If you're a die hard fan of this classic film then you'll want to read this well-researched "making of" tome. The book is filled with all sorts of wonderful trivia tidbits but most of all it gives an insightful review of those behind the camera in a way I've yet to find in other "OZ" related books. The one and only shortcoming of this book is to be found in the number of pictures, in my opinion there could have been more, otherwise it's a behind the scenes look that most OZ fans won't be disappointed with.

It doesn't matter unduly if you didn't grow up watching MGM's 1939 color movie "The Wizard of Oz" in re-release or on TV. You might think that a "Munchkin" is what used to be called a "doughnut hole." You may think of Judy Garland only as Liza Minnelli's mother, and avoid prewar movies like the plague. Maybe you didn't feel that shock of recognition that "Cora the Coffee Lady" in Maxwell House TV commercials was none other than Margaret Hamilton, the green-faced Wicked Witch of the West.

Of course, if you love "The Wizard of Oz" you've love THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ all the more. I just read this book for the second time (the first upon its initial publication), and was astonished and pleased by how well it has held up. Author Aljean Harmetz has crafted a book relevant not only in terms of one particular "prestige" movie off the Hollywood assembly line; but indeed her insight, research and friendly presentation make the book stand as a metaphor of all Hollywood filmmaking during the height of the Studio Era, ca. 1940. Perhaps the late Irving Thalberg was one of the few Hollywood insiders who could "keep the whole equation of pictures inside his head," but Ms. Harmetz opens up this world for us, and shows us both its realism and its wonder.

We return to an era in which studio moguls were as eccentric and powerful as today's software barons, when studio hands were nonunionized yet intensely loyal to their studios, when no movie studio even thought about a future containing broadcast TV, when movie stars were better known than Presidents or Kings, and when Technicolor would give you any color except the one you wanted. Nonetheless, solving the creative problems inherent in bringing L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wizard of Oz" to the screen was seen as an invigorating set of challenges to be met and conquered.

Back then, MGM had a real "can-do" attitude. So no one had
ever created a moving tornado for a film? After two tries the MGM tech people got it right, and the depiction of that horrendous twister so set the tintype for what a tornado ought to look like that it persists in our collective consciousness today, despite today's ubiquitous video cameras.

There were no tape recorders. How, then, to raise or lower voices artificially for dubbing? This book tells how. What happened when Buddy Ebsen almost died from an allergy to aluminum dust he had worn as the (originally intended) Tin Man? Why was Margaret Hamilton burned severely and ignored, yet Billie Burke turned an ankle and was whisked off the set in a white ambulance? Why did the film need four directors and half a dozen screenwriters, yet was fondly recalled as a labor of love by practically everyone except a prematurely embittered Judy Garland? Was the film the great commercial and critical success you might think it would be? And, by the way, what about those Munchkins' alleged sexual proclivities? Excellent answers provided by excellent research present a fully-formed world view, warts and all.

THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ would be a wonderful companion to the new restored DVD version of the film, which is so crisp you can count the gingham checkers on Dorothy's blue dress (which was actually violet, to fool the Technicolor process). How were the ruby slippers made? What about that poppy field? Read on. Some critics have said that Harmetz's later work is not as excruciatingly well researched as THE MAKING OF THE WIZARD OF OZ, but I don't care. This book and the movie are not only as much fun as ever, but a great education in the good old/bad old days of the Hollywood "Dream Factory." Don't miss it!

"The Making of the Wizard of Oz: Movie Magic and Studio Power in the Prime of MGM--And the Miracle of Production No 1060" is just downright enthralling. It is an expose' that breaks down the machinery and the machinations of what it took to get a major movie made in the days of the autocratic studio heads. The book offers an entertaining and totally engrossing look at the legendary film. Judy, Ray, Jack, Bert, Margaret, and Toto, too, are all analyzed in this brilliant work. The songwriters, the respective directors, the many other craftsmen, as well as the "little people," in more than the figurative sense, are all here. Vividly embellished with stills from the production, the book's text is just as captivating. The familiar as well as the unfamiliar stories about the production make for a most satisfying read for any "Oz" fan. It is also a good primer for anyone with an interest in pursuing film as a career.

It has been one of the distinct pleasures of my academic life to read the works of Jürgen Moltmann. Each text I pick up I find myself enjoying more, and can measure the growth of my own theological development by how much better I am understanding Moltmann. It is, I am finding, impossible to read any of Moltmann?s texts just once and fully understand it. All the books interact and inform each other in a dynamic way. The Church in the Power of the Spirit is Moltmann's "contribution to messianic ecclesiology", an exploration into what the Church is and why the Church exists.

This book expounds on the idea of there being an intimate connection between Christ and the Church. The Church is not only believing in and pointing towards the risen Christ, the Church has Christ as the foundation of its entire being. Moltmann writes, "Every statement about the church will be a statement about Christ. Every statement about Christ also implies a statement about the church." Any theological discussion about the Church, he suggests, must then entail an accompanying discussion of the person and work of Jesus. It is also the case that the Church is not an isolated entity, but rather is a community of those who have been called to be light to this world, spreading the reality of the kingdom through multiple ways, reflecting the presence of God to this world. Because of this aspect, a proper ecclesiology cannot just look at the inner aspects of the church?s being, but must be in continual conversation with how the Church is indeed relating to the world as a whole. With this comes this understanding that the Church as filled with the One Spirit is also One, prompting the continual development of understanding not only how the Church is One, but actively engaging in conversation to discover how the Church could once again practically actually be united. Because God is not only active in "religious" arenas, but is seeking to save the whole world, Moltmann argues for a political dimension which is required of the Church, engaging it in not only the proclamation of future rewards but also the active work towards a present transformation of society.

These four dimensions are then framed within what can be called a Trinitarian outline. Moltmann begins by looking at the work and influence of Jesus, seeking to understand how Jesus did live, expounding on his emphases, and reflecting on the shape that his ministry took. Rather than seeking to simply let the proclamation be about Jesus, Moltmann argues that the proclamation should be that of Jesus. He follows this with a section exploring the kingdom of God, showing the work of God prior to, and even outside of, the Christian church, showing that the Church is not representing the fullness of the kingdom, but is in fact a participant, a living piece which is part of God?s whole plan to save this whole world. He then has two sections which connect the Church to the Holy Spirit, first focusing on how the Church is in the presence of the Holy Spirit, then showing how the Church is in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that animates, leads, expands, and matures the Church, giving content to our worship and power to our plans. Only at the end, in a last brief session, does Moltmann discuss the actual marks of the Church, showing how the prior sections reflect in an actual existence, taking up, as did Kung, the idea of unity, catholicity, holiness, and apostolicity. One of Moltmann?s distinctive emphases as a theologian is his attraction to a political theology. For him, the power of the Spirit in the life of the Church is not limited to the confines of the Church, but is active in redemption throughout various structures, demanding that we act in a way which reflects this redemption of what is usually called the secular.

While there is much to be agreed and disagreed with, this text is one anyone interested in the study of the Church simply must wrestle with.

To the editor, Actually I came to this area to know the publishing company and the place where the book published: The Church in the Power of the Spirit : A contribution to Messianic Ecclesiology.

Could you give me answer?

Thank you very much.

Kim Hyun Jin.

Moltmann challenges the reader to think "outside of the box" with regard to ecclesiology. His model for church is organic, freeing the reader to imagine herself as an ecclesiological architect. Anyone struggling with the confines of traditional church structure will enjoy the journey with Moltmann.

This prayer book is the best all around prayer book for daily personal (or even family)use. The Scriptures are addressed back to God and arranged by category (with direction to add certain categories of requests inbetween the sections). This adds structure to ones prayer life and breaks the monotony of "grocery list" praying. This one is a little longer than, "Praying the Scriptures for Spiritual Growth" or the "Simple Prayers" books; in my own personal devotions, it takes me about 7 minutes per daily prayer segment.

Boa has written several prayer books, all great, all solid. This is my favorite to date.

Many times when we pray we don't know where to get started, what to do, many times we just want a deeper prayer life.

This book will scripturally guide you through praying...not only the scriptures, but will guide you in praying for your world around you. It begins with praise and worship of Almighty God, leads you in a confession of Who He is, then guides you through personal renewal, petitions, intercession, and then a prayer of thanksgiving.

One of the things I liked best about this book was that it started out with each section, declaring the Word of God, then it guides you (differently each day) to pray for your leaders one day, your family the next, that you will be a faithful steward of your time and money, for God's wisdom...the list goes on and on.

Both this book and "Praying the Scriptures for Spiritual Growth" are two of the best prayer/devotional books I have ever used. If I could only keep two, these would be the two I would keep. Not only are they easy to follow, they are taken directly from the Word of God.

Face to Face is a wonderful tool to help you pray. Boa has assembled scripture into eight sections for each day. You pray through scripture for Adoration, Confession, Renewal, Petition, Intercession, Affirmation, Thanksgiving and Closing. It helps you focus and it gives a marvelous sense of the completeness of God's word. I do not recommend very many books but this is one that I would recommend to anyone. I have already given away 20 copies.

Why did my proposal fail? Why did my department implode? Why was I assigned to a doomed project?

Finally - a USEFUL framework to accomplish goals in an organization! The beauty of this 'ABC Model' lies in its universal applicability and the fact that - IT WORKS!

With this tool, one can analyze their own personal situation within an organization to unveil the complex and often invisible interactions, motivations, churnings, characters and power factors that drive organizational action.

In ideal organizations, one would not have to use this sort of strategy. But, nevertheless, even though our organizational charts might be flat, our titles wiped clean and our formerly stringent bureaucracies eliminated - PEOPLE still wield power in organizations and power still matters.

This book teaches you how to obtain power in your organization and use it effectively to your advantage. Great use of examples throughout the book. This will help you understand why things happen in your company, who has power, and why. I have used it and successfully achieved an agenda of ambitious change that previously stalled.

This work addresses two of the most pressing issues by introducing a model useful for both academics and management practitioners. The ABC model provides an extraordinary and rational framework for analyzing organizational problems and reaching a solution.

For practitioners especially, this provides THE key to POWER and MANIPULATION- applicable in all organization types and all situations. From e-business, to non-profits, to government, whatever complex situation you face, by utilizing this model, you may obtain what you truly want.

For academics, this provides an analytical framework for an area of study previously characterized by the same fuzziness and unpredictability that pervades human (and management) behavior.

I have utilized this in my organization and have been able to manipulate many factors into my favor. This should be an indispensable element in any manager or aspiring executive's career development.

I recently purchased and read Mr. Millbower's marvelous book on integrating music into adult learning. So many trainers attempt to apply techniques that are aimed at enhancing their programs, only to fall short because there is not solid research behind their strategies. Lenn suceeds in bringing theory to life.
He has effectively incorporated his professional and academic training in music into the learning process. Through many real-world examples, listings of actual songs that trainers can use in their programs, and down-to-earth explanations, he has provided a valuable training reference.
Shortly after reading the book, I had an opportunity to see Lenn do a presentation on the book's topic for a local professional group. His humor, technique, presentation style (using a variety of music) were fantastic and he received many cudos from audience members. He really brought his book content to life and showed how effectively trainers can use music to tap into attendee emotion and past learning. I know that even though I write and present on creative training and brain-based learning topics, I picked up a number of new strategies and ideas to incorporate music into my own future presentations.
This book is a "must have" for any professional trainer or educator who is serious about enhancing his or her learning environment.

Reviewed by John Garrison, PhD, MPH Senior Psychologist, Lahey Clinic, Burlington MA Assistant Clinical Professor (Psychiatry), Tufts University Medical School. Reprinted with permission of NAMC, managed by and located at Stewart Communications, Ltd., Chicago, IL

Earlier this year I was invited to speak on the topic of stress as part of an all-day continuing education program for nurses. Having been assigned the dreaded presentation slot immediately following lunch, I was considering the potentially soporific effect of my 45-minute psychophysiology lecture on the audience's postprandial state! I doubted that even my jazzy PowerPoint presentation with video assists would be up to the challenge.

Then I recalled having read a suggestion for using music to counter audience drowsiness after a meal. I flipped open Lenn Millbower's slim but thought-provoking volume, Training with the Beat. Based on the author's recom-mendation, I played an audiocassette of a Brahms Sonata for about 15 minutes as the audience filed back into the auditorium after their lunch. To my surprise, the listeners appeared quite alert during the presentation, and several spontaneously commented on the pleasing impact of the music. Since then, using Millbower's guidelines, I've begun selectively to add music to many of my presentations with pleasing results.

This book, written by a professor who is also a business trainer and musician, is a theory and research-based (but practical) "how-to" guide for speakers, trainers, and educators who wish to use instrumental and vocal music to enhance the learning potential and entertainment value of their presentations. Much like employing a graphic to make a point in a slide presentation, a presenter might choose a recording of a musical piece to produce any one of a number of effects such as developing a positive learning environment, creating a sound metaphor for an idea, or transporting the audience to a different time and place.

Designed for the scholarly but non musician reader, Training includes criteria for selecting specific music to meet the requirements posed by particular situations and audiences - for example, a baroque instrumental to establish a mood or a vocal to create a metaphor for learning. Those doubtful that music holds amazing persuasive power need go no further than radio and TV advertisements for evidence to the contrary. Citations ranging from The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience to Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology are included for those readers requiring additional documentation. The book includes comprehensive listings of CDs/audiocassettes organized into a matrix of recommended applications simplifying choice. Legal and copyright considerations are addressed in the final chapter As the author notes at the end of this work, music does not replace effective lecturing but adds a powerful tool to the presenter's repertory. Speakers, trainers, and educators may all find something of value here.

What emotions does your favorite song bring to mind? Beethoven called music "the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit." Lenn Millbower's "Training With a Beat: The Teaching Power of Music" talks about what music is, how we process it, its effects upon us, and how we can use it to enhance adult learning. Aimed at corporate trainers, presenters, and educators, it will also be helpful for anyone in business who wants to enhance meetings or brainstorming sessions with music, as well as anyone wanting to learn about music and its influence on our ability to learn.

Among the types of music particularly good for learning are Baroque, because its rhythm closely matches that of the human heart in a restful state, and Mozart, which is currently being touted as being beneficial to infant development. It is in this state that the brain is most receptive to learning.

Drawing on his backgrounds in training and professional musicianship, Millbower writes concisely, making brain theory and music theory understandable to all readers, gives examples, and illustrates his points with entertaining stories. The text also practices the principles of good teaching in other ways: summarizing key points as you go and providing helpful graphics, such as a chart of specifically how different types of music can be used in training.

He includes a fun list of popular music organized by business-related topic that trainers can use to introduce or close segments of programs: "That's What Friends Are For" for teamwork, "Call Me" for customer service, and "We Can Work It Out" for stress management. No book about music use would be complete without a section on copyright law, which explains the user's obligations.

Overall I'd recommend this book because, as they used to say on "American Bandstand," it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

This book is simply one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. The photographs are breathtaking. Each line of the poem is complemented with Scripture. I was facing a very dark period in my life and this book gave me the light to see that indeed God is always with us.

Learning the meaning behind the poem shows a new light on it and goes to show that God does work in miraculous ways. Margaret Fishbone Powers' story is remarkable and she truly is deserving of the credit for the poem.

this is one of my favourite atwood collections, and one of the few books of poetry that i can (and want) to read every minute of the day.

atwood can capture human relationships, romantic relationships, conflict, love and the play for power all in a single stanza, line or even individual word. this collection is page after page of language so outstanding that you wish you were born from atwood's mind; no one else has the piercing insights and the flawless word choice to describe them that this woman does. if she can't blow you away, no one will.

The idea of poetry written about intimacy may make some readers shudder. One might think it is even a cliché, but no matter who the objective logical thinker is, they are forced to admit there's a tiny part of them who has lived and breathed a relationship of power struggle, one that might have had them seizing and submitting to the core of their innermost thoughts. Love that has left them in doubt and strengthened the self in ways that only passion can accomplish.

As Atwood writes, "....and there isn't anything I want to do about the fact that you are unhappy and sick, you aren't sick and unhappy, only alive and stuck with it." She opens up to her readers those personal witticisms we have thought towards are own "unhappy relationships" while throwing in insightful humor and wild imagery, breaking the rules of all poets with her fascinating rhythms and adjectives. If you are missing this collection of poetry from your Atwood repertoire, you are missing the heart of Margaret, her furious meticulousness and unlikely metaphors aimed into the bloodied heart of an adoration and boredom for her unlikely male worshipper. This book is an absolute must read, must own and an altogether pleasure to read.

"I raise the magic fork over the plate of beef fried rice, and plunge it into your heart." - from "They Eat Out" (Power Politics)

This is an excellent book written by some of the leading authorities on NAFTA and GATT (Including Ralph Nader). Each "chapter" written by a different person is short and to the point. You can read as much or as little as you want, without feeling the need to finish the chapter. This book WILL make you sweat with anger at points. It is an excellent read.

This is a must-buy, value-for-money calendar for all Christian believers out there. It contains 366 inspirational thoughts and bible verses and it's simply timeless - a verse that means a certain way to you in 1999 may mean another way to you in 2000. I personally find that some of the verses simply "leap out" at me and are so apt for a certain day. I recommend this calendar because I find the words short and easy to remember, and one can even meditate upon them even if the calendar is not right in front of you. It's like a daily bread presented in a simplified (NIV) version and it provides me with something to meditate upon for the day before I rush off to work. It's my all-time favourite calendar and it makes a great gift for all occasions as the words are ever so encouraging and provide spiritual guidance for daily living. I hope for all who own this calendar to enjoy it as much as I have.

Ms Cochran has succeeded in gently blindsiding the unsuspecting adult reader who thinks he/she is reading a modern day fairy tale to the little ones. Subtle and not so subtle messages abound about what we say and what we model to our children. With thoughtful reflection, this book can be a springboard for meaningful discussions with our children...and something to think about while caught in traffic. The illustrations are superb and the writing style entertaining. Several copies sit in my pediatric waiting room.

This is an undiscovered gem! I read this book with my daughters and we all found something different to enjoy, whether it be the story, the pictures, the message or the cast of characters. This book has sparked conversation on our family and style of parenting, we keep going back to look at it again. By the way, my daughters are 20 and 22 and wondering what sort of parents they may be.

As a physician I have often wished that Human Beings came with 'service manuals' - instructions for optimal care and feeding of the soul. Sylvia is the ticket. Read it and read it again. Share it with the Human Being you love!