Taking an Opportunity: The Story of Edmund Gibbons Ltd

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Taking an Opportunity: The Story of Edmund Gibbons Ltd
Allison Moir , Edmund Gibbons , and Allison Moir-Smith
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Business | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1413414710

Book Description

This book is an inside look at Brickhouse's half-a-century in broadcasting. From his basketball covering origin in Peoria to his friendships with fellow broadcasters, Brickhouse recalls the memories and the moments of his celebrated career.

Customer Reviews:

JACK BRICKHOUSE IN DA HOUSE.......2004-02-01

THIS IS ALOT OF THIS AND THAT FROM VETERAN BROADCASTER JACK BRICKHOUSE. HIS CAREER IN CHICAGO IS LEGENDARY. HE GIVES A ALOT OF GREAT STORIES OF HIS CAREER, OPINIONS, LIFE IN GENERAL, AND SOME HUMOROUS LETTERS SENT TO HIM OVER THE YEARS. A VERY NICE READ FOR ALL BASEBALL FANS. RECOMMENDED.

Brickhouse Review.......2000-02-20

If you love baseball and the Chicago Cubs, this book is for you. Jack Brickhouse was Cubs' baseball during the time I was growing up on the north side of Chicago and he was a welcome member of our family, through the TV and radio.

Later in life, we became close friends and he was a mentor to me. A finer gentleman you will never meet. The book is a history of the Cubs from the mid-40's through the 90's and it also tells the story of WGN-TV, one of the nation's great independent stations.

Book Description

Thanks for listening is the sign-off R. James Garwood uses in his weekly column in the Westside Journal in Port Allen Louisiana. It's a compilation of notes "Sarge" has taken concerning politics and the majesty of human nature in small town America. "Communication is more than people 'sending and receiving information' while speaking at each other. It's making thought live, grow, prosper, then become something everybody can hopefully resolve a problem with." Garwood initiates each column with this kind of message, whether it's with the poignancy of his annual Christmas message (The Little Star) or noting the interaction of a father and son as the father slips away because of Alzheimer's disease. His award winning "Gardens of Stone" warns of the dismal flourishing of military funeral rites in small communities because of intervention in global conflicts. His writing is powerful and effective. The question or message has a point to be pondered and answers demanded. "Communication is people relating socially, interacting as equals, each adding an element to the 'sauce piquant' of community. Without communication we're another herd moving toward sterile domestication or extinction as a race." Garwood looks at people, placing elements of their personhood in the spotlight for their neighbors to admire or possibly view with a more jaundiced eye. Finally, Garwood paints a portrait of the landscape of America. Based in small town America, communication's energy spreads to cities and villages alike; "we're neighbors, whether we're talking across the alley separating New England tenements, like I did as a child, or from a rocking chair at the Cracker Barrel in the general store, it's us, being us and trying to make sense of it all." Things are finally looking up.

Money talks (have you been listening?) stewardship means we choose life in the image of God.(Book review): An article from: Presbyterian Record

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Money talks (have you been listening?) stewardship means we choose life in the image of God.(Book review): An article from: Presbyterian Record
Ted Siverns
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Presbyterian Record, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1084 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Money talks (have you been listening?) stewardship means we choose life in the image of God.(Book review)
Author: Ted Siverns
Publication: Presbyterian Record (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 131 Issue: 1 Page: 35(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Thanks for Listening: Stories and Short Fictions by Ernest Buckler

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Thanks for Listening: Stories and Short Fictions by Ernest Buckler
Ernest Buckler
Manufacturer: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A treasure chest of exceptional stories by one of Canadas classic authorsall now available in one volume.

Ernest Buckler, best known as the author of the Canadian classic, The Mountain and the Valley, never achieved the lasting fame he deserved.

His first story was published in Esquire, a significant American literary magazine known for publishing leading writers such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sinclair Lewis. Over the years, nearly forty more of Buckler's short stories were published in several popular magazines, including Maclean's where his story “The Quarrel” won first prize for fiction.

In this new book, Thanks for Listening: Stories and Short Fictions by Ernest Buckler, Marta Dvorak gathers together many of those stories as well as some previously unpublished pieces. At times she has chosen to include the fuller, original versions, and has reinstated some of the lost passages that were cut from stories to fit popular magazine requirements.

Ernest Buckler's writing is rooted in the magic of the ordinary. He celebrates the land and its community, and sensuously recreates a paradise — almost a Garden of Eden. Buckler's American editors were right in believing that no one evoked the lost world of North Americas agrarian past better than Ernest Buckler.

"Thanks for listening": Tales of life and times in the Arkansas Ozarks

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"Thanks for listening": Tales of life and times in the Arkansas Ozarks
Rex Harral
Manufacturer: Cleburne County Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

Phil Brown, who played Luke Skywalker's uncle in Star Wars, said, "In my long life in films, there are ones I'm proud of and those I'm not proud of. The Jungle Captive and Weird Woman fall into the latter category." House of Wax co-star Paul Picerni was fired by the film's director when he refused to put his head in a working guillotine during a climactic fight scene. Packed with wonderful tidbits, this volume collects 22 interviews with the moviemakers responsible for bringing such films as This Island Earth, The Haunting, Carnival of Souls, Pit and the Pendulum, House of Wax, Tarzan the Ape Man, The Black Cat, Them! and Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the movie screen. Faith Domergue, Michael Forest, Anne Helm, Candace Hilligoss, Suzanna Leigh, Norman Lloyd, Maureen O'Sullivan, Shirley Ulmer, Dana Wynter and many more are interviewed

Customer Reviews:

B MOVIE EXTRAVAGANZA!.......2005-09-30

Tom Weaver proves again why he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the business when if comes to genre films with "I Was a Monster Movie Maker". In this book Weaver presents 22 interviews with Sci-Fi and Monster movie makers both behind and in front of the camera. While a fan, Weaver's interviews are never "fannish" in nature. He not only knows the talent but knows their work, often times, it seems, better than the subject themselves.

Phil Brown is best known as Uncle Owen from Star Wars, but did his first film back in 1941. Brown admits to taking the Star Wars role because "it was a job" and he had no idea what it was about, although he says George Lucas' genius was evident from the beginning. It's also interesting that Brown did a move (The Weird Woman) with Lon Chaney Jr. back in the 1940's. While he fondly recalls Chaney, he never joined him in his morning "spirits".

Candace Hilligoss discusses her role in one of the most atmospheric and underrated low-budget horror, "Carnival of Souls", and how she was forced out of the eventual remake even though it was largely her idea. She would eventually be offered a cameo but turned it down.

One of the best interviews was with Maureen O' Sullivan, best known as playing Jane in a number of Tarzan films. Still sharp as a tack, she relates a number of amusing anecdotes about playing Jane including stories about the skimpy jungle outfit and how she refused to do a nude scene in a silhouette. She also said that despite the rumors, there was never a romance between she and Tarzan co-star Johnny Weismuller.

Another fantastic interview was with Ray Walston. Walston played Uncle Martin in the hit 1960's series "My Favorite Martian" but many people probably don't know that he played Renfield in the Broadway stage version of Dracula with Bela Lugosi. Walston has some wonderful stories about being out on the town drinking with Lugosi, who, ever frugal, would bring his own flask of scotch. Walston was positively ecstatic to relate how Lugosi told him he was the best Renfield he had ever had. High praise indeed!

Shirley Ulmer also has some interesting stories about Lugosi from the set of "The Black Cat" where her husband Edgar was the director. She talks about the tension between Lugosi and Karloff and the grueling 16 hour days of filming to get the picture done on time.

Other interviews include Dana Wynter from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", Yvonne Lime from "I was a Teenage Werewolf", Phyllis Kirk from "The House of Wax" and Michael Hoey, the Director of legendary "B" film "The Navy Vs. the Night Monsters." This is another outstanding effort from Weaver and a first rate production by McFarland Books.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

More excellent interviews..........2002-06-08

Genre interviewer extraordinaire, Tom Weaver, is back with his first book since the celebrated John Carradine: The Films. I Was A Monster Movie Maker collects 22 interviews with various genre personalities, the majority of whom may not immediately ring bells with even the most knowledgeable of genre fans. All of these interviews have appeared in abridged versions in various magazines; here they are printed in their entirety.

The range of interviewees range from the easily recognizable: Maureen O'Sullivan, Norman Lloyd, Phyllis Kirk, Dana Wynter, and John Kerr--to the downright scratch-your-head-and-ask-who? variety: Booth Colman (Dr. Zaius on the Planet Of The Apes television series, Karloff's Thriller), Nelson Gidding (screenwriter of The Haunting), Suzanna Leigh (The Deadly Bees, Lust For A Vampire), and Joan Weldon (Them!), among others. Filmographies are included for all performers.

Among the many treats to be found: O'Sullivan's days as Tarzan's Jane and the revelation of whether there was any romance with Johnny Weissmuller; Wynter's discussions on the 1956 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and Kevin McCarthy; Candace Hilligoss' very frank opinions concerning the Carnival Of Souls remake; the always interesting Norman Lloyd's remembrances, especially those of Hitchcock; Phil (Uncle Owen) Brown's recollections of his getting his role in Star Wars, meeting George Lucas, and anecdotes of Lon Chaney, Jr.; Paul Picerni and Phyllis Kirk (in what are clearly the best of interviews done with these two stars) share trips down memory lane, relating tales of making House Of Wax (Picerni's story of filming the guillotine scene is priceless), Andre' de Toth, and Vincent Price; Nelson Gidding's discussion on bringing The Haunting (original version) to the screen; and Ray (My Favorite Martian) Walston talks of working with Lugosi.

In too many interviews, the reader only gets a rapid-fire question and answer session, with no sense of any real interest being generated by either party. Weaver's strength, however, is his ability to get his subjects to really open up. The reader feels that there is a real conversation between two interested parties going on, rather than a rote asking/answering of questions. Perhaps it's his genuine interest in his subjects; perhaps it's his years of experience; perhaps it's his research and preparedness (he often knows more about his subjects' careers than the subjects themselves can remember!). Regardless of Weaver's secret, we get a depth, interest, and even excitement out of the subjects--not to mention the wealth of memories and anecdotes--that one seldom finds elsewhere.

Downsides to the book? I could find only two, and they are small, one (perhaps both) out of the hands of the author. First, that cover! Second, my usual complaint with books by McFarland: the price. Like all McFarland books, IWAMMM is nicely produced and certainly worth the price, but still more than likely out of the price range of many of the monster fans the book is written for.

I Was A Monster Movie Maker is typical first-rate, high quality product readers have come to expect from the author, and is the latest in a long line of his acclaimed interview books.

Book Description

"After looking at the sizeable collection of tattoo memorabilia, I entered the tattoo studio adjacent to the museum and, like many first-time visitors to tattoo establishments, impulsively decided to join the ranks of the tattooed. After choosing a small scarab design from the wall `flash,' I submitted to the unexpectedly painful tattoo experience." So began sociologist Clinton Sanders' seven-year involvement in the world of tattoo culture.

Customizing the Body discusses tattooing as a highly social act—as a manipulation of self-image, as a symbolically meaningful form of body alteration in contemporary society. A tattoo changes "how the person experiences his or her self and, in turn, how he or she will be defined and treated by others." Tattoos continue to be a mark of alienation from the mainstream, but they also have an affiliative effect, identifying one as a member of a select group. Common wisdom associates tattoos with life-long regret, but Sanders introduces passionate collectors—those who cannot resist the desire to "get more ink"—and tattooees who are very content with modest coverage. "(In the future) when I'm sitting around and bored with my life and I wonder if I was ever young once and did exciting things, I can look at the tattoo and remember."

Sanders' immersion in this hidden social world—his years of hanging out in tattoo parlors and participating in conventions of enthusiasts—enable him to draw compelling portraits of tattoo collectors and artists. His interviews and observations reveal the ways in which artists are drawn into the work, their concerns in building their careers, and the nature of commercial exchange in tattoo studios. He juxtaposes an institutional view of art with the work done by highly skilled tattoo artists who are dedicated to erasing the negative stereotypes of their production and earning recognition for this marginally accepted form of body decoration.

Customer Reviews:

Very informative book.......2002-05-09

I first read this book several years ago, and although its academic tone may be dry in spots for some readers, it's full of valuable information on tattooing. Sanders' studies show that many people getting their first tattoo have never even been in a studio before. A book like this can provide a lot of background on how the transactions works, how not to embarrass oneself and how to be an informed consumer. I started collecting several years after having read this book, and found the information I gleaned from it invaluable.

Clean-skinned reviewer enjoys tattoo book........2001-01-31

If you have ever considered getting tattooed, have ever wondered what possesses someone to get one, what kind of people get them, how your life would change after getting one, why so many people are getting them these days, and why very few of them today look like the ones your grandfather or his war buddies had, this book addresses all these questions and many more in a most thorough and mostly unbiased way. The book is actually an academic study written by a university professor who, during the course of researching and writing the book, became a tattooed person. It contains plenty of statistics as you would expect in an academic study, but also lots of colorful anecdotes: tattooists talking about the types of tattoos or customers they refuse, women who explain why they got their first tattoo, various customers on pride and regret. There are so many interesting facts in this book, it really does read like an anthropological study, which it is, and I believe it would make interesting reading for nearly anyone who's ever found themselves looking at an inked armed and muttering "Why?!" or especially those who might look and say, "Hey, why not?!"

A few interesting facts from the book . . . Some classically trained fine artists are gaining acceptance in tattooing doing custom, commissioned, one-of-a-kind pieces . . . Women often get tattooed after a breakup . . . Most tattoo regret comes from getting one with poor craftsmanship . . . Men's first tattoos tend to be on the arm, women's on the breast . . . your social life will change if you get one . . . They really do hurt.

This book is unique in that nearly every other book on the subject falls under the rubric of tattoo fandom.

I read the book several years ago, and I'm still "clean skinned".

Interestinginly Informative.......2000-07-21

Customizing the Body is an academic study of tattooing and the whole culture that surrounds it. For most people the best part of the book is its introduction, which provides an excellent mini-history of tattooing and how it found it's way into western society. The rest of the book covers modern tattoo culture -- Becoming tattooed, tattooing as a career, and other issues surrounding tattooing and tattooists. The study is complete on an academic and informative level, yet is also easy and impelling reading that should appeal to anyone with a serious and non-voyeuristic interest in tattooing -- this is not a picture book.

Customer Reviews:

Do a trick or do a SHOW. This book shows you how........1999-07-11

A good magician does more than tricks, he does a show. That is what this book is about. Step by Step Bill shows the budding magician how to put on a complete magic show. He not only teaches you the tricks, but tells why it is important to do those tricks in that order. Style, presentation, patter, all go to makeing a show people want to see. No matter what books on magic you have, you should also have this one.

Amazon.com

Completely revised and improved, the second edition of Programming Python is an excellent compendium of material geared toward the more knowledgeable Python developer. It includes dozens of reusable scripts for common scripting tasks, and is one of the best available sources of information for this popular object-oriented scripting language.

In over 1,200 pages of material, this book offers an extremely comprehensive guide to Python development. Though his book is densely packed with information, Mark Lutz is a lively and witty writer whose focus is on getting things done using the natural strengths of the Python language. To that end, after an introduction and history of the language, the book shows how to use Python for performing automated tasks with files and directories (for example, for doing backups both locally and on Web servers). Not only will this book teach you more about Python, but it will also give you a library of code that you can use as is or adapt for your own projects.

The text covers every conceivable facet of Python and the language's support for networking, files and directories, task management, and even persistence (through its support for shelves). Complete Python programs show how to create e-mail clients, do reporting, and create Web applications (for an online errata database). Chapters on doing graphics programming in Python, as well as coverage of both built-in and custom data structures, are especially good. Because Python is often used for automating installations (in some Linux distributions, for instance), readers will appreciate the sample code and tips for using Python to create bulletproof installs.

Later sections show how get Python to work with C, Java (through JPython), and other languages. The book concludes with useful reference sections summarizing key aspects of Python, like its revision history, relationship to C++, and other material. There aren't many titles on Python, and fans of this up-and-coming language are lucky to have such a solid tutorial and guide available in Programming Python. Perfect for those with just a little previous exposure to the language, it's all you need to master Python in-depth and tap its considerable power for virtually any software project. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Introduction to Python
Basic system scripts with Python (including file and directory tools)
Working with processes and threads
Pipes and signals
Sample scripts for system and Web utilities (including backing up files, program launching, replicating and managing directories)
Graphical user interface design in Python (including the Tkinter module)
Widgets and basic components
Layout options
Event handling
GUI examples (including a working text editor, image viewer, and clock)
Network scripting (sockets, FTP, and e-mail clients)
Server-side scripting
Sample server scripts for an online errata database
Python on the Internet (including Zope, JPython, and XML tools)
Databases and persistence in Python (including pickled objects and shelf files)
Custom and built-in data structures in Python
Text and string handling
C integration with Python (including the SWIG module)
Embedding Python calls within C
Hints for using Python in real projects
Reference to recent changes to Python
Python vs. C++ quick-start guide

Book Description

Programming Python focuses on advanced uses of the Python programming/scripting language, which has evolved from an emerging language of interest primarily to pioneers, to a widely accepted tool that traditional programmers use for real day-to-day development tasks. With Python, you can do almost anything you can do with C++; but Python is an interpreted language designed for rapid application development and deployment. Among other things, Python supports object-oriented programming; a remarkably simple, readable, and maintainable syntax; integration with C components; and a vast collection of pre-coded interfaces and utilities. As Python has grown to embrace developers on a number of different platforms (Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac), companies have taken notice and are adopting Python for their products. It has shown up animating the latest Star Wars movie, serving up maps and directories on the Internet, guiding users through Linux installations, testing chips and boards, managing Internet discussion forums, scripting online games, and even scripting wireless products. Programming Python is the most comprehensive resource for advanced Python programmers available today. Reviewed and endorsed by Python creator Guido van Rossum, who also provides the foreword, this book zeroes in on real-world Python applications. It's been updated for Python 2.0 and covers Internet scripting, systems programming, Tkinter GUIs, C integration domains, and new Python tools and applications. Among them: IDLE, JYthon, Active Scripting and COM extensions, Zope, PSP server pages, restricted execution mode, the HTMLgen and SWIG code generators, thread support, CGI and Internet protocol modules. Such applications are the heart and soul of this second edition. Veteran O'Reilly author Mark Lutz has included a platform-neutral CD-ROM with book examples and various Python-related packages, including the full Python 2.0 source code distribution.

Customer Reviews:

This book did not need to be written.......2007-09-21

The earlier edition of this book was already 1,300 pages; this one is 300 pages longer. It is by far the largest programming book I've ever owned. (Thankfully my company bought it for me.) It aims for comprehensiveness -- everything you could possibly want to know about Python. Comprehensiveness is not a virtue. When you want to learn English, and your reader already knows all the parts of speech, you don't hand him a dictionary and send him on his way. Comprehensiveness in a programming book is what the author does when he doesn't want to take the time to teach.

What I want to know, when I come to a new language, is how to solve common programming problems in a) the best way possible, using b) the language's native idioms. "Programming Python" absolutely strikes out on a). It doesn't even mention Twisted Python in the index, and only mentions Zope in the context of a web CMS -- even though Zope's generic interface library is used all over the place. As for b), it's hard to tell what the idioms in Python are when they're buried in hundreds of pages of unnecessary verbiage.

If you're an experienced programmer, your ordinary path will be to peruse a book like this, find some code snippets, learn some idioms, then start writing your own. From there, you're likely to turn to web documentation. So in this case, you need a book that's maybe a couple hundred pages long. If, on the other hand, you're a new programmer, you won't start with "Programming Python"; at most you'll start with "Learning Python." So whom does "Programming Python"'s bulk serve?

I've grown sour on programming books, the vast majority of which just do not know their audiences and suffer from atrocious pedagogy. "Programming Python" is one such book.

Programming Python.......2007-05-15

Very comprehensive. In fact it is too comprehensive that will take 3~4 month to finish reading this book. Beginners are not adviseble to buy this book yet if your understanding of Python is not firm yet.

VERY VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!.......2007-03-07

Are you a novice or an advanced practitioner? If you are, then this book is for you. Author Mark Lutz, has done an outstanding job of writing a 3rd edition of a book that shows you the right way to code.

Lutz, begins with an overview of some of the main ideas behind Python. Then, the author explores the system-level interfaces in Python; as well as, their realistic applications. Next, he shows you how to build portable GUIs with Python. He also shows you how to use Python on the Internet. The author then shows you how to build GUIs for browsing databases, viewing data structures and performing calculations. Then, he looks at the interfaces available for mixing Python with programs written in C and C++. Finally, the author looks at some of the implications of Python's scripting code.

In this most excellent book shows you how to use application-level programming with Python. Perhaps more importantly, you'll gain enough information from this book to further explore the application domains introduced; as well as, to explore others.

Outstanding Python Reference Top To Bottom.......2007-03-02

'Programming Python' by Mark Lutz is an absolute gem of a book for anyone that is, wants, or has to learn Python. From the nuts and bolts to learning how to do the uber-exciting superstar stuff, this book has it all and then some. At around 1,550 page, this book is certainly not on the light side, but as I rarely do with books this larger, I cannot complain one bit. Solid writing, wonderfully laid out, and the kind of guide that can be described as "a course in a book", this is an exceptional reference for Python users and lovers the world over.

Can I possibly use any more adjectives to describe how much I praise this book?? If you use Python or want to become a better Python programmer, pick up this home run and you'll be rounding the bases in no time!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Could use some trimming.......2007-02-23

I'm now two thirds through this book, and while it covers a good deal of the standard library, I guess it could use some trimming.

In fact each topic is described first with short programs that show how to use the specific library in one or several chapters. Then when a topic has been well-covered one or several "real-world" programs are covered in subsequent chapters that in my opinion don't add new information and only contribute to the books heft. I think that if those chapters were cut the book could be only half in size and a much faster read.

But despite this I still think the book is worthwhile for the coverage of the libraries included in python

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