$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Sept 8, 2009 8:02:58 GMT -5
Ok, to prep for reading the highly regarded new tome about Thurman Munson, I picked now to read Thurmans autobiography, penned in 1978. Co-authored by Marty Appel, who wrote this new book.
Its sort of an average offering, a lot of game recaps and stuff like that. Not much background, he is drafted by the Yankees by the 20th page of the book. He is very defensive in regards to his gruff nature - in fact, he pretty much claims it was an act to keep reporters at arms length. Being a noted grump myself, I call shenanigans. You just cant help being grumpy.
Wow, was he ever prickly about Carlton Fisk. Halfway through the book and at least five different places he is shooting at Fisk. He was flabbergasted and angry that Fisk always outpaced him during All-Star voting - while "never doing things I had already done." He kept harping on Fisk getting hurt. He had nothing good to say about Fisk. Funny that one criticism he had was not showing any durability. We all know how long Fisk ended up sticking around.
Ill have more as I finish up, and move on to the new Thurman book.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Sept 8, 2009 14:04:11 GMT -5
Gods Pottery rules! Im so getting their book.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Sept 19, 2009 9:48:24 GMT -5
This ones not for me, but I know we got a lot of Aerosmith fans, and rock and roll memoir fans, out there, and this book is now out - "Hit Hard: A Story Of Hitting Rock Bottom At The Top" was released on June 30 through HarperCollins. In the book, Kramer, a founding member and drummer of AEROSMITH, courageously tells the world how he has wrestled with depression as part of the most successful rock band in American history.
In 1997, amidst AEROSMITH's sold-out world tour and No. 1 album release, Joey revealed in an interview his ongoing struggles with depression. The response from fans and people battling those same internal demons was overwhelming. Joey — who has been the drummer in aerosmith since it was founded in 1970 and the first member of the band to release his own book — now tells the complete story: the early days of the band, glamorous drug-addled events leading up to their eventual sobriety, battles within his family and among bandmates, and the explosive internal dynamics in AEROSMITH that continue to unleash a fury of endless creativity.
This is not just another rock and roll memoir. In addition to the never-before-told AEROSMITH war stories that abound in the book, "Hit Hard" unpacks the history of a rock star who was both fragile and tough, who after years of insane wildness became willing to accept help and finally kick a serious alcohol and drug addiction, only to find that the real terrors and hard work were still ahead. It's the story of an average kid from an average American suburb who went through physical and emotional trauma. It's about years of depression and the nervous breakdown at the height of the band's comeback success. Ultimately, it is about how Joey recognized his confusion between love and abuse, awakening to the kind of self-acceptance and compassion that makes healthy relationships possible in the "real world."
Joey Kramer has been rocking with AEROSMITH since the band began in 1970. Kramer and his partners have sold over 150 million albums, and today their multigenerational, global audience is bigger than ever. In addition to the Grammys and the twenty-one multi-platinum albums, AEROSMITH was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001. The band has been the subject of several documentaries, including a film dedicated to Joey Kramer and his lasting influence called "It's About Time".
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Sept 21, 2009 18:45:40 GMT -5
Speaking of sordid music tomes, this was the best book ever... PAUL DI'ANNO 'The Beast' Autobiography To Be Released On Paperback - Sep. 20, 2009 Former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno's autobiography, "The Beast: Singing With Iron Maiden - The Drugs, The Groupies... The Whole Story", will be released on paperback by John Blake Publishing Ltd. on February 1, 2010.
A description of the book reads as follows: "Paul Di'Anno is one of rock's wildest figures. Now he reveals the shocking stories of his life on the road, including the moment he kicked out his own guitarist's teeth, chasing journalists from venues, shooting out car tires with a rifle and the truth about his arrest for carrying a sub-machine gun. His tale is one of drugs, guns, alcohol; of extended periods banged up in prison and his time fronting the mighty IRON MAIDEN. His controversial antics off-stage are even more shocking than his existence under the spotlights. He has battled drug addictions and tumbled from the heights of fame to the pit of bankruptcy. This is a look into the dark and disturbing times of a man who had spent his whole life courting his demons."
In an interview with PyroMusic.net, Di'Anno stated about "The Beast", which originally came out several years ago, "Well, I thought if I am gonna write an autobiography, then I had better go for it with nothing held back. I didn't want it to be just another one of those poncy, pampering-my-ego autobiography rock books, where I would spend the whole time trying to fucking congratulate myself like so many others, so I just told it like it was. Also I was fucking sick and tired of every other fucker writing whatever they felt like writing about me, so this was a way of shutting them all up and telling them all to fuck off. After it was released, I got some mixed reactions, but generally it has worked for me as putting my life out there as it was."
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Post by Lindsey on Sept 27, 2009 1:36:09 GMT -5
Gods Pottery rules! Im so getting their book. umm.... what?
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Post by Jason Giambi on Sept 29, 2009 10:49:04 GMT -5
my latest book "The Black Swan" has arrived at the house, I cannot wait to read it.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Oct 2, 2009 8:42:17 GMT -5
Can you be any more vague? I sauntered over to Amazon.com and there are like a half-dozen different tomes with that title. Whats the story?
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Post by heartybooooo on Oct 2, 2009 9:56:59 GMT -5
I'm presuming it is the book by Taleb. He is an economist/professor who criticized bank's risk management practices, particularly the use of VAR (value at risk) as an overly simple measure. He believed it to be insufficient as it looks only to recent events so it effectively reinforces things like bubbles and misses the outlier or "black swan" events. This book was written a few years ago and now he is basking in "I told you so" mode. I think most risk managers recognized VAR's limitations, but those with less expertise were probably over reliant or got too much comfort from the measure.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Oct 2, 2009 10:10:39 GMT -5
I dont like the sounds of that book. I also dont like the word VAR. I have heard it here. I think its one of the reasons for all our forced vacations. As if I dont have enough books to read, I just grabbed this one, using a coupon for $5 off of a "history book" at Borders. I didnt want to read on the same old subjects, and this looked interesting. Heres an Amazon review... As Frost wrote, "a fence a good neighbor makes." In the case of France and Britain, apparently not even an entire Channel of water has been enough to keep them off each other's nerves. Somewhat misleadingly titled, *That Sweet Enemy* begins its survey of this historical love-hate relationship in 1688 and covers the last three centuries and change--if you're interested in their relationship before that, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Even with this "limitation," there's a lot of history to cover and *That Sweet Enemy* does so admirably. This is a book dense--both factually and typographically. Tombs and Tombs attempt to make it all more readable by occasionally breaking up the text with boxed material, illustrations, and sidebar information, as well as with their generally "light" and witty writing style. For the most part, they alleviate what could have otherwise been a tedious and exhausting read. Instead, they've managed to present a serious historical study in a relatively entertaining way through 710 tightly written pages.
Writing this book could not have been easy given the enormous amount of research involved and the long and complex relationship between France and Britain over the last three centuries, which includes some of the most momentous world-historical events of western culture. Just to think that this period includes the French Revolution, Napoleon, World Wars 1 and 2 is to realize the staggering task the authors set for themselves. But *That Sweet Enemy* manages to succeed and succinctly cover this wide-ranging material without being superficial. The only part of the book I thought flagged a bit was the last part--the post-WW2 years leading into the struggle between France and Britain to define the European Union. Nonetheless, even here, I came away with a better understanding of the stakes involved and the issues at hand than I had before.
The authors, a husband and wife team of historians, make playful use of the fact that one is French, the other British and more serious use of the same to present what they feel is a balanced look at the same story from both sides of the Channel. The result is a book well-worth the time and effort it takes to read. A rewarding and entertaining study of what is more than likely the most important international relationship in western world history.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Oct 15, 2009 7:49:05 GMT -5
The pastiche "Sherlock Holmes - The Montana Chronicles" is leading me to this....
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Post by Jason Giambi on Oct 15, 2009 10:18:40 GMT -5
I'm presuming it is the book by Taleb. He is an economist/professor who criticized bank's risk management practices, particularly the use of VAR (value at risk) as an overly simple measure. He believed it to be insufficient as it looks only to recent events so it effectively reinforces things like bubbles and misses the outlier or "black swan" events. This book was written a few years ago and now he is basking in "I told you so" mode. I think most risk managers recognized VAR's limitations, but those with less expertise were probably over reliant or got too much comfort from the measure. Sorry, I just saw the responses. Yes it is Taleb's book. It's an interesting read, but I find it to be difficult reading, as his concepts can be a little hard to understand. To break up the monotony, I have purchased Tony Soprano's guide to management, which is a tongue in cheek reference to what Tony might do. It is written by an authority on management, and moves along a little faster than the Swan. The Swan has good ideas, but one needs to read and make educated decisions themselves.
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Post by jwmcc on Dec 2, 2009 10:51:51 GMT -5
So I finally finished easily the best baseball book I've ever read:
No More Mr. Nice Guy, the autobiography by Dick Williams. It's tough to summarize everything in just one post, but if you're looking for a good baseball book to read over the winter, find this one on amazon.com or your library. It will definitely be worth your time. Props go out to Sheriff Tom for the recommendation and for lending me his copy. Jw
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Post by MSBNYY on Dec 2, 2009 10:59:06 GMT -5
Interesting how Williams was never hired again after 1988. Did he CHOOSE to retire? He still had a good 10 years left at that point.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Dec 2, 2009 12:18:24 GMT -5
What a fantastic book. I subsequently taped his Hall of Fame appearance / speech and such, and he came across much more gracious than he was in the book. What a curmudgeon, tossing people under the bus left and right. Yeah, I got that book for a penny, off Amazon used. And it turned out being, and I agree with JW here - the best baseball book I have ever read.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Dec 12, 2009 2:04:29 GMT -5
Since 1962, a handful of very special City of Shreveport Fire Department (SFD) personnel has stepped forward out of the ranks of a proud and professional organization, which traces its heritage to 1837, to take on the added responsibility of becoming ""bomb technicians."" The SFD bomb technicians hold a special place in the hearts of their fellow brave firefighters and the citizens of the City of Shreveport when they say, ""Call in the bomb squad!"" This is their history.
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Post by $heriff Tom on Jan 18, 2010 10:51:42 GMT -5
Review In this provocative book, a first history of the subject and long out-of-print, Burgo Partridge coolly and with great learning tells the story of one of the most fascinating of social phenomena: the orgy. The dictionary definition of an orgy is "a wild gathering, marked by promiscuous sexual activity, excessive drinking etc," and Partridge explains precisely what that has meant in the various societies that have left records. We start with the Greeks, who celebrated sexuality at Dionysiac festivals and at temples to Aphrodite, and the Romans who imported unwholesome brutalities into their orgiastic celebrations. We learn of the taste for group sex displayed by some medieval popes, the junketings of restoration England, the aristocratic hedonism of the 18th century Hellfire Club. An assiduously detailed (and intriguing) history.
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Feb 18, 2010 12:00:20 GMT -5
A couple of months ago, during our weekly trip to Borders, I simply roamed the fiction section looking for some new reads. I wanted some fiction for the train home, change it up a bit. Checked covers, back folds. This is one of 3 books I came up with, and just finished. Good read. ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51l1z-mvegL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA240_SH20_OU01_.jpg[/img] Starred Review. Deutermann's first chapter features the eponymous, anonymous cat dancer as he rappels down a cliff in the dead of night, swings into the cave of a 200-pound female mountain lion and snaps a picture of the enraged beast as she attempts to disembowel him. The scene then shifts to a pair of thugs, who, while attempting to rob a gas station minimart, shoot the Pakistani owner and cause a fire that incinerates a young soccer mom and her child. The scumbag perps skate on a technicality when judge Annie Bellamy points out they were never read their rights before confessing. That Deutermann (Firefly; Darkside) is able to fuse these two disparate plots is testament to his well-drawn characters, intelligent, realistic dialogue and top-notch writing. Lt. Cam Richter, of the Manceford County, N.C., Sheriff's Office, is in charge of the minimart case, which becomes much more complicated after he receives an e-mail attachment that shows one of the two freed killers, K-dog Simmonds, being electrocuted in what is clearly a home-made electric chair. Cam is soon headed into the backcountry of the Great Smoky Mountains on the trail of both a nest of vigilante killers and the elusive, possibly apocryphal Eastern mountain lion. Petrified readers will be checking under the bed and in the closets for any panthers that may have crept inside while they were glued to the pages. (Dec.)
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Post by $heriff Tom on Mar 9, 2010 10:46:29 GMT -5
From Publishers WeeklyWhy did the chicken cross the continent? To get to the buttermilk-bathed, Creole-fried, mojo-marinated recipes, of course. Edge (A Gracious Plenty) directs Ole Miss's Southern Foodways Alliance, which studies the South's diverse food cultures, and he dishes up a combo plate of cookbook/travelogue, describing stopovers on his poultry pilgrimage across America, tasting and testing. His quest took him from New Orleans to Nashville (the "fiery goodness" of Prince's Hot Chicken Shack) and from L.A. to Buffalo (home of Buffalo wings). He focuses on individual cooks and family-run enterprises, so KFC and other chains get scant space. Instead, chapters close with regional recipes (e.g., Cape May's Onion-Fried Shore Chicken). Fryer facts flow like gravy, along with pop culture references, and there's an outstanding chapter recounting how celebrated Creole-Soul cook Austin Leslie inspired the Emmy-winning CBS series Frank's Place (1987). Edge concludes that the top dishes are found "where the cooks monkey the most with the birds." Throughout, he shares evocative descriptions of people and places, and designer Stephanie Huntwork's attractive gingham graphics and place-mat pages add a down-home feel. This clever, witty little book offers a heaping helping of chicken facts, and the appendix listing 34 "favorite chicken houses" in 14 states is a fitting finale. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Post by Chris on Mar 9, 2010 12:45:13 GMT -5
This probably doesn't count, but...about halfway through the audiobook version of Artie Lange's "Too Fat Too Fish"
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Mar 9, 2010 14:31:52 GMT -5
Doesnt count.
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Post by Chris on Mar 9, 2010 14:55:54 GMT -5
Even though I bought the actual book, but checked out the audio format from the public library?
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$heriff Tom
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Post by $heriff Tom on Apr 19, 2010 8:02:49 GMT -5
Started a 2 person book club with a coworker. We are both avid readers. I came up with the idea of picking a subject we knew little about, and did not necessarily even have an interest in....and reading a book at the same time, and discussing it. Being a gentleman, I let her pick the first topic, and we agreed on a book. First topic, Robespierre. We started this around a month ago, I think she is around page 250, Im lagging at 130, though I find the book interesting. I have decided to upgrade it to my 'train home' book, so I can catch up quickly this week. I knew of the French Revolution, obviously, heard the name Robespierre time and time again, and knew he was head-chop crazy. But I did not know much beyond all this. I am finding this an informative and good read, though the penchant of these French to walk around in gardens, stopping to sniff flowers, and reading each other poems in parks is a little unsettling.
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Post by Chris on Apr 29, 2010 12:33:03 GMT -5
"Vindicated" by Jose Canseco.
Very interesting book. I think it really sheds some light on the positives and negatives of the Mitchell Report.
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Post by grover on Jul 2, 2010 12:46:57 GMT -5
Bret Hart's book is good, but as a bathroom book it doesn't quite do it for me. So, I shelved it for now and began reading Cardboard Gods. 70's Baseball, and 70's Baseball cards, and growing up with both. Perfect for the can, as I can breeze through a few chapters which are split per card story.
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