I want to start with a few local plugs. You may have read elsewhere in these pages that our esteemed editor has a new book out, in Arcadia's "Images Of America" series: Seattle's Belltown. Having worked in Belltown during my tenure at The Rocket and having partaken in numerous cultural events in the neighborhood, it was fascinating to learn about the area's history, and the pictures of places no longer with us evoked a strong nostalgia in me. In a sign of how fast things can change, there's a pic of the Crocodile Cafe, which was open when this book was published. While strolling down Broadway, I noted that Clark's Vanishing Seattle made the Top 10 of Bailey/Coy's 2007 Best Sellers, by the way.

Another terrific book from Arcadia is Peter Blecha's Music In Washington: Seattle and Beyond. Pete's the perfect man for a book like this, as he knows the Pacific Northwest music scene inside out, and, in keeping with his prodigious research skills, goes well beyond covering the obvious. The first picture, for example, dates from 1853, a shot of a log cookhouse at First and Yesler, the city's first performing venue. There's a shot of the original Parker's, which opened in 1930, an promo still of a young Ray Charles, a flyer for Seattle's own Trips Festival (I didn't even know we'd had one), and much more (though I, of course, wanted more pics of females artists from the '80s and '90s).

And I have news of another book to report; my own! At some point this year, The Rough Guide To Nirvana will tumble onto expectant bookshelves, penned by yours truly. Rough Guides began as travel guides, but they have long since expanded into other reference realms, with Rough Guides available on subjects from the arts to science. I haven't yet obtained a copy of The Rough Guide To The Brain, but I do have the Film Musicals (David Parkinson) and Film Noir (Alexander Ballinger, Danny Graydon) Rough Guides. They're great compendiums on their respective subjects, running around 300 pages each. The books follow a similar format: There's a History section, the Canon (here's where it gets fun, as you debate the wisdom of what's been included, and what isn't; how could Sunset Boulevard not have made the Noir canon??), Icons, and various trivia sections (the address of Barbara Stanwyck's home in Double Indemnity). Both books are tailor-made for hours of browsing, like all the Rough Guides are (including, I hope, my own effort).

They just screened Oswald's Ghost on PBS, and the show's already available on DVD. It's worth checking out if you're interested in the subject. I rather wish I'd had it on hand when I reviewed Vincent Bugliosi's Reclaiming History (check our October '07 issue). Bugliosi's book, he'll be thrilled to learn, has made me more anti-conspiracy, and I do wonder what he would have to say about Oswald's Ghost. It's neither pro- or anti-conspiracy, as folks with both views get to have their say, and while much of the footage is iconically familiar (e.g. Oswald being shot by Jack Ruby), sequences frequently run longer than the brief clips you get in other docs. A key reason why conspiracies live on is readily seen when Norman Mailer (author of Oswald's Tale) talks about how he tried his darndest to find evidence of a conspiracy and was terribly disappointed he was unable to, conspiracies being more interesting of course. It's all meshed together in a lyrical, seductive, fashion, like a dream that keeps circling back in on itself. The DVD comes with some nice extras, including a featurette with rapid-fire Dealey Plaza tour guide, a look at the famous Zapruder film, and an interview with director Robert Stone (no relation to Oliver!).

And speaking of high profile crimes... was pleased to receive the two-disc, director's cut edition of Zodiac, about the infamous "Zodiac Killer," whose identity was never discovered. The film itself came out last year, and apparently only grossed $33 million in the US (not a good take, by big studio standards). Maybe that's due to the fact that it's an undeniably thoughtful thriller, as much of a contradiction as that may sound. There are no car chases, no gunfire battles, no explosions, and even the murders (we're only shown three of the killer's crimes) are relatively discreet. It's more along the lines of a police procedural, bringing to mind the earliest Prime Suspect miniseries.

A subplot concerns the San Francisco Chronicle's political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who becomes obsessed with the case; he wrote the books upon which this film is based. There are many extras, including in-depth looks on making the film, and the real life story rounding out this creepy story that will have you thinking twice before you go out at night.