Charles Ashbacher Reviews

  Review of A Century of Baseball Lore , by John Thorn ISBN 0883654466 Three out of five stars Stories often embellished, sometimes wrong   There are many strange and funny baseball stories, so there is really no need to embellish the facts. Which is what is done here. The author also often engages in flowery dialog perhaps more suited to adolescent sports fiction. For example, on page 143, where the game between the Yankees and Indians was played on July 2, 1943, there is the sentence: “Then the Indians were sated and behaved like so many sleepy children.”   The most egregious example of embellishment to the level of falsehood occurs on pages 113-114. The title of the segment is “The Babe Calls His Shot.” It has Ruth deliberately pointing out towards center field in a gesture of where the ball was going to go and then hitting it there. This story has been debunked by all people that observed the action. Witness Frank Crosetti later stated emphatically that Ruth...

  Review of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports , by Kostya Kennedy, ISBN 9781603201773 Five out of five star Entertaining recapitulation of an amazing event   History has demonstrated that no record in sports is ever truly safe. When I was young I read an article that stated that no one would ever beat Jim Brown’s career record of rushing yards in the NFL. Now, he is ninth on the all-time list. Lou Gehrig’s record of 2,130 consecutive games played was considered unbreakable for decades, yet Cal Ripken Jr. broke it by playing in 2,6320 straight games. Yet, Joe DiMaggio’s record of   hitting safely in 56 straight games seems as safe as any other record.   Each trip to the plate has a significantly different context. Among other things, there may or may not be men on the bases, the wind can be blowing either in or out, it can be hot and sunny or cool and damp, the pitcher could be tired or fresh and the pitches that the pitcher specializes in...

  Review of Choose Economic Freedom: Enduring Policy Lessons from the 1970s and 1980s , by George P. Schultz and John B, Taylor, ISBN 9780817923440 Four out of five stars Good retrospective, but incomplete   The basic premise of this book about economic policy of the United States government in the 1970s and 1980s is generally correct but misses some basic results. The retrospective begins with the actions of President Richard Nixon in the early 1970s. When the United States was experiencing rampant inflation in the early 1970s, Nixon first imposed a freeze on wages and prices and then followed with what was called Phase II that involved more restrictions. Other phases followed. George Schultz was an official of the Nixon administration at the time and was opposed to these actions.   There is a back-and-forth debate between Nobel Prize-winning economists Milton Friedman and Robert Solow. It is very interesting to read about two economic heavyweights that so prof...

  Review of The Animated Hero Classics: Alexander Graham Bell , DVD version Five out of five stars Covers his work with the deaf as well   When the work of famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell is covered in classes, his extensive work with the deaf is rarely even mentioned. Bell is of course credited with inventing the telephone and that is covered in this video. His work in teaching deaf children in basic elocution is given extensive coverage as well.   The animation is of reasonable quality and Bell is presented as a man that was very kind and considerate to his students. He is also depicted as a man that drove himself to the point of exhaustion, which is accurate. His invention of the telephone is covered but is almost an afterthought to his other actions.   Nevertheless, this is a good video that can be used in either the elementary school grades or middle school.

  Review of Bubble or Revolution?: The Present and Future of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, by Neel Mehta et. al. ISBN 9780578528151 Five out of five stars Excellent primer on cryptocurrencies   This book was published in 2021 and a lot of crypto-bits and ephemeral crypto-fortunes have been gained and lost since then. Cybercurrency bitcoin values have displayed massive swings. The high in 2021 was over $68,000 and the low was less than $29,000. The current price at the time this is being written is approximately $27,000. Cryptocurrency exchange company FTX had a spectacular meltdown in late 2022, with billions of dollars seemingly vaporized.   In this volatile environment, there is great risk, but there is also a lot of potential to make a profit. Provided you have knowledge of what cryptocurrencies are, how they are created and how they can and will be used. Since they are based on the computer tactic of blockchain computations, it is also necessary to have ...

  Review of Granny Bares All: A Secret Agent Granny Mystery , by Harper Lin, ISBN 9781987859614 Four out of five stars Amusing character must go all out bare   Barbara Gold is 70 years old and an ex-CIA agent, so she has some investigative chops and can take care of herself. In the opening, she witnesses a woman killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Since it was during the day with no obstruction, it is clear that it was a deliberate murder. Determined to find out who killed the woman, Gold (granny) begins investigating her life.   The environment is a small town called Cheerville in New England. To her surprise, Gold discovers that the dead woman was an active member of a nudist colony that is on the edge of town. Since the trail leads to that colony, she decides to go undercover which means she must uncover and join the colony. Her anxiety at showing her aged body in the midst of twenty somethings with tight skin and curves with the right shapes is amusing. Th...

  Review of Against All Odds , DVD version Three out of five stars Disjointed plot, unlikely ending   Jeff Bridges stars as NFL football player Terry Brogan, a wide receiver with a shoulder injury where his recovery is questionable. When Brogan is dropped from his current team and in need of cash, a shady L. A. nightclub owner (Jake, played by James Woods) pays Brogan big money to search for his wife, Jessie Wyler (played by Rachel Ward.) Pursuing her to Mexico, Brogan has little difficulty in tracking her down.   However, things get complicated very quickly when Brogan falls in love with Wyler and they begin a steamy affair. When Jake becomes suspicious of what is happening between Brogan and Wyler, he dispatches his henchman Hank Sully to break up the love match using any and all means. This makes things even more complicated, and Brogan begins to realize that he is in the middle of a very complicated scheme with multiple levels.   Things continue to mo...

  Review of The Truth About Sacajawea , by Kenneth Thomasma, ISBN 9781880114186 Five out of five stars The truth about an important figure   Most students study the Meriwether Lewis and William Clark expedition and the Native American woman named Sacajawea is always mentioned. However, the critical role that she played in the success in the mission is rarely covered. She was only 16 when she first met Lewis and Clark and was married to a Frenchman.   Sacajawea had a child named Jean Baptiste that was approximately 8 weeks old when she joined the expedition. Her contributions in knowledge of the terrain, languages of the other native tribes that the expedition encountered were invaluable and chronicled here. She also once became very ill and was close to death. It is darkly amusing that Sacajawea sometimes demonstrated a higher level of bravery than her husband did.   Sacajawea and her husband joined the expedition on November 4, 1804 and left it on August...

  Review of The Danes in America , by Peter L. Petersen ISBN 0822510316 Four out of five stars Brief history of a smaller immigrant group   According to official statistics compiled by the United States Immigration Service, slightly over 371,000 immigrants arrived from Denmark between 1820 and 1980. When this is contrasted with the 5.5 million from Italy, nearly 6 million from Germany, 4.5 million from Ireland and 3 million from Russia, this number is very small. Since many of the Danish immigrants were farmers, a great deal of them settled in the Midwestern United States and continued to farm.   This book is a brief description of the causes of the Danish immigration, how they moved, where they settled and how they maintained many of their cultural traditions. The largest urban concentrations of people of Danish extraction were in Chicago and New York, although there were smaller concentrations in Omaha, Nebraska and Racine, Wisconsin. Unlike some of the other ...

  Review of The Autumn Dead , by Ed Gorman, ISBN 0345356322 Four out of five stars An aging ex-cop is handed a case to retrieve a case   Jack Dwyer is an ex-cop that now works for a private security agency. Most of what he does is bust shoplifters and other petty criminals. He is a bit overweight and has few prospects to improve his situation. However, he has an interesting past that is focused on his high school years.   A woman that was a flame of his in high school and has retained her beauty suddenly pops back into his life. She offers Jack a significant amount of money to retrieve a suitcase from the house of a man she had been living with. Since she has a key and claims that the suitcase is really her property and she still has a significant sway over Jack, he agrees to take the job.   When he gets there he finds the owner unconscious from a blow on the back of the head. This is the first hint that the case is much more complex than Jack thought. Hi...

  Review of Basketball (or something like it), by Nora Raleigh Baskin, ISBN 0060596104 Five out of five stars Sad reality of youth sports   While this book is about a youth basketball traveling team and there is a big game at the end with a dramatic moment to determine the outcome, that is not the point of this book. The real focus of the plot is the role of the parents in the selection and management of the team. They are generally spiteful, annoying, demanding, and at times threatening. There are several coaches, some of which know how to play team sports while others simply want to blame others for their lack of understanding how basketball is played.   There are many primary characters, the most among the equals is Jeremy, a recent transfer to North Bridge in the suburbs from the inner city. It is obvious to all that he is the best player during the tryouts and an outstanding point guard. However, there is another point guard with the proper parental connec...

  Review of Mortification: Writers’ Stories of Their Public Shame , edited by Robin Robertson, ISBN 0007170580 Four out of five stars Many ways a public signing/reading can go wrong   According to the conventional wisdom, writers are a bit unstable and insecure, needing praise and attention in order to gain the energy to write their next piece. This book does not feed that narrative, for it consists of short pieces by writers where they suffered severe indignities or embarrassments.   Most of the stories are about readings/signings where few people attended. In some cases, the only ones there were the author and the host. Some of this was due to incompetence by the hosts, in other cases the writer was unable to find the location within a reasonable length of time. In the worst situations, people knew of the event and just didn’t care.   Virtually everything that can go wrong with traveling and presenting is described in these pages. From no food or drink ...

  Review of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Unrated version on DVD Two out of five stars Humans battle the aliens and a predator   This sequel is one where the intensity of the two separate original movies is not sustained. A predator craft crash lands on Earth and the predator on board is carrying an alien embryo. That embryo “hatches” from the body of the predator and begins attacking humans. Meanwhile, a man arrives back in his small Colorado hometown after a stint in prison. He reconnects with some friends from his youth as he tries to rebuild his life. His younger brother delivers pizza and is unhappy, he pursues a young woman and gets beat up for it.   Another predator recognizes the crashing craft and travels to Earth in order to battle and exterminate the aliens. This creature will kill, and skin humans if the opportunity is presented. This sets up a three-way battle between the humans, the lone predator and the rapidly multiplying aliens.   There is...

  Review of Visual Patterns In Pascal’s Triangle, by Dale Seymour ISBN 0866513043 Five out of five stars Great classroom resource   There are so many patterns in Pascal’s triangle that the discovery of a new one rarely generates a ripple in the mathematical community. Yet, it is such an understandable construct that it can be used in math classes at all levels starting with the later elementary grades. This book is a collection of the basic patterns and are expressed in visual and formula form.   Instructors will find this to be a valuable resource in the teaching of mathematics, I strongly recommend it for all math libraries.

  Review of The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens , by Gabriel Zucman, ISBN 9780226245423 Five out of five stars Powerful description of a serious problem   It seems that no matter what happens, the income inequality problem in the world get worse. There was a financial meltdown in 2008, a global pandemic that started in 2019 and various wars that continue. Yet, when the event subsides, the rich are even richer, and the rest of the people are left further behind. This leads to the call for taxing the rich and corporations, which is a political yo-yo. One way that the economically powerful can be further taxed is to prevent or reduce the movement of assets to tax haven countries. To do that, there must be some quantification of the amounts as well as where they are held.   In this book, Zucman attempts to give a first approximation of these two key statistics and the consequences of the loss of tax revenue. For this reason, this is a very import...

  Review of Einstein’s Big Idea: Understand the Equation That Changed the World , a NOVA video Five out of five stars Deep background of scientific principles of Einstein’s work   Isaac Newton famously said that he was able to see further because he stood on the backs of giants. The point of that statement was to emphasize that his work was based on what previous scientists had done. This video of the work of Albert Einstein follows that principle. The proper background is set for the papers that Einstein published in 1905, also known as the annus mirabilis, or the year of miracles. In that year, an unknown Swiss patent clerk named Albert Einstein published four papers that revolutionized physics. The most famous of course was the one that set forward the most well-known of all equations, e equals m, c squared.   What is superb about this video is that a great deal of the background that led to Einstein’s work is presented. The work of Michael Faraday, Antoine L...

  Review of Tree Of Life: The World of the African Baobab , by Barbara Bash, ISBN 0316083224 Five out of five stars A description of an ecosystem   The Baobab tree found in the dry savannah of Africa looks like it was planted upside down, the branches look like a root system. For most of the year, the tree is barren, it is only when the rains come that it leafs out and blooms. Mature trees have many hollows that specific species of birds use as their nests. Many insects also make their homes in the Baobab tree, some eat the bark while others eat the leaves. These insects provide food for the birds and snakes.   When the tree flowers out, bushbabies and fruit bats feast on the sweat nectar and spread the pollen. The flowers open up at night and then the petals fall of in the morning. Range animals enjoy eating the soft petals once they hit the ground. The fruit then develops, and the local baboons have a feast. The local people can usually find nests of honeybees...

  Review of Climate Change , by Jessica Gunderson, ISBN 9781628329599 Five out of five stars Great primer on the most critical issue of today   Since it is global in scope and extremely complex in both short and long-term effects, climate change is difficult to understand. Making it even more complex is summed up in a quote from writer Upton Sinclair. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Therefore, the first step in fighting climate change is to convince people that it is real and a major danger to the planet in general and humans in particular.   This book is an excellent primer on the causes, the depth of and the consequences of climate change. Using very colorful images and brief textual explanations, the reader that is not familiar with the topic is given a solid introduction. It is an understandable step in getting the skeptic to understand the critical issues regarding climate chan...

  Review of Spies of No Country, Secret Lives At the Birth of Israel, by Matti Friedman, ISBN 9781616207229 Five out of five stars A largely untold side of the birth of Israel   When the British announced that they were leaving Palestine and the UN published their plan to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab sections, both sides began preparing for battle. Arab states sent armies to fight the Jews, the local Arabs took up arms and the outnumbered Jews did all they could to prepare for the coming war. The battles between the various Arab military groups and the budding Israeli military have been well documented. Less well known are the actions of the Jewish spies that infiltrated the Arab areas.   In the annals of the history of spying, the people that did the work were some of the most qualified. Raised in areas where Jews and Arabs intermixed, they not only spoke Arabic, but the local dialect that was easily recognized as such. They also knew how to dress,...

  Review of Up Close and In Your Face With the Greats, Near-greats and Ingrates of Sports , by Roy Firestone and Scott Ostler, ISBN 156282869x Five out of five stars Great retrospective of sports interviews   Roy Firestone was the host of the sports interview show “Up Close” on ESPN for many years and during that time he had on-air conversations with many of the best sports figures of the time as well as those past their prime. He also encountered many of the same people outside the confines of the interview environment, where he saw them with no camera and microphone present.   This series of retrospectives is some of the most fascinating statements about sports figures. Some of them were arrogant on and off camera, others were ferocious during their games, yet soft and humble when not playing. Sports figures from boxing to golf to hockey, as well as the major sports of basketball, baseball and football are described.   The most interesting category of i...

  Review of Around America to Win the Vote , by Mara Rockliff ISBN 9781536208368 Five out of five stars A challenging adventure of two women   On April 6, 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke climbed aboard a small yellow car, loaded tools, a small typewriter, a small sewing machine, spare parts, a large trunk and a kitten and then set out to drive westward across the country. They were suffragettes and their goal was to make many stops where they would attend parties and make speeches in support of giving women the right to vote.   This was a significant challenge, for there were very few paved roads and in some areas there were not even roads as we know them. Gas stations were also extremely rare, so they had to take care regarding their fuel situation. The word “motel” is an abbreviations for “motor hotel” and at the time, they also were nonexistent. What maps that existed were very primitive. Therefore, for much of their trip they really did not know at the...

  Review of Bertie Comes Through , by Henry Gregor Felsen Four out of five stars Success comes very late, but it comes   Bertie Poddle is a student at Heeble High School and is the epitome of the athlete wannabe with no real hope of success. He is overweight, slow and has an aversion to strenuous physical exertion. He is also very shy and fumbling in the presence of girls. There are two that he interacts with the most. Marcia is a cheerleader and Hyacinth is a skinny girl, but rather muscular. She is capable of causing pain in even the toughest of boys when shaking their hands. Hyacinth is also more than willing to engage in a fight with anyone that displeases her, independent of gender.   Bertie tries out for every sport at Heeble High but is a failure at every one. He gets creamed at football, knocked around at boxing, can barely run 100 yards without collapsing and cannot even carry the big drum for the marching band without stumbling. Yet, he never gives up ...