Kathleen and I saw the Ron Howard movie, Frost/Nixon, this past Saturday night. Being a political junkie and a Nixon buff, I had looked forward to it since I heard about it, and hoped it would be true to the original interview (which I had actually never seen start-to-finish). I really enjoyed the movie! I'm not sure what I expected, but a lot of the movie was actually about the difficulties that David Frost had in pulling it off - financing it, selling it to a broad cast network, selling advertising, etc. Most of that apparently fell on him, and until the last session of taping (the Watergate discussion) he was very unprepared to face Nixon, who was a master of obfuscation and misdirection. I've since watched a couple of youtube clips of the real interview, and everything is really accurate - the timing, the expressions, etc. About the only critical thing I could see was that Frank Langella - while he did a great Nixon from the posture, the expressions and the language - looked older and more frail than Nixon did at the time.
I've since noticed that a DVD of the original interview was released on December 8, 2008 (strange, I assume that was done on purpose) that I probably need to buy. The movie had minimal interview scenes, so I would like the see the entire 90 minutes or so together.
The Kevin Bacon character in the movie mentioned something that I have always felt - that Nixon's downfall really overrode all of the great things he accomplished in his Presidency - getting us out of Vietnam, detente with the Soviet Union (which really hastened their downfall), the opening of relations with China (which also heavily impacted the USSR), etc. He was a brilliant but flawed man for sure. I'm glad that he was rehabilitated a bit before he died.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Dan's Reading List for 2008
I keep track of all of the books I read. In 2008, I managed to get through 50 books, and not many of them were quickies, either...... So here is my list -
1) Michael Gruber – The Night of the Jaguar – Jan
2) Richard Ketchum – Saratoga – Jan
3) William Moore – The Philadelphia Experiment – Jan
4) Gary Weir/Walter Boyne – Rising Tide - Jan
5) James Rollins – The Judas Strain – Jan
6) Daniel Silva – The Secret Servant – Feb
7) James Rollins – Amazonia – Feb
8) Robert Dallek – An Unfinished Life: JFK – Feb
9) William Taubman – Khrushchev – The Man and his Era – Mar
10) Robert Dallek – LBJ – Portrait of a President – Apr
11) Isaac Asimov – Pebble in the Sky – Apr
12) David Hewson – The Seventh Sacrament – Apr
13) Paul A Zoch – Ancient Rome: An Introductory History – Apr
14) William Dietrich – Napolean’s Pyramids – May
15) David Hewson – Solstice – May
16) David Hewson – The Sacred Cut – May
17) Douglas Preston – Blasphemy – May
18) Conrad Black - Richard M Nixon – A Life in Full – July
19) Steve Berry – The Venetian Betrayal – July
20) Will Thomas – Some Danger Involved – July
21) William Dietrich – The Rosetta Key – July
22) Paul Sussman – The Last Secret of the Temple – July
23) Will Thomas – To Kingdom Come – July
24) John Connolly – Every Dead Thing – August
25) Will Thomas – The Limehouse Text – August
26) John Connolly – Dark Hollow – August
27) John Connolly – The Killing Kind – August
28) PC Doherty – The Poisoner of Ptah – Sept
29) David Downing – Zoo Station – Sept
30) Michael Robotham – Suspect – Sept
31) PC Doherty – The Horus Killings – Sept
32) Michael Gruber – The Forgery of Venus – Sept
33) PC Doherty – The Mask of Ra – Sept
34) Noah Andre Trudeau – Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea –
Oct
35) PC Doherty – The Anubis Slayings – Oct
36) Michael Robotham – Lost – Oct
37) PC Doherty – The Slayers of Seth – Oct
38) Steve Hockensmith – Holmes on the Range – Oct
39) PC Doherty – The Assassins of Isis – Nov
40) PC Doherty – The House of Death – Nov
41) Jeff Shaara – The Steel Wave - Nov
42) Tom Rob Smith – Child 44 – Nov
43) Martin Cruz Smith – Stalin’s Ghost – Nov
44) Daniel Silva – Moscow Rules – Dec
45) John Connolly – The White Road – Dec
46) Paul Doherty – The Godless Man – Dec
47) Edvard Radinsky – Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar – Dec
48) Adrian Conan Doyle & John Dickson Carr – The Exploits of Sherlock
Holmes – Dec
47) Paul Doherty – The Gates of Hell – Dec
48) Brad Meltzer – The Book of Lies – Dec
49) John Connolly – Bad Men – Dec
50) PC Doherty – Satan in St Mary’s – Dec
Some comments -
a) I like history and mysteries, and in 2008 I discovered PC Doherty. He has written several mystery series that combine both mystery and history. One of his series is based in ancient Egypt, in the 1350's BC. His Medieval series (with Hugh Corbett) is based in the middle 1200's. He developes very good characters who interact with historical characters (Pharaohs and Kings). Very cool. Fortunately, he has written a lot of books!
b) In 2008, one of my favorite authors - Tony Hillerman - passed away. Most of his novels take place on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico, and most of his characters are members of the Navajo Tribal Police force. Very cool mixture of mystery/thriller and Navajo culture. I will probably run through his books (about 10 of them) this year, in his memory.
c) I am up through Richard Nixon in my Presidential bio project (see previous post for details). I do want to read a Bobby Kennedy bio and probably some of Henry Kissinger's memoirs (if I can get through his ego!) as well, before I get to Gerald Ford. Maybe a Charles DeGaulle as well. I'd also like tpo read something about the Soviet Union, post-Kruschev, as the Communist Empire slowly sank under the weight of it's central planning.
d) I'd like to read some more ancient history. I read a book on ancient Rome in 2008, but it wasn't very good and I couldn't find a different one. Need to look a little more.
I'm currently finishing up my second book of 2009.....
1) Michael Gruber – The Night of the Jaguar – Jan
2) Richard Ketchum – Saratoga – Jan
3) William Moore – The Philadelphia Experiment – Jan
4) Gary Weir/Walter Boyne – Rising Tide - Jan
5) James Rollins – The Judas Strain – Jan
6) Daniel Silva – The Secret Servant – Feb
7) James Rollins – Amazonia – Feb
8) Robert Dallek – An Unfinished Life: JFK – Feb
9) William Taubman – Khrushchev – The Man and his Era – Mar
10) Robert Dallek – LBJ – Portrait of a President – Apr
11) Isaac Asimov – Pebble in the Sky – Apr
12) David Hewson – The Seventh Sacrament – Apr
13) Paul A Zoch – Ancient Rome: An Introductory History – Apr
14) William Dietrich – Napolean’s Pyramids – May
15) David Hewson – Solstice – May
16) David Hewson – The Sacred Cut – May
17) Douglas Preston – Blasphemy – May
18) Conrad Black - Richard M Nixon – A Life in Full – July
19) Steve Berry – The Venetian Betrayal – July
20) Will Thomas – Some Danger Involved – July
21) William Dietrich – The Rosetta Key – July
22) Paul Sussman – The Last Secret of the Temple – July
23) Will Thomas – To Kingdom Come – July
24) John Connolly – Every Dead Thing – August
25) Will Thomas – The Limehouse Text – August
26) John Connolly – Dark Hollow – August
27) John Connolly – The Killing Kind – August
28) PC Doherty – The Poisoner of Ptah – Sept
29) David Downing – Zoo Station – Sept
30) Michael Robotham – Suspect – Sept
31) PC Doherty – The Horus Killings – Sept
32) Michael Gruber – The Forgery of Venus – Sept
33) PC Doherty – The Mask of Ra – Sept
34) Noah Andre Trudeau – Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to the Sea –
Oct
35) PC Doherty – The Anubis Slayings – Oct
36) Michael Robotham – Lost – Oct
37) PC Doherty – The Slayers of Seth – Oct
38) Steve Hockensmith – Holmes on the Range – Oct
39) PC Doherty – The Assassins of Isis – Nov
40) PC Doherty – The House of Death – Nov
41) Jeff Shaara – The Steel Wave - Nov
42) Tom Rob Smith – Child 44 – Nov
43) Martin Cruz Smith – Stalin’s Ghost – Nov
44) Daniel Silva – Moscow Rules – Dec
45) John Connolly – The White Road – Dec
46) Paul Doherty – The Godless Man – Dec
47) Edvard Radinsky – Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar – Dec
48) Adrian Conan Doyle & John Dickson Carr – The Exploits of Sherlock
Holmes – Dec
47) Paul Doherty – The Gates of Hell – Dec
48) Brad Meltzer – The Book of Lies – Dec
49) John Connolly – Bad Men – Dec
50) PC Doherty – Satan in St Mary’s – Dec
Some comments -
a) I like history and mysteries, and in 2008 I discovered PC Doherty. He has written several mystery series that combine both mystery and history. One of his series is based in ancient Egypt, in the 1350's BC. His Medieval series (with Hugh Corbett) is based in the middle 1200's. He developes very good characters who interact with historical characters (Pharaohs and Kings). Very cool. Fortunately, he has written a lot of books!
b) In 2008, one of my favorite authors - Tony Hillerman - passed away. Most of his novels take place on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico, and most of his characters are members of the Navajo Tribal Police force. Very cool mixture of mystery/thriller and Navajo culture. I will probably run through his books (about 10 of them) this year, in his memory.
c) I am up through Richard Nixon in my Presidential bio project (see previous post for details). I do want to read a Bobby Kennedy bio and probably some of Henry Kissinger's memoirs (if I can get through his ego!) as well, before I get to Gerald Ford. Maybe a Charles DeGaulle as well. I'd also like tpo read something about the Soviet Union, post-Kruschev, as the Communist Empire slowly sank under the weight of it's central planning.
d) I'd like to read some more ancient history. I read a book on ancient Rome in 2008, but it wasn't very good and I couldn't find a different one. Need to look a little more.
I'm currently finishing up my second book of 2009.....
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