Average customer rating:
|
Occupied Japan for the Home
Florence Archambault Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0764311336 |
Book Description
Objects marked "Made in Occupied Japan" were made from February 1947 until April 1952 in Japan for export to America. They are easy to date and identify. This new book presents hundreds of items never published before and over 200 different manufacturers' markings on Occupied Japan collectibles. Many are ceramics--especially detailed figurines and dinnerware sets--as well as baskets, books, tools, lacquerware, clothing, toys, dolls, and much more. Finer pieces, along with more unusual items, are illustrated in 533 color photos taken specifically for this book. Value ranges with the captions reflect the current market.Customer Reviews:
Occupied Japan for the Home.......2000-05-23
Average customer rating:
|
Dressing Renaissance Florence: Families, Fortunes, and Fine Clothing (The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science)
Carole Collier Frick Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
Accessories: ASIN: 0801882648 |
Book Description
As portraits, private diaries, and estate inventories make clear, elite families of the Italian Renaissance were obsessed with fashion, investing as much as forty percent of their fortunes on clothing. In fact, the most elaborate outfits of the period could cost more than a good-sized farm out in the Mugello. Yet despite its prominence in both daily life and the economy, clothing has been largely overlooked in the rich historiography of Renaissance Italy. In Dressing Renaissance Florence, however, Carole Collier Frick provides the first in-depth study of the Renaissance fashion industry, focusing on Florence, a city founded on cloth, a city of wool manufacturers, finishers, and merchants, of silk dyers, brocade weavers, pearl dealers, and goldsmiths. From the artisans who designed and assembled the outfits to the families who amassed fabulous wardrobes, Frick's wide-ranging and innovative interdisciplinary history explores the social and political implications of clothing in Renaissance Italy's most style-conscious city.
Frick begins with a detailed account of the industry itself -- its organization within the guild structure of the city, the specialized work done by male and female workers of differing social status, the materials used and their sources, and the garments and accessories produced. She then shows how the driving force behind the growth of the industry was the elite families of Florence, who, in order to maintain their social standing and family honor, made continuous purchases of clothing -- whether for everyday use or special occasions -- for their families and households. And she concludes with an analysis of the clothes themselves: what pieces made up an outfit; how outfits differed for men, women, and children; and what colors, fabrics, and design elements were popular. Further, and perhaps more basically, she asks how we know what we know about Renaissance fashion and looks to both Florence's sumptuary laws, which defined what could be worn on the streets, and the depiction of contemporary clothing in Florentine art for the answer.
For Florence's elite, appearance and display were intimately bound up with self-identity. Dressing Renaissance Florence enables us to better understand the social and cultural milieu of Renaissance Italy.
Customer Reviews:
A fascinating college-level study.......2007-01-07
OUTSTANDING - Renaissance Florence students, take note!.......2002-09-26
It is not about how to make Italian-persona clothing. Instead, it focuses on how Florentines of the Renaissance used clothing to make social statements. Along the way, it examines some things that garbmakers would like hearing about (one table lists various color combinations found in gowns and linings), but mostly, it's about the sociology of fashion.
Chapters:
* Craftspeople and tailors (including how clothes-making guilds were organized and the role women played in these guilds)
* Tailoring Family Honor (how Florentines viewed honor and how they thought honor was expressed through clothing)
* Family Fortunes in Clothes (how much they spent, and a bit about the secondhand clothes market)
* The making of wedding gowns (you'll love learning how many opinions went into one and how totally political it all was)
* Trousseaux for Marriage and Convent (how they differed, and lists of what went into each)
And stuff about sumptuary law, information about layers of clothing, types of dyes (and an examination of mourning clothes), types of fabric, and clothes as depicted in art -- and how art might have distorted how people really wore clothes. Embroidery is also covered.
Needless to say, the painter Ghirlandaio features pretty prominently here. There are also b/w repros of portraits, unfortunately not super well detailed, but there are a few here I haven't seen before. There are also appendices that are very useful -- lists of currency and measures, categories of clothiers, yardage required for various garments, glossaries of what yardage terms meant, and a HUGE bibliography and glossary of terms.
It isn't a physically large book, clocking in at around 300pp, but it's very rich in detail, and the writing is pleasant to read. I'd definitely recommend this book to anybody wanting to immerse in the period -- and DEFINITELY for any Renaissance costumers out there. It might not be a bad idea to have some basic grounding in the period before reading this, but it's written well enough that if any is required, it isn't much.
Average customer rating:
|
Robotech - From the Stars
Tommy Yune , and Jay Faerber Manufacturer: Wildstorm ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 140120144X |
Customer Reviews:
Not a novel.......2007-02-18
Great! Great!.......2007-02-07
Average customer rating:
|
1,003 Great Things About Getting Older
Lisa Birnbach , Patricia Marx , and Ann Hodgman Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0836226992 |
Customer Reviews:
Great senior book!.......2003-02-16
Good as a Gift..........2000-08-09
I received this book as a gift when I turned -- well, that's not important. What is important is that this turned out to be a nice gift - not roll over laughing funny, but good for a cheerful, smile-provoking gift for friends turning one of the Big O's.
In this thick, but palm-sized paperback, the editors combined more than just a selection of platitudes, but provides a variety of semi-useful bits of information.
"What's so great about turning...." gives sappy reasons why your age - from 1 to 100 - is so good. There are reasons kids think being old is better ("I want to be older so I can make out checks and be a millionaire." John Semple, age seven) ; great things people have said about getting older; parting statements; how old you'd be if you lived on various planets (I personally prefer Mars, where a 50 year old is 27); a list of things life is now to short to do (doing push-ups; wondering if you should have gone to medical school instead); birthdates of several stars (from Mickey Rooney to Maccauley Caulkin) and bunches of other useless but amusing tidbits.
Those not amused by maturing might not find this a good gift, but for office gag gifts and add-ons to more meaningful gifts for that someone going over the hill (from 30 to 50 or so), this is a nice purchase for that "under $10.00" limit.
incredibly funny.......1998-11-01
Getting old is great--if you're cheese!.......1997-06-13
Average customer rating: |
1,003 Great Things About Getting Older
Hodgman, Marx, Owen Birnbach Manufacturer: MJF Books, NY ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000KA19CI |
Average customer rating: |
1,003 Great Things About Getting Older
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0740722905 |
Average customer rating:
|
Lost Films: Important Movies That Disappeared
Frank T. Thompson Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0806516046 |
Customer Reviews:
Not bad for an intro on this subject.......2001-07-27
Marvelous Book On a Bygone Era.......2000-06-11
I refer to this book again and again, as I am very interested in early Hollywood. As noted in the other reviews, this book is not complete, and a number of important films are not listed. However, this book is well-written and provides readers with a cautionary tale of how important it is that films be preserved.
New Book Profiles Important Lost Films.......1999-02-28
This book was really fantastic!.......1998-08-24
Average customer rating:
|
The First Book of Jazz (Dark Tower Series)
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: Ecco ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 0880015527 |
Customer Reviews:
Young People's Guide to Jazz.......2001-05-15
Sound familiar? It's the first eight hours or so of the Ken Burns' documentary "Jazz," only much briefer and written for youngsters ranging from around ages 4 to 9 or so. Although he ignores all the contributions of early women jazz artists (singers are paid scant attention here), his tone is proudly inclusive ("Of course, people were making music in other parts of our country in early times, too--not just in New Orleans. In New England, settlers were singing their hymns. In Virginia and Kentucky, the newcomers were singing their ballads. In the Far West, the Indians were playing on their drums, African slaves in Georgia, the Carolinas, and other parts of the South, who did not always have drums on which to play, were making up songs to chop cotton to, load the river boats, or build the levees.") and emphasizes the joy of performance and improvisation ("That is how the music called jazz began--with people playing for fun.").
The straightforward narrative, although lacking the "poetic" imagery one might expect, is clear and joyful. This is a excellent introduction for young readers. It is obviously not intended as an jazz encyclopedia, and jazz fans will have to ignore a few of its inherent limitations: The above-mentioned oversight of singers and of women (other than one list of pianists that includes Marion McPartland), the over-generalized portrayal of early jazz musicians as untrained, and limited descriptions of Ellingtonto Jazz, swing, and bebop. (Although, for a book written in 1955 by a non-musician, Hughes mentions Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Max Roach, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young). The book includes fun drawings by Cliff Roberts, a brief discography (apparently updated to include Coltrane, Mingus, and Ornette Coleman--but no Miles), a three-page definiton of terms, Hughes' list of his 100 favorite jazz recordings, and a list of "famous jazz musicians" by instrument.
Please reissue this book!.......2000-06-24
Average customer rating: |
Langston Hughes and the Blues
Steven C. Tracy Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0252069854 |
Average customer rating: |
The backlash blues (Broadside)
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: Broadside Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Unknown Binding ASIN: B0007ETBHM |
Average customer rating: |
Blues
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000NOYOLY |
Average customer rating: |
Blues
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: Editorial Pre-Textos ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 8481915572 |
Average customer rating: |
English men of letters
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: Knopf ProductGroup: Book Binding: Unknown Binding ASIN: B0008562KO |
Average customer rating: |
Hughes Views of the Blues
Langston Hughes ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD ASIN: 1599750139 Release Date: 2006-02-21 |
Average customer rating: |
Reading The Blues: The Individual and Community In Selected Poems of Langston Hughes, Gloria Naylor's Novel The Women of Brewster Place, and Bebe Moore Campbell's Novel Your Blues Ain't Like Mine
Manufacturer: Storming Media ProductGroup: Book Binding: Spiral-bound ASIN: 1423584376 |
Product Description
This is a AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB OH report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A978913. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: Langston Hughes, Gloria Naylor, and Bebe Moore Campbell use the blues in their poetry and fiction to highlight the relationship between the individual and the community; however, African culture and American slavery influenced the development of the personal and group dynamics of the blues long before a blues literary tradition emerged. This chapter on slave songs, the precursors to today's blues, focuses on the emergence of the blues with an emphasis on the individual and community. The relationship between a single slave and the slave community influences the blues musical and literary traditions, reflecting both the individual and community. An understanding of the individual, the community, and the interaction between the two in slave songs is a prerequisite for a valid analysis of Langston Hughes's Selected Poetry of Langston Hughes, Gloria Naylor's The Women of Brewster Place, and Bebe Moore Campbell's Your Blues Ain't Like Mine.
Average customer rating: |
The Weary Blues
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000I91K9I |
Average customer rating: |
Weary Blues
Langston Hughes Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000NP5RYQ |
Average customer rating:
|
The Tap Dancing Lizard: 337 Fanciful Charts for the Adventurous Knitter
Catherine Cartwright-Jones , and Roy Jones Manufacturer: Interweave Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0934026785 |
Book Description
The 337 charted figures in this book are like nothing you've ever seen before. Charts include dogs, cats, horses, African animals, barnyard critters, world mythology and symbolism, trees, flowers, and much more. Graphed in the correct ready-to-use proportions for knitted stitches, each chart includes instructions for placement and design combinations, suggestions for embellishments, and sculptural knitting techniques.Customer Reviews:
The Best Patterns Ever.......2004-11-18
Nothing But Charts, Glorious Charts.......2004-06-13
Please write another book Catherine & Roy!!.......2003-06-12
I do cross stitch, and needle point, and have used many of their charts in my work. While looking for more charts on the internet, I found out that somewhere along the line Catherine has become a Henna artist, and I am assuming, no longer designs for the needle work audience. PLEASE come back Catherine and Roy!! We (the less talented) need your assistance!!
The book is WONDERFUL!! the charts are easy to follow, and are shown in color on scarves, sweaters, coats, and stockings.
If you are a needle work lover, and can only have one book... BUY THIS ONE!!!!
Why is this out of print?????.......2001-09-08
Then one day I needed a show quilt. So I took the "little dragon" intended to be knit three times around a watch cap and made it into a seven-foot long monster. It was accepted into a juried show.
I sent a slide to the authors, Roy wrote back that that was the kind of thing they hoped would happen with their book.
Great for crocheters too!.......2000-06-10
Average customer rating:
|
The Art of Focused Conversation: 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace (ICA)
Manufacturer: New Society Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0865714169 |
Book Description
This book has served me so well in my new job. I can't tell you how many times I have pulled the book off the shelf to get some direction in creating my own questions. It has been a great asset in helping me have meaningful and directed conversations at a critical time in my new job. And it has saved me precious time. - Great book!?Marlene Lockwood, Group Leader, St. Helen's Hospital, Deer Park, CaliforniaCommunication within many organizations has been reduced to email, electronic file transfer, and hasty sound bytes at hurried meetings. More and more, people appear to have forgotten the value of wisdom gained by ordinary conversations.
But, at different times in history, conversation has been regarded as an art form - a crucial component of human relations. Conversation has the power to solve a problem, heal a wound, generate commitment, bond a team, generate new options, or build a vision. Conversations can shift working patterns, build friendships, create focus and energy, cement resolve.
The Art of Focused Conversation convincingly restores this most human of attributes to prime place within businesses and organizations, and demonstrates what can be accomplished through the medium of focused conversation. The first Part describes the theory and background of the conversation method, which has been effectively used for group consensus making in: 1) problem solving; 2) troubleshooting; 3) coaching; 4) research and 5) interpretation of data. It also discusses how to prepare a conversation, how to lead a conversation, and what the common mistakes are. Part two then provides 100 sample conversations designed for use in many different situations, including: 1) reviewing and evaluating; 2) preparation and planning; 3) coaching, and mentoring; 4) data and media interpretation; 5) decision making; 6) managing and supervising; and 7) personal reflection and group celebrations.
Developed, tested, and extensively used by professionals in the field of organizational development, The Art of Focused Conversation is an invaluable resource for all those working to improve communications in firms and organizations.
"This book is absolutely fabulous. I started it last night, used a whole bunch of stuff
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Resource for Productive Conversations.......2004-11-24
Good Solid Model.......2001-10-04
The model takes about 50 pages to explain and is followed by about 150 pages of examples of its application. Many will find that the 10 pages in "Winning Through Participation" had enough information to get going.
Simple and Powerful Concept.......2000-12-05
In the book, they say, "For whole systems to operate effectively, information must flow in every direction, up, down, sideways, and diagonally." They go on to describe leaders as askers of questions and state that "the participatory principle requires the art of asking questions."
Canada's Institute of Cultural Affairs developed the focused conversation method as part of its Technology of Participation, which leads people through certain phases of reflection, enabling them to process their experiences as a group. A leader/facilitator asks a series of questions to elicit responses that take a group from the "surface of a topic to a topic to its depth implications for their life and work."
The focused conversation uses questions at four levels:
1. The Objective Level- questions about facts and external reality. 2. The Reflective Level - questions to call forth immediate personal reaction to the data, an internal response, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images and associations with the facts, when we encounter an external reality (data/objective) we experience an internal response. 3. The Interpretive Level - questions to draw out meaning, values, significance, and implications. 4. The Decisional Level - questions to elicit resolution, bring the conversation to close, and enable the group to resolve about the future.
The first third portion of the book provides an understanding of the concept of focused conversation and is followed by 100 meeting topics with specific examples of questions at the four levels that would be appropriate.
The book has helped me to re-think the types and the order of questions that I address to a group.
Books:
Recommended Books