Riding with BEN-HUR (1925)

See it Here: DON Q, SON OF ZORRO

UnForgotten Books: THE KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara (1974)

I like battlefields. One of the coolest places I've ever been is the site of the Battle of Hastings, where the Norman conquest of England began in 1066. So in planning a trip to Washington DC later this year, a side trip to Gettysburg is high on my list. Near as I can tell, we can ride the Metro up to Rockville MD, rent a car and proceed a short ways to the battlefield, where we can hire an official guide to ride around with us and tell us what's what. 

To get in the mood, I finally got around to reading this book, which has been highly recommended from various sources. Most impressive to me were the raves from Kassandra Kelly and Jackie Blain, two fine writers who don't normally read this sort of thing. If those two liked it, I knew it had to be good. And sure enough, it is.

The Foreward, I confess, was a bit daunting, introducing fourteen of the major commanders involved in the action. I read it twice and still thought, Jeez, I'm supposed to remember all this stuff? But as the story began, all that character info came into play. Each of those major players had long sections in close point of view, and the Foreword proved to be a very useful setting of the stage. 

The novel is recommended by historians as a good introduction to the battle, and I can surely see why. 

Shaara takes us deep into the mind and soul of each commander, so we see events unfolding through their eyes. And not only see, but feel what it's like to be there at that time and place, among those other men, and experience the major engagements of the three-day battle.

At the same time, the author manages to paint the landscape so clearly that I could picture the ground and follow troop movements even without maps. (The print edition does have maps, which I peeked at occasionally, but I was alternating between audio and ebook, where the maps are either invisible or too tiny to see.)

In my experience, nobody writes better battle scenes than Bernard Cornwell, but his are rarely in such close POV, so this was a special experience.

The book, published in 1974, did not sell well, so the first edition (black cover, at right) now commands between several hundred and several thousand dollars. Ouch. I want one, but not that bad.

I'll be following up with the Turner-produced film Gettysburg (based on the novel) and a couple true histories of the battle, and hope I enjoy them half as much. 

Sadly, this was Michael Shaara's only novel. Since his death, his son Jeff has written several other Civil War and other war novels, and seems to be very popular. But is he as good? It would be nice to think so.

LOUIE FEST 2003: A Chunk of Rock 'n' Roll History

That rock god in the white T-shirt is the world famous Clapton Bob Napier, and the cool dude in black, with the sign of Zorro on his hat, is yours truly. Right behind us, keeping his head down and paying attention to his licks, is Portland music legend (and Rock Residue alumnus) Tough Jim Gaston. We three plunked down twenty bucks for charity (funding arts and music for the Boys and Girls Clubs) to bang on our guitars with The Fabulous Wailers, Paul Revere, members of the Kingsmen, Moby Grape and Heart and about 700 other maniacs at the Tacoma's Cheyney Stadium. 

The goal was to gather a thousand guitar players, and that didn't quite happen, but we made a hell of a lot of noise. Though more Louie Fests followed, they never drew more guitars. We make our appearance at about the 5:07 mark of the video below, and hang around for ten seconds or so. Listen if you dare.

DOC SAVAGE COMICS 19 & 20 (1943)

Here are the last two Doc covers of the Golden Age, one of which (I'll let you guess) is the butt-ugliest Doc cover of all time (and hopefully to hold that distinction forever).

The earlier Doc Comics covers are HERE.

A Swashbuckling Adventure of CAPTAIN DARING by Reed Crandall (1950)

Here's another rousing tale from the archives of comicbookplus (check it out!). Buccaneers #19, from January 1950, was the first issue of this title. This story features a cover and pencils from EC great Reed Crandall, and was uploaded by CB+ hero JonTheScanner. It's the next best thing to an Errol Flynn flick, with story elements borrowed from Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood.

WEIRD TALES 65, 66 & 67 (1929)

Minnesota Vikings Fight Song (sing along!)

The Vikings and I will appreciate your support going into today's game with the Eagles. This is a rousing good tune. If your name is Charles Gramlich, you're excused, but otherwise, I hope to hear you singing.