This book was received as a gift, after reading it I just could not put it down. It's true interest from start to finish, Kris did a great job with this book with alot of talent and love!

I recommend any Rick Nelson fan, get a copy and enjoy!!

After watching a presentation about Rick Nelson's career on VH1, I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of Kristin Nelson. Curious about her, I purchased a copy of, "Our Of My Mind." What an interesting book! Through the use of her paintings, poems, photographs, and diary entries, she recalls her life.
A victor over her personal struggles, a successful single mother, and a talented artist, one can only admire her.

This woman is a great artist and I love the format of the book--which features all her big beautiful paintings and the significance next to each of them. I love all the colors, the people, the brightness, the boldness, and the happiness she projects in her paintings. She reminds me so much of Faith Ringgold with her larger than life artwork, cartoonish-like characters, and her real-life storytelling. For quite some time now, I have been stressing over what to paint. I am now very inspired to, like the artist, paint my life's memorable moments.

A very intrigueing, and facinating book - absolutly wonderful and hauntingly beautiful photographs. This one is hard to put down...MCB

A very intreging, and facinating book - absolutly wonderful and hauntingly beautiful photographs. This one is hard to put down...MCB

As soon as I found this book in a used book store, I knew I needed to buy it. I love all the images and reading through all the angel names. Whenever I feel like the world is rapidly becoming overwhelming, I sit down with "Visions of Angels" and it helps to restore my balance. I highly recommend it - a coffee table book, it is not!

This book is the best book about Baby Face Nelson, I enjoyed reading this book greatly. Everything you wanted to know about Lester Gillis is in this book. Every part of his life was explained in great detail; the authors did not leave anything out. I highly recommend this book to people who are into the depression era gangsters.

this is the only book you need if you want to know about Baby Face Nelson. I can't say enough good things about this book. I only hope the authors will pen another book about Dillinger.

The era of the depression desperado was a very short lived one, but the authors do a great job researching the life of Lester Gillis, aka Baby Face Nelson. Partners in crime such as John Dillinger, Homer Van Meter, Pretty Boy Floyd, and others are included in this book close to 400 pages long. Don't let the length keep you from reading it, because I believe you will find it hard to put down. I especially enjoyed the lengthy section devoted to the fiasco at the Little Bohemia lodge near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, in which federal agents staged a shootout with gangsters. Gillis (Nelson) was responsible for killing one of the agents while another agent killed an innocent person staying at the lodge he thought was a gangster. In any event, the bad guys escaped and lived to fight another day. The price these men paid for their violent lifestyle showed in the tension they constantly lived under as they covered their tracks to avoid detection from the law. At times they wistfully envied the simpler lifestyles of the common man who had an everyday job. I'm not that familiar with the suburbs north of Chicago, but I was confused when the author mentioned that Niles Center is now Wilmette in the picture section of the book, and then on page 361 Niles Center is referred to now as Skokie. Was Niles Center part of both suburbs? This is a well researched book and easy to read. Make sure you have a good amount of time when you sit down to read it, because you are not going to want to put it down. I highly recommend this book to you.

This is a short, yet engrossing story of diabolical Nazi atrocities with which I was not previously familiar. Heinrich Himmler's Lebensborn "breeding homes," I have learned actually existed and this is a compelling fictitious drama set in one of them. Not only an entertaining read, but an informative history lesson about a relatively unexplored chapter in the Holocaust history.

A young, gifted writer, Nelson Aspen, turns back the pages of history. He highlights an aspect of life during Hitler's Thousand Year Reich and tells an incredible story. I won't give away the gripping plot, but start the book and I predict that you will be captivated to the very end.
Where, but under a dictatorship, could maternity homes be maintained by the State, for single girls to give birth to children destined to become treasured links in the chain of Aryanhood? How could it all have happened? Isn't it still amazing, more than fifty years hence?
Aspen demonstrates what can happen if you search and find a little known chapter of history, assemble the facts, develop a story line and end up with a truly fascinating book!...

I really liked this story and also learned a lot about Holocaust history at the same time. Very interesting as it is told from the POV of a German heroine. It is a fast read, very exciting--it's cliche, I suppose, to say "I couldn't put it down," but I read it in 2 sittings. One review calls this book "cinematic" and I whole heartedly agree...it's like reading a movie and reminds me ofthose classic old B&W war movies where the young lovers are forced to outsmart the evil Nazis. Good, fascinating fare!

Though a cliché, the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" finds worthy illustrations, even literally, in this book by artist and author George Nelson, "The Alamo: An Illustrated History."

A collection, by common usage and by operative definition, is an accumulation of objects for purposes of examination, comparison, study, display and viewing, and enjoyment. Private collections usually contain treasures only a chosen few can enjoy. Nelson has done every history enthusiast a real service by putting into literal publication this volume of Alamo images. They are, in a word, fascinating.

Though not as massive in its heft as the facsimile of Leonardo's "Leicester Codex," in format Nelson's volume could easily serve as a superb "coffee table" book. In it, one finds accounts, illustrative and written, of the Alamo's evolution throughout the centuries. Some of the artist's renderings are the author's own, and most of the photographic images are historic.

The most unique picture in the book might be the 1849 Alamo daguerreotype. It's unique mainly for two reasons: it's the first photographic image known to have been made in Texas - and it's the only known photograph of the Alamo Church before the now-iconic campanulate roof was added by the U.S. Army not long after the image was made. That there are a few people visible in the photo lends a special distinction - a human quality - to the image, even though we're seeing in it a literal freeze-frame of mid-19th-century time. That instant shows certainly not the battle that occurred there thirteen years before, or even a "reality" of daily life at the moment the photo was made: what it captures is essentially a brief view of one of history's "coffee breaks."

We should be thankful for the existence of this particular Alamo photo, and that George Nelson included it in this book. Made the very year Chopin died, the picture seems to cement the attachments that tie us to our own history. Historic photographic images like this one have certain primacies others do not, and only the most minimal reflection and effort reveal to us the important connections between the times of those photos and the corresponding people and events. As just one example, the first known photographic image ever made is a "heliograph" on a pewter panel by French lithographer Joseph Niepce. A view from his window at Gras, it took eight hours to expose, is primitive by any standards and lacks real detail. Nevertheless, that photographic image is still extraordinary: when it was made in 1826, Beethoven was still alive, with the mighty Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony already two years behind him. There's no way to know that the 1849 Alamo daguerreotype has no hidden story: can anyone say that none of the people visible in that photo didn't actually witness the events of Sunday, March 6, 1836 from a safe point in or near the town of San Antonio de Bexar? Conjecture may be fruitless, but it's still fascinating.

The artist's speculative rendering of the 1836 Alamo compound, one of the finest in the book, has an odd detail. The southern main gate seems totally surrounded by a U-shaped fortification of earthworks and cannon, with two rather narrow doorways on the eastern side of the Galera (often referred to as the "Low Barracks") being the only visible means of ingress or outlet to and from the entire compound. It's conceivable the artist might be suggesting that at the time of the battle, entry and exit might have been effected via those two doorways, perhaps with the intent of maximizing protection of the compound under conditions of seige. This still leaves open certain questions about how larger apparati might have been brought in. Even if this unusual peculiarity was an oversight in the rendering - after all, nothing is "perfect" - it certainly doesn't invalidate the overall worth and quality of the book, just as a wrong note or two wouldn't invalidate an otherwise fine performance by a fine pianist.

Exemplified in Nelson's book is the "Show, don't tell" principle. The finest writers show us with prose; and as the skilled musician can "hear with his eyes" by reading a score, the finer artists can "tell" us with images rather than words. Resurrected in this book are conceptual renderings and actual photos of places in eras long gone. With such a wealth of illustrations, the book offers us a rare and fascinating opportunity for comparison and study of images that have a very direct Alamo connection.

Though there's much to learn from the written accounts given here, the images themselves are the mean feature of this book. And images - especially historic ones - can resonate with us as no written descriptions can.

...

If a picture is worth a thousand words then George Nelson's "The Alamo: An Illustrated History" is worth many times that. Through much research Mr. Nelson gives you a birds eye view of the Alamo grounds through the ages with his drawings. Actually I like his drawings better than the historical drawings and photographs used in the later part of the book. Its a great book just to carry around the Alamo grounds as you try to imagine what it was really like in past times.  
I recently met Mr. Nelson at the Alamo gift shop. He was holding court, signing books and telling tales of Texas. Filling all the tourist with the "real" story of the Texas Revolution. He was sincere, knowledgeable, and seemed to really enjoy interacting with the crowd. 

"George Nelson has chosen to catalog in a chronological fashion events associated with the building of the Alamo and its geographical setting from prehistoric times to last year. . . the images speak to us and tell us of the changes endured by the most well-known building in Texas. . . (Nelson's) reconstructions add immeasurably to the reading of the public's understanding of 'What was a mission?' . . . He suceeds where many literary works fail. . . "

A must read for anyone who would like to know why he or she is sick and the answers to solving those problems.

I know Dr. Matsen personally and have seen with my own eyes the remarkable good work he has been doing for humanity.

He is an undiscovered jewel! This book is worth its weight in gold!!

I really loved this book. I have read many health books and this one, by far, is the best. When my dad found out he had cancer he called John on the phone and john talked with my dad (free of charge) and helped him through finding something that would work for him.

I learnt alot.

Though this book is modest and is filled with silly cartoons, the information inside is fantastic. A friend recommended it to me years ago when I first got sick with Chonic Fatigue. I wish I had read it then. My husband and I take it with us everywhere, use the recipes and generally use it as a ref. book all the time. We both feel sig. better as a result of the info.

A Border Collie owner, I could hardly wait to read this book, and the author's other books, Nop's Trials and Nop's Hope. A one-time visitor to Scotland who can't wait to go back, I eagerly looked forward to this book. And, I was not in the least bit disappointed on either count! The author's style is easy-going and readable, with a subtle humor throughout. His images are brilliant and I just felt like I was present for each scene that he wrote and a part of the action. Someone who has no interest in the working Border Collie might find the book dull. So also might someone who is not particularly interested in the very different lifestyle of the shepherd of Scotland. But for us who love the working Border Collie and find the life of the Scottish shepherd and his/her dog intriguing, this is an absolutely must-read book, over and over again!

This is a wonderful book any dog lover will thoroughly enjoy

When I first read Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men a few years ago, I had a delightful surprise in the middle. There was a grand photo of Viv Billingham and her remarkable dogs, including her hard-working Holly. While on a walking tour of Scotland, prior to reading this book, we had a most memorable demonstration of sheepherding at Viv's Tweed Hope. McCaig's book captures the intensity, devotion, and the "other worldliness" of shepherding and Scottish competitiveness of which we saw only a momentary frament. Unfortunately, I loaned this book to a Border Collie owner, who moved away and never returned the book. My mistake, because this book is a keeper.

There are 13 essays about various sports and also includes and introduction and conclusion. Some of the essays were better than others, usually because of the sport the essay examined. Babe Didrikson is featured in more than one essay, which highlights her significance to women's sports. The essays really draw attention to the many contributions many women, who's names are not commonly known, have brought to their sports. As a knowledgeable sports fan I enjoyed learning new things about female athletics. The essay's covered Track and Field, Baseball and Softball, Tennis, Golf, Canoeing Kayaking, Rowing Sailing, Skiing, Figure Skating, Swimming, Equestrian Sports, Gymnastics, Soccer, Ice Hockey, and Basketball. I totally skipped the Boating, Equestrian, and Ice Hockey essays and skimmed the Skiing essay. These sports don't interest me even in men's sport (except Ice Hockey, but I can't buy the women's version of the sport). I would recommend this book and I'll keep it in case my 6 year old daughter one day wishes to learn more about one or more of these sports.

I would really like to exhale now that someone finally gave props to the female basketball players who have great talent, but are not in the WNBA or Over Seas playing on a "professional level". Nike is a Goddess went "underground"to the best pro-am basketball tourney for woman at West 4th.ST. in NYC. These are the woman who have played for years in college and many other pro-am basketball tournaments. These woman are "street legends" of NYC.
These woman are excellent players, professionals, mothers and SUPERB basketball players. I'm so glad someone noticed, Thanx!

I was so impressed with this book that I plan to include it in a graduate-level college course about women's sports.

The title really doesn't do the scope of this book justice. I picked up this book because I was having some problems with a novel in progress. Then I read it and just sighed....clear insight into the writing process, the good, and useless, habits we form and their impact on our productivity. The book addresses a wide spectrum, such as: "Beginner's Block", Procrastination, Perfectionism, Obsessive Rewriting, and Success. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned professional, this book should be part of your toolbox. It will get you writing....happily.

After publishing my first book, I thought the next one would be easier. That was definitely not the case but after reading "On Writer's Block," I am slowly making my way back to the writing table. This book helped take a whole new look at how I approach writing. I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to be a part of any creative process. Thank you Victoria Nelson for writing this book. It is wonderfully inspiring.

When I read in the preface of "On Writer's Block" that it was based on the tenets of humanistic psychology so popular in the mid-80's, I groaned. Not another book telling me to get in touch with my inner child! Well, it may be a case of "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear," but this book helped bring me out of a seven-year struggle with wanting desperately to write, but not being able to.

The key is not to take the "inner child" notion too literally, but to look on it as a metaphor that can help bridge the gap between the subconscious (the realm of myth and dreams) and the conscious (the rational world, whose demands and vagaries we seek to illuminate). If you are constantly barking orders at your inner self, as I have for years, treating it as a recalcitrant subordinate who is going to be in big trouble if he doesn't get with the program, then there's no wonder the poor kid cringes in the corner and refuses to come out. Victoria Nelson urges us to think about creativity as a form of play, a release of emotions, truths, and insights that is unmediated by analysis or judgment.

I've run across the notion of creativity as play before, in Julia Cameron's "Artist Way" and "Vein of Gold," but have successfully resisted the beneficial effects of Cameron's rituals for years. (Nevertheless I recommend these books very highly--they may have helped set the stage for my breakthrough here.) Nelson's approach is different. Each short chapter is like the soft voice of an old friend, cutting right to the heart of things and giving you the hard truths you need to hear. If any of the chapter titles in this book ring the slightest bell for you--if, in fact, you are interested enough in this topic to be reading this review--then you owe it to yourself to take a look at this book.

This beautiful book attempts to trace the formation of hip-hop culture through interviews with those who were around for the first ten years. Fricke (a curator at the Experience Music Project museum) and Ahearn (photographer and director of the seminal hop-hop film Wild Style), attempt to document the New York City scene from about 1974-84 (right up to the formation of DefJam and Run-DMC) through photos, original party flyers, and the words of the DJs, MCs, b-boys (breakdancers), graffiti artists, and promoters who were there.

The early portion shows how DJ sound-system battles emerged in the early to mid '70s against the backdrop of a decaying Bronx, attracting youths to more or less impromptu parties in parks, streets, and playgrounds. Competition was fierce as to who had the loudest sound system and the best records, and tough security (gang members) was a necessity. One thing that gets disappointingly glossed over is how this copied what happened in Kingston, Jamaica ten years earlier. It was exactly the same: competing street sound systems, with competing DJs who would take the labels off records so spies couldn't find out what they were playing, gangs, violence-all the same. DJ Kool Herc, who lived in Jamaica until 1967, makes a fleeting reference to it, but that's all.

For the first few years, the DJs were the "stars" of the scene, offering an alternative to disco music. But as DJs started to learn how to manipulate their turntables to extend the "beats" from a song, eventually MCing started to become more vibrant. What had initially only been calls to the crowd to keep the party's energy up evolved into more and more sophisticated catchphrases, freestyle rhymes, and soon MCs were writing and memorizing lines. Again, it's a bit puzzling that no mention is made of Jamaican"toasting" which emerged in the mid to late '60s. This was the practice of DJs who would talk and rhyme over the records they played, and soon progressed to a point where they would have instrumental versions of popular songs laid down for them to rhyme over-often in a boasting style, talking about how they were the "#1", "champion", and so on. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The other two legs of hip-hop culture are given somewhat less space. The material on breakdancing (aka "b-boying" to the true old-schoolers) seems to indicate that the "b-boy " crews filled a kind of competitive void left by the waning of street gang culture. And while there was some of this dancing at the parties, music was the focus, rather than the dancing-which didn't get big until the early '80s. Graffiti, on the other hand, was clearly a prominent feature of the NYC landscape from the early '70s on. But, what's most interesting here is that while the graffiti artists often went to parties and knew some of the music people, the idea that graffiti was part of a larger hip-cop culture didn't emerge until late in the game. It wasn't until the downtown Manhattan art scene started getting interested that the music, breakin', and graffiti were packaged-by the white art scene-a unified "street" culture.

The book is lavishly put together, with tons to look at-however, the oral history structure isn't the greatest. From a historical perspective, it's great to hear all these unknown voices from the past telling about their roles, but at times it does get tedious. Especially when it comes to details on how so and so met so and so and that led the the formation of this or that. Even more so late in the book, when record companies get in the mix, and then all kinds of resentments come pouring out. There could have been a little more editing, as well as a little more context to fill in some of the gaps. For example, there are a lot of references to gangs being involved in the early scene, and shootings, and violence, but there's never any unified discussion of it. The same for the role of drugs in the scene, at one point someone (I think Spoonie Gee) talks about how everyone was totally coked up all the time, and that's something that could have been explored a little more. In any event, it's still a great book for anyone with an interest in the days of hip-hop, giving proper space and voice to all the unknowns who deserve to be known.

eye opener for all those who think oldskool hiphop only stops at Run-dmc, or the Furious 5, recognize the forefathers who layed down the foundation of the Hip-Hop culture and what they were facing at that time.
Book has pretty good historical context and the stories flow together. Much props to mr.Ahearn and mr. Fricke. Only giving it 4stars because I'm still halfway in the book. YES YES Y'ALL.

This book is SWEEEEEEEEET yo!
Amazing pix and stories.

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