Living with Michigan's wetlands: A landowner's guide

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Living with Michigan's wetlands: A landowner's guide
Wilfred Cwikiel
Manufacturer: Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1889313009

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Living with Michigan's Wetlands: A Landowner's Guide
Thomas W.; Cwikiel, Wilfred Ford
Manufacturer: Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000R9ORKI

Customer Reviews:

Short and oh so sweet.......2005-09-28

This is a great book on Hanauma Bay, and one I often recommend for visitors. It is very different from the other books about Hanauma Bay, in that it is organized as to where you are and what you'll see, as opposed to a grand listing of everything. Are you planning on just walking along the beach? Going out to the deeper water? Wading? These specific ecosystems and habitats have their uniqueness, and this book points them out. Inexpensive, well organized, and with David Schrichte's superb photography (and I mean superb), this book is a great reference to obtain prior to visiting the Bay. Ironically, I also recommend that folks get a copy just for the photos, cutting out what they like for their scrapbooks. Schrichte's photos are much better than you can take with your underwater point-and-shoot camera, and the price is about the same.

A very illustrative and comprehensive guide to Hanauma Bay.......2004-02-11

This guide was extremely helpful in planning several snorkeling trips to Hanauma Bay over the last three years. The ariel views of the bay and the detailed directions for the different levels of abilities were both accurate and informative. I believe this information would prove beneficial to anyone planning on visiting the park, whether they are a swimmer, begginer snorkeler, or advanced scuba diver. Although the park staff stand ready to answer any questions you may have, this book's overview of the bay definitely comes in handy. I especially liked the information on all the wildlife and marine critters that call the bay their home.

I would also suggest getting a hold of two other books to compliment this one: The O`ahu Snorkeler and Shore Divers Guide by Francisco B. DeCarvalho and Hawaii's Fishes by John P. Hoover. Both these books contain information on Hanauma Bay and its inhabitants, as well as covering many of O`ahu's other snorkel and dive sites and would make any diving/snorkeling trip to the bay a success.

Naturalist's Guide To Oahu's Most Popular Snorkeling Spot.......2000-06-28

Beautiful full color guide to what you will see while walking around, and swimming in Hanauma Bay. Page after page of quality photographs of the wildlife living within. Suggests several tours for walking, and various snorkeling and scuba abilities. All with appropriate safety cautions sprinkled throughout. If you need to know the differences between a moray and a tang, or even several kinds of tang, this is the book for you. It also serves as a nice momento of a day spent swimming with the fishys!

Exploring Hanauma Bay.......2000-06-27

This was an excellent book. We went to the Bay to do snorkeling and used this book as a complete and comprehensive reference guide.

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Exploring Hanauma Bay

Manufacturer: university of hawaii
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HOOAQY

Book Description

Wear your gear. Bring your blades. Back your family. Fight for your life.

MLK High School has collapsed into Kung Fu High School--where Jen B. and her brother, Cue, belong to one of two gangs still standing against the puppet principal and the drug kingpin who pulls his strings. Cousin Jimmy--a world-champion martial arts master of mythic stature--arrives in town after swearing to his mother that he'll never fight again. His rep precedes him and everyone's itching to see him "kicked in"--Kung Fu's brutal initiation ritual. But he won't break his vow and defend himself, so Cue steps in when things go too far. Soon, a surprise counterstrike sends Kung Fu spinning toward one final, raging battle. Teachers flee, students break out full weaponry, and Jimmy must make a decision that will brand him a coward--or a hero.

Customer Reviews:

Blood and Guts in High School.......2006-09-09

Was it only a year ago that Ryan Gattis' KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL was published? It seems like eternity, for such was its impact on literature that nowadays I think of the world of writing as divided into two parts, BRG and ARG, before and after Ryan Gattis. Just as his predecessor, William Gaddis, launched his majestic THE RECOGNITIONS on an unsuspecting American public in 1955, the young Gattis, whoi had written only one book before, a limited edition not even published in his own country, hit the ground running telling the story of Jen B., a heroic teen in an American high school only slightly magnified from our own. Gangs rule the campus, and everyone gets "kicked in" as a matter of course by martial arts specialists, for in MLK High 95 per cent of the student body know some sort of ju jitsu or aikido or whatever.

The other five percent, Jen B. explains, are just super big and can get by on sheer size. Into this stressful environment her sexy cousin Jimmy Chang moves into town, and since he made a sacred vow to his mother never to fight again, he gets beat up royally and Jen's brother Cue gets mixed up in the melee. In my town, people have worn out their copies of KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL memorizing the big fight scenes, and at Burning Man earlier this month several "rival" associations of artists re-staged some of Gattis' bloodiest, most organ-popping moments. It was like having Armageddon explode in your school locker.

Already a cult classic, KUNG FU HIGH SCHOOL will attain FIGHT CLUB status when the inevitable movie is made, or I don't know, maybe by then people will have tired of the whole high school is a battlefield metaphor. My friends and I speculate if Ryan and his brother ever were actually street type kids, or were they the onlookers who see more of the game then the kids who OD in the boys room. Jen B . is sort of a sweet cross between Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston, however, she is only fifteen and it is a little pervy of Ryan to get into her head so thoroughly, especially her unlikely crush on her light-brown eyed cousin Jimmy Chang. He is like Christ in two respects, his initials (sort of like Faulkner's LIGHT IN AUGUST) and his willingness to sacrifice himself so that other kids could live a happy life.

Kung Fu.......2006-02-02

This was an amazing book but it's not written for everyone. If your only experience with violence has been through the television- you may not get this book. But if you have a personal history with violence the details used to explain everything from the taste of blood, the sound of broken bone to the inability to comprehend/deal with death at a moment's notice, this book will make so much sense to you you'll want to weep.
I don't cry at books but this one almost got me. I was amazed to find out the author was a white male since the narrative is done through a half Chicana girl's perspective- and he nails it. I really loved how the character was built- violence and pain she understands, loyalty but love and basic human emotions that don't relate to pain- are a mystery she really doesn't have time for.
The showdown at the end, like any good story, has to happen- someone has to try to bring down the most corrupt and evil or how can we establish who is the hero? But what made me love this book was that it didn't make the evil stop at the drug king pin- it went all the way up from principal, to police to the media to the communtiy that pretended Kung Fu didn't exist.
The fight sequences are amazing- it's unsettling how true to life they are sometimes. I recommend this book to anyone with a pulse- I don't guarantee you'll like or understand it. But I loved it.

(3.5) A Very Stylized Book.......2006-01-22

Kung Fu High School is not a book for everyone. Personally, I enjoyed reading it, but I felt like I really didn't take anything valuable from reading. Its entertainment value is high, but its intellectual level has more to be desired.

The story is narrated by Jen B. a student at Martin Luther King High, which has been given the nickname Kung Fu High since it has been taken over by a drug-running 23-year old senior named Ridley, and the social scene has devolved into about 6 different gangs. Each gang has its own leader, purpose, and style of fighting. Everything changes for Jen when her cousin, the legendary, undefeated fighter Jimmy Chang comes to live with them from out in the country. Jimmy comes to live with them after promising his mother to "never fight again." A promise which is tested in his first day at Kung Fu High. Soon, Jimmy's arrival at Kung Fu has tragic consequences for Jen and her family, and Kung Fu High turns into an all out martial arts battleground for control of the school.

The violence is very stylistic and very graphic. This book is definitely not for the weak of heart. Gattis goes a long way to make sure he describes the effects of each lethal hit inflected on a victim. However, throughout most of the book, I felt as if the main purpose of the book was just to be a vehicle for the author to write the most violent scenes possible. The backstories about Jen's family are not really followed all that well. And the sad part is that the story of her family could have been a great way to give the book some emotional quality, which it is completely lacking.

The book really feels like a 278-page comic book, but with very few pictures (yes, there are some pictures). The conversations just feel like flimsy bridges that the reader is crossing to get to the next fight scene. Is the book written well? Basically, yes. Gattis definitely does a good job of writing the book in the way that Jen would tell the story to someone. It is fairly impressive for a first novel, but hopefully Gattis will focus more on story in his next book. Because if the writer has a great story to back up the violence or bad things that happen plot-wise, it just makes the book that much better.

Eh. .......2006-01-08

It wasn't bad, although many people will be turned off by the extreme violence in the book. Rather, it just wasn't that good.

First problem: The characters were not developed well enough to really be taken seriously. I felt no more sympathy for most of them than I would for Blanka or Ivy or Mitsurugi or any other character from a fighting game. As a result, their beatings were more exercise than they were tragedy. When this is juxtaposed against the realization that most of these people are 16-18 years old, it makes it hard to take it seriously as a literary work.

Second: The work has a pseudo-literary feel to it. You keep feeling like there is something more to it, but then when you try to dig, you find out that there really isn't anything underneath. Then, you feel really disappointed.

SPOILER WARNING:

Third: The death of Cue was handled badly. It should have been a more tragic moment. Instead, it almost felt farcical to me. Although you could argue that its arbitrary nature was intended to reflect the seeming randomness of violence and the sheer chance of life, or whatever, the fact remains that it felt empty. And, thus, we lost an interesting and fun character for nothing.

END SPOILER WARNING

These things combined to make the book feel a little vague and empty. The climax resolution also felt a little campy. Perhaps it doesn't even deserve three stars. To a large degree, it felt like a bad combination of one too many kung fu movies and American History X. The combined result felt like macho fantasy, rather than a real story.

So, read it if you are curious, or bored. It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't good enough to earn a 4 from me. Worth reading once, probably, but don't buy it unless you hate your library or can't convince a friend to buy it for your reading circle.
Harkius

A Little Bit of the Old Ultraviolence.......2005-12-29

First time author Gattis has taken every parent and teenager's worst fears about high school to their dystopian extreme in this explosion of exploitation ultraviolence. The combination of Columbine massacre, and films like Battle Royale, Boyz in the Hood, Bloodsport, and every Hong Kong chop-socky flick ever, would make for hilariously campy fun were it not for the relentlessly grim tone and absolutely brutal violence. Unlike most teen violence films, where the carnage is distanced through the use of guns, knives, and other tools, here the violence is almost entirely fists and feet, and the ultrarealistic effect of every single blow is detailed in almost fetishistic detail.

The dehumanized teenagers of Martin Luther King High School have no dream other than surviving from one day to the next. The kids are a complete ethnic stew, whose only common feature is that they are too poor to escape being sent to MLK. Each belongs to one of six families (gangs), no one goes anywhere without a family member watching their back, and everyone is constantly trying to improve their martial arts skills. Going to school is an exercise in vigilance, as these kids literally dress for battle and everyone wears plain, all black clothing in order to disguise their affiliation from outsiders. Their school is run by Ridley, an eighth-year senior drug lord who controls four of the six families and has the school administration and teachers in his pockets.

The story is narrated by Jen, a sophomore whose brother is the leader of the "Waves", and whose cousin Jimmy is a world-renown grandmaster who has just returned from living in Kong Kong. His arrival coincides with Ridley's move to absorb the other two families and assume ultimate control, enabling him to expand his operation. Jimmy is a kind of classic martial arts character, the heroic good guy who has pledged never to fight again -- but of course, is forced to by the Darwinian world around him. Most of the book is a kind of slow burn of escalating violence leading to an inevitable massive bloodbath at the end. There are some other little glimpses into Jen's seeded throughout, her heartache for her dead mother, her attempts to deal with her invalid father, her forbidden yearning for Jimmy, and friendship with the cool free clinic doctor who patches up the family after their various fights. But these are all rather thinly done, and are mere background to the showdown with Ridley.

There's a lot of nice detail sprinkled throughout, such as the specifics of how to sew unobtrusive body armor into your everyday clothing, how to make four-edged knives, and so on. Much of this is illustrated through nifty rough diagrams and drawings inserted amidst the text. The most striking stylistic element of the book, however, is Gattis' ability to describe martial arts combat. You don't need to be a practitioner to follow the various moves as the bodies fly, skin is shredded, and bones break. It's all vividly done to well past the point of excess. It could easily be argued that all this graphic detail serves a raw, cautionary function, or one could just as easily argue that it desensitizes the reader. Either way, it'd be hard to argue that the scenes involving Jimmy aren't pretty cool, as he balletically devastates his teen opponents one after the other in the climax. Ultimately, the book doesn't leave the reader with much -- it's more of a concept with a thin thin story than a really engrossing tale. It the kind of material could make an excellent film in the right hands, but it could also make a really horrible film in the wrong ones.

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Kung Fu High School
Ryan Gattis
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJQKA6

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Kung Fu High School

Manufacturer: SCEPTRE (HODD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTAX98

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Ninja High School: Perfect memory
Ben Dunn
Manufacturer: Antarctic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006QKG20

Book Description

This companion volume to the previous, widely acclaimed Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada takes sparrow identification one step further. The authors have gathered a stunning selection of over 350 photographs as a basis for the identification of all 64 taxa of emberizine sparrows found in the region. Never before has such a comprehensive collection of sparrow photos been presented together in a single guide.

The supporting text gives detailed information on the identification of species, sexes, ages, races, and forms of all the sparrows, towhees, juncos, buntings and longspurs, grassquits and seedeaters, as well as information on their distribution, habits, habitats, molt, and voice. Particular attention is paid to the geographic variation found in many species and to comparisons with similar and confusing species. The conservation status of those that are threatened is also given due attention.

The photographs include contributions from many of America's finest bird photographers, and many were taken especially for this book. All fine portraits in themselves, they have been chosen specifically to illustrate the identification pointers described in the text. Each is captioned with full details of the photographer and the place and time at which the photo was taken. Also included are line drawings of identification details such as wing and tail feathers and beaks, as well as distribution maps.

Key Features:

Features 350 high quality photographs of each species, subspecies, and racial form identifiable in the field
Includes line drawings of identification details such as wing and tail feathers, beaks, etc.
Contains distribution maps for each species

Customer Reviews:

Sparrows for the rest of us.......2006-07-25

This book is great for those having difficulty identifing sparrows or LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs). It has many actual pictures of each sparrows which shows the different variations from region to region, young to old, and from season to season.

Fantastic book for id of sparrows!!.......2003-11-28

In the winter time here in Virginia we get a number of differnt types of sparrows that migrate in. I love watching them but was having difficulty determining which types were which from just the regular field guides so I asked around and one of our local birders recommended this to me. Its terrific! The pictures of the birds are close-up - as if you were holding the bird or were sitting on the ground less than a foot away looking at the bird. This really helps when trying to distinguish the slight differences in colors or patterns. Each species has a chapter that strats out with measurements (size, weight etc) then there's a range map, and some text on habitat, then some text on behavior and voice/songs. There's writing about similar species, geographic variation, distribution (winter, breeding, migration periods), conservation status, and molt. There's also text descriptions for specific markings etc to hone in on, and discussion of hybrids if any. Then the chapter has pictures, of boys, girls, adults, juveniles, etc. Really a great book that has helped me a lot. I'd buy it again in a heart beat.

Sparrows of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide

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Sparrows of the United States and Canada: The Photographic Guide
David Beadle
Manufacturer: Natural World
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHOQMW

Book Description

Covers significant advances in hyphenated techniques in polymer characterization. Presents coupled thermal techniques and couple-thermal-spectroscopic techniques, including STA-MS, STA-FTIR, TG/IR, GC/IR, TGA/IR, TB/FTIR, DSC/FTIR, and TGA/FTIR.

Book Description

The beloved characters--mortal and immortal--of Topper return in this uproarious romp through the south of France. One of Thorne Smith's best-loved comedies, it proves once again that he is the undisputed master of urbane wit and sophisticated repartee.
Cosmo Topper, the mild-mannered bank manager who was persuaded to take a walk on the wild side by the ghosts of George and Marion Kerby in Topper, finds himself reunited with his dyspeptic wife for an extended vacation on the Riviera. But he doesn't have long to enjoy the peace and quiet before the irrepressible Kerbys materialize once again and start causing fracases, confusing the citizenry, alarming the gendarmes, getting naked, and turning every occasion into revelry or melee. Soon Marion decides that Topper as a ghost would be even more laughs than Topper in the flesh. And all she needs to arrange is one simple little murder.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1892, educated at Dartmouth, THORNE SMITH was an early cohort of Dorothy Parker's. He achieved literary success in 1926 with the publication of Topper and went on to publish nine novels in the next eight years. He earned a passionate following among both critics and readers before his death, at the age of forty-two, in 1934.

CAROLYN SEE is the author of nine books. Her latest novel is The Handyman. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California.

Customer Reviews:

George (Cary Grant) replaced with a dog.......2007-01-13

We find Mr. Topper (Billie Burke) is going to get a divorce due to catching her hubby with a woman that is not a woman, Marion Kerby (Constance Bennett.) or at least she is being pushed in to thinking she wants a divorce bay a so called friend of whom has a nefarious purpose of her own. Toppy must go after her and woo her back.

The story line is week and the acting trite. There is a defiant lack of comedy or even credulity. There is a countless count and an unbelievable scheme. Oh yes, Cary grant is replaced by Skippy.

On the plus side Cosmo Topper (Roland Young) does a great job of being pushed around by the invisible. And Alan Mowbray the bad guy in "Charlie Chan in London" made a believable butler. "Now you are holding the door open for me."

The weak link in the trilogy.......2005-06-08

There are three classic Topper films from the golden age of movies. The first, with Cary Grant, is a winner. The third, with Joan Blondell, is even better. But Topper Takes A Trip, the second in the series, is a complete dud. The script is simply embarrassing and wholly unfunny. The scenes (e.g. the bartender and the dog)are often pathetic. It took some doing to make a flop with the likes of the stars in this film. Even Franklin Pangborn is awful. But reading lines like that, how could he be otherwise? Best forgotten.

DELIGHTFUL SEQUEL........2002-08-28

This follow-up to the highly successful TOPPER - which was made earlier that year (1939) - picks up where the last film left off. After reestablishing the auto accident which killed the drunken Bennett and Grant in the first film and turned them into ghosts, we are treated (sans Cary Grant) to a hilarious 85 minutes. Clara Topper (Burke) spots Marion Kirby (Bennett) in her husband Cosmo's room. Clara goes to Paris - with Cosmo following - in order to get a divorce because she believes her hen-pecked husband has been seeing another "woman". Unable to explain to Clara that Marion is only a ghost, Cosmo tries to fast-talk Burke into a reconciliaton. Several floating martinis later, Bennett manages to reconcile the couple, and is now able to join her husband in their celestial home. The trick photography by Roy Seawright is astonishing for its day. Cushions which deflate when invisible figures sit on them, cigarettes being smoked in mid-air and pencils writing notes by themselves are all executed with great skill. The sight of the Kirby's dog Skippy - also a ghost - is hilarious when only his tail fails to become invisible or when he bites the ankles of totally flabbergasted men! A third film, TOPPER RETURNS is a surprisingly pleasant diversion from 1941: it stars Joan Blondell as Marion Kirby.

Comedy at its best.......2000-01-03

Topper movies have been some of the best clean cut comedy ever. These are the types of movies you can watch over and over and still continue to laugh. More comedy movies of today should be made this way. I know there are "Topper" lovers as myself and would enjoy being able to see them on the American Movie Classic channel or just on regular tv from time to time. The only move I own is Topper Returns and would love to have these others. I grew up watching these movies and will continue to watch them. Please bring them back.

greatfamilyfilm.......1998-12-19

it would do all of us good if more movies were being made today that can make us laugh just by it being funny not by it being an effort to hurt or humiliate a person place or thing. maybe someone someday will look again at these old classics and see how refreshing it was to be entertained not by seeing people or places blowing up or being destroyd but just being allowed to sit back relax and enjoy the fact that what your watching can entertain you your grandmother and your kids all at the same time.

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TOPPER TAKES A TRIP
THORNE SMITH
Manufacturer: PENGUIN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S56ALA

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Topper Takes A Trip

Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I71B9E

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Methuen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M4SQ5A

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000L2JZ1C

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smtih
Manufacturer: Sun Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LECM6K

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Pyramid Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JH8S9E

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NYD6TK

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Topper Takes a Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books/Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NVQVHW

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Topper Takes A Trip
Thorne Smith
Manufacturer: Pocket Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K1YYUG

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