Natas Kaupas Streets of Fire Video

I don't give Natas a lot of credit. I should though, he was doing street way better than a majority of the skateboarders today. I don't know, Natas's style still looks great after all these years and I can't believe that he's not active at all these days. Here's the famous Natas skateboarding my home town and then some...Santa Monica, California, the Wilshire Courthouse R.I.P and Culver City in some parts.



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Top EC Carders

Thank you to everyone that has dropped an entrecard credit here. I know it takes time to do so and hopefully you're not part of my 90% bounce rate.

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Top Droppers

I just wanted to give a big shout out to the biggest and best droppers for this site.

You guys are awesome.

Please help a brotha out by buying a book from the links provided, it would help me continue to spend time doing this. Here are the top droppers, thank you very much!

1 Blog and 2 Sides
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Book Reviews and Life

That's right, Top Droppers! Thank you people, here's a little link love.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

The Incredible Hulk #157

The Incredible Hulk #157 once again looks like a cereal box. That's right, I said it. The villain in this one is a classic villain from the Daredevil comic books. Oh and he appears in the Punisher and Spiderman as well. The Incredible Hulk is seen here holding his friend, and showing real emotion! THe tag line says "The Rage of the Rhino!" and he's looking awesome, with the two horns ready to strike. The cover was only 20 cents when it came out. Marvel comics really pushed the envelope of Hulk's emotional status, and it's not bad.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

The Scrum Tilly Lush Promo Videos

I'm not sure how deep this dvd is going to get, or how far the reach of the real dvd will be. However, there is a sweet skateboarding dvd coming out that reminds me a lot of the Krooked skateboards dvd release a few years back. This one is called The Scrum Tilly Lush and it is coming out of Europe. Essentially it is a Super 8 Skateboarding video, and it is looking to be an interesting take on skateboarding it's most purest form.



Teaser 2:



and finally teaser 3:



You can learn more, and order the dvd from the official Scrum Tilly Lush blog.

Not bad. It's nice to see people still putting passion into skateboarding, and not just trying to release limited edition skateboarding shoes.

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Scalped Introduction

We have finished our run of Preacher. We did a good job going throught he initial seven covers and are now going to open up the doors of another Vertigo series. The next Vertigo series we're going to look at is a controversial one. The book we will focus on is none other than Scalped. Scalped is a comic book series written by Jason Aaron and illustrated by R.M. Guera. The first issue was published in 2007, and is on going. There are currently 20 issues or so out right now, and they are also selling Trade Paperbacks to the story. While there are some people out there that think that Scalped has gotten Indians wrong, it shows a side of things that people really don't consider. The books feature a noir, western genres, being as it concerns organized crime and is set in an Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The books have been called by one reviewer as The Sopranos set on an Indian Reservation.

Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur

Our last recommendation for this month is going to be something that sets us up to a timely year in history. With a new president in office, and all sorts of people invoking the name of civil rights leaders left and right, our final recommendation of political books is Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur. The book caught my eye while I was at a book store, and it looked awesome. An autobiography from the center of the civil rights, in an accessible 300 book read that will have you thinking about the past and present in such a time as this.

Here is a review of Assata by Assata Shakur from Library Journal:

This black activist's memoir is like a freeze frame of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Though the polemical rhetoric is dated, the book is an otherwise compelling tale of the impact of white racism on a sensitive and powerful young black woman. Born Joanne Chesimard, she took an African name to confirm her commitment to black liberation, joined militant organizations, and was ultimately convicted of the murder of a New Jersey highway patrol officer in 1977. Her descriptions of life in prison and the vagaries of the court system are especially wrenching. Living now in Cuba as an escaped felon, she continues her utopian plea for revolution. Recommended for large libraries and specialists. Anthony O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind.

Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur is not the first book you're going to think of in regards to civil liberties, rights, or politics. However, don't dismiss it, as it is an interesting read. Check it out as our final recommendation for this "political" month of recommendations.



Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

Kung Fu and Comics

Hey, I'm around watching and reading more and more information about Kung Fu. However, for the time being check out this cool post of scans from the classic Kung Fu comic books that were getting a lot of attention back 30 years ago. It's from one of my favorite sites, Diversions of a Groovy Kind.

The Incredible Hulk #156

The Incredible Hulk #156 explodes with an all new cover. This image was jacked from an ebay auction, cause I'm an idiot. If you can tell what is going on, you will notice that the Hulk has to fight himself! That's right, The Incredible Hulk is going to fight himself! This is hilarious to me, and not something new in the world of super hero's and kung fu films. This comic book was only 20 cents and it was an instant classic back in the day.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

Mark Gonzales Krooked Gnar Gnar Video

Back a couple of years ago Gonz made a video using only vhs camcorders to capture the footage. This video was limited to only 1,000 copies and was released on original VHS. There is no dvd, to my knowledge, that has this footage. If there is, than I'm mistaken. This limited edition skateboarding video, is in the hands of only a lucky 1,000 people...until now. Here is Mark Gonzales in Gnar Gnar from 2007, it's not the whole video, but at least it will give you a taste.



As a bonus, here's a clip (although annoying by whoever uploaded it) of Christian Hosoi from the Krooked Video Gnar Gnar, 2007. Not bad.



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Mike Vallely Rubbish Heap Video

Here's a classic clip from the glory days of skateboarding. Ok, maybe not the glory days, but it's a throwback for sure, it's Mike V's "Rubbish Heap" part. Not bad.



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Manik Skateboards Anderson Leak Video

Manik Skateboards has a new video coming out, and here is the first video to leak, it's Josh Anderson, skateboarding from the upcoming release "World's Fair". Looks promising. Click the image to go to the video.



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Circa Asia Tour Video

Circa skate shoes splintered into two factions, but whatever they advertise they still bring it. Here is a video recently unleashed by Circa skate shoes, from Asia. Asia is huge...but whatever. Circa hasn't been good since The Muska's first pro model with them. I think it was with them...I knew this chick that had them, and then things got lame...I'll shut up. Here's the video.



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The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention by Richard H. Immerman

Today we here at readingrec are recommending The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention by Richard H. Immerman. The book is a thoroughly researched book about the CIA's involvement in the politics of Guatemala. You think that Iraq and the Middle East is on the radar alone? The U.S political machine has been fighting through a lot of little things that no one really talks about, until now.

Here is a quick synopsis of The CIA in Guatemala: The Foreign Policy of Intervention by Richard H. Immerman from amazon.com:

Using documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, recently opened archival collections, and interviews with the actual participants, Immerman provides us with a definitive, powerfully written, and tension-packed account of the United States' clandestine operations in Guatemala and their consequences in Latin America today.

If you're looking for more information on Latin American politics and the U.S's involvement, here it is spelled out for you in plain English. An interesting look into the operations of the American government and CIA in Latin America today.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

Preacher #7

Preacher #7 is the final part of the "Naked City" story line from Naked City. Preacher creates a great dark scenario, reminiscent of Maniac Cop. Here we have a gimp looking S&M character holding up an NYPD police badge with a great smiles. The smile is amazing, and how awesome the details are in this face. Look at the details in the teeth, the smile, the skin, the wrinkles! Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon oncea gain push you into looking at something real in the world of comic books, and just like the Punisher War Zone run, Ennis makes a fan out of me. Preacher is just once again doing it right, and yet so many people have missed out on it. Don't be one of those.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

Element Skateboards Into the Mild Skate Video

The Element skateboards crew went to Australia, took a camera and went nuts. As much as I bag on a lot of brands, Element seems to be putting out the most footage on a consistent basis. Elemental Awareness is not just a brand name or marketing scheme, they seem to be trying their best to progress in skateboarding, and here is another video from that crew. Top quality man, top quality.



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The Incredible Hulk #155

We get back to the orange border on this comic book. The Incredible Hulk #155 comes out swinging, literally. The Hulk is looking weak in this one, as Captain Axis is choking him out hard. The tag line at the bottom in bold reads: "Blitzkrieg 1972!" and it's not half bad. The vivid colors make this comic book look like a laundry soap box rather than a comic book. That's fine though, The Incredible Hulk looks classic in this 20 cent cover from way back when.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

Preacher #6

If you're a fan of Beavis and Butthead, you might be quick to assume that Mike Judge had something to do with this cover. He didn't. However, the cover reminds me of Beavis and Butthead in a way. Our main characters are at a pool table and their hair is in the likeness, in a way, of the two anti-hero's of mid to late 90's cartoon mayhem on MTV. That was back when MTV played a lot of music videos, and played Daria and Beavis and Butthead at night. Preacher #6 is not to be easily confused with the movie "Poolhall Junkies"...nevermind.

We have a victim on the table, and I can't help but notice how the colors are not really vivid in this one. They are muted, and it could be the scan really, or it just could be that I'm tired. Preacher is one of the top comics for Vertigo, and why not? It looks great.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

Guatemala: Never Again!

Today's book recommendation once again dives into Latin America. Guatemala: Never Again! from Orbis Books is a good book to start learning about the civil rights of Guatemala. Not so much a political book as much as it is a look at the civil rights movement of a foreign country.

This book is a summary of human rights reports presented in Guatemala up to 1998. Through many eye witness accounts we see a picture of Latin America that most people don't realize. It is an interesting look into Human Rights, Native Cultures and so much more.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

Kayo Canada Skate Tour

The Kayo corp came through Canada and skated like there was no tomorrow. Or they were just fulfilling their contracts as professional skateboarders, trying to get the dgk, organika skate lines to sell a little more. Here is some great footage from the tour, featuring the best of the Kayo Corporation.



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Adidas Mark Gonzalez Skate Pack

It's funny to me to see that most skateboard shops DO NOT carry the Gonz's Adidas skateboarding shoes or packs. I know that some shops are now carrying Adidas, but the idiot shoe buyers aren't selecting anything Mark Gonzales to sell. Maybe it's because they are no longer looking at what's good and cool in skateboarding, or maybe it's because they are just suit and tie people, trying to make a living at skateboarding "buying" because they couldn't hack it as skateboarders.

Then again, here I am blogging instead of riding.

Photo and news src - Ctothejl.com

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The Incredible Hulk #154

We fast forward a few hundred comic books to The Incredible Hulk #154. The book has bright colors, features the Hulk logo with bright yellow and blue complimentary backgrounds. IN this story, featuring Ant-Man, Hulk is very small and looks to be battling a Mouse, A Wasp, and is not so strong. We also see a pencil in the background, and a book of matches to the right. It is necessary to note that the rats are not ordinary rats, they are "Plague" rats.Not a bad cover overall, a bit too cartoony in contrast to our morning Preacher updates.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

DVS World Highest Ollie Contest Photographs

DVS skateboarding has some cool videos out right now, but I couldn't get any of them. So I settled for getting some photos via tackyworld.com of the DVS High Ollie contest going on at one of the many different retailer showcases. The record is now set at 42 inches, roughly 3 1/2 feet...right? I am bad at math. Ayways, there is a full gallery of images over at Tackyworld.com and here are just two skateboarding photographs including the winning ollie of 42 inches high.



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Skate Video Full

You gotta love the DIY mentality of a lot of different skateboarders out there. This latest "Skate Video" is coming out of Illinois, from what I can gather and features a lot of riders you're probably not too familiar with. The video features, Scott Gall, Tj Larsen, Matt Blevins, Brett Reed, Dylan Messer, Alex Villasenor, Preston Harper and the Az DBN crew, Kevin Erst, Pat o'brien, Tony Labarbera and Steve Perdue. This thing is pretty cool and it's a full 28 minutes! So forget trying to buy a skate dvd right now, just check out this footage, it's free for you.


SKATE VIDEO from Kevin erst on Vimeo.

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The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop by Francisco Goldman

The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop by Francisco Goldman is our next plot point in our political month recommendations. The Bishop was a great and interesting figure, but in 1998 he was murdered in his garage. What made this case a little different was that a few days beforehand he delivered a speech revealing that the military caused 200,000 civilian deaths and kidnappings.

Here is a review of The Art of Political Murder by Francisco Goldman from The Washington Post:

Reviewed by Pamela Constable

Francisco Goldman, an accomplished novelist who specializes in evoking murky tropical worlds, could easily have concocted a macabre and fantastic plot in which right-wing military officers of a Central American country murder a leftist cleric, then set about terrorizing witnesses and planting salacious rumors to distract the public and cover their tracks. The assassins are never found, the powerful institutions behind them remain entrenched, and justice proves as elusive as a rare quetzal bird flitting through the jungle.

But The Art of Political Murder is not a novel. It is a painstakingly researched account of the assassination of a Guatemalan bishop, Msgr. Juan Gerardi, whose bludgeoned body was found lying in a pool of blood in his parish garage on the night of April 26, 1998, just four days after he and a team of human rights investigators announced the publication of a devastating, 1,400-page report blaming Guatemala's security forces for a 30-year reign of murder, torture, massacres and disappearances. Goldman's book is both a horrifying exposé and a triumphant tale of justice belatedly served in a country where the concept had lost all meaning, of institutional evil unmasked in a place where it had long operated behind a thousand disguises, of plodding police work and personal courage overcoming a culture of impunity and fear.

It is also alarmingly relevant to current events in Guatemala, where a season of national elections has been savaged by political assassination and skullduggery. One of the two leading presidential candidates is Otto Pérez Molina, a former army general and military intelligence chief who was in office at the time of the Gerardi murder. He has campaigned on a law-and-order platform and has said he would not hesitate to restrict civil liberties to crack down on crime.

Starting from the grisly murder scene, Goldman slowly builds a case against the killers and their shadowy protectors. His journalistic investigation closely tracks a laborious, multi-year inquiry by the human rights office of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala as well as a badly flawed official prosecution that nevertheless led to the first-ever convictions of Guatemalan army officers in a human rights crime. In the process, he lays bare the inner workings and powerful reach of an amoral shadow state. The Guatemalan-born author employs a blend of literary prose and factual reportage to keep readers engrossed in a complex tale involving dozens of characters, a thicket of deception and constantly shifting versions of events. He zooms in like a detective on tiny forensic details, scrutinizing casual comments and wisps of evidence until they begin to make sense. At the same time, he repeatedly reminds us of the murder's context in a bloody history that goes back to the U.S.-sponsored overthrow of Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, the establishment of Central America's most ruthless military machine and the launching of a protracted guerrilla war that took an estimated 200,000 civilian lives.

Goldman briefly recreates the era of anti-communist dictatorships and counterinsurgency campaigns, touching on some of its most notorious murders and shedding light on his own motivations. In particular, the 1985 torture-killing of a human rights activist named Rosario Godoy de Cuevas and her infant son haunted him for years. The pervasive fear and sorrow of that period, he writes, "stayed inside me like a dormant infection that can sometimes be stirred back to life, even by a glance."

Following the 1996 peace accords, Guatemala theoretically became a civilian-ruled democracy. But as this book argues persuasively, the nature of power did not really change, and the country remained hostage to shadowy military forces whose anticommunist mission had morphed into criminal enterprise, employing an army of informants. This system thrived in an atmosphere of conservative politics, media compliance and social prejudice in which many affluent Guatemalans looked down on the Mayan Indian poor whose cause the guerrillas championed.

The human rights activism of Bishop Gerardi's team was an intolerable challenge to this system, Goldman writes, and his slaying was no random crime. It was the calculated lashing out of a threatened monster; a symbolic act in a mighty confrontation between two major institutions, the military and the church; and a "complex chess move" designed to preserve a culture of privilege and profit.

The masterminds of the murder went to extraordinary lengths to disguise it as something else. Titillating rumors were planted in the press and the public imagination, with just enough plausibility to be believed: Gerardi had been the homosexual victim of a violent lovers' spat. He was done in by his housekeeper's vixen daughter and her gangster boyfriend. He was attacked by a German shepherd named Baloo who belonged to the secretive, fetishistic parish priest.

This last version gained such currency that the poor dog was imprisoned, the bishop's corpse was exhumed to look for bite marks, and cars sprouted bumper stickers saying, "Free Baloo!" Lurid gossip became official truth, dutifully repeated by the national media and sucking in even the distinguished Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who opined in 2004 that the plot had been concocted by an array of "scoundrels, opportunists and petty politicians" and that the actions of the church's human rights investigators were "supremely suspicious."

Behind the soap-opera smokescreen lay a plot of breathtaking ruthlessness and seemingly infinite reach. Guatemala's military intelligence apparatus seemed to know everything about everyone, and its methods of intimidation ranged from blackmail to whispered phone threats to sadistic atrocities -- one investigator's brother was found dead, his arms and legs torn off. Witnesses vanished, fled into exile or suddenly recanted. "It was in the long post-execution stage," Goldman writes, "that the murder of Bishop Gerardi was especially masterful."

Slowly, however, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together. Much of the evidence came from a demi-monde of vagrants, informers and ex-soldiers whose portraits are among the most riveting and revealing parts of the book. They were both accomplices and victims of the system, nobodies who could be manipulated, abandoned or eliminated when necessary. The key witness was Rubén Chanax, a jobless former soldier who had been paid to spy on the bishop and gradually found the courage to tell what he knew. He appears again and again in the book, each time imparting more information about the crime, himself and the sinister system that employed him. Most chilling are his descriptions of training for an elite intelligence unit, which included being forced to decapitate a puppy and shoot a civilian couple chosen at random.

Several major figures in the drama are more opaque or complex, including two convicted in the murder. One is Father Mario Orantes, the owner of Baloo, a man of bizarre habits and relationships whose apparent role in the crime was never clarified. The other is Army Capt. Byron Lima, a former intelligence official who projected spit-and-polish rectitude but ran lucrative rackets inside prison and hinted at a vast conspiracy behind the bishop's death.

The author also plays a crucial role in the book, weaving in and out of the drama as he tracks down nervous witnesses, plucks facts from webs of deception, reflects on the tragic history of his homeland and unforgettably evokes a world of subtle but omnipresent evil that Bishop Gerardi and his colleagues sought to chronicle as a warning to future generations. Above all, The Art of Political Murder is a passionate cry of outrage that should be read and passed on by anyone who believes, as Goldman proves here, that truth is always more improbable than fiction.

Copyright 2007, The Washington Post.

A lot of people want to implicate Bush for a lot of things he did. However, if we turn our vision to other parts of the world, we begin to see a more global evil that no one really discusses. The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop by Francisco Goldman is a top notch non-fiction presentation of a corrupt government and how bad things get in a world of political and religious tyranny. It's an intriguing premise, and you know what? Maybe the old adage is true, real life is stranger than fiction.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

Preacher #5

There are a lot of comic books that I post that are somewhat offensive and they actually aren't. This time around, I felt it necessary to not only have a disclaimer, but to post the image below the fold of sorts.

Please, do not take offense to this image, it is not of a sexual nature, it is just a hard mature cover for fans of Preacher.

Preacher is not meant for all audiences. Please take that into thought before you complain.

Preacher #5 is an interesting cover because it has what appears to be a dead head. If it is not just a head, it's a mask of sorts. Not since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have wee seen such a blatant display and disregard to the human head. Although, I did read a story recently that was set in the Wild West about someone carrying around a severed head to collect a bounty.

Whatever the case is, the harshest comic book cover that I've seen to date is this one. Maybe the covers for the Vertigo series "Scalped" are a little harsher, but this one is tough to look at.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon should've gotten some flack for this one, because it's a nasty cover.

The colors are blue, and orange with skin pigments officially narrowing the rest out. I don't like looking at this cover for too long as it is extremely graphic for what its audiences are. If nothing else, it's a little shocking to see that Vertigo greenlit the cover of Preacher #5 because it's tough.

Below is the image from Preacher #5...I warned you.



You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

Afghanistan Skateboarding

The New York times has a great piece about how skateboarding can bring together unity and progress in war torn countries. This of course, is not a new kind of story, as anyone who knows of Mike Vallely's trips throughout the world as an ambassador of skateboarding and positive messages will tell you. The story talks about an Australian who is changing up attitudes towards the sport in what you normally would only see in bad light. I mean, honestly, when is the last time you heard about Afghanistan in a positive manner? Skateboarding and Afghanistan is not something I was thinking about, but this is a great day for the sport, proving yet again that you don't need fancy equipment, lots of money, or Ryan Sheckler to promote skateboarding throughout the world.

Picture src - NYTIMES.com

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Revied TPC Part Video

Sometimes I run into skateboarding clips that I have no idea who or what they feature. This is the case with this skateboarding video I caught wind of from vimeo. All I know is that there is so much good skateboarding going on right now, and I'm stuck with a 9 to 5. You better appreciate what you have if you're out there skateboarding all the time.


REviseddd TPC part from matt mckeen on Vimeo.

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Scarlet Fever Montage

Here is a little taste of the Atlanta skate scene with a video that came out a little while ago. It is a montage of clips from the skate video "Scarlet Fever" coming out of the ATL like it's hot...I suck at puns.



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The Incredible Hulk #5

The Incredible Hulk #5 comes out swinging with a Frankenstein like monster. Seriously, look at this one, it's interesting to see this in contrast to the Frankenstein story. The colors are muted and yellowing in the background, however the foreground has reds, oranges, and of course green that is still popping out great. The book is a classic, and if you haven't checked this one out, do so now.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

Preacher #4

Preacher #4 is interesting to me in a lot of ways. First and foremost, behind the scene there's a giant feather. If you are noticing this, you already know what that's about. The foreground shows our characters in a very ferocious stance. The little guy is interesting and the bigger guy is juiced, just look at that! Vertigo once again mutes the colors and the skin tone is really orange to me. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon creates another great book and this fourth issue continues on the weird path that Preacher creates. If you haven't read Preacher, it's time to pick it up, it's the best of the modern age.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

We Were Taught to Plant Corn Not to Kill: Secrets Behind the Silence of the Mayan People by Douglas London

We Were Taught to Plant Corn Not to Kill: Secrets Behind the Silence of the Mayan People by Douglas London is today's next political book recommendation this month. I have been beating the idea that we should know more about Mexican culture and politics, because that is what I think I need to know. I was born in Mexico and have lived in the United States a long time. I have been thinking about my family and heritage a lot and I want to know more and recommend others learn more about our neighbors to the south.

Here is a synopsis of We Were Taught to Plant Corn Not to Kill by Douglas London from amazon.com:

My name is Tax'a Leon and this book is about my family and my people, the K'iche' Maya. My father was murdered three years ago. I still have my mother and 12 brothers and sisters. Nothing was done to solve the murder of my father or the people that turn up every day in the cornfields machetied to death. After all the things that have happened to our family there are times when I feel fear and sadness and despair in humanity. I wrote this book to tell people about the armed conflict that is still taking place in my country, Guatemala. The interviews were conducted in my native language K'iche'. People have trusted me and told me their stories. They told me with fear and anxiety in their eyes. Painting was also a way they could express how they feel without having to come up with words that consciously commit them to forming an opinion. The violence continues because no one wants to remember the past and our lips are sealed. We are afraid.. Not long ago, 200,000 people were murdered only 750 miles from Miami. There are people today in our governments who may not want you know about the worst violence that the Americas have seen in this century. This is a portrait of the Mayan people, written by a young Maya K'iche' artist, Tax'a, and her American husband Harvard Medical School researcher Douglas London. Eighty-one paintings by Mayan artists, including K'iche' children's art and photos, accompany graphic testimonies by Maya witnesses. "We Were Taught to Plant Corn not to Kill" is a stunning art book, an uncovering of the secrets behind the silence of the Mayan people and a look at the daily life and culture of the K'iche'. The Maya need your help because history is still happening to them.

We Were Taught to Plant Corn Not to Kill: Secrets Behind the Silence of the Mayan People by Douglas London sounds like an instant winner to me. I like the synopsis, the cover is colorful, and it plays to my biased ideas of what really happened in the discovery of North America and beyond. Maybe it will open your eyes, as well as mine.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

The Incredible Hulk #4

The Incredible Hulk #4 creates a split screen feeling. Twelve cents is all it cost when it first came out. The pages are yellowing and older, because of its age. WE have one side where our hero fights a machine! The other side is a fight against a gladiator from outerspace! THe whole outer space thing would take center stage later on (from the books) as World War Hulk would create an interesting story line for Hulk.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

Preacher #3

Preacher #3 takes the series into a newer light. The cover has one of the main characters wearing sunglasses, almost like the movie "They Live". Is this Tyler Durden? I don't know, butfor the time frame that this book came out in, it's not another superhero comic book. I like the reflection in the glasses on this one, and if you look close, you'll know what I'm talking about. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon once again get full range of creativity in this issue of Preacher and rightfully so, it's really got some edge to it. Mature comic books aren't really coming out as good as the Preacher series and this is another great reason why you should be reading Preacher...if you're of a mature and open minded nature.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

A Brief History of Central America by Hector Perez-Brignoli

Taking things a little more south, today's recommendation is of A Brief History of Central America by Hector Perez-Brignoli. The book really is a cool one, because there aren't that many people writing histories of central America. There are obviously other books out there, but I thought I would choose this one due to its to the point manner and brief tones. It's roughly three hundred pages of text and really goes at it with speed. If you're looking for a good, albeit brief history of Central America, you're going to enjoy this one.

Here is a review of A Brief History of Central America by Hector Perez-Brignoli from Library Journal:

Resource-poor Central America, except for its proximity to the Panama Canal, had been ignored by most of the world until the 1979 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. Dictatorship, repression, and poverty in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and neighboring Belize and Panama, or the fragility of democratic Costa Rica, little interested the average American until Reagan made the region an international issue. Since then, studies and commentaries, most of them partisan, have multiplied. In contrast, Perez-Brignoli's brief history is balanced. Ralph Lee Woodward Jr.'s Central America: A Nation Divided (LJ 6/15/76; 1985. 2d ed.) is still the best history in English, but this Costa Rican scholar offers a judicious Central American viewpoint. In his view, the seeds of the current crisis were and are sown by shortsighted, selfish local elites, sometimes aided by the United States and other nations. For interested laypersons, this is an excellent introduction with an accurate sense of the region, past and present.

- Donald J. Mabry, Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State

If you're not looking to learn everything there is to know about Central American politics and history , than maybe this book is for you. A Brief History of Central America by Hector Perez-Brignoli isn't half bad. It's really good, easy to read and to the point.


Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

The Incredible Hulk #3

The Incredible Hulk #3 has a lot of writing on the cover for a comic book. Also, The Incredible Hulk is flying across the page. A missile is chasing him, and he's got someone in his hands. This comic book was only 12 cents when it came out. The colors are orange and yellow with shades of brown, blue, and off white interior pages. This book is a classic, and just like the first issue, if you have this you're sitting on gold.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

Preacher #2

Preacher #2 comes out directly after the initial cover and presents us with another burning dark still in time. You see the wanted poster of our religious leader meanwhile a police car is burning in the background. If you look closely you will note that there has been a slaughter of the police force. This book really shows off how mature comics are paving the way for freedom of speech, because I don't know a lot of parents that wouldn't be a little nervous about their kids reading this book. It's meant for a mature audience, but I'm sure a lot of kids sneak this one in as a comic book. Preacher #2 has a great cover.

If you've seen Creepshow 2 you might think about the indian story that was shown in the off set. At least that is what I thought of initially.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

The Mexicans: A Sense of Culture by Floyd Merrell

Another entry into the book of political and cultural impact, here is The Mexicans: A Sense of Culture by Floyd Merrell. Floyd Merrell is professor of Spanish and semiotics in the department of foreign languages and literature at Purdue University, and with this book has really gone the distance in creating a tangible social studies view of Mexican culture. This brightly adorned book is roughly three hundred pages of fascinating literature that tugs at the heart strings in a way that few books on the subject do.

I personally am fascinated by my own culture, and especially now that I no longer live in Mexico. The book makes a great impact on those that have read it, and enjoy the culture that seems to be permeating through all walks of life in these United States. The Mexicans by Floyd Merrell is definitely a stand out work, and has really put a spotlight on Mexican culture in a way that many books haven't.


Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com

The Incredible Hulk #1

The Incredible Hulk #1 is an old one. THe Hulk's first cover is not easily found in good condition. If you or someone you know has The Hulk #1, you're sitting on a gold mine. The colors are muted on this page, with purples,grey,yellow and off white. Why? Simply because the book was not exactly made to collect, as nothing really is in the comic book world. At least not initially. The Incredible Hulk makes it's first cover known on this blog with something interesting, and older...sorry it's not newer.

You can check out this story and more via The Essential Incredible Hulk Vol. 1.

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Preacher #1

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon set out on creating one of the most F'ed up comic book series known to man, by creating a story of demonic posession, aliens, and sex. Vertigo presented Preacher #1 and boy does it look bad. If you're a Christian or at least aware of any religions, you're going to notice that the church in the forefront of the priest or pastor is burning down! Not only does the church burn down in this cover, the mad man looking on in the background is very antichrist in nature.

Ennis and Dillon really pushed the envelope with this cover and series. The cover is appropriately red and dark in tone and substance. This is such a ridiculous cover, and it is only going to get worse.

You can find out more about Preacher, by purchasing Preacher Vol. 1 which collects Preacher #1 - 7 in trade paperback for cheap.

Or you can get the the complete preacher series on ebay by clicking here.

The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics From Duke University Press

I've said before, and I guess I'll say it once more, I was born in Mexico. I don't know a whole lot about my Country's history, and so I decided to included book recommendations for myself as well as others. This one is one of the number one recommended books for me and those that are interested in Latin America. This book serves up a lot of reading and selections from all over the Mexico. The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics From Duke University Press is a massive, interesting text book, and I really am looking forward to diving in.

Here is a review of The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics From Duke University Press via Amazon.com:

" ... gripping reading that mostly fulfills its goal of representing Mexico's diversity across time and space"--Jrnl of Latin American Studies, February 2005 "Anyone who has a keen interest in Mexico--in delving deep into the country's rich history and culture before going there--would be fascinated by this book."--June Sawyers, Chicago Tribune "[A] careful selection of articles and texts that cover a wide variety of subjects... Originally written in Spanish, these texts have been masterfully translated into English... [T]he collection can be understood as a survey of intellectual culture in Mexico from a historical perspective, allowing readers to understand how Mexican reality has been conformed, transformed, and adapted. Recommended."--M. R. Lara, Choice "[A]n exciting, comprehensive, truly superior collection of Mexican literature... In all of my reading about Mexico--and I have read extensively the old and the new--I have never experienced a better and more thorough collection of works about this mysterious and marvelous country."--Wayne Greenhaw, Southern Scribe Reviews "There is an impressive, even passionate, commitment to excavating the embedded cultural, political, and economic reference points that arguably constitute something called a Mexican nationalist imaginary. At the same time, the editors have methodologically sought out the contradictions of that imaginary, offering both official, and many unofficial, voices. The result simultaneously exposes and subverts the nation's foundational fictions... [I]mpressive."--Eric Zolov, Hispanic American Historical Review "This is certainly a stimulating and informative compilation."--British Bulletin of Publications "Teachers will find a tremendous wealth of material in this new anthology, allowing them to choose selections supporting a wide range of historical approaches, and at a surprisingly affordable price. This volume is weighted toward political history, but intriguing women and workers also rise up from the pages, making this a valuable resource for undergraduate surveys and a fascinating read for anyone interested in Mexico... [T]his volume will make a thought provoking read for undergraduate students, for vacationers on the beach in Acapulco, or--a professor's spring break fantasy--both."--Jeffrey M. Pilcher, The Americas "This anthology is obviously destined for classroom use and appears to be suitable for supplemental textbook assignments for both survey and two-part courses in Mexican history."--Colonial Latin American Historical Review "Three layers of introductions-for the volume, for each section and for each text-provide necessary contextual information, while highlighting emerging themes. Thanks in part to these excellent introductions, students and teachers of Mexico will find that this volume could supplant textbook histories, while giving students access to hundreds of pages of primary sources, well-chosen images and two photo-essays."--Patience A. Schnell, Journal of Latin American Studies "The volume's main virtue ... is that it enables the non-Spanish-speaking reader to actually access a number of arguably key Mexican texts that cannot be obtained elsewhere in translation."--Will Fowler, Bulletin of Latin American Research Abstract in Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Also reviewed in the Oregonian. Listed in Publisher's Weekly, Hemispheres, and Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos.

If you're looking to learn about Mexico's storied past, politics, and culture, this is a great book to get yourself started. The Mexico Reader: History, Culture, Politics From Duke University Press is 808 pages of great storied history, it's massive, and it's worth the price of admission.

Can't find this book in your local store? Don't want to pay high prices on books? Check out our online book store and save money on your books. Or simply go to Amazon.com and search the massive database of books out there. Click here to visit the official Reading Rec store powered by Amazon.com