Stories of the masters can be both inspiring and lead to sloth, sloth you say ? How is this ? The inspiration part is easy the stories of their lives are often so hard and troublesome that it is easy to consider them remarkable men which they of course were, but on the other hand two things stand in your way one is the praise of remarkable men, the other is the recognition of some of their qualities inside yourself, both of these delusions interfere with proper practice. In fact the non-reading of just about anything is the best way to go because truth is present everywhere at all times and it is nowhere apart from here where you stand right now. Given these comments this book can be a useful ally for practice as long as it is read and forgotten ie the important aspects will be used when needed and that is all. It sounds good but can a person do such things easily, well not so easily. Try ? Why not ?

It is very good book, thanks to Joseph J. Weed for writing and publishing it. It may be very helpful for anybody who reads it and tries to implement what has been read. But no book can be used instead of live participating in Rosicrucian lessons, that has been designed ages ago to give knowledge and skills in the right pace, with accordance with Rosicrucian teachings about cycles and proper usage of resonances for best efforts/results ratio.

I read this book twentyfive years ago, and I began to seriously change my life. Unfortunately I loaned the book to a friend and could never get it back. I soon thereafter made contact with the Rosicrucians. The last twentyfive years has been a journey, and although I had only studied earnestly with the Rosicrucians for six months or so, everything that they taught me has been validated through observation and experience. I mourned the loss of this book for twentyfive years, and just happened across it here in Amazon. I am now reading it again, and I am amazed at how much I have progressed....and how much more there is to do. My youngest daughter and my first two of more to come grandchildren are blessings that I would never have been granted had I not read this book and found my way to the Rosicrucians. I am so happy to have found this book again.

What a wonderful book. Filled with esoteric insight that took the author decades to learn. Here it is in print, narrowed down to the core,the heart of information that opens up a portal to metaphysical and spiritual understanding. Many authors fill their books with unnecessary filler jargon, this one gets to the point. I recommend it to all who want to cut to the chase learning to raise their vibrational freqency,increase psychic energy and abilities, and resonate with a higher awareness. I am glad this book FOUND ME.

.... ...to tell the truth - when I picked it up, that's what I thoughtit was [just another book on him.] The pictures in this book make it much more than that. After reading it, I can say that the pictures are wonderful, and the text compliments them well. It is not a heavy-reading book - more of a coffee-table book, but wonderful none the less. Anyone who has visited an Aikido dojo has probably seen pictures of a serious O'Sensei staring out at them from the shrine. This book has wonderful pictures of O'Sensei late in his life, "at the summit of his career as a spiritual seeker." as the book describes him. The pictures showed me a side of O'Sensei's spirit that I hadn't experienced before in other books. In these pictures, O'Sensei seems to glow, looking at time like a Taoist sage, and at other times like a playful imp (this written with the utmost respect for O'Sensei). The pictures of him smiling are a delight to see. I would encourage anyone interested in Aikido to look at this book.

As a new student to Aikido I espically enjoyed the many pictures of the master. Since I cannot meet the master, this is a beautiful collection of photos of which to know him by. One can't help but love his warm and genuine smile. There are many inspirational sayings at the end of this book, which lead the reader to aspire to leading a peaceful and constructive life.

Straight from the master. It doesn't get better than this. An outstanding book that gives you the background for learning Aikido. This book can save you many hours of dojo time in your advancement through Aikido.

Mr. Ailes does an outstanding job communicating how to leverage your own strengths to be an outstanding communicator. The book is joyful and entertaining to read and well deserved to be on any leaders reading list.

Mr. Ailes does an outstanding job communicating how to leverage your own strengths to be an outstanding communicator. The book is joyful and entertaining to read and well deserved to be on any leaders reading list.

My college minor some 30 years ago was Speech. I have read some 10 books and many more articles about giving speeches. Roger Ailes book, first published in 1988, is the only one like it I have ever read. His advice is unique, and I believe, right on.

Instead of quirky gimmicks, Ailes starts with the factors that make a great speaker -- some of which will surpise you, and encourage you. The book is very readable with lots of anecdotes and great stories to illustrate his points.

In my consulting with political candidates I recommend it often. Considering this man's success in television and politics, I don't understand why this book is not more widely read and referenced. I consider it a "secret weapon". After all, this is the man who was a consultant to the man friend and foe alike called the great commuicator, Ronald Reagan. If you read it, you may be the only one you know who has. And then you will wonder, as I have, why more people have not read it.

I recently found this audio edition of "Rumpole on Trial." I had only heard Leo Mckern read the Rumpole stories, but knew other actors had portrayed the British barrister in the past. Unfortunately, after listening to the Timothy West version for awhile, I stopped listening. Those of us who have heard Mckern do Rumpole almost exclusively may be dissapointed with West's version. Mckern is much more bombastic and furious with his Rumpole. West's comedy is much more subtle to the point of non-existance. Where during an objection about a point of law, Mckern would have shouted with a great relish to the argument. West does not have that flair.

But Timothy West is a good reader. I would encourage those who haven't heard Leo Mckern or have not decided that they won't accept any Rumpole other than Mckern's, to give this edition a chance. Those of us who have saturated ourselves with Mckern's acting ability, it might be best to save some money.

and, frankly, Timothy West falls just short. But considering that every drawing of Rumpole is a drawing of Mr. McKern, that he was so closely identified with the character that when he read the stories they were read "by Rumpole himself" for another reader to successfully render Rumpole was a pleasant surprise for me.

Since at least the second recording of this series uses a different actor I wonder about the quality but at least the first volume is a complete success with Mr. West's terrific reading making one (almost) forget the late "Rumpole".

With the recent death of character actor Leo McKern, there will be a resurgence of interest in video editions of his wonderful "Rumpole of the Bailey" series so dear to the hearts of Mystery Theatre watchers on PBS. In fact, HBO is reissuing all of the tapes onto DVD format and they will be available starting in in the Fall of 2002. So it was with great pleasure that I saw listed in the Audio Partners catalogue of books on tape, "Rumpole on Trial" ((61267). The set holds 6 cassettes with a running time of 8 hours and 7 minutes.

The reader is British actor Timothy West, whose voice is the next best thing to the gravel-throated chortle of McKern. Here he reads seven complete Rumpole tales: "Rumpole and the Children of Evil," "...the Eternal Triangle," "...the Miscarriage of Justice," "...the Family Pride," "...the Soothsayer," "...the Reform of Joby Jonson," and (to break the pattern) "Rumpole on Trial." All of these have been televised and all of them are a good deal of fun.

John Mortimer's custom was to create around the case Rumpole is handling a framing plot that has thematic likenesses or is antithetical to the main plot. So, for instance, all the while Rumpole is worried about being disbarred, his draconian wife, Hilda ("She Who Must Be Obeyed" as he calls her) is plotting to have him made a judge.

The army of minor characters are a joy in themselves. The pompous Head of Chambers "Soapy" Sam Ballard, the unhappily married clerk Henry, the pro-labor and pro-women barrister Liz Probert, the opera-loving snake in the grass Claude Erskine-Brown, the foot-in-his-mouth Guthrie Featherstone, and above all the (in)Justices Olliphant and Graves who love the prosecution and cannot see any humor in Rumpole's reminding them a trial should be fair.

Timothy West does all the voices, of course, but does not try to emulate the women as other readers do on (say) the Jeeves tapes. That would have been an error, since the tales are always told first-person from Rumpole's point of view.

For the most part, I think I clocked in about one good laugh per minute while listening to these tapes on long car trips; and I can highly recommend this set.

In this book, David Kushner documents the lives of two influential game programmers, John Romero and John Carmack - the guys who created Doom and id Software. It chronicles the lives, the company, the gaming industry, and the impact of these two young computer geniuses. It's a quick, fluid read that is not only entertaining, but is awe inspiring as well.

This is a fascinating book on many fronts. It describes how two kids got into games from the early childhoods, describes their fascination with computers in general, and their dreams. It goes from a tale of two kids with ideas, to their technological innovations, to business start, to their monumental growth, and finally to their fallout. It sheds light not only independent game programming, but of the type of people who develop and play these first person shooters like Doom.

Not only is this a biography, or a game book, it's also sort of the "startup.com" of the gaming world. With a good mixture of business, gaming, with unique and individual characters, it indirectly describes the world of gaming companies and what it takes to make a good, and bad, company.

While a good book for all, it's a must for anyone who loves games or is into software development.

this is an excellent book. I read it in a day, I couldn't stop reading it. it tells the life of two revolutionary figures in video game history, it presents it in novel form, and succeeds with flying colors. 5/5 10/10 bling-bling, whatever. its awesome.

Kushner's book is a "Behind the Music" type of story detailing what drove these young men to devote their lives to making some of the world's greatest video games. You'll especially love it, if like me, you played Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and Quake in the 80s and 90s, and wondered how id software could revolutionize gaming every few years. The author gives a great inside scoop on how Carmack created graphics engines that turned the PC into a gaming machine, which at that point in time seemed almost unthinkable. Romero, in the early days, was the perfect complement to Carmack's skills, creating the first level editing tools to develop levels for Commander Keen and Wolfenstein. And the rest of the people at id software--Adrian Carmack, Tom Hall, etc., their stories are detailed, as well as people like DWANGO Bob, who made money off networked DOOM servers before the Internet came along. My only wish was that the book had pictures so we could visualize what everyone looked like at the time!

When I make my fantasy list of the best books I've ever read, Le Carre's trilogy about George Smiley is near the top. The author is difficult reading. You have to pour over most paragraphs, so as not to miss each nouance. Smiley is the ultimate father figure in espionage literature. You are comfortable when he is there and figuring things out, but you marvel at the complexity and difficulty of what he has to do, and how he does it. I commend this to anyone who loves rich characterization, and wants a book he or she will come back to again and again.

I was interested in the espionage story but what I found most compelling were the characters and how much i grew to care about them over time (especially Smiley). The conclusion, that if you choose the methods of your enemy you are no better than your enemy is quite true. I do not like much modern fiction but found these three novels completely compelling, and have read them twice.

'Spying is waiting'. So believable. Unlike the breakneck speed of events of popular espionage fiction, John Le Carre takes us into the REAL world of spying where you do your bit and wait for the reactions. Things don't happen at the speed at which we wish them to.

His characters don't speak from high moral grounds, so typical to Tom Clancy's characters. Nor they are reluctant heroes of Robert Ludlum. They are real people, afraid, greedy, selfish, people who you can relate with, people who don't have the power to eliminate the evils of the world single-handedly. These are the people who know that the evils are here to stay, and in some sense they are also part of it. Elimination of evil will mean self-destruction. They just play the part in the manner they are told to and wait to get out of the evil-machine of espionage. 'Spying IS waiting'

****Precaution: Stay away from the movie if you haven't read the novel.

The revised edition is excellent, apart from forming a useful catalogue of stereographs to seek out, it is also a wonderful history of the many subjects photographed in 3-D over the years. I rated it at 4 stars rather than 5 because I consider the reduced content of the index to be a retrograde step. Having said that it is a 'must have' for all stereographers.

This is a brand new, year 2002, 336 page book with over 3,000 detailed listings of stereo view collectibles. It has more than 500 black and white photos with a wealth of useful and interesting text on this popular collectible. Chapters include care, condition, and dates of views, evaluating views, leading photographers and publishers and much information on modern era 3-D visual collectibles, including Tru-Vue, Novelviews, View-Master, GAF and more. The volume is completely indexed for easy location of items. Very comprehensive updated value guide. This updated edition is a must for stereo view enthusiasts. Add it to your library.

There are prices listed, as well as tips about how to grade collectibles. While prices are always debatable, it is still a great reference. With more than 300 photos on a total 336 pages it is also a wonderful book to browse.

A true "must have" book for any stereo collector!

I never thought to see any new Rumpole of the Bailey stories, but it seems that the fecund John Mortimer has come up with yet another seven put out by Viking Press. At the same time, Audio Partners has released a complete reading on 6 audio-tapes. "Rumpole Rests His Case" (61280) features actor Tony Britton and the six stories are as follows.

"Rumpole and the Old Familiar Faces" (a fitting title for a "return" tale) concerns another inept robbery by a young member of the Timson clan, a Christmas pantomime, and an ex-con living it up as a gentleman.

"Rumple and the Remembrance of Things Past" somehow and neatly manages to put a framing device of a non-smoking rule in "chambers" around a gruesome major plot of a wife's skeleton found buried in a floor.

"Rumpole and the Asylum Seekers" is a timely tale of refugees escaping an oppressive government and those who make money by betraying them.

"Rumpole and the Camberwell Carrot" is about a flaming affair between the lovely "Portia of the Chambers" and a noted pillar of morality who has more than just clay feet.

"Rumpole and the Actor Laddie" is the shortest Rumpole story ever and the most unsatisfactory, revolving around a ring that might or not be stolen.

"Rumple and the Teenage Werewolf" is another very timely tale about sexual stalking by e-mail. (Here I was sure I knew who the culprit was--it HAD to be!--and was wrong.)

The final tale, "Rumpole Rests His Case" is the most unusual Rumpole story ever. After collapsing at the end of a particularly trying trial, Rumpole spends the story in a hospital bed in which he solves a crime and presents his case--to the other patients! A very touching finale.

Britton lacks that Leo McKern blusteriness that Timothy West had on an earlier Audio Partners set of Rumpole tales, but he is quite good on his own terms. In general, the sparkle seems to have gone out of these Rumpole yarns; but any Rumpole is better than none. I therefore recommend this set without much reservation.

There are all here: Sam Ballard, Liz Probert, Claude Erskine-Brown, Hilda (she who must be obeyed) and the wonderful Timsons who keep Rumpole employed. And the stories go down perhaps a bit smoother than a glass of Chateau Thames Embankment. To those who know Rumpole there is no need of introduction. For those who don't there is wonderful intoxication ahead but do start at the beginning with Rumpole of the Bailey and work your way up to Rumpole Rests his Case. These stories are good but are too brief. This volume is not an aperitif but a nightcap. One can only wish for a more substantial serving in the future. Let's hope Mortimer has more tricks up Rumpole's sleeve before that long goodnight.

Rumpole fans, John Mortimer has rewarded us generously with seven new "thrills and spills in the life of an Old Bailey hack". Much of the usual line-up is present: wife Hilda (SWMBO), the Erskine-Browns (Claude and Phillida, formerly the Portia of Chambers), faithful solicitor Bonny Bernard, Soapy Sam Ballard (a/k/a Bonzo), Mizz Liz Probert, private eye Fig Newton, Mr. Justice Featherstone, and Judge Bullingham (the Mad Bull). The old spots and props are in place: Froxbury Mansions, 1 Equity Court, Pommeroy's Wine Bar, the Sheridan Club, cheroots, steak and kidney, and our old darling Horace's favorite plonk: Chateau Fleet Street, Chateau Thames Embankment and Pommeroy's Very Ordinary. The issues are timely. The laughs are plentiful. At one point Rumpole, while attempting to gather information is handed "the wet-ended stub" of a "fairly fat cigarette" which he accepts, "feeling that the information might peter out if I rejected it." In the last story("Rumpole Rests His Case,") John Mortimer seems to be saying Cheerio to Rumpole. Say it isn't so! Now that the remarkable Leo McKern is no longer with us, perhaps we should bite the bullet and accept the inevitable. But (dare I suggest it?) there is someone out there (British actor, Ian McNeice) who could do a proper Rumpole, I'm certain of it.

This excellent book is not only perfect for children who are either string players or enjoy learning about music, but it is also wonderful for the somewhat 'uninformed and uneducated' adult who would like to learn how some of the world's finest violins are made. The book is filled with wonderful pictures that clearly show each and every step in the long and laborious process of creating a violin.

Paul Fleisher and David Saunders have captured the art of violin making with text and photographs that is very clear and consise. Although the book is not very instructional for the aspiring luthier (violin maker), it is good for school children to learn about the skills of a master craftsperson.

For any parent, child, or person who delights in finding prizes, this book is a small treasure chest. From the beginning of the book, Fleisher makes the story accessible to children and learners, giving some of Larrimore's apprenticeship history, making known the importance of mentoring, education, and tradition in a trade where true apprenticed masters are rare. The pictures and narrative are informative and generous. Informative, in that anyone not well versed in the craft could learn something. Generous, in that, they are not overwhelming, not technical. This is a book which will delight and engage. I was shocked to see one review comment that it was not for someone learning to build a violin; would you pick up a story about Henry Ford to learn to fix you car?