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I finally got the book a year later and it was a treasure trove. One learns a lot more about Jon Pertwee behind the role of the Time Lord. He's a man overflowing with anecdotes and he has at least one for every Doctor Who story he made. My favorite one is when director Lennie Mayne, a colourful Australian who constantly swore a blue streak, told him and the cast of The Curse Of Peladon to react with more feeling at a monster. Instead of "oohing and ahhing like a bunch of fairies," they were to say, " He sure knew a lot of people. Most of them liked him, there were a few who didn't care for him or his acting technique (e.g. Nina Thomas, Anthony Ainley), but even so, he never hated them back. He was fond of people. Many that he knew died young, such as directors Douglas Camfield and Lennie Mayne, actors Neil McCarthy and Duncan Lamont, and his good friend Roger Delgado (the Master). The rapport he had with Patrick Troughton was interesting, in particular the anecdote of how the two of them went places where they were given free gifts, much to Troughton's delight. He himself was shy, but so was Troughton, and he helped his predecessor overcome his shyness and enjoy public appearances. Given that Troughton died of a heart attack during a Who convention still in his Who costume, Pertwee's help was invaluable. What really made the Pertwee years work was the team and the rapport they had. There was Jon, of course, then the UNIT family of Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning, Richard Franklin, and John Levene, and on and off, Roger Delgado. Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks rounded things off. The Daemons is a perfect example of that camaraderie. The end came when first Roger Delgado died and Katy Manning left. With the news that Letts and Dicks were moving on, it was a good time for Jon Pertwee to leave. He played the Doctor for five seasons, second to Tom Baker's record seven, so that wasn't bad. Other things: his hobby of nurgling, i.e. taking stuff from abandoned houses, which extended to props from Who, such as the polystyrene statue of Bok, made him quite a pack rat. His practice of giving his fellow actors notes on anything they felt they could improve during rehearsals, etc. all for the sake of improvement, is actually a useful idea. I thought that the melody of the lullaby he used in The Curse Of Peladon was familiar until I read that it was "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen." Well, duh! I should've known that! He liked the action that arose from the earthbound UNIT stories. Me too. Jon Pertwee's final memoir reveals an actor who enjoyed what he did, whether it was the Navy Lark, Doctor Who, or Worzel Gummidge. Heck, he enjoyed life itself. Like Troughton, he died as Doctor Who, in spirit if not in costume. The last sentence of his book is poignant: "I don't want to rust away. I want to fade away. Like the TARDIS. But not just yet." Below, he signs his name with "Who?" Under that is printed 7 July 1919-20 May 1996. Thanks for the memories and memoirs, Jon.
All species of known regular occurrence somewhere in China are illustrated in excellent drawings by Karen Phillips, all but a few in full color. Colored range maps are on the page facing each of the 128 plates. The text for each species provides a detailed description, voice, distribution and status, habits (useful), and in some cases a note on taxonomy.
I used this book for more than two weeks in China during October 2001 and confidently identified every bird I got a decent look at. (Regrettably, eastern China is not exactly overrun with exotic birds, but you can find some interesting species even in the cities.)
The most noticeable problem with this book is its sheer bulk; at 256 pages of plates, 586 pages of text, and some front material, this monster tops out at well over 800 pages and won't fit in most fanny packs, not to mention pockets. So taking a utility knife with a new blade, I sliced the spine following the last plate and taped the last page to the spine, creating a book of front matter, 10 pages of introduction and all the plates and range maps--a tad over a third the thickness of the whole book. A few species are illustrated in black-and-white in the text, so I xeroxed those (with their black-and-white range maps) and pasted them below the range maps of appropriate plates. I left the text home.
The book is not without minor errors, of course. For example, the range maps on plate 35 mistakenly call the Red Phalarope the Red-necked Phalarope, with the same error in the scientific name (although, curiously, the Chinese name appears to be correct). Both species are illustrated. On plate 56 the illustration of the Red-throated Loon is mistakenly marked with the species number of the Common Loon (which is also illustrated and correctly numbered on the same plate). On plate 72 the female Japanese Paradise-flycatcher is so marked but the symbol for the male is missing. Most users can figure out such slips.
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A couple of other bits of useful information in this book include a map detailing vegetation type and an introduction to the region. Also, a list of protected and endangered species is included. For researchers, a nice bibliography is also included. Whether you just want to look at birds from a country you never plan on going to, or if you intend to go birding in China, this book is for you.
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considerable amount of so called "numbers crunching" is involved in reviewing this text. As such, the book serves the analytic student optimally. The text is devoid of the most complicated analytics inherent in "quantitatively oriented texts". There is a good appendix on the use of financial calculators ,as well as, present value calculations and other useful knowledge supplemental to the study of finance. This book would be most useful to students planning their careers as financial analysts, corporate planners or private entrepreneurs.
Topics included are on basic valuation of various securities and projects using discounted cash flows, capital budget management, liquidity management, etc. I'm still learning from it after school. There simply wasn't enough time to fully cover everything in the book that I would have wanted. Now I'm ready to tackle more advanced corporate finance books/materials.
This is an introductory book for someone who may be interested in becoming a financial analyst but is obviously geared to the educational market for use in schools. The academic slant limits its applicability somewhat. Although it may give a stock market player who wants to start understanding the systematic process involved in the valuation of securities on a cash flow basis some insight for example, discussion on valuation by multiples like P/Es is virtually absent.
Nonetheless a great book.
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