Themes Books

This is a must have for the Northwest gardener whether you are a long time NW gardener or a new one. Large photos with excellent descriptions.

I've been growing NW natives for 25 years with successes and failures (and a lot of fun). With this book, I would have had many fewer failures! I've pulled it out a dozen times already this season and it's never failed me. Excellent photos, descriptions, and propagation instructions. It looks like a tea-table treasure, but it performs like a combination field guide and cultivation handbook. Highly recommended.

This is the best book on NW natives I've found. Great pictures, descriptions and very complete. If I could only have one native plant book this'd be the one. Worth the pirce

The layout and format are excellent. I especially appreciate that the pictures are on the same page as the relevant text. (Books that make me turn to page 437 for the picture annoy me.) You won't be taking this book along in your backpack as you hike in the wilderness, due to its size and weight, but that's what Pojar and Mackinnon's Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska is for. You'll keep this book at home near your garden, and the wealth of pictures will help you dream and plan about the beautiful natives you could have in your garden.

The descriptions feature recommendations for locations within your garden, helping you put the right plant in the right place. With large native evergreens, this is the absolute critical step, as many a cute little fir has grown up to menace the neighborhood. This book is similar to Kruckeberg's Gardening With Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest but with ten times as many plants to choose from.

The book is not as complete as Hitchcock's Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual, but it is much more user friendly. You could spend a lifetime trying to fit every plant in this encyclopedia into your garden, and you would be kept happily busy.

Any northwest gardener with the slightest interest in gardening with natives will want to add this book to his or her shelf.

I picked this up after seeing an exhibit of Borges work at a gallery in San Diego. The images in this book capture the essence of his work in that they express the dignity of people in various cultural and geographic settings simply and beautifully . Wonderful Book to return to again and again. Very uplifting.

I have not seen the book, but rather gone to a art show that has the same pictures as the book. It is a wonderful exploration of people we may never get to meet unless through Phil's work. A beautiful set of artwork and stories on the people he has captured through the lens. I love his work. He has a fan in me!

Borges' work is stunning to behold, but if you can't make it to a gallery showing of his work, this nicely laid out book is the next best thing. His original technique of selective sepia toning, applied only to the flesh, beautifully complements his compositional style of pulling his subjects clearly out in front of their surroundings. The final effect is to concentrate the viewer's attention onto the person as an individual -- the often-exotic setting provides context and a deeper understanding, but does not distract. The dignity of Borges' subjects shines through, and the fact that this work is connected with Amnesty International is an added bonus.

This book is a haunting collection of beautiful photos that are inspiring and provocative. We have been focusing on saving the environment and the animals for so long that we forget that there are entire cultures of human beings being removed from our planet. Borges has captured this in a manner that is not depressing, but inspiring and a tribute to the human spirit.

I brought this book with me to High Holyday services this year and used it as a reference. I really enjoyed it. It is particularly interesting when it explains the origins of the various prayers

This is an excellent book explaining the context of the High Holidays. The thinking worshiper will certainly benefit from reading and studying this small volume. It should be read with machzor in hand and deserves serious contemplation.

Whether you are a Jew-from-birth who wants to deepen your experience of the High Holy Days or a convert going through the Days of Awe for the first time, or a interested bystander who wants to know more of what the holiest days of the year are all about, Reuven Hammer's Entering the High Holy Days is an excellent resource.

The author covers the history and development of the rituals and services of Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and the days between (known as the Days of Awe) as well as customs such as the foods eaten (or not eaten, in the case of Yom Kippur), taschlich, and kaporot. Particularly useful is the indepth guide to the services themselves. Although I was attending my first High Holy Day services at a Reform synagogue, whose siddur doesn't include everything that the Conservative, Orthodox and REconstructionist services do (and thus doesn't include everything mentioned in this book), I still learned a lot and could recognize the steps and overall sections and structures of the services. The background information on the various Torah readings and Haftorah readings added more depth to those portions of the services. Best of all, however, is the knowledge that allows one to act in preparation for the holiest holidays of the year and to enter them feeling more prepared and more knowledgeable than ever before. Whether your first experience or your 50th, you will get something from this book. Highly recommended.

Now in a new paperback edition, Entering The High Holy Days: A Complete Guide To The History, Prayers, And Themes is a classic guide to Jewish religious holidays. Written by Reuven Hammer, head of the Rabbinical Court of the Masorti Movement, Entering The High Holy Days has earned the National Jewish Book Award for its scholarly yet straightforward presentation of the liturgy, necessary preparations, ceremonies, historical background and more as connected to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur especially. A useful guide written with a contemporary audience firmly in mind.

Amazon sells the exact same book (2007 printing) for cheaper than this version (I think the content is identical). See The Essential Underwater Photography Manual: A Guide to Creative Techniques and Essential Equipment

But this is mostly in Micronesia, Great Barrier and Red Sea, not much in Caribbean, however excellent info and worthwhile for the underwater photographing enthusiast.

As the subject suggests, this book should be titled Ultimate. Essential, yes, but where this book departs from the others on the subject is the chapter on Behavior, describing how to spot the critter's habits and make that part of the shot. Also excellent is the "How to Wow" chapter. Borrowing a page from Larry and Denise's seminars, this chapter explains how to add the "Pizzazz" that separates a good photo from an award winner. All the technical information is right on and very up to date with current digital technology as well as traditional film technics. Every underwater photographer needs this book!

In my opinion this is the best modern book on underwater photography by a long way. It is clearly written, very informative, practical and inspiring. It covers an amazing amount of material in a concise and readable fashion. It is much more clearly written than The Underwater Photographer, Third Edition: Digital and Traditional Techniques and other popular competitors. It's the only photography book I find myself re-reading before I go on a dive trip. Highly recommended for readers with all levels of skill.

Interesting old photos of Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, side-by-side with modern photos taken from the exact spot and perspective as the old ones, showing the changes that have occurred in the past 50-100yrs. The photographer, Mic Clinger, took a lot of time and energy to get the views right, and it shows. Great book! As someone who lives near the area, I heartily recommend it!

We vacation in Estes Park every summer and we enjoyed the book very much. It's interesting to see the history and read the stories of Estes.

Time well spent reading this well investigated and reported step through history. To be able to see what we missed before our time, and then to see what it is now, makes one wonder if only....The photos were right on target as far as placement and the history was fasinating. It made you want to go and explore the area, or at least dream of being there. I have been to this area and know of its wonder and beauty. Take the time to read and wonder.

There are 98 groups of pictures, old and new. The book is sectioned by areas: Estes Valley Scenes and Sites, including the familiar, but also the mostly forgotten. The Village. Hotels, Lodges and Ranches, plus two sections on Rocky Mountain National Park, East and West.

The text is by Dr. James Pickering, who has written numerous histories of the area, including the excellent "This Blue Hollow" in 1999, about the early years of Estes Park.

The old photographs in the current book come from a number of sources, but most of the new ones, which duplicate exactly the viewpoint of the older photo, are by Mic Clinger, who has been painstaking in finding the precise vantage point, often with some difficulty.

If the history of the area interests you at all, this is a book you will enjoy. And it will invite you to ask a question: What has been gained, and what has been lost forever?

I was fortunate enough to have Jerry as a teacher at Brooks. He really pours his emotions into this little powerhouse of a book. Powerful images although the printing could be better but it's well worth the purchase. I've given several to grieving friends.

This book touched my heart in so many ways.

This book is a great example of how a photograph can look into a person's soul. Every photo brings emotion and makes you reflect on your own life and the world. From pictures that make you say "awwww", to pictures that make you want to cry, this book has everything! After I first looked through it I immediately wanted to share it with everyone I knew. It's great to sit and watch someone who is reading it for the first time and just see the feelings flicker accross their face. This is one book that you will read over and over again.

Jerry Gay has an amazing ability of capturing the heart and essence of America through his black and white film...this book has moved me to tears, but also to refreshed realizations about our beautiful country--reminding me that it's not the dirty politicians or CEOs that built our nation, but the down home salt of the earth folks who go to work everyday and try to do the best with what we can.

"Everyone Has A Life To Live" reflects our everyday existence, something many of us no longer want to take for granted, and pays tribute to real life people who make up the United States. This book is a positive message for those struggling for ways to deal with fearful or overwhelming emotions through the anniversary of 9/11/01, and the ensuing upheaval of our now-restructuring society.

Thank you for sharing your photos with us, Jerry!...

An Evolutionary Architecture can be considered, together perhaps with Nicholas Negroponte's Architecture Machine books, as one of the most important and inspiring references on the use of computation in architecture and design.

John Frazer describes in his book groundbreaking work carried during more than twenty years in diverse academic institutions, especially as the head of Unit 11 at the Architectural Association, and in collaboration with diverse architects and students.

Building on the foundations laid by Cybernetician Gordon Pask during the sixties, the work explained in the book takes to its furthest, most fascinating consequences the possibility of an autogenic, self-organising, evolutionary architecture. Through its pages, and with the examples of wonderful devices, Frazer questions fundamental architectural concepts such as those of design, intention and purpose.

This book should be indispensable to anyone interested in the creative use of computation in design. Besides becoming paradigmatic in the relation of self-organisation, emergence and other essential concepts to architecture, it essentially addresses the latent possibilities of the computer as a generative, creative engine of design.

Prof Frazer has generated significant results by treating Architecture as a form of artificial life and encapsulated his results in An Evolutionary Architecture. He has developed a strategy for thinking in Design, in its broader sense, opening the way to the development of a more successful method of coding information and generation of form than convention has previously allowed.

The book draws on the results of the Author's own work and that of Diploma Unit 11 at the Architectural Association. Result: powerful writing, magnetic images. This 'research unit' has bred the initial starting seeds of thought to lead to a new model for strategy in Designing.

This most appealing aspect of this book is that it provides a radical way of thinking about Design with challenging ideas. A book that can be dipped into with different strands of thought combination coming out each time, providing new directions to work through using this Model.

An Evolutionary architecture is a truly visionary book on architecture in a world with computers and with humans who conscientiously investigate and reflect not only on their own thinking and designing strategies but also on the history and principles of natural design.

Developing physical and virtual designs and custom-designed physical and virtual design tools, Frazer integrates and applies everything from evolutionary and developmental biology, computer science, mechanical engineering and electronic engineering to challenging 3D thinking into an evolutionary paradigm that promotes a fresh and fascinating view on architectural and interdisciplinary design.

The book is fantastic in terms of its innovative and truly inspiring qualities, its very competent writing as well as in terms of the visuals it contains. An Evolutionary Architecture was first published in 1995 and it discusses design work that has started in the 1960s. Nevertheless, the design approaches, tools and products shown are years, if not decades ahead of today's design thinking and methodologies. Many works shown are done by Frazer's students and demonstrate the innovative potential not only of his thinking but also of his teaching.

The book is a must-have for every creative person, for everyone interested in architecture and/or computers and most definitively for educators in these fields. It is very sad that it is out of print and I strongly suggest everyone who comes across it second hand not to hesitate buying it.

John Frazer's book is a ground-breaking work that has fundamentally influenced many of today's progressive architectural theorteicians and practicioners. Frazer advocates a fundamentally different approach to architectural and design computation, shifting from one of conventional, unidiriectional CAD representation to a creative dialogue with the computer. Designs are no longer finite solutions but rather are seen as outcomes of iterative rule-based systems, to produce adaptive solutions which are continuously evolving. Frazer's book beautifully weaves a compelling treatise of tangible user interfaces, generative design and evolutionary systems to produce a work of surprising simplicity in its narrative but with a powerful impact at multiple levels of theory and future practice.

As a practising architect involved in professional and academic research, this book has helped me on numerous occasions both in approaching practical problems as well as serving as a catalyst in more didactic and experimental settings. The book draws from a wide range of disciplines, including architecture, design, industrial and electronic engineering, computer science, mathematics, biology, economics and fine art. As such, this book is not only a cornerstone of contemporary architectural thinking, but of equal importance in the wider field of creative technology and advanced research for practicioners and scholars alike.

Once the thesis that Santos are art "is established and proved, the word comes alive, the image reveals itself in all its splendor, its meanings and power amplified, and the reader, who now believes in the beauty and expressiveness of the Santos and is able to participate in the enjoyment of them, wants to continue the 'fiesta', to inhabit for a while longer the temple that the book has built for the carvings." (From comments by Antonio Martorell, artist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico, delivered at the Museum of Puerto Rican Art on June 25th, 2003.)

"Is it possible to take advantage of the extraordinary conceptual development of the euro-centric academic disciplines...in order to study...the 'art of the other' (be it in terms of civilizations such as non-european or in socioeconomic terms such as the rural or 'popular')? Irene Curbelo's book represents "the most important Puerto Rican contribution to this incandescent international debate." (From comments by A.G. Quintero Rivera, sociologist and professor at the University of Puerto Rico, delivered at the Museum of Puerto Rican Art on June 25th, 2003).

"In this bilingual edition, with magnificent illustrations, Irene Curbelo questions the way a work of art that obeys canons different from those accepted traditionally in european art is judged and evaluated...In Chapter V, titled Understanding the Santos, this scholar contributes powerfully to increase...the pleasure that contemporary art lovers feel when viewing the Santos...It offers a fascinating account of the whole artistic vocabulary constructed in terms of their function...The reading of this chapter offers an opportunity to observe the Santos more closely as it analyzes the elements that particularize them. It clarifies the ways in which the artists interpreted their world and utilized their artistic materials expressively...As a result, these pieces acquire an expressive value that places them on an artistic plane well beyond the mere artifact." (translated excerpts from the literary review by Carmen Dolores Hernandez published in San Juan by El Nuevo Dia, June 8, 2003, pg. 14).

For anyone interested in art (not only in Puerto Rican art, but in learning to read a work of art in general) this is a marvelous book. The language is straightforward and concise, managing to convey a complicated subject matter with refreshing clarity. The santos -- charming, colorful, whimsical -- make an interesting case study. They also grant us insight into the character, religious and otherwise, of the 18th and 19th century Puerto Rican. The historical background of the santos and the folklore surrounding them make for very engaging reading. The book is well-illustrated by many period photographs.

This is a wonderful calendar; high quality photos, convenient format, interesting birds. The photos show (expectedly) how strange and bizarre some chicken breeds are, and (unexpectedly) how ornate and almost beautifully detailed their plumage can be. Perfect for the kitchen.

I buy a rooster/chicken calendar for my mom every Christmas. The photos are amazing - you never knew a chicken could look like this. I'm sure she'll be delighted.

I've loved my 2007 version of this calendar! I'll definitely order 2008. Only the fanciest, froofiest chickens need apply. Every month there is a main chicken, and a smaller sub-chicken (on the lower page). The proper breed names are given for each. This is handy for we laypersons who are not poultry scholars, but appreciate the plumage.

I keep this calendar at my office. At the beginning of each month my co-workers breathlessly await the unveiling of the newest chicken.

This calendar has some extraordinary pictures, many suitable for framing.
They give you plenty of room to write whatever appointments/info you may need on appropriate dates and looks great posted on the wall.

I was so excited to finally be able to locate this book. Bookstores did not carry it. Thank you, Amazon, for having it in stock for me to order. The Amazon price was a good savings over the retail costs. The book is much larger in size than I expected but being so, you can better enjoy the details of each photo. This is a special addition to my presidential book collection.

If you have ever wondered what really goes on at the White House, this is the book to buy. David Kennerly had more access to the inner workings of the White House than any other photographer, before or since. These photos certainly prove it. For any student of history, or photography, this is one book to have on your shelf. As a working photojournalist for 35 years, I have had the pleasure of working beside Kennerly and can say that besides being a great photographer, he is one of the gentlemen of the business, an old-school hero to many an up and coming photographer. Don't miss out on this book.

David Hume-Kennerly is one of the most gifted photojournalists of our generation. He was chosen by Gerald Ford to be the "eyes of the nation on the presidency" after the insanity of paranoia that was Nixon's Whitehouse. This resulted in David becoming a "member" of the Ford family and thus having total access to the reality of The Pardon, The End of The War, and everything else that happened in those short Ford years. (As a fellow Shooter, his was the only job that I was INSANELY jealous of because he was the permanent `fly on the wall'!)

This book shares with us those times and shows us how lucky this country was to have had this strong and honest man at the top when we needed those qualities the most.

I truly hope that DHK is awarded another Pulitzer for this work.

Marshall Darling on The Cape

Aside from the stunning photography which I'll get to, this important book gave me new insights into a mostly overlooked Presidency. Kennerly documented the Ford Presidency and shows us the actual moments that some of the most significant decisions in American history were made- the Nixon pardon and leaving Vietnam to name two- thus revealing Ford as a true leader and rare politician willing to act on his beliefs regardless of consequences. (I say this as a lifelong Democrat!) As you go through the book, the range of images and perfect moments add up to a master class of great photojournalism, timeless, classic and relevant. The access he gained to intimate family moments, such as Betty Ford recovering from breast surgery, is astounding and says much about Kennerly's sensitivity and the trust he gained. It feels very emotional, intimate and world's away from our current super-posed, photo-op political culture. What is truly amazing is how easy he makes the photography look. Almost every image here is archetypal, profoundly primal, and about the subjects, not the photographer. The beauty of his work is the Zen of it; the essence of the story and person is revealed in the most graceful way. "Extraordinary Circumstances" fills an important gap in American history from a rare talent given a ringside seat, an incredible achievement.