It was on 23 December 1968 that I met the most gorgeous women on the planet, Raquel Welch. It’s a long story, but I’ll make it short. Raquel Sailors tell sea stories—a tale of some incident in the sailor’s adventures that is memorable, at least to the sailor. By definition, sailors enhance their tales with […]
Author Archives: smartinshelton
BOOK REVIEW: Steve Canyon, Milton Caniff, Vol. 6: 1957 to 1958
Two stars. Headline: Lieutenant Colonel Steven (Steve) Canyon, USAFR, intensifies his domestic agenda. Egad! Milton Caniff, what have you done to our iconic hero? The eight stories in this book all hinge on some sort of domesticity, teenage nonsense or failed romance. Unfortunately, this book is an overblown telenovela, a Bollywood par excellence, a classic […]
MOVIE REVIEW: Bridge of Spies
Bridge of Spies is a superb film that accurately portrays a key incident in our cold war with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I would expect no less from this all-American first team. Tom Hanks delivers a highly empathetic portrayal of James Donovan and leads us carefully through the narrative. Of singular import is […]
BOOK REVIEW: 20th Century China, 3rd Edition
Clubb weaves a heavy book loaded with the incredible history of the Chinese government from the Boxer Rebellion to the Death of Mao Tse-tung and a little beyond. I read this tome from cover to cover, including the notes. Conclusion: This is not a reading book. Rather it is a superb reference book that details […]
BOOK REVIEW: Killing Reagan: A Violent Assault that Changed a Presidency by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
An outstanding book. Exceptionally well written—no nonsense, no extraneous jabberwocky, no political twists—just the facts presented in a sterile, compelling narrative. O’Reilly strips the Holy Grail sheen off Ronald Reagan and renders him an ordinary human being—much as the rest of us with all our frailties. At times, Reagan was petty, angry, vindictive, chapfallen, humdrum, and […]
Movie Review, The Intern,
Production Company. Waverly Films Writer/Director. Nancy Meyers Actors Anne Hathaway does a yeoman performance as Jules Ostin as the “not-all-together,” overworked, and on the edge CEO of her startup Internet sales company. Robert DeNiro is outstanding as Ben Whittaker—Seventy-year old, widower, and retired executive from a defunct company. Now he’s a Muse and sage to […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Secret History of Mary Magdalene: Christianity’s Hidden Goddess by Lynn Picknett
Lynn Picknett explores in great depth alternate versions and background of the Christ story as told in the canonical Gospels (New Testament), Gnostic Gospels, and other sources—some apocryphal—focusing on The Magdalene’s background, her physical and spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ, and the historical perspective of this enigmatic woman. Picknett’s helter-skelter narrative is too confusing for […]
Malaysia Flight 370 Update
Last week, the Malaysian government announced that the flalperon found on 29 July is from the Boeing 777, Malaysia Flight 370 that disappeared on 8 March 2014. The flalperon washed on the western shore of the French department of Reunion—a small island in the Indian Ocean about 600 miles west of Madagascar. Aviation experts in […]
BOOK REVIEW: The Mexican Revolution: A Short History 1910-1920 by Stuart Easterling
Easterling makes a reasonable clarification of the chaos of the Mexican Revolution—as he says “…ten years of social conflict, deprivation, and bloody warfare.” He skims through the ten-year revolution with seminal characters in this petite book as: Profirio Diaz (1839-1915). Dictator of Mexico from 1884 to 1911. Overthrown by Gustavo Madero (1875-19130. President 1911 to […]
BOOK REVIEW: Terry and the Pirates Volume Two: 1948-1949 by George Wunder
The Hermes Press is leaking slowly reproductions of the famous comic strip titled “Terry and the Pirates.” The talented Milton Caniff created this innovate and artful adventure comic strip in 1934 and continued it until 1944. George Wunder continued the strip until 1973. In this volume are three rather mediocre stories of Terry and his […]