X Books

Ah, what can a person say about such a marvelous collection of humor centering around the noblest of professions? The Lawyer Joke Book is chock full of one-liners, witticisms, and amusing jests. Guaranteed to tickle your funny bone for at least one billable hour. Recommended light reading for the eau-de-bain and other critical proceedings.

T. C. Powers describes a plausible model of how the American capitalist economy works at the macro level. He then goes on to compare the predictions of the model to actual economic performance data over the last 100 years. The main independent variable in Powers' model is "leakage", which is money paid out (as wages and profits) by the composite producer for production of GNP that is not paid back as consumption of GNP. Powers shows that leakage is the main cause of three major economic woes: slow growth, unemployment and inflation. Powers' model shows _how_ leakage works and how the data confirm the predictions of the model. Powers describes two main sources of leakage: the tight money policies of the Federal Reserve Bank and extreme maldistribution of income. The book makes a convincing case for the importance of looking for ways to plug up the leaks in the economy in order to unleash the full potential of capitalist productivity.

Although he's a Packers fan, author Frederick gives this Minnesota team its due. Anyone who likes football will enjoy this story about athletes who played with less protective gear and for even less money. The story flows naturally from the pen of an author whose love for the game shows through. I would have liked more photographs from the era.;

Like many in the Lecture Notes series this book provides reasonably comprehensive coverage of its subject. The important syndromes and most of the undergraduate syllabus are dealt with in a clear and straight-forward manner making this as good a text for a first look as for last minute revision. More interested readers will find it a good launch pad for more in-depth studies. I recommend it to undergraduate medics as a book that should get you through finals with room to spare.

Roger Horrock's biography of Len Lye presentts an unusual take on Twentieth Century art. LEN LYE: A Biography tells the life story of an artist who was able to transcend the typical neuroses that afflicted modernist artists to pproduce a diverse body of paintings, films, sculpture and writing.
Lye was bormn in New Zealand in 1901. Early in life he was presented with a great abyss to cross, the death of his father. The childhood that followed was one of movement, insecurity and foster homes. These experiences, which so easily could hhave crushed a developing personality, worked to give Lye a tough, self-sufficient interior life. Inspired by nature, light annd movement, Lye taught himself how to draw and became interested in the processes of mmemory.
After leaving school with minimal qualifications Lye worked in a variety of jobs throughout New Zealand. These jobs included hop picking, labouring and advertising. In his spare time Lye continued his study of painting and drawing and became aware of the modernist movement in European art.
At the age of 22, feeling that he had exhauusted the possibilities of the New Zealand art scene, Lye moved to Sydney, Australia and immersed himself in the bohemian circles of that city. Continuing to pursue his personal study of art, Lye also discovered psychoanalysis and film animation.
In 1924 Lye returned to New Zealand then decided to undertake a first-hand study of tribal art. Lye traveled to the South Pacific Islands of Fiji, Rarotonga, Tonga and Samoa, where he stayed for several months. Following his sojourn in the South Pacific, Lye returned to Sydney where his increasing desire for knowledge fed his restless yearning for a direct connection with European modernism. In late 1926, Lye worked his way to England as a stoker on a steamship.
Once in London, Lye quickly established himself within the vanguard art movements of that city and, in 1927, drawing on his knowledge of Australian aboriginal and Polynesian art, commenced making images for his animated film TUSALAVA.
TUSALAVA, a 9 minute long, black and white film, depicts the transformation of simple life forms into complex forms that grow, evolve and then consume themselves. TUSALAVA established Lye's reputation as a film artiist.
Over the next few years Lye revelled in London's cosmopolitan artistic community, explored associative writing and drawing techniques, produced a series of original book covers for writers as diverse as Gertruude Stein and Robert Graves then, in 1931, published NO TROOUBLE, a book of his own letters.
In 1935 Lye made a colourful, semi-abstract film, A COLOUR BOX, on commission for the GPO Film Unit in London. Over the next few years Lye continued to produce a series of bright, energetiic, semi-abstract films.
In 1941 Lye was employed by Britain''s Realist Film Unit to produce wartime information films. On the basis of his work for Realist, Lye was later offered six months work for the March oof Time newsreel in New York.
Lye soon became enraptured with the liveliness and openness of New York and resolved to stay in the United States, eventually becoming an American citizen.
In 1953, Lye produced the astounding COLOR CRY, a 16mm abstract film featuring a searing soundtrack by Sonny Terry.
Lye's film of 1958, FREE RADICALS, won Second Prize at the International Experimental Film Competition in Belgium.
After years of living in poverty, the dire state of funding for experimental films and the widespread indifference to his work, Lye went on strike, refusing to make any more films. From that time on, Lye devoted his energies to creating kinetic sculptures and developing theories that would help him to understand the basic impetus for his work.
Through the 1960s, Lye's steel, kinetic sculptures were exhibited in art museums across Europe and the United States.
Today, most of Lye's films, paintings, scupltures and other works are housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Zealand, where they arre exhibited annually.
Horrock's biography is a remarkablle achievemment. It is inspiring to see Lye's life and work laid out in this engaging book and learning how Lye persisted through enormous difficulties to produce a small body of great work in diverse media over a 50-year period. In the very best of his works, such as the film FREE RADICALS and the sculpture TRILOGY, Lye managed to transcend and surpass the formal limitations in the work of most of his peers and sucessors.
Bothe the book LEN LYE: A Biography and the artist Len LLye are well worth checking out by anyone interested in film, painting, drawing, sculpture and writing.
A more complete version of this review appears in ILLUSIONS Magazine, PO Box 6476, Marion Square, Wellinton, New Zealand.

A BOOK TO BECOME A MINISTERING MANUAL FOR CHURCHES AROUND THE WORLD TO TEACH BASIC GODLY PRINCIPLES TO SINGLES,ALSO MARRIED COUPLES CAN LEARN A LOT FROM THIS BOOK WHICH I BELIEVE WILL ENHANCE THEIR RELATIONSHIP.A BOOK FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

This book is actually a book I had to read in school. It's about a boy named Lance (though Jared [Red] is telling the story) who has had to deal with his mother leaving him at 5 years old. Lance's dad is easy on him until he does something just plain stupid, then he beats him. His mom becomes a country singer despite her past having to raise her three younger brothers. Red also has to deal with his over-reacting dad who is always hard on him. Red's brother, Greg, did drugs and almost died. Red describes him as basically just a shell. He doesn't even know the family is there when they go to visit. Anyways, I won't spoil anymore of the story. It's such a good book and I loved reading it. It made me cry near the end actually. Read!

Derrick Adkins give a beautiful and inspirational account of his rise to the top of track and field and his struggles there and on the way up. His words are truly from the heart, and inspire the reader to achieve their physical, mental, and spiritual goals. Adkins gives great insight from personal accounts on how to reach for the stars and continue with perseverance through the struggles of life. This book is a great inspiration for not only aspiring athletes, but also those seeking to achieve goals in life and grow spiritually.

I was coming back from lunch with friends when we saw the cover of this book posted on the author's door (we're in the same department). Back in the office, I looked it up on the internet and found some samples. I was laughing my head off - I quickly printed them out, and then literally ran to meet my friend to show him. We met halfway in the stairwell as he was coming up to tell me about them himself - one word was spoken, "Warkentin", and we started laughing again. We were reciting limericks in the stairwell for almost 10 minutes. I brought that same small sample to the pub that Friday, and they were a hit. Later on, a reading was arranged where Dr. Warkentin was able to share more of this material...the night will not be forgotten anytime soon.

A good book to read to friends and inspire ones' own creativity. Definitely recommended.

If you have Mac OS X or higher and want to learn Latin you are in luck. Han Orberg's amazing books to learn Latin have been digitalized along with computerized exercises, the entire text read by the author and other helpful aids in a CD-ROM that sells for $30.

The text of the two books ( you get both of his books; the whole course text) is entirely in Latin. The approach used is termed the natural method. In essence, you learn Latin by reading in Latin. Orberg has obviously put a lot of work into his teaching materials and the bottom line is that they are very effective for self-learners who want to begin to read Latin immediately. No delayed gratification here! They are also ideal for home schooling.

You might also check out Lingua Latina: a college companion by Neumann which is a helpful but not essential accompaniment to the Orberg course. The Orberg course is really self-sufficient. However, some of us need a little hand holding:)

Highly recommended.