From an experienced hospice minister comes a revelation of the heart of the Hospice mission. This book conveys the inner experience of hospice care, death and dying and questions about the meaning of life, death and the Spirit. Read along and get back in touch with what is really going on during the most intimate moments of the dying process as well as life itself.

Reverend Samuel Oliver has written an outstanding guide to learning to live life in the aftermath of the death of a loved one. I asked to review this book because it is something that is particularly relevant to families of those coping with life-threatening diseases and disorders. People with such illnesses and their families often face the unknown, but this book seeks to bring some peace of mind and spirit. Written in a series of 19 lessons, the author guides us through the questions that plague us all and accompany the death of those close to us. The author succeeds at his task, though because of the book's non-sectarian take, some of the wisdom it imparts leaves you asking even more questions - specifics that can only be answered by your own religious convictions. Despite occasional generalities, this book is full of wisdom and will go far to bringing peace to a transition that often troubles us all.

At the time I discovered Sam Olivers Book, I was enrolled in a chaplaincy program at a local hospital. I believed the content would be most helpful in my own ministry. Little did I realize that this book would be my own source of comfort, strength and guidance only a few short months later when I was thrown into an unwanted, unexpected divorce.

I have discovered that the pain of a divorce can be almost as devastating as the death of a loved one. This book served as a guide through that darkness. The comfort and spiritual direction I derived has contributed greatly in my healing process and the continuation of my ministry.

Thank you Sam Oliver for your contribution to my life.

Continuing WW's Libellus Sanguinus series, which details three Dark Ages vampire clans per book, this book details the three non-European clans in the Dark Ages setting. Essentially, each book is a mini-clanbook, covering the clan's history, outlooks, practices and disciplines during the Dark Ages. Considering that my favorite clans are covered in this book, I found it very exciting.
After an introduction saying what is in the book and why, we get to the first section, "Animals", which covers the feral and animalistic Gangrel barbarians. Probably the shortest book in this collection, it goes from the Gangrel's distant roots on the steppes of Central Asia to the Dark Ages, covering the Gangrel's outlook and practices like the revel and the survival test new embraces are subjected to. A brief section on views on other Clans and the wild places in Europe is followed by a section full of game mechanics, from wilderness oriented Merits and Flaws to new Protean and mixed discipline powers. It closes out with two new bloodlines (Greek Gangrel and the Mariners), brief mention on the "animal forms" that different Gangrel might assume and a few sample templates. There is also a "dark secret" concerning the Gangrel's connection to the Ravnos.
Following this is the chapter on the Assamites, which did quite a bit to clear up old stereotypes. After a really cool fiction piece, we get to learn about the Children of Haqim, from their homelands in Arabia, Persia and North Africa to distant Iberia, Byzantium and even into India, Asia and Africa. This is followed by some info on Alamut, Haqim's whereabouts and other clan specific info, as well as a nice section on the Clan's relatiosnhip to religions (and Viae). No longer is the Clan stereotypically associated with Islam, but now with many religions from Christianity and Judaism to distant Eastern religions to the ancient faiths of Greece and Persia. After getting Haqim's Laws (the Assamites code as it were) and views on other clans, it also goes into detail on the three Assamite castes: the Warriors (not just assassins, but also soldiers, judges, hunters and strategists), Sorcerers (specialists in Mid-Eastern magic) and Viziers (scholars, theologians, politicians and artists), as well as the clan's organization and secret societies.
Some really neat mechanics (like the Multicultural Merit, Quietus powers and some more info on Assamite blood magic) were included, as well as really original character templates, like th Sea Witch and the Reluctant Crusader. The Assamite's "dark secret" involves the Clan's connections, real and imagined, to the Hashashyinn and is a suprisingly clever twist.
The final chapter, "Serpents", focuses on the Followers of Set, and finally connects them to Egyptian magic and mythology. The Setites are presented as crusaders on a holy task, no longer mere tempters and corrupters. And they don't believe in Caine like other vampires, literally believing in Egyptian mythology and religion. The Setite backstory goes that they believe they are liberating man (and vampires) from the oppressive tyranny of Ma'at (law or balance). Info on the Setite's history, doings in Egypt and beyond, as well as the schism between the older Egyptian priesthood and the younger Decadents (primarily in Byzantium and Europe) were also really neat.
There were also plenty of mechanics for running Setites. Aside from the Merits and Flaws, there was also more information on Setite blood magics, including a new Path. There was also a new Via (Via Serpentis), designed off attaining the "original" or "natural" state of man, and it is presented as the ORIGINAL Setite Via. Pretty cool stuff. The character templates weren't bad but didn't particularly interest me. The dark secret for the Setites, involving a dark conspiracy concerning the Assamites, Setites and Baali, was pretty neat, but not really unexpected. Overall, this was an excellent book and a long needed overhaul for all three Clans really. Check it out, even if you don't use the Dark Ages setting.

I was nerviously awaiting this book. I had hoped byond hope that it would give a better representation of my favorite clan in the Dark Ages setting than the original Clanbook for the modern setting. Needless to say I purchased the book as soon as it was available, and I was taken away as I dove into the first section. I feel in love with Clan Gangrel all over again. The feel of the introductory tale gave both the feel I believe is Dark Ages and the smooth but violent purpose of nature's predators of the night. The rest of the book also holds the World of Darkness's history from some of the farthest points from the Dark Ages eurocentric world. Tales and truths decorate the Assimites' Islamic culture as well as the the Setites' Egyptian name-based society. The book was wonderous, but it was all icing on the cake for me after the woodland feel of the Gangrel world. Now all I have to wait for is the forth book in this series so I may know more about the feud between the Gangrel and Ravnos.

I really like that it is written simply and is easy to understand. It breaks up the things to be done in the garden and yard into seasons so that you can easily tell what you can do during a particular time of the year! It's a great book!

Propertius' political poetry is entirely superfluous; he is at his best when writing odes to Cynthia. Of course, like all love-elegists, he is highly indebted to Catullus, but still he manages to have a charm and lyricism all his own.

I found this a fine and useful translation to read along side the Latin text of Propertius in the Loeb Classical Library (where the facing translation has as its prime aim to help the reader understand the latin; it gets a little dry). Unfortunately, this Oxford World Classics edition does not contain a facing Latin text, like the Oxford World's Classics edition of Catullus (also translated by Guy Lee). Nonetheless, Lee's introduction has to be one of the most interesting and absorbing introductions around, a far cry from the usual jargon-laden tedium that passes for an intro to most paperback classics nowadays. Lee is good on Propertius life and times, and on what he himself is trying to accomplish in the translation - basically, stay as close to the Latin as possible yet still preserve some style to the English. Lee's translations are always elegant on their own and helpful to the "mature student" teaching himself Latin. Try Guy Lee's translations of the Eclogues (Penguin - with facing Latin) and his Catullus (Oxford World Classics - with facing Latin). For a wonderful, well-written account of Propertius and the other great poets of the Augustan era (Virgil, Horace, etc), seek out Jasper Griffin's Latin Poets and Roman Life; like Guy Lee's introduction, Professer Griffin's book is jargon-free, well-written and extremely absorbing - concentrating all the time on the poetry itself and what it has to say (rather than literay theories, etc).

After CatullusÕ early experiments, Gallus was the first to borrow directly from the Alexandrians whose poets, more than a century earlier, had introduced a new sensibility and the conflict between urbanity and the urban concept of nature - preferably in a bucolic setting, as in Theocritus idylls. An innovation, to which even a Hebrew poet - perhaps a rabbiÕs daughter - made a contribution with the ÒSong of Solomon,Ó which is not just ostentatious poetry, but a bit of a rabbinic crossword puzzle: how many allusions and direct quotes from the Bible, would a reader recognize?

The undisputed Doyen of Hellenistic poetry was Callimachos, a scholar employed by the library in Alexandria. He had experimented with new prosodic patterns, wrote hymns, epigrams, court poetry, and especially etiological works. Catullus created for himself a pedigree by translating CallimachosÕ ÒLock of Berenice.Ó But it was Cornelius Gallus who began imitating the bucolic urbanity we find echoed in Vergil's Eclogues. We know that Vergil admired Gallus. Eclogue X addresses him directly. Then came Propertius and claimed Mimnermos as his literary pedigree; he adapted the Greek poet's meter, but in a vastly different tone.

Gaius Sextus PropertiusÕ data are very uncertain: born sometime between 54-47, he died sometime between 15-02 BC. All we know of PropertiusÕ life is that he had grown up near Perugia, that his familyÕs estate, like Vergil's, had been confiscated for AugustusÕ veterans, but that unlike Virgil he was able to subsist on his own means. In his poems he obsesses over a woman he called Cynthia. The emotion is intense, the expression refined, and full of the aroma of daily life. He is aware that he is an innovator. His poems ripple with a confusingly complex sensitivity.

And that exactly is the problem for a modern reader! Propertius prided himself on being learned. He often used versions of myths obscure even to erudite Romans. A reader without a grip on the lore of Antiquity, is simply lost if he tries to appreciate in detail all the hints, innuendos, and references. But who, in our days, has such a grasp? My own edition uses 160 generously spaced pages for the actual poetry and 320 pages for a tightly packed index of personal names, biographical notes and all the mythological and geographical references. Reading these poems is an experience surprisingly similar to reading certain modern authors - surprising for the degree of intellectual kinship and modernity that bridges a gap of 2,000 years.

Unlike Ovid, who was a favorite of the Elizabethans, Metaphysicians, and practically everybody ever since, Propertius came to light rather late. In the English speaking world, it was A.E. Housman, the English poet and self-taught Latinist, who was the first to champion PropertiusÕ technical brilliance in a series of articles. But before Ezra PoundÕs ÒHomage To Sextus Propertius,Ó there was barely any awareness of PropertiusÕ existence in the reading public. The simple fact remains: Propertius is a poetÕs poet. Not for trying to be difficult, but for following a convention that has practically vanished from our historical awareness.

We still use mythological patterns and characters to typify human behavior, even so for most people it is biblical mythology that has replaced the pagan paradigm. However the correlative changes in the underpinning concepts of man and his purpose has led to inevitable losses in sentiment and reference. For instance the only positive example for pederasty in the Bible is the story of Jonathan and David. Pagan mythology on the other hand offers hundreds of references and developed a code of romantic love entirely based on pederasty.

In poem No. 20 we can compare PropertiusÕ method with two of his Alexandrian models. In his epic on the Argonauts, Apollonios of Rhodes tells the tale of the drowning of HerculesÕ boyfriend Hylas. Hylas has left the camp to fetch some water. The water nymphs see him, fall in love, and drag him under. Hylas screams, but sadly Hercules arrives too late, and fails to rescue his beloved. Theocritus tells the same tale, but focusses more on the erotic intensity between the lovers and the story of the drowning itself. Theocritus addressed his poem to his own boyfriend, Nikias. Propertius found yet another angle to the same myth.

The essential difference is in PropertiusÕ depiction of Hylas. Theocritus simply makes him a youth who went to fetch water and was kidnapped. Propertius paints Hylas as a youth of indolence - who is not at all coy to signal his sexual availability. In addition, we also see Hylas from the nymphsÕ perspective. So he warns his friend Gallus to keep a close eye on his little lover, lest he loses him to rabid nymphs, as Hercules lost Hylas. This poem is a good example for PropertiusÕ use of multiple perspectives. But his poems must be read in their designated context.

Especially the first book of the collection betrays an immense effort to interlink the poems to a cycle of exploration. Elegiac poetry got its name from the metrical unit - the elegiac couplet. It is composed of alternating lines of verse in dactylic hexameter followed by a pentameter. Dactylic hexameter is the meter used in epic poetry but by combining it with a pentameter, the poetry is constantly deflated, because for every bold, frontal statement in the first line, there follows a second line lacking in metrical grandeur. Propertius is recognized as metrical genius, the equal of Vergil.

Propertius cycle of poems is a story of grace and possessive addiction. Granny NatureÕs sly way to make her creatures go is clearly recognized for what it is and how it creates a conflict with acceptable conduct in polite society. But unlike Rousseau and the Romantics, Propertius does not romanticize the savage in us, nor condemn culture as an evil. Love is a divine gift, but it has a destructive side to it. And where Ovid laughs away the pains of love as a mere party game, PropertiusÕ darker temperament wrestles with a profoundly troubling affliction.

Seems to cover a lot, from networking to graphics to XML & CGI. I was surprised that the chaper on CGI was so short, given that its not covered at all in Professional Perl also by Wrox press. Also the book was a lot shorter, but still long at 650 pages.

This was an interesting story, which I did not know a lot about. With more terrorism focus in the media today and the troubles in the Middle East a situation like this could come up again. I also liked the detail of this particular terrorist group, which I think is no longer active. Overall the book was solidly written but not a fast paced page-turner. If you are interested in the time frame or particular event then it is worth reading.