Rant: Emigre No. 64

Book Description

For almost twenty years, and over sixty issues, Emigre has been a sourcebook of ideas, fonts, images, work, products, and even music for an entire generation of designers who learned their craft in front of a screen, mouse in hand, and headphones plugged in. Emigre also provided an essential platform for in-depth writing on design by young and upcoming writers. But now, Emigre asks: are today's young designers writing passionately enough about what they do? Acting as agent provocateur in Rant, Emigre invites designers, teachers, and critics whose writing defined graphic design in the 90s, and who were first published in Emigre — including Jeffery Keedy, Rick Valicenti, Shawn Wolfe, Kenneth FitzGerald, Denise Gonzales Crisp, Kali Nikitas, Louise Sandhaus, and Andrew Blauvelt — to challenge today's young designers to develop a critical attitude toward their own work and the design scene in general. Rant also signals another transition in the format of Emigre, away from its recent incarnation as an aural/visual showcase magazine toward a return-to-roots series of "pocketbooks" focusing on critical writing about the state of graphic design. Anyone interested in contemporary design will want to put a copy of RANT in their pocket.

Book Description

Animals are one of the most popular subjects for amateur painters but not the easiest. This book takes the artist through the pleasures and pitfalls of depicting live animals, both as individual studies and placed in a setting.

Linda Birch draws on years of experience to teach readers how to capture these often elusive subjects. Starting with the basics of simple anatomy, proportion and form, Linda shows through her thorough, text and abundant use of step-by-step drawings, sketches, studies and finished paintings how to build up the skills and powers of observation which are crucial to successful animal drawing and painting.

Customer Reviews:

An ideal introduction for beginners........2000-02-04

Linda Birch's How To Draw And Paint Animals tells how to draw animals using pencil, charcoal, line and watercolor, with color photos and drawings of both finished and half-complete subjects making for an excellent guide.

A book to treasure.......1998-04-02

This book's modest title fauils to describe its full worth. It is full of good sense, sound technical information and really excellent drawing. Linda Birch has a mastery of all media,and her writing displays the confidence of a gifted teacher. Her authority stems partly from her own obvious love of animals and her careful observation of them. She faces the question "Oh dear, I shall never be able to do that" with an encouraging "Yes you can, and I will show you how". Everything is here - texture, movement, anatomy, all brought together through many years of experience of teaching. Linda offers regular painting courses in Durham, and in other parts of England. Her students will be very fortunate, having the benefit of the fluency and wit which shines from these pages. A book to treasure.

Book Description

The best way to approach Paddington is from its Underground station. You struggle through the anonymous, crowded, low-ceilinged subways, and through a ticket barrier: stairs and an escalator loom ahead; suddenly there is an arched roof high above and as you ascend the staircase the whole tremendous interior reveals itself. On a fine day as you stand in the middle of the broad central span, light floods in from the 'lawn' roof behind and, almost 700 feet away, the delicate tracery at the far end is silhouetted. The milling crowds, the long perspective, the waiting trains and the light in the distance produce an atmosphere of expectation: the experience of travel is heightened here in a way that few other British stations can match. It is one of the great interiors of London. Paddington, the Great Western Railway and their principal designer Isambard Kingdom Brunel are at the heart of railway history. Railways were one of the defining phenomena of Victorian Britain and one of Britain's many great gifts to the world, so the building of the GWR has a place in world history. This history forms the background to this book. It is an account of the station that epitomises the GWR and its operations, but which is also an important work of architecture.

Average customer rating:

Great Railway Stations of Europe
Marcus Binney , and Manfred Hamm
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Underground to Everywhere: London's Underground Railway in the Life of the Capital

Average customer rating:

Disaponting, and focused on the players
A sweeping history of all aspects of the Underground
BUY THIS BOOK AND ENJOY IT

Underground to Everywhere: London's Underground Railway in the Life of the Capital
Stephen Halliday
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 075092585X

Book Description

Halliday describes its designers as well as the historical role it has played in London.

Customer Reviews:

Disaponting, and focused on the players.......2003-11-07

This attractive looking book was a disapointment for me. While it was clear the author had signifigant knowledge and invested time in researching the full history, the book focuses heavily on the politics and business planning of the underground - rather than the design and engineering, or the impact of the line on the urban planning of the city. I felt the book would be more accurately titled "The key players of the london underground".

A sweeping history of all aspects of the Underground.......2003-10-23

This is a sweeping, wide ranging history of the London Underground ('subway' to Americans), covering everything from station design to municipal politics to the choice of font for official signs. Halliday discusses how the development of London has affected the subway, and vice versa. One example will suffice: Many know that London's black population is centered in the neighborhood of Brixton, but few know the reason - a Brixton-area subway station, on which construction had stalled, was used as emergency housing for immigrants from the Caribbean after WWII.

The eight chapters cover: (1) steam era subways of the 1800s, (2) early electric deep-level tubes, beginning in 1890, (3) the Yerkes era (US entrepreneur takes over the system, 1901-05), (4) the Ashford era (1907-1948), (5) Metroland (subway-oriented suburbs north of London), (6) the artistic and architectural heritage of the system, (7) the two world wars, and (8) the post-WWII era up to 2000. Developments after 2000, such as the 'Public Private Partnerships,' are treated only in a two-paragraph Postscript. There are approximately 70 b&w photos and diagrams, plus eight pages of color illustrations.

BUY THIS BOOK AND ENJOY IT.......2001-12-11

Brilliant book..buy it immediately

Average customer rating:

The Story of a Masterpiece of Architecture and Engineering

St Pancras Station
Jack Simmons , and Robert Thorne
Manufacturer: David Brown Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This classic transport history book by the late Jack Sirnmons is reissued to coincide with the transformation of the station into the new terminus for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The station and its hotel are unique buildings. The station used groundbreaking engineering in having (and still having) the largest single span roof in Europe. The hotel, built by George Gilbert Scott, is a masterpiece of neo?Gothic. Both station and hotel suffered decline in the 20th century and were threatened with demolition, but they are now about to enter into a new role as the station is doubled in size, and the hotel is once again made into a spectacular hotel and apartments. The book has been sensitively revised, and with a new chapter bringing the story up to date, by architectural historian Robert Thorne. This book is a must for anyone interested in railways.

Customer Reviews:

The Story of a Masterpiece of Architecture and Engineering.......2004-03-19

If "architecture is frozen music" [Goethe] then the magnificent St Pancras buildings must constitute one of J.S.Bach's major concertos.

This is a book for anyone with an interest in world-class architecture, or history, or great engineering. It's probably quite interesting to railway enthusiasts too!

St. Pancras station and its Midland Grand Hotel manage to combine high art and design with a masterpiece of engineering in an incredible, exuberant, completely 'over-the-top' statement of Victorian company confidence. The book explains in an intelligent and entertaining way, why and how it was achieved by the brilliantly innovative engineer William Henry Barlow, and the eminent and sometimes insensitive architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.

"If the Directors and officers of the Midland company had pooled their collective experience with a view to securing a site for their London station that would combine the greatest possible number of difficulties, they could hardly have fixed on anything better than the one they chose at St. Pancras. It was occupied by a canal, a gas-works, an ancient church with a large and crowded graveyard, and some of the most atrocious slums in London; and through it all ran the Fleet River."

Sir John Betjeman reviewed the original, 1968, edition of this book as "readable, learned, and inspiring". More recently, the author and presenter Dan Cruickshank referred to it in his "Story of Britain's Best Buildings" (BBC Books) as "perceptive".

This new edition is revised and enhanced with interesting new photographs and plans, and an additional chapter by architectural historian Robert Thorne about the revival of St. Pancras. The changes somehow manage to make the book better-balanced than the original.

A classic book about a classic building.

Average customer rating:
Great Railway Stations of Europe

Manufacturer: Amer Society of Civil Engineers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | Railroads | Transportation | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0317659103

Average customer rating:
GREAT RAILWAY STATIONS OF EUROPE.
Marcus, et al. Binney
Manufacturer: NY, Thames, 1985. 144 pp., illus. in color and b/w. Fine copy, in dust jacket.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDZ7KK

Book Description

Investors battered by today’s tumultuous stock market—and attracted by continued low interest rates—are making real estate one of today’s hottest investment markets. All About Real Estate Investing, Second Edition, provides objective, time-tested techniques and worksheets for evaluating a property, negotiating and closing a transaction, and more.

A simple yet comprehensive overview for anyone who owns—or is considering owning—real estate, this common sense guidebook explains how to buy and manage any property, from fixer-upper two flats to multi-unit complexes. New information includes:

* How to make inflation—whether moderate or raging—work for the investor
* The changing broker/client relationship, including the role of the buyer broker
* Extensive updates based on new tax laws and regulations

Download Description

All About Real Estate Investing will make you a smarter, more accomplished real estate investor. This concise yet comprehensive guidebook??complete with sample forms, charts, and worksheets??provides objective techniques for evaluating a particular investment property, tips on negotiating the best price, financing methods to substantially increase your leverage, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Helpful.......2006-11-15

This was a helpful guide to real estate investing. It is a bit dated, but I read this through the store and bought it on Amazon.

Good for a start.......2005-03-03

I agree with the previous poster that the book is good in covering some aspects of financial analysis and profitability, but isn't a general book on real estate investing. However, the author does point that out in the book, that you will need to further study on the topics this book doesn't cover.

The main strength of the book is in the profitability calculations and time value analyses of investment capital in real estate. There are detailed calculations to examine a property's projected profitability, and these range from simple calculations designed to give you a quick and dirty figure as a first approximation, such as the pre-tax operating cash flow, which is just gross income minus loan service and operating expenses, but doesn't take into consideration such things as the owner's tax bracket, depreciation, and so on. So it is much inferior to the total internal rate of return calculation, according to the author, but as I said, is useful for a rough idea and to filter likely properties for closer examination.

The book discusses the pros and cons of the different types of investments, such as single family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes and qaudriplexes, and undeveloped land, in terms of their potential profitability.

For example, many new investors start with a duplex, which are easier to rent than a single family home (such renters are probably on the verge of buying their own home), and which can be managed easily by a neophyte investor. Progressing onto something like a four-plex, this offers greater profit potential but requires much more management knowledge both in terms of people skills and accounting and organizational skills and so on, negotiating with contractors for repairs, and so on. Single family dwellings usually have a net negative cash flow until sold, but offer greater capital appreciation than apartments, but apartments usually have a positive cash flow during the holding period.

So overall, a good book for some aspects of real estate investing, but you'll need a more general book to fill in your knowledge of the other areas, especially the day to day and practical aspects of management, how to set up the various bookkeeping chores, which will require separate books for tracking expenses and operating costs, rental payments, gross and net income statements, overall profitability, and so on. For a recommendation for a better general book, I preferred the one by Milt Tarven, but unfortunately I don't recall the exact title.

Focuses on profit analysis.......2003-08-08

I've read the 2001 edition, and I must say the title is rather misleading. (1) The coverage is not complete by any means. It focuses on rental houses, apartment houses, and land. Leaves out many other types, plus details on REITs, etc. (2) The book is about profit analysis. There's a chapter on negotiating and another on financing, but both are very short and not very enlightening. Instead, you are fed a lot of time-value math. This is actually good stuff, since as a RE investor you should be very clear about your profits and the impact of leverage and macro factors. I just wish the title accurately reflected the book's content.

All About Real Estate Investing: The Easy Way to Get Started

Average customer rating:

All About Real Estate Investing: The Easy Way to Get Started
Joseph M. Fowler William Benke
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OG1HMA

Book Description

A growing number of people choose to live their final weeks or months at home. For patients who cannot benefit from acute care in the hospital, home care offers an alternative to a nursing home or hospice. Advances in medical technology and pharmacology allow even those with serious illnesses to remain at home relatively free of pain and symptoms, and professional services are increasingly available to assist family caregivers with work that is often physically and emotionally exhausting.

First published in 1991, Dying at Home examined the reasons behind this trend and offered practical advice about assuming as much control as possible over the process of dying. In this thoroughly updated edition, medical anthropologist and gerontologist Andrea Sankar keeps her focus on the patient and loved ones while providing the latest information on hospice home care teams, pain medications, HIV and AIDS, legislation on death with dignity, physician-assisted suicide, and sources of information and support for patients and families.

Dying at Home is an intimate account based on extensive interviews with family and professional caregivers as well as with other family members, friends, and patients. The author addresses the concerns and problems of those who face the decision of whether to care for a dying loved one at home, including preparing the home environment for caregiving; how to use professional caregivers in the home setting; managing the patient's pain, agitation, and other conditions; and how to recognize impending death and what to do immediately after death. She draws from stories that represent a wide range of circumstances and causes of death.

At home, surrounded by family and friends in a comforting environment, patients have some control over what remains of their lives. "Home death is a powerfully significant experience," the author writes, "despite the strain, exhaustion, and conflict that sometimes accompany it. Its power lies in the fact that in the face of certain death, the caregiver can give the person life, that is, the continuation of life as a social being."

Praise for Dying at Home:

"A wealth of practical information and thoughtful discussion."--Milwaukee Journal

"Begins to fill our deficit of experience with accurate information and compassionately told stories." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"The author combines her professional knowledge of home care with her personal experience of caring for her dying mother at home. The result is a concise volume geared to the lay person that presents a clear picture of the issues, problems, and accomplishments arising from the patient's decision to die at home and the special role of the patient's caregiver."--Cathy Coyle, Social Work in Health Care

"One of the book's most appealing features, beyond its sympathetic yet straightforward manner, is that it reports research while including helpful hints and extensive quotations from actual caregivers."--Jeanne E. Bader, Aging Today

"Andrea Sankar tells us we have not solved the problem of caregivers' pain... She gives voice to the caregivers of dying patients and highlights their concerns... Andrea Sankar may be the Benjamin Spock for care of the terminally ill."--Priscilla Kissick, Hospice Journal

"This book is meant for lay readers, but could serve as a valuable resource for health care professionals. It is an outstanding reference for the physician to recommend to the family or caregiver of the patient who wants to die at home. Using a variety of illustrative case studies, Dying at Home provides useful and practical guidance for the caregivers of a dying family member or friend."--Joseph R. Stenger, Journal of Family Practice

Average customer rating:

The big hole in Rev War history gets filled

Excellent Account of the Original Civil War!

Excellent Book on the Original Civil War in the South!

Good overall account of the war in the South

Revolutionary War: 1st seige of Augusta, Sep 1780

From Savannah to Yorktown: The American Revolution in the South
Henry Lumpkin
Manufacturer: Paragon House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Revolution & Founding | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Battles | Revolution & Founding | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas

A Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens

Battles of the Revolutionary War: 1775-1781 (Major Battles and Campaigns Series)

Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War

Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution

ASIN: 0913729485

Book Description

Bloodshed in the American Revolution began in Massachusetts and ended in South Carolina. That the last major action of the war occurred in the South was no accident.

The British regarded the South as their best chance of crushing the rebellion, and a southern strategy governed British military campaigning during the decisive years from 1778 to 1781. How that strategy failed in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia is answered in this highly readable military history, which carries the reader from the early backcountry skirmishes to the climactic triumph at Yorktown.

From Savannah to Yorktown sketches many of the colorful field commanders, discusses the weaponry and uniforms, and, above all, unfolds the battle events, strategy, and tactics.
Well-illustrated with maps, portraits, battle scenes, and arms, this first comprehensive military history devoted to the American Revolution in the South will be welcomed by anyone interested in the southern battleground of freedom.

Customer Reviews:

The big hole in Rev War history gets filled.......2006-06-10

Gotta gotta gotta read this book. While the South is treated like a sideshow by northern historians the reality is the British lost the war there. This is a chronological study beginning with the fall of Savannah. After the disaster in South Carolina it is difficult to believe the war was not in fact lost. Yet somehow, with pluck and courage and unorthodox tactics these tough rural people brought down the mightiest army in the world. Modern historians, especially of the cultural marxist ilk are trying to reframe the campaign as a sadistic civil war. There was that component but it misses the larger picture. The Revolution was not only idealogically framed by Southerners (Jefferson), and led by a Southerners (Washington), it was won by Southerners (Marion, Sumter, Pickens and Morgan).

Excellent Account of the Original Civil War!.......2004-06-26

Lumpkin has written an excellent account of where the American Revolutionary War was won - in the South. Since family members and friends were often pitted against one another, this may be accurately termed as the original Civil War.

The book starts with the first British attack on Charleston in 1776 and finishes with the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. In between are descriptions of Camden, the British capture of Charleston, Cowpens, Kings Mountain, Eutawville, Guilford Court House, and several smaller engagements.

While the book is an excellent read, the battle descriptions and strategic manuevers are accompanied by too few maps. Having more maps would have given the reader a better idea of the overall strategy and battle tactics.

Complaint aside, I highly recommend the book as an excellent source for the first Civil War in the South!

Excellent Book on the Original Civil War in the South!.......2004-06-25

Lumpkin has written an excellent account of the American Revolutionary War in the South in which family members and friends fought each other - the original Civil War!

The author describes the actions in the South from the 1776 British attack on Charleston to the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. In between the two engagements, Lumpkin also includes: Savannah, British capture of Charleston, Camden, Cowpens, Kings Mountain, Guilford Courthouse, Ninety-Six, and several smaller engagements. Since the war was won in the South, it is only fitting that such a text would be devoted to the southern theatre.

While the narrative was extremely interesting and readable, there were few campaign and battle maps. Including more maps would have made the strategies and tactics easier to understand and would have merited (in my humble opinion) a 5-star rating.

Complaint aside, I highly recommend the book as a very interesting account of what happened in the South during the American Revolution!

Read and enjoy!

Good overall account of the war in the South.......2002-05-24

I recommend this book for those interested in a clear ande concise narrative account of the American Revolution in the South. Although not as dramatic as Buchanan's THE ROAD TO GUILFORD COURTHOUSE (which I do not recommend) Lumpkin's book is well worth reading and generally accurate. His analysis is solid, a description I would not give to THE ROAD TO GUILFORD COURTHOUSE.

Revolutionary War: 1st seige of Augusta, Sep 1780.......2001-09-08

There were only 2 paragraphs in this book that referenced the 1st Seige of Augusta in which my 6th great grandfather was murdered by the Cherokee. But, these 2 paragraphs were poignant and brutally honest and left me in tears.
This book is well-researched,well-documented, frank, honest,detailed,the author is a respected historian, and this book goes directly to the point...if you are seeking genuine information concerning the Revolutionary War, buy this book!!!!

Book Description

The triumph of the First Crusade (1095-1099) led to the establishment of a Latin Christian community in the Levant. Remarkably, despite growing pressure from the neighbouring Muslim powers, and the failure of the Second Crusade (1145-49), the settlers were able to occupy Jerusalem and substantial areas of what are now Israel, Syria and the Lebanon for over three-quarters of a century. It was the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 which precipitated the famous Third Crusade dominated by Richard the Lionheart. This is the first systematic investigation of the settlers' attempts to seek support for their vital role as guardians of the Holy Land. Jonathan Phillips draws together a disparate range of evidence to show how they turned to western Europe, and to a lesser extent Byzantium, for help. As attitudes and strategies evolved, the settlers' approach became increasingly sophisticated, peaking during the reign of King Amalric of Jerusalem (1163-1174), when diplomatic activity was particularly intense. The author also investigates the attitude of King Henry II of England towards the crusades, and the effects of the Becket dispute on western responses to the needs of the Holy Land. In this fascinating and original study, Jonathan Phillips demonstrates that contact between the Latin East and the West was far more complex than previously believed, and exposes for the first time the range and scale of the settlers' efforts to maintain Christian control of the Holy Land.

Amazon.com

Covering 508 bird species found east of the Rocky Mountains, the revised second edition takes into account changes in taxonomy and uses improved photography. At the heart of the guide is a set of 646 well-made color photographs whose subjects are organized by easily discerned characteristics (e.g., "chicken-like marsh birds," such as the clapper rail; "gull-like birds," such as the kittiwake; and "upright-perching water birds," such as the common murre). The photographs are then keyed to textual descriptions of the birds' appearance, range and habitat, nesting characteristics, and behavior. Easy to use and handsomely produced, this belongs in every eastern birdwatcher's collection. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Introduced in 1977 and completely revised in 1994, these bestselling photographic field guides have become the birding bibles of more than four million enthusiasts. Virtually every bird found in North America is brought to life in a full-color photograph and with textual information on the bird's voice, nesting habits, habitat, range, and interesting behaviors. Accompanying range maps; overhead flight silhouettes; sections on bird-watching, accidental species, and endangered birds make these the most comprehensive field guides to birds available.

Note: the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains, while the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it.

Customer Reviews:

The BEST Field Guide.......2007-10-17

This has to be the best field guide I've ever used. It's well organized and simple enough for a beginning birder. It's also crammed full of information for the more serious ornithologist. The photos are spectacular!

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Easter Region.......2007-09-17

The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region is the most comprehensive guide that I have enjoyed in many years. It has clear, concise pictures of the birds of my region with a written synopsis of each bird's habitat. I recommend this book to any avid bird lover! It is an awesome book!

Excellent tool for birders!.......2007-09-16

This book provides excellent descriptions of the birds' physical appearances, lots of photographs, and maps of their winter and summer range. It is small enough that you could take it out birding, and has a durable cover. You will not be disappointed!

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region - Revised Edition.......2007-09-09

My favorite bird watching book because all the photos are organized by color of bird and variety of birds. The plentiful information is carefully correlated but is not on the page with the photos. I prefer this when I am searching for the bird in my view. Handy is size and shape for quick browsing.

I also have the rocks and minerals guide and the guide for N.American trees.

north american birds.......2007-07-14

the best, most informative,with clear photos instead of drawings as in other bird reference books.

National Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Birds - Eastern Region - Revised Edition

Average customer rating:

National Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Birds - Eastern Region - Revised Edition
John; Farrand, John, Jr. Bull
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NK6NPS

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books