Review of
Crazy Horse and the Real Reason for the
Battle of the Little Big Horn, by Ehanamani ISBN
0962197785
Two out of five stars
This book is
more than a bit schizophrenic in the plot line. The opening section is a recapitulation
of the history of the interaction between the people of European descent and
the Native American tribes living on the northern plains. It was a major clash
of cultures, and a demonstration of how one side, the Europeans, engaged in a
ruthless total war against the Native Americans. The Europeans did not hesitate
to shoot down non-combatants, lie, break treaty promises and destroy anything
that would make their opponent’s lives more difficult. This section is pretty
good.
However, the
next section goes really strange and uses some bizarre theories of banking and theories
of money to explain how the wealthy and hence powerful have pulled strings to
control the world. This theory of why the battles between the Native Americans
led by the Sioux and the Europeans took place is untenable. The reality is far simpler,
the issue was ownership and control of land. The Native Americans had no concept
of private property and the European society was based on it. Therefore, the
Europeans always wanted more of it.
In the last
section principles of astrology are used to perform a retrospective horoscope
on the Native American leader Crazy Horse. It is difficult to follow the
reasoning. I enjoyed the first section
of the book and struggled to plow my way through the last parts.
Review of
Claustrophobia,
season 3, episode 20 of Gunsmoke
Four out of five stars
Some men can’t
stand walls around them
The episode
opens with Matt and Chester coming across an isolated cabin. After sending out
a greeting, they enter it and find a man dead. Later, they encounter two
hardcase men that threaten them, Matt does not reveal that he is a lawman.
Further down the trail, they encounter a man named Olie Ridgers, he raises pigs
and the only roof he ever has over his head is the sky. His friend has
convinced him to travel to Dodge for a brief getaway. Olie is reluctant, but
consents in order to humor his friend.
While they are
in Dodge, someone kills Olie’s pigs and mule, he is devastated and takes the
law into his own hands. As Matt says many times in the series, “the law says I
have to take you in.” Unwilling to fight Matt, Olie surrenders and stands
trial, receiving what for him is an intolerable sentence. Although he hates to do so, Matt follows the
law and at the end there is a bit of justice rendered.
This is an
episode where the viewer sympathizes with the victim Olie. All he wanted to do
was live his life in peace with his farm animals and two brutal killers violently
invade that space. His reaction was understandable, yet there is no sympathy from
the court. You see Matt and Chester torn between their duty to the law and what
they know is right, a significant moral dilemma.
Review of
Strange But True Basketball Stories,
by Howard Liss ISBN 0394856317
Three out of five stars
This book should
really be titled something like, “Some Memorable Basketball Games.” For most of
these games were not all that strange, and it is not necessary to significantly
suspend your disbelief in order to accept the truth. That is not to say that
the stories of the games are not interesting, for they are.
The date of
publication is 1972, when the NBA was largely a secondary professional sport,
much less popular than it is today. The subtitle uses the phrase, “…basketball’s
offbeat moments and zany players.” Few of these stories rise to that level, most
of the games and situations were unusual, but not by that much.
Review of
Life Photographers: Their Careers and
Favorite Pictures, by Stanley Rayfield
Five out of five stars
Like all glossy
magazines, the photographs that appear in “Life” magazine are some of the best
ever. This book contains short descriptions of the lives and careers of some of
the best photographers that have ever worked for the magazine. A few of their
most memorable photos are included.
The numbers of
pictures taken by these people is extraordinary, along with the extremely low
percentage of what they take is actually used in the magazine. There are
several interesting facts regarding their careers and equipment. The first is
that many of them started out using primitive and even broken down cameras and
the second is that some were still using cameras that would be considered old and
obsolete.
Photographers
are by definition visual historians in the grand tradition of Matthew Brady.
This book is a brief synopsis of their work, some of them have died for it.
Review of
Pro Football ’81,
Bear Kirow
Four out of five stars
This recap of
the 1980-81 pro football season is a look back at a time of transition in the
NFL. First and foremost, it was rapidly becoming the most popular professional
sport and the Super Bowl was on target to be the major spectacle that it is
now. Secondly, the once powerful Pittsburgh Steeler teams of the seventies were
a thing of the past.
The book opens
with brief profiles of ten players considered stars at the time. Six are
quarterbacks, three are running backs and one is a defensive lineman. The
remainder consists of recaps of the major playoff games and the conference
leaders in the main offensive and defensive categories.
This is a book
that is nice to look at in retrospect. All of the players are now agents of
history, yet they all did a great deal to make the game the entertainment powerhouse
that it is now.
Review
of
Baseball Pals,
by Matt Christopher ISBN 9780316140058
Four out of five stars
Lesson on how selfishness can be detrimental
Jimmie has just
been elected captain of his youth baseball team and they are preparing for the
summer schedule. He is in the process of recruiting enough players to field a
team as well as determining who will play what position. His best friend Paul
is known to be one of the best pitchers in the youth league, but Jimmie makes
the decision that he will be the pitcher. Since they will be playing only one
game a week, there is little need to have a second pitcher.
Unfortunately,
while Jimmie throws hard and has a curve with some significant bend in it, he
lacks control, often unable to locate the strike zone. His decision to be the
pitcher over Paul leads to some dissension and causes Paul to join another
team. As they play practice games in preparation for the season, it becomes
clear to all that if Jimmie continues to pitch, they will win very few games.
Eventually,
Jimmie realizes that he has to make a choice, stick with his selfish plan and lose
games and friends, or to swallow some pride and ask Paul to come back and pitch
for his team. He chooses the latter and it turns out that Jimmie is a much
better player in the field than on the mound.
The lesson here
is a good one for young people in sports. Everyone wants to be the star player,
but not everyone has the skills. All teams need players to fill specific roles,
even though there may be less glamour in them. Team sports require players to
be subservient to their roles and that is the lesson here.
Review of
Boy’s Life Book of Baseball Stories,
edited by the editors of Boy’s Life
Four out of five stars
These stories
feature boys from roughly thirteen through the high school years. With the
publication date of 1964, the championships that the teams are playing for vary
from that of the county to the state. The featured players sometimes have
different backgrounds than the usual. For example, one of the stories has the
new player having a background in cricket and another is a French-Canadian
lumberjack that swings a mean axe but knows nothing about baseball.
My favorite story
is one called “Bullpen Catcher.” Artie Platt is an overweight boy that has been
on the Forest Prep baseball team for three years and has only batted once.
There are two other quality catchers on the team, he stays in the bullpen to
warm up the pitchers. When the two other catchers are both injured and unable
to continue, Artie is forced to go behind the plate. What he lacks in skill he
makes up for in grit and hustle, sparking his team to engage in the extra
effort that wins the game.
It is raining
right now, and the baseball season is on hold due to the pandemic. This was a
nice book to pass the afternoon with, nothing dramatic, just solid stories about
baseball with good endings.
