Reviews

Destination Truth: An Unreview

Why have there been no reviews of the June 6th broadcast of “Destination Truth,” which was hosted by Josh Gates? Where are the reviews? Did you see it? For me, it happened right in the middle of a week of activities that centered on my son’s awards assemblies and graduation, so I missed it. Did anyone watch it? The limited, six-episodes of the sixty-minute long series are being carried on the Sci-Fi Channel. It is executive produced by Neil and Michael Mandt for their Mandt Brothers Productions, whose credits include ESPN’s very popular “Jim Rome Is Burning” show. If you [...]

Making the Grade in a Plethora of Titles

Back in 1983, a few people did notice when the book above was published. Otherwise, it won’t be called a classic. Today, it’s good that at least one reviewer is enjoying it so much that he has given me a letter grade for the expanded, updated 2007 edition. When I was in school, I had mixed feelings about getting a high letter grade. What was the teacher trying to tell me? Was I almost perfect or didn’t I say what I wanted to say? Was I above average but not excellent? Was I pretty darned good, but need not get [...]

Otter Nonsense

Otters, of course, are responsible for a few misidentifications of Lake Monsters in bodies of water worldwide. In my The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep (co-authored by Patrick Huyghe), the fact that people do make mistakes when viewing mundane mammals on lakes and lochs is acknowledged. Otters, nevertheless, have never been seen as the root of all Lake Monsters accounts, as seemed to be expressed on CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now” last week by the guest skeptic. Otters are hardly in vogue any longer. Even Bernard Heuvelmans’ theory of the “super-otters,” as [...]