harry Kalas was sorely missed. He was a big part of what the Phillies are all about.)

We were looking good after Game 1, but so was Ashley Simpson before she grabbed the mic on SNL. At least our guys were really swinging at those pitches. Anyway, Cliff Lee was the man in that game, as was Chase Utley. If the World Series was like the Super Bowl, where everything was on the line for only one game and only your best players started at every position, we would have been set.

Pedro Martinez pitched his heart out in Game 2, and while I give him a ton of credit, I mean that literally.

Don’t get me started on Game 3. If baseball had any sense at all, they would do everything in their power to speed up the game, not slow it down by adding video replay. A good idea would be to make a foul ball on the third strike an out. That would at least get the fans in LA to stay past the third inning.

Game 5 was a heartbreaker. Ryan Madson pitched his way out of a jam in the 8th inning and showed a lot of grit, so what did skip do? Took him out and put in the always reliable Brad Lidge. The stress balls were out in Philly.

We might have gotten a win in Game 6, but then had to be put through the torturous pain of watching a rerun of Godzilla, and the Yankees winning their 27th title.

Philly will be back to the show for the third time in a row next season. And they’ll have a lot less miles on them than the Yankees. Also, Ian you suck.*

*I bet my friend “Big Head” Ian that the Phillies would win the WS again this year. Obviously, I lost. And it is infuriating. You will never meet a luckier SOB then Ian.

Right. So I think may have mentioned all these things before, my little interweb salt licks, but I feel that enough time has passed that it is acceptable to mention it all again:

If you have an RSS reader and are not subscibed to the official JLG365 news feed then who knows what awesomeness you my have missed.

If you are not following JLG365 on Twitter you are missing the party of the year.

If you are not a fan of JLG365 on Facebook, you are missing exclusive content, contests and occasional “by invite only” posts that contain may contain boobies.

Right. So how does one rectify all these issues? It’s as simple as pie. Mmm … pie.

• Step One: Subscribe to the RSS feed HERE.

• Step Two: Follow JLG365 on Twitter HERE.

• Step Three: Become a JLG365 fan on Facebook HERE.

All done? Good. Now where’s my pie?

The extremely talented Maor Appelbaum, producer, sound engineer, mastering engineer and musician, takes time out of his crazy busy schedule for a little Q&A with JLG365.

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Tell me about your childhood. Where were you born? At what age did you become interested in music and engineering? Who were some of your early influences?

I was born in Israel. At a very young age I fell in love with music and how it sounds; the instruments, the melody and the performance.

I wanted to become a musician but I didn’t find the right instrument to put the time into. In high school I decided I wanted to try to be a bass player and it worked. After playing for a year I formed a band and we started rehearsing. I wasn’t a good player in the beginning, but after practicing and playing with a band it helped me get better and better. [When that] band split, I formed a new band and got even better. So, basically I played bass for a lot of years [and it was during that time] I got more and more involved in the recording/mixing process [as well as] the production part of it.

I learned and worked in various positions in the sound engineering field from LIVE sound to broadcasting to DJ to studio – getting everything I [could] from it and building a client base and more experience.

How did you finally break into the “industry”?

As a musician, a lot of my music was sold outside Israel, so the international market was always something I liked being part of. I started working with international artists in Israel . Most of it was live sound and some mastering. When I moved to the USA I started working for some producers. I worked on a lot of projects that got me some recognition and then more and more clients came in.

It’s a lot of work to get the client in and to keep him happy and then hopefully he will bring you more clients based on his good experience with you, so it’s a words of mouth thing. Some people you meet and [wind up] working with them later on down the road, so you never know how things will come your way.

Tell me more about what it is you do. Is there any particular aspect of your work you enjoy more than others?

I have done a lot of things in the audio field from recording, mixing, designing and all that. I feel that in mastering I can give a fresh outlook on the music and bring in the objective approach that can make an album have that final touch to it. It’s like the icing on the cake as some of my clients call it. I love doing mastering. I can’t describe how much I love doing this and I go the extra miles for each project. Mastering is an objective art and it needs ears that are fresh and unbiased [that can listen] to it in a different perspective and giving it the extra impact to make it shine and develop in a way that it gives the song the push its needs.

Who are some of your favorite musicians to work with? Why?

Every musician that I work with I get connected to his music. After so much listening and feeling the overall vibe of the song. I get connected to it very fast and I absorb it deeply. So many names that I love so little place to write.

What are your proudest accomplishments?

Being a mastering engineer in this day and age. The music industry has been going [through] a lot of changes now and new things are coming in and other things are going out The creative approach in mastering is now a bigger part of the process and bands rely on more than before, especially because of the huge amount of music that is being self-produced today.

What are you currently working on?

[I] just finished a new album of Rob Halford’s called “Winter Songs” and the new Lita Ford album called “Wicked Wonderland“. Both [albums] are getting a lot of attention over the media.

I am also working with some other international artists [that includes] lots of music from all over the world in different styles and sounds ranging from soul, pop, fusion, funk, alternative rock, progressive rock, hard rock and metal.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Good question. I hope to be still doing mastering and enjoying it. I hope to keep working on a lot of music and getting more and more clients. I might move to a different place in the world and see what that place has to offer. Nowadays, with the internet, you can basically live on an island with great a great internet connection and work on whatever you want. The distance is becoming smaller all the time. I won’t live on an island, but it will be interesting to see what will happen in five years. Hopefully something great!

Thank you Maor. With your talent and skills, nothing can hold you back! And if any of my little blog faithful need mastering work, Maor can be reached by sending an email to mappelbaum@gmail.com or by calling (818) 564-9276. also, check out Maor’s MySpace page here.

I have never held back about my sour feelings about the late Michael Jackson, but I did think it was important for me to see Michael Jackson’s This Is It, the concert film documenting MJ’s rehearsals of the concert series of the same name which was scheduled to start on July 13, 2009, but canceled because of MJ’s death on June 25, 2009.

It’s hard to tell a life-story with mere behind the scenes footage, and anyone expecting the movie to be a biography will be disappointed. Instead, what the movie offered was a rare glimpse of MJ at work. And what a glimpse that turns out to be indeed.

One of the biggest impacts the movie is likely to have on moviegoers is to dispel, once and for all, the myth that MJ was a frail, over-medicated icon, who was too sick and feeble to have really been able to pull off a multi-billion dollar tour. If he was as sick and frail as he was purported to be, his appearance certainly doesn’t reflect it. If he was as medicated on painkillers as was revealed after his death, there is no hint of that in his perfectly synchronized movements while he practiced dance steps with people more than twenty years his junior.

Indeed there’s nothing about MJ that one sees in the movie to suggest he was a plaintive, past his time musician, as he was so often caricaturized by the tabloids. Instead, what one gets to see is a MJ who is fully engaged and firmly in control as he instructs dancers and instrumentalists on what to do and oversees choreography and lighting changes.

The MJ one sees rehearsing in the movie is as vibrant, energetic and as animated as the moon-walking, crotch-grabbing, sequined-jacket-wearing Jackson in his prime. When he belts out classics such as “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”, “Thriller”, “Smooth Criminal”, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” and “The Way you Make Me Feel”, it’s the larger-than-life MJ one gets to see once again – and not just because he was on a giant IMAX screen.

However, if there’s one thing about the movie that some may find to be a bit of a drag, it’s the special tour films and backstage interviews with gushing, starry-eyed dancers, musicians and others in Jackson’s troup. The objection is not because these interspersed clips are uninteresting, but because they tend to interrupt the main attraction.

My verdict? This Is It would have made a great tour. But now that Jackson’s gone, there’s no telling how big a success that tour would have been. Nonetheless, the rumors were false. The naysayers were plain wrong. Whatever his personal travails might have been, more than two-decades after his prime, MJ the musician, still had it in him. And I am now no longer ashamed to have his greatest hits in my mp3 collection.

The Ben & Jerry’s version is “consciously concocted with a particularly flavorful vanilla blend, including vanilla made from beans grown & harvested by small-scale farmers in Indonesia. They’re members of local farmer associations that support sustainable farming practices. The premiums we pay for their quality vanilla help them re-invest in their families & communities for a positive change.”

Kitty says, “Screw fair trade, give me the Häagen-Dazs!”

Ben & Jerry’s Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Liquid Sugar, Water, Egg Yolks, Vanilla Extract With Vanilla Bean Seeds, Guar Gum And Carrageenan

Häagen-Dazs Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolks, Natural Vanilla.

SEE ALSO: Contrary Cat Is Contrary

The bold and beautiful Ginger Coyote, editor of Punk Globe magazine and lead singer of White Trash Debutantes, asked and answered.

Tell me about your childhood. Where were you born? At what age did you become interested in music? Who were some of your early influences?
My life was pretty much of a haze until I moved to San Francisco, CA. I lived in SF for well over half my life so I consider it my hometown. I was born in Iowa. I have always been into music since early childhood. I loved Janis Joplin, Tina Turner, Cher, Cass Elliot, Led Zeppelin, Mott The Hoople, Queen, NY Dolls, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Siouxsie, Nina Hagen, X, Jayne County, Blondie, Jim Carroll, Joe Jackson, Bebe Buell, The Clash, Operation Ivy, Courtney Love, The Contractions, Motorhead, DOA, DK’s, Vktms, L7, Amy Winehouse, Exploited, UK Subs, the list is endless…

The Sex Pistols and Siouxsie introduced me to punk. What are your thoughts on these bands and their influences on modern-day punk music both globally and in the US?
I love the Sex Pistols and Siouxsie. In the early 80’s [Siouxsie] came to SF to visit her friend Kay and I loved her so much. We got along so well. She always sends her love with people we both know. Sioux was so much fun. We went horseback riding and she was FABULOUS in her in full Siouxsie glory. She held nothing back at 9AM. Pure genius. [In regards to modern-day punk], music recycles itself. I think Leonard (Graves Phillips) from The Dickies said it best: “Remember when Green Day were the Ramones and Rancid was called the Clash.”

“Remember when Green Day were the Ramones and Rancid was called the Clash.”

How did you finally break into the industry?
I started [publishing] Punk Globe in 1978 and had that in print [until] 1988. So that was a total of 120 issues. I then formed White Trash Debutantes and primarily dedicated my time to playing and recording shows with the band. Then in 2005, Tammy and others convinced me to do Punk Globe online. Although that takes a lot of my time, I [do] get a chance to play shows with White Trash Debutantes, but not nearly [as much as] I did from 1989-2004. We averaged 6-10 shows a month.

Tell me more about Punk Globe.
Punk Globe takes a lot of energy on a monthly basis and I would like to give a shout out to Sharla Cartner (Australia) who is the Webmistress, Marc Floyd (Canada) who designs the wonderful covers and the writers who are from all over the world: Dod, Martin Jones, Rotten and Lisa Booth in England, Sharla Cartner and Alicia Bee in Australia, actress Pauley Perrette, Josie Cotton, Tyler Vile, Kathy Peck, Dark Diva, Kim Friederich, Pamela Torres, Rebecca Wilson, Timm Carney, Jim Luccio and Miss O in the USA, Ozgur Cokyuce in Turkey, Rabind Rawks in Jakarta, Mikael Richards in France. In Canada we have Gerry Jenn Wilson, Sober Jake Jack Off, Karla McCleod, Wendy Thirteen and Marc Floyd. Punk Globe is free for all and can be found at www.punkglobe.com.

What are your proudest accomplishments?
With the White Trash Debutantes it is so many things! Being on The Jerry Springer Show, touring with the Ramones, Dread Zeppelin and the Lunachicks. Being in the movie “Tweek City“. Inviting Tonya Harding to join the band and all the press that gathered. Touring Japan. Being in so many books and magazines world wide. Punk Globe sponsoring Dirkfest with Kathy Peck and the H.E.A.R. Foundation at http://www.hearnet.com. It was a celebration of the late Dirk Dirksen’s life. Being in the DVD version of “American Hardcore“.

Another great moment in my career was writing a passage in the Danielle Steel book “His Bright Light”. Danielle’s son Nick was a big fan of White Trash Debutantes and a friendship developed between him and I. He suffered from Depression and Danielle did all in her power to provide him the best of care. “His Bright Light” chronicles Nick’s triumphs and ultimate downfall with his illness. I am very proud to have been asked by Danielle to contribute to the book.

What are you currently working on?
The new issue of Punk Globe, Looking for shows for White Trash Debutantes, the trials and tribulations of life and of course LEARNING THE FACTS OF LIFE!!!

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Hopefully around doing the same as now with dignity and still fucking rawking!!

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Never become someone you are not. Be true to who you are. Fuck ‘em if they don’t like it! Never become a Republikkkan and please watch Kathy Griffin daily for your laughs for the day. She is my FAVORITE comedienne at this time, but I do [also] love Tracey Ullman, Lily Tomlin, Julie Brown, Rosie O’ Donnell, Joy Behar and Judy Tenuta!! Comedy keeps you young!!