When I first read this book, I was a teenager, pretending to become an Architect. I was surprised by this way of entering Space, Architecture as Space. I have re-read it a few times, that because I have presented it as a gift, to a few number of people. Now I do want it for myself, and for a friend in his eighties, whom I think hasn't had the experience of enjoying it.

I picked this book up with the intension of just skimming it but I read every page! I also recommended this book to several of my friends that are going back to college. The author gives you some really interesting and effective strategies for studying(I've tried them - and got 104% on the next test I took), writing papers, scheduling your time. It was really helpful and I would recommend it to any college student not only older ones!

In Artisans of Democracy by Bruno Tardieu and Jona M. Rosenfeld, the authors share with us a view on poverty and the institutions connected with families living in poverty which scrapes below the economic surface to ask questions and give suggestions about the nature of poverty itself and the human relation to it. Compared to conventional North American thinking, the idea of poverty that gives this book its foundation is profoundly different. Tardieu and Rosenfeld propose that poverty is an economic issue on only the most basic level, that poverty means the stigmatization, the exclusion, and the marginalization which the extremely poor suffer at the hands of the rest of society. They propose that our distant, aloof, academic study and theorization of those in poverty only adds to the feeling of exclusion that they experience. Tardieu and Rosenfeld instead give a revolutionarily positive account of 12 social institutions, from schools to judicial systems, from utility companies to international governing bodies, working together with those afflicted with poverty to overcome their exclusion from society and these institutions. They practice their own beliefs by studing in depth the lives of those in poverty and how, through communication and appeals to basic human rights, they work together with complex and bureaucratic institutions to solve a specific problem. They then draw on these stories to reveal how success, or at least a pathway to success, was achieved. A fundamental part of the success begins with the institutions' change in thought about the family living in poverty. Instead of the commonly accepted, paternalistic, "strong helping the weak" relationship, these institutions only make headway when they begin some level of reciprocal learning. When the institution says, "We can learn from you how to work with people living in poverty to allow both of us to succeed", a door opens. Until that first step, until the institution realizes that it is dealing with human beings and not class groups or statistics, all meaningful paths of communication are closed. Tardieu and Rosenfeld do no feign to have an answer to overcoming poverty. They instead ask us to take a small but extremely challenging step, to begin giving all people one of their basic human rights: to be treated as a human being, and to be included in all of human society, despite class status.

The photos and text paint a beautiful and picturesque tribute to this isolated and historic area.

It visually took me back to my three wonderful years among the gentle people and remote countryside!

A must have addition to any true lover of this faraway land of the pagodas.

These are striking men who are very masculine and exotic looking. The beautiful color photographs in this book by Barry Gollop, who is better know as "The Bear", are all part of his collaboration for many years with Kristen Bjorn. If you're familiar with the men in Kristen Bjorn's all-male sexual videos you know what to expect from this book. These still photographs are beautifully reproduced showcasing the very best muscular, handsome, and well-endowed men of Kristen Bjorn productions. Most of these men are from Brazil and Latin America. A beautifully produced hardcover book from Bruno Gmunder publications. There is a short biography about "The Bear", and 104 pages of hot images that are meant to excite & they do. This book should be in everyone's all male-nude collection. This one shouldn't be missed! One of the Best!

I bought this book for myself because I love teddy bears. Once I read the book I feel in love with it. The story is wonderful and the message the bears left inside the presents is the best Christmas Gift anyone could give. I wish everyone had the bears spirit of Christmas all year long. With all the trauma going around the world everyone should think about the message of love and the real meaning of Christmas.

Laughter is very important to musicians. You have to laugh about a career in which the more you learn to master your instrument the less likely you are to make a living playing it.
We are bombarded every day by the media showing us that the way to success in music is to come up with a childishly simple song with as little melody and harmony as possible, a deafening machine generated beat and a thoroughly tasteless and negative lyric sung out of tune. This must be performed whilst jerking and writhing as if recently bitten by a sea-snake.
Any languid and genuinely erotic movement will upset your target audience who are aged eight and a half.
You may wear baggy clothing or scraps of leather, plastic, latex or, best of all, rubber. Any combination of these will appeal to the kiddies who have only just left the toilet training stages of life and remember fondly diapers and other garments of containment.
The revealing of large areas of naked flesh will also increase your chances, especially if the skin is wet or oily. This will remind your viewer/listeners of the occasional failure of the aforementioned garments.
So, my dear striving musician friends, follow my advice, make the millions and retire to Paradise Island before your twenty first birthday.

Except you won't. Hopefully you'll laugh at the above example of cynical humour and go back to enjoying your instrument. Ignore the dross which MTV churns out and search for the best in MUSIC. Along the way you'll find the best in humour too, because musicians love to laugh about themselves. And that's the reason for this delightful little book.
I would strongly advise every performing player to keep a copy close by because, if the power goes off, a string breaks, a lip splits, a drum stick cracks or the soprano swallows her false teeth, you can become a stand-up comedian for a few minutes until the show can go on.

Some of the most amusing lines come out of real life situations. At least I hope they're true, they are so delicious. Here's how I heard them anyway.

Highly experienced session singer, Lee Gibson, is sitting in an empty recording studio ready to begin her work. The Spice Girls march in and are outraged to see her sitting there.
SPICE GIRLS (in dodgy harmony): "What do you think you're doing in here? This studio is booked for us. And who are you anyway?"
LEE: "...I'm your voice!"

Eric Clapton had dicided to change his band and summoned them all to explain his reasons, that the Eric Clapton Band as it had been known for several years would be no more. The excellent drummer was the good-humoured, Steve Ferrone.
STEVE: "That's fine, Eric, but can we keep the name?"

A fine group of English session guys have turned up to put down some tracks with Bob Dylan in a London studio, among them the tremendously experienced Scottish guitar giant, Jim Mullen. There is no sign of Bob. Hours go by and the great man doesn't appear. The musicians are becoming restless to say the least. Finally an American manager steps in to address the band, who have waited all day.
AMERICAN MANAGER: "Bob won't be coming in today. He's got problems with his voice."
JIM: "What f****** voice???"

Another story of life on the road with Buddy Rich as told to me by the one and only Jake Hanna, although the Rotten Kid is only the audience here. The Buddy Rich Sextet has a new piano player and he is in the middle of an exploratory solo, maybe too much Cecil Taylor and not enough Art Tatum. The old-pro sax player takes out his linen handkerchief, opens it and spreads it over the pianists furiously working fingers.
PIANIST: "What the f*** did you do that for?"
SAX: "I'm covering up the scene of the crime."
PIANIST: "You should be careful how you talk to me. I used to be a boxer."
SAX: "Then maybe you should have taken your gloves off before you came to the gig."
Buddy falls off seat with laughter. He loved it when others could be as acidly funny as he was.

Keith Richards, the man who put the stone into Rolling, had invited his father to Paris to see one of their concerts. After the show the entourage made their various ways back to the hotel. Charlie Watts discovered Mr. Richards senior already at the bar enjoying a large cognac.
CHARLIE: "You should take it easy with that stuff, Mr. Richards, or one day you'll look like your son!"

Now these tales and many others have been passed around amongst the musos and we delight in them because they deal with names we all know, and they're funny.

They are also a tribute to those names who can both dish out a comic comment or be on the receiving end. There is no cruelty here and it seems healthy to be able to kid around with one another; something that musicians do a lot. As a drummer I love the drummer jokes and they have a ring of truth about them.

Whatever instrument you play, I want to wish you a happy and satisfying life doing something you love: making music - how lucky we are. Yes, we certainly need a sense of humour, and you'll find a lot of it here in "THE BEST MUSICIANS' JOKES"!!!

Using Walt Disney's Space Mountain attraction as a backdrop, there are five stories intended to be exciting for students who are in Junior High. This book is intended to motivate students to read with high interest, yet low reading difficulty stories.

The titles of the stories are: 1) The Ride of Your Life 2) Scout's Honor 3) My Sister Is A Real Brat 4) Home Sweet Home 5) Freaks

Teachers of students who have been to Disney, Get This Book For Your Classroom.

This is an excellent source for any classroom teacher. Included are many favorite children's book, such as "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie," with activities and recipes. I especially like the illustrations that accompany each book. They are great for enlarging to use as recipe cards for young children. The recipes are simple and the ingredients are easy to find. Get it if you can!!

Raymond Fearn is well known for his work on earlier Italian music, especially opera, so it was with trepidation that I approached his book on Bruno Maderna, one of Italy's most charismatic composer-conductors of the twentieth century. Having said that, however, we have no other book in English on Maderna to compare it with, but I can say that the author has made a bold and accurate first attempt at portraying this avant-guarde giant for English readers.

The text gives the reader a good balance between recounting the eventful life of the man, from child prodigy to cancer victim, in clear and unhampered prose, and an unrushed analysis of many of his works. I couldn't help feeling, however, that the discussion warranted far more musical quotes and examples than were presented. The book does contain, however, the most comprehensive and extensive list of his output I have ever seen, which is a real help to musicologists wishing to date and track down his oeuvre.

There is enough here to satisfy the professional musicologist as well as the curious layman. Indeed it is essential for anyone interested in gaining an insight into the composer or indeed twentieth century Italian musical life in general.