my bitter belief that my prof took revenge on me by accepting me to grad school
y8irl:DISCLAIMER: information and opinions in the following text was written as an independent review. the authour of this review has neither engaged in prior discussion nor has read any review regarding the said book.
y8irl:DISCLAIMER: the authour of this review was not commisioned by the publisher or any independent party to do a review of this book. Furthermore this book is not currently a part of the reviewer's collection. (upon review)
xxxxx It is Thanksgiving weekend over here once again - a lazy Sunday afternoon and what is a messed up Asian kid to do? As I flipped thru this 'long awaited' curiosity one question remained constant in my head. That is "Do butterflies truly have hearts?" That was what the label on top of each page seemed to mock me with. With no further ado I underwent my research. I came up with the following info:
"Butterflies and moths have simple, flexible, tube-like heart in the abdomen. It pumps blood through a tube that runs from the abdomen to the head, and eventually into the animal's tissues. Pressure gradients force the blood back to the heart and the process begins again. The blood carries nutrients, but not oxygen (which is carried through a series of spiracles)
http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/subjects/butterfly/glossary/indexh.shtml#heart
xxxxxThe mail service is fast. I thank the gentleman (who I assume would like to remain annonymous), who lent me this quaint Balisong coffee table book at the simple price of an online review. We love to bitch here.
The said book up on the chopping block is called "The Heart of the Butterfly", authoured by Nikolai Alexandrov and Domninick Galiyeva. it has approximately 125 pages and printed by Alexi Publications. In my honest opinion I feel that this book has quite a hefty bit of info many beginner and intermediate Balisong entheusiasts might find very interesting. This publication's allure comes from its articles on Balisong history, it's healthy collection of images, and introduction of some famous custom makers. There are ofcourse small articles on the anatomy of the Balisong as well as cute legal anecdotes whic are ofcourse integral and indispensable in any Balisong publication.
xxxxxThe Balisong community is hungry for some new publications and parnalephelia concerning Balisongs - this world being a subverted underground knife subculture (which in itself has been a strong part of its appeal), news of a new book that isn't 10-20 years old was as gratifying to the ears as Benchmade's announcement of the Model 42. However in many cases the outcome draws many parellels. (Again my opinion of the BM42 is my opinion alone). I must say that I was more than disappointed at the overall quality of this book. (I would like to reinforce again that I have not discussed this book or read any reviews prior to writing my own). This book has it's good and bad points ofcourse but the whole package left me chewing thin air looking for that missing something. The content of the book reminds me of a college, or actually maybe, more of a high school term paper, written (however) by a student of geniune interest on the subject. it just doesn't measure up in my opinion. It doesn't help that the overall tone of the book made me feel like I was reading one of those "How does it work?" books for children, complete with skematic drawings done in a studio with no rulers. The ludicrously large font and tasteless use of white space in the design of the book sealed the package. Being a fanatical Balisong enthusiast and frustrated web designer I was rather merciless. I woudl also have apprecaited if more time woudl have been taken to pack and organize this book rather than increasing the font and white space to up the page count. Which reminds me I will probably do that for my Urban Development final paper. Dammit.
xxxxxNow please do not let me totally turn you off just yet. I seem to have a propensity (damn that word??) for that. The book starts with numerous historical anecdotes of the origin of the butterfly. This is ofcourse a very controversial topic to those who love the art - the authour was wise (and maybe cowardly) NOT to draw any conclusions as to the TRUE birthplace of the Balisong. THe 'TRUTH' has yet to be uncovered as to the true origin of the Balisong and in my opinion, Mr. Chuck Gollnick, web-authour of The Balisong Collector has the meatiest, and most convincing THESIS on the origin of the Balisong knife. With the juicy martini laced filling to back it up. The authour of this book was shortsighted not to consult him. Although the historical info of the Balisong knife was very unorgasmic, it did have it's fun points that made me go "OH! Is that right? Cool." However I cannot vouch for any of the historical references except for the stuff about the Philippines and specifically, the Batanngas provinces. It was far from complete but accurate for the most part. (but DID you knwo that Barrio balisong was ACTUALLY named AFTER the knife not vice versa? Tourist trap cocktail party anecdote - then again this is all from word of mouth. I never actually opened the books to see when the name 'Bario Balisong' was established.).
I would also have apprecaited if the authours explained a little bit more about the 'Manila Latch' as opposed to drawing the convinient and somewhat iresponsible conclusion that the MANILA latch came from Manila. True or not I would have wanted to know why most all World War 2 Balisongs favoured this configuration while newer designs seemed to obliterate it from fashion. Oh well just my pet peeve. The history in this book has some meat to it but to defined flavour (Main idea or direction).
xxxxxThe book continues to showcase a hefty amount of custom Balisongs by documenting popular American custom Balisong makers. In particular it seems that the authours were particularly skewed towards Ralph Turnbull and Paul Jarvis. I think these gentlemen have heavy stock in this book as they dominate the catalog. Make no mistake that these two are great artisans in the culture, but from a historical perspective (in terms of American custom knife makers) I find it a grave injustice that Walter 'Erik' Erikson (early pioneer of the latch gate (? - as well as popularizing the double tang pin config (?)) and unparalleled & unduplicated BRUTAL designer), and Ronald Miller were not contacted to comment or documented apart from passing honourable mention. Mr. Ron Miller G_O_D rest your soul. If you can hear me in heaven, this review is dedicated to you. Have a White Russian on me (no pun, I just simply adore the drink). In my opinion the fresh and foremost 'wicked' designs, plus innovations Mr. Erikson has contributed to the history of the Balisong is invaluable to any custom maker history. The rich history of Kelgin knives was satisfactory but quite summarized too to say the least. Criminal I tell you.
xxxxx Many fans will surely be disappointed as well that minimum mention was made to Les DeAsis and Benchmade Knives (as well as its predecesors, Pacific Cutlery and BaliSong Cutlery). Truly a whole history and picture book could stand alone with such rich historical information.
xxxxxFrom the standpoint of myself being a VERY frustrated Graphic designer I feel cheated when I flip through this book. Joel Pirela you are my design hero - whether it be Tactical or Graphic design. Trust in me that this book will not make me bash my head against the wall repeatedly (but it woudl probably make me do it out of injustice) or cut off my fingers or gouge out my eyes because of envy. The pictures within the book are obviously just 'borrowed' from respective collectors and probably apart form the cover pic, there are no photos taken exclusively for this book. The pictures of the CarlaLew, Turnbull and Jarvis collection could have been easily requested from the said collectors and makers. Nothing new here. I am speciafically bitter about the fact that my Kelgin/Benchmade Balisong was not featured in this book. This rant is not primarily because I wanted to piece at immortality (it would have been nice), but mainly because I had sent my Kelgin/Benchmade hybrid custom to Mr. Ken Largin for appraisal only to find that the knife was 'sent' to a certain authour in CA for 'photographing' (without asking my permission) which resulted in a 2-3 month wait on its return, only to find that it was all in vain. On a better note, I find it amusing that say 60-80% of all the FHMs in the CarlaLew collection came from me =).
xxxxxOverall I feel that this book is a good resource for beginners and novices in the Balisong culture. However it will probably be a one time read for those intermediate and expert collectors and enthusiasts who have taken the time to talk to custom makers, research on history as well as collected gigabytes of pictures for their own image library. I think I will be opening the appendixed catalog of my Advanced Balisong Manual (authoured by Jeff Imada) more than this book in the future. But hey lots of nice flame blade designs from Mr. Turnbull. *One point... BM42 Prototypes and Pre-Production Balisongs are two dfferent animals. (or -PUN intended- insects.. okay okay bad joke.. feel free to barf on the side). This book will probably be a nice thing to sell on ebay ino the future when a new resurgence of anti balisong laws come to effect.
xxxxxYes, I have been very heinous (there should be a law that anyone who can form that word in scrabble should get 500 bonus points and inducted into the Guiness Book of World Records) with the review of this book, but all in all I welcome it (maybe not whole heartedly) into the Balisong culture. The Heart of the Butterfly is set for 'further revisions', and seeing the results to date I will be eagerly awaiting for it (uhm.. maybe..), as it has many points it would be wise to improve on. Take my advice, specialize on your information, streamline your research and information breakdown, and PLEASE learn how to use a CAD machine or at least work on the skematics. I am not the best artist but you can borrow my rulers if you wish. Consider that my donation to the culture and history.
"Jeeves, kindly run this thru the spll chkr ples?!"
