2009 Olivia Calendar

2009 Olivia Calendar

Introduced with an eye-stopping, portrait of the beguiling Dita Von Teese, Olivia's 2009 Calendar celebrates the classic pin-up rendered with the unique, spritely, Olivia touch. Long regarded as the High Priestess of the genre, Olivia leads us through a month by month feminine delight with her favorite models: Dita Von Teese, Shannon Tweed, Sandi Taylor, Bettie Page, Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson, Rhonda Ridley, Bridget Marquardt, and Heather Kozar.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #51959 in Books

Published on: 2008-08-15

Number of items: 1

Binding: Calendar

24 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Olivia in her Own Words...I was born in 1948 in Long Beach, California, but spent most of my childhood on the east coast. As a small child, I was provided pencils and paper to amuse myself. I would spend hours drawing my mother sleeping on the couch, mother dancing around the house, and in general the perils of being her. She was a disgruntled glamour-puss, and would entertain me with terrible imitations of Mae West, Garbo, Dietrich, Hepburn and Zsa Zsa Gabor. She was a cross between Sophia Loren, Lucille ball, and Rosie the Riveter. She was my muse. My father was a freelance aeronautical engineer, and is a great, funny dad. He traveled from job to job, which made us move often. As an only child I was constantly thrust into new environments. I used my blossoming artistic talent to alienate new friends and teachers, using them constantly as subjects in sketches and portraits for classmates and neighbors. I arrived in New York City in '67 and went to The School of Visual Arts. I spent a few blurry years waitressing, and living in the Village, the Bowery, and Soho. I had a brief stint in the fine art world participating in a few lucky, incredible shows. All I could see ahead was a long hard road swimming upstream in the fine art world. Necessity demanded a new direction, and since I had always drawn women, I went to the men's magazines to start what I thought was a temporary road, somehow along the way, I thrived and stayed. I met my husband Joel in 1975, and two years later we began a greeting card business, 'O Cards', to publish my art. Joel and I married in '79, and he has been the greatest influence and partner in my life. He has provided me with support and vision his vast collection of erotica and pin-up has been a pleasure to watch grow, and it's fed me artistically over the years. we are inseparable. Joel is the silent partner, preferring to growl and grumble behind me. I showed my new work at 'Erotics Gallery' in '82 in New York, and then in the mid 80s began a 15 year relationship with the publisher/gallery Robert and Tamara Bane. I had fourteen one-woman shows through the years at their galleries, and they did many graphic editions. I also had shows in San Francisco, Tokyo, New York, and many other cities and galleries. In '93, Joel and I published the first of our five books, "Let Them Eat Cheesecake", under our own imprint, Ozone Productions. We are no longer with the Tamara Bane Gallery, and we are currently publishing our own limited editions, which will be shown on our own on-line gallery as well as Bettie Page Las Vegas, among other venues to come. While painting all these years, I had to keep an economic eye on what I created, but I was still able to flourish because of Joel's publishing and licensing. I often felt 'lost but driven' through these years, but I've stayed with the theme of erotica, pin-up, glamour, and burlesque. So my art life has been variations on a theme. Now, I am published each month in Playboy Magazine. Thanks to Hef's generosity, and his position as pinup genius, I grace his pages and I get to partner with him creatively. I supply the images, he writes the captions. I see my career at this moment steeped in the joy of pin-up, and now I see Hef as my muse. He has launched many of the top sex icons of the last half century, and influenced the sexual attitudes of the last 50 years. His creation of an empire based on the joy of sex was spurred on by images from his youth from the likes of Enoch Boles, George Petty, and Alberto Vargas. I'm trying to recreate the spark that lit his fire and keep my sensibilities as a woman. There are so many elements to doing great pin-up. I leave just as much on the floor as there is on the desk. It is all part of the process of being an artist, and one that I'm very grateful for.

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Customer Reviews

Beautiful!!
This calendar is exactly what I hoped it would be. It is nice and large and the art is exceptional. Just gorgeous!

It also shipped almost a full week before we expected it.

Fantastic Calendar.
I had been looking for this calendar for a while before I found it on Amazon. It's a great calendar with lots of room to write in birthdays and events! The pictures are great full color works of art, as I LOVE Bettie, Dita and the Girls Next Door!!!!
I'll be buying Olivia calendars every year now!!!

Acccording to my husband......
My husband is always pleased to get this calendar for Christmas, so he has quite the collection. While the subject matter doesn't suit me personally, I admire and apprecitate the talent that went in to it.

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American Fashion

American Fashion

Ultimate and unprecedented, American Fashion is a richly illustrated celebration of the history of fashion in this country. Commissioned by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), AMERICAN FASHION is a visual journey beginning with the protean creators in Hollywood and New York during the1930s and the significant and creative expansion that took place in the years surrounding World War II.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #31544 in Books

Published on: 2007-09-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

319 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
If you've ever wanted to know anything about the history of fashion in this country, you're likely to find it in the pages of this engrossing read --Gotham Magazine

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Customer Reviews

Very Cool Book
I haven't read much yet, but I have looked through it at all the pictures. There are some really great photos in here. I love fashion, so this is a great book to add to my collection. It's great to flip through when I'm bored. If you love fashion, buy this. I'll read it eventually, and I'm sure it's filled with interesting info about American Fashion.

History of Fashion
Book is a gift for someone special who is very interested in fashion and I know she will enjoy this book. Feel I got a very good deal since it is a pricey book but something you can go back to for many years. Amazon did a great job on getting to me quickly.

You can bet on this one
All the glamour.
Great photography.
Great shots.
Rich.
Beautiful colors.
Stars!
The whole nine yards!
I love it!!!

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Doubt: A Parable

Doubt: A Parable

"A superb new drama written by John Patrick Shanley. It is an inspired study in moral uncertainty with the compellingly certain structure of an old-fashioned detective drama. Even as Doubt holds your conscious attention as an intelligently measured debate play, it sends off stealth charges that go deeper emotionally. One of the year's ten best."-Ben Brantley, The New York Times

"[The] #1 show of the year. How splendid it feels to be trusted with such passionate, exquisite ambiguity unlike anything we have seen from this prolific playwright so far. Blunt yet subtle, manipulative but full of empathy for all sides, the play is set in 1964 but could not be more timely. Doubt is a lean, potent drama . . . passionate, exquisite, important, and engrossing."-Linda Winer, Newsday

Chosen as the best play of the year by over 10 newspapers and magazines, Doubt is set in a Bronx Catholic school in 1964, where a strong-minded woman wrestles with conscience and uncertainty as she is faced with concerns about one of her male colleagues. This new play by John Patrick Shanley-the Bronx-born-and-bred playwright and Academy Award-winning author of Moonstruck-dramatizes issues straight from today's headlines within a world re-created with knowing detail and a judicious eye. After a stunning, sold-out production at Manhattan Theatre Club, the play has transferred to Broadway.

John Patrick Shanley is the author of numerous plays, including Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Dirty Story, Four Dogs and a Bone, Psychopathia Sexualis, Sailor's Song, Savage in Limbo, and Where's My Money?. He has written extensively for TV and film, and his credits include the teleplay for Live from Baghdad and screenplays for Congo, Alive, Five Corners, Joe Versus the Volcano (which he also directed), and Moonstruck, for which he won an Academy Award for original screenplay.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #104173 in Books

Published on: 2007-09-30

Original language: English

Binding: Paperback

54 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
John Patrick Shanley is from the Bronx. He was thrown out of St. Helene's kindergarten, banned from St. Anthony's hot lunch program and expelled from Cardinal Spellman High School. When asked why he had been treated in this way, he burst into tears and said he had no idea. Then he went into the Marine Corps. He did fine. He is still doing ok.

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Customer Reviews

Copy of "Doubt"
The item arrived promptly and was in excellent condition, like new. Excellent customer service by the vendor.

Excellent companion to the movie
A great movie based on a great play! This books allows you to go over the dialogs and discover details that one may miss when watching the movie. I suggest reading the preface after reading the whole play and then...start thinking!

a giant ripoff
This appeared to be a novel. It is only a few pages with less than 1/4 of the dialog from the movie. A TOTAL RIPOFF.

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Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World

Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World

A journey across four continents to the heart of the conflict over who should own the great works of ancient art

Why are the Elgin Marbles in London and not on the Acropolis? Why do there seem to be as many mummies in France as there are in Egypt? Why are so many Etruscan masterworks in America? For the past two centuries, the West has been plundering the treasures of the ancient world to fill its great museums, but in recent years, the countries where ancient civilizations originated have begun to push back, taking museums to court, prosecuting curators, and threatening to force the return of these priceless objects.

Where do these treasures rightly belong? Sharon Waxman, a former culture reporter for The New York Times and a longtime foreign correspondent, brings us inside this high-stakes conflict, examining the implications for the preservation of the objects themselves and for how we understand our shared cultural heritage. Her journey takes readers from the great cities of Europe and America to Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as these countries face down the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, the British Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She also introduces a cast of determined and implacable characters whose battles may strip these museums of some of their most cherished treasures.

For readers who are fascinated by antiquity, who love to frequent museums, and who believe in the value of cultural exchange, Loot opens a new window on an enduring conflict.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #38424 in Books

Published on: 2008-10-28

Released on: 2008-10-28

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

432 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. After covering Hollywood's cutting-edge directors (Rebels on the Backlot), former New York Times correspondent Waxman embarks on a grand tour of some of the world's finest museums—the Met, the Louvre, the British Museum, the Getty—and the countries from which some of their most famous antiquities were illicitly taken. Skillfully blending history and reportage, Waxman traces the stories of treasures like the Elgin Marbles, then jumps into the debate over whether they should be restored to their countries of origin. She finds no easy answers: while acknowledging the dubious means by which European and American museums acquired many antiquities, she concedes that the governments clamoring for their return don't always have adequate plans for their maintenance. (Turkey compelled the Met to hand over the famous Lydian Hoard, only to have its masterpiece stolen.) Waxman's account is animated by interviews with museum curators, accused smugglers and government officials, putting a human spin on the complex cultural politics before arriving at a middle ground that strives for international collaboration in preserving a broad, global heritage. 8-page color insert, 20 b&w photos. (Nov. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Roger Atwood Early this year, officials at the Metropolitan Museum of Art trussed up one of the prizes of its collection, an ancient vase known as the Euphronios krater, and sent it back to Italy. Italian authorities had presented evidence that the piece had been looted from a tomb near Rome less than a year before the Met paid $1 million for it in 1972. Faced with the prospect of a lawsuit and a ban on receiving any future loans from Italian museums, the Met, writes former Washington Post and New York Times reporter Sharon Waxman, "stalled, stonewalled, and would not be swayed -- until it was forced to do so." Seeing great institutions humbled like this might give satisfaction to some, but what is served by such returns of art? If they're meant as a statement against looting, how does shifting a pot from New York to Rome advance that interest? These are the underlying questions of Waxman's absorbing and well-researched Loot. Although her views are often unnervingly one-sided (her sympathies lean toward letting museums keep their contested holdings), she gives all actors in this bitterly antagonistic drama a hearing and writes with flair and an earnest sense of inquiry. Waxman recounts the story of Lord Elgin and his marbles and exposes lesser known but egregious cases of 19th-century pillage, such as the removal of three heads from a mural depicting the life of Egyptian pharaoh Amenophis III. Someone simply cut them from an out-of-the-way tomb in the Valley of the Kings; blank squares now indicate where the pharaoh's visages once appeared. "It is shocking. Imagine the Mona Lisa's face cut out of her canvas with a kitchen knife," writes Waxman, who was led to the scene by a guide with a flashlight. The faces are now in the Louvre, labeled simply, "From the tomb of Amenophis III" with no explanation of their pillaged past. Waxman wants the Louvre and other museums to be more upfront with the public about the unethical or illegal origin of their treasures, even if they don't return them. Pillaged artifacts become part of the landscape in their adopted country, and not always in a good way. She offers an engrossing history of the removal of ancient Egyptian obelisks to cities all over Europe, where they were erected as imperial trophies in traffic circles and plazas, including St. Peter's Square in Rome. Waxman's argument that "Western museums remain essential custodians of the past" wears thin when she conflates imperial looting of the Elgin variety with the modern phenomenon of commercial grave-robbing. They both involve antiquities, but, I found myself asking, what do they have in common? The former usually followed conquest and was seen as a matter of national aggrandizement for European powers (think of Napoleon stuffing the Louvre with Italian booty), while the latter has a straightforward profit motive and occurs in violation of well-established national and international laws that did not exist before the modern era. One can be excused, or at least explained in its historical context; the other is obliterating ancient sites right now and implicates all of us. Some big collecting museums still keep the door open to acquiring pillaged goods. The Met, as Waxman points out, "remains one of the few major museums that continues to collect antiquities that lack a clear provenance." Other institutions, including the British Museum and even the Getty, whose journey from chop shop of looted artifacts to chastised good citizen is well-told by Waxman, have stopped acquiring antiquities that lack a documented chain of ownership because that usually means they are plundered from ancient sites. Waxman also neglects to point out that the wanton trade in undocumented antiquities encourages forgery. Since there is no record of where and when looted artifacts are found, museums and the public can be duped by fakes. This is the subject of Unholy Business, Nina Burleigh's bracing account of the case of the James Ossuary, an ancient limestone box that turned up in Jerusalem in 2002 with an inscription reading "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." It caused a global sensation and was exhibited in the Royal Ontario Museum before Israeli authorities revealed that it was a hoax. The box was real -- prominent Jews in the time of Jesus often preserved family bones in such containers -- but the inscription was a modern forgery, probably created in the same rooftop workshop in Tel Aviv that produced another momentarily famous relic now almost universally believed to be a fake: the Jehoash Tablet, which supposedly attested to the existence of the First Temple of Jerusalem. The ossuary shook the world because it would have offered the first material evidence of Jesus Christ. It posed a theological quandary for Catholics, who believe Mary was a lifelong virgin and that she could not, therefore, have borne Jesus any siblings. Some evangelicals were almost poignantly willing to believe in any artifact, no matter how suspect, that seemed to offer literal corroboration of the Bible. Burleigh skillfully navigates the theological dilemmas that attended the "discovery" of the ossuary and the forensic evidence that finally sank it. She leads readers through the murky world of Holy Land relic-looting, forgery and smuggling and delves deep into the mix of vanity and delusion that leads people to buy fakes. One collector, upon learning he had bought an expensive forgery, insisted to her that "I do have what they call a nose, a feel, whatever it is. . . . An object actually vibrates to me sometimes." As the Met found out with its krater, a beautiful object can betray even the most sensitive nose.
Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

From Booklist
The Elgin Marbles in London. The Euphronios krater in New York. Aphrodite in Malibu. These ancient objects are not only art-world treasures but also poster icons of a long-running cultural quandary: Do antiquities belong in the great museums of the West or back in their native lands? And how did they get to their pampering resting places anyway? Waxman’s comprehensive and revealing overview of cultural imperialism, art, and history stretches from Napoleon’s plunder of Egypt (circa 1800) to the recent show-trial in Italy of a Getty Museum curator. At issue mostly is how the yearning for urns feeds an epidemic of tomb raiding and a global bazaar of shady traders, wealthy collectors, and museums that look the other way. Waxman is a congenial, globe-hopping tour guide through cramped offices, dank tomb sites, and sleek, art-filled palaces. There are no simple solutions but many competing attitudes and positions. Waxman argues strongly for transparency. Museums rarely disclose where their objects came from, or how they traveled through time and landed on display. They should. Without that the cultural history remains incomplete. --Steve Paul

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Customer Reviews

Scholarship ?
A number of reviewers have applauded the detailed "scholarship" of this book. I happen to disagree. Today a writer's sources can easily be checked using the internet. I have done this and found the author's "scholarship" wanting.

There are "Notes" related to page numbers at the end of the book. The note for page 32 - Chapter 2 "FINDING ROSETTA" - tells us that: "Biographical information on Napoleon Bonaparte is drawn from Flora E. S. Kaplan, `Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists and the Rediscovery of Egypt' (New York: Dahesh Museum of Art, 2006)..." This reference is to a 48 page catalogue of an exhibition of nineteenth-century paintings presented at the illusive Dahesh Museum of Art with an essay by its former curator Lisa Small, the exhibition's organizer. (Flora Edouwaye S. Kaplan was/is the museum's director.) Is such a catalogue a reliable source for information about Napoleon in Egypt?

On page 48 we are told that Giovanni Belzoni "traveled down the Nile" to Luxor from Cairo. But, as the Nile flows from south to north, he went "up" the Nile.

On page 55 we are told that Akhenaten "moved his capital from Thebes, today's Luxor, to a city he founded 150 miles to the south, a capital he called Akhetaten, known now as el Amarna." El-Amarna is actually north of Luxor. Furthermore, Wikipedia gives the distance from Luxor to el-Amarna as 250 miles.

On page 56 the author gives an inaccurate copy of a quote from page 139 of "Imperialism, Art and Restitution" claiming that it is from Ludwig Borchardt's 1912 diary. It is actually a translation of Borchardt's 1923 account "Porträts der Königin Nofret-ete" in "Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft im Tell el-Amarna". (This is clearly indicated in a footnote on page 139 of "Imperialism, Art and Restitution" which can be read online using Amazon.com's LOOK INSIDE for ISBN 978-0521859295.)

The author's account of Emile Prisse d'Avennes on pages 72 and 73 is taken from a magazine article "Prisse: A Portrait" by Mary Norton published in `Saudi Aramco World', November-December 1990 which is available online at: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199006/prisse-a.portrait.htm. According to Norton, "Prisse settled down among the ruins of Karnak at ancient Thebes, and began to sketch and take papier-mache impressions from the thousands of inscriptions and bas-reliefs adorning some half-million square meters (140 acres) of temples, palaces and tombs." With Waxman this becomes: "He was a gifted artist who made hundreds of sketches, papier-mâché impressions, and plaster casts of thousands of inscriptions and reliefs that covered the tombs and temples in Egypt". Waxman gratuitously adds the "plaster casts", omits the "palaces" and extends Prisse's area of study from Karnak to Egypt. Is this a fair use of the source material?

The zodiac ceiling from the Temple of Dendera is described on pages 74 and 75. According to the author: "One inscription actually records a solar eclipse that occurred on March 7 in the year of 51 BC at 11:10 a.m. Other carvings show the position of the constellations from June 15 to August 15, in 50 BC." There are no notes for pages 74 and 75. So how did the author come by this information? (According to NASA http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov there was indeed an annular solar eclipse on March 7 in 51 BC [-0050 astronomical numbering system] but is this really recorded at Dendera?)

Brian Fagan's "The Rape of the Nile" (1975/2004), Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini's "The Medici Conspiracy" (2006), and William St. Clair's "Lord Elgin and the Marbles" (1967/1998) were all noted as sources by the author.

The death of Christo Michaelides and the consequences for Robin Symes are related on pages 352-354 of "Loot". According to a note by the author: "Information about the battle between Symes and the Papadimitriou family is from interviews, contemporaneous British press accounts, and Apostolidis, `Network'." Apparently Peter Watson and Cecilia Todeschini used the same sources for their almost identical account given on pages 248-263 of "The Medici Conspiracy" published in 2006.

The author describes her pilgrimage to the Acropolis on pages 233 to 237. "I mount from the southeast side" (i.e. from the new "Acropoli" metro station) ... "It is hot, too hot. Sweat trickles down my back. ... I think of the pilgrims filing on this path for the festival of Athena, the virgins and the young men leading garlanded cattle, and I remember the sculptures of the Parthenon that depict the pageantry of the ancient festival, occurring once every four years and culminating in a ceremony to place a new woolen robe, or peplos, on the gold and ivory statue of Athena in her temple." This is absolute rubbish. The ancient Greeks approached the Acropolis from the the northwest via the Agora. The peplos was placed on a life-sized wooden statue of Athena Polias in the Erechtheion not on Phidias' hugh chryselephantine statue in the Parthenon.

So much for the "scholarship". As a journalist, the author collected (by tape recorder?) an array of opinions from archaeologists, museum curators and fellow journalists. Surprisingly, the author's anecdotal evidence suggests that most of the inhabitants of the archaeological source countries didn't - and don't - care much about their own "cultural patrimony". For example, the local museum at Usak which now houses the repatriated "Lydian Hoard" had only 769 visitors over a five-year period.

According to judge Omer Erdogmus (quoted on page 158) the Lydian Hoard "treasures were brought back, and Turkey could not protect them." ... "We Turks didn't make these treasures," he finally said. "They were made by other civilizations and found in Turkey. It's the heritage of all humanity, the heritage of the whole world. This land belongs to us, but what we find under the soil, if we can't look after it, maybe other people should."

Özgen Acar, the foreign affairs columnist at "Cumhuriyet" (quoted on page 138) opposes, for now, the return of the Pergamon Altar to Turkey and the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece. "I'm very happy these were carried away in the nineteenth or eighteenth centuries, because they were protected," he says. "If not, piece by piece those marbles would have been used to build mosques or churches. Luckily they were taken away and protected on behalf of mankind. ...."

I didn't buy the book. I borrowed a copy from my local library.

Loot
This is an enjoyable read and I admit I learned/remembered some things about ancient art, but it is flawed in the way that a lot of current nonfiction is: it seizes on one argument and makes it over and over again while supplying some generic historical information that could be found in textbooks along with gossip about elites. In this case, the argument has to do with whether or not cultural artifacts residing in museums should be returned to their countries of origin. Some say yes, some say no, but that is about as far as the analysis goes. There is little in the way of discussion about what forms cultural identity and why objects are important (or not) and not much supplied about the history of the objects themselves beyond a few good stories. There are brief and unenlightening excerpts from interviews with museum directors and curators; none of these go very deep or say much beyond what the author is saying over and over again.

A Problem That Is Not Going To Go Away
Sharon Waxman's new book is a winner in more ways than one. As several reviewers have commented, she has brought us new insights on the key personalities involved in the antiquities trade, done her homework in regard to the history and paper trails and best of all she makes the case for why the museum world and responsible governments will have to pay attention. The problem of restitution and return of artifacts is here to stay and it's not going to disappear into the woodwork.

Is it possible to hold a grudge for 120 years? Apparently yes, according to Kwame Opoku and Zahi Hawass, two men who have taken every opportunity to call for the return of African antiquities, regardless of whether they were looted, stolen, bought or given away under permit. They look at all of these objects as part of any nation's patrimony, and like two terriers in a rat field they intend to stand their ground till the bitter end.

They purposely seek out confrontations with heads of major museums either in person or in print, of whom Opoku has singled out James Cuno as a target. Director of the Art Institute of Chicago and author of the controversial Who Owns Antiquity? Cuno argues that "antiquities are the cultural property of all humankind, evidence of the world's ancient past and not that of a particular modern nation. They comprise antiquity, and antiquity knows no borders." He argues that retention of new finds and reclamation of old ones will lead to a dangerous politicization, thus he believes that there is such a thing as too much protection. His attitude is that now is the time to broaden, not restrict, access to antiquities, a stand that seems typical of the other large museums.

Opoku, a retired legal adviser in Vienna, takes an unrelenting opposite view that challenges Cuno and calls for the return of all antiquities. This power struggle created by Hawass and Opoku has if anything exposed a fatal weakness in the monolithic institutions of the West. That is a central and timely point made by Waxman. As she says, there is in the larger museums, "an unwillingness to adapt to the changing mores of a shifting global culture. The politics of `us versus them' has to give way to a reaffirmation of the value of cultural exchange, and its real embrace by both sides."

She also shows how in defense of their position the large museums of the West have distanced themselves from the concept of the National museum, the institution that is often used to tell the story of a nation's past and confirm its present importance. They now prefer to be known as encyclopedic museums, products of Enlightenment idealism, and institutions whose collections represent the world's artistic legacy.
Irene Rowland a professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, based in Rome, in a recent review explained how the great encyclopedic museums of the West found themselves on their high horses, since they "were predicated, perhaps to a one, on the idea that their local public constituted the world's best people, and hence the most deserving to stand in the presence of high culture, with a smattering of primitives to drive that sense of superiority home."

Rowland has kindly provided a stepladder on the off chance that they now find it difficult to get down from their lofty positions. She says, "the only plausible arrangement for museums today is to work as a peer among peers in schemes of international cooperation, already increasingly the norm for archaeological expeditions. The day is long gone when English, German, and American scholars could move in to tell the locals what was what and take their findings back to their encyclopedic museums to enlighten those who are deemed most capable of enlightenment."

Rowland and Opoku provide a way of the future in the development of a system that we can all believe in, the International Museum to which all nations and cultures would make their own contributions.

Waxman also helps by calling for "changing attitudes and shifting paradigms," but above all she points the finger at one of the central obstacles, provenance, the history of every object in every museum, collection and art salon. A more open attitude toward provenance may be just the thing to start everyone on the right road toward a meaningful and peaceful solution before too much blood is spilled, as it surely will be.

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Hubble: Imaging Space and Time

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time

In the spirit of National Geographic’s top-selling Orbit, this large-format, full-color volume stands alone in revealing more than 200 of the most spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope during its lifetime, to the very eve of the 2008 final shuttle mission to the telescope. Written by two of the world’s foremost authorities on space history, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time illuminates the solar system’s workings, the expansion of the universe, the birth and death of stars, the formation of planetary nebulae, the dynamics of galaxies, and the mysterious force known as "dark energy."

The potential impact of this book cannot be overstressed: The 2008 servicing mission to install new high-powered scientific instruments is especially high profile because the cancellation of the previous mission, in 2004, caused widespread controversy. The authors reveal the inside story of Hubble’s beginnings, its controversial early days, the drama of its first servicing missions, and the creation of the dynamic images that reach into the deepest regions of visible space, close to the time when the universe began.

A wealth of astonishing images leads us to the very edge of known space, setting the stage for the new James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013. Find the stunning panoramic of Carina Nebula, detailing star birth as never before; a jet from a black hole in one galaxy striking a neighboring galaxy; a jewel-like collection of galaxies from the early years of the universe; and a giant galaxy cannibalizing a smaller galaxy.

Timed for the 2008 shuttle launch and coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first telescope, Hubble: Imaging Space and Time accompanies a high-profile exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum and will be featured on the popular NASM website.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #24089 in Books

Published on: 2008-09-30

Released on: 2008-09-30

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

224 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
The Hubble Space Telescope began taking spectacular photographs of the cosmos just as the Internet spread its web on Earth, granting public access to these astonishing, beautiful, and unprecedented images. So cherished were these glimpses into the universe, when NASA announced in 2004 that it would end the shuttle missions necessary to service the telescope, the protest was vehement enough to rescind the decision. This handsome volume celebrates the technological and scientific breakthroughs that have made the Hubble such a resounding success. The full, up-to-date story is told in glorious photographs and the equally sparkling commentary of Hubble experts DeVorkin and Smith. From a profile of the brilliant astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–1953) to detailed explanations of how the spectacular photographs of such phenomena as the Orion Nebula (its portrait required 150 orbits) were taken, the authors cover the people, science, and aesthetics of the stellar Hubble era. Not only are the telescope’s contributions to science beyond quantification, DeVorkin and Smith aver, the images the Hubble has gathered have also had profound effects on our imagination and spiritual growth. --Donna Seaman

About the Author
David Devorkin is curator for history and astronomy and the space sciences at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. In his more than 30-year career, he has written over 90 articles and seven books. He lives in Maryland.

Robert Smith is professor of history and past chair of the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta, and formerly a staff member at the National Air and Space Museum. His books include the award-winning The Space Telescope: A Study of NASA, Science, Technology and Politics. He has closely followed Hubble’s history for 20 years.

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Customer Reviews

Illustrated Cosmos
This is a large, hardback, heavy book. It is a reference book with tons of illustrations and pictures of distant astronomic objects. It especially covers the origin of the study of astronomy and its transformation by orbiting astronomy. It concentrates on the Hubble Space Telescope, its design and the images it produces.

Great gift
I bought this lovely book as a gift for my engineer husband -- he was thrilled with it. The images are both stunning and eerie. Who knew that just outside our local astral neighborhood there were such amazing sights? In this day of high tech instant gratification it's hard to keep in mind that mysteries and miracles do exist - and it's too easy to take for granted such stellar achievements in the sciences. Pick up this book and leaf through it and that just falls away - you'll be amazed. And humbled.

All Things Hubble
This is really a great book regarding all things about The Hubble Space Telescope. Has great pictures about some of the celestial imaging captured by Hubble, in great color and detail. The cover of this book alone makes this one a winner. Another great price offered through Amazon versus what can be had from brick and mortar retailers.

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The History of the Snowman

The History of the Snowman

Who made the first snowman? Who first came up with the idea of placing snowballs on top of each other, and who decided they would use a carrot for a nose? Most puzzling of all: How can this mystery ever be solved, with all the evidence long since melted? The snowman appears everywhere on practically everything -- from knickknacks to greeting cards to seasonal sweaters we plan to return. Whenever we see big snowballs our first impulse is to deck them out with a top hat. Humorist and writer Bob Eckstein has long been fascinated by this ubiquitous symbol of wintertime fun -- and finally, for the first time, one of the world's most popular icons gets his due. A thoroughly entertaining exploration, The History of the Snowman travels back in time to shed light on the snowman's enigmatic past -- from the present day, in which the snowman reigns as the King of Kitsch, to the Dark Ages, with the creation of the very first snowman. Eckstein's curiosity began playfully enough, but soon snowballed into a (mostly) earnest quest of chasing Frosty around the world, into museums and libraries, and seeking out the advice of leading historians and scholars. The result is a riveting history that reaches back through centuries and across cultures -- sweeping from fifteenth-century Italian snowballs to eighteenth-century Russian ice sculptures to the regrettable "white-trash years" (1975-2000). The snowman is not just part of our childhood memories, but is an integral part of our world culture, appearing -- much like a frozen Forrest Gump -- alongside dignitaries and celebrities during momentous events. Again and again, the snowman pops up in rare prints, paintings, early movies, advertising and, over the past century, in every art form imaginable. And the jolly snowman -- ostensibly as pure as the driven snow -- also harbors a dark past full of political intrigue, sex, and violence. With more than two hundred illustrations and a special section of the best snowman cartoons, The History of the Snowman is a truly original winter classic -- smart, surprisingly enlightening, and quite simply the coolest book ever.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #61265 in Books

Published on: 2007-10-30

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

177 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Bob Eckstein has been a humor writer for more than twenty years, and is most recognized for his popular weekly columns in Newsday, the Village Voice, and now, TimeOut. His cartoons and artwork have also appeared in publications like The New Yorker, the New York Times, Spy magazine, and Details. He splits his time between his studios in Manhattan and Pennsylvania.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Age of Expansion:The Twenty-first Century

snowman: A figure of a person made from packed snow, usually formed by piling large snowballs on top of each other.
-- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

The era we currently live in is The Age of Expansion, a time of grandeur when the snowman was never bigger. Our society's stance on size is that it still matters. From SUVs to plasma-screen TVs to McMansions to six-foot heroes, living large is being in charge. Putting deli meats aside, today we all want to make an entrance with class, and right now that means the largest diamond, the biggest pecs, the largest breasts, and the most headroom of any sedan on the market. This preoccupation carries over to Christmas decorations, which have gone to another level -- it's not enough to keep up with the Joneses; it's necessary to squash them like a bug. So it's no surprise that our snowmen now need to be either a world-record holders or rubbernecking freaks of nature. Snowman contests, snowman festivals, marathons, lollapaloozas...like much else today, if it's not a spectacle, ­ don't bother.

Today if you want a snowman for your lawn, you drive to the store. In an attempt to find another angle to cash in on the holidays, price clubs and better stores everywhere are well stocked with inflatable snowmen and snowman "kits." In this get-it-done-before-it-snows, fast-paced world of ours, there are different brands of snowman kits to choose from, all with prefabricated hats, buttons, pseudo coal and carrots conveniently packaged in a box so you or your kids don't have to get up and look for them yourself. Yes, everyone's snowman is going to look the same, but think of the time we're all saving. We're all too busy to go out and make snowmen, and, besides, what's the point of making one less than twelve feet tall? The buying of the largest possible snowman comes on the heels of The White Trash Years (1975-2000) as a backlash against all those cutesy gift-shop snowmen we all got sick of up to here. But that's the cynical side of the story. The positive spin on this is that "Mr. Huge" and other inflatable rubber substitutes of the real McCoy finally give those who live in temperate regions the joy of having a snowman in their front yard. Think of the children. Think of the money.

Speaking of which, what about snowman making as sport and its gambling opportunities? It's all part of The Age of Expansion, when the snowman continues to blaze trails for tourism. Hundreds of snowman festivals and contests take place around the world every year and continue to grow. In Pennsylvania, there's an annual charity ice golf tournament on Lake Wallenpaupack after it freezes that includes a contest where golfers tee it up and aim for the vulnerable "Wally, the Snowman" down the fairway.

There are hundreds of similar events throughout the world. The biggest is the Ice Lantern Festival (Ice and Snow World) in Harbin. This bitterly cold, northern Chinese city, once known mainly for its expensive exotica cuisine of bear paws, deer nostrils, and white Siberian tiger testicles, is now recognized as the ice sculpture capital, attracting artists from around the world. Each year millions travel to the "Ice City," where the temperature stays below freezing nearly half the year. Held from the beginning of January to the end of February, thousands of enormous sculptures and buildings are exhibited and paraded on floats through the city. Although these snow shows date back to 1963, snow sculpture there dates back to the Qing dynasty about 350 years ago. During the Manchu days, "ice lanterns" were carved and then lit by placing candles in them.

A similar tradition is also enjoyed today throughout Japan, where snowmen have candles placed in their stomachs during the many snowman festivals that take place every winter. Each year snowmen outnumber, at least for a while, the populations of northern Japanese towns. But are they big snowmen? Well, no, but rumor has it that the Japanese are eyeing that big prize, the world's largest snowman, an honor they enjoyed for almost four years thanks to a ninety-six-foot-tall snowman. Then, in February of 1999, Bethel, a town in Maine, placed itself on the map by breaking the coveted record, spending fourteen days piling snow skyward into what would become Angus, the King of the Mountain, named after the Maine governor, Angus King.

Extreme snowman making has come a long way since the day a bunch of frat boys from Dartmouth made the thirty-eight-foot-high Eleazer Wheelock, the headline act for the 1939 Winter Carnival. Today, making a huge snowman involves cranes, teamsters, and insurance. Don't even think about making a snowball the size of an igloo without a working permit. In Bethel, their record-breaking snowman required sixty volunteers, ranging from kindergartners to senior citizens and the cooperation of the whole town. Angus's arms were made with two ten-foot evergreens. Volunteers created a mouth with six automobile tires and eyes with four-foot wreaths. The local elementary school made a six-foot carrot out of chicken wire and muslin and then painted it orange by having each student place his or her handprint on it. When finished, Angus reached 113 feet and entered the The Guinness Book of Records, attracting thousands of visitors and appearing on Good Morning America. Afterward, the town held a contest to guess when Angus would melt, and by mid-March, Angus had become "The Leaning Tower of Bethel."

Not every large snowman dies a quiet, slow death. Each year in Zurich, the Swiss celebrate Sechseläuten by using large amounts of explosives to blow up an innocent snowman. Always on the third Monday in April, bakers, butchers, blacksmiths, and other tradesmen parade on horses and throw bread and sausages to the crowds. In return for free meat, girls decorate the riders with garlands made of spring flowers. Sechseläuten (which means "six bells ringing") comes from the tradition that, at six o'clock, the guild members put down their tools and call it a day. Meanwhile, the Boogg is schlepped through town. The Boogg is a large, cotton-wool snowman with a corncob pipe, button nose, and two eyes made out of coal -- he looks the same every year because the same guy has been making the Boogg for over thirty-five years. Unfortunately for Mr. Boogg, he's filled with firecrackers and plopped onto a forty-foot pile of very flammable scrap wood. For him, things will only get worse. After the bells of the Church of St. Peter have chimed six times, representing the passing of winter, the townspeople light the pile and watch the carnage. It is believed the shorter the combustion, the hotter and longer the summer will be. When the head of the snowman explodes to smithereens, winter is considered officially over.

Copyright © 2007 by Bob Eckstein

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Customer Reviews

Very interesting
Excellent. Funny and informative, this book is a great history of the snowman. Unusual histories are frequently interesting, but only if they are well-written, and this one is.

Back to the future
One can imagine a number of histories written over the years, but Bob Eckstein, the author of the highly enjoyable "The History of the Snowman", has added one more. His story, told from modern-day backwards, looks at the snowman in lore, advertising, art and society. Richly illustrated, the author has compiled a narrative that's unusually informative, given the subject.

We all know "Frosty" but I'll bet most people don't know there's not much written or illustrated about snowmen in Eskimo culture. (Eckstein tells us why) There's much more, too, and some of the most fascinating parts of the book unfold in later chapters. "The History of the Snowman" is warmly presented and lots of fun to read.

Great Fun
The History of the Snowman is great fun and makes a terrific present. It's smart, surprising, youthful and totally hip all at the same time. There's lots of great anecdotes and history backed-up with wonderful illustrations, cartoons, and historic and cool photographs. It might not make you cry -- but it'll make you laugh and think differently about this familiar snowy icon.

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Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks

Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocement Water Tanks

A do-it-yourself guide to designing, building, and maintaining water tanks, cisterns and ponds, and sustainably managing groundwater storage. It will help you with your independent water system, fire protection, and disaster preparedness, at low cost and using principles of ecological design. Includes building instructions for several styles of ferro cement water tanks.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #2167 in Books

Published on: 2005-05-30

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

125 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
A guide to water systems that explores every facet of designing water resources wisely, efficiently, and in concert with nature. -- Richard Freudenberger, Executive Editor, Back Home Magazine

All sorts of alternatives to your standard plastic water tank, accessible by anyone from homeowner to builder to civil engineer. -- Amy Wynn, Builders Booksource

If you run a water system, for a weekend shack or a whole community, you need this book! -- Doug Pratt, Real Goods Technical Editor

On average water systems, this book will pay for itself a hundred times over in errors avoided and maintenance savings. -- Zane Satterfield, P.E., National Drinking Water Clearinghouse

Practical design solutions, comprehensive illustrations, and plenty of photos—a thorough treatment of a topic that’s vital to our survival. -- Claire Anderson, Home Power Magazine, Mother Earth News

From the Publisher
Water Storage describes how to store water for home, farm, and small communities. It will help you design storage for just about any use, including fire safety and emergency, in just about any context—urban, rural, or village.

This book includes:

•General principles to help you design, construct, and use any water system

•A look at common mistakes and how to avoid them

•How the different kinds of storage can serve you—tanks, groundwater, and ponds

•How to determine the optimum amount of storage for your needs

•How to determine the best shape and material for your storage

•How to manage aquifers sustainably for inexpensive storage of water in the ground

•Plumbing details for inlets, outlets, drains, overflows, access, etc. storage accessories and gadgets such as automatic shut-off valves, remote •Level indicators, ozonators, and filters

•How to build your own high-quality tank from ferrocement

•Original design innovations—published here for the first time—to improve the quality of stored water, increase water security, make maintenance easier, and reduce environmental impacts

•Real-life examples of storage designs for a wide range of contexts

This book offers underlying design principles as well as design specifics. If you run into a situation not specifically covered, there's a good chance you'll be able to use these general principles to figure it out yourself.

Installed water storage typically costs fifty cents to three dollars or more a gallon ($60-200/m3). If you've got this book in your hands, you're probably on the verge of making decisions about hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of storage. On an average water system, this book could pay for itself a hundred times over in savings on construction and maintenance.

Most of the information otherwise available on water storage comes from vendors. Oasis Design doesn't sell water storage hardware, so you don't have to worry about being steered towards stuff you don't need. Rather, we make our living by providing information to help people have a higher quality of life with lower impact.

From the Back Cover
What you need to know ot design and build water storage of any kind.

Water Storage shows how to make your storage--and your entire water system--perform better. It will help make your access to clean water more secure.

You'll learn what kind of storage will serve you best--tanks, ponds, groundwater; how much storage you need, where to install it, how to properly plumb it, which accessories would benefit your home, farm, or community, and how to sustainably manage your aquifer.

Water Storage includes original design innovations, real-life examples, and complete instructions for constructing tanks from ferrocement.

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Customer Reviews

Great Book
I purchased this book mainly due to the picture of the water urn on the cover. The plans for it are included. This book has a lot of information regarding water sources and water collection and containment. Recommend for anyone interested in water collection/conservation. I do wish the pictures inside the book were in color (the are all black and white).

another great book from oasis design
I love all those oasis manuals. Once again Art Ludwig surprises us with a manual full of info reagarding water catchment and storage. Although I'm working in this field for more than 10 years, I always find something new and interesting in Oasis manuals and ther are a fundamental part of my permaculture-libary

Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers, and Ponds for Domestic Supply, Fire and Emergency Use--Includes How to Make Ferrocemen
This book can help you for how to planning the different water systems in rural and urban areas, the best is how to make ferrocement water tanks.

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The PreHistory of The Far Side ®:: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit (Far Side Series)

The PreHistory of The Far Side ®:: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit (Far Side Series)

Welcome to the exhibit: a spectacular retrospective of more than 300 Far Side cartooons - in both black and white and color. The exhibit is not Larson's most popular cartoons; it is his own personal favorites. And indeed, this is the first glimpse Larson's millions of fans worldwide have ever had of the personal side of Gary Larson. As Larson says in his Foreword, "This may or may not be of particular interest to anyone, but my therapist says it should do ME a lot of good." As with all great exhibits, it begins by putting The Far Side, and Gary Larson, in context. In the first section, "The Origin of the Species," we see Gary's childhood drawings, such as the one done in black crayon, of little Gary sitting on top of a tire, his earliest memory of riding in the car on vacation. The next documented section, "Evolutioon of the Species," gives the view the first insights into the creative process of Gary Larson. (He admits, for example, that "off days" are a part of life, whether you're a cartoonist, a neurosurgeon, or an air-traffic controller.) In this section we see cartoons that worked - and often, surprisingly, how he made them work better. Then there is the section called "Mutations," the ones that didn't work because somebody (no names heres) goofed up. And finally, leading up to the exhibit itself, the section "Stimulus/Response," in which Gary shares some of his fan mail: "You should be severely reprimanded by animal protection authorities, in newspaper publication, and, if possible... you should be fined at least $1,000 for each such cruel cartoon." And Larson's defense: Complaints are "usually from people who misinterpreted the cartoon and were angered by a cartoon they didn't 'get.' Well, hell - I don't understand all my cartoons." We also see never-before-published cartoons that landed on the editorial cutting-room floor. So here's the whole history of The Far Side, some ten odd years - from Mesozoic to Modern, from Early Weird to Late Weird. Only Larson thinks it may not be very interesting, but as he says, once "you've got it in your brain cells you're stuck with it."

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #108513 in Books

Published on: 1989-09-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

288 pages

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Customer Reviews

This shaped my mind when i was young
The Far Side series shaped my mind. I'm whatever I am today because of the insight this humour brought into my life when I was a kid. And the PreHistory of the Far Side is a must have!

The Essential Far Side
This is a fantastic book and a must for any Far Side afficianado. Not only does it have the usual great material, but includes stuff never published and commentary by Gary Larson as he takes you through his creative process during various stages of his career.

A must for every Larson fan (excuse the cliche)
I first saw this in my school library, and after reading a bit I decided to buy my own copy as it was so good. It is kind of like a short biography of Larson combined with special features like his earliest cartoons that weren't published and others he decided not to publish for various reasons. He includes annotated versions of some of his best cartoons, which make you think "Oh, so THAT'S what he meant..."

It's like a Larson bible. You need it.

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Shop Your Closet: The Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Closet with Style

Shop Your Closet: The Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Closet with Style

Just when you feared your overstuffed, eyesore of a closet was a lost cause, here's the antidote to all your closet woes. Closet expert and style maven Melanie Charlton Fascitelli is here to help you whip your closet into shape, refreshing your wardrobe and saving you time along the way.

With this accessible, stylish guide, you'll find out how to redo your closet and organize your clothes so that you can, yes, go shopping there—sort through shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, scarves, and shoes, all in perfect condition and ready to go.

From the first closet face-off to long-term maintenance, Charlton Fascitelli takes you step by step through the entire process of turning your closet into a "safe haven" for your clothes.

Learn how to:

Face your inner packrat and clean out your closet

Shop for and pick items that flatter your body

Craft the best wardrobe for your lifestyle

Create space in your closet by reworking it logistically

Store your clothes and shoes so they last longer

Charlton Fascitelli also covers consigning or donating all your old stuff; keeping your closet clean and tidy; packing smartly and efficiently; storing your linens; and organizing other areas of your home, including your medicine cabinet, pantry, or CD collection.

Clearing clutter, organizing clothes, and remaking your wardrobe has never been so easy or attainable. Shop Your Closet is your go-to source for closet nirvana.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #31290 in Books

Published on: 2008-04-01

Released on: 2008-04-08

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

176 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A former Style.com editor and fashion PR consultant, Melanie Charlton Fascitelli founded the closet design company, Closette, in 2002. The company has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Real Simple, and Marie Claire. She lives in New York City.

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Customer Reviews

Do it yourself closet
Shop Your Closet is great for those who want to do it yourselves. It's not as detailed though (eg. only 2 body shapes mentioned Apple and Banana. Where's my Pear shape???) and quite-American focused. It does have a very useful section about constructing your own closet though with useful measurement guides and tips. This part is her business forte I think and it shows through.

AWESOME!
This book exceeded my expectations. It was very clear and tons of fun! Get organized today.

It was ok, nothing great.
This book was overrated! I looked at the title-shop your closet- and thought 'oh, that sounds nice. I'll request it from my library!' I did so and read it. I was disappointed. This had pretty much knowledge that I already knew, and had little to nothing to do with "shopping your closet" as the title proclaimed.

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Peanuts 2000: The 50th Year Of The World's Favorite Comic Strip

Peanuts 2000: The 50th Year Of The World's Favorite Comic Strip

"Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy . . . how can I ever forget them. . . ." -- CHARLES SCHULZ

How could any of us ever forget them? For fifty years, Charles Schulz and the whole Peanuts gang have delighted millions of readers around the world. Now, in celebration of the artist who quickly became a national treasure, this special anniversary volume brings together for the first time in book form the last year of the Peanuts comic strip. With Peanuts 2000, there's no need to say goodbye to old friends.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #267456 in Books

Published on: 2000-09-05

Released on: 2000-09-05

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

176 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
To all you Snoopy fans out there. Peanuts 2000 is a presentation of the last year of strips by Mr. Schulz in chronological order. As many of you have noticed, the Sunday "farewell" strip is missing from the first printing of this book. The problems have been corrected and all current and future printings of this book will contain the strip. The final strip is also available for viewing at the official Peanuts website.

From the Inside Flap
"Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy . . .
how can I ever forget them. . . ."
--CHARLES SCHULZ

How could any of us ever forget them? For fifty years, Charles Schulz and the whole Peanuts gang have delighted millions of readers around the world. Now, in celebration of the artist who quickly became a national treasure, this special anniversary volume brings together for the first time in book form, the last year of the Peanuts comic strip. With Peanuts 2000, there's no need to say goodbye to old friends.

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Customer Reviews

Peanuts 2000
This book is a funny compilation of the wacky comic strip gang, a dog with some feathered friends and what else. The hilarious side of children.

Still love Peanuts
I find that after all this time I still love the Peanuts gang. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and others still bring a smile to my face as the wonderful insight of the creator comes through. I wish that I was young again and still had the old paperbacks that I once read so I could go back to some and re-read them. I wish that Shultz could still create those drawings and tears just swelled up from inside reading the ending passage. Charles Shultz will be missed by me and I have read this and other books by him to my kids so they might gain an interest in these type of books. I wish they had more specials of the Peanuts ang for TV rather than some of the stuff on now. Anyone who wants great cartoons with very funny happenings for their children will definitely love this book and others by Shultz.

Schroeder Rocks the House
Peanuts are totally classic! Dude! Schroeder is like the coolest person on the face of the earth! He is so reserved and that make Peanuts worth the while to read. He also looks so cute at his little piano, playing Bethoven. This book clearly shows that and becuase I love little Schroeder, I love this book too! Beethoven forever! Rock on! (JK)

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Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual

Producing electricity from the sun using photovoltaic (PV) systems has become a major industry worldwide. But designing, installing and maintaining such systems requires knowledge and training, and there have been few easily accessible, comprehensive guides to the subject.

Now, with Photovoltaics: Design and Installation Manual, a world-class solar energy training and education provider-Solar Energy International (SEI)-has made available the critical information to successfully design, install and maintain PV systems. The book contains an overview of photovoltaic electricity and a detailed description of PV system components, including PV modules, batteries, controllers and inverters. It also includes chapters on sizing photovoltaic systems, analyzing sites and installing PV systems, as well as detailed appendices on PV system maintenance, troubleshooting and solar insolation data for over 300 sites around the world. Used worldwide as the textbook in SEI's PV Design & Installation workshops, topics covered include:

The basics of solar electricity
PV applications and system components
Solar site analysis and mounting
Stand-alone and PV/generator hybrid system sizing
Utility-interactive PV systems
Component specification, system costs and economics
Case studies and safety issues

Photovoltaics guarantees that those wanting to learn the skills of tapping the sun's energy can do so with confidence.

Solar Energy International (SEI) has the nonprofit mission to respond to the need for renewable energy education. Based in Carbondale, Colorado, and active around the world, SEI is a link between people and renewable energy resources, providing information, education and training to people who want to shape a sustainable future. SEI is recognized by the National Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) as dedicated independent provider of PV training programs that may be used toward attaining PV certification. Also, SEI is recognized as an Accredited Institution to offer PV training by the Institute for Sustainable Power (ISP).

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #3021 in Books

Published on: 2004-09-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

336 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Solar Energy International (SEI), from Carbondale, CO, is a non-profit that trains adults and youth in renewable energy and environmental building technologies. Since 1991, SEI has taught thousands of individuals from 12 US states and around the world, pioneering a hands-on approach acknowledged as the benchmark for renewable energy education and training. SEI staff are avid solar enthusiasts with decades of experience in passive solar design & construction, solar hot water, wind and micro-hydro power, solar cooking, and natural house building.

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Customer Reviews

Solar Book
Have interest in the solar industry and happy for this book that details installation of the various PV systems

Not for engineers
Well, I did not read the whole book yet but so far there's nothing new there for me. I do recommend the book for people with no technical background. Those of us that have good background in physics and electricity will not benefit much.

The most comprehensive resource book for information on Solar
This is the complete guide to solar, written by the people who train the professionals. Great resource.

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The Painted Quilt: Paint and Print Techniques for Color on Quilts

The Painted Quilt: Paint and Print Techniques for Color on Quilts

The only book on the market that deals with the application of color to the quilted surface--a technique that creates completely unique effects.

Dyeing, fabric painting and print techniques are an important part of the increasingly popular City & Guilds textile courses.

Painted Quilt demystifies the process of coloring cloth using a variety of techniques including fabric paints, pastels, dyes, bleaches and transfers. The book combines simple techniques to produce complex textile surfaces, and describes exactly how these effects are achieved with easy-to-understand step-by-step photographs and instructions. Many people have competent sewing skills but lack the confidence to create their own designs--this book will help them to explore their own creative potential to achieve effective and original designs.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #11810 in Books

Published on: 2007-07-20

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

128 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Linda and Laura Kemshall are a mother and daughter team, renowned for their innovative approach to textiles and their online teaching courses. They have exhibited both together and individually all over the world to huge critical acclaim.

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Customer Reviews

One of the best books on the subject!
I read a good review on this book and took a chance. It was worth it! Lots of great ideas, photos and step-by-step instructions. You won't be sorry if you buy it.

Top of the Line
This is an outstanding book: comprehensive, very good instructions on technique, and best of all - it's written by a mother and daughter team who are serious artists. If you want to stretch your art, get this book.

Love this book
This book has such beautiful samples and clear instructions. It's a treasure to have in your library.

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Creature

Creature

Photographer Andrew Zuckerman's strikingly detailed images of animals from around the world are as delightful as they are inspiring. This collection of astonishing studio portraits of 175 wild creatures from baby leopards to parrots, bears, mandrills, and many more are stunningly foregrounded against white backgrounds, depicting their subjects with rare sensitivity, insight, humor, and wonder. Zuckerman also an up-and-coming filmmaker, whose first short film, High Falls, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 has created a volume perfect for animal lovers, photography fans, and anyone fascinated by the world around us. Creature is a beautiful and thought-provoking look at the fragile wonders of the natural world.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #32467 in Books

Published on: 2007-11-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

300 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, December 2007: December seems to be the classic month to celebrate the coffee-table book--those oversized tomes that sit out on display, easily enticing anyone within arm's reach to flip through the pages. One of my favorites of the season--and one you'll want to keep out all year long--is Andrew Zuckerman's Creature, a photographic safari of astounding studio shots of an ark's worth of animals, ready for their close-ups against a stark white backdrop. Mesmerizing, inspiring, and ultimately very, very cool. Badgers, fruit bats, and bald eagles never looked so good. --Brad Thomas Parsons

About the Author
Andrew Zuckerman is a New York-based photographer and film director. His work has been featured in Communication Arts, Photo District News, American Photo, and ADC's "Young Gun" show. In 2006 Andrew was a recipient of D&AD's Yellow Pencil award for excellence in photography. He co-founded Late Night & Weekends, which develops advertising, books, television, and narrative films. His first short film, High Falls, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.

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Customer Reviews

A whole lot more than just a coffee table book
This is a book to be savored, spending a full minute or two studying each photo before turning the page. The sequence of photos is no accident. It's obvious that the photographer arranged these with a purpose.There is definitely a sense of humor displayed hee. For instance, there's the chimpanzee posing as if for a Burt Reynolds type centerfold. Others may make one think of political campaign posters. Then there's the lion head goldfish photo followed immediately by the head shot of an African lion.But there's much more than humor in the arrangement of photos. There are sequences that bring out various moods of the same animal.There are two instances in which I'm puzzled by the photographer's intent. One is of a full length snake photo cut off before you see its head. And then there's the armadillo all curled up without any shots of its natural appearance. I'm not criticizing the photos, but am merely puzzled at the purpose of them.The bottom line is that the photos speak for themselves with only a preface at the start of the book and an epilog at the end. One does need to refer to the last pages for identification of the species featured in each photo or sequence of photos, and I think that's to the book;s credit. Far better to see just the animal without any printing to mar one's pure enjoyment.

a lovely creature
Amazing book, love the way he captures the details of some animals and the way he puts them on the book, a diferent animal photography book...

Incredible book
Simple, striking, this book has to be seen in person to be appreciated. A perfect gift for a someone who is hard to buy for. But be sure they have room... this is a big heavy book.

Price: $37.80 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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