Language Arts Books

Why did I buy this book? I was hooked at once when I began to read the introduction, where the author, Natalie Rogers, a former actress, acting teacher and behavioral psychotherapist, reports the feelings she had when she attended a class about "Oral Communication" and witnessed the students' ordeal during presentations:

"Was I the only one aware of the discomfort and loss of concentration? Apparently, the instructor was not concerned. Apart from her command to relax, she ignored the students' profound distress and continued urging them to make eye contact and speak more slowly. `Don't be so nervous,' she'd add, presumably trying to be helpful. `We support you.'

I was bewildered . This wasn't at all like the systematic training I had received in acting school, where we were given intensive coaching for concentration, relaxation, attention, and awareness. Here, except for the suggestion to relax, the sole focus was on the preparation of the speech, with no serious attention paid to the painful loss of confidence that many students were experiencing."

Natalie's book gives you the training. It teaches detailed, concrete, step-by-step methods to address the fear of public speaking. I have consulted various books about the fear of public speaking during the past couple of years, but this book provides the most powerful and straightforward step-by-step training approach of them all. Just to give only a few concrete examples of how this book is full of extremely valuable information page for page: It provides a detailed step-by-step instruction of correct belly breathing - all the other books which mentioned breathing techniques left me with the impression I had to take "deep" breathes in order to have the desired effects. Another example: The author writes "The idea of managing or confronting your fear is meaningless ... People with anxiety about speaking in public cannot overcome their problem with cavalier advice. The only reasonable solution is a method that will eliminate the fear and its devastating effects.", and later in the book explains why videotape is not the appropriate tool for beginning and fearful speakers - now I understand why training seminars with video, offered by my company, only left me embarrassed and frustrated, and with an even greater feeling of helplessness! And a last example: I always had wondered why visualization exercises had not the desired effects for me, and attributed it to my lack of commitment - now I know better!

This book is much more than only a book on public speaking. It teaches a comprehensive, systematic mind-body training approach on how to prepare yourself for performance situations. In the author's words: "Performance is any situation where you feel that you are being judged or evaluated by others. This ability to detach your thoughts from focusing on the audience and their approval, is a skill that you can develop if you commit yourself to the TalkPower program as described in this book." Buy this book - it provides you with the practical methods you need to help yourself.

I teach a public speaking class and I'm a longtime member of Toastmasters International. This is the best public speaking book I have ever seen. I am planning to make it the required reading for my public speaking class. The author, Natalie Rogers in an actress and psychologist and has helped people overcome her speaking fears for many years.
One thing Toastmasters does not teach is the psychology behind public speaking and the fear of it. I found some articles to cover this. This book does an even better job. There are templates for speeches in the book. You can read it through once, then refer to it when you need it. It is also easy enouch to follow to keep ones interest. Dr. Rogers is a very gentle teacher and I recommend this without question.

I've tried it all. Self-help books, Hypnosis, Yoga, breathing exercises, voice lessons, public speaking workshops, Toastmasters... nothing ever worked, and I never understood why.

Finally, I took Natalie Rogers' weekend workshop on Public Speaking, and at last I understood. Public Speaking isn't like other phobias out there, like a Fear of Flying or a Fear of Heights. Conquering Public Speaking requires you to do more than just overcome fear; it requires you to:

1) Learn how to WRITE an effective speech

2) Learn how to BREATHE and SPEAK well

3) Learn how to PERFORM under stress

When you have a Fear of Heights, you can curl up in a little ball and wait for the fear to pass. Therapists call this "extinction therapy"... if your patients expose themselves to the situation which triggers the fear, the phobia eventually goes extinct. This actually works for basic phobias... but it DOESN'T work for phobias that require you to actually do more than just curl up in a ball.

Natalie does a sensational job of 1) and 2) above, by giving you speech templates that really help you write a quick and effective speech... and then teaching you how to breathe and use your voice. That in itself would be worth the price of the book... but Natalie actually has developed a breakthrough approach to performing under pressure that is so powerful it is worth calling out.

Basically, the idea is this - it is IMPOSSIBLE to be nervous if you are concentrating on something. You know that feeling you get when you are really focused on something? You lose track of time, you lose yourself in your work... and in that moment, it is actually physiologically impossible to be self-conscious or nervous. Well, Natalie takes advantage of this physiological fact and taps it to help you neutralize speaking nervousness. And she's found a way to trigger concentration that doesn't require mental energy... and so you can actually achieve focus during a difficult speech, and take advantage of this physical phenomena to eradicate nervousness.

I know, I know - it all sounds too good to be true. I'll admit - I haven't recovered 100% from my public speaking fears. I can speak to groups or to someone important... but put me in front of a group of important people, and I'll get nervous. But here's where Natalie's techniques really come in handy. Before I speak, I prepare a speech using her templates. I practice my breathing and make sure that I've got my speaking voice working in the privacy of my home. Then, I use her concentration technique to mitigate the nervousness of speaking. The first few minutes are still tough, but the nervousness passes... and I am calm, confident, and comfortable.

It's such a strange feeling to be able to say that I'm calm, confident, and comfortable in front of a crowd. It's been a couple of years since my first panic attack in front of a group of colleagues, and being bad at speaking has almost become part of my identity. But, it's really true... you really CAN overcome these fears to become not only a non-phobic speaker, but a really good public speaker!

If you can afford to go to Natalie's weekend seminars, then by all means that's probably the easiest way to learn all this. But I've been to the workshop and I've read this book, and the fact is that all of the information in the workshop is right here in this sixteen dollar book. The book really is beautifully designed, and the binding actually holds up well - which is a good thing, because you'll find yourself returning to the book again and again.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Good luck conquering your public speaking fears!

I found Natalie Rogers' text, THE NEW TALK POWER, very useful for a Public Speaking college course. Rogers gives a step-by-step guide made up of "templates" for standard 5-7 minute speeches. She integrates the preparation phases with acting exercises (proper breathing, visualization, etc.)and provides the reader with many examples of speeches. The book is a valuable tool for speech classes. My only quibble is that she might have provided a little more background in interpersonal communication including providing examples and definitions of terms associated with effective verbal and non-verbal communication (i.e., emblems, rhetorical questions, decoding, etc.)

That learning a technique can overcome such a powerful fear, but it did! Very well written, and the techniques are fully explained in both the "how to" sense, and the underlying basis for them. Highly recommended.

This is the greatest book I ever seen. It' a complete guide for film and tv scorig. It analyses every aspects and tasks of the film music production for a composer. From the spotting to the business... It explains very clearly the concepts, also with a lot of quotations from today's most famous film composers, editors, executives, producers, directors... (more than 100 professionals have contributed with quotations to this 'bible'). There are many many printed score examples. It is very up to date, with modern films examples, and there's also a chapter concerning digital music composition. I've copied the whole contents pages, so you can see this book professionality.

Just don't care about the price, it's really a great investment. I was in doubt to buy it for the price, but when I've opened it I've realized that my money was spent in a great way.

CONTENTS
of On the Track by Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright

Foreword by John Williams
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments for the First Edition
Acknowledgments for the Second Edition
Introduction
How iv Use This Book

I PRELIMINARIES

1 The Filmmaking Team
Meeting the Filmmakers. The Director. Communicating with the Director. Support and Guidance. Two-Way Dialogue between Director and Composer. The Producer. The Producer's Power. Communicating with the Producer. The Film Editor. The Music Editor. Music Executives and Supervisors.

2 The Script, Meetings, and Screenings
The Script. The First Meeting before Screening the Film. The First Screening. First Cut, Fine Cut, and Assembly. The First Discussion after Screening the Film. Composing before the Film Is Finished.

3 Role Models and Temp Tracks
Specific Film Scores or Cues as Role Models. Specific Film-Scoring Styles Used as Role Models. Specific Classical Pieces or Styles Used as Role Models. The Composer's Use of Role Models. Evoking a Role Model Inadvertently. Role Models and Plagiarism. Temp Tracks. Music Editors and Temp Traclcs--How It's Done. Why Filmmakers Use Temp Tracks. How Composers Work with Temp Tracks.

4 Spotting the Film
Talking It Over. Making Decisions. When To Use Music. Starting a Cue. Ending a Cue. Short Cues, Transitions, and Long Cues. The Importance of the Acting. The Director Communicates. Spotting Notes and Timing Notes. Changes in the Spotting after Scoring. Score Lengths.

5 Budgets and Schedules
Cost Factors. Figuring Costs. Working with a Smali Budget. Scoring Union or Nonunion. The Assumption Agreement. Working with the Contractor. Composing Fees. Budget Estimates. Time to Compose. Copying Time.

II CONCEPTUALIZING

6 Developing the Concept
Characterization. The Central Character. The Singie Dramatic Theme. Two Dramatic Themes. Ethnic/Geographic Considerations. Musical Styles. Combining Two or More Stylistic Elements. The Process of Elimination. Scores for Study.

7 Demonstrating the Score: Mockups and Electronics
Electronic Mockups. Mockups for Communication. Changes.

III TIMINGS
8 Timings and Clicks I
Free Timing. Using Clicks and Clock. Metronome Equivalents. When Timings Don't Sync. Requirements on Extremely Accurate Hits. Ritards, Fermatas, Accelerandos.

9 Timings and Clicks II
Music Editors. Cut Back Cues and Split Chases. Tempo and Mood Changes within Cues. Meter Changes within Cues. Timings with a Calculator. Using Videorecorders, Digitized Video and SMPTE Time Code. Drop-Frame or Non-Drop-Frame? Avoiding Confusion in Math Problems. Hardware and Software.

IV COMPOSING
10 Playing the Drama
Audience Expectations. Don't Tip the Story. Tone. Main Titles. Whose Point of View to Play? Playing the Overview. Playing What the Scene is Really About. Getting Inside the Character's Feelings. Playing the Environment or Location. Playing the Situation. How Intensely to Play the Drama less Is More/Understating the Drama. Avoiding Emotion. De-emphasizing a Scene. The Power of Silence. Playing through the Drama. Phrasing the Drama. Hitting the Action. Highlighting. Red Herrings. Scoring the Film Like a Ballet. Underscoring the Dialogue. Scores for Study.
11 Genres and Source Music
Genres. Action. Comedy. Documentaries. Historical and Period. Horror. Source Music. Interweaving Source and Score. Scores for Study.

12 Composing
Creative Considerations: Work Process. Intuition and the Subconscious. Writer's Block. Preparation. Planning the Score. Organizing the Score. Unity and Variety. Research. Tempo or Pulse. Personal Taste and Style. Beginning the Sketch.

13 UsingMelody
Motifs. Multiple Motifs. Unaccompanied Melody. Two-Voice Texture. Giving the Melody Character. Adapting a Theme. Hit Records. Scores for Study.

14 Using Harmony
Harmonic Languages. Harmony Resulting from Linear Writing. Harmonic Pedal Point and Ostinatos. Using Harmony for Characterization. Using Harmony as a Theme. Tension. Scores for Study.

15 Using Rhythm
Tempo and Pulse. Sketching the Rhythms. The Percussion Section and Electronics. The Orchestra as Rhythm. Rhythm as a Thematic Idea. Rhythmic Ostinatos. Uneven and Changing Meters. Polyrhythms. Scores for Study.

16 Using Orchestration
Characterizing the Film's Dramatic Theme. Suggesting Locale with Color. Symphonic Orchestration. Fresh Sounds and Interesting Combinations. Change the Color, Change the Emotion. Orchestral Effects. Smail Budgets. To Orchestrate or Not to Orchestrate? Sketches. MIDI Sketches. Transposed or Concert Pitch-Scores? The Art of Orchestration. The Composer/Orchestrator Relationship. Orchestrating from MIDI Sketches. Using Synths and Orchestra Together. Typical Orchestra Setups. Know the Instruments. Short Cuts. Orchestration Schedules. Changes. Other Practicalities. The Business Aspects of Orchestration. Scores for Study.

17 Technical and Practical Considerations
Technical Considerations. Streamers. Recording. Practical Considerations. Preparing to Record. Save Your Music. Checklists.

V RECORDING
18 Recording: The Scoring Stage
The Scoring Stage. Underscoring, Prerecording, and Set Recording. Scoring Primarily or Completely with Electronics. Prerecording Electronic Tracks. Prerecording Acoustic Tracks and Soloists. Planning. The Mixer. Producing the Music. Conducting. Conducting Aids. Film Sound. Recording Format. Headset Mixes. Rehearsal Protocol. Creative Responses. Working with the Director. Changes on the Scoring Stage. Recording. Working with the Mixer. Playbacks. Overdubbing (Layering or Stacking). Prerecording an On-Screen Performance. Time Pressures on the Stage. Recording Away from Home. Timing Corrections while Recording. Postmixes and Sound Processing. Using Samples in Final Mix. Remixing for a Soundtrack Album.

19 Dubbing: The Final Mix
The Composer on the Dubbing Stage. The Dubbing Stage and the Participants. Preparing the Music for Dubbing. Predubbing. The Music Mixer. Dubbing Stage Sound. First Adjustments during the Mix. Overail Music Levels. Changing/Losing Cues. As the Director Sees It. Dubbing Stage Protocol. Dubbing with Dialogue. Losing a Score. Dubbing Schedules. Previews. Scores for Study. VI ELECTRONIC AND CONTEMPORARY SCORING

20 Using Electronic Music
Electronic Instruments as Acoustic Re-creations. Electronic Instruments for Unique Sounds. Blending Electronic and Acoustic Instruments. Scoring with Electronics. Recording Electronic Music. Scores for Study.

21 Using Contemporary Music
Using Contemporary Rhythm Sections. Contemporary Scores. A Closer Look at Three Contemporary Scores. Scoring with a Solo Artist. Scoring with a Group. Contemporary Source Music. Scores for Study.

22 Scoring for Television
Television Series. Main Titie Themes. Composing. Working with the Producers. Dubbing. Scoring with Orchestra. Scoring Long Form. The Use of Songs. Television!Film Differences.

VII SONGS
23 Musicals and Prerecording
Prerecording (Prescoring). Prerecording Grease and Fame. Postrecording (Postscoring). The Classic Musicals and Beyond.

24 Songs
The Functions of a Song. Content. Songwriting Collaboration. Syncing the Lyric to the Visuals. Rewriting, or Writing Another Song. Demonstrating the Song. The Artist. Hits and Big Business. Footloose: An Origina1 Compilation Song Score. Yentl: An Origina1 Song Score by One Team of Writers.
VIII THE BUSINESS
25 The Business
Getting the Job. Moving from Television to Films. Demos. Being Heard. Agents. Film and Television Deal Points. Commercials. ASCAP and BMI. Music Budgets. Licensing. Soundtrack Albums. Music and Business.

Epilogue. On the Track
The Interviewees and Authors
Appendix A. Study Assignments
Appendix B. Footage/Timing Conversions
Appendix C. Calculator Methodfor Timings
Appendix D. Drop-Frame
Glossary
End Notes
Bibliography
Web Sites
Music Excerpts
Index

This book is perfect for people who is interested in filmscoring, discussing every aspect of filmcomposing that you need to know about. It`s the best I`ve read so far.

This book is a MUST for everybody who is involved in the film industry (composers, producers, directors, film and music editors, etc...) and wants to know the insides of composing film scores:

It has many examples, references, quotes and the expertise of such a great composer as Karlin is.

Wanna be serious in this business, must get it.

It's worth buying it.

Fred Karlin and his orchestration teacher Rayburn Wright both passed away but their spirit comes alive through the pages of this book. Fred's love for film music and to impart fledgling composers to imbibe the intricacies of film music composition is well documented and presented and is current with examples of cues from movies till 2002 in the 2nd edition of the book. Fred's reverence for film composers is both inspirational and exhaustive and reveals what a brilliant human being he was. This world and the music community needs people like this who have taken their chosen art form and has the good heart to share that information which is hard earned to let other men take lead and become CAUSE over their own vistas of expression in film music. Fred is BRILLIANT AND ALIVE. It is inevitable that you can't help but think of him with gratitude and call out to him and say THANK YOU. These are the people who can bring about changes in the field of film music education and the evolution of man in general by helping us create better art. This is the Veda of Film Scoring. Its that good.

This is a great book to add to your collection and to improve your technique and knowledge of film scoring. it's worth the price!

I've probably read this volume of lectures a dozen times because of their clarity, their insight into the nature of science and scientific understanding. Bronowski is a genius. He taps into the history of science and how imagination works in the minds of Newton and Einstein. He bridges the worlds of art and science, and finds how imagination connects them both. If you write software code by day and read the poetry of Pound and Eliot by night, you'll know what Bronowski's vision is all about.

-Tom Maremaa, Author of the Forthcoming novel "Metal Heads" from Kunati Books in Spring 2009

It isn't clear how Jacob Bronowski came to be delivering the Silliman lectures for 1967 at Yale University, but in doing so he delivered a marvellous and, apparently, criminally overlooked book which many of today's leading popular science writers might do well to read. Bronowski was by training an academic algebraic geometrist (I'm not sure that there is any other kind), but by inclination a polymath, working in a remarkably eclectic range of fields from operations research to biology to anthropology to poetry, and as he did so taking time to publish an acclaimed biography of William Blake and write and produce a well-received BBC anthropology series, The Ascent of Man.

The Silliman foundation at Yale is dedicated to "illustrating the presence and providence of God, as demonstrated in the natural and moral world", so it made an odd choice in selecting Bronowski, a non-religious scientist, to present its 1967 lectures, but the choice was an inspired one, for instead of banging on sanctimoniously about how only science and mathematics can bring us to a true understanding of the universe, Bronowski the polymath instead put these endeavours in their human, social and - literally - literal context.

Bronowski's view is that our sciences contantly evolve and that they are a function of our favoured modes of observation (primarily visual) and means of description (wholly linguistic - in the sense that we can only theorise what we can commit to some formal symbolic system or other). Not just pure mathematics but any science - or language, for that matter - is a closed symbolic system, and is subject to the formal limitations of such systems which have been explained by mathematicians (such as Goedel's undecidability), practical limitations, and epistemological limitations. Even ignoring the formal limitations, practically we never have anything like enough evidence to soundly make a "true" theory - that would involve all data in the universe. But curiously, even if we had this, the theory wouldn't tell us anything interesting anyway, since we'd be able to deduce all possible consequences as a matter of logic - the empirical theory wouldn't add anything, in the same way that repeatedly rolling dice won't tell you anything you couldn't work out anyway about probability theory). In a fascinating chapter entitled "knowledge as algorithm and as metaphor" Bronowski charts this inevitable trade-off between theoretical completeness and practical usefulness and makes the (quite unexpected, but undeniable) observation that the very very incompleteness of a theory is what gives it its power.

Curiously, Bronowski speaks in terms of thorough reductionism - he says "I believe that the world is totally connected: that is to say, that there are no events anywhere in the universe that are not tied to every other event in the universe" but in contrast to writers like Dawkins reaches a surprisingly pragmatist conclusion: since it is not just practically but *conceptually* impossible to gather all data in the universe (which is what you would need to truthfully explain any single one of these events) we should resign ourselves to an imperfect solution which we must always remember is contingent and subject to improvement or change. This argument, like Quine's as to the dogmas of empiricism, is arrived at from a purely traditional, analytic approach, and is relatively immune to charges of woolly postmodernism. But in every other way it resonates far more closely with anti-essentialists like Richard Rorty, Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend than it does with the latter day Dawkinses.

The final chapter strays off brief into political and moral matters, and suffers because of it: Bronowski makes an unconvincing attempt to rebut Hume's statement of the naturalistic fallacy that you can't convert an 'is' to an 'ought', and ends up saying (and immediately regretting) things like "once you know that there are two sexes, then certain behaviour becomes pointless". My guess is he wasn't talking about fishing. Leaving aside the quaint value-judgments this seems to imply, it also seems to have abandoned the idea, forcefully argued in the first five lectures, that these "truths" we know are contingent anyway and that behaviour which seems ridiculous from one perspective might have a perfectly sensible utility described from another: there's no priority of perspective, after all.

Nonetheless, these final comments aren't anything like enough to detract from the quality of this overall book, which I recommend warmly to all inquiring minds.

Olly Buxton

It is easy today to get depressed about mankind. Bronowski demonstrates that there is hope for us yet. He also demonstrates that we, perhaps know more and are capable of more than we thought. I wish I had had the chance to meet him.

I wrote the majority of this when e-mailing a youtube guy who recommended reading 'Science and Human Values' and obviously decided to replicate it here!

glad to know Jacob Bronowski, the best 20th century philosopher where Philosophy/Philosopher means to unify and see connections amongst everything and how that relates to our human condition. Jacob Bronowski was in a unique position to do it; he was not that great a mathematician, but he tried and profited spiritually/intellectually from it; he did science, art, engineering, and mathematics and looked for connections between it all and the human condition because why do it if your not going to do it meaningfully? Jacob Bronowski started buy gave incomplete proofs for what are called 'Godel's theorems.' He lived in a time when Newton's 'world view' was shaken to the core, and he gave the best interpretation of those events which are still influencing people in all walks of life today, but they never read Jacob Bronowski.

Jacob Bronowski has strangly disappeared from the human consciousness; i remember seeing 'Ascent of Man' in book stores; book stores were small back then; or at least, the science shelves were usually one or two shelves in the nature section comprising one stack. I myself never picked the book up thinking it was just another science/historian book. This phenomenon happens because there is a new generation born every fifteen to twenty years and there is only so much knowledge to go around, but Jacob Bronowski's knowledge is so universal and of a more constructive character that humanity has missed the boat.

My first Jacob Bronowski read was "The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination." This is his definitive work not 'Ascent of Man.' 'Ascent of Man' reminds me of the intro chapter to Kip Thornes 'Black holes and Time warps.' As Mr Thorpe says, "read it after you've read the book to enjoy the details; Ascent of Man is something you read after you've read enough of his other small slender volumes. Basically, 'Science and Human Values', and 'Origins of Knowledge and Imagination' are good for getting the basics down; all of his books say the same thing but from different historical periods and historical details. In a lot of ways, Jacob Bronowski was able to rewrite the history of humanity and give the real scientific humanistic religion by writing all these books(he basically started the whole 'two cultures' debate popularized by Snow). Origins goes back millions of years before Australopithecus(so does Ascent of Man); i must say I need to re-read 'Science and Human Values' to see where it fits in historically; 'Science, Magic, and Civilization' covers the dark ages, and 'Westurn Civilization' covers the renaissance up to the industrial revolution(Ascent of Man also covers the industrial revolution). And in a way, Origins finishes in the 20th century with his explanations of 20th century science/mathematics.

He also has some pretty good compilations of articles he wrote in 'Visionary Eye' and 'Sense of the Future.' They have important historical details. Other books are good if your interested in Poetry or other details. Identity of Man has a couple of good last chapters I find stimulating when thinking about artificial intelligence, but I find the above books his better.

Jacob Bronowski was one of the best philosophers of science ever to walk the Earth. His perspectives on the role of science in our world are some of the most profound and meaningful statements on how humans view themselves, each other and the universe in general. This book is a reprint of six lectures he gave as part of the Silliman Foundation lecture series.
The titles of the lectures are:

*) The mind as an instrument for understanding
*) The evolution and power of symbolic language
*) Knowledge as algorithm and metaphor
*) The laws of nature and the nature of laws
*) Error, progress and the concept of time
*) Law and individual responsibility

and they sum up the essence of Bronowski better than anything I could coin.
If you have an interest in the philosophy of science, then you must read Bronowski. His thoughts are profound, human and very descriptive of how we humans continue to expand the body of knowledge and make the appropriate corrections when necessary.

I guess the main idea here is whether or not the soul is immortal.

Does the soul exist outside of this physical, earthly experience ?

I've only begun reading Plato after years of reading a lot of other new age type books such as the Edgar Cayce material and Dr. Brian Weiss.

Plato is often consistent with those new age ideas but he expresses his thoughts in a more poetic way.

Plato and those others believed in reincarnation and even being reborn as an animal.

A new age theory about this is that if you go back to 10,500 BC and beyond you had a lot of people running around with for example the body of a human being but the head of a horse, tree branches for arms, etc..

Most people had tails back then.

This was a result of people projecting themselves into this physical dimension and getting entangled in the animal and plant worlds. As they did this across multiple incarnations they started to develop those animal appendages in their physical bodies.

It was in ancient Egypt around 10,500 BC that the priest Ra Ta and other Atlanteans helped these "things" to rid themselves of these animal characteristics.

That "mystery of mysteries" the sphinx is a creature that is part human and part lion. Don't think this doesn't have some very deep and hidden meaning.

Another key point in the book is the death of Socrates. He dies like a true philosopher, not in fear, but calmly.

At one point Socrates actually proves that one plus one is not equal to two. That's power.

Jeff Marzano

Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy

Lives of the Master: The Rest of the Jesus Story

The Lives of Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce's Egypt: Psychic Revelations on the Most Fascinating Civilization Ever Known

Initiation

Initiation in the Great Pyramid (Astara's Library of Mystical Classics)

If it was up to me to preserve just one of the dialogues of Plato for posterity it would be the Phaedo. That is because this is the metaphysical core of the teachings of Socrates (the main character) as told by Plato. As is emphasized in the text, death is the main topic of concern for the true philosopher- and that is what is covered here. However, there is nothing morbid about it. This is a message of hope, for Socrates establishes the divinity and immortality of the soul. The good man, he who has purified himself through the love of wisdom (Philosophy) goes to a higher, purer realm to be with like-minded souls and the gods themselves. The bad man also goes to his just reward with those of like character.

If I was to abstract the core truth here it would be that the true philosopher is always trying to free his soul from the body- for only then is the soul free of the distractions and distortions that can corrupt it and keep it from direct perception of the Ideals (Absolute Truth, Good, Beauty, and Justice.)

You easily see where the Church borrowed so much of its basic theological underpinnings. In fact, reading this work abolishes forever in your mind the idea that the pre-Christian pagans were in anyway necessarily savage or barbaric in their deepest spiritual beliefs. This is spirituality more pure than anything preached by the Church- and it is supported by reasoned argument and not appeal to empty faith and authority.

The closing of the dialog is probably the finest depiction in Western literature of the death of a great and good man. You truly concur that Socrates was indeed the wisest and justest and best of all men.

.
What happens at death? Is the soul immortal? Why does the philosopher seek death but avoid suicide? What is so attractive about death to Socrates?

This is a masterpiece of a book. While Socrates does not prove the immortality of the soul, his arguments for such, as in the "law of opposites," the "theory of recollection" and the combination of the two, make way for a very interesting and mind enhancing read and is a hell of lot more valid, intelligible and religiously inclusive than any of the biblical literalist's security hold in fallacious illusion, or was Socrates and Plato infallibly inspired? Was Homer infallibly inspired? Of course not. In turn, Socrates is counter-argued with the "theory of attunement" and subsequently argues back for the immortality of the soul.

His thoughts which entail the body as the inhibitor of obtaining true wisdom, that philosophy aids a man to go beyond his body, so that at death he can be released from the body and use his wisdom to achieve a higher realm of true wisdom, as the body acts as a place of desires that prevents men from perceiving the world of ideas apart from the world of appearances. The death of the body is the release of the soul and the condition of the soul, either that controlled by desires or that of philosophy that has brought it to a higher realm, will determine where the soul travels to after death.

Socrates further gives us a description of the round, spherical earth. This exposes the fallacy of biblical literalists who attempt to prove biblical divinity by quoting Job 40:22 and Isaiah for the spherical earth, or does that make Socrates inspired? His further description of the earth's hollows by water and the place called Tartarus brings us to the identical words of St. Paul, who certainly was influenced by many non-Christian teachings, which permeated his entire belief system. Also Socrates gets Eastern in the reincarnation of the soul back to the world of desires, including that of animals and insects, which makes this book a fascinating read to say the least. This book is a gem and great masterpiece to contemplate on. I love Plato - and Socrates too.

Socrates is unique among philosophers, not just for his place among the early Greek philosophers, but also for the fact that he is the most famous philosopher to never write his own books. What we know of Socrates comes from contemporary accounts and students, most particularly Plato.

Set in 399 BCE, the Phaedo is a reconstruction of Socrates final conversations with friends on the day he died. We do not know when this dialogue was written, but it was probably before The Republic (Plato's most famous work, also featuring the figure of Socrates). Like The Republic, this dialogue features a well developed theory of Forms -- these are introduced gradually here, slowly filling out the details of each step. This develops the story of the caves idea from Plato's earlier work in epistemological, metaphysical, moral, and semantic terms. Plato also advances the 'imperfection argument' here -- the idea that when we sense something, it is never perfectly the thing we are thinking of, and that idea or standard to which we relate what we see, hear, feel, etc. is tying into a more perfect Form.

However, the idea of the soul is rather less developed here than in The Republic. The soul is simply mind, or intellect - all emotions are here placed as bodily aspects. This is rather Pythagorean in a fashion, that only the soul grasps the perfect Forms, and so should consist of nothing but reasoning ability, for emotions distort and cloud the perceptions and judgments.

In the end of the Phaedo, we witness Socrates drink the hemlock, without fear or trembling, as a philosopher should know the value of life and welcome death with a firm hope. The story is almost religious in nature here.

David Gallop's translation is good and true to the original (in as much as I can tell from my small Greek learning). It is somewhat tending toward the formal side. This is serious stuff, but in a small number of pages manages to capture much, and this makes it all the more relevant.

I will not quote myself, but I'll evoke the words that I have written here before in the review of Krishnamurti's book. Since you're reading this I guess you're interested in Plato's philosophy and this work in particular. I'll just say few words and then will let you to dive into the book and find the meaning for yourself.
This is the book that belong to Plato's later works, and debate continues whether Socrates in this book is historical Socrates or just voice of Plato. If you take into consideration few Aristotelian lines than first option would be the true one. But, no matter which one is right, Socrates here is presented as few characters of world literature are. I can not speak about philosophy here, so I shall speak about style. Bearing the posture of romantic poets, and if you picture ancient greek dungeon as some reneiscance castle dungeon, you'll have the setting. And tht's it. No quarells, no fightning and vicious murdering, just one of the most beautifull speeches conserning human soul, and only one, diginified, death.
Books like these give me hope that there is still a chance for a world to become the better place.

I had to go on a five-day trip to Brazil and the timing didn't fit with taking conventional classes in Portuguese, so I tried this. I spent maybe 45 minutes to an hour with it, a few evenings a week. The lessons were well laid out and easy to follow. After several months I got on the plane down to Sao Paulo, and from there took a connecting flight that wasn't geared for passengers who spoke English. I found that I could (1) understand most of the in-flight magazine ... OK, those are not what you'd call heavy reading ... (2) get to my destination (3) understand what my hosts said to me (4) talk to them so they could understand me.

Disclaimer: I already have studied French, German, and Spanish. If you know French and Spanish you'll have little trouble with Portuguese.

Brazil is an interesting place, even if you aren't in Rio.

There are several reasons why I really like about this course: the method (you build up your knowledge of the language step by step); the authentic dialogues; the grammar notes and verb conjugation tables; the cultural points; and the letter writing. The course is lively, fun, and very efficient. The audio is good, at the right speed for the learner. The book also has lots of exercises with a key, another very good feature. I bought this course after having bought Portuguese Living Language (ISBN 1400020239) and I am using both. I think they make good partners.

My fiancé and I visited Portugal this year for a semester. Since neither of us spoke the language we decided to purchase a teach yourself course. Having reviewed all the available material, we found the above book and audio package to be the best value. Best because it also covers Portuguese as spoken in Brazil; our next target.

What appealed to us about the book was the modern day approach which the author adopted. Its flexibility by allowing us to go as far into a topic as we wished. That the same book would serve us equally as well when we visited Brazil. Also and the number of different topics covered.

Quite naturally, when you are a beginner, grammar can be the biggest obstacle. No problem here. The grammar is presented in small amounts, each piece being targeted to your progress.

Dialogues used in the book to demonstrate model sentences use expressions which can be found in everyday situations. In fact, they too have been pitched to cater for your confidence in using the grammar.

Equally the vocabulary used is very realistic and typical of everyday use. We particularly liked the vocabulary lists at the back of the book for quick reference of Portuguese to English and vice versa.

The range of topics to was invaluable. In the early stages of our visit we pointed to the phrase or sentence in the book to get what we wanted but as we read and immersed ourselves in the environment we spoke more.

You would have thought that because of the environment we were in, the audio assistance would not have been used so much. Not true, we found it very useful, particularly when we refer to our next target of Brazil. Having the ability to relate the daily Portuguese we heard to the audio aid and then relating it to Portuguese as spoken in Brazil made us feel comfortable over a next venture. There is little doubt, however, that we shall take our `Flexible friend' with us.

If more than five stars were available, I would give them to this course. Some courses specifically for Brazilian or European Portuguese teach you local expressions and colloquialisms that make learning harder for people like me who want to use the language on both sides of the Atlantic. After struggling with a couple of such courses, I was fortunate to find this one. In this course the starting point is the common ground between Brazilian and European Portuguese. The differences are then explained and you can pick what you need depending where you want to use the language.

I bought this course last year and have gone through most of it. So far, I have used what I am learning in Brazil, Portugal and Angola. When I spoke Portuguese in these countries, it was a fantastic feeling to see that I was actually understood. The accompanying audio gives you different voices, which also helps with the various accents even within Brazil (they sound quite different in the north and in the south).

Another feature I particularly like in this course is that it is very communicative. Everything you learn can be used straight away, in authentic situations: formalities on arrival, finding the way, hiring a car, hotel and other accommodation, food, shopping, health, meeting people socially or for business, and a lot more. This course is a superb buy.

Fun, easy and very efficient. Excellent audio, slow enough for a beginner, excellent dialogues with the kind of words and structures you need in a foreign country. The language is explained in a way that makes it easy to understand. There are absolutely lots of exercises to practice what you are learning. This is a course I strongly recommend.

I used to think Fred Gleeck was a smart guy. Then I read this book. When I saw all the secrets Fred gives away for under (...), I thought, 'maybe Fred ain't so smart after all'.

In Publishing for Maximum Profit, Fred lets you in on everything he knows about making money as an author. This is the info he charges hundreds of dollars an hour for as a consultant. He covers everything you need to know, but the most important is how to develop additional, higher-priced products that you can sell to fans of your books. This is critical. It shows you how to make a good living as a writer without writing a bestseller.

This information is extremely valuable. At a Book Marketing Boot Camp put on by Mark Victor Hansen, editor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, one of the speakers, Jerrold Jensen delivered his top ten list for authors who wanted to sell more books and make more money. #4 was "see Fred Gleeck!

So do yourself a favor and buy Fred's book. Then follow Jerrold Jensen's #1 piece of advice. "Take action now."

I read every word of Gleeck's Publishing for Maximum Profit several times before I started my own publishing company. And am I glad I did. My books are selling, more important, my overall business is expanding rapidly. Gleeck will show you in the simplest possible terms how to make money form all of your publishing efforts.

Fred's book offers real practical advice.
Highly professional. Again like in other books by Fred- easy language and easy steps to follow.
He knows how to make money on selling your knowledge.
If you know something- this is the product to sell. And this guy will teach you how to do that.
As a Memory Development Specialist I have to say, that Fred's books meet one requirement in learning porocess... they are easy to understand and learn. And of course his "systems" are ready to apply and work immediately.
In few words:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

If you're planning on writing and publishing your own book you really owe it to yourself to read this book. Unlike other books on this topic (and i've read a lot of them!), Fred's book offers real practical advice which includes great resources to get your book in print. I followed his advise and successfully published my book Power Prospecting in less than 90 days. A wonderful resource for simplifying the book publishing process!

This book has saved me invaluable time and energy learning how to research and write my book. If you're struggling with how to get your book together in a logical manner, then this book is for you.

It also shows you how to promote and market your book so you can do what you really want, make some money. It's all here. Everything you need to know.

There's also the skinny on pricing, the different models of selling your book, publishing options, upselling, how to use affilliates to sell for you, and more.

Do yourself a favor and get this book asap. It will give you the direction you need to write and make money with your ideas.

Small word cards with a Russian word on one side, and it's English translation on the other side. I select a card at random in the morning, say the word three times, and look at it several times during the day. It's wonderful way to enrich my language course.

This is a great product. I'd recommend vocabulary cards to anyone studying a foreign language.

I found these cards to be quite good. I would have preferred that they had been in order of frequency of usage rather than alphabetical. Having said that, they ARE the 1000 most common words. One small complaint is that the printing in the accompanying pamphlet was very faint and difficult to read. However when I phoned Vis-Ed, they immediately sent out a replacement. EXCELLENT customer service.

I love the pre-printed cards. They even tell you the grammar rules that apply to that particular word.

The flash cards are a great tool in building vocabulary. They are easy to use and understand. I recommend using them in conjunction with a book or other language program.

Part of me is actually dreading the day I move beyond my Russian textbook for beginners. That's because the more Russian I learn, the less likely I'll be to find the new vocab words in this excellent set of flashcards.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the box contains 1,000 cards, but many cards have multiple words or word combinations, so the total vocabulary contained therein is about 3,000 words. The cards are boxed in alphabetical order, and they're also numbered. Many of the cards identify the part of speech for the given word or words, and for Russian prepositions, the governing case(s) is/are also listed (infinitely helpful). Verbs are presented in aspectual pairs and are marked as either First Conjugation or Second Conjugation. Cards for irregular verbs show the conjugated forms for imperfective present/perfective future (first person singular, second person singular and third person plural) and past tenses as necessary.

In the nine months since I bought them, these cards have been invaluable. My textbook has a review after every five lessons, so I coordinate each new batch of flashcards with the unfamiliar words from the five lessons preceding each review. After 25 lessons, I can think of only a dozen or so words from the textbook that are not included in the set of flashcards. In addition, the cards fit perfectly in a pouch in my backpack, allowing me to brush up on my Russian anywhere I go. Vis-Ed also offers two other sets of Russian flashcards. If they're anything like the vocab cards, they're sure to be beneficial, because the vocab cards have been far and away my most effective Russian study aid. They have paid for themselves many times over. Now if I could just get Vis-Ed to make a set for intermediate/advanced students!

Thank you so much - the book arrived in fantastic condition and I enjoyed it very much.

--Beth :)

In this entry of the popular Rina/Peter Decker series, Kellerman assures us of more Jewish history and customs as the victims in this one are of the Jewish faith. This time the double-edged mystery sends Peter and Rina to Israel to track down the sons of a wealthy diamond magnate and his wife. Did the boys kill their parents? Add to this, the search for a friend of Rina's from New York, who comes to California for a visit with her three children and then mysteriously vanishes as well---to Israel. Add a cool ice queen named Kate Milligan, a shady partner named Shaul Gold, add a few other nasties and Kellerman sends her heroes off into a labyrinthine plot.
Kellerman's a good writer and as she progresses, she tries to focus more on plot and suspense, and not so much on Rina's faith. It does seem surprising though that she manages to slight other religious beliefs while sanctifying her own? Hopefully, as she progresses she'll take some clues from her husband Jonathan and write more substantial works.

I had trouble putting down this book from the very start -- it's a real page turner with a well-plotted mystery -- two of them actually -- keeping you going. The mysteries involve a family who has disappeared out of the blue -- he's a California diamond dealer, so perhaps this was part of a theft -- and a woman and children who arrive unexpectedly for a visit with Detective Decker and his family -- her husband is also a diamond dealer in a Chasidic community in New York. As Decker goes about trying to solve the disappearance of the California family, odd things begin happening with the New York family who are visiting -- they also disappear. Is there a connection?

The mystery takes Decker and wife Rina to Israel, a major diamond cutting/dealing country.

I learned a lot about diamonds and Israel reading this book, and for the most part really enjoyed it. The dialogue was more natural than in some Kellerman books I've read. But -- her pro-Jewish, anti-everything else sentiment was present in this book again, this time in an anti-Moslem bias. Why are metal boxes on door frames considered good religious practice but painting a doorway blue (as Moslems do) treated as superstitious? It seems to me that the customs of Orthodoxy Judaism are unusual enough that Kellerman should be more tolerant and openminded about the practices of other faiths.

Peter Decker and his wife Rina are enjoying family life with her sons and their new baby daughter when Rina's old friend Honey Klein asks to come visit. Rina is surprised because they hasn't been in close contact with Honey in recent years, but she agrees to the visit. Meanwhile Peter works with his partner Marge on a case involving an entire family who have suddenly vanished. The husband is a diamond dealer, and there are many motives for a possible murder, most of them having to do with money. Coincidentally, after Honey comes to the Lazarus home, her husband, also a diamond dealer, is mysteriously killed. Peter's quest for the truth in these matters eventually takes him and Rina to Israel where they pursue missing persons from both of these cases. As usual, author Kellerman weaves interesting facts about the orthodox Jewish religion as well as Peter and Rina's evolving family life. The trip to Israel adds an extra dimension to the story, and the total package is very satisfying for a mystery reader.

In my book 'Sanctuary' is one of the best in the Peter Decker/ Rina Lazarus series. The story revolves around the missing husband of Rina's friend. The search takes Rina and Peter to Israel where we are treated to a fascinating tour of the West Bank and the diamond trade in Israel. What makes this entry so important today is the portrayal of the continuing conflict and violence that shapes Israel's future and her people. It is a pleasure to read a book that is both thoughtful and fun to read.

My only other suggestion if you are new to Faye Kellerman is to start at the beginning with 'Ritual Bath' to see the relationship between Rina and Peter unfold. Then read all her books in the order in which they were written. Its a great series.

It was his speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004 that catapulted Barack Obama into the national spotlight. It has been his gift for oratory both in style and in substance that has propelled him into becoming the first African-American presidential candidate of a major national political party. Now leadership expert Shel Leanne explains, using Obama has a living example, how to combine oratory, body language, and the fine art of persuasion into a seamless presentation that builds trust and stimulates action in "Say It Like Obama: The Power Of Speaking With Purpose And Vision". A thoroughly 'user friendly' instructional manual on the art and craft of public speaking, "Say It Like Obama" should be read and studied by anyone who will be called upon to speak in public whether it be in church, in the board room, or from a convention platform. "Say It Like Obama" is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal and community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement and Leadership/Management reference collections.

This is an excellent book! It is definitely worth purchasing. After reading Obama's speeches, which are so beautifully written, anyone wanting to understand more about who Barack Obama is and what he stands for should read this book. The communication practices Obama puts to use in order to reach across divisions and unite people tell us much about him. And we can learn from those practices and apply them ourselves. I recommend this book for professionals seeking to be more effective communicators. I will also buy Say It Like Obama for many young adults who can learn from the communication practices that have made Obama so successful. Say It Like Obama is a fantastic read and is very well written.

My late professor, Dr. Vernon W. Stone, of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, told all his students that if you speak well, people will listen. At last there is a great book that actually tells us how to speak well! Dr. Shel Leanne, thanks for writing Say It Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision. The remarkable book should be must reading for every school sudent and citizen.

The release of "Say it Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision" is well timed, as most Americans stands in awe of one of the most powerful, well spoken, African American men of our time. The author breaks down Obama's most powerful communication techniques into transferable skills that anyone can use to inspire, build confidence, and motivate audiences of any kind. Very good work! I recommend this book to anyone who would benefit from learning how to communicate effectively in order to persuade and drive real results.

Whatever your political views, you will learn a lot from this book, which decontructs his talks and explains why they work so well. Learn the rule of threes; understand the power of rhetorical and non-rhetorical questions; exploit the use and nonuse of "and" in a sentance. Lots more, including the key one of "show, don't tell. She ends with his acceptance speech and challenges you to deconstruct the speech and spot the techiques. And, in a clever marketing move she does not give you the answers, but directs you to her website where she provides them. First rate stuff.

My daughter is having difficulty spelling (she's in third grade). She loves this book and uses it often. It's easy for her to find the word she is searching for. She uses it to assist her during Scrabble and when doing her homework.

A year and a half ago I found this book at my Daughter's Scholastic book fair. This is a GREAT book! As a Mom I have a very difficult time spelling due to Dyslexia. I can read perfectly, however spelling is a real challenge for me. I help in my child's first grade class one full day a week, and the children are always asking how to spell words. I keep this dictionary handy, and when I am not sure how to spell a word, we look it up together. This book contains thousands of words! It is written in an easy to read font, and it is simple to use! I am buying two more copies for home - one for me and one for my 6 year old!

This product came in handy for my seven year old daughter who want to know how to spell Every word she hears...I love it...simply because it's so easy for her to understand and read the meanings

I have come across these Scholastic Language books and this seems to be a great Vocabulary resource for kids. Especially with the slow learners, the Dictionary of Spelling is a blessing. Words that are seperated into syllables with clear indication in bold, makes easier for pronunciation. Moreover, the phonetic reads become easier when children can use the book as additional reference in classroom. Scholastic has made way to India in classrooms too and as we teach them these easy scholastic book, it is fun way using and great resource to teach kids while they play and learn.

- ilaxi patel

Not only does my daughter love this book, but her teacher wanted to see it and loves it too. It's an excellent book for allowing a child to be able to find out how to spell a word by themselves. And since they do the work of actually looking up the word, it reinforces the spelling that much more within their minds.

There are several pages of useful information on how to spell words and on how to use the book effectively. My daughter has read parts of this and has learned much about spelling. It has improved her spelling abilities in school (she now gets 106% on her tests) and made her more self-reliant, which is important to me.

I'd recommend getting this book and Merriam Webster Children's Dictionary together, as one is good for looking up spelling, and the other is a great reference for definitions.