Cloudstreet - A Review and Analysis

Cloudstreet – A Review and Analysis

I suppose this text is deeply influenced by the rather in vogue traditions of Post colonial literature; that body of work finding a voice for those traditionally silenced in the traditional and mainstream body of literature. Cloudstreet provides a voice and in the process romanticizes the ordinary lives of working class, largely uneducated, insular yet genuine and honest people.

Cloudstreet also provides a really vivid and moving, symbolic representation of Aboriginal Australia in the almost magical appearances of the ‘Blackfella’ as a type of moral compass and ‘Gandalf/Dumbledore’ ‘agent of wisdom’ device. The ‘Blackfella’ provides advice to characters, suggesting Quick return home and warning Sam against selling Cloudstreet, ‘Too many places are busted…places are strong…important’. This also reflects Winton’s use of Traditional Aboriginal attitudes towards ‘place’ as part of identity and a broader collective soul and belonging.

The images of totem spirits and the ghosts or spirits living within Cloudstreet also reinforce Aboriginal conceptions of time as a non-linear, polychrome and interactive entity. Imagery of Totem spirits is developed, for example where an aboriginal is perceived as ‘much a bird as a man’, and another spirit who acts as Fish’s guardian angel is described as: ‘A dark man comes flying by a tree, you see the whites of his eyes and tingle with rumours of glory’, and just before Fish’s death and spiritual salvation, ‘a black man leaves the trees like a bird and goes laughing into the sun with a great hot breeze that rolls off the roof of the world.’

Context

Firstly the text was written during the later 1980′s, you will find some similarities between the texts memorable and at times comic subversion of traditional gender roles and archetypes and the ideas promoted as part of third wave Feminism…which rejected any hard and fast, dogmatic notion of female identity. Third Wave feminism differs from other previous feminist movements, intellectually, in its promotion of a diffuse, open and all embracing idea of feminine…This resonates particularly with Winton’s acceptance of his two extreme females who dominate much of the novel…in accepting the sexual and alcoholic excess of Dolly and the authoritarian excess of Oriel.

Secondly, Winton was part of a subversive discourse celebrating ‘Aboriginality’ and the publishing of Cloudstreet coincided with a broad change in Australian attitudes towards aboriginals best signified by the historic Mabo case establishing native title in 1992 and rejecting the legal principle of Terra Nullius.

Another important aspect to Cloudstreet is undoubtedly Winton’s deep although at times unorthodox Christian faith, this is reflected in the continual references to bible stories, and even at times Winton’s language resonates with a succinct yet profound style perhaps mirroring the bible. You, the reader, are given enormous scope to take what you will from these references…for example I have been told Quick’s characterisation mirrors that of the story of the ‘Prodigal Child’ and perhaps his departure from home reflects Christs ‘years in the wilderness’…and then the reader is challenged with the more explicit biblical references, for example the images of holy communion in the car with Quick and the ‘Blackfella’, The ‘Blackfella’s walking on water and Quick’s luck with catching the fish….the list goes on…I suppose for me, forgive me for being blunt, but the central ‘message’ is undoubtedly what the reader will make of this intertwining of Spiritual and real within Cloudstreet…I felt this was the central conflict if you like within the text symbolised with Fish’s struggle with the dichotomy of the Real and the Spiritual…This is further evidenced by the union of the title Cloudstreet symbolising the final resolution/compromise or reconciliation between the ethereal, magical and spiritual with the mundane reality of a life geared around the material.

The Question of Literary Status

You would think this eternal question and apparent subjectivity in answer about whether any text constitutes literature would feature more prominently in any sort of appraisal of any text. For a change I would suggest as the foremost evidence for Cloudstreet’s status as a seminal and profound part of the Australian and indeed English speaking literary cannon is its success spanning over thirty years, proving it was not simply successful as some sort of political manifesto for the changing social attitudes and perceptions during the 80′s and 90′s to do with gender, class, spirituality and Aboriginality…it has captured the soul of Australian life through its unnerving attention to detail and its unique ‘localness’…it has truly established a claim to reflect the universal…

Final Review

Cloudstreet is one of my favourite books, there is something appealing to its grounded approach to heady questions of spirituality, something comforting in its central juxtaposition of the magical beside the mundane, perhaps there is room for spiritual renewal in all our daily lives…

I’m not sure my whole article/ramble has done much in terms of analysis in its superficial glossing over… of the incredible polysemy within Cloudstreet and even less justice to the idea of a ‘review’ with its implicit expectation of some form of judgment or appraisal… but I feel the best I can do in terms of ‘finding a negative’ in Cloudstreet is identify to you what was not comforting to me… the aspects to the text which were faintly off putting… and I would remind you of the highly subjective and in the end meaningless value of such a sentiment… yet I will persist a little more in trying to convey it to you…

What put me off was the implicit endorsement of social stratification found in the text, very similar to One Day of the Year, in the way Cloudstreet identifies and then valorises the Working Class…but in the end the way Quick and Rose are coerced back into the fold of their family… forced away from dreams of a move up on the rung of the social hierarchy… I take issue with the one sided rejection of middle class values as pretentious in the characterisation of Toby Raven… Of coarse the suggestion here is class is in the end a meaningful and rightful delineation of humans based upon compatibility… Rose can’t connect with Toby…No she can only connect with ‘her own’….her fellow working class… Is this not a little unjust… And then there is this idea of the author taking a slightly patronising position as already part of the hegemony perpetuating stratified class, as a means of maintaining an obedient, uneducated and insular labour force….

I thank you for your attention, if you have managed to subject yourself to the entirety of my meandering, infuriatingly fragmented diatribe…I would only suggest in my defense that I have done exactly that capture fragments of my reaction and reading of Cloudstreet, it being impossible to do much more with such an open, diverse and meaningful text. Cloudstreet will undoubtedly remain a classic in the Australian canon of literature, and Winton’s place among our country’s authors is undoubtedly a unique and deeply respected one…I truly enjoyed reading this ripper of a novel!

Cloudstreet - A Review and Analysis

The Jewish Pilgrimage - Book Review

The Jewish Pilgrimage – An Exploration of Reality, Mainly in Verse

The Jewish Pilgrimage by Geoffrey Hoffman is clearly written to inspire philosophical discussion. This book depicts the author’s personal journey to find some form of understanding about man, our various versions of God and how this effects society and the use of its knowledge. He debates moral issues and provokes deep thinking in several areas that will never leave my mind as I travel along my own road.

Geoffrey questions the justness of creation itself and the gift of consciousness. Also he cleverly uses metaphors when he depicts various pieces of himself by using the universe, planets and astrological colors. Without a doubt this student of life, takes joy in nature. Throughout the book the author makes his awe in the vastness of the universe quite apparent.

My personal favorite piece was Beautiful Among The Buildings, which used powerful visual statements like:

“Night sprawls among the broken lives that line the broken street; The lonely and unpitied men whose waste is our defeat. Men stagger from dank cellars; men, imprisoned in their cars, Go roaring into sightlessness – unmindful of the stars.”

And the equally powerful anti-war piece, No Frontiers:

“The father carrying the limp body of his child, The soldier staring at his amputated hand, The little girl among the bloodied pieces of her parents -What does it matter if they are of one side or another? Dogma cannot grieve. It is the pain of individuals that sears.”

I also really appreciated Half Sight, which discussed the inability to witness the good and love in life when there is so much horror to distract us from it. Today Near Watford Market was a very moving piece for me in that it was so visual. It describes an event where the author witnesses a man speaking to the public about his lack of belief in religion. And “circling like wolves, the true-believers snarled, snapping at both his arguments and him.” Yet nearby an elderly women fell, sprawling her shopping items on the ground around her. The non-believer ran over to her side and helped her on her way, “jostling to her assistance through unmoving ranks of true-believing ice”. It is a beautiful story about seeing God where you least expect it.

In the later part of the book, the author moves away from poetry and gets in to verse debating who the Jewish people are, what they are perceived as being and the persecution of this group of people through the ages. His interesting look at the holocaust does not dwell on the sorrow or loss of the people – rather it centers on the people themselves.

By far, Jewish people are not the only race of people who have suffered at the hands of man and I think the author means to use the example as a tool to accelerate the intellectual growth of mankind.

ISBN#: 1-4137-7281-1
Author: Geoffrey Hoffman
Publisher: Publish America

The Jewish Pilgrimage - Book Review

Review - Nancy Spellman and the Forest of Fear

Nancy Spellman and the Forest of Fear, P.J. Tye, 2011 (Kindle e-book)

First in a series, this book is about your average British schoolgirl thrust into a very strange situation. The fate of an entire world rests on the shoulders of her and her friend.

Nancy Spellman has decent, normal parents, and an older brother who has discovered the female gender. She has been reading a fantasy book bought by her mother about a planet called Hooth. It includes pictures of a giant half-horse/half-dinosaur named Rascal. After several nights of strange, troubled dreams, Nancy wakes up one night at midnight. Looking out her window toward the woods across the street, she sees Rascal, in the flesh.

The next morning, Nancy’s friend Mary comes over and hears the whole story about the book, and the sighting. They immediately head for the woods to investigate and find hoofprints that are bigger and deeper than normal hoofprints. Going farther into the woods, they are suddenly caught in a force-field, surrounded by twinkling lights, and find themselves on Hooth.

Meeting Gretchen, Matgrin and Satgrin (all wizards), the girls are told that another wizard, a well-meaning bungler of a wizard named Albert, has accidentally brought three Earth children to Hooth. They are being held prisoner in a heavily guarded castle. It is guarded by creatures called spigworts, prowlers and dragonbirds, all with very nasty dispositions, who have been enslaving the human population. The magic of the wizards goes only so far, so Nancy and Mary, helped by invisicloaks, have to rescue the children by themselves. Things go bad pretty quickly, but everyone makes it out in one piece. The three children are returned to Earth, with that part of their memories conveniently erased.

Nancy and Mary also return to Earth, only to find that Mary’s book has changed. It was titled The Forest of Fear, and now it is called Hooth and Hope, including pictures of their adventures. They are returned to Hooth, and told that much activity has been going on inside the castle, which is very bad news for the rest of Hooth’s inhabitants. It is up to Nancy and Mary to find out just what is going on, and, if possible, throw a spanner into the works.

Any young person who is looking for something to read after Harry Potter would do very well to look here. It is easy to read, and just weird enough and it is really worth the reader’s time.

Review - Nancy Spellman and the Forest of Fear

Multiple Streams of Internet Income Book Review

Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert G. Allen is a book about the fundamentals of making money online. It combines both wealth training (at the beginning of the book) with internet strategies to teach anyone how they can make significant amounts of money online.

This was the third book of Robert G. Allen’s that I have read and let me just say that it does not disappoint. The tips you find within this book are second to none and many I have not read anywhere on the internet. It gives you a fresh look at making money online which goes beyond the ‘blog-o-sphere’ and steps into a world where it is simple to become a millionaire online. All you need is 10,000 names.

Chapter 1 – Show Me The E-Money

Robert G. Allen is famous for the challenges he sets himself. This was one of his biggest challenges yet. To earn $24,000 online in just 24 hours. In this chapter he shares his story on how he set this challenge for himself and achieved it.

Chapter 2 – Crossing The Digital Divide

If you’re not savvy on internet marketing (let’s face it not many of us are) then in this chapter Robert shows you how you can fast track your success with little or no experience at all by utilizing other people’s email lists. He shows you how he himself used a list to make around $100,000 in 24 hours.

Chapter 3 – Internet Marketing 101: A Few Simple Strategies Can Make You Rich

In this chapter Robert talks about the marketing basics that everyone needs to know if they want to be successful as an online marketer. Great chapter full of huge insights that can turn your product into cash.

Chapter 4 – Internet Marketing 201: 12 Powerful Principles for Creating a Feeding Frenzy

In this chapter Robert shows us how to get people to beg for our products, how to get people to buy and buy again and how to get people to tell their friends about their products.

Chapter 5 – Internet Marketing 301: Going Deep – The Secret to Online Streams of Income

Big advertising companies run a mile wide and an inch deep to make a lot of money. Here Robert teaches you to go an inch wide and a mile deep by focusing on niches to make money

Chapter 6 – Netpreneurs, Start Your Search Engines!

Search engines are what will drive most of your traffic. Here Robert talks about the importance of search engines and how we can use them to make money

Chapter 7 – Online Mar-Ka-Ching!

Your web page is the portal through which you will attract multiple stream of income into your life. Here Robert explains the six major ways to make money from your website (which he goes into more detail on later)

Chapter 8 – Beyond Stickiness

Big companies and websites focus on stickiness. When starting out you have to focus on quickiness if you want to make any money fast. Here Robert shows you how to quickly convert visitors into lead and then customers.

Chapter 9 – Ready. Set. Launch: How fast can you go from zero to cash?

If you started from ground zero how soon could you start making money? This chapter gives you details on how to start making money quickly from scratch.

Chapter 10 – Online Stream #1. Joint Ventures

Teaming up with others you can achieve greater success than going it alone. This chapter shows you how to join up with others to create a win win situation.

Chapter 11 – Online Stream #2. Affiliate Programs

You can make a lot of money by selling other people’s products. You don’t even need anything to start with, just some guts. This chapter shares the ins and outs of affiliate marketing

Chapter 12 – Online Stream #3. Selling Information

You can create your own information and sell it to make some easy money. This chapter shows you how to effectively make a stream of income from affiliate marketing.

Chapter 13 – Online Stream #4. Eyeballs for Sale

Advertising is how most companies make their money. When you start out you may not make a lot through advertising but you can make a little bit (and more once you become more successful). This chapter shares with you how.

Chapter 14 – Online Stream #5. Picks and Shovels

There is a lot of money to be made from the real estate of the internet. Things such as domains and hosting you can make money from. This chapter explains this in more detail.

Chapter 15 – Online Stream #6. Treasure Hunting

This chapter talks about online auctions (such as eBay) and how to make money from them. It even talks about starting your own auction website.

Chapter 16 – Automatic Pilot: Making Money 24/7/365

The best thing about making money online is you can make money while you sleep.

Overall Review

This book as a must have for all internet marketers. It has the easiest ways to make money online and explains them in an easy to read format. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to find their wealth online. The miss reading this book would be similar to missing $1,000,000 if someone offered it to you on a silver platter…no joke this book is awesome.

Multiple Streams of Internet Income Book Review

Something to Cheer About While the Economy and Nearly Everything Else Tanks: A Superb New Book

The news is really grim these days. No, not “very large meteor heading this way” kind of grim or “Al-Qaeda terrorist group gets nuclear weapons supergrim” or, worst imaginable scenario of doom but still quite grim. Grimness includes Bernanke going Greek tragedy on us, forecasting anemic growth, hiring approaching Depression-era levels, Congressional budget talks going nowhere, politicians sending body part pics to strangers, debt ceiling immovable with attendant default fears, housing in the dumps, flooding here, volcanoes, fires, drought and tsunamis there and so on. What’s next – the Rapture?

Fortunately, all this is offset to a considerable extent by the publication of Dr. Steven Jonas’ latest book, “101 Ideas and Insights for Triathletes and Duathletes” (Healthy Learning/ Coaches Choice, Monterrey, CA., 118 pages, $19.95). This is the much-anticipated sequel to the landmark work “Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals.” The latter led thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of novice athletes into the sport of triathlon, rendering the experience both enjoyable as well as successful.

In 101 Ideas, Dr. Jonas serves up comprehensive guidance with factual information and insights based on his extensive involvement with triathlon and its little sister sport, duathlon. (The latter, in case you didn’t know, consists of a run, bike and run. I don’t care for the name so much. Since the swim is missing, I favor “dryathlon.” However, nobody listens to me so duathlon it is.) The nine chapters address motivation (i.e., why exercise, race and “tri the tri and du?”), getting started, variety of race options, training, equipment, race day details and strategies, nutrition, injury prevention and management and staying with it. Each chapter has from five to twenty sub-chapters pertinent to the featured topics. If you have a question about how to prepare for a triathlon or duathlon that Dr. Jones has not addressed, you are probably worrying too much. Read 101 Ideas and you can safety, assuredly and productively be happy with no worry in either or both of these two exciting sporting events.

While every page has tidbits and, as often as not, big chunks of material attractive for the experienced as well as the novice multi-sport participant, all readers will have their own favorite sections. Among mine were the following:

* The discussion about getting started. Everyone, without exception, was a novice at one time. In fact, one of the most popular (i.e., most participant) categories in recent years has been the exclusive, much cheered novice category. Unfortunately for those who have a wonderful experience racing their first tri or du in the novice division, you can only be part of this elite group one time. Choose your event wisely – in some races, the management makes first timers feel like rock stars.

* The principles for training. Dr. Jonas offers eight of them, all broad and common sense in nature (e.g., regular rest is key) but easily neglected.

* Detailed training programs for varied distance multi-sport events. Many beginning and even experienced athletes just make up their own routines or go along with others. Ad hoc routines are seldom as efficient or effective as evidence-based regiments such as Dr. Jonas offers for all level participants.

* A sense for the costs of being a triathlete and/or duathlete. These costs, estimated in the range of $1400 to $2500, will vary enormously in accord with one’s budget and ambitions. This range, however, is fair enough for the entry-level participant for whom the book is primarily intended.

* The occasional special treat. There are many throughout the work, but my favorite came on idea number 77 wherein Dr. Jonas describes the fascinating happenings known only to those like him at the back of the pack. The last point made says it all: “Finally, it’s so much better to be at the back of the pack than to not be in the race at all.” Even my wellness hero Robert Green Ingersoll would have been challenged to say it better.

* Idea number 73. Dr. Jonas describes his experience in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2009 at the National Sprint Triathlon Championship. As long as there are triathlons, this race will be recalled for the infamous “uphill swim” all participants had to endure. Not the strongest or fastest swimmer in the world, Dr. Jonas entertainingly describes his two-hour-plus ordeal fighting a current of Biblical proportion, so to speak. I was in that race, and had quite a struggle with the current (caused by the opening of a dam upriver), but not quite so much as the good doctor. When I entered the transition area after the bike ride, he was entering after the swim! Yet, here what I most vividly recall: Though I was about half a morning ahead of him, Dr. Jonas was having a great time, smiling and being all cheerful whereas I was breathing heavily, stressed and in a foul mood! And he had the nerve to try to cheer me up! And he did! After the race and ever since, it’s clear to me who between the two of us has more fun doing triathlons. He does. Recalling that occasion, however, I have worked on lightening up.

Finally, mention should be made of the personal nature of how information is conveyed in 101 Ideas. Dr. Jonas has so much experience – he has completed over 200 races. In a tri and du career that began in 1983 at Sag Harbor, NY in an event called “The Mighty Hamptons Triathlon” (sounds a bit intimidating to me), he has come to know nearly all the main characters that have shaped multi-sport. This knowledge shows on every page, in anecdotes and illustrations and, most enjoyably, in countless asides of personal perspective. Dr. Jonas does not regret or shy from the fact that he is not the world record-setting type; au contraire, he revels in it. By the end of the book, readers might think to themselves, “Hey, if this old guy can do triathlons and duathlons and enjoy the two sports so much, I think I can do OK at this, too,” or thoughts along those lines.

If that’s what readers think, nobody will be happier about it than Dr. Jonas.

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Something to Cheer About While the Economy and Nearly Everything Else Tanks: A Superb New Book

Something to Cheer About While the Economy and Nearly Everything Else Tanks: A Superb New Book

The news is really grim these days. No, not “very large meteor heading this way” kind of grim or “Al-Qaeda terrorist group gets nuclear weapons supergrim” or, worst imaginable scenario of doom but still quite grim. Grimness includes Bernanke going Greek tragedy on us, forecasting anemic growth, hiring approaching Depression-era levels, Congressional budget talks going nowhere, politicians sending body part pics to strangers, debt ceiling immovable with attendant default fears, housing in the dumps, flooding here, volcanoes, fires, drought and tsunamis there and so on. What’s next – the Rapture?

Fortunately, all this is offset to a considerable extent by the publication of Dr. Steven Jonas’ latest book, “101 Ideas and Insights for Triathletes and Duathletes” (Healthy Learning/ Coaches Choice, Monterrey, CA., 118 pages, $19.95). This is the much-anticipated sequel to the landmark work “Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals.” The latter led thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of novice athletes into the sport of triathlon, rendering the experience both enjoyable as well as successful.

In 101 Ideas, Dr. Jonas serves up comprehensive guidance with factual information and insights based on his extensive involvement with triathlon and its little sister sport, duathlon. (The latter, in case you didn’t know, consists of a run, bike and run. I don’t care for the name so much. Since the swim is missing, I favor “dryathlon.” However, nobody listens to me so duathlon it is.) The nine chapters address motivation (i.e., why exercise, race and “tri the tri and du?”), getting started, variety of race options, training, equipment, race day details and strategies, nutrition, injury prevention and management and staying with it. Each chapter has from five to twenty sub-chapters pertinent to the featured topics. If you have a question about how to prepare for a triathlon or duathlon that Dr. Jones has not addressed, you are probably worrying too much. Read 101 Ideas and you can safety, assuredly and productively be happy with no worry in either or both of these two exciting sporting events.

While every page has tidbits and, as often as not, big chunks of material attractive for the experienced as well as the novice multi-sport participant, all readers will have their own favorite sections. Among mine were the following:

* The discussion about getting started. Everyone, without exception, was a novice at one time. In fact, one of the most popular (i.e., most participant) categories in recent years has been the exclusive, much cheered novice category. Unfortunately for those who have a wonderful experience racing their first tri or du in the novice division, you can only be part of this elite group one time. Choose your event wisely – in some races, the management makes first timers feel like rock stars.

* The principles for training. Dr. Jonas offers eight of them, all broad and common sense in nature (e.g., regular rest is key) but easily neglected.

* Detailed training programs for varied distance multi-sport events. Many beginning and even experienced athletes just make up their own routines or go along with others. Ad hoc routines are seldom as efficient or effective as evidence-based regiments such as Dr. Jonas offers for all level participants.

* A sense for the costs of being a triathlete and/or duathlete. These costs, estimated in the range of $1400 to $2500, will vary enormously in accord with one’s budget and ambitions. This range, however, is fair enough for the entry-level participant for whom the book is primarily intended.

* The occasional special treat. There are many throughout the work, but my favorite came on idea number 77 wherein Dr. Jonas describes the fascinating happenings known only to those like him at the back of the pack. The last point made says it all: “Finally, it’s so much better to be at the back of the pack than to not be in the race at all.” Even my wellness hero Robert Green Ingersoll would have been challenged to say it better.

* Idea number 73. Dr. Jonas describes his experience in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2009 at the National Sprint Triathlon Championship. As long as there are triathlons, this race will be recalled for the infamous “uphill swim” all participants had to endure. Not the strongest or fastest swimmer in the world, Dr. Jonas entertainingly describes his two-hour-plus ordeal fighting a current of Biblical proportion, so to speak. I was in that race, and had quite a struggle with the current (caused by the opening of a dam upriver), but not quite so much as the good doctor. When I entered the transition area after the bike ride, he was entering after the swim! Yet, here what I most vividly recall: Though I was about half a morning ahead of him, Dr. Jonas was having a great time, smiling and being all cheerful whereas I was breathing heavily, stressed and in a foul mood! And he had the nerve to try to cheer me up! And he did! After the race and ever since, it’s clear to me who between the two of us has more fun doing triathlons. He does. Recalling that occasion, however, I have worked on lightening up.

Finally, mention should be made of the personal nature of how information is conveyed in 101 Ideas. Dr. Jonas has so much experience – he has completed over 200 races. In a tri and du career that began in 1983 at Sag Harbor, NY in an event called “The Mighty Hamptons Triathlon” (sounds a bit intimidating to me), he has come to know nearly all the main characters that have shaped multi-sport. This knowledge shows on every page, in anecdotes and illustrations and, most enjoyably, in countless asides of personal perspective. Dr. Jonas does not regret or shy from the fact that he is not the world record-setting type; au contraire, he revels in it. By the end of the book, readers might think to themselves, “Hey, if this old guy can do triathlons and duathlons and enjoy the two sports so much, I think I can do OK at this, too,” or thoughts along those lines.

If that’s what readers think, nobody will be happier about it than Dr. Jonas.

Something to Cheer About While the Economy and Nearly Everything Else Tanks: A Superb New Book

The Dark Tide Written by Andrew Gross

I have now read both of Andrew Gross’s books, The Blue Zone and The Dark Tide. I am convinced he is here to stay among today’s top authors of suspense fiction that has just enough facts to keep your brain thinking and wanting more. His characters and locations are very well described and the stories well scripted.

Karen Friedman has a happy family consisting of her loving (or so she thought), husband, two children, Samantha and Alex, and family pet dog Tobey. Husband Charles is a highly successful investment banker who was thought of also being so by his associates in his business, and in giving his family a very nice life. The kids were into sports and Karen was always there with her support and Charles when he could make it. The neighbors of their upscale neighborhood thought very highly of the entire family

All of the above was true for many years of their marriage until Charles was in a commuter train bombing in Grand Central Station. This threw the family, the company Charles worked for, and their friends into deep sorrow. That is except for the ones involved in the money laundering schemes that Charles had been performing for many years, all of which his family knew nothing about. Many felt they had been swindled through Charles’ actions and they wanted their securities and money back!

Lieutenant Ty Hauck of the Greenwich Police Department was a local hero from high school and college and had worked his way up in the department. He was highly thought of and worked on some tough cases. Ty became involved in the death of Charles Friedman when it became apparent that the hit and run of a young man was somehow tied into Charles disappearance. At first Karen’s worry was that Charles was buried in the rubble of one of the still burning train cars. Her mind wondered all over the place until some identification was found that led the authorities to believe that Charles had been in the destruction and was dead.

Time went on without any sign of Charles body and no word from him to anyone. Karen and the remaining family went through hard times trying to invent a new life. Eventually a detective came to the Friedman’s house to ask Karen some questions unrelated to the bombing. The detective happened to be Ty Hauck and the purpose of his visit was to see if the family knew the man that had been killed in the hit and run that had taken place at about the same time and near where the bombing occurred. The family did not know of the man but Karen and Hauck seemed to hit it off personally noticing each other from the beginning. The killings increased, some seemingly related and some not, so more authorities became involved.

One part of the investigation led to another until Hauck was delving too deep for some apparently involved in the deep-rooted problems Charles had created. Hauck was led to other parts of the world and back again as he continued to find clues to the work and people that Charles had worked for and against. One of the men Charles had worked with and had been a good friend of Karen’s, Saul Lennick, was in contact with Karen telling her that he would do all he could to assist her and also he pumped information out of Karen regarding all the things she has researched.

Going any farther would give too much of the authors many great plots and storylines away. The Dark Tide was extremely hard to put down. You must read this book. Take my word that it is a non-stop action filled story with lots of adventure, shrewd dealings, love and sex, trips to tropical islands, and much more. As I said at the beginning of this review, I truly hope Andrew Gross continues for many years to give us great stories such as his first two have been.

The Dark Tide Written by Andrew Gross

Travel Books - Enhance Your Travelling Options

Travelling is regarded as one of the preferred options by most of the people to stimulate their tiring souls. Exploring unknown places can be very exciting as it helps the people undertake adventurous tasks to overcome the hurdles of daily life. However, it is also very absurd to start travelling without having any prior knowledge of the concerned place or locality.

A particular place incites our curiosity only when it is very popular or has some unique feature. This kind of activity is basically undertaken by a person when he or she wants to take a break from the daily hectic schedules. As such a person should careful plan to enjoy his whole trip. It would be very irritating if the travellers get lost in the midst of their journey. As such the travel books are carefully written to guide the readers to the right path.

The Travel Books perfectly depict the records, events, people and the history of the concerned place. These books form a different genre in literature. However the readers should not get confused with the travel literature and the travel guides. But both of them are useful for the travellers as they offer huge chunks of information regarding the hotels, major sights, restaurants and travel tips etc. These books are specially written after extensive research and survey. The writers in most of the cases travel to these places and share their experiences in these books.

Reading the travel books will not only guide you in your journeys but can also help you to enhance your knowledge about a particular place. These books efficiently help the readers to wander in those wonderful and exciting places in their imagination. These books superbly depict the histories of those exciting places and the habitation of the people who reside there. They can perfectly guide the readers to undertake adventurous decisions to have thrilling experience throughout their journeys.

Some of the top rated Travel Books are Ancient Rome, Apples of Kazakhstan, Basrayatha, Black Gold of the Sun, Down in New Orleans, God’s Middle Finger, Humberger Eyes and Goodbye Madame Butterfly etc. These books would give you an insight about your preferred destination. The online shopping stores can also help the travellers to get their preferred books at affordable prices. These stores have various genres of books to suit the taste of every category of people. Moreover, the customers can browse these sites to avail their preferred book along with various attractive offers and gifts.

Travel Books - Enhance Your Travelling Options

Critique Of John R Green's Book: "A Short History Of The English People"

Norseman, Roman, German, and French incursions imprinted the primitive Picts, Jutes, Anglia, and Celtic enclaves found in the Isles early history. Early Maps and Generational Tables reflect the ascent and decline of influence and dynastic successions. Indicatively, the names Great Britain and England find their nominative substance in Angevin territories bridging the channel, along with Brittany in Western France.

In 1008 pages, the author reveals a short history of the Anglo Saxon; revealingly, its introduction was written in 1888. With biographical assistance from eras much more ancient than Shakespeare, Chaucer, Homer, or even Ovid, Green chronicles those influences shaping the ethics, ethos, and law construct among English speaking peoples. With candor, he describes the cruelty, debauchery, and chicanery associated with Great Britain’s rise as a world leader; indeed, it was a reflection of mankind’s propensity to the course, vulgar, and licentious liberties common among those who used the sword and mace to control equally undisciplined values. Though England’s Kings and Court are exposed in their most basic appetites, Green remarks: “I have drawn greater attention to the religious, intellectual, and industrial progress of the nation itself than has, so far as I remember, ever been done in any previous history of the same extent.”

John Green died before his work could be fully edited. To bring his ambitious endeavor to fruition, his wife, Alice, labored on to finish his massive elaboration.

Development of the expansive United Kingdom is drawn in laborious detail; simultaneously, an introduction to English mechanics, in its purest form, can be perused in this copious demonstration of intellectuality. The book is highly recommended as an introduction to English skills; but amidst such linguistic elegance, readers must endure unending banality from the era’s repeated power struggles and unconscionable inhumanities. Still, with over one-half million words, the book represents a formidable history of English speaking peoples.

Incongruously, we find Wyclif’s Bible translative efforts honored, along with Tyndale’s; yet, no mention was made of King James’ translation effort to design a book ‘easy to be understood.’ King James, though he was crude and unscrupulous, was responsible for the most far-reaching literature to affect Anglo Saxon minds – though the result did not in the least alleviate symbol and number mysteries in the ancient and cryptographic Bible accounts. Even now, those secretive writings, unanswered for 2000 years, remain hidden to all but the most studious exegete. Neglected in the King James translation, as was King James’ considerable effort neglected by John Green, these mysteries have since been unraveled beyond contest.

The only fault accused Mr. Green’s considerable work is his neglect to the one truly great literary work accredited to English speaking peoples, the King James Holy Bible.

Critique Of John R Green's Book: "A Short History Of The English People"

Committees and Commissions Towards Values in India

The importance of value education has beenduly recognized by different education commissions and committees appointed by the government.

The Hartog Committee of (1929) felt that religious instruction can be given in common schools outside the school hours.

The Central Advisory Board of education felt in (1946) that religious and moral instruction was important and that it should be left to the community to which the pupils belong. Ø The Radhakrishnan Commission (1948) felt that “if we exclude spiritual training in our institutions we would be untrue to our whole historical development”.

The Secondary Education Commission’s report in (1953) favored that religious and moral instruction should be given in schools outside the school hours on voluntary basis. Ø The Sri Prakasa Commission of Religious and Moral instruction (1959) had recommended that moral education should be imparted in all educational institutions.

Kothari Commission (1964-66) felt that “a serious defect in the school system is the absence of provision for education in social, moral and spiritual values. A national system of education that is related to life, needs and aspirations of the people cannot afford to ignore this purposeful force”.

National Policy on Education (1986) felt that “the growing concern over the erosion of essential values and an increasing cynicism in society has brought to focus the need for readjustments in the curriculum in order to make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values”.

Programme of Action (NPE) (1992) recommended that “the framework emphasized value education as an integral part of school curriculum. It highlighted the values drawn from national goals, universal perception, ethical considerations and character building. It stressed the role of education in combating obscurantism, religious fanaticism, exploitation and injustice as well as the inculcation of values”. The main function of education is to produce citizens with sound character and a healthy personality. Good citizens are the only hope for the progress and prosperity of the country. Inspiring values, ideals, proper moral conduct, life based upon good principles is an essential requisite. The ideals of virtue, goodness, true manliness from the very essence of real dignified living.

Committees and Commissions Towards Values in India

Committees and Commissions Towards Values in India

The importance of value education has beenduly recognized by different education commissions and committees appointed by the government.

The Hartog Committee of (1929) felt that religious instruction can be given in common schools outside the school hours.

The Central Advisory Board of education felt in (1946) that religious and moral instruction was important and that it should be left to the community to which the pupils belong. Ø The Radhakrishnan Commission (1948) felt that “if we exclude spiritual training in our institutions we would be untrue to our whole historical development”.

The Secondary Education Commission’s report in (1953) favored that religious and moral instruction should be given in schools outside the school hours on voluntary basis. Ø The Sri Prakasa Commission of Religious and Moral instruction (1959) had recommended that moral education should be imparted in all educational institutions.

Kothari Commission (1964-66) felt that “a serious defect in the school system is the absence of provision for education in social, moral and spiritual values. A national system of education that is related to life, needs and aspirations of the people cannot afford to ignore this purposeful force”.

National Policy on Education (1986) felt that “the growing concern over the erosion of essential values and an increasing cynicism in society has brought to focus the need for readjustments in the curriculum in order to make education a forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values”.

Programme of Action (NPE) (1992) recommended that “the framework emphasized value education as an integral part of school curriculum. It highlighted the values drawn from national goals, universal perception, ethical considerations and character building. It stressed the role of education in combating obscurantism, religious fanaticism, exploitation and injustice as well as the inculcation of values”. The main function of education is to produce citizens with sound character and a healthy personality. Good citizens are the only hope for the progress and prosperity of the country. Inspiring values, ideals, proper moral conduct, life based upon good principles is an essential requisite. The ideals of virtue, goodness, true manliness from the very essence of real dignified living.

Committees and Commissions Towards Values in India

Can a Person Hurt and Feel Joy?

Eventually, everyone feels physical pain, mostly temporary and not debilitating, but the kind of discomfort described in Peace in the Midst of Pain is another matter. Author, Alice McGhee, takes us into her life in such a way that we almost experience the pain that she has endured from fibromyalgia and degenerative disc disease. And not only does her journey include the physical aspects of suffering but also the emotional ones. The terror of almost dying in a car accident. The stress of watching a loved one pass into the afterlife. We feel as though we have endured parts or all of her life.

But the book isn’t just about pain. It is about how pain can squelch the human spirit but how the Spirit of God can bring balance and restoration. This peace that she describes has little or nothing to do with feeling good or getting delivered from the affliction. Rather, it’s the true peace that transcends circumstances. Even if life crises go from bad to worse, she shows life not only goes on, it can go on victoriously.

Peace in the Midst of Pain is also about hope. McGhee’s honesty does not overwhelm because she shares stories from the Bible, lyrics from favorite hymns, and personal lessons that have brought her the strength that it takes to make it. The prophets Elijah and Jonah despaired at their aloneness, but God spoke to their deepest need. The young man, Joseph, was sold as a slave, falsely accused, thrown in prison, and then elevated to fame and power in Egypt. These are just a few examples that Mcghee pulls from the Bible about people who heard from God through hardship.

Peace in the Midst of Pain is raw, real, and refreshing. A wonderful read for a quiet afternoon or a series of short chapters to be read in a 30-day period.

Can a Person Hurt and Feel Joy?

Think and Grow Rich Insights - A Review of Napoleon Hill's Book

Think and Grow Rich is a book that has been around for a while so you’ve probably heard about it often if you are into self improvement, especially financially. The book was written by Napoleon Hill, at the request of Andrew Carnegie, for the purpose of finding out what the core difference is between people that create wealth and people who never quite make it. What he found was really very simple. The people that created wealth changed the way they thought and what they specifically thought about to create a wealthy mindset. Thus, the name of the book, Think and Grow Rich.

What Exactly does Think and Grow Rich Mean?

A person becomes who he is around and what he thinks about. The more you are around negative people the more negative you will think. The more you are around people that are lazy the more you will tend to think and become lazy. This process is true for any kind of mindset whether it affects you physically, emotionally, in relationships or any part of your life. Without the right mindset you can never achieve financial abundance. You must believe you can achieve financial success and then start thinking the way successful people think. I know that sounds really fluffy and thats what I thought at first too, but its true. Since this is a really deep subject and can’t be explained in a few paragraphs I will offer you some helpful advice. First, find someone that is successful and follow what they are doing. Doesn’t it make sense, with what’s been said above, that if you hang around successful people that are creating wealth some of their mentality about success would become yours. Second, to start changing your beliefs and the way you think, read Think and Grow rich. I also highly recommend Anthony Robbins audio’s “Personal Power 2″. In the course Anthony really dissects the way people think and explains in detail how to “break your pattern” of current thought and change it to a more productive successful thought pattern by asking yourself specific questions that cause you to, surprise, think!

How Can I Change My Beliefs and Do I Have To?

As stated in the above paragraph, changing your beliefs can be an in depth process since most people don’t even realize that their beliefs and thoughts are what causes the situations they are in financially or otherwise. The way we think about money can be a deep seeded belief that having a lot of money is somehow wrong or evil or that the only way to get it is to be dishonest, which prevents many from pursuing a financially abundant life. Asking questions like ‘why haven’t I created any wealth and what can I do to start creating wealth’ will cause you to ‘think’, find new answers and change the way you approach your finances and other areas of your life. The great thing about it is that if you continue to ask the questions on a regular basis your brain will automatically come up with answers in your subconscious and will literally pull your physical actions towards success.

So, can you Think and Grow Rich? Absolutely! Your thought pattern, even if you don’t realize it, is directing you down whatever path you are on right now, but can be changed to direct you down any path you desire. Your daily though process is the foundation of what you build your life to look like be it good or bad. So, put only positive successful thoughts in your mind, seek out a successful person to imitate and use the quality questions they use to start directing your life down the path you want.

Think and Grow Rich Insights - A Review of Napoleon Hill's Book

A Cat Named Fat - Book Review

Fed up with morbid nursery rhymes, Marie Gebel tickled her tongue with new poetry for the youngest of people and published it. “A Cat Named Fat” is a delightful book to read aloud to a child, complete with colorful artwork and memorable thoughts.

Kids love rhythm and rhyme yet new poetry for very young children is sometimes hard to come by. Marie Gebel offers such delights as A Cat Named Fat about a feline who grows into his name, and Jack and the Mirror in which young Jack plays and waves to his friend inside…a game almost all babies play. Her poems are based on things a young child knows about, like love, Santa Claus, birthdays, and butterflies, Mom, and the magical moon. These happy poems are sure to make a child laugh and smile. An early exposure to poetry may infect a child’s life, for life, and such a chance is one we all must take.

Simple and sweet, this collection is one that will likely be read over and over again. Even the youngest of listeners will be enticed by the beat of the spoken words and the vivid illustrations. In time, adults will be listening to the same poems being read back to them by kids who have developed a love for verse…all thanks to “A Cat Named Fat” and Marie Gebel of course. I wish I had had this book when my kids were little.

A Cat Named Fat

by Marie Gebel

ISBN-10: 1420871463

Review by Heather Froeschl

A Cat Named Fat - Book Review

Finally - A Realistic Guide That Encourages Women to Embrace Being Real

Malika Anderson, long-time life coach, advocate, and enthusiast for women, has written the guide for the twenty-first century woman that helps women not only to survive and persevere but to thrive and shine, by using common-sense, embracing themselves, and accepting reality.

Unlike other guidebooks that try to tell women how they can have it all, while ultimately creating unrealistic goals for them, this book is geared toward “real” women-women who are not perfect, but who can have “almost-perfect” lives. Anderson begins by explaining the book’s purpose and providing a definition:

Almost-perfect woman:

(1) in no way, to no degree, to such a great extent, is she flawless;
(2) messes up often, talks too much;
(3) wears glasses or contacts;
(4) is goofy or awkward sometimes and has many bad hair days;
(5) misses the mark way too much;
(6) struggles to manage her emotions and gets mad at people who cannot drive;
(7) can’t get a handle on things and doesn’t always fit in;
(8) is always on a diet or is overweight or underweight but never small enough in just the “right” way;
(9) is way too nice;
(10) has anger issues;
(11) always gets the raw deal and has had enough.

To me, that about says it all. Women are not perfect, and as a man, I can vouch I have some of these “almost-perfect” qualities myself. Anderson is letting us know that we live in the real world. Even when she discusses etiquette, she makes it clear she’s not writing about etiquette for queens, but simple common sense about table manners, how to answer the phone, and what is appropriate to wear to work.

As the former manager of an office that employed a number of young women, I wish I had had “The Real Woman’s Guide” to give to my employees simply for its advice about working in a business and what to wear. Too many young women are left without mentors or role models and therefore are not prepared to be professional in the workplace. Anderson makes it clear that women can be real and express themselves while still being professional and appropriate in various situations.

More than anything, Anderson empowers her readers. She talks to women like she is their best friend, seeking their good-after all, she is one of them. She reveals her own story of disappointments, low self-esteem, and how she rose above it all to become a real and successful woman. She uses numerous examples from her own life, as well as from different people she has known and coached to show how important self-confidence is. “The Real Woman’s Guide to an Almost-Perfect Life” is filled with simple yet invaluable advice and lessons women need to learn to be in control of their own lives. For example:

If someone asks you to do something you know you do not want to do or that you do not have time to do, tell him or her NO. Consider your priorities-do you have time to take on the requested task? Why are you doing it? Will it take away from something you really need to be doing and is it worth it? If your answers point toward sacrificing a piece of yourself or giving yourself away unnecessarily, then you need to say NO. You don’t have to be mean, you just have to mean what you say.

She uses everyday experiences as analogies for larger issues. For example, when she found she could no longer wear high heel shoes because they hurt her feet, she reveals:

I learned something important from that experience: trying to force something to fit that’s not right for you will only cause you more pain in the long run. Sometimes what used to fit just isn’t the right fit for you anymore. It’s not worth the price you might have to pay later. Been there, done that, and got the MRI, the X-rays, the bills, and the heels to prove it.

She then applies this simple situation to larger experiences in life where young women need to learn to do what is right for them rather than trying to behave or play a role expected of them by others. Anderson gives women permission to get their needs met, and she warns them not to settle simply for trying to justify why those needs are not being met.

She boldly-she has a whole section on being a “Bold Woman”-shares her personal journal entries, her story of an unplanned pregnancy, and her appreciation for strong men like her grandfather who helped her along her way.

Any woman will find invaluable advice in this book about how to live an almost-perfect life. However, I think young women in their twenties and thirties especially will find it a helpful and friendly book. Malika Anderson speaks to women like a friend, an older sister, a mentor looking out for their highest interests. She always believes in women, encourages them, and prepares them to be “Real” women who will not give up but find their places in history and help to change their world just like their mothers and grandmothers did in previous generations.

To Malika Anderson, and all her female readers, I say, “You Go Girl!”

Finally - A Realistic Guide That Encourages Women to Embrace Being Real

Andrew Logan an Artistic Adventure

Andrew Logan An Artistic Adventure is a beautifully produced Art book, stuffed with full page colour photographs of Andrew Logan’s international life and work. (I resisted the temptation to rip the photos out of the book, frame them and hang them on my walls!). Philip Hughes, the director of The Ruthin Craft Centre, the book’s publisher wrote the glowing forward. The illustrious art critic, Lady Marina Vaizey wrote the Introduction, and the reverential text is supplied by Fennah Podschies.

Andrew Logan, who was a student at the Oxford School of Architecture in the early Sixties, deserves the reverence. He is an iconoclastic artist who has been working prolifically in a wide spectrum of ‘Art Media’ including Sculpture, Portraiture and Jewellery since the early Seventies.

‘For him everything is make-believe. He has snatched a dream out of thin air, his cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces are built with everything you and I have thrown away… He ought to be the most revered of artists who has made no distinction between his life and art,’ is an apt description from the late Derek Jarman, a friend and collaborator, who once lived in a studio above Andrew’s old home in Butler’s Wharf, before their building burned down in 1979.

Over the years, Andrew has collaborated with global artists like Brian Eno, and his list of admiring patrons reads like a list of Who’s Who. The late H.M. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Bono, Julie Christie, Anita Pallenberg are just some of his supporters. Andrew Logan’s work has been exhibited all over the world including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Flower East Gallery in London, the Victoria & Art Museum, the Hayward Gallery, Bonhams, the National Portrait Gallery, Sotheby in London, the Royal Academy of Arts and Somerset House.

Andrew is also famous for his Alternative Miss World contests, which he has been hosting since 1972.

‘A surreal art event for all round family entertainment,’ is how he describes them.

Some of the best known names in the fashion, arts, and media have taken part, either as contestants or judges. David Hockney has been a judge on more than one occasion.

‘The artistry of the conestants’ and audiences’ costumes was wide-ranging and often astonishing and some have since become famous and notorious,’ the book’s chronichler has stated.

His first contest was thrown in one of his former London studios, a converted jigsaw factory at Downham Road in Hackney with himself playing the role of both Host and Hostess. Since then, there have been eleven Alternative Miss World contests, including the fourth one held in a tent on Clapham Common in 1978. The late actor Divine was one of the presenters, and the Judges, including Lionel Bart and Joan Bakewell were incarcerated in a cage.

“The orthodox world I live in threatens the free spirits who on these occasions let rip with an exuberance and joy to outrage a million matrons…. it is like walking among a gallery of brilliant art objects – each enjoying each. Most brilliant of all – Andrew Logan – creator, wizard, puppet master, promoter of choice,’ reminisces Bakewell.

The resultant Alternative Miss World film, directed by Richard Gayer, was premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square and Cannes. It was also infamous for receiving an injunction from the organizers of the annual Miss World beauty pageant. The case was thrown out of court by the judge, Lord Denning, who said that no one was likely to confuse the two events. The barrister on the case was Tony Blair, who went on to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain!

The book’s chapters are devoted to Logan’s existence as an eccentric and original artist. The Alternative Miss World events are recorded in photographic detail, as are his celebrity portraiture of icons like Elizabeth Taylor, his close friend, Zandra Rhodes and Maria Callas. His unique glass jewellery often decorated with stuck on incongruous objects, was described by George Melly as ‘the Faberge of the Eighties.’

‘The mirror of the universe has been my life for thirty years. It has energy like no other material. The humble grain of sand transforms to glamorous glass,’ Andrew says, explaining his obsession with working with glass.

‘Andrew Logan works both as sculptor and Master of Ceremonies in a world of artistic adventure; in this constructed universe, like Lewis Carroll’s alternative, the unexpectedly large meets the infinitely small, and suspension of belief is rewarded by extraordinary surprises,’ is just one of the profound quotes in the book.

At the back of the book, there are several pages of dedications to Andrew’s wide circle of fascinating friends titled ‘Gods and Goddesses’, most of whom have been circulating in his orbit for years.

So, drool over the sensational colour photographs of his one of a kind jewellery and and ogle his life size sculptures, several of which are displayed in his extraordinary home, The Glasshouse studio, designed by Michael Davis, his partner. One of Andrew’s best known sculptures is Pegasus: A Monument to Hope (1980 with ‘subsequent interpretations and editions up to 2008′). He ‘first conceived the idea of Pegasus, which years later led to the making of this sculpture series, as a child of 11 years of age. Obsessed with Greek and Roman myth, his imagination was fired by the winged white horse that sprang from the severed neck of the Gorgon, slain by hero Perseus.’ Wings have remained a theme in Andrew’s work, first manifested in early sculptures in broken mirror of birds. Andrew Logan has often said that during the creating process, he felt he was ‘a tool, that Pegasus symbolised a bridge between the physical and spiritual dimensions, and that the winged horse and his message of hope belonged to the the world.’ In fact, Pegasus: A monument to Hope was the first sculpture that Andrew Logan made after the fire at Butler’s Wharf studio. Since then, he has created a new Pegasus during each decade.

Although one can still get the full impact of Andrew Logan An Artistic Adventure without reading the words, the text plays a vital part in understanding Andrew’s work and life. But, it is the exquisite photographs that really help this glossy Art book become the definitive respective of England’s most individual and eccentric artist. He is such a prolific creator, I am sure this interesting book will be the first of his many retrospectives to come.

Copyright: Frances Lynn, 2008

Andrew Logan an Artistic Adventure

Andrew Logan an Artistic Adventure

Andrew Logan An Artistic Adventure is a beautifully produced Art book, stuffed with full page colour photographs of Andrew Logan’s international life and work. (I resisted the temptation to rip the photos out of the book, frame them and hang them on my walls!). Philip Hughes, the director of The Ruthin Craft Centre, the book’s publisher wrote the glowing forward. The illustrious art critic, Lady Marina Vaizey wrote the Introduction, and the reverential text is supplied by Fennah Podschies.

Andrew Logan, who was a student at the Oxford School of Architecture in the early Sixties, deserves the reverence. He is an iconoclastic artist who has been working prolifically in a wide spectrum of ‘Art Media’ including Sculpture, Portraiture and Jewellery since the early Seventies.

‘For him everything is make-believe. He has snatched a dream out of thin air, his cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces are built with everything you and I have thrown away… He ought to be the most revered of artists who has made no distinction between his life and art,’ is an apt description from the late Derek Jarman, a friend and collaborator, who once lived in a studio above Andrew’s old home in Butler’s Wharf, before their building burned down in 1979.

Over the years, Andrew has collaborated with global artists like Brian Eno, and his list of admiring patrons reads like a list of Who’s Who. The late H.M. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Bono, Julie Christie, Anita Pallenberg are just some of his supporters. Andrew Logan’s work has been exhibited all over the world including the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Flower East Gallery in London, the Victoria & Art Museum, the Hayward Gallery, Bonhams, the National Portrait Gallery, Sotheby in London, the Royal Academy of Arts and Somerset House.

Andrew is also famous for his Alternative Miss World contests, which he has been hosting since 1972.

‘A surreal art event for all round family entertainment,’ is how he describes them.

Some of the best known names in the fashion, arts, and media have taken part, either as contestants or judges. David Hockney has been a judge on more than one occasion.

‘The artistry of the conestants’ and audiences’ costumes was wide-ranging and often astonishing and some have since become famous and notorious,’ the book’s chronichler has stated.

His first contest was thrown in one of his former London studios, a converted jigsaw factory at Downham Road in Hackney with himself playing the role of both Host and Hostess. Since then, there have been eleven Alternative Miss World contests, including the fourth one held in a tent on Clapham Common in 1978. The late actor Divine was one of the presenters, and the Judges, including Lionel Bart and Joan Bakewell were incarcerated in a cage.

“The orthodox world I live in threatens the free spirits who on these occasions let rip with an exuberance and joy to outrage a million matrons…. it is like walking among a gallery of brilliant art objects – each enjoying each. Most brilliant of all – Andrew Logan – creator, wizard, puppet master, promoter of choice,’ reminisces Bakewell.

The resultant Alternative Miss World film, directed by Richard Gayer, was premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square and Cannes. It was also infamous for receiving an injunction from the organizers of the annual Miss World beauty pageant. The case was thrown out of court by the judge, Lord Denning, who said that no one was likely to confuse the two events. The barrister on the case was Tony Blair, who went on to become the Prime Minister of Great Britain!

The book’s chapters are devoted to Logan’s existence as an eccentric and original artist. The Alternative Miss World events are recorded in photographic detail, as are his celebrity portraiture of icons like Elizabeth Taylor, his close friend, Zandra Rhodes and Maria Callas. His unique glass jewellery often decorated with stuck on incongruous objects, was described by George Melly as ‘the Faberge of the Eighties.’

‘The mirror of the universe has been my life for thirty years. It has energy like no other material. The humble grain of sand transforms to glamorous glass,’ Andrew says, explaining his obsession with working with glass.

‘Andrew Logan works both as sculptor and Master of Ceremonies in a world of artistic adventure; in this constructed universe, like Lewis Carroll’s alternative, the unexpectedly large meets the infinitely small, and suspension of belief is rewarded by extraordinary surprises,’ is just one of the profound quotes in the book.

At the back of the book, there are several pages of dedications to Andrew’s wide circle of fascinating friends titled ‘Gods and Goddesses’, most of whom have been circulating in his orbit for years.

So, drool over the sensational colour photographs of his one of a kind jewellery and and ogle his life size sculptures, several of which are displayed in his extraordinary home, The Glasshouse studio, designed by Michael Davis, his partner. One of Andrew’s best known sculptures is Pegasus: A Monument to Hope (1980 with ‘subsequent interpretations and editions up to 2008′). He ‘first conceived the idea of Pegasus, which years later led to the making of this sculpture series, as a child of 11 years of age. Obsessed with Greek and Roman myth, his imagination was fired by the winged white horse that sprang from the severed neck of the Gorgon, slain by hero Perseus.’ Wings have remained a theme in Andrew’s work, first manifested in early sculptures in broken mirror of birds. Andrew Logan has often said that during the creating process, he felt he was ‘a tool, that Pegasus symbolised a bridge between the physical and spiritual dimensions, and that the winged horse and his message of hope belonged to the the world.’ In fact, Pegasus: A monument to Hope was the first sculpture that Andrew Logan made after the fire at Butler’s Wharf studio. Since then, he has created a new Pegasus during each decade.

Although one can still get the full impact of Andrew Logan An Artistic Adventure without reading the words, the text plays a vital part in understanding Andrew’s work and life. But, it is the exquisite photographs that really help this glossy Art book become the definitive respective of England’s most individual and eccentric artist. He is such a prolific creator, I am sure this interesting book will be the first of his many retrospectives to come.

Copyright: Frances Lynn, 2008

Andrew Logan an Artistic Adventure

Grieving a Soulmate: The Love Story Behind "Till Death Do Us Part" By Robert Orfali

Robert Orfali has a knack for breaking down huge topics into manageable parts, then explaining the constituent elements of these parts in minute detail, bringing in the end an understanding rarely articulated however certainly understood. How do you truly explain love? What are the common stages for grieving the loss of a loved one? What and how do you cope with these epic situations and heal from the pain and suffering? These topics, and more, are explained in Robert Orfali’s book, Grieving a Soulmate as he has come to terms with the loss of his loving wife of over 30 years, Jeri Orfali.

As the act of being born comes as no surprise, so does, in many cases, death. Robert Orfali has had the unfortunate experience of losing his wife to cancer; witnessing first hand all that surrounds the industry of dying with its health care, funerals, along with all of the emotions and eventually acceptance of the inevitable. He by no means is unique in his loss, nor heightened in emotional stress than most others faced under such circumstances. Robert Orfali is, however, a wonderful writer of intellect and reason; capable of bringing complex situations into a logical pattern of understanding, and it is this unique quality which he performed so eloquently in Grieving a Soulmate.

The book makes no claim of being a romantic love story, although it is, but rather is a textbook on how best to cope with the situation of losing a loved one to a cruel disease. Robert Orfali systematically progresses, chapter by chapter, offering advice and understanding to the various stages of diminishing health; the stepping down wrung by wrung of cognitive awareness until the end of life overwhelms. This becomes a beginning of a new existence with only the memories of one’s soulmate left as a final gift. The perfunctory busyness of a funeral is talked about as being a wonderful distraction to the overwhelming grief, and the subject is further enhanced by discussions from other noted experts such as Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross with her books On Death and Dying andDeath: The Final State of Growth.

Grieving a Soulmate is heavily laden with memorial dialogue, reflections of thoughts, expressing not necessarily the dying wishes of Jeri Orfali but more how she wanted her memory to live on. The book at times is rather difficult to read due to its subject matter, as we all have raw nerve endings of some prior loss which no doubt will be disturbed by these episodes described so well. For those recently going through the process of a loss, this book can be an excellent gift to console and comfort, as it teaches one method of reconstituting yourself post the event. In this way, I would define this book as being very positive, helpful and informative.

It seems obvious to me that Robert Orfali has benefited greatly in his personal management of grief by his work in this book. I feel he genuinely has presented his conclusions not as a personal accomplishment but more a methodology that others can follow to overcome such an ordeal. The book is linked to many resources one can obtain on-line to further the subject, or for continued self-help in their personal struggles with Grieving a Soulmate.

Grieving a Soulmate: The Love Story Behind "Till Death Do Us Part" By Robert Orfali

The Search For Unabridged Audio Books

You must have heard about abridged and unabridged versions of books. You must have wondered too what the difference is between them. Abridged books are condensed ones. They are shortened forms of original manuscripts. Traditionally condensing is done to make any book that’s biblical in length sound interesting to readers.

Now that audio books have become fad and traditional books are turned into audio files, you can listen to abridged and unabridged versions of books on audio. Primarily, this is done to cut production costs for audio book manufacturers. Imagine reading the classic Cinderella without an elaborate rendition of Cinderella’s plight with her step family? What about reading the Superman series in shortened form?

Most people read books because they want to experience the whole story and its characters or the whole 12 rules for business engagement. They want every detail to be included, not a summary or a general statement of concepts discussed. That’s the same thing with audio books. This is where unabridged audio books take the lead. They are for readers who want to have the original manuscripts as if fresh from the hands of the author. It is for those who want to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novels in Spanish. A full-length audio book on The Art of War, for example, is not a mere semblance of the real thing. It is the real thing.

Perhaps the best thing that you can get from an unabridged audio book is more listening pleasure for a lower price. The problem resides on how much time people can spend reading; hence, the abridged books and audio books.

There are people who opt to read or listen to the original transcript of famous reading materials; but since most audio books are shortened, they rarely find the audio books that they want. The truth is they can be found in places where traditional books are sold whether online or off. In traditional bookstores, they have a certain section where unabridged book versions are found. Online, you can find new, used, and even rental unabridged books and audio books. There are also online bookstores that hold a vast collection of unabridged audio books in affordable prices.

Most of these bookstores only have the classic tales in unabridged versions of audio books. You look for one that has a complete list of all unabridged audio books whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.

The Search For Unabridged Audio Books

The Search For Unabridged Audio Books

You must have heard about abridged and unabridged versions of books. You must have wondered too what the difference is between them. Abridged books are condensed ones. They are shortened forms of original manuscripts. Traditionally condensing is done to make any book that’s biblical in length sound interesting to readers.

Now that audio books have become fad and traditional books are turned into audio files, you can listen to abridged and unabridged versions of books on audio. Primarily, this is done to cut production costs for audio book manufacturers. Imagine reading the classic Cinderella without an elaborate rendition of Cinderella’s plight with her step family? What about reading the Superman series in shortened form?

Most people read books because they want to experience the whole story and its characters or the whole 12 rules for business engagement. They want every detail to be included, not a summary or a general statement of concepts discussed. That’s the same thing with audio books. This is where unabridged audio books take the lead. They are for readers who want to have the original manuscripts as if fresh from the hands of the author. It is for those who want to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novels in Spanish. A full-length audio book on The Art of War, for example, is not a mere semblance of the real thing. It is the real thing.

Perhaps the best thing that you can get from an unabridged audio book is more listening pleasure for a lower price. The problem resides on how much time people can spend reading; hence, the abridged books and audio books.

There are people who opt to read or listen to the original transcript of famous reading materials; but since most audio books are shortened, they rarely find the audio books that they want. The truth is they can be found in places where traditional books are sold whether online or off. In traditional bookstores, they have a certain section where unabridged book versions are found. Online, you can find new, used, and even rental unabridged books and audio books. There are also online bookstores that hold a vast collection of unabridged audio books in affordable prices.

Most of these bookstores only have the classic tales in unabridged versions of audio books. You look for one that has a complete list of all unabridged audio books whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.

The Search For Unabridged Audio Books

Ron Rosenbaum Writes About Himself in Shakespeare at War

Some thoughts on Shakespeare at War, by Ron Rosenbaum

This book is about what scholarly experts in Shakespeare are debating these days. The issues are more interesting than you might think. Why are there variations among the early editions of Shakespeare plays – did the author revise his work, were some editions prepared from the shaky memory of actors, or were the printers to blame? And given the variations, what texts should an edition of King Lear be based on, and what should directors use? Why are some of the passages in the late plays so obscure? How much of an ass is Harold Bloom? Or the discussion that especially grabbed me: do stimulating new ideas and images pop out if you read Shakespeare in the original unanchored spelling?

Disappointingly, none of the issues selected for full-chapter discussions by Ron Rosenbaum in Shakespeare at War was the question of authorship, despite the rising tide of opinion in recent years that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, actually authored the plays and sonnets. The reason is surely that most of the startling new research in the field has been done by people who do not teach Shakespeare at major universities. The academics, heavily invested in the status quo, apparently don’t take it seriously. Surely, however, if this isn’t the most burning issue in the world of Shakespeare scholarship, it should be, given all the energy exerted by scholars in trying to relate the plays to what little is known of the life of William Shakespeare.

Unfortunately, The Shakespeare Wars is also too much about the author, whose personality obtrudes and distracts. It appears from the book’s biographical information that Ron Rosenbaum bailed out of a potential academic career to become a writer. But he still likes to fly with the eagles – that is, the big names in Shakespeare scholarship, who are the real subjects of this book, more than the issues. So Rosenbaum interviews them, corresponds with them, goes to their conferences in Bermuda, and takes sides with them. In passing, he also echoes their dismissive attitude toward the Oxford partisans).

All the while, he’s careful to make it clear that he, Rosenbaum, a non-academic, could be doing what they’re doing and doing it better, if he wanted. He takes particular delight in skewering scholars who write impenetrable prose in their own peculiar jargon, and who get so caught up in post-modern ideology that they can’t appreciate the plays on an aesthetic level. And at every turn, he unkindly mocks America’s best-known writer on Shakespeare, Harold Bloom, a former professor of his at Yale.

This books has real merits. But it’s the last book by Ron Rosenbaum that I’ll buy. Only an outsized, overbearing ego could have persuaded editors at Random House to let Rosenbaum litter his book with so many sentence fragments. This problem is not just an occasional glitch; it’s so pervasive that it was clearly deliberate. It’s one thing to try to make one’s book more readable by adopting a moderately breezy style, as Rosenbaum does (he could have spared us that, too); it’s another to abuse and irritate readers by amputating dependent clauses from sentences and leaving them to twitch by themselves. Educated readers rely on subjects and verbs as guideposts to comprehension. Time and again I read one of Rosenbaum’s “sentences”, thought I had missed something, went back to read it again, then realized that a subject or predicate simply wasn’t there. Never again.

Ron Rosenbaum Writes About Himself in Shakespeare at War

Audio Book Downloads - Are They For Lazy People?

With so many things automated for us these days, some people think that we are becoming lazier with every passing year. For instance, we no longer have to hand wash our clothes because we have a washing machine to do that for us.  We no longer have to get up off of the couch to change the channel as we have a remote control to do it for us.  And in many cases, when it comes to reading, audio books have taken the place of traditional printed books on paper.  But is the increase in audio book downloads a sign of us becoming more lazy?  Fortunately, the answer is “no.”

An audio book is simply a book recorded in a digital file format such as an mp3 file.  This file, when played through your mp3 player, CD player, or computer allows you to listen to your favorite novels, stories, and even informational books.  The idea did not simply come about because we are lazy, but rather because it enables the listener to retain more information through listening and also gives the opportunity to absorb that information while you’re doing other tasks.

For instance, people enjoy listening to audiobooks while they are exercising and working out.  Surely you have seen people use mp3 players while they are jogging or going about their daily tasks.  Listening to audio books is just as simple as that.  You can simply load the book into an mp3 player or a CD player, and listen to it through your own personal headphones while you are doing just about anything else.

You can listen to your books while you are running, lifting weights, cooking, driving, roller skating, skydiving, or absolutely any other activity that you can think of.  That is one of the greatest advantages of audio books: you can listen to them anytime and anywhere, while doing just about anything.

In conclusion, we can see that audiobooks do not make us lazy.  Instead, they give us an opportunity to catch up on the latest books and still be productive at the same time.

Audio Book Downloads - Are They For Lazy People?

How to Make Money Online For Free Through the Art of Internet Marketing

There are a lot of way to make money online for free, but using internet marketing to make money is probably the easiest way. All you need is the proper training and a little time and you will be able to build yourself a secure financial future.

Now the best way to get started with internet marketing is with an affiliate program. You can find these every where all over the internet, just Google affiliate programs. When picking a program to promote try to look for one that is going to pay you month after month.

Why get paid once when you can keep getting paid every month for that one sale you made. I currently am involved in a matrix system affiliate program. These are the exact type affiliate programs you want to join.

One of the matrix systems I am in pays out two ways, they pay me a $1 for every person monthly in my downline through five levels deep and then they give me a $100 bonus for every five people I refer between Monday through Sunday every week. Now you might say just a $1, but what if you multiply this through the 5 levels.

Say you refer 10 people to your system and those people referred 10 people to their system, this continues through all five levels. Now this would add up to over $100,000 in to your bank account every month. This is the power of these matrix systems and they are a surefire way to make money online for free.

I know internet marketing is not for every one, but you don’t even have to do internet marketing to be an internet marketer. What I mean by this is that their are a ton of ways to do internet marketing offline to make money online for free.

It can be as easy as just referring some one to something or some service and getting paid a commission for your referral. With the right online coaching making money online for free can be real easy and pretty fun to.

How to Make Money Online For Free Through the Art of Internet Marketing

Book Review: Twilight By Stephenie Meyer

Twilight is the debut novel by author Stephenie Meyer, and the first in the Twilight series. The story is about the protagonist seventeen year old Isabella Swan, who also goes by the name Bella, who falls in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire.

The plot traces Bella’s move from to Forks, Washington from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father as her mother goes travelling with her new husband. Bella is a shy girl who soon finds herself the centre of attention at her new school, with a number of boys showing interest in her. On her first day at school, she sits next to Edward who does not seem to like her. But a few days later, his demeanor seems to change and he even comes to her rescue when she is almost run over by a van in the school parking lot. Intrigued by how Edward miraculously saved her life, Bella begins snooping around about Edward and his family history. She then comes to the conclusion that Edward is from a family of vampires who have a taste for animal blood, and not human blood. After confronting Edward, he confesses that he tried to stay away from her initially because he was really drawn to the scent of her blood.

Edward and Bella soon fall in love but their relationship is rocked by the entry of a new vampire coven which includes James, a tracker vampire. James decides to hunt Bella just for the fun of it, so the Cullens send Bella to hide in a hotel in Phoenix, hoping to keep James from trying to split up the couple. However, James manages to track Bella in Phoenix and calls her to tell her that he has her mother captive. Bella then surrenders herself to James who attacks and tries to kill her. But Edward manages to defeat James and rescues Bella, but not before James manages to bite her hand. Edward then sucks out the venom from Bella’s blood and prevents her from becoming a vampire. Bella is then taken to hospital where she is able to recover. Later, the couple returns to Forks, they go to their school prom at which Bella tells Edward that she wants to become a vampire, but he refuses her request.

The novel Twilight was adapted into a fantasy film of the same name in 2008, which was directed by Catherine Hardwicke. In the movie Twilight, the character of Bella is played by Kristen Stewart, while Robert Pattinson plays Edward Cullen. Having been turned into a vampire in 1918, Edward is one hundred and eight years old, has superhuman strength and speed and the ability to read the minds of everyone except Bella’s. The film managed to remain largely faithful to the novel, with a few minor alterations such as omissions of sections of the novel, and additions of some new scenes previously not in the novel. The movie ends with Victoria, James’ lover plotting how she would revenge James murder at the hands of the Cullens, as she watches Bella and Edward dancing at their school prom.

Book Review: Twilight By Stephenie Meyer

The Wealthy Writer - How to Make $100k a Year Writing For the Internet - EBook Review and Summary

There are many ways to make a good living as a writer on the Internet, and this electronic book, written by Nick Daws and Ruth Barringham, is jammed pack with valuable information that any writer in pursuit of a successful online career can benefit from. 

The main topics covered in the book are building a writer’s website, writing articles online, finding writing assignments, blogging, writing short reports and eBooks, and website commercialization. 

Building a Writer’s Website  

You need a website so that anyone in the world can find you and hire you, and a website is necessary for anyone promoting their own books or the works of others as an affiliate marketer.   

You don’t have to be an expert at building a website because there are many services out there to help you, but you do need to know the basics of HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) website language whether you have a website or not.  Google “pagetutor” and “w3schools” for web building and HTML tutorials.   

Writing Articles Online  

You can generate traffic to your website and promote your products and services by creating your own email newsletter or electronic magazine (ezine), writing articles for direct-paying and non-paying ezines as well as ezines that share advertising revenue with writers.   

You can also list your articles in ezine directories, use software to automate some aspects of the article submission process, and sell your articles directly to those in need of content.  Whether you get paid directly by ezines or not, submitting your articles to them is a great way to promote your website, blog or sales websites. 

Finding Writing Assignments

The first place to start is your own website because its content will demonstrate your writing ability, and you can create another website dedicated to promoting your writing services. 

You can also sign up with writer recruitment agencies, search for paid blogger and search engine optimization (SEO) copywriter opportunities, advertise your writing services to businesses, website owners, clubs, charities and any other organizations that can benefit from you writing talents. 

Blogging

A blog is a type of website formatted like a diary as opposed to a regular website which generally remains in the same format.  A blog is typically managed by one person that posts information on it at regular intervals.  Two popular free blogging platforms, which are easy to set up and require little to no programming knowledge, are Google’s Blogger and WordPress. 

You can commercialize your blog, develop relationships with your followers, publish and promote your works, advertise your services, provide links to your other websites, and eventually turn your blog into a book. 

You can earn money posting content on company blogs and blogging about companies on your own blog.  You can also be a guest blogger on popular blogs to drive traffic to your blog or website, and exchange links with other websites and blogs. 

Writing Short Reports and Ebooks

Writing and selling short reports and ebooks may be the most lucrative way to make money online.  They are usually sold as instant downloads and can generate steady and long-term income.  Generally, short reports range from two to fifty pages, and ebooks range from fifty to a couple of hundred pages.  Free short reports and ebooks can be used as marketing tools to drive visitors to your website or blog. 

ClickBank, the world leader in electronic products, is a place where you can sell your short reports and ebooks.  You can also sell the products of others through ClickBank’s affiliate program for a commission, and affiliates can sell yours. 

Website Commercialization

When you pick a hosting company and plan for your website or if you have a blog, make sure that you can add affiliate links and reap commissions from Google ads when visitors click on them. 

There are many free website services out there but they may not allow you to commercialize your website.  The Google AdWords program in which you pay for advertising, and the AdSense program in which you can earn advertising commissions are discussed in detail in the book.   

Other Topics Covered

Some of the other subjects discussed in the book are website content suggestions, article writing and formatting tips, job ads for writers and job auction sites, writing web copy, writing for niche markets, sales page copywriting, negotiating your writing fees, getting access to thousands of affiliate programs, putting online articles in offline print, social networking, and payment processing. 

Conclusion

I highly recommend this ebook to anyone interested in starting a writing career online or taking their existing one to a higher level of success.  There is a wealth of tips, tools and resources in the book that any online writer can benefit from, and although the book is geared toward writers, anyone interested in building and growing an Internet business can use the information in this book.  The authors have thirty-five plus years experience as freelance writers, and their experience shows in this incredibly useful ebook. 

@ Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved

The Wealthy Writer - How to Make $100k a Year Writing For the Internet - EBook Review and Summary