DWD's Reviews

This movie swings for the fence with every pitch... Directed by Wolfgang Petersen   Released in 1985 This movie swings for the fence with every pitch. If you are not a baseball fan, that is saying that a batter swings for the fence means that he only goes for home runs and does not try to just get on base.   And, for you baseball fans out there, you know that the long ball hitter that swings for the fence with every pitch strikes out an awful lot. But, the fans love him anyway because when he gets hold of a good one it's a home run! This movie is a lot like a long ball hitter - the director tries to go for a home run on so many levels that you end up alternating between shaking your head at the cheesiness of it all and wiping at a tear at the way some of the scenes work so perfectly. The premise is that two enemy fighter pilots in a bitter intergalactic war shoot each other down over some horrible planet that will barely support life. One is human. One is a d

A Scotsman, a mastiff and a feudal nation Published by Mariner Books in 2006. When the United States first invaded Afghanistan one of my friends wondered aloud if we intended on keeping it as a colony. I quipped that we already owned a mountainous desert area full of people that have a religion that we don't understand - we call it Utah (with apologies to my Mormon friends out there). Rory Stewart After reading The Places In Between I truly realize the depth of our misunderstanding of the situation in Afghanistan. I keep up on the news better than most. I've spoken with veterans who have returned from Afghanistan. Yet, as I read Stewart's account of his walk across Afghanistan just weeks after the fall of the Taliban, I realized that this truly is a foreign culture - as alien to me as any on the planet. I am amazed that the mission in Afghanistan has been as successful as it has been. Stewart introduces us to the variety of cultures that Afghan

Going back for a second read - this time as an audiobook Published in 1988 by Books on Tape Read by Michael Prichard Duration: 5 hours, 12 minutes (unabridged) I've long since read all of the Spenser novels but I am enjoying a second time around with the older ones as audiobooks - I listen while commuting. Robert B. Parker  (1932-2010) The Godwulf Manuscript is the first in a very long line of Spenser novels. The most essential parts of Spenser are here - wisecracks, details about cooking, his mostly unused office and a healthy interest in the opposite sex, Lt. Quirk (I'd forgotten he was Spenser's first "buddy" in a long line of buddies) and Spenser's self-deprecating inner voice. The Godwulf Manuscript is a much more "noire" style book than most of the rest of them - but then again it's not much of a surprise really - authors change over time. Spenser, however, does not change. The book is set in 1973 and Spenser

  Published by Dh Audio in 1982. Read by Samantha Eggar Duration: approximately 3 hours. Abridged Many years ago, in the early 80s, I was a devoted reader of all things Heinlein. Somewhere along the way I guess I lost interest (I don't remember), but I found this audiobook version of Friday and thought I'd re-live the old days a bit. From the product description on the back of the box I did not remember having read the book, but soon enough, I vaguely remembered the plot a bit. So, how was it re-visiting Heinlein? It was okay. The story line was not nearly as interesting as the backdrop (a fragmented United States - how I'd love to see a short history of this vision of earth plus a short description of the technology - Heinlein accurately describes the internet - not bad for 1982). Friday is a genetically modified human being created from bits and pieces from all around the world. She lives in a remarkably open society that openly discriminates agai

Thompson's original essay was much better Published by Sentinel HC in 2006 For those of you who do not know, Keith Thompson's first draft of Leaving the Left was a column in the San Francisco chronicle (found here ). I thoroughly enjoyed the original essay. I printed it out, read it to my wife, forwarded it to friends. A copy of it has set on my desk for the better part of two years - mostly in the way, but also as a reminder of my own personal journey away from the Democrats (my first 4 votes in any sort of Presidential race were proud votes for Jesse Jackson, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas and Bill Clinton). Really, though, it's not so much that I've moved from them as they have moved from some of their core values to new core values. Political parties, like people, evolve in their thoughts. Keith Thompson, like many others, discovered that the political party of his youth (he was the youngest delegate to a Democratic national convention in America

  Long stretches of tedium punctuated by episodes of laugh-out-loud fun Published by Macmillan Audio in 2005. Read by Lorelei King. Duration: 7 hours, 48 minutes Eleven on Top is my fifth in the Stephanie Plum series, having previously read 1-3 and 8. Technically, 1-3 were enjoyed thoroughly as books on tape. The fact that I heard them all as audiobooks is a source of my frustration with Eleven on Top . You see, the first three that I enjoyed were read by the actress Lori Petty. In my mind, Petty accurately nailed the Jersey Girl attitude and accent of Stephanie. Lorelei King, a veteran reader does a good job with all of the characters but Stephanie - she plays Stephanie fairly accent-neutral. While the dialogue works without the New Jersey accent, it crackles and zings with it. I know that King is the choice for Evanovich to read, but I think that she is a letdown after listening to Petty's work. Secondly, the fact that I 'read' this book as an audi