Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 21, 2014

B2

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 21, 2014 

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown


SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS: 

GOOD HUNTING: AN AMERICAN SPYMASTER'S STORY 

BY JACK DEVINE & VERNON LOEB 

"A sophisticated, deeply informed account of real life in the real 
CIA that adds immeasurably to the pub-lic understanding of 
the espionage culture.the good and the bad." —Bob Woodward

Jack Devine ran Charlie Wilson’s War in Afghanistan. It was 
the largest covert action of the Cold War, and it was Devine 
who put the brand-new Stinger missile into the hands of 
the mujahideen during their war with the Soviets, paving 
the way to a decisive victory against the Russians. He also 
pushed the CIA’s effort to run down the narcotics trafficker 
Pablo Escobar in Colombia. He tried to warn the director 
of central intelligence, George Tenet, that there was a bullet 
coming from Iraq with his name on it. He was in Chile when 
Allende fell, and he had too much to do with Iran-Contra for 
his own taste, though he tried to stop it. And he tangled with 
Rick Ames, the KGB spy inside the CIA, and hunted Robert 
Hanssen, the mole in the FBI. It is the spellbinding memoir of Devine’s time in the C.I.A. where 
he served for more than thirty years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, 
responsible for all of the CIA’s spying operations. Good Hunting sheds light on some of the CIA’s 
deepest secrets and spans an illus-trious tenure,and never before has an acting deputy director of 
operations come forth with such an account. 

A DELICATE TRUTH: A NOVEL BY JOHN LE CARRE 

A counter terrorist operation, code named Wildlife, is being mounted on the British crown colony 
of Gi-braltar. Its purpose: to capture and abduct a high-value jihadist arms buyer. Its authors: an 
ambitious Foreign Office Minister, a private defense contractor who is also his bosom friend, and a 
shady Ameri-can CIA operative of the evangelical far-right. So delicate is the operation that even the 
Minister’s per-sonal private secretary, Toby Bell, is not cleared for it. Three years later, a disgraced 
Special Forces Soldier delivers a message from the dead. Was Operation Wildlife the success it was 
cracked up to be or a human tragedy that was ruthlessly covered up? Summoned by Sir Christopher 
“Kit” Probyn, retired British diplomat, to his decaying Cornish manor house, and closely observed 
by Kit’s daughter, Emily, Toby must choose between his conscience and duty to his Service. If the 
only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing, how can he keep silent? 
Another page turner by Le Carre.

DAYS OF FIRE: BUSH AND CHENEY IN THE WHITE HOUSE by Peter Baker

In Days of Fire, New York Times White House correspondent Peter Baker chronicles the history 
of one of the most consequential presidencies in modern times through the figures of George 
Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with key players, and 
thousands of pages of never-released notes, memos, and other internal documents, Baker paints a 
riveting portrait of a partner-ship that evolved dramatically over time, from the early days when 
Bush leaned on Cheney, making him the most influential vice president in history, to their final 
hours, when the two had grown so far apart they were clashing in the West Wing. 

By Sean Kayden


CRAFT SPELLS

Craft Spells’ debut album, “Idle Labor,” is an influential album from those 
who did it best – New Order, The Cure, and Tears For Fears. “Idle Labor” is 
an introspective, faintly desponding, reverie record that showcases singer/
songwriter Justin Paul Vallesteros’ mesmerizing vocals, tenderness, and 
heartache. A dreamy, idealistic, straight from the bedroom produced album for the kids with the 
dreamer’s disease and those completely clinging onto a better, yet forgotten yesterday. I’ll give Craft 
Spells credit for what most bands in their genre never do—change their style on the sophomore 
endeavor. The progression from “Idle Labors” to “Nausea” is impressive. With “Nausea,” Vallesteros 
and company seem more comfortable with getting older, even if becoming older isn’t something they 
necessarily want to happen. The lo-fi sound has diminished as we come to find “Nausea” is polished 
but perhaps not as effective. 

If you’re a fan of the band, this noticeable change 
in direction may come as a surprise. I found 
myself never entirely charmed by the efforts. I did 
however like some of the new arrangements the 
band have been toying with. This was especially 
apparent on “Laughing For My Life.” Vallesteros’ 
vocals are less yearning and more commanding 
this time around. “Twirl” is upbeat and groovy. 
It doesn’t even feel like Craft Spells tune, but this 
new style is either hit or miss. Unfortunately, as the 
record continues on, I found myself dealing with more misses than hits. I admire the ambition and 
not resting on their laurels, but rarely did I find myself grasping onto anything worth holding. 

There is a certain allure to be found in a few tracks like “Nausea,” “Komorebi,” “Changing Faces.” The 
manufactured instruments have been replaced with more guitars, bass and piano. The dreamy and 
jangly pop sound no longer exists within Craft Spells’ sound.

The first half of the album is intriguing, but after that I was disappointed. “Nausea” is by no means a 
bad record. At the very least, Craft Spells are finding their sound. They are leaning more toward the 
sound of Real Estate than their previous efforts. Sweet vocals, melodic and hypnotic at times, Craft 
Spells does create quite the atmosphere. When their sound is at their best, it’s terrific and it draws you 
in. However, these moments are fleeting and too few throughout the record. That is why I never was 
engaged by one song to the fullest. In this case, it appears the sum of its parts is greater than the whole. 

Don’t count Craft Spells out completely, but their new music only passes the time by instead of fully 
occupying it the way you’d want any great album to do so. 


Grade: 6.2 out of 10

Key Tracks: “Komorebi ,” “Laughing For My Life,” “Changing Faces”

Artist: Craft Spells

Album: Nausea

Label: Captured Tracks

Release Date: June 10th, 2014


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THE WORLD AROUND US

 


ASTEROID CLOSE ENCOUNTER IMAGED WITH RADAR

 
NASA scientists using Earth-based radar have 
produced sharp views of a recently discovered 
asteroid as it slid silently past our planet. Captured 
on June 8, 2014, the new views of the object 
designated “2014 HQ124” are some of the most 
detailed radar images of a near-Earth asteroid ever 
obtained.

 An animation of the rotating asteroid and a 
collage of the images can be seen at http://youtu.
be/6r7ncRra1hI

 The radar observations were led by scientists 
Marina Brozovic and Lance Benner of NASA’s 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. 
The JPL researchers worked closely with Michael 
Nolan, Patrick Taylor, Ellen Howell and Alessondra 
Springmann at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto 
Rico to plan and execute the observations.

 According to Benner, 2014 HQ124 appears to 
be an elongated, irregular object that measures 
at least 1,200 feet on its long axis. “This may be a 
double object, or ‘contact binary,’ consisting of two 
objects that form a single asteroid with a lobed 
shape,” he said. The images reveal a wealth of other 
features, including a puzzling pointy hill near the 
object’s middle, on top as seen in the images.

 The 21 radar images were taken over a span 
of four-and-a-half hours. During that interval, 
the asteroid rotated a few degrees per frame, 
suggesting its rotation period is slightly less than 
24 hours.

 At its closest approach to Earth on June 8, the 
asteroid came within 776,000 miles, or slightly 
more than three times the distance to the moon. 
Scientists began observations of 2014 HQ124 
shortly after the closest approach, when the 
asteroid was between 864,000 miles and 902,000 
miles from Earth.

 Each image in the collage and movie represents 
10 minutes of data.

 The new views show features as small as about 12 
feet wide. This is the highest resolution currently 
possible using scientific radar antennas to produce 
images. Such sharp views for this asteroid were 
made possible by linking together two giant radio 
telescopes to enhance their capabilities.

 To obtain the new views, researchers paired 
the 230-foot Deep Space Network antenna at 
Goldstone, California, with two other radio 
telescopes, one at a time. Using this technique, 
the Goldstone antenna beams a radar signal at 
an asteroid and the other antenna receives the 
reflections. The technique dramatically improves 
the amount of detail that can be seen in radar 
images.

 To image 2014 HQ124, the researchers first 
paired the large Goldstone antenna with the 
1,000-foot Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. 
They later paired the large Goldstone dish with a 
smaller companion, a 112-foot antenna, located 
about 20 miles away.

 A recent equipment upgrade at Arecibo enabled 
the two facilities to work in tandem to obtain 
images with this fine level of detail for the first 
time.

 “By itself, the Goldstone antenna can obtain 
images that show features as small as the width of 
a traffic lane on the highway,” said Benner. “With 
Arecibo now able to receive our highest-resolution 
Goldstone signals, we can create a single system 
that improves the overall quality of the images.”

 The first five images in the new sequence—
the top row in the collage—represent the data 
collected by Arecibo, and are 30 times brighter 
than what Goldstone can produce observing on 
its own.

 For asteroids, as well as comets, radar is a 
powerful tool for studying the objects’ size, shape, 
rotation, surface features and orbits.

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com. 

NASA scientists used Earth-based radar to produce these sharp views -- an image montage and a movie sequence -- of the asteroid designated "2014 HQ124" on June 8, 2014. 
Photo courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arecibo Observatory/USRA/NSF