Reviews
Books
The Cult Awareness Network: Anatomy of a Hate Group: An Analysis of Violence and Crime Incited by the Cult Awareness Network, Freedom Magazine.
At first, I wondered who would write a book of this nature, since its take was unusual. Then I found out that it was created by Freedom Magazine, loosely affiliated with The Church of Scientology. Additionally, once inside, I discovered the font was the familiar Scientology font. Scientology gets a lot of criticism but I believe they and their affiliates do some good work. This book is a prime example. A person is liable to say, of course Scientology would be blasting Cult Awareness Network, so we should not put much into what they say. Although this assessment is often sensible in regard to similar works, it is a different case here. Of course, Scientology has a vested interest in discrediting the Cult Awareness Network, but their arguments, rationale, reasoning and presentation is very sound, because they don't merely argue their opinion or exaggerate; this work is down to earth. A person may say "I bet they are distorting matters." But they have an excellent section called "Documentation" which has tons of documents to support the truth of their claims. I found the Documentation section impressive. Furthermore, I'm starting to dislike these anti-cult people, and thus this works fuels the fire of my dislike.
Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Weaver Family, Jess Walter, Regan Books, 2002
He did seem to try to be a balanced reporter and he did better than lots of others have done. Although, Walter is not Pro-Weaver, I did leave the book with the impression that the government was wrong in this situation and Randy Weaver and his family did indeed suffer an injustice. It was a sad, sad story. The parts he wrote about Weaver's lawyer, Gerry Spence, had me laughing, laughing, laughing. I listened to the audio tape of Spence's, but sometimes, you don't realize how interesting someone is from just reading their work, sometimes, you just need to read an observer’s take on them.
50 Save Ways to Save Your Life, Faculty of the UCLA School of Public Health, Earth Works Press, 1992.
Rocking format plus essential vital content. I find reading about health promotion to be inspiring. These suggestions are great. I knew about most of them, and follow a good deal of them, but sometimes you need the extra motivation.
With Justice for None, Gerry Spence, Penguin Books, 1989.
With school having started and being going for quite awhile as of this writing, I find it hard to get through leisure books. But I am happy to say I got through this book. The progress was slow but steady. Another book which I read.
Closed: 99 Ways to Stop Abortion, Joseph M. Scheidler, Regnery Books, 1985.
I wish there were more exciting books like this out there. I had to get this awesome tome by interlibrary loan. Joe Schiedler is a marvelous writer, who has a wonderful story to tell. I admire him. He discusses the Defense of Necessity, which states it's okay to commit some crimes if in the process you are saving life or property. He even gives court cases where the judges have ruled that it's okay to stop abortion clinics due to the Defense of Necessity. This is great to keep to mind; it also demonstrates how deeply he is thinking about being an effective activist. In here, he says he has been attacked by the abortionists a number of time. Why do people have to do that? He appears very certain of his case. His philosophy of abortion and approach to activism is right on target. On the back of that book, the description of the author is a bit much. It says "Mr. Schiedler works out of a four room office filled with pictures of Jesus Christ and his family " (by the way this is probably the only critical comment I can render towards the book). This book appears to be a very specific application of the aims of general books like Out of Business. I disagree with him mentioning "pro life cops" because pro life cops are really an oxymoron. I was amazed reading about "online services" in a book written in 1985. I imagine today there are even more ways to fight abortion. Down to earth, touching, clever and necessary. This book certainly persuades me about the horror that is abortion.
The War of 1812, Richard B. Morris, illustrations by Leonard Everett Fisher, Lerner Publications, 1985.
Since I have a Commodore Perry flag I wanted to learn more about the legendary war that inspired it. The I did learn a little bit from reading this book. The author used some very colorfully subjective words which seemed to be not as common in most historical works I have read. Indeed it appears as if the War of 1812 was an extremely significant war in shaping American history. Surely it has provided us with some awesome likely never to be forgotten memories.
Pro-Life Feminism, edited by Gail Grenier Sweet, Life Cycle Books, 1985.
This book is so beautiful it makes me want to weep. At our library I was looking for pro life books, pro pro life books appeared to be rare in our library. Anti pro life books were not however. Although I couldn't find too many pro life books, I found this one, which is probably among the best pro-life books out there. These people think so much like me on this topic, it's incredibly amazing! "Pro Life Feminist" describes me perfectly well. I might even fit in with such a group! These essays were both persuasive and heartfelt. They offered some very wise reasons, that I had not thought of, why abortion is wrong from a feminist perspective. They provided me with some awesome new arguments against abortion. Toward the middle they had some general feminist essays, which at first seemed maybe out of place with the theme of the book, but perhaps they were trying to demonstrate the larger context of it all. These pro life feminists emphasis their dynamic nature and how they transcend traditional categories. Since being dynamic and transcending traditional categories is what I'm all about, this book hit the spot. Right on, right on, right on, all the way!
Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error, Steve Rendall, Jim Naureckas, and Jeff Cohen, New Press, 1995.
I'm all for books which condemn Rush Limbaugh because I don't like the guy. My concern is that someday someone else may write a similar book about me, since we all make mistakes. In a sense, this book is ruthless because it attacks every last mistake Limbaugh makes. I sure wouldn't want someone doing that to me. Other than that, they did an excellent job at finding errors, if this type of nit picky activity is desired. The book was great to read, but I wonder how productive such a tactic is.
Them: Adventures with Extremists, Jon Ronson, 2002.
Just what the doctor ordered! The best chapter was either the chapter on the Islamic Extremist or the one on Ruby Ridge. I was very curious as to what's up with Randy Weaver and his family today, which was many years after the event. Having "adventures with extremists" is just ideal! I loved it!
Letters from a Nut, Ted L. Nancy, Avon Books, 1997.
It sure seems that some of the best books out there are those which consisted almost primarily of letters. Of course, as the author tells us these are no ordinary letters, thus even more is added to the package. I went through the book quite quickly because it was totally my type of book. I love to see someone like Mr. Nancy writing unusual letters, what is also very interesting is to see how ordinary people expecting ordinary letters react. Authors, out there, bring us more of this type of book!
Waves of Rancor, Robert Hilliard and Michael C. Keith, M.E. Sharpe, 1999.
Content wise, they picked a very interesting subject. The book was definitely not objective. You could see their liberal bias, especially through word choice. Just look at the title. I had a feeling they were of the Anti Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center, and then later in the book I noticed that they did indeed reference these two groups. I have reservations about the type of liberalism espoused by the ADL and SPLC. The topic itself, was splendid, I could have done without the judgmental editorializing.
Snow, Robert.
1999: The Militia Threat. New York: Plenum Publishing Company.
I swear often the best books to get juicy information about militias are from critics. I know these critics of militias intend to turn u
s off by relaying juicy tales about militias, but it causes me to be turned on. The information provided was top rate. The problem with the book was the attitude, tone and view presented by the author. He often discussed his cop point of view, which was clear in his condemnation of militias. Personally, if it's between the cops and militias, I think I'll take the militia side. I don't imagine many cops writing a book like this. I must say I was surprised at how fair he was in treating subject matter of the Ruby Ridge standoff, particularly surprising was his condemnation of the law enforcement agents involved. Though he did not condemn them for tyranny, but instead for more tactical mistakes they made. They need to be condemned for tyranny. Cool in the interesting way, it sucks it had to give us a cop's anti militia point of view (No objectivity here!). Maybe some day we'll have a pro militia book with plenty of fascinating tales that are now currently most provided by the anti militia camp.
Garner, James Finn.
1995. Politically Correct Holiday Stories. New York: Simon and Schuster Macmillian Company.
Quality satire. Not quite as superb as his other politically correct story collections. So much emphasis on the Scrooge story was a bit misdirected in my opinion. This is needed surely.
Allen, Steve.
2001. Vulgarians at the Gate: Trash TV and Raunch Radio. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
I have mixed feelings about this work. On one hand, I, of course, am happy to see someone trashing mainstream radio and television. On the other hand, I think his comprehension of popular culture is severely lacking. I don't think I like his approach to dealing with popular culture. I greatly relished the fact that he was to condemn Howard Stern, a person I detest. Sadly, his section on Howard Stern, seem to only mention Stern a little, almost parenthetically. I like big printing, but the printing of this book was a bit too big. I think this thick tome could have been much thinner if they reduced the font just a bit in size. I like what he is saying, and yet I also dislike what he is saying.
Eagan, Tim.
2003. Serious Farm. Boston: Houghlin Mifflin Company.
It had bold pictures that were a pleasure to look at. The book was too short, but for a children's book, I guess you can't expect long books. Some animal rights philosophers are critical when books anthromorphize animals. Personally, I really like it when author anthromorphize animals. I wish animals were humans in animal bodies instead of animals in animals bodies.
Chepesiuk, Ron.
1995. Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations with Those Who Shaped the Era. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company.
I have pondered quite a bit about the old notion that many radicals become less radical over time, thus this book goes a long way in answering that question. It does appear that most of the radicals interviewed stayed in the same spirit they were once upon a time. Most of them, evolved and changed in some way, but their basic outlook and desire for life stayed the same. I got seriously annoyed and sickened by the author's continuous reference to how the Clinton Presidency offered hope. Clinton sucked and he sucked before he even got into office. Some of these people to me, were not the most interesting people innately, but the interview format made them sound a lot more interesting sounding. I think interviews tend to do that, which is one reason I find interview books real readable.
Welch, Robert.
1970: What is the John Birch Society. Belmont, MA: American Opinion.
I swear in some ways the John Birch Society is my complete opposite. They seemed to be the type of folks I call status quonarians, who defend the status quo always, no matter what. I just can't understand their views in here which suggest demonstrations are always wrong. This type of authoritarianism drives me bonkers. They are so off the mark that they opposed the civil rights movement. If any of the John Birch society members claim that they liked the civil rights movement today, since it is very fashionable to do that today, we have this document to prove their cowardly opinion. They did have a good opinion about the virtues of republics over democracies. Their anti UN views are worth exploring. Reading this book is like going on a moderately fast Ferris wheel merry go around combination with Robert Welch rallying in your ear.
Epstein, Benjamin and Arnold Forster.
1966: Report on the John Birth Society 1966. New York: Vintage Books.
A testament of how fair minded I am is the fact I above reviewed a book written by the John Birch Society and here review a book written by their opponents at the Anti Defamation League. One would expect reading a book from the John Birch Society would tend to give one a better impression of them than a book written by their opponents, but actually this was the opposite case. These criticisms in this book caused my estimation of the John Birch Society to rise. These authors try to appear objective, but it's clear they are not objective. These expose type of books are becoming some of my favorite type of books to read.
Benedict, Jeff and Don Yaeger.
1998: Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL. New York: Warner Books.
One of the authors has quite the cranky scowl in his picture in the back of the book. The book sometimes seemed to reflect this scowl. Although, I haven't been a football fan for probably over a decade, this page turning book absorbed me. I'm interested in crime and this book illustrated an important but not often enough mentioned trend. This book is an eye opener which will also make you sick, if you have standards and morals. I don't care too much about watching football itself, but reading books about the social issues of the game is indeed intriguing.
Hamilton, Holman.
1958: White House Images and Realities. Jacksonville, FL: University of Florida Press.
At first, I was a bit wary of the age of this book. It, after all, was written 20 years before I was born. The style and the format were just fine, the age didn't matter. Of course, in the realm of Presidents a lot has happened in the last 45 years. Much of those happenings were very significant, but for its time, this book was fairly quality.
Smiley, Tavis.
1996: Hard Left: Straight Talks about the Wrongs of the Right. New York: Anchor Books.
We don't see many authors with the name of Tavis these days. Although some of the examples and evidence were new, this book offered little original to the viewpoint of the left. It seems just like any other political book written about liberalism. I don't want Tavis Smiley to be president.
Broyles, J. Allen.
1966: The John Birch Society: Anatomy of a Protest. Boston: Beacon Press.
The reader should take note that in this volume this is the third book regarding the John Birch Society I have reviewed. Each book takes a different angle and a different writing style, thus it all adds something. The author says this book was previously in a form of a dissertation. I don't know how much he changed from the dissertation to this popular book. But if the writing is virtually in tact from the dissertation, then I must say his style is much different than what I have been taught in grad school. In grad school, my professors generally have taught me to make research as objective as possible, avoiding personal opinion and bias. But this work is chock full of subjective opinion and criticism of the John Birch Society. Regardless of his research methodology, his writing style revealed a fascinating portrayal of the John Birch Society. I liked how he personally observed the John Birch Society in action, which adds much to approaches similar to the above book which primarily reviewed John Birch Society literature and public statements. Even though I read three books on the John Birch Society, I might want to read more yet!
Fleming, Thomas and Paul Gottfried.
1988: The Conservative Movement. Boston: Twayne Publishers.
Scholarly and also very readable. I love books like this which are full of substance and written in an understandable way. The back cover suggested they "clearly distinguish", "between the old right, the religious right, the New Right, libertarians and neoconservatives". In on
e regard they did exactly this by giving examples of the personalities and organizations of each branch of the movement and describing what these figures and organization have done. I would have liked a very explicit mention of the definition of each of these subelements of conservatives. I did not see clear cut definitions proposed. I love distinctions and I must say the book did as the back cover "clearly distinguish", without providing definitions. Though distinctions can lead one to form their own definitions As a sociologist, I was quite surprised to learn that Peter Berger is a conservative scholar. He is well known for his work "the Social Construction of Reality" which appears to me to be some type of precursor to Post modernism, which is far away from being conservative in my mind. Social scientists differentiate between the normative and the descriptive. Though perhaps we can say the Berger's social constructionism model fits into the descriptive category, which could certainly be an approach a conservative would take. Of course, a lot has happened in the intervening 16 years, thus it would be nice to see how it has changed. Through recommendations give by a member of a Paleoconservative online community and through reading this book, I now seek to use terms as precisely as possible when describing conservatives. This work is generally descriptive of the movement, but in the end it makes some subjective recommends for conservatives which I consider good ones. As a historical work of a subject sometimes perhaps lacking detailed historical analysis, this book is stellar.
Rapp, Burt.
1986: Undercover Work: A Complete Handbook. Port Townsend, WA: Loompanics Unlimited
It's great to find Loompanics books at your library. Finding a Loompanics book is fairly rare, thus it's truly a special treat. Loompanics fills their niche quite well. This spectacular work is typical of the fine line of books offered by this company.
Williams, Terry.
1992: Crackhouse: Notes from the End of the Line. Bedford, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Group.
The title of this book alone provoked a snicker like response from one of my peers. In the beginning, the author mentioned the word "Ethnography". This scared me a little because I was afraid the book would thus be more difficult to read. I intended to read this book as a leisure book not a book for school. But fortunately, the book wasn't written in an overly academic style. This book provides reinforcement for one to avoid drugs. There appears to be nothing desirable about addiction to a drug as dangerous as crack. The author does a good job explaining the different angles of the crackhouse without being overly technical, though a crackhouse does not appear to be a very dynamic place. At first, I was fascinated with this book, then the fascination tapered off; I slugged through it. I picked up again and get through it.
Franken, Al.
2003: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. New York, NY: Dutton.
What folks on the left, such as Al Franken and Michael Moore posses what too many on the right lack is a sense of humor. I've listened to the words of O'Reilly and Coulter and find virtually no sense of humor among them. I love how Al Franken takes shots at the fools on the right. Especially delicious were his attacks on Ann Coulter (which were mostly justified). Franken jokes around so much, sometimes it's hard to tell when he's serious. He will say something outrageous, then say "just kidding". I am saddened that Franken is essentially a Democratic Party apologist. Yes, I do remember him coming to my college campaigning with Al Gore, but I do not know the extent of him being a Democrat Party apologist. As in other cases, these exposes books can have the effect of actually causing me to respect the target of the expose. Generally, with this book I began to dislike the targets more, but I respected Pat Buchanan more when Al Franken informed me that Buchanan "is an avid jogger". Franken considered Buchanan a "Chickenhawk" which makes me wonder, because Buchanan has been a severe critic of the Iraq War. He's not a hawk. I am hoping Al Franken will devote a whole book attacking Ann Coulter as he did with Rush Limbaugh.
Depew, Ellen: Illustrated by Carol Clemons.
2003: Your Handy Dandy Pocket Guide to Sex and Love. Niagara Falls, NY: Life Cycle Books.
Is this a book or is it more of a pamphlet? It appears to be more of a pamphlet than a book to me. I must say the advice is very sound. It's practical without being too Christian. They have one column entitled "Once Pregnant Your Options Are Limited" which lists the pros and cons of 3 main options: adoption, parenting and abortion. They seem to suggest by the sheer number of pros, adoption is best, abortion is second, parenting is third. While in regard to sheer number of cons, they seem to again suggest adoption is best, abortion is second and parenting is third. I would contend that abortion would certainly be the least desirable while adoption is second desirable and parenting is most desirable if pregnancy occurs. I enjoyed "16 Types to Avoid". This column especially and the rest of it too, appears very similar to Matt Groening's Life in Hell books. I can't say for certain they misappropriated Groening's themes, but I hear misappropriating themes is more nebulous an area than misappropriating actual text. Certainly lots have misappropriated themes, thus I do wonder about this, but I'll try not to jump to any conclusions. According to Pear and Martin, Beck the therapist recommends this and might be proud of me. The cartoon style makes it fun. This pamphlet is wise, but I'm sure many liberals and cocky youth will dismiss it as irrelevant. It's a pity they would.
Buchanan, Patrick J.
1999: A Republic, Not an Empire: Reclaiming America's Destiny. Washington, D.C.: Regency Publishing, Inc.
His argument was a bit more subtle than I expected. This book reads almost like a history book focused exclusively on war, specifically interventionism. I was impressed and amazed how he predicted the Iraq War and even the Afghanistan which respectively 4 and 2 years after this book was published. It takes incredible insight to make accurate prophecies of these nature. I was disappointed to see almost no mention of Israel, I would think it would have been a key concern, but this book appears to be concerned with the history of interventionism than the present. I also thought mention of Vietnam was laconic, especially considering its great role in American History. Right now, I am consequently trying to decide in my mind what makes a war justifiable and what does not. Buchanan's argument of a justifiable war being one which "advances American National Interest" deserves due consideration. I don't think this alone should be the sole factor, but it should a major factor. This is a book our society needs to read! Read it folks!
Colford, Paul D.
1993: The Rush Limbaugh Story: Talent on Loan from God: the Unauthorized Biography. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Reading this book made me realize how long Limbaugh has been around. I don't think he's conservative actually, read a couple of Autonomy Party position papers to find out exactly why. An updated version of Limbaugh's life is in order since a lot of time has elapsed since 1993. In 1993, I was 15. In some places, the details about radio station mergers and hirings were too much, I'm more interested into the political side of Limbaugh.
Coppola, Vincent.
1996: Dragons of God. Marietta, GA: Cox Enterprises, Inc.
I have been reading both primary and secondary sources about the far right for a long while now, and it never seems to get uninteresting. Copolla's distaste for the far right is evident by the derisive remarks he slips in. The chapters provided a snapshot of some far right personality and/ or organization; I think he could have expanded each chapter as he seemed too brief in his coverage. A book I got through fast because the writing and the subject matter was first rate.
Simmons, Rachel
2002: Odd Girl Out: the Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
This book appeared to be a balance of sophisticated social theory with layperson explanation of what the author considers a common but much unaddressed problem of young females bullying each other by non physical acts. It was not quite as
good as I thought it might be, but still it served an important purpose.
Audio
One, Bob Marley, Creative Sounds, Ltd.
The sound quality is not the greatest here. "One Love", one of his big hits sounds funky here, because it is somehow much faster than the usual renditions. Some songs, I haven't heard before, but I wish the tape was better quality so I could dig it more. It was also too short.
Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences, Unabridged, Ward Connerly, unabridged, Blackstone Audio Books, 2000.
I was moved. A swell combination of emotion and logic! What a fabulous storyteller!
Constitutional Journal: A Correspondent's Report From the Convention of 1787, Unabridged, Jeffery St. John, read by Jeff Riggenbach, Blackstone Audio Books, 1999.
Now I have the satisfaction of saying I'm listened to all 3 of these books in the set. I remember listening to the first, it took me awhile to get into that, but this one, seemed too fast as it ended too soon. I crave to learn more about our country's founding after listening to this.
Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, Christopher Hibbert, read by David Chase, Unabridged, Books on Tape, 2000.
The American Revolution is of course, one of the most interesting events in history, yet somehow this book is not that interesting. I heard the book, but you'd be hard press to say I listened to it. It was hard to follow. The author provided way too much biography of obscure Britons (at least to me) who weren't all that interesting. Besides, tape 10 didn't work. At least, I don't think there was much left on it, anyways. Furthermore, I must say the British were wrong in the Revolutionary War. I don't really think their view has validity.
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation, Richard Norton Smith, narrated by Nelson Runger, Recorded Books, 1994.
No longer am I really thinking that over 10 tape audio books are long. They included 14 tapes, but it appears the book only took 13 tapes to be read. Tape 14th appears to be an error, a repeat of some matter from other chapters. This book did what it set out to do. I saw parts of Washington I did not see in other places, which was nice and enriching. I'm amazed at how the everyday language of yesterday, which the author quotes Washington as using, is much more sophisticated and even formal than the everyday language of today. A lot better than Redcoats and Rebels. Satisfying!
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life, Paul C. Nagel, unabridged read by Jeff Riggenbach, Blackstone Audio Books, 1999.
These 14 tape sets are not seeming that long anymore, they use to seem way too long. Perhaps, the books themselves are so well done that 14 tape sets don't lose my interest. Ever since I was young, I enjoyed learning about Presidents, it fell off awhile, but now I am regaining that interest. In some ways, John Quincy Adams reminds me of myself. This book truly illuminated John Quincy Adams's life for me.
A Night Without Armor, by Jewel Kilcher, read by Jewel, Harper Audio, 1998.
I'm impressed that Jewel read these poems herself, oftentimes famous writers don't read their own audio books. She has an ideal style: poetic and also very understandable. Sometimes, I cannot follow poems of elaborate imagery or metaphor. Her poems are real and down to earth. Her reading style exudes the heartfelt feeling without overwhelming us. It is rare that I read a book of poems, but if all books of poems were like this, then I could really dig poetry. It's interesting to note that I have had not heard much of Jewel's music. But my friend Phil, even though a hardcore Hardcore fan, has told me she "has great lyrics". From listening to these poems, I can see exactly why. A beautiful poetic voice, she has!
Don't You Dare Read This Mrs. Dunphrey, Margaret Peterson Haddix, narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan, Recorded Books, 1997.
It touched me! As the story unfolded, it even was more touching. Beautiful and even powerful. It's sad any young people would have to go through what this brother and sister went through. Fortunately there is a happy ending, but the ending doesn't sacrifice for the genuine and real that is in this story. The type of book which you want to shed some tears over.
Collier, Peter and David Horowitz (narrated by Jeff Riggenbach).
1994: The Roosevelts. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio Books.
I was afraid the story might be chaotic because it was attempting to cover so many Roosevelt family members in one book, but it was well organized, clear and easy to follow. At first, I was thinking I'd prefer far more hearing about Teddy, and not so much about Franklin, but in the end, I guess the amount on Franklin was okay too. The author emphasized the relationships in the Roosevelts family as the main focus of the book, and that was done well. Maybe someday, I'll find an audio book about just Teddy. We'll see.
Robinson, Adam, performed by Julian Fleisher, Jennifer Jay Myers and Kevin Shumway, Madelon Thomas
1993: Princeton Review Word Smart. New York: Living Language.
I was expecting this to be dull, but was I ever pleasantly surprised. This format is highly effective! It's a great way to learn vocabulary. They didn't throw too many words at us, which was good. I learned some new words, refined my understanding of others, and reinforced my knowledge of others yet. The skits and discussion were lively and very entertaining. The skits were wonderfully creative. Some of it was a little corny, but overall I applaud this contribution. This is evidence that learning can be both entertaining and informative.
Lauper, Cyndi.
1993. She's So Unusual. Tokyo: CBS Inc.
Only a couple of these songs do I recognize. I wished the album had more variety in song structure. I read a book which portrayed Lauper as someone of character, thus now I am prone to respect he.
Twain, Shania.
1997: Come on Over. New York: Mercury Records.
Not too bad, I guess. A few of the songs are catchy. I don't listen to much country, thus maybe I could use some more to get myself use to the genre? A fairly decent album.
Duff, Hillary.
2003: Metamorphosis. Burbank CA: Buena Vista Records.
Somewhere in the middle is my estimation of this album. "The Math" is catchy. Sometimes, pop music is what you're looking for.
Various Artists
2003: Vans Warped Tour Compilation. Los Angeles: One Side Dummy Records.
Wow, two completely full cds of tons of bands. I love compilations because I an gain exposure to lots of bands. Oftentimes, there are at least a few bands on a compilation that suck or are mediocre. But it appears that nearly all of these bands play good music. I'm not sure if these songs are taken live, if they are, they sound incredibly good. A lot of punk, which is probably my favorite type of music, so I was fairly pleased with this album.
Various Artists
2003: Lookout Records Punk Seven Inch CD: Volume One: 1988-1989. Berkeley, CA: Lookout Records.
These types of cds are way cool, they put old albums on a cd so you get a lot of music. Alternative Tentacles is another record label which has done this. I don't think I ever heard of any of these bands. Five out the Six bands I really haven't gotten into yet, but one band I really got into. Their name is too explicit for me to print. Their songs deal primarily with sexual matter and are often crude. It is nice to see women express fondness for sexual activity. Their songs generally involve no musical instruments except their voices. Their style is similar to rap. This band is way cool, and even though their contribution doesn't last all that long, it rocks in a major way, quality wise. They even have a song called "FCC". I love it when folks condemn the FCC! The song "You Suck" rocks too, along with the others. Hopefully I can learn more about this band!
Perry, Michael
1996: Never Stand Behind a Sneezing Cow and Other Tales from Foggy Crossing Live. Eau Claire, WI: sneezingcow.com
This cd was created in the state I went to college in, Wisconsin. Perry successfully lampoons small town life without being harsh. A significant part of the hum
or wasn't my favorite type of humor, but it was alright. In some ways, this cd appears to be a more sophisticated version of Jeff Foxworthy.
Various Artists
1998: Radio Free Music Volume 2. Roswell, GA: Platinum Entertainment, Inc.
I like the concept. The liner notes discuss how they seek to expose underexposed artists because mainstream radio fails in this regard. Of course, that is what I'm all about. These artists don't seem really any different than mainstream artists though; they appear to be just mainstream minded artists that haven't got mainstream play. These styles don't seem ground breaking, despite the liner note which says this album is about "opening doors". They have B-52's on this album. I thought the B-52's were well played???? These songs are generally too slow for me. I would have liked to see punk or hardcore formats. We sure need more punk and hardcore!
Charnwood, Lord: narrated by Robert Whitfield
1998: Charnwood's Lincoln. United Kingdom: Blackstone Audio Books.
It was refreshing to hear Lincoln's story told from the perspective of a British citizen. In the early parts, Lord Charnwood provides insightful outsider perspectives, which I found interesting. As the book dragged on, I got less and less interested. I suppose Abraham Lincoln's life doesn't interest me as much as other American History topics. Maybe it's overdone and thus has become banal. Furthermore the civil war doesn't interest me all that much for some reason.
Hootie and the Blowfish
1994: Self titled. New York: Atlantic Recording Corporation.
Although the ballad "Let Her Cry" has a nice melody, I am struck by the hypocrisy of the band lamenting over the songwriter's woman's use of pot while using alcohol himself. A few good lyrics, but nothing incredibly impressive. The beat if the songs were okay, but overall, the songs weren't my favorite cup of tea. This is popular and it shows.
Coulter, Ann: narrated by Katie Mazur.
2002: Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right, unabridged, Santa Ana, CA: Books on tape.
She is very hard to listen to. Vicious and inflammatory. It's as if she is constantly pricking you with a pin. It's not exactly edifying food for the mind. She does exactly what she accuses liberals of doing: providing character attacks and not making real arguments. There is no meat, no substance here. Rush Limbaugh's works seem to be political discussion as the cake with insults and attacks as icing on the cake. While her writing seems to be insults and attacks as the cake with political discussion as icing on the cake. Rush Limbaugh's works are much easier to consume. He at least make political and sometimes philosophical arguments. She just nags, nags, nags. Though I must say she is much more pleasant to look at than Rush Limbaugh. If Ann was living in the 1950's, I wouldn't doubt if she would become a John Birch Society member, she has that mentality. Does Ann really think this way? She like many on the right have ignorant views about civil rights, thinking we have no problems today. Despite how wrong Ann is on most topics, I must say when she speaks about abortion, she hits the nail right on the head. The narrator is very expressive, if one didn't know better, one could think it was Ann narrating.
Cantor, Norman: narrated by John McDonough.
2002: In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made. unabridged, Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books.
One of my favorite times to listen to audio books is while eating. While listening to the beginning, I feared this audio book might be too disgustedly descriptive to be suitable for eating with. But as I went along I found out, it was okay. The second part of the subtitle "The World It Made" is what most of the book is about. The book delved into context so much, that it neglected to fully cover the main topic, the Black Plague. At times, coverage of the Black Plague appeared to be parenthetical and tangential. Though worthwhile aspects of history were mentioned. Indeed sometimes the topics of tangents are more interesting than the main topic (quite possibly in this case), but perhaps the book could have been better named.
Zinn, Howard: read by Matt Damon, preface and afterword read by Howard Zinn.
1999: A People's History of the United States: Highlights from the Twentieth Century. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.
For some reason in the past, I have passed Howard Zinn's books on the shelves. I truly missed out until now. Especially inspiring was his tale about the civil rights movement. I like how dynamic Howard Zinn has become since he was once was a bomber in the air force and now is a radical. Though I do believe Howard Zinn is way too politically correct. The way Howard Zinn talks sound exactly like the type of people satirized by James Finn Gardner in his books lampooning political correctness. Sadly, Howard Zinn, in typical liberal/leftist fashion portrayed the pro choice movement as a movement which liberates women. Pro Life people tell us the fetuses are truly the oppressed ones, thus they warrant our sympathy. If only Howard Zinn portrayed the pro life movement as positive and the pro choice movement as negative, his analysis would be better yet.
Frank, Milo O.
1999: How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Audio.
Obviously, the author wants people to learn how to "get their point across in 30 seconds or less". He claims that commercials on television being 30 seconds is long enough "to get your point across". I don't think television is a good model. We have enough of a sound byte mentality the way it is, he is only worsening matters. Certainly terseness is good. I also dislike knowing how long everything takes. It can drive me mad! I fret when he shows me how much conversation can be had in 30 seconds. In Amusing Ourselves to Death Neil Postman laments the disintegration of the pre-television era which promoted lengthy discourse which fostered thoughtful reflection and the subsequent rise of television which has fostered the vilification of virtually every idea due to its emphasis on brevity. Sadly this work is contributing the television mentality, or as Neil Postman calls it, the "telegraphic mind", which he considers far inferior to the "typographic mind", the mind based on the printed word.
Lewis, Sinclair: narrated by Barrett Whitener.
1997: 1919: Free Air. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio Books.
I believe this is the first Sinclair Lewis book I have gotten completely through. I was enjoying Elmer Gantry until my dog tore the book apart. I only go to a certain point in Main Street, then never got back. In both this book and Main Street, Lewis uses Minnesota as a setting, that is interesting! Books like this make me want to read more fiction. I love the era, I love the anti-classism of the book. The book made me really curious about the how long and how well automobiles were developed at that time. The back of this audio book talks about "the early days of motoring". It's a useful education in history to listen a story with automobiles in context.
Newman, Paul et al
2002: Scooby-Doo! #1. New York, NY: Hanna Barbera.
A comic book is good to relax the mind every now and then. I haven't been exposed much to Scooby-Doo since my earlier days. It seems each strip ends with the same climax of the kids discovering someone posing as someone else, causing trouble. Then the kids pull off masks to reveal the concealed identity.
Wodehouse, P.G.: Read by Frederick Davidson.
1999: Carry On Jeeves. Unabridged. Ashland, OR: Blackstone Audio Books.
I believe the first place I heard of P.G. Wodehouse was from a Propaganhdi song called "Anchorless". The introduction mentions how "Jeeves" has become a very popular character for Wodehouse, which is funny because I don't think Jeeves is all that interesting. He's alright, but not worthy of the seeming recognition. He is not dynamic enough. Bertie Wooster appears more interesting and he should be the one to have received all this recognition. I found the book hard to follow; I did not find a cohesive plot, but instead a series of events. I also had some trouble getting into th
e Rumpole books which were also written by a British author. Toward the end, the narrator voice shifted from Bernie (who narrated the vast majority of the book) to Jeeves, it was an interesting approach and also confusing. I don't usually do fiction; the deal was I could not find any more good non fiction books at our school library. In the end, I do not know whether this makes me more receptive to fiction or not.
Zines
Gabriel, C. Victor. A Gadfly's Journal.
An angry view of society, but intelligent. Lots of sophisticated words. Some good points, but too anarchist/ libertarian, no government leftist for me.
Everyone have a wonderful day!
Come back again soon!
Take care!
Best wishes!
Catfish
Volume 38
Andrew Bushard
Greetings all!
I hope everyone is doing well. It would rock in a major way if you request some material from Federation Without Television and the Autonomy Party. Visit:
https://www.freepressmedia.org
https://www.autonomyparty.com
Otherwise, enjoy this issue.
Andrew Bushard