Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I felt as if I had just read a short story than a book. This really goes quick. Part of the reason is the very good writing and pacing. The story itself was, oddly enough, a bit like the book I read before this in which it is a kind of a novel-length chase scene. This chase involving a deck of Bicycle. Unlike the book I read before this, this has far better writing and a real development of the characters. The ending is rather overdone. But then so is the card game which is central to the story. Meaning this short story novel could have been even shorter.

Involving the movie series: I really like the James Bond character in this book better than all the film versions. More intriguing character. This first of the set should be leading me on to the next in the series.

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Trail from St. Augustine by Lee Gramling

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Folks have been telling me for years to read Lee Gramling and, over the years, I picked up the Pineapple Press series. I just read my first one after starting to collect them in the 1990s. I almost wish I had not cracked open the book and just ride the praise I’ve heard of them.

The story starts in 1700s British St. Augustine and continues in the northern part of the state. That is, if you want to call it a story. It’s a very flimsy premise that is cloaked in a novel length chase toward a common goal. The writing is almost Ok and the narrative about the outdoors is less than that. His best writing is during the many scenes of action.

What might have my opinion extra low is reading prior to this Frank Slaughter’s ‘Storm Haven’ that is so beautifully written and well researched. This book pales in comparison. Gramling, being a fifth generation Floridian, I am sure did his best to construct the best novel he could about early Florida. He just needed direction in plotting, narrative and story telling.

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Here’s a cartoon illustration for an upcoming Swampy’s Florida book for Marion County, Florida. The ‘Swampy’s Florida: Marion County Museum of History’ coloring book is an A to Z count of items in the museum in coloring book form to help educate young people about the history of Marion County. I’ll post more images as they I get them drawn.

Here are a bunch of photos from an event I drew in Boynton Beach a couple weeks ago. Below is a photo of a lady who likes fantsy stories and is a manager ay a Publix. So, here she defends her employees in the cereal aisle against an approaching dragon!

Another meeting. Another batch of artwork done! Needed to riddle a stack of pencils for projects and did a bunch during a two and a half hour meeting…Participated in the meeting, too! Even got to ink a bit. Next is to send off the pencil work to a slew of clients for OKs, then I can figure time to ink some and color some. Some of these i can show final versions of later.

De Soto Didn’t Land At Tampa by Rolfe F. Schell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

‘De Soto Didn’t Land in Tampa’ is a hard book to review without balancing it with other accounts as to just where others think Hernando landed. Author Schell does an outstanding job making his point in under a hundred pages and it would seem he is correct. Punta Gorda sure feels he is with all their recognition of Hernando.

I’ll press on with my reading and have a few texts that have alternate ideas. I might come back and change my rating of the book and this review.

I’m giving this such a high rating because of how thorough Schell has accomplished his goal. The comparative chart of separate diaries of the explorers is very impressive. Schell’s knowledge of Spanish and his translation, further adds to his credibility.

I’m very familiar with the territory of the state that Schell lays out in his narrative as Hernando’s trail. Most all makes sense with the exception of the location of Ocali. Though, I think we may have spent too much time trying to interpret something that is not interpretable. We know names changed over the years and even Schell points out the trouble of multiple names for a single location.

Nevertheless, Schell’s effort in this book is impressive and I recommend it for those who wish to chase this ghost of a mystery.

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Storm Haven by Frank G. Slaughter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The research author Frank Slaughter did to accomplish the ability to put the reader in the very throes of each scene must have been exhausting. This book is amazing in its narrative. Knowing quite a bit about Florida history, Slaughter went beyond even extensive knowledge of Florida in the 1860s. Today writers would be pulling internet sites to get the details he does. I’m guessing Slaughter got as close to the source of the time period. Writing this in the early 1950s, he likely went beyond books to people, grandchildren and the like, to get as close as he could to accuracy. It’s a truly amazing accomplishment.
One scene well describes the Devils Millhopper near Gainesville. The name is never mentioned, but if you know the area, you know the spot by his writing. You also know the crossing of South Florida to the Withlacoochee, the setting around the living areas in the Panhandle (Being cagey here so I don’t spoil the story) and the scenes along the Ocklawaha. His descriptions of the peripheral events around the battle at Olustee are enlightening for those of us who have read of the battle. This book puts you there in the surgery area and the effects of the battle on both sides. I could go on.
Now, I must write this is my first Slaughter book. I’m guessing he does this in all his books. I look forward to wading into more.

I also need to add that the actual story was a bit predictable by today’s standards .
I highly recommend this book

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Made one of my twice-a-year trips to my friend George Pieper’s cartooning class to be a guest speaker. I demonstrated drawing the various presidents we’ve had since Carter and a bunch about my Swampy’s Florida project. As always, I ended the talk with a drawing made from suggestions of the students. Above is George and myself and the drawing drawn from suggestions.

This watercolor painting I finished last night will be in the silent auction at the Marion County Springs Festival tomorrow, Saturday the 24th, at Rainbow Springs State Park. The educational and music filled event runs from 10am to 4pm. Come on out and maybe you can nab this for 20 bucks!

First Encounters: Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570 by Jerald T. Milanich

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

What a mess! This is a series of essays with illustrations strung together that have a goal, by way of the title, to depict first encounters by the Spanish explorers. That is generally done. But it’s mighty sketchy as the focus are a handful of explorers and everything is done by practically every writer to paint a picture of nice innocent Spanish explorers who are being brave and finding a new world.

What is nearly completely ignored is the vicious ways of the Spanish explorers. The writers that do indicate some violent tendencies go so far as to excuse them and condemn the indians and French for being violent. What really rots in all this is that as each Spanish tale is unfolded vats of archaeological evidence is given to support the trips…that is, except the evidence that exists to tell the tale of the death spread in the name of Spain and Catholicism by the same Spanish explorers. How can a writer map out so much and leave out so much? How can one part completely brush over what Menendez did to the French…twice? The writer of Menendez spends all kinds of verbiage about the Menendez trip and the archaeological evidence of it all – except the cutting off of French heads. Did the writer find the incident to disturbing to write? Wouldn’t the editors pull the writers chain and point out something was left out? Nope. Again, any indication of violence is brushed aside and pages are written about disease killing off the indians. Suddenly archaeological evidence is not needed about disease and hearsay is warmly embraced.

The last section of this book is the worst. It meanders over artists depictions of the New World and motivations and reasoning behind the artwork. After the other chapters being tied to archaeology suddenly there’s an aesthetic examination of artistic interpretation. There are far better histories out there and this is a waste to be avoided. If politics are the reasons for the white washing of history what else can be trusted in what is written?

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Swampy’s Florida Prints – Picnic at Biscayne Bay.

Here’s the last of the nine watercolor paintings of Biscayne Bay beach set. This was the last one I needed to finish and I only found time today to do it. This wraps up the set and will show all nine when they are set for the gallery catalog they are going in.