Beneath the facade of Art-talker, museum director and starving artist (in early years), Russell Connor has a wicked wit, a gifted mind and is a supreme painter. In "Masters in Pieces", a collection of his works, he juxtaposes magnificant copies of paintings by different artists, even different eras on the same canvas with glee. Imagine Manet and Goya on the same canvas, as "The Spanish Visitors," and you get the gist. Elements of Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party" and Gauguin's "Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms" appear to Connor's world as "Club Tahiti."

His is an exercise in intellect and art, asking us to override all the art cliches and art history in our mind, and look at things differently.

In addition to the more classical canvases, Connor has also created a number of shirts with messages for our times (an illustration from Picasso's "Guernica" on a Right-to-Life shirt or Raphael's "Madonna and Child" on a Planned Parenthood shirt.)

Iconoclast to many, Russell's hijacking of the masters tweaks our mind, tests our wit, always just short of "STOP THIEF!"

What shines thru is his "mastery of the artist." His are skilled reproductions of the Masters, albeit a bit rearranged. While he describes himself as a "pirate," he is truly "an artist of his own time."

This published collection is well worth owning and sharing; it will provoke lively discussion.

A must read for any physician considering a career change to medical management. This compilation, edited by Dr. Arthur Lazarus, is the Bible for physician executive career development. I recommend it all my colleagues.

This is the second volume of a four volume set. All four volumes will set you back over $150.00. If you are a fan of this plane as I am, It is worth every penny. The first volume covers the genesis of the plane. The second volume examines armament and it's entry into the German war effort. Filled with excellent photos, color plates, and technical drawings, this book is a delight to read. But If you are not a nut on the subject, you may find it is too much information.
This four volume set is really for the person who wants the nitty gritty about the plane. If you want an overview of the plane there are plenty of excellent books (Me262: Arrow to the future, to name one) that are out there.

does this book discuss the origins of the last name Ruah? I am a descendant of a Ruah family from Tangier, Morocco.

"The Measure Of The World", by Denis Guedj, is a historical novel of a 7-year quest shared by two men and their assistants to realize what Condorcet spoke of with the words at the start of these comments. Their goal was nothing less than the establishment of the true measure of the standard meter. Messrs. Mechain and Delambre spent over seven years, one beginning at Dunkirk the other in Barcelona, triangulating all that lay between them until the meridian had been measured. Before it was over one would nearly die, and many of their peers would fall to the revolution and the likes of Robespierre. While they fought the outdoor elements their colleague Lavosier was establishing the weight of the standard Kilo in a bathtub of distilled river water he had run through sand.

As remarkable as the achievement itself was, the time during which it was carried out could hardly have been worse. The work began with the recommendations of King Louis who would meet the guillotine long before the work was complete. Other figures and revolution would hamper progress as Talleyrand, Robespierre, and Napoleon all made their presence known. Almost daily the men were accused of being spies, royalists, sanscoulettes, sorcerers, revolutionaries, and traitors. Their targets and platforms, critical to their work, were constantly destroyed, at times for firewood, at others because the structures were believed to be military signals.

Mr. Guedj's book is about the factual establishment of the most widely used measures in the world. And while he had access to the letters, notes, and diaries of the men involved and members of various scientific societies, there was no day-to-day narrative to be followed. The book also strays from the primary effort and includes a great deal of history, which was critical to the main expedition. The time that included the, "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen", in 1789, through Bonaparte's coup d etat in November of 1799 are remarkable periods in human history. The author blends the famous task that was carried out while always keeping in perspective the events that hindered more than helped the monumental completion of the task.

The methods and the instruments used were very complex, and while the author does not presume the reader will have a grasp of the math or instruments, he does provide an excellent appendix with illustrations. Even a cursory review greatly enhances the read, and the more time taken to learn the methodology, the more fantastic the accomplishment becomes.

The fruits of these labors are still in a vault that is opened yearly. On the final Friday in September, the 3 necessary keys are brought to open the vault and the platinum meter and kilogram are viewed, their temperature taken, and then closed off from any influence that could alter their shape for another year.

I've read this book, and I loved it. It's the story of a common girl who is chosen to serve as one of Medea's maidens. Told in first person, the girl shares her embarassment and wonder in the new world she has entered. You are pulled into the story and held there by an interesting plot (which I'm not about to tell you.)This is a great book for young adults who like historical fiction, mythology, or just a good story.

This book covers all the right topics for undergraduate students in media and communication studies, and in a delightful and informative way. I think it would be an important addition to any course on media research, audience analysis, and research methods in communication.

The Egyptian Leader Muhammad Farid was my uncle, my late Father's ( Ahmad Muhammad Youssef )Farid brother: They were both heros as their father: Ahmad Mohammed Farid Bacha.

THIS is the heart of Torah. Each hidden nugget of Truth excavated, brought to the surface, and given to the reader as a jewel. One, of course, familiar, for they knew it somehow already. So that one may smile, beam, and nod at the end of a teaching- saying, "I know! And somehow I knew, already." For each member of humanity is a Torah and the students of Nahum describes all that we embody in this book. Accessible and complex. As is Torah, and so we, and our relationship to All That Is, was, and will be.

A must have resource for people of any religion (or no affiliation at all) interested in knowing what Torah is all about or simply to revel in an entirely different realm of thinking. Different from the everyday, yet completely integral of the everyday. Accessible every minute of every day. Enjoy.

Lee Arthur covers a period of approximately 30 years in this book, during the time of Henry VIII. This story takes place in Scotland, and gives the reader a very good idea of the politics and sovereign rulers of that time. Told from the view of a young Irish lad indentured by his father to serve the McKenzies, the first part of the book is engrossing. As the focus changes over the years portrayed, the story eventually settles down to the life of the heir to the earldom. The Mer-Lion is their badge. Arthur is so vivid in describing events that the reader feels like he is actually experiencing...the excitement, the slave auctions (as a slave), the harrowing journey thru the desert, and the finale, the "games" these 7 young men of Scotland endure in hope of regaining their freedom, against all odds, and against the perfidy of the rulers of that time; i.e. James of Scotland, Henry VIII, and the Moulay along with his daughter, for whom the games will declare the man who wins her hand in marriage. An excellent read for anyone who enjoys a good story, with some factual history thrown in, and an ending that leaves it to your own imagination what becomes of the surviving young men.