Although I don't have a Microtek scanner like the author has, I was still able to follow along and learned everything I needed to know. This book also has almost as good a selection of novice material on Paint Shop Pro as PaintShop Pro for Dummies! Well worth the money.

This book told me all I needed, I'm using my scanner just about every day now that I know what to do. (Plus I have it set right to take the best scans) Great coverage of filters and plugins too.

This book is as good as the amazon editor claims, I got my new HP scanner up and running in an hour so you know the installation and setup chapters were good! The coverage of web graphics is very good and provides lots of tips and instruction. You won't find as much on PhotoShop but the step by step Paintshop pro material is worth its weight in gold. Well written and funny. I am going to add this author to my Dummies watch list!

The audio book do not tell you anything that help with meditation It may have been good in its day.

STILL THE MIND, cassette version, uses Alan Watts' grace and good humor as an aid to teaching meditation. On Side A, his major ideas are presented with emphasis on "What is meditation?", "Why should I do it?" and "How is meditation carried out?".

Side B is concerned with the practical aspects of meditation; but always referring the practical back to theory. After some thoughts on breathing and posture, Alan Watts progresses to his main technique--the use of sound. In a comment made more than 30yrs. ago, he points out that the abudance of professional music has caused us to lose confidence in our melodic (spiritual) voices. He restablishes this confidence through a unique "free-form" mantra, which can be used by an individual or in a group. Finally he uses these experiments in sound to form the basis of "deep listening", effectively bringing the focus back to his starting thesis.

Mark Watts has done an excellent job of editing his father's material, seamlessly combineing segments into a coherent whole, without the use of commentary or musical intervals.

Alan watts is a brilliant writer and this book is nothing short of extraordinary. It is a compilation of speeches and seminars the late Alan Watts gave during his lifetime. I read the book knowing little about Zen, but found after reading it that I always knew. That is the beauty of Zen. We have always known the truth - there is a better way to live - only we have been socialized to feel as though we are seperate and need to conquer something or everything. Mr. Watts points out that this is a fallacy and that there is no need to feel seperate. Instead, he offers that we are a part of one organism and there is no need to conquer. Life is just being in the moment. This book really has made a difference for me.

The author seems bitten by some exotic bug. The text is both florid an prosaic, like passages from the Sears catalog. Even such ordinary subjects as getting crabs or donning a frightwig seem to become somehow more ordinary under the author's heavy hand. It's as if the author is not writing poetry at all.

This is a beautiful book, full of poems that call the reader to be more fully human, more empathetic, more intelligent, more intensely alive. Doty is a writer's writer, in that his work sensitizes the reader to the magical powers of language as well as to the beauty and richness of the world he writes about with such passion. Thank you, Mark Doty!

I find this collection to be one of Mark Doty's best. Although, I loved "Atlantis," many times I found it confusing. In "Sweet Machine," Doty evokes urban life clearly with eloquence and rich images. The last section of the book is fervent and memorable--exhaling the emptiness of sex, NYC life, and gay male angst in one breath. If you are searching for that readable, perceptive collection from a wise point of view, than this book is highly recommended.

I found Mr. Levy's work on shamanic techniqes as it applies to contempoary artists particularly fascinating. His research navigates the theory that mondern artists (visual as well as performance) such as Van Gogh, Kahlo, Dali and others were able to produce the transcendental content of their work through classic shamanic practices. Mr. Levy clearly illustrates the multiplicity of the creative process therein giving reverence and relevance to shamanic techniqes and towards the comprehension and appreciation of modern art. A must read for any art appreciator!

Although the casual reader (that is, a lazy reader looking for easy, New-Agey content) might find Levy's book too rigorous and academic, I felt that he was scrupulous and thorough in making a case for his theory that many contemporary artists use traditional shamanic techniques to achieve the spiritual and metaphysical content in their work. The profiles of individual artists and their specific uses of certain techniques or processes was especially illuminating, and I appreciated the fact that he included seminal figures like Joseph Beuys and performance artists like Karen Finley-- whose radical content sometimes obscures the powerful social critique it carries. Levy was clear in revealing how work by an individual can heal or benefit an audience of viewers or an entire community. The sections in the back of the book wherein he describes specific shamanic techniques in detail for those who want to experiment with them was especially valuable. Contrary to what another reviewer wrote, there was nothing spacey, indulgent or Druidic about this scholarly work!

TECHNICIANS OF ECSTASY: SHAMANISM & THE MODERN ARTIST by Mark Levy

A Review by Lanier Graham, Director, University Art Gallery California State University, Hayward

What is the relationship between shamanic art and Modern art? Until recently, most people in the art world would have answered: "little or none." Specialists have known for a long time that the relationship actually is very important. But the literature has been small, largely because most art historians have not known enough about shamanism to discuss it in critical terms. Levy is an exception, and his book is an excellent introduction to the subject. There are good reasons why his book has received very positive reviews from noted authorities on shamanism. Not only is he an unusually well-informed art historian, he also has studied the shamanic tradition extensively with highly respected teachers.

Levy guides us to the origins of Modernism among the Symbolist poets and painters when Mallarmé was arguing for the shamanic spirit of Orphism, and when Rimbaud and van Gogh were engaged in private, painful "vision quests" in their secular search for the sacred. Few artists regarded tribal art as beautiful until Gauguin, the Fauves, and the Expressionists looked with new eyes. Picasso and the Cubists also were moved by shamanic art, but their interest was primarily formal. Not until the Surrealists did modern artists look for the shamanic psychology behind the forms. By the era of Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s & '50s, a large number of leading artists were starting to compare themselves to shamans. The curtain between worlds was being lifted.

With the development of Postmodernism in the second half of the 20th century, Neo-shamanism spread to the far corners of the contemporary art world. In a series of penetrating profiles, Levy focuses on semi-shamanic techniques used by a variety of visual and performing artists who do not have the arrogance to call themselves "shamans," but have drawn on the wisdom of our tribal ancestors to bring rays of light into a dark world. The artists discussed offer important clues to how art can help us through the poisoning clouds of self-centered rationalism toward a fuller, richer humanity.

I haven't had a chance to make anything from this book yet. I like the designs and feel they can be made quickly, as long as you have the tools needed. I'm glad I bought it.

The collection of 2 X 4 Furniture books are wonderful. The only thing they need are the dimensiions of the finished project stated. This way one can determine if the project will fit in their house. When is the next book coming out?????

I built the coffee table in this book, and it turned out really nice. Some of the dimensions are off, so I recommend buying as you go. Other than that the only power tool I needed was a small sander. Great book for the beginner.

buy this book, i read it and laughed the whole way through it, this guy proves you get what you pay for!! this would be an excellent book to get to see what you should NOT do. sometimes it helps to see what you shouldnt do, learn from mistakes you know. the only reason i gave it 1 star was because this site wont let me give nothing.

I've looked at many books on different trades and all the books I could find on framing. This is easily the best. Mark Currie gives you the details you need, and he gives them to you in a clear and understandable way. His book covers basic to advanced topics. It's well-organized, has lots of good illustrations, and doesn't waste your time on information you don't need. Mark Currie clearly knows what he's talking about and knows how to explain things well. This is the best book to have on framing.

If you are a young framer and you feel like you are being held back by the older more knowledgeable carpenters on your crew, buy this book! It covers all phases of the framing process including roof cutting and stair building. The pros and cons of working for your self as a "piece worker" or working "hourly" for the framing contractor is also discussed. Lots of infomation on how to cut production time using simple yet effective methods is seemingly on every page. The book is organized so that each chapter discusses one part or phase of the framing process and what you can expect to get paid. This book transformed me from a grunt on a framing crew making bread and water wages to a piece worker making journyman's wage in one season.

Thirst For Love was only Mishima's second novel, and it shows. It could probably have been made into something great, but the author was either too hasty to finish it or simply didn't know what to do. Despite its great title, it's somewhat of a disappointment. I figure it was an attempt at writing an anti-romance, some kind of complete inversion of the concept of the love story. Well, it wasn't a success. The first half of the book is mired in scenes that don't go anywhere (such as the grotesque flashback where Etsuko's husband dies - did we really need that? why was it included?), and this makes the developments of the second half a bit of a shock. It seemed rather sudden how Etsuko's mild interest in the gardener Saburo turned into complete obsession. Certain aspects of the book sorely needed more attention from the author - Yakichi's attitude toward Etsuko could have been turned into something involving, but ends up being a mere tangent, a check mark on the laundry list of plot points. Had Mishima further developed the backstory of the family, we might have understood what lay behind the enmity between its various members, but it went almost completely unexplained, and said members end up coming across as spiteful for no reason. On the other hand, there are plot lines that are completely pointless and blatantly fabricated and yet are for some reason drawn out to great length - namely, the utterly inane subplot with the socks Etsuko buys.

Admittedly, the bit about the festival conveys the appropriate feeling of frenzy. Also, Mishima does a fine job of showing the dichotomy between the overly sensitive, wounded Etsuko and the utterly uncaring, "light man" Saburo. But these are small parts; the whole just isn't all that good. And let's not even get started on the deliberately "shocking" ending, which goes completely against what little character development Mishima bothered to put in. I got the feeling that he simply didn't know how to end the story, and so took the first way out that occurred to him; it would have been better if he had given it a little more thought. In fact, that can be said of just about everything in this book apart from the title. Feel free to skip it and go straight to the masterpiece The Sound Of Waves.

Mishima is a fascinating and intoxicating author to me, but I felt a little disappointed with Thirst for Love after having read the Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea. It seems less focused somehow; I found certain segments a bit dull and the end somewhat dissatisfying (not just because it wasn't "happy.") But, those are just the cons -- I still think this is quite a book. Etsuko's psychology is fascinating, and there are some great moments. Quality, unconventional stuff.

the guy below doesnt know what he is talking about, he didnt understand anything

The most recent edition of this book would be better called the "approximate" guide to Spain. Much of the information in this book is simply wrong: maps were upside down (north pointing downwards), accomodations recommended were often dirty or unpleasant or much more expensive than the rough guide said or than alternatives we found on our own, descriptions of things such as the entrances to cathedrals and locations of turists offices were wrong, and often instead of recommending specific places the authors just recommended checking with the local turist offices for accomodations and other information -- making us question what the book was good for anyway. I had a much much better experience with the Lonely Planet guides. Do not buy this book if you are looking for help getting around Spain.

This is the only book you will ever need while traveling in Spain. I hope it is sufficient to say that I own the 5th, the 6th, the 7th and the 8th edition of this book. During the past 10 years I visited all regions in Spain and this book has been a excellent help.

This is an excellant travel guide book. It is an essential book for any one traveling to Spain, especially if this is your virgin trip to the country. There is a broad spectrum of choices to choose from, from the very inexpensive to the very expensive. It fills the palette for all tastes. The inexpensive choices give you a taste for the culture and people of the area that you visit and their comments are honest and helpful. I will buy this guide wherever I travel.

I agree with the other reviews: this is a useful and attractive book, but more care could have been taken with it. To add to the errors that have already been pointed out, the map for the 1988 election erroneously gives the DC electoral votes to Bush rather than Dukakis, and no explanation is given about Bentsen's single electoral vote. Also, Millard Filmore is not included in the list of presidents at the end of the book, even though the other "unelected" presidents are. The text does not mention that he succeeded Zachary Taylor, and his partial term as president is only mentioned in passing in relation to his later presidential bid.

As the previous reviewer pointed out, the atlas called West Virginia for Gore last year, which would have given him the election. On the other hand, in the foreword, the author states Gore received 300,000 more votes than Bush, when actually it was a more than 500,000 vote margin - so perhaps he was trying to compensate.

These were far from the only mistakes.

The Atlas also gave Louisiana to Stevenson in 1956 (despite saying in the accompanying text "Louisiana went for a Republican presidential candidate for the first time since 1876"), one of many occasions in which the maps contradict the text.

In its summary of 1936, the text says "Maine had been a bellwether state, voting for the winning candidate since 1860" (in fact, it voted for the losing candidate in 1884, 1892, 1916 and 1932), and "Landon even lost his home state of Kansas, which had voted Republican in every election since its entry into the Union in 1861" (in fact, it voted Populist in 1892 and Democratic in 1896, 1912, 1916 and 1932).

In its summary of 1928, the text says "Smith won only seven states, six in the South plus Massacuhsetts." In fact, Smith won eight states, including Rhode Island, which is also missed on the map.

The map gives Pennsylvania to Cleveland in 1888, when it voted Republican.

There are numerous other errors and omissions - the text leaves out Washington when mentioning the states Bryan lost from 1896-1900; it claims Filmore carrying Maryland in 1856 was the first time a third party won votes in the Electoral College, when the Anti-Masons carried Vermont in 1832; it claims Pierce failed to win a majority of the popular vote in 1852, when the pie chart next to the text gives him 50.9%; it gives Adams instead of Burr four states in the Congressional balloting that decided the election of 1800.

Having the privilege of studying under Dr. Mieczkowski for 2 full years, as well as having worked as research assistant and having him as my Undergraduate advisor at Dowling College on Long Island, I can affirm to you that Dr. Mieczkowski is definitely a well-educated and intelligent person. This book helps to prove that point.

I agree with other reviewers that the book did require some better editing. There are noticable errors in it, particularly in the maps. Otherwise, this book is very handy. The summarizations of each election, dating back to the first ever Presidential election to the most recent Presidential election of 2000, are short, concise and well-researched. Some of the more pivotal and landmark elections generally have more information. The accuracy and detail of each summary definitely shows the extensive research that went into the book.

This book proved to be a very handy and crucial resource to me in my studies at Dowling College, and is an excellent resource to any Presidential or general American Historian. Despite minor flaws, this is a worthwhile book and I highly recommend it to any professor looking for a secondary class resource or to any student looking for a resource to help them in their studies.

Shea's work is a great place to start if you're interested in the traditional, biblical view of the Eucharist and matter in general. While the Roman Catholic Church holds a rather defined view of the sacramental presence (compared to the Orthodox) it is well worth noting that the west approaches many topics with its own concepts, which is not something to be looked down upon or rejected as "a tradition of men". Shea's book is another of those which Catholic apologists will want to have to give away. It's cheap and accurate, as well as persuasive. For a more detailed study, see "Eucharist" by Louis Bouyer. For general critiques of Protestant anti-Catholic arguments, see Shea's other book, "By What Authority?" or for an Orthodox approach to Protestantism, see Jordan Bajis' "Common Ground". The main thing is to pray, receive the Eucharist, and study for yourself. There are no missing links in the history of Eucharistic theology. Take some time to review the data first hand; pick up the Fathers and the New Testament. But don't forget that this book is a fine place to start.

This is an excellent book for those who want the basis of Eucharistic belief broken down into readable, understandable pieces. It is hardly exhaustive of the topic, as that is not what the author was attempting. A good companion would be Scott Hahn's tape "The Fourth Cup". For a good understanding of the belief in the Eucharistic Presence, start with Catholic authors. Otherwise, such writers as William Webster and Jame R. White (who is anti-Catholic) as another has recommended without revealing these authors slant against the Church, might confuse searchers by presenting some very misunderstood ideas by outsiders incapable (& often not desirous) of understanding & then allege that they are expounding upon the Catholic teaching. Tim Staples is another excellent author for follow-up to this one who was once evangelical but became Catholic for the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

This is a nice, short readable book that could be quite helpful for Evangelicals and others who wish to understand the Catholic teaching regarding the Eucharist. Mark Shea demonstrates the holes in may of the objections to that teaching that he discovered when examining it as an evangelical himself. Far from being a scary polemic as many apologetic works can be, this is good-natured discussion of the subject.

It's a short book, but a good introduction.