Silversmithing: A Manual of Design and Technique

Book Description

Silversmithing: A Manual of Design and Technique is an invaluable guide aimed at established silversmiths, jewelers, and artisans as well as would-be practitioners.

The art of the silversmith has changed little over the centuries, although the metal has continually inspired those who work in silver to develop new techniques and designs. This outstanding guide explains those techniques, emphasizing the importance of design. Silversmithing: A Manual of Design and Technique offers: advice on the workshop and selection of tools and metals; step-by-step instruction on the techniques, from simple sinking to hollow handles and spouts; and ideas for decoration, finishing, and polishing. Throughout, the illustrated works underscore the scope of creativity and originality open to the modern silversmith.

Keith Smith taught Silversmithing at England's Loughborough College of Art and Design for over 30 years.

Book Description

Back in the day, Guts the Black Swordsman was a top slayer for The Band of the Hawk, an elite mercenary unit led by Griffith, whose calm demeanor and callow beauty belied his fighting prowess and steel will. While in a king's employ, the attraction between the king's daughter and Griffith and the growing favor of the king towards the Hawk leader raises the hackles of the king's jealous son, who plots to have Griffith summarily assassinated. But if the plot fails, the king's son will likely have to deal with Guts and his titanic broadsword, and the results of such confrontations are rarely pretty... or easy to clean up.

Customer Reviews:

The Boring Political Stuff.......2006-04-04

In many ways, this manga is killing itself. Don't get me wrong, I love both the Berserk anime and the manga, but in both of them there was a point when everything seemed to slow so much that it was difficult to continue. And it hit this wall at the same time in the manga as the anime. That is during all of the political intrigue and assassinations. Though yes, it adds somewhat to the characters of Guts and Griffith, it's still a severe change of pace from what it had been, and that was a series of tense, bloody battles with both man and beast with Guts or the Band of the Hawk always escaping victorious. Where at one time the volumes of this manga were filled with page after page of sparse dialogue, now the characters actually carry real conversations. Some may say this is good, and so I had thought it would be, but you can still feel the sudden change of pace while reading these moments.

Despite all of that, however, this is actually a brief moment that ends during this very volume, though very late into it to be sure. Guts and company get back to doing what they do best, and that is war. Luckily, I knew from seeing the anime that things heat up quickly after the political stuff passes. The promise of the future of this manga is brought back and, despite the setbacks I had (see my reviews of previous Berserk volumes) I know that this is still one of the best manga has to offer. I can't wait to buy the next volumes.

The Story Expands..........2005-03-25

Hmm... Let's see, where should I start. In volume 5 the drama and story begin to come together a lot more than in the previous volumes, so the tales unfolds at a much faster rate. The key moment in volume 5 is the confrontation with Nosferatu Zodd, who is a key character in the story. Pay close attention to the warning he gives Guts.
Okay now on to volume 6... Many things take place that cannot be missed out on if you wish to get into the ever-expanding world of Berserk. For one Guts is given an assassination attempt by Griffith to kill General Julius, the brother of the king, and Guts learns of the Band of the Hawks past from Casca while they are lost behind enemy lines, but I won't explain how they got there or anything. Also, the MOST important moment in this book occurs when Griffith is having a normal conversation with Princess Charlotte, which our protagonist Guts overhears. This conversation sets the wheels of causality/fate in motion which sends Guts on a path other than the one he is currently seeking. He decides to do this to please Griffith. But in the end, it only leads to death, and the climax of the Band of the Hawk story Arc, beginning in Volume 12 and ending in 13/14.

The Growth of Guts as a Man.......2005-02-16

For those who have seen the Berserk television series, very little of the manga so far released has been much of a surprise. This, by no means, is a slight against the original author's work, just a testament to how closely the anime's producers followed the rich story.

Volume #6's events may already familiar to fans of the series, but just because they know what is going to happen, doesn't mean it loses its thrill. On the contrary, as I saw events beginning to converge on the climax I knew from the series, I began to get even more interested. The best episodes were those of the last half. The attempted assasination on Griffith, Guts' own assasination assignment, Griffith's courting of the Princess, and Casca's growing connection to Guts are all pivotal to the story.

There's a particular scene in the final chapters of the book when Guts is forced to take some liberties in order to save Casca's life that awakens him to her vulnerabilities. In turn, Casca finds her own piece of mind by confiding in him why she joined the Band of the Hawk.

Most of Guts' growth as a character is seen through action. The man isn't much of a thinker and understanding his quest for purpose (and, then, vengence) is dependent mainly on the reader's observations of the actions of Guts and those he cares for. To finally get some introspective thought from the man adds much to the overall picture of his life.

All in all, a great book... a great series, but be prepared. In the next few volumes, things will come to a head. Men will die, characters you've grown to love may pay the ultimate price, and before one man can ascend to heights unimagined, great tragedy must befall him and those around him.

Book Description

What do Neil Diamond, Touched by an Angel, Pamela Anderson, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, White Castle hamburgers, Benny Hill, Thomas Kinkade, and the song "You Light Up My Life" have in common? They're all guilty pleasures -- and they're all celebrated in this massive A-to-Z encyclopedia.
Authors Sam Stall, Lou Harry, and Julia Spalding have unearthed fascinating trivia about literature (Valley of the Dolls, The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue), television (The Real World, Land of the Lost), fashion (Members Only jackets, the WonderBra), and more. Every page features a sophisticated two-column design and handy guide words for quick at-a-glance reference. Best of all, we've illustrated 100 of the guiltiest pleasures with the same portrait style used by the Wall Street Journal.
Complete with 1,001 entries, it's the ultimate guide to everything you hate to love!

Customer Reviews:

Actually VERY Good.......2007-01-27

Well-written, well-selected, and often very funny. The entries do a good job pinpointing the appeal of their respective cultural oddities, and the array is pretty dazzling. Heavily weighted toward the generation that came of age in the eighties, but hey, where else can you go for so much guilt in one place? Our colleges should consider giving it to foreign graduate students on their way through customs--it's a guide to all that's 'essentially useless', the hidden flotsam and jetsam of our culture.

I got this as an 'extra' gift from a friend, and expected to find it moderately amusing, something to thumb through. Surprise: My partner and I were so impressed with the book that we both wound-up reading through the entire thing.

Afterthought ends up being great purchase!.......2006-06-30

I bought this book simply to bring my purchase up to the free shipping total, but it ended up being a great purchase! It's a hilarious look at all those guilty pleasures we all harbor. Don't pass up this little gem of a book. You'll be laughing for hours! It's illustrated, too.

This book is itself a guilty pleasure.......2006-04-10

What's not to like? Three hundred pages of your favorite trash, elevated to nostalgia, handily packaged, and punchily, pithily, wittily written. Makes a great gift! (see "Infomercials")

From ABBA and Abbott & Costello to Ziggy and Zima.......2006-01-29

Please! _Doctor Who_, a "guilty pleasure"?! Or anime, which is a genuine art form? And I'm very good at "Trivial Pursuit" -- most reference librarians are. It's also obviously a generational thing; my mother was a Liberace fan in the `50s, and I loved Jiffy Pop in the pre-microwave days myself. (I was already too old when MTV debuted in 1981, or for paintball, which appeared that same year.) And is there anyone who *doesn't* have a few souvenir T-shirts in the closet? On the other hand, who's gonna admit to deliberately watching Hanna-Barbera cartoons? Or _Leave It to Beaver_ reruns, or _The Gong Show_? Or to drinking Big Red? This is the perfect book for a long road trip, for reading aloud to each other and starting arguments. There are some odd omissions, though: How can you talk about "End-of-the-World Movies" without mentioning _On the Beach_? Or "Elvis Impersonators" without noting Andy Kaufman's eerily accurate version early in his career? Or, for the ultimate in self-reference, why isn't there a listing under "Trivia Books"?

meandering through silly memories.......2005-06-14

I loved this book, particularly the illustrations which I have found out were actually done by the creator of the wall street journal portait hedcut, Kevin Sprouls. I have admired his work for years and was delighted to find him working in a less serious venue. The book's descriptions were bright, sharp and quick. It was an ironic pairing with Sprouls' serious style and made for a more humorous mix.

buy it.

Average customer rating:

Luck of the Irish

Chapters Chapters Chapters

Missing link

To kill the irishman

Excellent read, compelling story!

To Kill the Irishman: The War that Crippled the Mafia
Rick Porrello
Manufacturer: Next Hat Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia: Corn Sugar and Blood

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Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster

A Criminal and An Irishman: The Inside Story of the Boston Mob - IRA Connection

ASIN: 0966250893

Book Description

The true story of fearless Irish-American racketeer Danny Green who takes on the mob in the 1970s. The end result is the fall of several Mafia families and the defection of high-ranking mobsters. Author Rick Porrello is a veteran cop who wrote about his mob roots in "The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia". To Kill the Irishman has been optioned for a major motion picture.

Customer Reviews:

Luck of the Irish.......2007-07-23

This is a great book. Danny Greene's story is almost like a fairy tale. It would make a great movie and it redefines the one man irish gang that TJ English speaks about in "Paddy Whacked". This book is filled with excitement. Only problem with this read is that you must know a thing or two about this story before reading it. Porello doesn't bore you by going into detail and re-explain the breakdown of Cosa Nostra and Union corruption. The book is very short and you must have a sense of what is happening before reading it or you will be lost. I strongly recommend that you read "Paddy Whacked" first and then move on to this. great book!

Chapters Chapters Chapters.......2007-07-10

In this book of 250 pages there's more chapters than information on Danny Greene. There's 50 plus chapters and if this book had a chapter length of regular size there'd be only one chapter on Danny Greene, The reason I bought the book. My advise to readers is spend their money elsewere like on: T.J. English's Paddy Wacked. Irish Mob done right.

Missing link.......2006-07-08

This is a fine book. I grew up in Cleveland and remember the death of Danny Greene. There were a lot of bombings and attempted bombings in the middle 70's. Little did I know that Danny Greene's death was the linchpin to the Mafia nationwide. Rick Porrello's book is a well-researched and well-writen account of how a union local president's death loosened the keystone of the Mafia arch. This would be a great film!

To kill the irishman.......2006-05-22

The book "To kill an Irishman" is about the mafia and how their pursuit to kill a man named Danny Green. This book documents how the mafia came to hate this man and how exactly they killed him. This book is recommended to adults 14 years and older due to violence.

It all starts out with a man named "Angelo (Big Ange) Lonardo". He was the head of the Cleveland mafia (also known as the La Cosa Nostra). The Cleveland mafia tries to find Danny Green for many years, because his involvement in a Cosa Nostra members'. Through the Cosa Nostras journey they come across many obstacles that they have to overcome in order to avenge their good friend's murder. This is another wonderful work of Rick Porello who documents every event associated with the killing of Danny Green. Porello fills the book full of action and violence to keep you into the book. If you're looking for a book filled with twists and turns and also interested in La Cosa Nostra than this is the book for you.

Excellent read, compelling story!.......2006-04-05

Rick Porello has succeeded in giving a very clear account of the rise of a mob figure, and the ultimate demise of both him and his adversaries, ultimately weaking La Cosa Nostra nationwide. It does not surprise me that this book might lead to a movie, since it perfectly lays out a compelling true story script.

Book Description

A deluxe matching folio to Tori Amos' 2003 album, Tales of a Librarian.

Piano/vocal arrangements include guitar frames, complete lyrics, and photos. Additional arrangements of bonus DVD songs are also included. Sixteen pages of full color photos.

Customer Reviews:

Great for Tori-philes.......2004-01-17

Here's a rundown of the Tales of a Librarian songbook:

All the songs in this collection can be found on at least one previously published Tori Amos songbook, with the exception of "Angels" and "Snow Cherries from France." These two new songs were surprisingly difficult to play despite their easy key signatures (G and F, respectively). They are pure accompaniment, with a few notes here and there matching the melody.

All the other songs seem to have the same arrangements as the original songbooks in which they appeared. "Professional Widow," of course, is the Boys for Pele album version, and not the remix version found on the TOAL album. Some notes in "Mary" are just a little different than The Bee-Sides version, and the editor corrected the spelling from "Jimmy" to "Jimi." "Way Down" is not expanded as it is on the TOAL album. The background lyrics are not included in the lines of the songs.

The first couple pages list the songs in that Dewey decimal system layout, alongside a few pictures from previous albums. The next 13 pages feature many pictures from Tori's career and the complete lyrics to all the songs on the album. (Some pictures were new to me.) Surprisingly, there is only one TOAL picture featured in this book: the cover pic.

One important note is that all the songs from the DVD are included, too. All FOUR of them: "Pretty Good Year," "Honey," "Northern Lad," and "Putting the Damage On."

Average customer rating:

Think hard, but on several different tracks

Give your brain a workout

The Amazing 1000 Puzzle Challenge: A Fantastic Treasury of Mind Bending Puzzles, Games, and Experiments for All the Family

Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Puzzles | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Book of Puzzles & Brain Teasers

ASIN: 1552978575

Book Description

Test your brain power -- or that of your friends, co-workers, and family members. From the simple to the extremely challenging, The Amazing 1000 Puzzle Challenge offers page after page of fun for all ages.

This book is filled with a mixed bag of all types of puzzles:

Mazes
Word puzzles
Number puzzles
Crosswords
Logic puzzles
Lateral thinking puzzles
Visual puzzles
Spatial problems
Codes and ciphers

The solutions are sometimes deceptive in their simplicity or just wickedly difficult to figure out. In all cases, the answer to each puzzle is provided at the back of the book.

This big, colorful book will provide hours of fun for the whole family. It's the perfect companion for rainy afternoons, long trips, and active minds.

Customer Reviews:

Think hard, but on several different tracks.......2005-07-18

The 1000 puzzles in this book are some of the most challenging, entertaining and frustrating that you will ever find. Reading through the book is addictive, once you start on a puzzle, it is hard to put it down. I spent hours reading and trying to solve the puzzles, occasionally I would solve one, but most of the time I was forced to read the solution. Like all good puzzles, the answer is obvious once you know what it is. However, I must confess that I would never have solved many of them on my own. The solution was so far out of my circle of thought patterns that I never would have landed there. Nevertheless, I strongly recommend the book as a source of intellectual play, but only if you can tolerate an increase in your frustration level.

Give your brain a workout.......2003-12-21

This challenging oversized book is full of colorful illustrated brain-benders of all sorts that range from the simplistic to the mind numbing. It includes a good variety of spatial, visual, logic, word, lateral thinking, and number puzzles. The solutions sometimes involve a trick of some kind. The format would have been improved if it had a spiral binding so it could lie flat. It is difficult to work the puzzles in a book this thick without one.

According to the introduction, there are few puzzles in this collection that children under 10 could not solve. I doubt that is true, because many of the puzzles are super-tough and require out-of-the-box thinking. It would make a good gift for an experienced puzzle solver.

Average customer rating:
The Amazing 1000 Puzzle Challenge: A Fantastic Treasury of Mind Bending Puzzles, Games, and Experiments for All the Family
Unknown
Manufacturer: Firefly Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LQOIGA

Book Description

“Bernstein has become a guru to a peculiarly ’90s group: well-educated, Internet-powered people intent on investing well—and with minimal ‘help’ from professional Wall Street.”--Robert Barker, BusinessWeek

William Bernstein is one of today’s most unlikely financial heroes. A practicing neurologist, he used his self-taught investment knowledge and research to build a popular investor’s website. Now, in the plain-spoken The Intelligent Asset Allocator, he shows independent investors how to build a diversified portfolio—without the help of a financial advisor. A breath of fresh air for investors tired of overly technical investment tomes, this book will help investors:
• Learn the risk/reward characteristics of various investment types
• Understand and apply portfolio theory for an improved risk/reward ratio
• Sharpen their focus, and take control of their investment programs William Bernstein (North Bend, OR) runs a website—www.efficientfrontier.com—known for its quarterly journal of asset allocation and portfolio theory, Efficient Frontier.

Customer Reviews:

A classic book on investing.......2007-07-07

Anyone who is serious about investing in marketable securities should read this book and keep it handy as a reference guide.The author is a brillant student of the market and passive investing techniques.All of the supporting data in the book has been developed by the author and his assistant. I would recommend this book for the investor.

Another book for the beginner and the experienced invesror as well How to Make Money in the Stock Market-Buy 2,500 Different Stocks-Pay no Commission

Jewel for long term contrarian investing from a US perspective.......2007-04-19

This book is for investors with a time scale of decades. So think about saving for a comfortable retirement. It argues from a point of view of an US American investor (types of asset classes and their behavior in time, all in US dollars, US tax laws, US investing instruments) but the described principles are general and also well suited for residents of other countries.
Bernstein has the ability of a very clear and down to the earth way of thinking. Even more important his prose is as clear as his thoughts. He takes you by the hand and leads you through quite difficult terrain. But as long as you hold his hand everything is clear and makes a simple impression.
His advice is solid and can be employed easily in practical investing. He even has advice for somebody with only thirty minutes of time for investments a year (Put it into the four asset types: domestic small caps, domestic large caps, foreign stocks and bonds of up to five years of duration. Split your assets in equal proportion to those types. Try to aggressively save fees maybe with Vanguard funds. Adjust the portions of those four asset types once a year to their original proportions.) Clearly this is good advice. If you read this book you also learn a lot of why this is effective. But if you do not know more than this advice: Will you follow it through thick and thin? Just imagine one asset type gets out of favor and loses a lot of value for a few years in a row. Then you have to pour yearly a lot of fresh and good money in exactly that asset type (Bernstein is a moderate contrarian). It is hard to believe that anyone has that strength without a well developed own opinion on that matter. Yes it is exactly the opposite of a stop loss. It is buy more of the losing types and sell the winning ones. The hope is to buy low and sell high.
So enjoy the ease of reading and Bernstein's brilliant simplicity, but don't be fooled by it. You will have to work hard to gain your own standpoint. And you have to invest actual money for a few years to get to know yourself.
For further reading this book has an excellent bibliography and the author runs a great website. I highly do recommend this book.

Fianance........2007-04-01

This is a great book. Don't make it your 1st finance book, but a great follow up to a "Random walk down Wall Street"

Clearly explains the theory, its background, and use........2007-03-26

This is one of 3 books that I have on the subject .... and it complements those books each of which has its own particular bias.

The book is well worth buying, reading (with a few different color highlighters), and keeping it on the shelf for reference (.. in other words to keep one going back onto "track").

There is a bias towards using index funds; and this bias does use all the conventional wisdom -- wisdom that everyone else will be trying to employ. Therefore, there is a lack of ways to "jump-start" a portfolio -- ways that must be obtained from other books and newsletters.

Efficient Frontier - Now I understand.......2007-01-31

This book can "turn on the lightbulb" for all types about what the Efficient Frontier really means! This is the best investment book I have read that attempts to focus the individual on risk - the most important facet of investing.

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk

Average customer rating:

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk
William Berstein
Manufacturer: American Media International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1932378499

Book Description

The Intelligent Asset Allocator shows you how to use the time-honored techniques of asset allocation to build your own pathway to financial security. Easy-to-understand, easier-to-apply.

Average customer rating:

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk
William J. Bernstein
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFJFSY

Average customer rating:

The Intelligent Asset Allocator How To Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk
Bernstein William
Manufacturer: McGraw Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIGL6E

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