This journey around the multitude of archaeological sites connected with ancient European Goddess cults taught me a ton of fascinating, scholarly things AND kept me in stitches throughout! Rufus and lawson are wits par excellence! Marvelous. If you like travel books with a unique twist, find this gem. One of the most truly witty and inspired books I have ever read!

When I picked this book up, it was the uncorrected pre-press edition. It had a few errors in direction (East was West and North was South) and content, but I still find it rather informative.
If you are a California native or new to the Golden State I strongly recommend it for an idea of what fame, fortune and failures can plague the Left Coast. While some information was interesting and thought provoking, other items were rather banal and uninspired. Maybe this was corrected in the later printing, but it still makes me wonder about the veracity that the facts were checked.
Nevertheless a great book for those interested in the underbelly of California pop culture.

If you want to travel all over California and take in all the bizarre (aka definitely not mainstream) tourist sites along the way, buy this book! It provided me with all sorts of information. Imagine my shock when I found out that the site of the Heaven's Gate last supper was the Marie Calender's I frequent when I am in Carlsbad. Really, this book is a lot of fun. Provides a lot of trivia and gives books like LA Bizzaro and San Francisco Bizzaro a run for the $$$$ and also flip flops all over the state in search for crime scenes and other oddities.
Even if you don't use it as a tour guide and/or never step foot in California, this book will entertain and provide more than a few chuckles.

I've actually been into this sort of thing for years, visiting any local sites associated with the more sensational stories of the San Francisco Bay Area, and there simply isn't a better general guide to cover the many other California stories that are even further away.

I say general because I like to read about many other incidents, even those that are no more than bizarre accidents or forgotten front page stories from the Victorian era. I will determine where those occurred too, and newspapers often publish addresses.

The Southern California people with this book will be green with envy that I have easy access to places they don't, and I feel the same way about their area. I'll just have to wait until I get a chance to visit the Southern parts of this state again.

Among the sites I have gone to here in San Francisco are Jimmy Stewart's Apartment from the 1958 thriller Vertigo, and the apartment house where the Symbionese Liberation Army brainwashed Patty Hearst in the closet in 1974. I had already read Patty's own riveting account of the kidnapping, so that particular site made an even more ominous impression.

The Vertigo site has very relaxed vibes, and the SLA site really unsettling vibes. I even looked into the hallway of the latter and noticed a creepy gun sight like design in the old colored windows. Anyone would notice those while going up the stairs, and that's all the more interesting because the SLA practiced with pellet guns in the bathroom during the three months they were there.

One of the things I like about seeing all these places is that they give a local resident a kind of frame of reference about the neighborhoods. Even most cab drivers won't know the city like those who have this little encyclopedia as they travel around.

I never really paid much attention to some areas before, like the ones associated with rock n roll history in the Haight Ashbury and elsewhere, but now when I hear people talking about many legendary names I have visual references to real places and it's something we can both talk about.

If you'd like to chat about this hobby, send me an e-mail. I'm working on an 1895 San Francisco history book that will also have a generous list of places to visit at the end, and I'll let my fellow time trippers know if the project is ever completed.

While the subject matter is as important and noteworthy as other reviewers have stated, Mr. Wheaton's prose rambles with much repition and glib remarks passed off as wisdom. The book showcases the depth of the author's experience in the Balkans, but the one case study where he deviates from this theme, the debacle surrounding Intel's initial Pentium CPU chip release, is shallow and appears to be written with no input from people who were directly involved.

The biggest problem behind this book is its size and format. No one but those who all ready agree with the principals and practice intelligence analysis will ever bother to pick up this book. The author would have done better to either:
a. cut out the fluff and write a tight essay/article that could have been presented in magazines read by executives, or
b. gather together multiple authors with various professional backgrounds to build a more complete, in-depth text book with many more examples and practical exercises to be used by business colleges and military academies.

AFCEA International Press also did Mr. Wheaton no favors by producing one of the most poorly proofread books I have ever read.

The perfect book for the perfect time. The Warning Solution is a book divided in two parts that provides intelligence professionals and researchers essential tools to be employed in today's information saturated environment. This book is about teaching people how to find needed information in a timely and effective manner in order to develop, or support, a decision making process.

Divided in two parts the book first identifies, in a very succinct and effective manner, current problems (The Warning Problem) in handling massive amounts of information from several different perspectives. Those perspectives are from the points of view of a collector of data, an analyst and a decision maker.

The second part of the book focuses on the "Warning Solution" by providing one critical thinking strategies; elements of analysis and how to analyze; and finally how to develop, staff and run an effective intelligence section within your organization.

The fact the book teaches you how to analyze data and develop information into intelligence "walks the walk" in an easy to use guide of ONLY 89 pages holds true to the intelligence concept of providing usable intelligence is a timely, concise and pertinent manner.

An excellent side note about this book, is that a very blunt and honest description of fundamental intelligence capabilities and operations is provided to the user of intelligence and intelligence related information. In other words, the unit commanders, organization leaders and key decision makers are candidly explained what makes up a good intelligence organization; who's responsible for the efficient production and quality of intelligence; and, how to develop assess the effectiveness of your unit's intelligence section.

This book focuses on the basics, but also addresses advanced analytical concepts for beginners or experts alike. This is a must read.

I've served, and continue to serve, in the intelligence community for a number of years now. Supported intelligence operations throughout several areas of the world. I skim and read through over four thousand email messages, alone, monthly. I cannot recommend a better book to keep my mind focused on my mission to provide decision makers the information they need to benefit our organization.

GySgt X, USMC, Intelligence Plans Chief/ Asst. Intelligence Operations Chief

Finished the book this weekend. I liked it. The analysis on analysis was spot on. I use many of the techniques outlined in the book myself in analysis of engineering and business
problems. When I was reading the book I had an immediate reaction that the book cover should have been yellow with a black stripe and entitled "Intelligence Analysis for Dummies"
A second reation was that the book reminded me somewhat of Machiavelli's "The Prince." Like Machiavelli, the subject matter is presented in blunt, clear language. You don't have to be a Rhodes Scholar to understand this text. In it you find a blue print to run a modern intelligence operation much like "The Prince" was a blue print on how to run a 16th Century Italian State. There is a full listing of pitfalls to avoid, and opportunities not to overlook. Finally, itt is also a blue print on how to make effective decisions on the basis of intelligence. I am sure most readers will agree that once your get past the politics and BS, statesmanship is nothing more than effective decision making. This book tells the decision maker exactly what to expect from his intelligence and analysis people, and what his responsibilites are in making the correct decision. I am sorry to say this book is not going to make the author many friends in the current intelligence and military command structure. One of the main lessons I learned in my government work is that A. No one likes a smartass, and B no one will tolerate a smartass if he is right most of the
time.

In any event I liked the book...It is my hope that people who make these type of decisions that govern our lives reads this book and learn from it (although I rather doubt it).

Kristan offers guidance - with no judgment - about how to understand why we have trouble getting organized and what to do about it. This book works for the collector of huge amounts of junk to the occassionally-my-desk-gets-too-messy and I don't know where to start person. There are how-to's for filing and sorting and making decisions about stuff. On a more involved level, Kristan helps one prioritize and feel less stressed managing a life or job that requires constant multi-tasking. On the deepest level she offers spiritual or philosophical perspective on the relationship between us and our stuff.

I don't usually read how-to or self-help books, but this was a real find and has something for everyone.

I never thought the "why" of why I was disorganized was that important, but after I took a course with Pam Kristen and became better organized after it, I realized "why" actually matters. And what's more, recognizing "why" is key to getting organized. I began to see specific examples of "why" and "how" working together. For example, my desk was always cluttered with stacks. Why? I had no idea; I just wanted it cleaned up. But, after exploring "why" I began to see that the clutter serves a purpose. Yup, a purpose: If I can't find the memo from the client-from-hell, I don't actually have to write back! How handy. Now, I just bite the bullet, write back (or decide not to) and move on. Another example, I had stacks of invitations, lists, etc. piled high because I couldn't decide about those invitations and list items. Again this realization of "why" made it possible for me to "do." Now, I decide on the first or second view of the invitation/list/etc. or I throw it out. Again, the pile shrinks.

I found the book to be a really nice blend of inspirational and practical techniques. She provides lots of worksheets that I found to be quite helpful.

This is the first book I read that made me look at organizing my stuff as an interesting job rather than some drudgery to make myself trudge through. Ms. Kristan occasionally veers off into New Age psycho-babble, but not enough to de-rail the usefulness of her book for non-New Agers like me.

Her approach is to look at our piles of clutter as a rich source of material to figure out who we really are and what will make us happy. Sort of like a personal archaeology project. Very inspirational and fun!

I bought this book prior to my european trip thinking it would help a lot as far as finding the non touristy, weird , and bizarre places. it is helpful to an extent but it ends up just repeating info that more general guides such as Lonely Planet's Europe on a Shoestring and Let's Go Europe have. if you are planning to go for a lengthy period of time do not buy this book for it will only be extra weight. Lonely Planet's Europe has all the info you need. from hostels to bizarre places to go and see. overrall Weird Europe is not a bad guide, it just seems unnecessary if you already have one of the above guides. places are listed in a good order and the book even provides the directions how to get to most of those, such as metro stops, etc. a lot of guides repeat info. one is enough. i learned that one month into the trip when the weight of that backpack really starts digging into your shoulders.

The countries are listed alphabetically, then the corresponding listings of offbeat experiences and sights to be checked out in each, arranged by city. Each listing has one or more icons next to it, for example, "cemeteries, ossuaries, and corpses", "strange towns", or "outrageous art". There are 21 categories in all. This much-needed book is fascinating, well-organized, and unique. I am currently planning a trip with this book as the primary guide. After reading it cover to cover I realized that there is no way that I won't have an unforgettable and unusual experience.

This is really a good compendium of oddities. I know parts of Europe really well, more than I thought these authors would. But I was surprised to find that they had eccentric locales listed that I knew nothing about. They have done a very good job. A book that is definitely worth buying.

I enjoyed reading through the stories in this short book but was still left without any ideas for my own proposal.

I'd recommend the site howtoproposemarriage. com -- the ideas were much better.

Our story is also listed in the book. We are very happy with the book and all the incredible stories! I had an awful feeling that they might forget to include my future wife's name so I was sure to include it in the text of my story!

Hi I just wanted to have a chance to tell you how proud i am that me and my wifes story is included in such a romantic book....i read another review that was disappointing because of names being left unsaid but just so you all know we were asked whether or not we wanted names included and the person giving the review was incorrect for we agreed to it and our names are in the book....our story is titled leaving on a jetplane and all of us were given our titles before the book came out too so as far as not knowing where to look well that would be the fault of the person who was in the book that gave it to you....however i find it hard to believe that searching for it and reading the other stories as well was painstaking...i loved all of the stories and i think it was a wonderful idea for a terrific book cause we need more romantics in this world!