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John Glenn inspired a nation when he became the first American to orbit Earth.Can you imagine what that experience must have been like for him?Read this book in order to get to know John Glenn and discover the way he has used space travel as a way of l

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Within the past three decades China has undergone tremendous structural changes in its economy. The Editors discuss the recent and ongoing reforms in China’s financial system and their role in the world economy. China’s GDP has grown almost three times the world average; now only behind the United States, Japan and Germany. The focus of this book is to examine, in detail, China’s changing financial system in order to assess whether it can catch up with, or even drive economic growth.

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Presents a brief biography of the first American astronaut to orbit Earth. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

If you like Laurel & Hardy, you need this book
This is a great guide to the films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Many L&H fans have never seen many of their silent shorts
as these (like most silent films) are hard to find. You will find them all in this book.
More info on L&H themselves would have improved the book, but it is after all just a single volume.
Also see the documentaries made by Robert Youngson. The Golden Age of Comedy, When Comedy Was King, and The Further Perils of Laurel
& Hardy.

Big L & H Fan
Still reading this book and I am enjoying it somewhat. I wish that it had more information about L & H themselves. It is detailed about all aspects of their career except not enough info about them. I was also hoping that this book contained more photos. Slightly disappointed in this book.

Leave 'em laughing
Having recently acquired the Hal Roach L&H films on DVD, I've found this an excellent companion volume, particularly valuable for its entries on miscellaneous topics to do with the boys. One highlight was learning that Edgar Kennedy lets out a four-letter expletive in "The Perfect Day," not noticed by the censors or anyone else for decades. While this well-written book provides up-to-date technical information about the releases and formats of the individual films over the years, I would've liked more critical analysis. A minor disappointment is that no photos date from the classic Roach years.

dec 8 20082 nd ed????????
It says 2nd ed dec 8th so how come this is not a pre order item?????which one do you get now??

A Must Have For Any L&H Fan
One of the best books,if not THE BEST book,on Laurel & Hardy.Everything you want to know is right here.Every single L&H film ever made so fully detailed.Plus details on every actor and actress the boys had worked with.Information on video and DVD releases and computer colourization.

A book I highly recommend. ... Read more

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Examines the personal life and football career of the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. ... Read more

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Wonderful informative reading
I found this book to be very informative and inspiring. JohnElway is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. This book onlydoes him justice.I fell like i know him in a better sense after reading this book.END ... Read more

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A distinguished fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War, John Glenn became a national hero by becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the earth.His importance to his country expanded to include public service as a senator and a return to space as a researcher into the implications of aging for space exploration. ... Read more

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A biography of the first American to orbit the earth who is now a United States Senator from his native Ohio. ... Read more

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HIV/AIDS has become a psychiatric epidemic. The disease causes orexacerbates such psychiatric disorders as depression, dementia, schizophrenia, and bipolardisease. At the same time, the presence of a psychiatric disorder can lead to increased risk forHIV infection and worsen the prognosis of patients once they are infected.

Dr. Glenn J. Treisman, who has been described as the "father of AIDS psychiatry," describes therelationship between psychiatric disorders and HIV/AIDS and demonstrates the ways in whicheffective recognition and treatment of mental disorders can increase a patient's ability to obtainbetter treatment, improve compliance with medical regimens, and reduce incidents of high-riskbehavior.

The book provides HIV/AIDS professionals with overviews of psychiatric disorders, includingmood and personality disorders, mental retardation, substance abuse and addiction,and sexualdisorders and dysfunction. It also provides mental health professionals with essential informationon how to care for patients with HIV and those at risk for the infection. The book discussespsychopharmacology,psychotherapy and counseling, as well as adherence and complianceissues, and the relationship between psychiatric disorders and other STDs. Containing the mostup-to-date information on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, this book draws on the authors'unrivaled experience and uses case studies to show HIV/AIDS professionals how psychiatricinterventions benefit the patient, the medical team, and society as a whole. The cases are rich andengaging, and convey to the reader the intense disorder that can affect the lives of patients. ... Read more

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Developed with NASA and the National Air and Space Museum to coincide with the 40th anniversary of NASA and John Glenn's return to space in the shuttle "Columbia", this never-before-published collection of images, accompanied by a brilliant new text, chronicles the history of the United States space program. 260 photos, 230 in color.Amazon.com Review
The curator of NASA's art collection and the agency's chiefhistorian have collaborated to put together this arresting collectionof paintings, drawings, and sculptures representing more than 30 yearsof space exploration. From the Mercury flights to the Mars Pathfindermission, artists interpret the sights and emotions of eachjourney. Some focus on the astronauts, some on the machinery, some onthe behind-the-scenes action. Each work is unique, whether realisticor impressionistic. This is a gorgeous book--perfect for space buffs,science historians, and anyone interested in a different perspectiveon human efforts to explore the universe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Outstanding Arrangement and Selection of Artwork
Mr. Bertram Ulrich demonstrates rare talent in picking out selections from NASA's art collection that are emblematic of different period's of the Agency's history.

An exquisitely illustrated history of the space program.
Mary Kalamaras was the in-house STC editor not the author. Please correct. I wanted, when planning the publication of this book, to publish an exciting and riveting history of the space program. I wanted to illustrateit with the extraordinary art collection that NASA has been building fromits inception, inviting artists from Robert Rauschenberg to Norman Rockwellto attend its launches and observe and document its work. This publishedwork is my dream come true. Brilliantly written and finally designed by NaiChang, and superbly printed, it is everything a gift book is supposed tobe: a great story informed by extraordinary images... in this case one ofthe most absorbing stories of the twentieth century. Lena Tabori, untilAugust 1,1998, Publisher/President of Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ... Read more

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This book provides readers with a teaching tool not currently available.It fills a gap in the literature by going beyond simple discussions of hardware usage, basic technical knowledge, and descriptions of technique to in-depth discussions of how this knowledge can be applied in a coherent approach to production. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

These Guys Know Their Stuff
These guys really know their stuff.This book really delivers.If you plan to make a film--of any sort--or if you are a student of film the valuable information contained in the pages of The Art of Technique is for you.

The book is written so as to be readable and understandable.Other books I've read like this are too technical or they get too artsy or self-centered or they are just plain boring.But not The Art of Technique. This book lays it out on the level.It reads like it's written by people who have real experience in making movies.

If you plan to roll your own or if you just want to understand what goes into the making of a film, you would be very well advised to have this book by your side.

This is the best book on film making I have ever read.First rate!

A Textbook with a voice
This is a text that is best used in collaboration with actually just getting out there and shooting video and/or film.Movie making is a hands-on profession and this book is like listening to a seasoned instructor giving you inspirational and additional insight that compares, contrasts, and compliments real-world experiences.This is a textbook unlike many others and I believe I can explain why film schools may not want to use it.This book assumes you are passionate about film and that you have a drive to shoot and edit on your own as well as with formal instruction.Another way of stating this might be to say that this is a middle management film book, neither skeletal nor comprehensively loaded.This is a book written for film students who do not want a text to simply explain how to do something nor to teach them facts or elements of film that must be memorized to achieve success.The focus of this book is to aid the film student when a blend of practical and philosophical insight is needed. They treat film students like artists, not instructional technology specialists or snobbish film elitists. Thus, many people mayfind this book not practical enough for them.Others may want a book more heavy on theory, history, or world philosophies.
I learned much from the two authors of this text, and I was fortunate enough to have actually taken classes at American University when they were instructors of film classes and media writing classes.Reading this book is akin to reading the insights of established filmmakers rather than the theories of inexperienced teachers.I have read many film books and while many were very good and helpful, this is the only one I keep.

A first-rate primer for the aspiring filmmaker
"The Art of Technique: An Aesthetic Approach to Film and Video Production," is more of a primer than it is a critique of cinema.Yes, there is a big difference between this volume by John S. Douglass and Gleen P. Harnden and "Film Art: An Introduction" by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson.The latter utilizes literally hundreds of frames from both classic and relatively unknown films to demonstrate cinematic techniques."The Art of Technique" does the same thing with student models.Whether this has to do with the cost of using copyrighted images and/or transforming them into individual frames for use in a book, this is a major difference between the two textbooks.When Douglass and Harnden discuss something, like Ingmar Bergman's use of Extreme Close-ups (ECU) in "Scenes from a Marriage," they can only talk about the extraordinary intimacy it gave the production, without offering visual evidence to support their claim.However, the authors do use their "homemade" examples to good use at time; for example, when exploring the concept of framing they provide examples of "bad" shots (filled with distracting clutter) before showing better choices for the cinematographer.

"The Art of Technique" is divided into two main sections.After an introductory chapter on "Interpretation and Treatment," there are six chapters focusing on the various ways a film can tell a story, essentially pre-production considerations.There is a nice little section detailing the basic types of stories Hollywood tells over and over again ("Jack the Giant Killer," "Fish Out of Water," etc.).Clearly the emphasis here is more on production than criticism, which makes the orientation of this textbook more towards the filmmaker than the movie audience.This first section ends with a look at Mise en Scene and questions of design.In terms of concepts covered, separate from the issue of how those concepts are presented in the textbook, the authors provided a comprehensive, well-organized presentation.

The second half of the book covers "Techniques for Interpretation," which starts with a consideration of the trinity of how the camera, editing and lighting can be used for interpretation.Again, everything is here; I could not find a concept or technique that was an obviously glaring omission.The book concludes with a pair of chapters on Symbols and Significance, which get into the impact film can have on an audience.You might expect to find a glossary at the back of the book, but instead we have a pair of appendixes on Electricity and Measuring Light, which only serves to reaffirm that this book is geared towards the novice filmmaker.If you are looking for a textbook that because you are a budding film critic, then this is not going to be your first choice.I can even make the argument that by not saturating their textbook with frames from dozens of films, Douglass and Harden do their readers a favor, because instead of borrowing shots and techniques from the acknowledged masters of the art form, they are being asked to reinvent the wheel.Do not knock this, because that is basically how we think Orson Welles made "Citizen Kane."

An Excellent Overview
This book explores many aspects of filmmaking in a logical, easy-to-follow manner.A great find, albeit a bit pricy. I used it as my text for teaching a video class as it offers some aesthetic considerations for why techniques may or may not be used in a given situation.This approach helps to minimize the technique-euphoria beginners tend to have with techniques which are new to them (ala George Lucas in the new Star Wars...)

good intro for the novice filmmaker
this book works very well as an introduction to the creative use of techniques for filmmaking.it is quite clear and concise and is not bogged down by too much technical details or dicussions on film theory.a goodstarting point. ... Read more

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A Sculptor's View of the Land
Bones of the Earth, Spirit of the Land: The Sculpture of John Van Alstine will be of interest to working artists, as well as to all readers with an interest in contemporary art and the process of turning ideas into visual form. An extensive collection of color photographs (images of sculptures supplemented by drawings and landscape photographs, a less well-known aspect of his work) documents the evolution of Van Alstine's stone sculpture, from a smooth, polished Modernism to the aesthetic of raw, unfinished stone favored by Noguchi and the land-based Postminimalist strategies of Richard Serra. In the 1970s, he began assembling unworked stones, adding wood and metal to create works that respond to the landscape and allude to a narrative impulse beyond the rigors of form. His later works continue to synthesize stone and metal (the signature of Van Alstine's sculptural vocabulary), now throwing found objects, such as a fuel tank and anchor, into the mix. These recent sculptures move from a response to the landscape to an exploration of humanity's relation to the land through forms that evoke tools, vessels, and transport.The introductory essay by Nick Capasso reinforces the story told by the photographs, discussing the sculptures, public art commissions, and works on paper. Here we learn of Van Alstine's early memories of stone and his various personal experiences of the landscape-whether in the Adirondack Mountains of his childhood or in Laramie, Wyoming, where he taught in the `70s. Capasso provides a succinct and informative discussion, guided by the principle that for Van Alstine "stone is everything," and shows an acute sensitivity to the artist's feeling for his chosen materials and the nuanced changes in their treatment over the years.Van Alstine also has the opportunity to speak for himself in an interview with Glenn Harper, Editor of Sculpture magazine. (Another version of the interview appeared in the May 2000 issue of Sculpture.) In this illuminating discussion of materials, process, and content, the artist identifies key technical realizations and pivotal conceptual leaps behind the changes in his work. Harper draws out several fascinating explanations of the layered meanings underlying the abstractions and found objects in Sledge (1992) and Ara (1989). Bones of the Earth as a whole gives a detailed portrait of an artist committed to his materials, his craft, and his place in the real landscape. Its pages reveal Van Alstine's unique mediation between, in Capasso's words, "image, object, and place." ... Read more

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The Legacy of Wildness: The Photographs of Robert Glenn Ketchum is the first major retrospective of a world-renowned landscape photographer whose artistry is equaled only by his commitment to the environment.

To activist photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum, art and advocacy go hand in hand. Whether depicting the rugged grandeur of the American countryside or the mournful beauty of virgin wilderness violated by progress, his landscapes reject sentimentality. Instead, they document his deep respect and compassion for our irreplaceable natural resources.

With a preface by Robert Redford and an essay by distinguished ecologist and author John Perlin, The Legacy of Wildness is a work of great innovation and integrity.
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