Bruno Books

Doesn't being half an animal and half a squirrel make him freak enough? Why doesn't he just stick with that as his main attraction? And what's with the bag over his head? Is that supposed to hide his"Hidious" features or something? He didn't look scary at all so why put a bag over his head in the first place? I liked the flipping action though. You can make it go backwards too, which is kinda fun. My sister hates it.

You know how some coffee table books are too pretty to throw out but not quite pretty enough to look at again? About 2 pages in I felt like this was not pretty enough to look at the first time. Clean black line drawings adrift from context cannot be colored into being interesting. What may have the scintillation and fun lacking here is behind-the-hand gossip about how this tarted-up, over-priced art book got published in the first place. Although that's probably a dreary story, too, judging by these results. Precious. Tired. Disappointing.

La literatura española pasó por una época negra durante el neoclásico. Leyendo esta comedia no pude evitar el acordarme de La Vida Es Sueño, escrita unos ciento y pico de años antes, o La Casa de Bernarda Alba, escrita unos ciento y pico de años después. Qué bajón pegaron las letras en el siglo XVIII. En fin, ahí queda esta obra de Moratín, una comedia graciosilla pero que no tiene ni fu ni fa.

Although mostly a vanity piece, this book had some moments of redemption threaded through. I would have liked more depth regarding her September 11th experiences abroad and her road to Ironman Kona after her husband was diagnosed with cancer and less of her reciting her race times. The subtitle was a distractor - the book had very little to do with menopause. It's not for the average age-grouper - this is a privileged woman married to a doctor who is able to jet to Fiji, Rimini, Hawaii, etc. simply to race.

At 10pm March 1, 1932 baby Charles Lindbergh Jr was found missing from his bedroom. The local police were called, then the family lawyer; next the NJ State Police. Chapter Two tells of America in the 1920s. There are mistakes here. The 18th Amendment gave Congress the right to control (prohibit) alcoholic drinks. The Volstead Act limited the alcoholic content to 3%; this prohibited liquor, wine, and beer. The depressed wages in the 1920s led to the Great Depression when people had little money to buy what they needed or wanted. Kidnapping for ransom grew during the 1920s as gangs operated with little fear from the corrupt municipal and state governments. A monoplane has one wing (p.16).

Two years later some of the ransom money was found in the possession of a Bronx carpenter. There were 3 theories about the crime (p.29). A ransom note came in the mail, and a stranger was contacted as a go-between. Lindbergh and Condon paid the ransom money to a lone man, but baby Charles was not returned. Two months later a body identified as baby Charles was found in a shallow grave; it was cremated. The police first considered this an inside job; it was unusual for the Lindberghs to stay there Monday night. The police deprived Hauptmann of food, water, and sleep, then beat him; but he never confessed. Hauptmann was extradited to NJ. The trial in Flemington was a media circus (p.50).

Chapter Four gives the prosecution's case, based on circumstantial evidence (facts that appear to connect the defendant to the crime). Witnesses said Hauptmann was near the Lindbergh home prior to 3-1-1932, and had taken the ransom money. Anyone who commits a burglary and kills someone is guilty of murder in the first degree. The witnesses' testimony is summarized. One witness who identified Hauptmann was legally blind (p.63)! $14,600 (out of $50,000) in ransom money was found hidden in Hauptmann's garage. A "wood technologist" testified that rail 16 from the ladder had been taken from Hauptmann's attic floor (p.72). Chapter Five presents the Hauptmann defense. Witnesses would testify that Hauptmann had an alibi for the kidnapping and ransom money exchange. Hauptmann's journal had his notes that damaged his testimony, as well as his earlier lies (pp.83-84). Hauptmann's wife backed his story. Some of Hauptmann's witnesses were bootleggers, part of the criminal class. Curiously, a dozen witnesses called by the defense ignored the court's orders (p.92)!

The jury quickly voted guilty (Chapter Six). Some said the death penalty was wrong because the evidence was circumstantial (p.98). Hauptmann's lawyers filed appeals on the basis that he didn't get a fair trial: "tried and convicted in the newspapers" (p.103). The legal appeals failed and Hauptmann was executed. One after effect was to ban cameras from most American trials for the next 6 decades. Some said the trial was unfair even by the standards of that time (p.108). Charles Lindbergh later revealed his reactionary pro-Nazi feelings, tainting his reputation and questioning his judgment. Some began to question the trial and verdict after a newspaper reporter wrote that Hauptmann was a "Scapegoat". Other books have also questioned the official theory of the crime. Could one man alone have driven to a strange place on a day the family was normally away? Why didn't their dog bark in the night? Was evidence tampered with to convict the only man caught with ransom money? No one disputed that Hauptmann had some of the ransom money. Whoever kidnapped baby Charles had the sleeping suit. Note how this important clue is skipped over in this and other books.

Shortly after the book arrived I threw it out. For some people it might be just the thing, but it really is pretty sterile, and surprisingly non-erotic.

I happened to see this book at a local bookstore and glad I looked at it, so I could point out some of the shortcomings. First, the photos are not very original you've seen most or all of them on the internet. Worst of all are some glaring inaccuracies and omissions.

The authors certainly go for the titillating, but if the chapter on Florence Ballard (of the original Supremes) is any indication, they are not known for doing an accurate job. The two photos they use of Florence Ballard are clearly photos of Cindy Birdsong, who replaced Florence Ballard, not of Florence. Shame on these people for doing such a sloppy job.

Mary Wells was not covered at all in this book, which I feel is an insult to her memory.

Save your money, you'll do better with internet searches on your favorite stars - better photos, definitely more accurate info. It's pretty obvious that these "authors" simply were out to make a quick buck, using stock photos of the net, second hand info off the net, etc.

I felt that the book was lacking in details that
would have led to implementation of some of the
algorithms presented. Often I felt that the math
was not providing any insights into what was acutally
going on behind the terminology.

The code on the CDROM has virtually no comments
and was useless to me when taken out of context.

I was disappointed in the end with the price/performance
of this book. It might be right for you, but flip through
it before buying!

My mother taught be to say little if you can't say something nice

I've been collecting Steven Underhill books for many years. I was anxiously waiting to see his new work. I was surprised at the content of the book. There are nice looking younger men who are "rassling" while the photographer takes candid photos of their activities. The majority of the book is black and white, with a few color pictures. I enjoy seeing the naked male physique. You won't see any of that. You'll see guys topless rassling with each other. I found it rather uninspiring, unless you're into men wrestling. The quality of the photographs was grainy and not what I'm used to seeing from his other works.

I bought it ot continue my collection of his works, but if you're new to his works, I would not recommend buying it.

I was expecting tastefully erotic pictures of guys wrestling. Instead I got amateurish and unappealing photographs. There was nothing captivating about the photos, which was surprising considering this is Steve Underhill. Very uninspired effort.