Books : The Line of Beauty

He's written shamelessly for more than a decade and a half about his passion for 12- and 15-year-olds. He's described his dalliances with loves named Heather and Peat and some three dozen named Glen. His name is Michael Jackson. Relax. We're talking here about the Britain-based, award-winning drinks and spirits writer and author of, among other classic reference works, Michael Jackson's Beer Companion.

In Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch, devotees of the dram can peruse the latest revised edition of the 1989 work. In 336 pages brimming with maps, photos, and informed overview of factors such as geography and flavor components--even proximity to the sea--Jackson sketches the evolution of Scotch whisky, from the prebottling days, when shopkeepers like Johnnie Walker and the Chivas Brothers would create their own blends for sale, to the late-1960s and 1970s' surge of individual distilleries marketing their own bottlings. Lamentably labeling the former as a time when "orchestrations drowned out the soloists," Jackson provides some sweet sheet music of his own: 294 pages are devoted to an A-to-Z review (including full-color labels and tasting notes) of more than 800 singles from "every Scottish malt distillery that has ever witnessed its product in a bottle." It's the perfect book to take to your local liquor store next time you're trying to navigate the high shelf of Scotland's highlands, lowlands, and islands. You may laugh at Jackson's description of Auchentoshan Select's "oily" nose with "hints of citrus zest" or Aberlour 10-year-old's "mint-toffee" bouquet. But you'll be laughing out of the other side of your haggis when you actually smell them. All the notes are well researched and designed to appeal to Cardhu-carrying connoisseurs, as well as those who'd just like to know more about Bowmore. In his introduction, the author describes a whisky's finish as "a crescendo, followed by a series of echoes. When I leave the bottle, I like to be whistling the tune." Scotch drinkers will find plenty to wet that whistle in Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch. --Tony Mason

"Madden" has come to be known as the synonym of choice for videogame fans when they want to talk about football. But while the console versions of the game, named after legendary coach and even more legendary television announcer John Madden, may offer state of the art graphics and features, they require very little effort from any part of your body other than your fingers. This interactive game makes you work a little harder on the physical side in order to win the game. It hooks up directly to your television and comes with a weight sensitive mat which you use to select plays and navigate players as well as an electronic wireless football used to simulate throws downfield. Multiple settings let you play in training camp mode to hone skills, go up against a friend, or battle the computer. It may lack the detail and complexity of the console Madden games but it gives you more exercise so you’ll look more like a football player and less like Madden himself. --Charlie Williams

The biggest boost yet for satellite radio has to be Delphi's radiant MyFi XM2GO portable satellite radio receiver and digital music player. The MyFi can record and play back up to 5 hours of XM's digital programming whenever and wherever you choose. It requires a subscription to XM satellite radio ($12.95/month), but just

Compact and easy, to use the MyFi offers 150 XM satellite channels.

about everything else you could want for home, outdoor, or car listening comes in the box. XM's 150 channels include 67 commercial-free music channels as well as premier news, sports, talk, traffic, and weather listings.

The MyFi comes with a densely packed carton of accessories, including everything from headphones and antennas to a remote control, belt clips, and separate docking apparatus for integrating the receiver with your home and car stereos.

Smaller than a PDA, the receiver exudes greatness even before you hear it: it's just heavy enough to seem solidly built yet light enough to merit the term "portable." The receiver even comes with world-class manuals, from its tips sheet to the longer quick-start guide to the 42-page user's manual (separate English and Spanish editions of each are provided).

An illuminated six-line LCD is your gateway to browsing XM's programming. You can browse by station, by category, or (our favorite) by currently playing artist. Thirty channel presets simplify access to your favorites, and a handy memo button stores artist and song data for up to 20 performances you'd like to look into later (or find again on XM).

Any satellite radio system requires a fairly heavy-duty antenna. Accordingly, the MyFi comes with four: one for the home (place it in a south-facing window), one for the car (mount it on the roof or trunk), a clip-on antenna for when you're hoofing it, and a built-in antenna. Our home reception was perfect--we never experienced a single drop out. Car reception was spottier, though still excellent. You just have to get used to the fact that where analog radio gets noisier in areas with poor reception, satellite radio drops out altogether; it's either all there, crystal clear, or all absent. And that's where My XM, MyFi's recording feature, comes in handy.

The MyFi mounts easily in most vehicles.

My XM lets you record XM programming to MyFi's onboard memory--perfect for time shifting your listening (as with a news program or a scheduled performance on XM Live) or for tuning in when you'll be someplace lacking XM reception (in a canyon, on a subway, in a windowless cubicle, etc.). You can schedule a recording or start and stop recording at any time you wish, and new recordings pick up where you last stopped. But you can't erase anything unless you clear the memory--which means you can't whittle away songs you don't like to retain your favorites. It's also important to remember that when you've filled the unit's memory (128 MB, or 5+ hours of full bitrate XM radio), it'll record over earlier material, starting from the top. During playback, however, My XM lets you skip easily from track to track and even pick from a list of all tracks.

You can configure the MyFi's LCD to scroll stock and sports-score tickers, a great way to keep an eye on important stats. The receiver also features a built-in sleep timer (15 minutes to 1 hour) and an alarm clock (wake to a beep or to XM programming).

What's in the Box

For car use, you have a choice of mounting options for the vehicle cradle: flush mount, vent mount, or swivel mount. The cradle houses a power jack for a DC vehicle power adapter (included), an antenna input, and an audio output for use with the provided cassette-shell audio adapter. You can use the cassette adapter or the MyFi's built-in wireless FM transmitter, which turns any FM radio into an XM radio. (Audio quality is better using the supplied cassette audio adapter, however. You may also purchase a wired FM adapter, though XM asserts that the cassette adapter sounds better than that, too.)

The Delphi XM MyFi comes complete with all of the accessories needed to enjoy XM anywhere.

Positioning the car antenna can be inelegant, despite its heavy-duty magnet. You can have it professionally installed or live with an exposed antenna cord, though XM recommends using "existing holes, body grommets, and other wiring channels" rather than closing a door over the cord on a daily basis. The receiver's battery pack proved good for about five hours between charges. The included earbud headphones are neither comfortable nor particularly well made; a nicer set would represent XM's strong sound quality. --Michael Mikesell

Pros:

• Truly portable satellite-radio receiver
• Simple setup
• Includes a wealth of accessories
• Excellent sound quality
• Great reception indoors and out
• Convenient five-hour recording mode
• Lets you skip from song to song while playing recordings
• Well-written manuals
• Permits channel browsing while listening

Cons:

• Car antenna tricky to arrange for permanent use
• No hold switch
• Can't save or delete specific recorded tracks
• No elapsed-time or time-remaining displays for live or recorded programming

MyFi receiver with a clip-on antenna, an integrated rechargeable battery, a complete home accessory kit (with antenna and audio cable), a complete vehicle accessory kit (with antenna), stereo earbud headphones, a remote control, a remote battery, a belt clip/stand, a protective carrying case, and quick-start guides and user's manuals in English and Spanish.

It would be impossible to capture all the things that make the game great--the drama, the humor, the roar of the crowd--on one album, but the folks behind this sprawling collection come pretty darn close to hitting for the cycle. Old-time faves like Les Brown's "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio" segue into modern tributes such as Bill Slayback's "Move Over Babe, Here Comes Henry," while such tangential yet groovy chestnuts like the Intruders' soul standard "Love Is Like a Baseball Game" and Rockin' Richie Ray's utterly unhinged "Baseball Card Lover" are guaranteed to make even nonfans cock an ear. Interspersed among the songs are spoken interludes, ranging from classic comedy bits like Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First" to moving memories such as Lou Gehrig's famed farewell speech. Baseball's Greatest Hits is a one-of-a-kind collection. --David Sprague