BOOK REVIEW: Cybill Disobedience by Cybill Shepherd with Aimee Lee Ball

Many may wonder, "Why would you read a book about Cybill Shepherd?"  The answer is 'Why Not?'

The ol' saying of 'Don't judge a book by its cover' is thoroughly shattered with this book.  You truly can judge the book by this cover, and know you are going to be thoroughly impressed!

Below are the Insightful/Hilarious/Frightful quotes compiled by reading 292 pages about Cybill Shepherd:

Family Life and Advice:

...My siblings and I ignored the frisson between my parents and never discussed the family drinking patterns, except that we referred to Moma and Da-dee's Florida Condominium as Fort Liquordale.

I can take a trip down memory lane just by walking past the men's cologne counter of any department store.

After winning Miss Teenage Tennessee, a note arrived '...you are such a sweet, thoughtful All-American Girl.  If you stay this, and I am sure you will, you can never really become a loser.'

My room looked like the inside of a pepto-bismal bottle.

On dating Elvis:

Then he opened his jacket and revealed a pearl-handled revolver stuck in his belt.  "I carry this little girl everywhere I go."

Elvis was the first person I ever saw drink bottled water, which he imported from the Ozarks.  "You drink enough of this,and it'll keep you regular."

 Advice and Movie Reviews:

"If I was still acting, you're the kind of girl I'd like to work with.  Whatever you do, don't get depressed and start eating." - Cary Grant

When Gene Shalit reviewed the film on The Today Show, he said "In this movie Cybill Shepherd appears as if she cannot walk or talk, much less sing."

"Casting Cybill Shepherd in a musical comedy is like entering a horse in a cat show" - Cincent Canby of the New York Times

There's nothing like rejection right in your face to keep you humble.

"Cybill Shepherd is a no-talent dame with nice boobs and a toothpaste smile and all the star quality of a dead hamster." - Critic 

Life Choices:

I gained forty-five pounds during my first pregnancy, and just to keep me company, my husband, David, gained fifty.

When my daughter was christened, I wore Birkenstocks.  My Mother and Grandmother complained, but I told them Jesus wore sandals and would have understood.

By the third tri-mester, I was so i huge i began to resemble Marlon Brando.

...I got to do The Return, not quite the worst movie ever made, but close.  The plot, such as it was, concerned aliens who come to Earth and inhabit cows.

My first choice for the part was Paula Poundstone, a stand-up comedienne with a twisted wacky charm.

Introductions:

I'm Cybill Shepherd, You know, the Movie Star?

If you are looking for a good time on a Saturday night, I wholeheartedly recommend Cybill Disobedience!

- MO 6/2/14 

Book Review: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert A. Heinlein

Recently, I finished the Libertarian Science Fiction Novel - "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A Heinlein (1966).

I was given a copy when I attended a Chicago AFF Event.

The book was a tough read at times, partly because of the content, and partly because of my complete absence of reading books the last couple of years.  I have read blogs and magazines almost everyday, but the 'chore' of reading a book cover-to-cover scared me.  It took me over 3 months to finish, but the book's core message inspired me to finish.

Here is a quick summary: Luna is a colony controlled by Terra.   Luna residents create a strategy to revolt.  Terra strikes first, but Luna wins out.

The book had one great quote that I want to capture in this post:

You have put your finger on the dilemma of all government - and the reason I am an anarchist.  The power to tax, once conceded, has not limits; it contains until it destroys.  I was not joking when I told them to dig into their own pouches.  It may not be possible to do away with government - sometimes I think that government is so inescapable disease of human beings.  But it may be possible to keep it small and starved and inoffensive - and can you think of a better way than by requiring the governors themselves to pay the costs for their antisocial hobby?

 I find it fascinating that this book was written in 1966, and in 2014, I feel exactly the same way.  When I advocate for the elimination of entire departments in Governments, its because if you leave a pulse, it will find a tax or fee to keep it alive and eventually grow again.  I have convinced some ardent Liberals that there is no value in sending money to Washington for the Federal Department of Education, to have them create tests and standards to implement at state level, is asinine.  How does a bureaucrat know whats best for Oregon, Iowa, and Florida?

For a full chapter synopsis, please click here.

~Mark