Review of
Who Would Win? Komodo Dragon vs. King
Cobra, by Jerry Pallotta ISBN 9780545301718
Five out of five stars
This is a very
educational and entertaining book of science. The Komodo Dragon and King Cobra
are two of the most dangerous reptiles on Earth. The Komodo Dragon can weigh as
much as 300 pounds and has serrated teeth that are venomous and rip flesh like
a saw. The King Cobra can inject enough venom to kill an elephant, much more
than needed to kill a Komodo Dragon, since the effectiveness is largely based
on body weight.
The proper
descriptive backgrounds of both creatures are put forward, explaining their physical
characteristics and how they capture and kill their prey. In answering the
question in the title, the real issues regarding the hypothetical confrontation
are due to the potential for one to surprise the other and whether the skin of
the Komodo Dragon is thick enough to resist the fangs of a striking King Cobra.
The scenario put forward here is that it is a direct confrontation and since
the skin of the Komodo Dragon is not impervious to the fangs of the King Cobra,
in the description here, the Cobra successfully strikes.
This is science
writing at its best, the two antagonists are described very well, making the
conclusion thoroughly reasonable and understandable. It is an excellent book of
science setting the scenario and thoroughly justifying the conclusion. Great
reading for the late years of elementary school.
Review of
Classics Illustrated: The Three Musketeers,
by Alexandre Dumas
Five out of five stars
This book was
the first numbered item in the series of classic works of literature adapted to
comic form. Since the subject is a
classic and generally lengthy, the comic version is by necessity abridged, with
the potential for some loss of significant content. In this case, the essence
of the story is preserved.
Like many classic
works of literature, some knowledge of the historical context is helpful in
understanding the backdrop. It is set in the time of Cardinal Richelieu, or the
first half of the seventeenth century. It was a time of almost constant war for
the French nation, and this story reflects the conflict, with the heroes
eagerly joining in the fight.
It is
interesting that the term “musketeer” is used to refer to a soldier that packs
a musket, yet the heroes of this work are generally depicted as fighting with
swords. “The Three Musketeers” is a book that nearly everyone has heard of, but
only a small percentage has read. Hopefully, the publication of this comic
served to generate sufficient interest so that several readers went on to read
the book.
I have long
been of the opinion that anything that advances the process of education should
be encouraged and never ridiculed. The publication and reading of educational
comics like this is therefore something to be encouraged.
Review of
So, Now You Know: A Compendium of Completely
Useless Information, by Harry Bright and Harlan Briscoe, ISBN
156731693x
Five out of five stars
This book is a
collection of unusual facts that can serve as entertainment or as serious starting
points for intelligent conversations. One of my favorites is on page 2, “The Bible
is available in nearly 2,500 languages, including Klingon, Vulcan and Romulan,
three languages created for the ‘Star Trek’ series.” A great rejoinder if you
are being preached to by someone practicing their holier-than-thou credentials.
When they ask if you have read the Bible, you have the potential to respond that
you have read it in Vulcan.
There are no
uninteresting facts in this book, all are short and to the point, some are less
than 15 words long. If you need a set of brief and entertaining facts, this is
a place to go. It reads quick and the facts are disjoint, meaning it is also an
excellent book for bathroom reading.
Review of
Kings of the Hill: An Irreverent Look at
the Men on the Mound, by Nolan Ryan with Mickey Herskowitz,
ISBN 0060183306
Four out of five stars
This book is
not in the “Ball Four” genre, where the dirty laundry of major league baseball is
put down in the clearest of inks. While Ryan does spend some paper in talking
about a few pitchers that did a figurative self-immolation in engaging in
behavior that was not in the best interests of their major league careers, it
is more about their strengths and weaknesses as pitchers.
Yet, in some of
those instances, he is a staunch defender of his fellow pitchers, pointing out
that while their actions were inappropriate, they should not have had the negative
consequences to their careers that they did. For example, he expresses sympathy
for Denny McLain, the last man to win 30 games. Ryan points out that McLain was
heavily injected with cortisone in his pitching shoulder during his magical
1968 season. Although McLain did some rather stupid things, the reality is that
his arm was burned out in those years where he was so heavily used.
Ryan is surprisingly
candid about pitchers throwing at batters, although he is focused on doing it
as retaliation and protection of teammates rather than as an act of meanness
with the purpose of getting batters out. There are also many top-ten lists,
such as top ten pitchers with the nastiest sliders, top ten most dubious
distinctions a pitcher ever suffered and top ten pitching records that will
never be broken. While one should always be careful when saying a record will
never be broken, think the Lou Gehrig streak of consecutive games, one of them
simply cannot be broken. That is the lowest batting average for a season by Bob
Buhl. For it is mathematically impossible to have an average lower than 0.000.
This book is not deep in the weeds of baseball, just a
rendition of one pitcher’s long-term experiences with other players, mostly
pitchers. Although he sometimes brings in the hitters to give the reader some
perspective.
Review of
NFL Films Crunchtime,
VHS version
Five out of five stars
Review of
Quarterback Walk-On,
by Thomas J. Dygard ISBN 0688010652
Four out of five stars
This story is
one that all who aspire to sports greatness but lack the skills to do so will
relate to. Denny Westbrook is a walk-on to the Sutton State Cowboys football
team. The Cowboys are a national powerhouse in college football and Denny is a
physical education major with his career goal being that of a football coach.
His knowledge of the game is superb, his role on the team for his years at
Sutton State has been to quarterback the scout team, running the plays of their
next opponent. While Denny lacks the physical size and skills, his ability to quickly
learn offences has proven invaluable.
Through an
unusual set of circumstances, fourth-string quarterback Denny Westbrook is
suddenly forced into the role of starting quarterback in their upcoming game
against Allerton. Fortunately, the team has nearly a week to prepare and Denny
comes up with some unusual strategies to use.
After some
initial problems and recurring difficulties, the game begins and Sutton State
holds their own, being five points behind late in the fourth quarter. Although
the conclusion is predictable, the path there is a joy to read. For this is not
a story about an unknown rising to the position of a star, it is about a man
that understands football so well that he develops an effective strategy to win
a game, even though no one thinks they can win with a small and unskilled man
at quarterback. This is truly a triumph of brains over brawn.
Review of
This Is Home Now,
by Floyd A. Robinson ISBN 0813817765
Five out of five stars
The timespan of
this book is 1913 to 1926 and the location was an Iowa farm. The author was a
boy on that farm, and this is a description of the life he led. You grew up
fast in that environment in those days, children as young as six were expected
to perform significant tasks, including managing the work horses and even
operating machinery. Their workday was generally well-planned in advance and
the hours were from pre-dawn to dusk. There were few slack times over the
course of the year, most often due to the seasons or a specific weather
pattern.
It was also a
time of change, for during this tale, cars made their significant appearance
leading to a higher quality of roads being constructed, tractors and gasoline
motors were added to the farming process and electricity slowly expanded out
from the cities. Accidents were a constant danger, one of the author’s brothers
was killed in a farming accident. Had that happened fifty years later, he would
have lost a foot, but not his life.
One interesting
aspect of the story is how the main characters extracted the cream from their
milk and took it along with their chicken eggs to the local businesses for
credit and cash. The sale of dairy products in that manner is now illegal,
although there has been a minor movement to allow it once again.
Life on the
farm before there were good roads, government programs for assistance and the
local school was truly local was a time of hard work and a continuing sense of
accomplishment. For at the end of the day or season, there was no doubt whether
you had accomplished your tasks or not. This is a look back to those times,
while they were hard, as can be discerned from this book, they were not all
bad.
