Mondo DC: An Insider's Guide to Washington, DC's Most Unusual Tourist Attractions

Mondo DC: An Insider's Guide to Washington, DC's Most Unusual Tourist Attractions
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Finally! A unique guide to DC

Mondo DC: An Insider's Guide to Washington, DC's Most Unusual Tourist Attractions
Jeff Bagato
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1420821385

Book Description

Welcome to Mondo DC! Come along on an adventure through the Washington, DC, area's most astonishing, inspiring, and unusual places. You'll visit little museums, odd archives, hidden monuments, unusual tours, and roadside art. From the Agnew Room to an insect zoo, castles to catacombs, erotic art to outsider art; gold mines, gargoyles, giants, and ghosts. Plus sex, drugs, guns, anarchy, and much more! These are DC's secret spots, many unknown even to long-time Washingtonians-each with fascinating stories that come to life when you join the Mondo DC tour. More than a tour guide, Mondo DC collects the definitive true stories about the oddest and most interesting places in Washington. Go behind the scenes to learn the history, explore the highlights, and hear conversations with key people at each attraction. This book includes 40 articles, covering over 70 sites, including the Squished Penny Museum, Black Fashion Museum, Assassination Archives and Research Center, Joseph Cornell Study Center, National Cryptologic Museum, National Glamour Archives, and the Bull Run Castle. You'll meet an Awakening Giant, the Queen of the Belly Dancers, a Giant Mermaid, naked mole-rats, Mr. Dixie, and Anarchy herself! There are also special mini-guides to the DC area's mummies, planetariums, and mini-golf courses. Plus DC's hidden belly dancing legacy, including a guide to current local restaurants that feature Middle Eastern dance. No other guide offers this level of detail about these amazing attractions-if they mention them at all. Many of these places are covered only in Mondo DC! Mondo DC will entertain life-long residents, newcomers, and travelers looking to expand their experience of Washington, DC, beyond the Mall and monument core. Cheap dates, family fun, group outings, and private retreats were never so wild! The author has written about unusual people and places in DC for over ten years for the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Bizarre (UK), Pulse!, and other pu

Customer Reviews:

Finally! A unique guide to DC.......2005-06-22

I grew up in the suburbs of DC and now live out of State. I got this book before a planned trip back home and found it a fascinating read. Since we have 3 children, we wanted to make our tour of the Capitol a little more interesting than the norm. I'm glad we had this book to guide us. I would highly recommend it to anyone (tourist or native) who wants to see some different sights.

the Free Lance photographer's Hand Book
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the Free Lance photographer's Hand Book
Harold Deckoff
Manufacturer: Falk Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000F8SZ72

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The free lance photographer's hand-book
Harold B Deckoff
Manufacturer: New York Institute of Photography
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Newspaper | Mass Media | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007E69K4

Book Description

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a beautiful story filled to the brim with fast paced action, well-developed characters, trials of loyalty, deception, ambition and intrigue. Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Ancient China, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon takes the reader on an exciting allegory of epic proportions. Rejoin warriors Shu Lien and the legendary Li Mu Bai as they fight the love they feel for each other as well as many highly skilled and elaborate kung fu masters.

Customer Reviews:

One of the few very interesting nonfiction books.......2005-12-28

I got this book at Disneyland yesterday. It was SO great! I'm glad I bought this instead of a stuffed Sally doll. It was very interesting, and I'm very pleased to see storyboards and the very informative contents of the book, especially the poem of The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, I wish I could've read more of the poem Tim Burton wrote. Then I could compare it to the original poem of The Night Before Christmas. Tim Burton is an exceedingly creative man, and I'm glad he makes stop-motion animation, because I'm SO sick of all the stupid computer animated movies that studios make nowadays. Tim Burton follows his own ideas, and this movie inspired me to be a stop-motion animator when I grow up, alongside with a career as an author.
-Jo W.

This Book Is So Cool!.......2005-09-25

If you've ever seen Tim Burton's truly excellent stop-motion animation film The Nightmare Before Christmas, then you've probably wondered, "How was all this done?" This book can answer that. Inside you'll find the stories behind the screenplay, the music, the process of stop-motion animation itself, and see some of Burton's original sketches that gave inspiration to one of the most imaginative and outright magnificent movies in the last fifteen years. If you love The Nightmare Before Christmas, then you'll go nuts over this book.

A must have in your personal library.......2005-08-30

If you're interested in knowing more about Tim Burton's movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, this book is a great buy. It has all the details about the making of the movie and the characters plus loads of great pictures. A must have for every Nightmare Before Christmas enthusiast.

Very illustrative..........2005-07-11

This book is definitely very illustrative about the process of creation of a film of the caliber of `The nightmare before Christmas'. With a foreword by Tim Burton, the book includes everything related with the making of this stop-motion animation classic. This book is more a documentary about the making of the film; it is divided in three sections (described below) and takes you through the whole process of creation of the movie. It is an interesting document indeed for people wanting to know about the creative process of making a movie of this kind. A perfect companion for the film!

The Film

The first part of the book focuses on the story ans the lyrics of the movie songs, beautifully illustrated with pictures from the movie, designs and Burton's sketches. Some movie facts are also given in this part of the book.

The Art

The original poem by Burton in which the movie is based on is presented in the firt part of the section. Most of Burton's sketches and character designs are here. The design of the sets, the characters and storyboards are well explained and presented in this section of the book with beautiful pictures, colored sketches and original drawings by Tim.

The Vision

In this section we get to meet all the people involved in making this film possible, and a little background on her profiles and how they were selected to partake on this project. Tim Burton, Henry Selick, Danny Elfman, Caroline Thompson, Kathleen Gavin and Denise Di Novi participate with comments and thought about the project.

GREAT, BUT WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE MORE.......2005-04-05

I bought this book wanting to know more about the making of the movie, but didn't get as much as I'd hoped for. It does include many sketches from Tim Burton, but hardly an from others who worked on the film. Yes, it does include lyrics to the songs featured in the film, all except for the one I was hoping for ( I can't remember the name, but it's the last song in the movie sung by Jack & Sally... "if you don't mind, I'd like to join you by your side, Where we can gaze upon the stars, And sit together, Now and Forever..")
Most of the book is a pictoral reference on the movie, and though I certainly would have loved to see more, it was still a good buy. It's just too bad I didn't get to read anything on the making of the film, or Burton's thoughts on its production.

Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film The Art The Vision

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Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas: The Film The Art The Vision
Frank Thompson
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQIQZ2

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading.......2007-06-15

For anyone in the music business, for students of music and business, for consumers of music, and for anyone who has an interest in intellectual property law, this little paperback (easy reading and less than 150 pages) should be on your REQUIRED READING list. If you think this topic can't affect you, check out the story (on page 116) of how in 1996, ASCAP threatened children's summer camps with lawsuits to prevent them from sponsoring singing around the campfire of songs like "This Land Is Your Land" and "Ring Around the Rosie". If you think you are safe singing "Happy Birthday" to your child or grandma, you need to check out the inconvenient truth about intellectual property law (and the out-of-control interests of major music labels) in this text by Joanna Demers.

Book Description

When a suspected double-murderer is found in the home of Ireland's Attorney General that's GUBU. When the Irish public are told that a 'fact sheet' will help them to survive nuclear fallout that's GUBU. When an Irish national newspaper reports that Frank Sinatra "kept smiling and wanking" that's GUBU.

GUBU Nation is the jaw-dropping outcome of countless hours spent rummaging down the back of posterity's sofa. Gone but not forgotten - not anymore - are the strange case of the Hare Krishnas and the drugged ice cream, the mass protests that met Ireland's first staging of Eurovision, the brief phenomenon of Toni the Exotic Dancer and many other uniquely Irish happenings and events.

With over fifty tales of the unexpected, the vaguely familiar and the just plain ludicrous GUBU Nation is Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre, Unprecedented and describes those moments when words otherwise fail.

Book Description

Just as "spin" has taken over politics in America, so too has it come to define the long bull market on Wall Street. The booming trade in stocks has produced an insatiable demand for financial intelligence. On television and the Internet, commentators and analysts are not merely reporting the news, they are making news in ways that provide huge windfalls for some investors and crushing losses for others. And they often traffic in rumor, speculation, and misinformation that hit the market at warp speed.

New York Times bestselling author Howard Kurtz turns his skeptical eye on the business-media revolution that has transformed the American economy. He uncovers the backstage pressures at television shows like CNBC's Squawk Box and CNN's Moneyline and at Internet start-ups like TheStreet.com and JagNotes, real-time operations in the very arena where fortunes are made and lost with stunning swiftness.

No one has ever reported from inside the Wall Street media machine or laid bare the bitter feuds, cozy friendships, and whispered leaks that move the markets. In a time of head-spinning volatility, The Fortune Tellers is essential audio listening for all of us who gamble our savings in today's overheated stock market.

Download Description

From the bestselling author of "Spin Cycle" comes a one-of-a-kind book that takes the reader inside the Wall Street media machine and lays bare the behind-the-scenes hype and human foibles that move markets and make or break fortunes.

Customer Reviews:

An interesting look inside the crazy world of Wall Street and the media.......2006-10-02

This book is an interesting narrative that looks at the end of the internet bubble and details the events leading up to the tech crash of 2000. It is told mostly through the eyes of various media figures-from CNBC anchors to their rivals at CNNfn to Jim Cramer. For someone who isn't familiar with that time in the market this book offers a great deal of insight-for people who either experienced it firsthand or already know something about it there is probably very little new here.

This book makes for an interesting read. Despite already being familiar with the events covered in this book I was entertained, especially while reading about such colorful figures as Jim Cramer and Mark Haines. The book isn't particularly well-written-the changes in tense (which I'm not sure are always done correctly) are often annoying-but is nevertheless engaging and flows well. This is not a book I would recommend for anything other than a casual read, though as such it is probably worth a look.

fast paced, no-analysis, pure narration.......2004-09-09

In a remarkably well-narrated book, Kurtz, highlights the inordinate amount of power TV business program anchors and their guests have on stock volatility. Though the book focuses on the "bubble" era, the mechanisms of stock price manipulation, intended or coincidental, are equally applicable today as it did in the Internet craze.

Despite the well narrated story lines including many of the better known financial journalists, the book does not build on the few themes introduced in the first chapter itself. After a couple of chapters, the author's take on CNBC anchors' behavior on market movement is predictable. However, the story regarding the development of CNBC, Dobb/CNNfn, Fox, bloomberg, is entertaining, though wouldnt pass as a comprehensive history guide. The focus on Kramer for most part of the book is a bit annoying as well, though the use of thestreet.com's story reveals some interesting aspects of mergers/buy-outs, etc.

In short, a fairly good read, not a great level of details, but clearly highlights (over and over) the impact of journalists on stock prices (as if you needed this book to tell you), intertwined with good story lines on TV persona and journalists.

excelent summary of the financial history of the early '00.......2004-07-29

I read this book years ago when it was a best seller. I bought it on the strength of the reviews of the people written about in this book like Kramer, the CNBC Squakbox people, numerous high profile analysts. They had a positive review of how the book came out, and so I bought and read it. I don't read the Wall Street Journal all the time so the content of this book was educating for me. Howard Kurtz has a show in CNN, he is a media critic, so his take on the financial media and players in it has a degree of credibility. However this book is dated now, there have been many developments since this book hit the bookstores. The time I read this I thought it was wonderful that a summary of the recent financial past was available in a very well written book.

Interesting but not needed for the home collection.......2002-11-24

This book offered some interesting insight into how analyst news and forecasts effect the stock market. The main message I came away with is "don't believe the hype". If you are looking to bolster your confidence in your own ability to make stock picks in the face of contridictory market analysts then take the time to listen to this book. If you're not interested in an autobiogrophy of famous Wall Street gurus then skip it. You can get the same information and much more valuable insight from reading some of the Peter Lynch books.

Too much James Cramer, not enough Wall Street.......2002-06-18

This is mostly a minibio of James Cramer with a lot of attention paid on the side to CNBC and Maria Bartiromo specifically. If you're very interested in Cramer, you can just go get his actual memoir. As for me, I am interested in Wall Street and the system of disseminating and evaluating information and opinion about stocks -- the conflicts of interest, the conventions, the legal rules, the strengths and weaknesses. I don't know how you can analyze those issues without spending time on the role and motivations of key research analysts, the position of the SEC and the communication conventions between companies and journalists, hedge fund and other money managers and the SEC. Any book claiming to treat these issues and focusing on 1998-2000 would have to deal extensively by the phenomenon represented by Mary Meeker and Harry Blodgett, which this book does not. The book focuses disproportionately and without explanation on a few TV personalities without treating the overall issue. Too bad for me.

It would have been fine if the title had been accurate -- something about James Cramer. Or even "Crazy Days at CNBC."

The data does not synthesize into any larger recommendation or theme. It comes across as an accurate chronology without analysis. The writing style is correspondingly dry.

Book Description

Celebrate Mother's Day every day. This celebration of the bond between mothers and their babies can be shared at naptime or bedtime or whenever it is time to say "I love you."

"Written in quatrains that break into couplets across each double page, this lullaby rhyme catalogues various animals and their offspring, describing each mother's testament of love." School Library Journal.

"The light-drenched, golden-toned pictures exert a quietly hypnotic effect on both reader and listener, aided by the lullaby's sonorous repetition of each mother animal's love poem to her baby." New York Times

Customer Reviews:

Perfect gift for a new mom..........2007-10-04

I received this book as a gift from my mother. It was in a pile of books my mom found at a yard sale and sent prior to the birth of our first baby. I never looked at the book until the first day that our son was home from the hospital. I picked up the book to read it to that sweet new little life. I wept tears of joy as I read each page. It is truly a beautiful and poetic book, and one I will treasure always. I've given this book now several times to expecting friends and family.

Great book.......2007-09-11

I wish I had read the description closer. I wanted a board book. Oh well - Great book!!

Move over, Goodnight Moon!.......2007-03-30

This is my favorite book to gift to new parents. Whether they've been blessed with a baby boy or girl, this is the perfect book to start off a life-time of reading. My other favorites are "Cookies Bite-Size Life Lessons" and "Jamberry"...there's just something so special about picture books, isn't there?

Awesome book.......2007-02-18

This is the best book to give your child or grandchild. Small children love being read this book!

Beautiful.......2007-02-01

This book has beautiful pictures to accompany the wonderful words that I, as a mother, truly mean every time I read them to my sweet girls. I first found this book in the library, and just had to own it. I also bought the board book as a gift for a friend.

Bedtime Poetry for Children: A Mother's Love

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Bedtime Poetry for Children: A Mother's Love
Christina Schindler
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

ASIN: 1591095468
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Book Description

Bedtime Poetry for Children is a book filled with wonderful, heart warming poetry stories for children and families to enjoy. Some titles include, "A Child's First day of school", "Little Fingers", "Bedtime", "Being different is being special", "Going on a Field trip", "A mothers love" and many more!

Book Description

The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 did not end the hostility between the French and British in North America. The French began by inciting the native tribes but it was only in 1756 that war was officially declared. The newly appointed French general was the Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon de Saint-Veran.A brilliant and much loved officer, montcalm was hampered by the bitter factional feeling with New France and his victories were tarnished by the savage buthery of some of his Indian and Canadian allies. This volume traces the actions of his army during the Seven Years’ War, including his final defeat to Wolfe at Quebec.

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
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Educated Ignorance

Necessary Reading

The Obligation of Silence, Containing The Enemy, & Awaiting The Hidden Hand

I love it. If Only I Could Read It!

Eyeopener for newcomers, disappointment for Chomskyites

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
Noam Chomsky
Manufacturer: South End Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Social Situations | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Linguistics | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (American Empire Project)

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Profit Over People: Neoliberalism & Global Order

ASIN: 0896083667

Customer Reviews:

Educated Ignorance.......2006-09-26

Such a terrible mis-directed perversion of Mind. Well educated Ignorance. A true weaver of Stalinist theory. What a malignant waste of thought.

Necessary Reading.......2006-05-20

This Chomsky book, while tough to get through at points (have a dictionary on hand), is an absolute must if you are interested in learning how to "read" the mainstream news.

Facts are given and cited. And Chomsky, as always, asks readers to draw their own conclusions. I drew mine. This was the first book of his I read, but it wasn't the last.

The Obligation of Silence, Containing The Enemy, & Awaiting The Hidden Hand.......2006-01-08

"They who have put out the people's eyes, reproach them of their blindness." ~ John Milton

This was released in 89', the end of the Reagan/Bush era, and offers an insightful outline of then-versus-now contrast. Many similar behind the scene names and fear-based strategies. The specifics have changed, yet the song unfortunately remains the same. Chomsky demonstrates our democracy's historical need of "containment of the enemy" [a populace in which free voices have the capacity to resound] through imposed and vested interests, and through a pervasive media propaganda model, which, as adjuncts of government, manipulate a collective turning of an onus blind eye from the crimes, atrocities, familar ideologies, preferences and prefabricated belief structures of the favored state.

As usual, the unyielding Chomsky wields an elementary punch of fact-packed, deep-impressioned, miles-back swing. It's quite astonishing to read such blatantly anti-democratic {compared to the widely adhered to definitions and perceptions of democracy} quotations from prominent historical political figures who formulate policies designed to advance and serve oligarchic interests through deceiving the people, and diminishing their capacity for involvement and of having a direct hand in the shaping of public policy.

"Necessary Illusions" is an essential read in the canon of what Chomsky refers to as necessary "intellectual self-defense courses" to counter Power's perilous necessary illusions which menace our representative form of government, human rights here and abroad, and, realistically, the fate of our species and the planet.

I love it. If Only I Could Read It!.......2002-12-04

I am influenced by Chomsky more than any other political philosopher (although he seems to encompass much more than a mere career categorization). I've studied him on and off for the past five years, and I find it harder and harder to rely on mass media (TV, radio, movies, increasingly more of the internet) for any information. It's like lost innocence. One can never look at these things the same after reading Chomsky.

In this book, he tackles these themes, but concentrates a great deal on U.S. international relations. The equation is basically this: corporations control the government and own the media. U.S. international relations are directly affected and influenced by the whims of multinationals; namely the desire for [inexpensive] production and [inexpensive] resources, exploiting civilians and foreign lands to achieve these means. The government is in the pocket of the corporations.

The ordinary American has little say. We may vote; but we vote for one party; solely representing the interests of the rich, and the huge corporations.

That's a bit of Chomsky in a nutshell. This book supports these arguments with EXHAUSTIVE research. I admit, I found it exhausting to read, but not from lack of interest. He is detailed; which makes his arguments valid. He uses countless examples, all supported by the contradictory historical actions and propaganda of U.S. foreign relations; where the government lies to the public via the media. There are so many quotes and supportive examples that the bibliography could be 40 pages long!

So, I love Chomsky. However I really don't like reading him; but I try. I find the easiest way to get the big picture of Chomsky's views is by watching the documentary, Manufacturing Consent, reading Z Magazine, and also "The Real Story" series of transcribed interviews with Chomsky.

Perhaps I'm just a lazy reader. However I think this book legitimizes many of Chomsky's views, in a dense, detailed, way. But without these supporting examples and quotes, his views couldn't be seen as valid.

Eyeopener for newcomers, disappointment for Chomskyites.......2000-07-25

On the whole, this book is disappointing and greatly inferior to Chomsky's similarly theme-ed Manufacturing Consent. Necessary Illusions amounts to little more than an updating of media duplicity in mainstream coverage of Central America and Israel. From the title, I expected a more systematic analysis of methods, mechanics, and reasons that operate behind media coverage. Instead, Chomsky offers a loose model of journalistic propaganda and a few methods for detecting its presence, viz. the Comparison Method. However, the model is neither detailed nor a really very useful one. Thus at a time when tv's propaganda function, for one, is becoming clearer to the public, Necessary Illusions fails to deliver much beyond the usual case studies familiar to Chomskyites. Important as this empirical work may be, especially for newcomers to Chomsky, what is needed is a more thorough-going model of how raw news gets processed into self-serving policy reinforcement. In short, a better model of the communication industry's ideological function.

It's surprising that someone as skilled at theorizing as Chomsky appears to shy away from this next logical step to his many invaluable case studies. Americans by and large recognise that despite being "free", the popular media is not to be trusted. Now we need be persuaded why this is so. Perhaps Chomsky doesn't want to risk credibility by pursuing more abstract formulations where researchable fact is less immediate. Whatever the reason, in this book he has clearly debunked some of America's most prestigious and self-serving institutions, which is always a worthwhile read.

Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies (Massey Lecture)
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Necessary Illusions: Thought Control In Democratic Societies (Massey Lecture)
Noam Chomsky
Manufacturer: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC Audio)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Media Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Freedom & Security | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
General | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
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ASIN: 0660193876

Book Description

A Massey Lecture

This internationally acclaimed linguist and political radical inquires into the nature of the media in a political system where the population cannot be disciplined by force and thus must be subjected to more subtle forms of ideological control. The author considers how the media might be democratized (as part of the general problem of developing more democratic institutions) in order to offer citizens broader and more meaningful participation in social and political life.

This Lecture was prepared and presented by Noam Chomsky.

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