Stripped Bare: The Body Revealed in Contemporary Art Works From The Thomas Koefer Collection

Book Description

Explores the naked body in contemporary art and photography. Features a powerful selection of works by many of the most highly acclaimed artists of our time, including Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter and Araki. Forceful and often erotic images, many of which have never previously been published, are accompanied by insightful essays that elucidate the complex and ongoing relationship between the body, the artist and the voyeur.

Book Description

Ask anyone what Cher wore to the Oscars in 1985 and they can describe the Spiderwoman headdress, the exposed navel, and the looks on people's faces when she made her entrance. Ask about Carol Burnett's "Went with the Wind" dress, and they'll say it was a green velvet Southern Belle costume made from drapes--with the curtain rod still attached. Funny and outrageous, these are just two of the many costumes Mackie has indelibly etched into our minds. He has also dressed such celebrities as Elton John, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, and RuPaul; designed for Broadway, Las Vegas, opera, and ballet; and currently runs a couture business with licenses for fragrance, fashion accessories, eyewear, suits, furs, home furnishings, and collectible Barbie dolls.

This spectacularly bright and colorful book is as outrageous as Mackie's designs. In addition to classic photos of marvelous Mackie-clad superstars of the last three decades, glorious gatefolds and specially commissioned color photographs by Gideon Lewin illustrate Mackie's extraordinary achievements.

Unmistakably Mackie demonstrates how this seven-time Emmy Award-winning designer has reached the consciousness of the American masses and turned them on to a stylish fantasy that is purely his own.

Customer Reviews:

I Went, "Holy Cow, That Person Looks GREAT!".......2006-10-28

And that thought never wavered once as I agonizingly slowly fiddled with the corners of each page to the next, completely awed and feeling like I wanted to go to New York and show off my skinky legs as well. This book is unreal.

There's flash everywhere. There's pizazz. There's an army of sequins, a rainbow of sparkles, a lifetime of gorgeous reds, beautiful greens, and dazzling blues that you would have never dreamed would have graced this earth in all of eternity. They all flash, they all sparkle, they all wink out and grab you by the eyeballs and force you to gawk and gawk at them until you feel like all your pupils have dried up and you can't possibly gawk anymore, but you just do.

The book is sort of divided into sections, but the reader (or watcher) won't pay too much attention to that except for the divisions for the Hollywood and Barbie section. You've got funky fonts that pop out at you from this unknown corner you never knew was there; you've got these curvaceous paragraphs shaped like a woman's body; and you've got so many other things that I couldn't possibly explain to you until you've bought the damn book. So buy it already.

My only complaint is that the "Hollywood", "Barbie", and his own fashion line sections are too brief. How can you possibly fit more than forty years of glory, fashion, and Bob Mackie into just over 150 pages?

It ain't nobody, but Mackie. Get it for yourself! You will never, *ever* regret that decision.

The Fashion and Fantasy of Bob Mackie.......2006-09-16

Wonderful book! Such gorgeous pictures and I loved the Bob Mackie story too. My only complaint is that it just wasn't long enough.....hoping for a sequel.

Deliriously happy at [any price!].......2003-05-29

I bought Unmistakably Mackie after drooling over the book for nearly a year. It is beautiful, it is entertaining, it is over the top, it is history. It is also a fine education in costume design and fashion illustration.
I have other books that feature Mackie's unrivalled fashion illustrations, but here I can see and almost touch the finished costumes that made Cher and Carol and Ann-Margaret. I can finally analyze how they are made.
Please, don't wait to buy this wonderful book. and it is well worth getting a new, pristine copy of this treasure.

Unmistakably Mackie -- if you love fashion...you'll love Bob.......2000-04-18

WOW! WOW! WOW! Unmistakably Mackie is a fabulous fashion book! This is by far my favorite book! The photography is stunning. The creative type layouts are imaginative. The sketches are wonderful. Anyone interested in costume &/or fashion design will LOVE this book writen by Frank DeCaro ("Style over Substance" columnist for the NY Times).

As a designer & illustrator just starting out, I find no end of inspiration in this book! The sketches are delightful and the outfits are always immaginative. (Looking at the photos & sketches, I found out I can draw Cher too!) :o)

Before reading this book on Bob Mackie, I had no idea the extent of his influence. I just knew I liked his designs. Now he is undoubtedly my favorite designer. (I want to do what he does!) This man has done everything...from his own ready-to-wear fashion line to Broadway, television (Cher and Carol Burnett), movies, ballet, an opera, Vegas and Barbie! If there's something he hasn't designed for, I'd be surprised.

I heartily recommend this book!

For fashion fans everywhere!.......2000-02-03

This survey of the fashion and fantasy of fashion designer Mackie examines his many contributions. Mackie created works for popular television as well as film and stage: Unmistakably Mackie considers his life, fashion designs and revealing outfits. Plenty of color photos of actresses in full outfit abound.

Unmistakably Mackie: The Fashion and Fantasy of Bob Mackie

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Unmistakably Mackie: The Fashion and Fantasy of Bob Mackie
Frank DeCaro
Manufacturer: Universe Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NE1M46

Book Description

The Mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon! Featuring long out-of-print artwork by the white-hot Tony Harris (Ex Machina, Starman) and artist Art Adams (Monkeyman & O'Brien), as well as a brand new introduction and painted cover by multiple Eisner Award Winner Eric Powell (The Goon), this collection tells the original stories of the Universal monsters - Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Customer Reviews:

FAITHFUL ADAPTATION WITH GREAT ART WORK!.......2006-03-07

The Universal Monsters have been near and dear to my heart ever since I was a kid. Over the years I've watched, and continued to watch all of them from the very early classics, to the later, campy, 1940's films like House of Frankenstein and The Mummy's Ghost. Dark Horse pay homage to four of these classics in Cavalcade of Horror, presenting faithful comic book adaptations of the films with fantastic artwork.

First up is "The Mummy" with script by Dan Jolley and Art by Tony Harris. For years I found the original Mummy film disappointing because the mummy himself only appeared onscreen for a few brief seconds while he was front and center during the four sequels. But overtime I've come to appreciate the sinister performance of Boris Karloff as the reincarnated Imhotep in his guise as the wizened Ardeth Bey and his quest to reunite with his beloved Anhksenamun. Tony Harris did a masterful job of capturing those first few moments where the mummy in the sarcophagus comes to life and shambles off.

Next comes the adaptation of Frankenstein with story and art by Den Beauvais. Beuvais captures a remarkable likeness of Colin Clive as Dr. Frankenstein, Dwight Frye as his assistant Fritz, Mae Clark as Elizabeth, and, of course, Karloff as the monster. Beauvais gets extra points for including the line "In the name of God, now I know what it feels like to be God!" that was screamed by Dr. Frankenstein when the monster was brought to life. That line had been excises from the film for decades until just the recent DVD releases that restored the scene and "blasphemous" phrase. What really stands out though is the emotion that Beauvais captures in the monster...his innocence and joy in playing the flower game with the doomed little girl Maria, and his confusion when he found she did not float like the flowers. This story is wonderfully done.

Dracula gets its treatment care of Dan Vado with art by Jonathan D. Smith. Like the Frankenstein adaptation, this story is painted and is the most moody story in the collection, beginning with Renfield's trip to Dracula's castle where he is greeted by Dracula on the misty, cobweb covered stairs. While Dracula has long been accused of being too "stagey" it still has the best atmosphere of any of the original Universal Horrors and Smith has gone to great lengths to capture that atmosphere as well as an uncanny likeness of Bela Lugosi. It's clear that he studied the film and Lugosi's expressions very well.

Finally, the book concludes with The Creature from the Black Lagoon with script by Steve Moncuse and art by Arthur Adams and Terry Austin. The bright, colorful adaptation of this story stands in direct contrast to the darker-toned first three stories and is the most `comic-looking' story in the book. In a recent interview, Adams discussed how he's been a fan of the Creature for decades. While he doesn't try to capture the true likenesses of the characters, his version of Kay Lawrence, the object of the creature's desire, is still sexy in that white, one piece bathing suit.

Dark Horse has taken great care to stay true to the characters with these stories and no fan of Universal Monsters will be disappointed. While I would have preferred to see the Wolfman or the Invisible Man over the Creature from the Black Lagoon, this is still a triumphant collection of story and art.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Book Description

Would you give up showers, toilets, and other modern conveniences for a chance at a million dollars? Do you long to find the love of your life in front of a national television audience? Are you willing to do anything -- and we mean anything -- to become famous?
Perfect for fans of Survivor, American Idol, The Bachelor, and their countless imitators, The Reality TV Handbook is the insider's guide to winning fame, love, and/or money on the small screen. From creating the perfect application video and auditioning like an idol to keeping your head as you're buried alive, The Reality TV Handbook features everything you need to go the distance.
Written by acclaimed television producer John Saade, this illustrated handbook will show you how to outwit your competitors, outsmart the producers, and win over the hearts of TV audiences everywhere!

Customer Reviews:

Learn How to Win Reality TV.......2005-10-31

This book is by the same co-author who wrote the masterpiece The Action Hero's Handbook. The Action Hero's Handbook was a vast improvement on its predecessor the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook which was less humorous and more of an instructional manual not prepared to poke fun at itself. The Reality TV Handbook seems to be closer in style to the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, full of great information for those who actually want to be reality TV stars but not much entertainment value for other readers. I would imagine in a year or so a better version of this book will arise like happened with The Action Hero's Handbook where the genre of reality TV and wanting to be a contestant will be made fun of a lot more combined with helpful information for would be contestants. At the moment though I'd say get this book if you actually want to be a reality TV star but if you don't wait for the more humorous and entertaining sequel to be published.

Funny pop culture.......2005-09-11

If you are a fan of pop culture and guilty pleasure television, you'll get a kick out of this book. The advice probably isn't very practical, but it is funny.

A great resource and an entertaining read.......2005-08-19

I bought this book when I was thinking about auditioning for THE APPRENTICE, and found it both entertaining and informative. It's probably more valuable for potential contestants than dyed in the wool reality fans, but has great info on everything from how to present yourself effectively to producers to the skills you'll need for the show itself. It's the only book of its kind, and it's a valuable reference.

Reality TV Hack.......2005-03-17

I couldn't get past the Forward by Evan Marriott. Who cares about this? The authors are TV hacks who haven't produced one lick of decent television.

Book Description

The significance of panorama painting in the nineteenth century is frequently cited in contemporary debates about visuality and the emergence of the modern spectator. Stephan Oettermann's The Panorama is the first major historical study to appear in English of the rich phenomenon of the panorama, one of the most influential forms of visual entertainment in the nineteenth century. In this richly illustrated book Oettermann gives readers a concrete sense of the structural and experiential reality of the panorama, and the many forms it took throughout Europe and North America--a crucial task given that very few of the original nineteenth-century panoramas survive. At the same time, he outlines the many ways in which these remarkable and often immense 360-degree images were part of a larger transformation of the status of the observer and of popular culture. Thus, the panorama is treated not only as a new kind of image but also as an architectural and informational component of the new urban spaces and media networks.

Book Description

Queen’s music is embedded in the popular consciousness — from sports stadiums and TV commercials to endless radio replay and Wayne’s World. For Daniel Nester, it is also an enduring personal obsession. God Save My Queen explores the parallel lives of author and band through riffs, trivia, lyrics, sexual awakenings, close readings of albums, and scholarly footnoted thoughts. It draws connections to everyone from Liza Minnelli to Leni Riefenstahl, including such moments as Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury’s sharing a kiss in 1981. Part memoir, part prose poetry, part rock book, God Save My Queen occupies the singular place where a fan’s life and a fan’s fixation collide. This collection of lyrical, loopy riffs celebrating the rock band Queen includes a short take on every song recorded by the band.

Customer Reviews:

a kind of magic..........2005-10-14

This book is amazing. Any Queen fan who has felt at some point some surreal connection with the band will benefit greatly from reading this and its companion. It puts into words the abstract forms of things I'd never thought to try and describe. Parts of it brought tears to my eyes; parts of it made me laugh out loud. There are few things I can say that express what the book is, let alone its greatness. In any case, it is not a fan biography; it isn't a review; it is simply a genre in itself as something completely unique from anything else I've ever read. And it rocks.

He Will, He Will, Rock You!.......2004-05-08

I came of age (and to music) around the same time as the author. My band of choice was the Canadian art power trio RUSH. The band QUEEN was right up there, though, and I was as sad as any other fan to learn of the band's premature demise and lead singer Freddie Mercury's tragic death.

Daniel Nester writes clearly and well. He fuses a fan's energy with the full power and importance of QUEEN, both as a musical and pop culture phenomena. Each QUEEN song receives a careful treatment that combines the "everyfan" experience of the author with specific details of the song itself. This approach succeeds and has created a user's guide to QUEEN as well as a backstage pass to a collective generational memory. Read this book, and Dan Nester will indeed rock you!

I give it 4 stars.......2004-04-14

...because it's a strange book, and we don't have enough strange things these days. I like the footnotes, and the poems are strange, but I like them. I like Queen fine, and Nester brings back memories of listening to music passionately. There's a lot of "too much information" here, a lot of sex, but that may be a plus for some people!

A complete waste of time.......2004-04-01

Someone gave me this book--why, I'll never know. I liked Queen a lot once. Do the remaining members know a supremely bad poet has written a tedious book about them? Someone should let them know.

The writer seems to be one of those guys who obsessively remembers stuff about marginal subjects and likes to spout that info. But then he hit on the perfect career path--a poet! So now he can footnote bad poetry with obscure references and call it a book.

An edgy new art form.......2003-06-12

Daniel Nester is an obsessed fan. Nothing strange there - lots of music books are written by fans. The difference is that Nester - also a New York poet - takes his fandom seriously; he considers it a suitable topic for poetry. And why not? Post-baby-boomers tend to define themselves by their cultural affiliations - whether you like the Smiths or System of a Down, pop taste articulates your personality, your stance towards the world. Nester's prose poems - one for every Queen song - go well beyond the traditional tribute. They explore the odd, obsessive mindset of the fan, the curious distance and closeness he feels towards his chosen object. The poems are madly associative in the Beat tradition but also toy with a pedantic scholarly bent, particularly in the hilarious footnotes. This bold work deserves to be read and discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Learn How To Make Big Money With Little Bets.......2004-08-10

People who know where the big money is play Keno. In this book you will learn all the secrets of the great bets that win thousands, and tens of thousands of dollars -- and even millions -- while paying for themselves along the way.

Known in casino jargon as Big Board Keno, this is a game that's almost like a lottery -- except that you have many more options and choices than with any lottery. If you have ever played any Lottery, then you know how you can win big for little cost. But Lotteries are hard to win, and the betting options are none. In a Lottery, all you can do is mark your numbers and that's it. Then you have to wait several days to see if you won.

In Keno, you can wager in a variety of ways, and that's the operative word -- "Ways." You see, smart players who know how to exploit this game for big money, know that to play the game well you must learn how to play "way tickets." And not just any such ticket -- specific tickets marked in very special ways that no casino will ever tell you about, and no one except the regular players know about. Until now, that is, because now you have this great book to show you how.

There are sample tickets in this book, and actual pictures of what these tickets are and how they win, and why, and how little they cost. There are playing instructions and strategy principles that most people don't even know are possible for this game. Keno has had a bad rap among casino players and writers for a long time. But it is a serious game, and one where huge wins are possible. And the best thing is -- you don't have to wait a week to see if you won a Lottery. Each game is played about every 5-10 minutes, and if you know what you learn in this book, you will be able to play for very little, last a long time, and play tickets that pay for themselves along the way.

Also included is a chapter on Nevada Numbers, which is a progressive jackpot throughout Nevada casinos, and is similar to a lottery. This is a 5-number game, and the jackpot starts at $5 million!

The second half of this terrific book is about Video Keno. Most people don't know just how good Video Keno is as a playing option. It is a game that may look odd, but the jackpots are enormous, and playing is easy. Here in this book the Author shows you the actual pictures of the machines and their game screens, shows you what they pay and how and why, and tells you how to make the most from your playing dollar. He also shows you why Video Keno is a better game than many others, and how it can be exploited not only for great casino fun, but also for large wins.

It is a great book, with great stories, loads of very important information, and something that has long been overdue. The "secrets" of successful Keno game, previously used by old-time players and professionals, are now available for everyone. And yes, most important, Royer also shows you how and why some of the current "myths" about Keno and Video Keno are wrong, and why.

Finally, there are charts that show paybacks, and also a listing of which casinos have the best games. With what you learn here, you too will enjoy Keno, and just one small win will pay for this book many times over. It's worth the read, for sure!

Book Description

"Winning the Loser's Game is considered by many to be a classic analysis of investing." Financial Planning

The premise of the bestselling Winning the Loser's Gamethat individual investors can achieve far greater success working with financial markets than against themhas grown increasingly popular in today's hard-to-predict markets. The latest edition of this concise yet comprehensive classic offers updated strategies to leverage the power of time and compounding, protect against down cycles, and more.

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This indispensable investment guide asks the question: How can an individual invest successfully when the majority always fails? In this updated edition of his book, Charles Ellis, one of today's most brilliant investment writers, answers this question and provides simple yet radical strategies on investing.

Customer Reviews:

An enlighting book.......2007-09-25

This book gives a further mesage than "buy an index fund". It gives the reader a pragmatic view of investing. The message should be this "Investor know yourself and the scenario where your playing, then act consecuently". Investing is a serious activity and should be taken seriously. Too many traps are set for those who take it as game and too many avoidable dissapointments take place. This book is a great book and a must read for anybody, particularly for those who want to invest their money. For those who may want further reading I would encourage them to read Wealth: Grow It, Protect It, Spend It, and Share It (Paperback) (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks) and The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Book Big Profits), they're both easy to read and will give you further knowledge of how seriously investing is.

Ellis doesn't believe his own advice.......2007-05-16

Ellis manages an active fund, which completely goes against the premise of his book. If he truley believes what he wrote, he would act accordingly. However, that isn't why I gave the book 2 stars. I gave the book 2 stars because it is basically a 2-3 page paper expanded to be a full book by using fillers. There is one simple concept, and it doesn't take an entire book to get across.

A classic book on investing.......2007-02-09

Charles was not the first to blow the whistle on active investing but was the first to write a book for the average investor. His advise and counsel are outstanding. In fact he has been called by the current administration to establish criteria for self funded social security investing. The book is a basic tutorial every investor should have on his bookshelf.

Piscaqua Research in a study covering the period 1987-96 found that only 10 out of 145 major pension funds, or just seven percent, out performed a portfolio consisting of a simple 60%/40% mix of the S&P 500 index and the Lehman Bond index respectively.

Or is it logical I ask for you to believe that you can predict which actively managed funds will out perform, or are you overconfident of your skills? If you are trying to find the great fund managers who will out perform in the future ask yourself: what am I going to do differently in terms of identifying the future winning fund managers, than did the pension plans and their advisors? And if you are not going to something different what logic is there in playing a game at which others with superior resources have consistently failed?

If you a really serious in finding an investment technique that will provide you with reasonable return with less risk I suggest the following little book. This is a little book that I have written and contains the essential of how to invest. Just click on the title to find the book.

The book is titled How to Make Money in the Stock Market-Buy 2,500 different stocks for $1000 - Pay no Commission. Easy to read packed with precise directions for success. A cookbook for the investor just follow directions. I enjoyed this book a great deal. It shows how indexing and diversification strategies work and why they are so important to investing success. Unlike many other books, this one is not only informative, but also useful. There should be no question as how to implement the author's strategy and measure your progress. He skillfully addresses asset allocation, and shows how to minimize tax consequences by assigning securities to tax deferred accounts. The author does not dwell on lengthy longwinded discussions but cuts to the quick with useful recommendation and directions for the novice and experienced investor as well. I recommend this book for all investors.Just click on the underlined title to go to the reviews of the book.The author answers all yiur questions by Email within 24 hours.How to Make Money in the Stock Market-Buy 2,500 Different Stocks-Pay no Commission

well written and sensible book on investing.......2007-01-09

The basic idea of winning the loser's game is:
* Institutional fund managers are 90% of the market volume, they *are* the market.
* institutional fund managers, as a whole, on the long term, underperform the market
* the stock market is a loser's game. it's characterized by the behavior of the losers. (ie. all those professional fund managers)
* if you can match the market, you're beating 80% of fund managers.
* Therefore winning at a loser's game involves using index funds to match the market.

The book's forward is written by Vanguard's CEO, and Vanguard is famous for its index funds. Overall, it amounts to well-written sensible advice for investors, although it would be best to take it only on face-value, with due consideration to other theories out there.

One to own.......2006-11-03

This is the most concise and on target investment book I have come across in my 35 year career in finance. As I read it, my most frequent comment to myself was "I wish I could have said that". I actually found myself getting jealous of Ellis' ability to put things so clearly and concisely.
Worth reading and worth owning so you can lend it to friends.

Winning the Loser's Game : Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing

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Winning the Loser's Game : Timeless Strategies for Successful Investing
Charles D. Ellis
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFVEM4

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