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The first edition of Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge by H. Anthony Medley was the fastest selling beginning bridge book, going through more than 10 printings. This updated Second Edition includes some modern advanced bidding systems and conventions, like Two over One, a system used by many modern tournament players, Roman Key Card Blackwood, New Minor Forcing, Reverse Drury, Forcing No Trump, and others. Also included is a detailed Guide to Bids and Responses, along with the most detailed, 12-page Glossary ever published, as well as examples to make learning the game even easier. Click book to order. Available in all bookstores and on Kindle. | |
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Cowboys and Aliens (8/10) by Tony Medley Run time 118 minutes. OK for children. The less you know about this movie the better you will enjoy it. It starts with Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) lying on the ground, wounded, with a strange bracelet on his wrist that he can't get off. He ends up in the unfriendly frontier town of Absolution, which is dominated by brutal cattleman Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). The story of Dolarhyde and Lonergan is soon completely overwhelmed by forces beyond their comprehension. The story doesn't stretch credulity so much that it's ridiculous, but that's due to the terrific peformances by Craig, Ford, and Abigail Spencer as the mysterious Alice, Keith Carradine, as Sheriff Don Taggert, who wants to arrest Craig, and Sam Rockwell as Doc. They are directed by Jon Favreau, who has already proven his ability with the Iron Man series. This can only add to his growing reputation as a director of great talent. There is at least one thing I don't understand about these movies about alien invaders from space. The Aliens, who have conquered space and can travel from far away to visit our planet, and generally lay it waste with such advanced technology that the good guys are severely disadvantaged, are always pictured as giant lizards who grunt and howl and can't even communicate with each other. I posit that anyone who can get here from millions of light years away and do the things these creatures can do, would probably be able to clothe themselves and communicate with one another. If they ever do visit our planet, they won't be the grotesque, prehistoric monsters filmmakers foist on us. There are nine, count them, nine credits for the screenplay and story. Clearly, the powers that be didn't like what they were seeing and kept thrashing around for something they thought might work. Whatever, what they ended up with works very well. Fortunately, the special effects, and they are very good, take a back seat to the acting. My advice is avoid most reviews which only tell you the story and see it as I did, not knowing anything about it.
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