Black Jack Bouvier: The Life and Times of Jackie O's Father

Book Description

The king of NASCAR, the late legend Dale Earnhardt, and the new prince of NASCAR, his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., are among the most popular drivers ever to race on the high banks of America's superspeedways.This value filled package combines 2001's best-selling book, Dale Earnhardt: 23 Years with the Intimidator, with spring 2003's hit, Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Standing Tall in the Shadow, in one book.Stories and photos from the pages of Circle Track and Stock Car Racing magazines chronicle the racing careers of the Earnhardts.Stories and anecdotes from fellow racers and candid photos add a personal touch to this perfect gift for the Earnhardt fan - and there are millions! A great subject at a great price!

Customer Reviews:

A Great Addition To Any Race Fan's Library!.......2007-01-05

Any race fan that followed the career of the Intimitator or watches every step of Jr. needs to buy this book!

Average customer rating:
Annee De Pelerinage - Book 1: "Suisse": Piano Solo

Manufacturer: G. Schirmer, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 063400042X

Book Description

Contents: Au Bord D'une Source * Au Lac de Wallenstadt * Chapelle de Guillaume Tell * Eglogue * Le Mal du Pays * Les Cloches de Geneve * Orage * Pastorale * Vallee D'obermann.

Book Description

419 Renaissance illustrations from Clusius’s botany. Beautifully rendered, accurate. Use directly, or adapt.

Plant and Floral Woodcuts for Designer and Craftsmen: 419 Illustrations from the Renaissance Herbal or Clusius

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Plant and Floral Woodcuts for Designer and Craftsmen: 419 Illustrations from the Renaissance Herbal or Clusius
Carolus Clusius
Manufacturer: Peter Smith Pub Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0844651702

Book Description

The United States patent system has become sand rather than lubricant in the wheels of American progress. Such is the premise behind this provocative and timely book by two of the nation's leading experts on patents and economic innovation.

Innovation and Its Discontents tells the story of how recent changes in patenting--an institutional process that was created to nurture innovation--have wreaked havoc on innovators, businesses, and economic productivity. Jaffe and Lerner, who have spent the past two decades studying the patent system, show how legal changes initiated in the 1980s converted the system from a stimulator of innovation to a creator of litigation and uncertainty that threatens the innovation process itself.

In one telling vignette, Jaffe and Lerner cite a patent litigation campaign brought by a a semi-conductor chip designer that claims control of an entire category of computer memory chips. The firm's claims are based on a modest 15-year old invention, whose scope and influenced were broadened by secretly manipulating an industry-wide cooperative standard-setting body.

Such cases are largely the result of two changes in the patent climate, Jaffe and Lerner contend. First, new laws have made it easier for businesses and inventors to secure patents on products of all kinds, and second, the laws have tilted the table to favor patent holders, no matter how tenuous their claims.

After analyzing the economic incentives created by the current policies, Jaffe and Lerner suggest a three-pronged solution for restoring the patent system: create incentives to motivate parties who have information about the novelty of a patent; provide multiple levels of patent review; and replace juries with judges and special masters to preside over certain aspects of infringement cases.

Well-argued and engagingly written, Innovation and Its Discontents offers a fresh approach for enhancing both the nation's creativity and its economic growth.

Customer Reviews:

it's OK.......2007-06-04

Since the authors are economists I was hoping for an economic analysis of our current patent system like Schiff in his "Industrialization without National Patents" does for the international patent system of the 1800s. Instead it is a work of persuasion meant to sell the author's policy suggestions.

This means that the authors spend a lot of time talking about silly granted patents even though the authors later admit such patents are pretty unavoidable. No patent office has the resources to avoid granting some bad patents.

The author's policy suggestions include a revised reexamination system where patent owners would have to post $50,000 bond to defend a reexamination. I am no phyllis schlafly, but such a system would really favor big companies.

The authors are right that the creation of the CAFC in 1982 has resulted in a strengthening of patents. A lot of this is just a result of a new post-1982 uniformity in the case law.

Some signs of the waning of patents are showing. The CAFC, and now the supreme court, are ruling more for defendants in patent lawsuits. Additionally, in the patent office, the allowance rate of patents has declined from a peak of 71% in 2000 to 54% in 2006.

Patent Medicine.......2006-05-31

Begining with unsupported assertions about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and overblown conclusions about the consequences of changes in funding for the Patent and Trademark Office, the authors offer cures for diseases they do not understand.

I haven't seen or heard it much lately, but, when I grew up, "patent medicine" was synonymous with quackery and worthless nostrums. It is, indeed, ironic that they chose that very term to head the section in which they set out the goals of their book.

Eloquent.......2004-12-10

This book presents a clear, concise and convincing argument that subtle changes in U.S. laws starting in 1982 have broken a patent system that was working reasonably well until then. It will be more effective at convincing the average person than most other attempts have been, both because of its style and because it shows that the changes which broke the system shouldn't have been expected to help anyone other than patent lawyers. Their analysis will be useful in helping to avoid the takeover of other agencies by special interests.
Their description of how the system should be fixed is less impressive. Their summary of proposed changes strangely fails to include undoing the change in appeals court jurisdiction which they suggest was a primary cause of the problems. Their argument in favor of patenting software, business practices, etc. is more radical than they seem to realize, as it appears to imply that patents should also be extended to mathematical theorems, yet they act as if the burden of proof should be on their critics.
Their confidence that a traditional patent system is better than no patents is unconvincing (but they do a good job of explaining why it is hard to know what the best system is). They support their position by a few examples such as Xerox, whose copier wouldn't have been invented as it was without patent protection. But it's much harder than they imply to determine that a copier wouldn't have been invented some other way a few years later.

Book Description

Adrienne Barbeau never set out to be a sex symbol and she never intended to become the poster girl for women over 50 having babies, but both those stories and a lot more are detailed in this witty, revealing memoir of the Tony-nominated actress.

This book covers Adrienne's early years in New York (“No one said Mafia out loud in those days. There was always the fear you wouldn’t live to say anything else.”), to starring on Broadway in Grease (“Alexander Cohen swore the only way we’d win a Tony was over his dead body”). She tells tales about her two hit television series (Maude and Carnivale), her many television and feature films (The Fog, Escape from New York, Cannonball Run, Swamp Thing, Back to School, Creepshow), her singing career (“Doc Severinson and the band had been in the audience during my nude foray off-Broadway in Stag Movie”), her romance with Burt Reynolds, her marriage to director John Carpenter, and marrying a much younger man and giving birth to twins at age 51.

Customer Reviews:

A great read.......2007-08-31

I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Adrienne Barbeau, but this book was a great read. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down! The book was very engaging, genuine, and fun to read. Ms. Barbeau is a definitely a class act; and she seems like a good, down to earth person. That's hard to say about many actresses these days.

A stunner! Adrienne Barbeau is a terrific writer!.......2007-04-20

I have always enjoyed Adrienne Barbeau's acting, but this book has transformed me into a bona-fide fan. Ms. Barbeau shares stories of her Hollywood travels and her journeys toward personal identity and healthy relationships. It's an amazing read -- I hated putting it down!

This book is definitely of a higher caliber than most Hollywood tell-alls, and Ms. Barbeau exudes class, authenticity and humor throughout. After reading it, one will want to sit down and get to know this remarkable lady.

Also, Ms. Barbeau has signed a book deal to write mystery novels! So we will have more books from this amazing writer. Yay!

Better than the standard actor autobiography!!.......2006-10-19

+++++

"I went from being a musical comedy performer to a sitcom actress to a scream queen to a mother and a TV talk-show host and a book reviewer and a voice-over performer, and then back to the stage and back to musical comedy and back to television and concert halls and more films, and even into the recording studio for a CD and into my office to write this book."

This is an excerpt from this page-turning autobiography by Adrienne Barbeau, a candid, funny, and self-deprecating autobiography that covers sixty years of her life. It is based on the journals she kept which she "began in 1955." She "wrote every day for the next forty years."

The above excerpt tells you generally what the book is about. Along the way, Barbeau tells us about "relationships and love affairs, emotional highs and lows, friendships and loss."

Highlights of this book include talking about her two hit TV shows ("Maude" and "Carnivale"), her major movies ("The Fog," "Escape from New York," "Swamp Thing," and "Creepshow"), her relationship with 1970's superstar Burt Reynolds, and her two marriages (the first to horror and science fiction director John Carpenter).

The title of this book is the title of a major song Barbeau sung in the original Broadway production of "Grease" which was "a major turning point in [her] life."

This autobiography is well written. What I especially liked was Barbeau's directness and the fact that you could easily follow the timeline of her life story.

Included in the book's approximate center are over forty black and white photographs. My favorite is the one that has her character in the movie "The Convent" gunning down nuns (or as she says "blowing away nuns").

Barbeau throughout her book doesn't come off as self-absorbed or an airhead. Instead she comes off as a smart, witty, loving, and giving person who, as this book chronicles, is a survivor.

Finally, I did find a few problems:

(1) I felt that Barbeau was holding back on certain details of her life story. For example, we are not told anything about the book's provocative cover photograph (shown above by Amazon). I learned that this is Barbeau's 1978 pin-up poster that actually rivaled Farrah Fawcett's poster of the same decade. Why are we not told anything about this?
(2) Many of the stories in her book are not followed up and this might be frustrating for some readers.
(3) She tends to sometimes flip-flop back and forth between present and past tense.

In conclusion, this is a good, solid, witty, and revealing autobiography about an actor who has been in the "biz" for more than four decades. It is definitely better than the standard actor autobiography!!

(first published 2006; introduction {entitled "The Journals"}; 40 chapters; main narrative 335 pages; acknowledgements {entitled "Thank You"})

+++++

Read This Book.......2006-07-24

Adrienne Barbeau's first book is a wonderful testament to a life lived. Good, bad or indifferent she propels her readers to LIVE.

Memoirs are always tough, and Barbeau nailed it! Even if I did not know her voice, from the many films, plays and TV shows she has been a part of, her written voice comes through so clearly. It is simultaneously kind, comic and sad without ever being maudlin.

Barbeau has a wonderful ability to take the reader in as if writing each reader a note about the day to day, and then she turns things that note around. You are reading a note from a friend and then realize that: Yes she was married to one of the most notable directors of horror in the U.S, yes she had an affair with Burt Reynolds. And yes she has had many loves in her time. Wow! But rather than delivering a tell all revealing the warts of others - although we do read a bit about those warts - Barbeau manages to undauntingly keep the focus on herself. While laughing at herself, and her foibles as a person with loves gained and lost, she takes the comic and imbues it with such heart the reader can visualize how double sided comedy is within each us; as when we laugh at ourselves, there tends to be some sadness lurking - conversely she explores her own tragedies such as the passing of her mother and her best friend, and reveals hope.

When reading this book, I was reminded of being lost on occasion. In THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO, the reader, along with Adrienne, takes a journey. Barbeau reminds us that when we are lost we seek acceptance, regardless of what that acceptance might mean. But as we lose ourselves amidst gaining acceptance, we discover how within that losing, we can all find ourselves anew.

What is so fantastic about this read is Barbeau's refusal to be consumed by circumstance.
She keeps on going, keeps living, and keeps growing. For me as a woman, what is so particularly compelling about this book, is that she lets all women know that age truly, does not matter. And she does this simply by revealing her life, not by being pedantic. This is a message to all of us, to keep on keeping on. Ultimately she finds the love she so deserves, and rediscovers her muses: her children. Still, Barbeau reminds us that each day is a blank slate. and although Adrienne has found her muses, she keeps working at her life - understanding that with each day, ones life may need some reconfiguring. And that reconfiguring is a good thing...

I was lucky enough to hear Barbeau read passages from the book, and the reading added a wonderful dimension to my understanding of her experiences. Her timing is impeccable, and I hope her publisher will push extensively for a nationwide tour with the author.

AN UNCOMMON STAR.......2006-07-11

Adrienne Barbeau's "There are Worst Things I Could Do" is not your standard kiss-and-tell Hollywood memoir. Although she writes wittily about her affair with Burt Reynolds, her marriage to cult filmmaker John Carpenter, her liaisons with various Hollywood personalities, and behind the scenes mayhem during the filming of "The Fog", "The Swamp Thing", "The Cannonball Run", and her hit television sitcom "Maude", her memoir is more about her personal journey as a wounded woman who ached for peace and joy in her relationships with men.

Her candor is refreshing. She does not flinch from sharing with the reader intimate details about sex, psychics, gurus, and her quest to heal the trauma of being abandoned by her father when she was still a child. The forty or so chapters around which she has arranged her material reveal a vibrant woman who wanted to experience life fully, to learn from her experiences, to heal her wounds, and to grow as an actress and woman.

Though she deals candidly with "heavy" subjects, her style is never maudlin or judgmental or self-pitying. She is able to find humor and farce even in the most intense situations of life.

So read this book as a Hollywood memoir full of juicy revelations if you wish. But the pleasure I got from it was not reading about her career arc but her personal journey as a woman through the rapidly shifting zeitgeist of the past five decades.

In time, her well-rounded memoir will grow in stature.

Book Description

Islam is enormously important today in both international and national domestic politics, but contemporary political Islam cannot be understood without an awareness of it roots. Yet, little attention has been paid to the way its political ideas originated how they developed. The i History of Islamic Political Thought /i offers a full description and an interpretation of political philosophy from early Islam to the current age of Fundamentalism (622 AD to 2000 AD). Antony Black takes the same approach as scholars usually do for the history of Western political thought, examining the mentality, cultural milieu, and political background of thinkers and statesmen. He covers the relationship of politics to religion, law, ethics, philosophy, and statecraft, as expressed through treatises, occasional writings, official rhetoric, popular slogans, and other evidence of how people thought about authority and order. This unique and ambitious book will appeal to students of Islamic studies and political theory, as well as readers interested in Islamic politics more generally.

Customer Reviews:

Incorrect Views on Ibn Khaldun.......2006-08-23

The history of the political theory of Islamic governance which throughout Orthodox Sunni history has been based in the fields of fiqh (jurisprudence) and usool al-fiqh (islamic legal theory) and in Heterodox views through Greeco-Roman Philosophy and other sources is an extremely fundamental aspect of Islamic history and understanding the modern world. I would disagree with the author though on his analysis of Ibn Khaldun's thought which I believe was terrible. Professor Antony repeats the mistakes made by various other Sociologists, Philosophers, and Historians in analyzing Ibn Khaldun. Ibn Khaldun in fact was not as heterodox and opposed to Orthodoxy as people make him out to be. In fact, if you know and read Arabic you will find him regarded as a authority on traditional and Orthodox Islam by the later generations of traditional `ullema. Ibn Khaldun's views were in fact rooted and based in the Islamic Orthodoxy of the `ullema - as he himself was a `alim himself! He was the cheif Maliki judge, as well as supportive of the theological Orthodoxy contained in al-Ghazali and others. One only has to read his Muqaddimah even in translation to realize this in his various sections such as "A Refutation of Philosophy," as well as his denial of causality (and the misconception that he disagreed on this point was throughly refuted by H.A.R. Gibb in "The Islamic Roots of Ibn Khaldun's Political Theory" where it is explained that his stance on causality was nothing more than the traditionalist stance of Sunnat Allah). His proof for the existence of God is almost -if not the exact same - proof as Imam Sanusi's proof contained in his theological epistle "Umm al-Barahin" and Imam Sanusi was one of the `ullema and traditional authorities of Orthodoxy. Although he was trained in Western knowledge and quotes Aristotle and others and built upon their ideas - there is no proof what so ever that this was done from anything other than a *secular perspective* and not a Theological one. Yes, Ibn Khaldun was a member of traditional Islamic Orthodoxy, and he indeed was a pioneer of economic, sociological, and political thought - yet his religious views were that of Islamic Orthodoxy and are recognized as being so up until today by both Islamic `ullema themselves as well as many Western scholars. I hope Professor Antony will correct this error in an otherwise excellent collection.

The History of Islamic Political Thought : From the Prophet to the Present

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The History of Islamic Political Thought : From the Prophet to the Present
Antony Black
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLW0I0

Average customer rating:

The title says it all!

Here is a serious/fun book on science that kids will read!

The Kids' Book of Awesome Stuff
Charlene Brotman
Manufacturer: Brotman-Marshfield Curriculums
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

Nonfiction | Environment & Ecology | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Environment | Nature | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story : Book 1 (Sharing Nature With Children Book)

Mammals Who Morph: The Universe Tells Our Evolution Story (Sharing Nature With Children Book)

From Lava to Life: The Universe Tells Our Earth's Story (Sharing Nature With Children Book)

Character Building Day by Day: 180 Quick Read-Alouds for Elementary School And Home

ASIN: 0976256800

Book Description

Science-based ecology for ages 8 to ll. Designed to nurture a sense of wonder. Includes puzzles, activities and stories.

Chapter titles: You're Made of Star-Stuff; You're Saved by Something Green; The Awesome Thing about Poop, Pee and Stuff that Rots; If There Were No Bugs to Bug You; The Ancestor of All Your Ancestors Was Invisible; You Live on a Speck in a Spinning Spiral.

Customer Reviews:

The title says it all!.......2007-03-13

Buy this book for that bright little child of yours. You won't be disappointed.

Here is a serious/fun book on science that kids will read!.......2005-10-09

I found this self-published book through a review in Earthlight Magazine. While I am no longer a kid, I do have 12 grandchildren and keep looking for resources that will help them understand our universe. After getting a positive response from my six year old granddaughter, I gave the book to all of my grandchildren aged 6 to 14. Then, this summer, during our family week at the beach, we had a "book group" with the six who had read the book. They all found parts they enjoyed. The six year old like the story of Rachel Carson, the boys liked the great pictures of the galaxies, and, of course, the chapter on "Poop and Pee" was a big favorite. We did some of the exercizes, too.

This is a book about important concepts, and they are concepts that need to become part of our culture. This book will help.

John Gallini
Richmond, VA

Earth-Friendly Crafts for Kids: 50 Awesome Things to Make with Recycled Stuff

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Earth-Friendly Crafts for Kids: 50 Awesome Things to Make with Recycled Stuff
Joe Rhatigan , and Heather Smith
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Crafts & Hobbies | Arts & Music | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Crafts for Children | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Recycled Crafts Box

ASIN: 1579903401

Book Description

From easy toys and great gifts to wonderful room deco-rations, these 50 projects give children a terrific way to recycle and feel creative, too. “This appealing volume is not only a craft book; it also educates users to be more aware of packaging, waste, and of making conscious decisions about how products are used and discarded. Years of Earth Day ideas flow from between the covers of this creative book.”—School Library Journal.

Kid's Book of Awesome Bible Activities: Collections 1 and 2 (Kid Stuff)

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Kid's Book of Awesome Bible Activities: Collections 1 and 2 (Kid Stuff)
Ken Save
Manufacturer: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1557489955

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