Creators Books

I strongly recommend any book by Lee Strobel. He is an excellent writer. He presents complicated scientific evidence in a very simplistic fashion. This book is an excellent resource when teaching evolutionary theory. It provides very up-to-date data. Every Middle School/High school student should be exposed to this information in order to make an eductated decision regarding creation/evolution. I utilized it as a resource in my 8th grade science class and really enjoyed it.

As a biology student in the 1970's, I was exposed to evolutionary theory in my college education. Not only had I been exposed to it, I was absolutely indoctrinated in it, and I learned that my college professors considered evolution a "fact", not just a theory. I was never fully convinced of the theory of evolution, as it did not explain adequately in my mind how all the different life forms evolved from one single-celled organism. I considered this a tremendous leap of faith, one that took more faith to believe than believing in a Creator. Many of my questions and doubts about evolution were poo-poo'ed by my porfessors, and although they did not have definitive answers to the questions either, they assured me that in time (and with more scientific study) my questions would be answered.

As we enter a new millenium, the theory of evolution is being questioned like never before. Proponents of "intelligent design" claim that the theory of evolution cannot account for the beginning of life from non-living matter, and that the diversity of life is such that unguided "blind" evolution cannot explain it adequately. Although the general public has not yet been informed of this, the theory of evolution is a theory in crisis, not only through those that criticize its faults and weaknesses, but from scientists themselves that no longer find adequate explanation in the theory. Strobel's book takes up these issues and presents a logical discussion on the weaknesses of evolutionary theory and the case for intelligent design. Issues explored are as follows:

Modern Education and Evolution in the Classroom
Doubts about Darwinian Evolution
Cosmology
Physics and evolution
Astronomy and evolution
Biochemistry and evolution
DNA and intelligent design

This is a great resource for the average lay-person who does not want to get bogged down with in-depth discussions on physics and molecular structure. Strobel presents the material in a manner that is easy for all to understand. However, please know that this is not an "easy read". It will require thought on the part of the reader and is not just a book you can pick up and read at leisure. If used as a serious study book, the reader will get far more out of the content than if read casually.

As in Strobel's previous two books on Christ and Christian faith, this is another highly recommended book. It will definately challenge your conceptions on evolution.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

Stobel has done an outstanding job of going to the community of scientific scholars to acquire a factual scientific review of Darwinism and the incredible nonsense that it reflects in trying to explain the origins of the universe, earth and all living things upon the face of the earth. If the concept of faith is a prime requisite to substantuate religion, then without doubt, Darwinism is a religion...it takes more faith to believe what Darwin professed in spite of all known laws of science and nature and assessing the actual facts, than to accept that there is an intelligent creator.

I'd recommend Digital Storytelling to anyone interested in a new medium for their message--it's both accessible and practical.

With an MBA in marketing, I was most interested in the use of digital storytelling for promotion, advertising, and branding. I am a board member of an opera company; like many arts organizations, we are trying to entice a younger audience.

For the opera company, putting our young singers online is a very accessible way to lure a younger audience already familiar with Facebook. I would like to set up a MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game), a type of game I learned about in the book. In MMOGs, people take on the appearance and persona of make-believe characters and interact with each other. In one for the opera company they could portray the drama and events of opera. Who wouldn't want to be the Duke of Mantua or Don Giovanni! An ARG (Alternative Reality Game) would be terrific, too. As explained in the Digital Storytelling, ARGs tie together several forms of media to tell a story, and intimately involve players in the narrative, where they help solve a mystery or prevent a crime.

Digital Storytelling also speaks to the challenges of a Rice University chamber music presenting organization of which I am a member. While the performances attract students, this audience will not have longevity that young subscribers will. Ergo we must reach these potential members through media with which they are familiar, like the Internet.

I loved the section of the book about the kiosk as an avatar. While it is terrific for hospitalized kids, it would also be a great way to communicate with shut-in geriatrics. The kiosks could incorporate pets, family, connected adults, games, physical exercises, etc. The possibilities are without limits.

I feel that Digital Storytelling provides a detailed, articulate guide for those interested in using a new methodology to convey their message; it is a fine tool.


Barbara Kauffman, M.A., M.B.A.

I read the first edition of Digital Storytelling cover-to-cover and continue to use it as a reference book. When I picked up the second edition of this valuable resource, I knew I was in both heaven and in trouble. Here would be brand new jewels of information I could use in all my storytelling (that's the heaven part) and I would be compelled by my own curiousity and desire to stay abreast of the developing multi-media industry to read this new edition cover-to-cover (the trouble part is that once I picked it up I'd be ignoring other projects in order to absorb all the great insight and information Carolyn offers).

Sure enough.

Digital Storytelling has far surpassed the typical pattern of a second edition, which offers 20% new material. Miller's second edition offers 80% new material! If you want to keep up, or even have a glimmer of what's up on the frontiers of storytelling, you've got to read Digital Storytelling.

For those who pooh-pooh new media as shallow and unintelligent, read what Miller has to say about the history and provenance of the art form - including James Joyce.

For those who're only interested in the action and the creation of same, entire sections of the book are devoted to how-to's, with "Idea-Generating Exercises" in each.

For those whose interest lies in the business aspects of new technologies, Carolyn explores that as well.

To practice what she preaches about interconnectivity and multiple media sources, the book also offers additional materials and links on a couple of different websites.

All-in-all, Digital Storytelling is a comprehensive analysis of and approach to the creative and commercial aspects of new media that reflects the rich storytelling tendencies that make us human - and that makes stories so compelling.

Buy it, read it, and refer to it whenever you're working on anything digital.

Carolyn Miller is extremely bright and highly accomplished in her field; what she had to say about digital storytelling is worth listening to. The editorial reviews accurately reflect the great usefulness of this singular resource. I think you'll agree that it's "worth the price of admission."

It is absolutely true that no one but Hector Bolitho has beautifully written the biography of one of the greatest leader of the twentieth century. Infact, Mr. Bolitho painted the pictures for the readers with his amazing words. I could never learn more about Quid-i-Azam without his book...

Thank you Mr. Bolitho for your great work.

Mr Bolitho has written this biography a thousand time better than any Pakistani writer. We were taught about Quaed e Azam in the schools but no other book taught me more about the man whom I think was the greatest man ever walked on this earth....I love him...!

Written in a lucid and entertaining language, it gives us an indepth look on Mr Jinnah, the young secular Minded Lawyer and his conversion forced by the actions of Hindu Majority to the spokesman of the two Nation theory..

It does well to compare Mr Jinnah to his contemporary Ataturk of Turkey, and puts in to Perspective Mr Jinnah's achievement, namely Pakistan.

"I recommend this book to film students and anyone else who is interested in the art of mixing film sound; it contains absorbing insights into the creative process from some of the best sound designers in the industry. By engaging film sound artists in a series of revealing dialogs, Pasquariello highlights some of the practical problems and ingenious solutions to making films sound good." Ioan Allen, senior vice president, Dolby Laboratories

From May/June, 1997 issue of the Editors Guild (IATSE Local 776) Newsletter, Hollywood, California BOOK REVIEW: "SOUNDS OF MOVIES - Interviews with the Creators of Feature Sound Tracks" by Nicholas Pasquariello 240 pages, softcover - Port Bridge Books Reviewed by Dave Whittaker Nicholas Pasquariello has been writing about the technical side of filmmaking for a variety of periodicals for about twenty years, and he now has published a valuable book that collects together interviews with thirteen individuals who are all prominent in the world of film sound. The interviews span the last thirteen years, published originally in Mix magazine and others, and the interviews included here seem to have been chosen for their timelessness, a wise choice. While this book seems aimed largely at the academic film community, there's sufficient depth in the contents so as to be of value to "working professionals" in the film industry. The book is divided into two main sections about production and post-production. The production interviews are with prominent production mixers; the section on post is with re-recording mixers, sound editors, and "sound designers" who wear both hats. The balance is devoted to absorbing interviews on director/composer collaboration, the archival restorations of 'Othello' and 'Lawrence of Arabia', and the perils of translating and dubbing foreign-language versions abroad. In the production section the interviews are with Chris Newman on 'A Chorus Line' and 'Mosquito Coast', Drew Kunin on the rigors of getting usable sound on racing yachts for Carrol Ballard's 'Wind', Ivan Sharrock on 'The Last Emperor', Simon Kaye on 'Platoon', Tod Maitland on 'The Doors', and Nelson Stoll on the marriage of documentary and feature techniques and the politics of the job. It's an interesting and highly varied group of films, with an equally interesting and varied group of mixers talking. If you've never worked in production, or if you've ever complained about the production mixing on a show you're working on, these interviews can be most enlightening. You'll gain some appreciation for the difficult position these folks are in. Trying to reconcile the goal of good sound quality with the conflicting demands of preoccupied directors, camera and lighting needs, difficult locations, and budget realities, all the while "looking good in dailies", is clearly revealed to be a most elusive objective. In the post-production section are interviews with Mark Berger on re-recording 'Amadeus' and 'Mosquito Coast', Richard Beggs on sound design for 'Cotton Club' and 'Tucker', Leslie Shatz on sound design for 'Mishima', Mark Mangini on sound effects for 'Star Trek IV', and Mike Minkler on re-recording 'Explorers'. Like the production mixing section, the group of films here is quite varied and the personalities of the interviewees are often quite engaging. The post section devotes most of its length to the interviews with Bay Area professionals. As a Hollywood sound editor, I was taken aback by this at first, but then realized that this proves to be a bit of a virtue, because the multiple-hat wearing of Richard Beggs and Leslie Shatz allows the interviews to roam over the entire sound-post process, presenting a cohesive picture of what really goes on beyond the picture editing room. Perhaps this Bay Area weighting is a reflection of the tendency for many filmmakers who appreciate the value of collaboration to be attracted to the less-compartmentalized working methods there. It proves useful to read about the difficult location sound recording on 'Mosquito Coast', and then read later about the ramifications of those early decisions when Alan Splet and Mark Berger were trying to edit and mix the tracks. Where this book could be improved would be if there more of these linkages of interviews. Also, when techniques with a long history are discussed in the interviews (such as dance foley for 'Chorus Line') an internal author's reference about that history would be enlightening (as in: "Fred Astaire and others were doing this in 1934"). But these are minor quibbles, somewhat made up for by the presence of fascinating 'bonus' interviews with Vittorio Storaro and Dean Tavoularis on the cinematography and production design for 'Tucker'. There's precious little published material on the working and creative processes of film sound, and this book helps to fill the void. Check it out.

"I recommend this book to film students and anyone else who is interested in the art of mixing film sound; it contains absorbing insights into the creative process from some of the best sound designers in the industry. By engaging film sound artists in a series of revealing dialogs, Pasquariello highlights some of the practical problems and ingenious solutions to making films sound good." Ioen Allen Senior Vice President Dolby Laboratories

Bought this for my husband who loves aircraft. But, I loved the book as I love history when told through correspondence and photos. My husband was born in 1926 so this will be a book we pass on to our son so he will be aware of the time period.

Nova Hall's "Spirit and Creator" presents a new and intriguing look at the design and construction of Charles Lindbergh's amazing plane, the "Spirit of St. Louis." Built in an astounding 60 days, the "Spirit" was a unique and, this book makes clear, radical aircraft designed for one goal: to make a flight from New York to Paris possible.

Although the story of the creation of the "Spirit of St. Louis" has hardly remained a secret, many details concerning its design have been obscure. Until now. One day in 1998 Nova Hall, the grandson of "Spirit" designer Donald A. Hall, discovered a locked trunk in his family's garage. Once it was pried open, the trunk revealed a literal treasure-trove of photographs, documents, and film footage of the plane during construction and in flight. This amazing book presents these materials with explanatory text, and does a great deal to clarify the historical record.

It is clear, after reading the book, that Donald Hall's design for the "Spirit" was the creation of a remarkable genius. Certainly Lindbergh contributed a great deal to the plane (biographer Scott Berg has noted that it was literally "a glove for Lindbergh's hands"), but it was Hall who came up with most of the innovative design. It's simplicity, apparent in a series of never-before-seen photos of the naked airframe, belies the complex challenges that faced Hall. That he was able to deliver a complete aircraft in a mere sixty days -- a time frame that did not even allow him to produce proper blueprints or pre-assemble many components -- makes clear that Lindbergh's arrival in Paris was a triumph not only for this pilot, but for the designer of his machine. As the title of the book implies, Lindbergh had the dream, and it took Hall's know-how and perserverence to create the plane that would make its fulfillment possible.

This is a terrific book for anyone interested in Lindbergh, and especially for anyone who would like to know more about the nuts and bolts of the "Spirit." The text is well-written and, while somewhat spare, it presents a highly reverential account of the life of Hall and his work on history's most famous plane (Wright Flyer notwithstanding). The photographs are amazing, and there are hundreds of them, some culled from extremely rare and precious nitrate motion picture film prints.

Rescued from an old steamer trunk, the personal notes, drawings, and photos of the Spirit of St. Louis' designer, Donald Hall, paint a portrait of the famous transatlantic flight and a vital friendship between engineer and pilot. It's a time capsule that sets the record straight, painstakingly arranged by Hall's only grandson, Nova. Donald Hall was essential to the flight's success, and in an incredible 60 days, he analyzed and built the legendary plane. Although he was not a glory-seeker like Lindbergh, Hall was an adventurer just the same, hunting out answers by pushing the envelope of technology and thereby attaining the ultimate achievement. In the end, this quiet and gentle man acquiesced to history, but thanks to this engrossing recount, Hall's legacy speaks loudly to future generations.

WHAT a book! Hauntingly illustrated and absolutely riveting, this book entranced me, never mind my daughter (who has since named her toy lamb Mary Shelley).

Sharon Darrow's story of Mary Shelly, creator of Frankenstein, comes to life in the picturebook story Through The Tempests Dark And Wild, which will require good reading skills or parental assistance for the picturebook crowd. Fact and fiction blend in this survey of Shelley's life and writing talents.

Award-winning illustrator Angela Barrett utilizes luminous watercolor illustrations to vivify the life of Mary Shelley. Author Darrow skillfully weaves some fictionalized accounts into the facts known about Mary Shelley's life.

Born August 30, 1797, Mary was the child of two famous writers, philosopher William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft. Sadly, the elder Mary died only a few days after her daughter's birth.

As a child Mary told stories, often ghost stories, and she spoke of a girl who could not forget the mother she had never known. She also read the books written by her parents in which they envisioned a better world with education and freedom for all.

Her relationship with her father was to change when he remarried. There were disagreements between young Mary and her stepmother. So, at the age of fourteen she was sent to Scotland to live with friends, the Baxters.

One can imagine that the child was bereft; she had lost her mother and now her father turned from her. But the Baxters offered her not only love but intellectual stimulation as well. Some are of the opinion that Mary's Gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, began to grow in her mind during this time.

Mary later eloped with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was to write novels, plays, stories, and poems. Today, some 200 years after her birth, she is well remembered.

"Through the Tempests Dark and Wild" is masterfully presented, and would be a valuable addition to the libraries of all young readers.

- Gail Cooke

Ronald Bresland's Travel With C S Lewis falls rather pleasingly to the hand and eye in the manner of a lavishly illustrated tourist guide. It explores the evocative landscapes and centres of learning in Ireland and Britain which form the stage upon which Lewis's early life and later slow journey to Christian faith are set, and introduces the many characters who were his companions along the way. The book about "the most quoted Christian of the 20th century" is no `mere quoteianity' however, and instead brings the traveller with little effort and much enjoyment to some fascinating parts of `Lewisiana' unexplored by all but the most experienced cartographers. Here, on less-travelled roads, are quite a few watchful Oxford dragons antagonistic to Lewis's role as `Apostle to the Skeptics', there, a skeleton or two in Lewis's own wardrobe.

Bresland has a particular interest in Lewis's connections with Ireland. He notes the development of Lewis's literary sense of `Northernness' in the huge spaces hanging above the Atlantic on the coasts of Donegal and Londonderry. The general reader, attracted to this book by the film release of Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia may not previously have been aware that the inspiration for that magical land was the hilly landscapes of County Down above Rostrevor. Nor will most who have read Lewis's science fiction trilogy have known how he regarded the Cooley Mountains in County Louth as being `as near heaven as you can get in Thulcandra' (the trilogy's earth). And although those more familiar with Lewis will have known of his close friendship with J R R Tolkien and of their meetings with the `Inklings' writers' group in Oxford, fewer will be aware of Lewis's private encounters in 1921 with the Irish poet W B Yeats at his strangely-furnished house in the same city, or of the lasting influence Yeats had on the atheist Lewis's views of the supernatural and the occult. Bresland notes that Yeats' influence would ironically lead Lewis, not into Yeats' own arcane theosophy (as it did this reviewer's father), but into Christianity. The tour affords the traveller a brief audience at Lewis's conversations with John Betjeman (one of his first pupils and an "idle prig"), G K Chesterton, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and others, as well as Lewis's conversations of mind and soul with earlier luminaries - Swift, Arnold, Milton, Guerber (Myths of the Norsemen), George MacDonald, and the composer Richard Wagner's operas of Norse sagas. From childhood `Jack' lived in his imagination.

Despite Lewis's intention to speak as an apologist for `mere' Christianity, his northern Irish background and his conversion to Protestant Christianity (`No I'm afraid I'm not even an Anglo-Catholic') introduced increasing tensions into the relationship with Tolkien, who saw in some of Lewis's not adequately Catholic ("prejudiced") views "an Ulsterior motive"! Indeed, Lewis responded acidly when the Catholic publishers of his Pilgrim's Regress added, without his approval, a cover note which equated the `Puritania' of Lewis's allegory with his childhood Ulster. The comment, he said, was a damnable lie to "make the Dublin riff-raff buy the book". Finally, Bresland brings the traveller on the bumpy road from Oxford to Cambridge, following the former establishment's concern that his `hot gospelling' (Lewis's own term) would interfere with a possible appointment to professorship. The `nest of crooks' at Magdalen, fumed Lewis, was `leftist, atheist and cynical'.

The last part of this surprising journey takes the traveller through the `Shadowlands', the joy of Lewis's marriage to an American poet, Joy Davidman, and the terrible grief of her subsequent death of cancer. Lewis recorded his pain through `eyes blurred with tears' in A Grief Observed, published just two years before his own untimely death, an event overshadowed by the assassination on the same day of another `Jack', US President J. F. Kennedy. In a brief final section Bresland gives a favourable evaluation of Lewis's Christian legacy, taking the risk, common to biographers of great figures, of claiming the hero for one's own very particular tradition. In this case, after the pleasant journey, I have little energy or inclination for dissent.

I read this book "Travel With C.S.Lewis" in the class "Irish Studies" at college. I think that it is not only very helpful to study about C.S.Lewis' life, work and thoughts, but it is also good to learn about history of Ireland.
It made me interested in Irish and English literature.
I'd love to visit Ireland someday :)

"Travel with CS Lewis" is a good guide book of C.S.Lewis and his Irish landscape, visible and invisible. It is full of colorful photoes and infomative accounts of Irish impact on Lewis and his literature.
I travelled around Ulster this summer (2007) with this book in my hands.
The Bay of Portsalon in County Donegal was really inspiring to me as the photo of Ballymastocker Bay on page 112 shows. Lewis and Joy spent their honeymoon in Lough Swilly including Rathmullan and Portsalon. In Japanese universities, I use this book "Travel with CS Lewis" for my "Irish Studies" class. My students are charmed by Lewis and his Irish background. Some plan to visit Ireland in the future.

If you like to own some really cool prints of Bugs Bunny, Tweety, or just the old folks from the Warner Bros. Studio, this is the book! It goes through the history of the animation studio and its founders. Chuck Jones is similar to Walt Disney, he had his own crew of animation masters to create a whole new perspective of cartoon.
One disappointing about this book is that its published date is 1997. Sadly "The Iron Giant" (released 1999) and "Cats Don't Dance" (1997) did not make it to the book; two of the most successful WB animated feature film. However, it is still a book to own and look for inspiration.

It provides the information about different types of animation art such as production cel, sericel, limited edition. The reader can use this book to check the original prices and edition size of many WB limited edition cels.

This book was well done and very appealing to the eye and informational to read. It gives the reader some good history of Warner Bros. cartoons and the rarely credited artists. Through-out the book there are pointers on how to draw various characters, but unfortunatly they are not as complete as one might have it. However, the overall is terrific.

This remarkable treatise is a comprehensive introduction to the spiritual science of Psycanics, which, in a nutshell, offers a precise scientific codification of the laws of how life works, and it is, as the subtitle indicates, a practical "Operating Manual for the Human Being". Artfully blending philosophy, mysticism, psychology, spirituality and much more, the author presents cutting-edge knowledge of how we create our personal universe. He introduces and demonstrates precise spiritual technologies and creative life skills, the application of which, will empower the reader/student to discover/regain their life purpose and power.

He explains how we create our daily life experience, including all our thoughts, emotions and circumstances. There seems to be no topic concerning human consciousness, spirituality and behavior, however good or bad it may appear, that Psycanics cannot transform and propel towards the ultimate human goals of personal happiness and transforming love.

Not for the faint-hearted, but kindly to the serious seeker of truth and enlightenment, this book is a one-in-a-million opportunity to make sense out of your life and to discover the key to ultimate happiness.

This could easily be the most life-changing book you will ever read. If nothing else, as you read you will discover that there are no accidents in life. Everything that occurs in your life - your circumstances, your relationships, even your career - are here by your own creation. This books describes with clarity the universal laws by which you create your life, whether you know it or not, whether you want it to or not. You will learn that your Power in life comes from understanding how these laws operate and how you can put them to work for you in order to manifest that which you desire. A Must Read for anyone interested in living the life of their dreams.

This is unlike any other book on spirituality I have ever read. Unlike other spiritual books that write about spirituatlity and the characteristics of an aware person, etc., that leave you thinking "how can I reach that level of awareness, or happiness such that it lasts?"; or "how can I truly create my life?". This book does not leave you hanging. It's a practical, hands on approach to truly creating your life.
This is not a "feel good" book. This is a REAL handbook for creating anything you want in your life. This book is a little technical, but it's technical because the information is designed to be implemented and used to create your life. It's an experiential handbook, so be prepared to have some truly amazing breakthroughs.
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I'm a big fan of TINTIN and this book just put the icing on the cake for me. I can recommend this book without reservations!! It arrived quickly and in its original packaging.

The only problem with this book is that Hergé is dead and Tintin is gone. The author, Michael Farr, perhaps now *the* top ranking European Tintinologist, after his splendid "Tintin - the complete companion" (available at Amazon for under 20 dollars), continues to develop his très fantastique tintinesque series about everything tintin: all the characters, all the stories, but above all, ALL THE PHOTOS, ALL THE GLORIOUS GLOSSIES EVER TAKEN OF FATHER HERGÉ AND HIS MERRY MEN ! There were women, too - if not in the albums, where the female element is either heavily caricatured, or inexistent, the tintin-producing drawing-inking staff included lots of gorgeous feminine personnel - one of which, naturellement, Hergé fell in love with and married as soon as his divorce was granted. In a way, Michael Farr designs the sociology around the albums, with the visual documentation care of an anthropologist. Everybody is here: Hergé's lovely second wife, a fabulous photo of his first wedding, all his collaborators, his boy scout friends, his brother (model for Colonel Sponz),
mom and dad, a unforgettable shot of Hergé in a tuxedo, many photos of Chang (see Tintin in Tibet) when young and when old, the premises in Brussels, reproductions of his contemporary art collection (with some pix with Warhol, and the Warhol silk screen portraits) - it's quite complete, as "Complete Companion" had been not too long ago. As most fans realize, the posthumous "Tintin and Alpha-Art" is really bittersweet, but this 120 page tribute is not. Of course, we all wish that Hergé had not died, even if in his last adventure (Picaros) the world-reporter-detective had had his golf pants exchanged for jeans. From this angle the tribute is sad, and all the incredible photos of the lively man, and of his lively team, will certainly bring a tear, either metaphorically or the real mccoy. Still, n'importe: Tintin lives forever, even without Hergé. IF YOU ARE INTO COMICS, YOU HAFTA BUY THIS BOOK ! ! ! ON THE MIRTH-ENNUI SCALE, IT'S RATED A TEARY TOP MARK. But no boring interpretation comes with the package, for it reads like a Tintin album, sweet and mainstream, a bit conservative, and tremendous fun. A MUST REALLY. LONG LIVE MICHAEL FARR !