Omaha Books

Mr. Boston has clearly spent a lot of time and effort generating the massive tables that comprise most of this book, and for a serious player that's worth the cost. What he actually says in terms of advice, however, is sketchy and sparse. He generally goes by the conservative wait-for-good-hands philosophy.

Mostly, he has exhaustively run all possible hands thru many simulations and ranked them. This is interesting enough, but I have some quibbles with his classifications. Take a hand like AK32. He calls it suited if the ace is suited, double-suited if the King and Ace are both suited, and unsuited otherwise. I presume he calls it just "suited" if all four are the same suit, but he doesn't say. Also, I claim it adds small but significant value to the hand if the King only is suited, but he doesn't seem to think so.

If he separated all the possibilities the book would be impossibly large... but the many possibilities are what attract us (the players) to the game, nicht wahr?

Bill Boston has done the Omaha/8 player a great favor by systematically and exhaustively tabulating the results of playing each possible starting hand.

Another reviewer downgraded his rating because Boston's discussion could be more complete. My take is just the opposite - the extensive tables in this small volume are most valuable when the user studies them to arrive at his own understanding of what works and what doesn't in Omaha/8. For example, Boston shows that any hand with a 7, 8, or 9 is a loser over time. His tables also show that all hands with X as the second low card are also losers over time. I'll leave it to the serious player to study the tables Boston provides to determine the rank of X.

And there's more, but you'll have to dig into this treasure trove of research data to find it.

Could I pan the book because of how the data was collected? Sure. The author made certain assumptions about the types of opponents and my opponents play somewhat differently. He didn't consider suitedness in some situations where I'd like to know more (i.e. AdKd4h2h).

If you are looking for a source that gives you an exhaustive list of conclusions this book is probably not for you. But if you're looking for the raw research results that you can study to draw your own conclusions without doing the tedious work required to generate it I highly recommend this one.

This novel was based on a presidential primary campaign from the 1990's. It follows the campaign of a southern governor who is smart, inspirational, and surrounded by personal scandal. What is does well: it creates a realistic view of the excitement, frenzy, idealism, and cynicism of a presidential campaign. What it fails to do: it does not create characters of depth, ones that come alive on the page. The story is good, and the general atmosphere of campaign headquarters is very real and both funny and sad. If you like politics with all its dirt, or just want to know more about what campaigns are like, I recommend this novel.

This was a good read and is interesting to read at this time when we have news of candidates inundating the airwaves and newspapers, not to mention the bloggers busily adding their two cents worth.

If you haven't seen the Omaha comics, you've missed a minor phenomenon. At first glance, it seems a little ordinary. The characters live out lives like anyone else's. Omaha moves in with her lover, Shelley moves in with hers, Robby finds love and leaves it - but not the way you might think.

There's a bright, sensual atmosphere over it all. Omaha, the lead character, is one of the best exotic dancers around; some of her friends are prostitutes. All of them get respectful treatment, though. They're professionals in professions of making people happy, and basically nice people with good friends. The series is "adults only" because of some unabashed sex scene, including one where the woman is trying to adapt to wheelchair life and the love life it allows her (quite nice, it turns out) and another featuring a same-sex couple. Although the sex scenes are quite explicit, they're not smutty at all. The comprise only a small part of the story line, the part where lovers would naturally let their love get physical. They aren't the point of the story, they aren't even especially exciting - but they are warm and friendly, with one striking exception.

That brings us to the dark side of this plot: the moralists trying to shut down the dance clubs and adult entertainment, led by a senator drawn like a bull (I keep waiting for the china shop). He's the exception, the one who strikes his paid sex partners. He hires their service, then reviles them and leaves them black and blue. And Robby, the gay guy, gets his store burned with him in it and his home ransacked by persons unknown. Evil is at work, and it hates people with happy sex lives.

There's a lot more to this story, coming up in later volumes of the collected comics. This collection helps to set the sage for it. If you demand avant garde artwork in a comic - well, sorry about that. Fans who need superheroes and BamPow action: nothing to see here, move along. If you want likable characters, positive models for sensual living, and believable situations (except for the part about humanoid cats and dogs), you came to the right place.

-- wiredweird

There are two published collections of Omaha-Ponca texts, Dorsey 1890 (Contributions to North American Ethnography VI), and a smaller supplement, Dorsey 1891, this book. It is the only one of the two in print. Dorsey 1890 consists of literary and historical texts, plus some speeches, and a number of letters. Dorsey 1891 consists of letters not included in Dorsey 1890. The letters were copied down in Omaha-Ponca by the compiler, translated with the aid of the tribal interpreters and other individuals, and subsequently mailed (probably in translation only) to the addressees. Although presumably phrased in the knowledge that Dorsey and the translater, at least, were aware of their contents, the letters are an extremely valuable insight into the Omaha and Ponca experience in the 1880s, and contain much of historical and cultural value. They will also be of interest to the descendents of the authors. Some of the letters are personal; others are written to government officials, newspapers, and charities. The footnotes are in some cases of strong linguistic interest.

The book was written as a campaign memoir by the participant in a failed entitlement program (Title 12)--one the author chooses up front to portray as a crusade. It deliberately argues that the 1.2 billion dollars spent were well spent. It is openly Big Government and College of Surgeons in orientation. The book describes the fifteen components of Title 12 EMS system by putting them in chapter form. No effort at objective analysis is made because at least half of the EMS industry was glad to see the revolution the author describes fade away. Plenty of books by those on the other side of the argument are readily available. Passionate critics would not be hard to find. An analogous perspective would be. The author was alarmed that the end of big government would spell the end of regional emergency care systems. His alarm was first sounded in 1992. It is now seen by many as a prophecy. He tried to stop the fragmentation of comprehensive emergency care. He wound up writing a glimpse of a less than heroic future.

It is fair to say that an author should spell out any subjective tendency up front. He did. The preface tells one and all that it will be an exegesis or a journey into heresy. Campaign memoirs are not usually put in the form of settings and services grids. He thought the Title 12 EMS Experiment was right. He thought it was and is the high water mark of organized emergency care. Many do not agree. They have written their own books. This is the only one that lays down the purport of the failed but noble crusade. WE LOST BUT WE WERE RIGHT.

Boyd's Truth NJ Chapter CJP PhD, EMT-D

The resurrection of the Omaha the Cat Dancer series is a dream come true for me. It is sad to think that the passing away of Kate Worley has marred its reappearance, but she had entrusted her husband with her notes, and he is working closely with Reed Waller to finally finish this epic story. I can't wait for the finale.

Very good account of the events of 1898 in Omaha. There are hundreds of photos with differing views of the entire grounds. Excellent written accounts from people of the time that are balanced with views from today.
Highly recommended.

This is the story of a businessman, whose business was gambling, prostitution and bootlegging. In the pursuit of his trade, Tom Dennison learned that controlling the political process was good business. He was not a nice man, but he was a strong, capable leader who controlled an American city for over 30 years.

Dr.Menard gives us an exceptionally detailed and thoughtful look into the workings of Dennison's world. It is the work of a careful researcher dedicated to getting it right. If you're interested in politics or the first quarter of the 20th century you will find this work compelling.

It shows all of the major highways and interstates and is very easy to read.

Obscure midwestern lines in Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa, rare narrow-gauge excursion photos and even a few Cuban oddities are part of Jack Pfeifer's highly personal collection of photos from the 1950's and 60s.
At a time most rail photographers were making static 'roster' photos on black and white rollfilm, he was recording his experiences of trains in action with a Kodak Retina and Kodachrome. Some of the photos are the only known color record of their subjects. The story is largely told with extended captions based on extensive record-keeping by Pfeifer, a Union Pacific railroader for four decades.
Subjects include rare color photos of Soo Line steam and early Union Pacific turbine locomotives, as well as the last years of big mainline steam power in Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah.
The large-format book is beautifully designed by the late Mike Pearsall, with plenty of room given to the photos.
The book was published in a small edition in 1990.