Beck Books

The book was received timely and in good condition. I am enjoying the art work. The book is verything I expected to be, very abstract.

Ulrike Becks-Malorny has brought recent perspectives on Kandinsky's career to further light with this new biography.

The density of the layout is phenomenal: so much is crammed into this volume it is almost unbelievable. It includes many plates in colour and numerous documentary photographs.

The handsome large format paperback begins with his artistic life in Munich, in the process showing many of his earliest impressionist, fauvist and folk inspired paintings, photographs and sketches, lino- and woodcuts, etchings and drawings never seen before.

Most illustrations are captioned with insightful comments about the work and matters of relevant historic interest.

It also shows how his work developed in dialogue with other artists, architects and musicians of his era, especially the Jugendstil artists, Gabriele Munter and other Blaue Reiter painters, Paul Klee, Adolf Hoelzel, Kasimir Malevich and Alexander Rodchenko.

My only problem with the book is in the non-justified text and choice of font in Times Roman, which in this particular leading, is not the easiest typeface to scan these days.

Normally I do not read art books, for art tends to speak for itself.

My wife bought this one in response to remarks I had made in an art boutique in Maui about a Miles Davis painting we saw there. The comment, the same one I made on other occasions upon seeing similar paintings by Ornette Coleman, Calman Shemi and Wasssily Kandinsky was that "I could hear the paintings much better than I could see them."

Shemi actually has a series of painting, fittingly called "Jazz" - and if you do not think about them too hard, you can actually hear the music in them.

I suppose since there are no art books about Miles, Ornette, or yet even about Shemi, the next best thing was for her to get me one about Wassily Kandinsky, known to be my favorite artist. And speaking of books about heroes, never was I more disappointed than by Miles' own book "Decoy," whose title could not have been more prophetic as it was not so much about his music as it was a decoy deflecting one from Miles' music and focusing on how Miles - even deep into his fifties - seemed still obsessed with remaining a "hip East St. Louis inner city thug." And while "Decoy" certainly cut Miles down to human size, nothing can ever erase the impact of his musical genius and legacy. Miles, whatever else, were his failings, did for music what Kandinsky spent a lifetime trying to do for painting: He freed American music from its rigidly imposed aesthetic structural strait-jacket of time and chordal discipline, in one fell swoop.

His "Kind of Blue," is such a pure expression of musical yearning for freedom; such a pure expression of musical genius, such a pure stretching of the boundaries of musical form, and such a pure stripping away of social orthodoxy, that it alone serves as a transcendental model for yearnings for freedom that go far beyond the bounds of music or even the arts. We are unlikely to see one musical piece have such a profound impact on the psyche of a culture repeated ever again.

What a surprise it was to discover in this volume by Ulrike Becks-Morlarney, that Kandinsky was nothing if not a frustrated musician, using his palette of colors as a musician would use a horn: to express his emotions through the visual modalities of color, light and his own understated and reorganized idea of form. Kandinsky does so with the same freedom from the rigidity of structural orthodoxy as that expressed by Jazz musicians such as Coleman, Coltrane, Monk and Davis. And while any description of what was going on in his head has to be a vast oversimplification, it is not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that Kandinsky was a "revolutionary musician" with a paintbrush, an easel and a palette of colors, rather than a horn.

And just as Miles staged a quiet musical revolution with the album "Kind of Blue," one that overthrew a half-century of musical orthodoxy, Kandinsky, who gave up Law at the late age of 30, also staged a quiet revolution again the established orthodoxy of painting at the turn of the 19th Century. Both of these syn-esthetic trailblazers had keen cross-modal sensitivities and sensibilities, and could smell, feel, see and hear across and well beyond the established aesthetic boundaries. Both used these heightened sensitivities and sensibilities to burrow beneath the established orthodoxy so as to better upend it.

And upend it they did.

While Miles' used "structural understatement," "rhythmic nuance," and "tonal finesse" to get his abstracted musical message across, Kandinsky used "overstatement," "boldness," and "surprise" to communicate to us abstractly through colors, light and form. Miles' muted trumpet "tip-toed" across the musical canvas like "walking on egg shells," while Kandinsky's bold colors and angular lines "shocked and awed" the old representational objects and their representations motifs back into the closet somewhere well "off the stage" of the canvas.

And while there is a great deal that is both comic and tragic about the lives of both of these "larger-than-life" artistic geniuses, what provides the common thread between them is their relentless single mindedness yearning for freedom from mindless and repetitive orthodoxy. In the end their goals were the same: to free art (and by extension people) from the shackles of conventional orthodoxy and mindless constrictions. Taschen has produced an enduring masterpiece of artistic biography here. It summarizes in the most exquisite way the essence of the man, Wassily Kandinsky Five stars.

"The artwork is composed of two elements. The inner and the outer. The inner element, regarded individually, is the emotion that feels the artist' s soul . That emotion is capable to provoke a parallel emotion in the spectator. Generally, while the soul remains bounded to body, only the vibrations will be able to be attracted though the sensation. Hence, the sensation is a bridge from the materialness toward material (artist) and vice versa (spectator). Emotion-Sensation-Work-Sensation- Emotion." (Wassily Kandinsky)

Wassili Kandinski represents by far, one of the highest peaks in what concerns the reinvention and redefinition of art, deeply worried about Theosophy, inaugurated several artistic movements in pursuit of new forms of expression. Indeed, his memories from Moscow, his unforgettable impressions from the childhood, generated a vigorous inner creator impulse that would become a true driving force.

The text describes with zealous detail, his metamorphoses in Munich since 1896 to 1911, his decisive meet with Gabriele Munter, his settlement in Murnau, as well as his breakthrough toward the abstraction "The blue rider" his interlude in Russia 1914-1921, his fruitful period in Bauhaus 1922-1933 until his last stage: the bio-morph abstraction in Paris 1934-1944.

That febrile disposition respect the perpetual innovation, the same fact he could live in worlds so opposite (October 1917, respect the new tendencies of Paris and Munich as gravity centers of fevered proposals), the sharp contrast between tradition and innovation, the breakthrough of so many paradigms, the Fauvism, Cubism, Impressionism, Constructivism, enlivened in his soul the imperious necessity to transcend the Halls of his art and thence, his concerns for publishing and divulgating his standpoints.

His life was a worthy example of Camus statement. "To create is to live twice" and this book provides of a very ordered sequence, every one of his different stages of transformation.

Highly recommended.

I really liked this book. It's hard to find a good children's book with an entertaining story, educational value, and a message. Katie truly has a gift for writing. She doesn't let her wings shrink (read the story to find out what that means).

Katie Beck's parable of faith, hope, and tradgedy is a wonderful story for all ages. Her illustrations are remarkably well done for someone so young. The story of Moki is both educational and inspirational. I recommend this book for every young person.

Miss Beck has done a supurb job of weaving a story of the Moas into a parable that teaches us all to look into ourselves for strength, purpose, and the consequences of our choices. It is a book for young and adult to savor for its simplistic beauty. The illustrations reflect the grace and triumph of the author/illustrator. A must have book for my teaching and for sharing with family. I hope this young author shares more of her wisdom and talent with the world!

I liked the Moas for its gentle, understated uniqueness. With superb pencil illustrations and compelling, easily understood text, " The Moas" tells the story of Moki, a young Moa who must teach himself to fly or perish. Far from the ordinary, a picture book for adults as well as children, its thought provoking messages are clear. Believe in yourself. Have courage to stand alone. Exercise gifts and abilities before they are lost. Avoid excesses. Have hope. Never give up. The importance of species preservation and information about Maori culture and history are interwoven into the story skillfully. As a teacher and parent I will use this book year after year

This is very funny and delightful reading. Couldn't put it down. Kristin Beck always comes through!.

This book was a gift to me after a bad break up. After reading it, I realized that I wasn't alone! It's a great spirit lifter and the stories are timeless as well as well written.

The stories in this book are funny, eye-opening and will make you happy to have a great boyfriend (if you are one half of a couple) or happy to be single (if you were feeling depressed about being solo). From dates who wear the same clothes all the time to smelly, sloppy girlfriends to boyfriends caught in bed with another man, this book has several funny stories that probably any woman can relate to in some way or another.

a friend of mine bought this for me because i just got dumped by my boyfriend, and all i can say is now i'm glad i'm single! all of the stories are hilarious and excruciating.

Al Hansen was my advisor in college. Having said that, let me also add that his teaching continues to impact every day of my life in a most positive fashion. i had the good fortune of being a member of a small group of earnest students at Rutgers University in Newark who basically followed Al around for four years and never regretted it. perhaps, my most memorable experience was going with Al and a few other students to a party at Andy Warhol's factory for the Velvet Underground. i also collected hersey chocolate wrappers and empty camel cigarette packs for Al.

alot of info and facts also alot of art
if your a fan of Al or Beck you'll love this book

Do you know anything about Al Hansen? Before buying this book, I had no idea that he was such a renown member of the Fluxus/Happenings community. Al was colleages with such icons as Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon. In the book, it is mentioned that as children, Beck and his brother Channing would be sent on missions to collect cigarette butts for their dear grandpa's art. I used to wonder how Beck could be so inventive, but now I see where his roots lie. Al is the reason we have our beloved Beck. Al is why we can today defy all sexx laws. And so even though he is deceased, it is comforting to know that his legacy lives on, not only in his art, but in his eccentric rock-star grandson.

Note: In case you were going to buy this for your Beck-crazed teeny-bopper, be aware that this book contains some nudity.

beck hansen and his zany grandpa use cigarette butts as artistic media. you wouldn't think that something so trashy could be so beautiful. it's miss-shapen, partially grotesque, and acutely obtuse. human shapes composed of matches and cigarettes provide a uniquely symbolic look at what makes us-- bits and pieces of what others throw away. i personally drove from seattle to nyc to see the opening of the art exibit featured in the book. although i wouldn't suggest everyone go to such extents, injesting the book is nice start.

Since I purchased my first copy of "The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life," I have done all I can to promote the book as the best way to start learning about Native Americans and American Indian Life-Ways. I recommend it to everyone.

In 1987 I published the following book review in the prestigious American Indian Quarterly. Some twenty-one years later, by beliefs remain the same, but my hopes that "The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life" would become a regularly used textbook and standard reference book in libraries remain unfulfilled. And for me the question remains, how do I get people to read this book? I did my part, utilizing it as a textbook for classes I taught at Rocky Mountain College, Northern Montana College, and Carroll College, all here in Montana. When I left Carroll College, the instructor who took my place continued to use "The Sacred" for several years. Since then, however, it has been dropped for more "up to date" books, hoping to reinvent the wheel. Here, then, is my published review:

One is seldom afforded the opportunity to read such an exemplary book as Peggy V. Beck and Anna L Walters' "The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life." As alaudatory contribution towards better literature on American Indians, "The Sacred" serves as both a fundemental resource and a textbook. Although it has been ten years since the book was first published, the book is once more available for classroom use. It is fitting, therefore, that it be re-reviewed in an effort to bring renewed interest in "The Sacred" as both a textbook and a resource.

The impetus for writing and publishing "The Sacred" is to provide a textbook that emphasizes "the traditional characteristics of sacred ways in North America" (p. xii; emphasis in the original). However, these traditional values are also viewed by the authors as the foundation for thinking in contemporary American Indian communities. I would say that Beck and Walters have indeed provided an omibus resource, and now it is up to academia to kindle the study of "The Sacred."

As a textbook, "The Sacred" is editied into an appropriate, systematic framework that allows the student to move from basic ideas and definitions to contemporary problems and attitudes, building upon itself (the knowledge) to create a holistic understanding of the sources of Indian life. The appropriate use of maps, charts, photographs, and superb illustrations enhances, as well as stimulates, the reader's interest in the topics. Each chapter has a bibliorpahy peculiar to its subject matter, and a more general bibliography is located at the end of the book. The reference section contains a glossary of difficult and/or misconstured terms, a listing of films and filstrips pertinent to each chapter (and where to obtain them), and an index.

The text is an integrated combination of reportorial, narrative, biogrphical, and interpretive styles of writing that reveal the attitudes of the authors along woth those of the cited contributors and "The People" themselves. In discussing the subjects or themes of each chapter, historical influences are fully inorporated with contemporary issues to create a relavantly circular presentation. This stylistic technique, when comined with the book's authoritativeness and perspectus, transposes into a highly readable and pertinent textbook for students of all levels of knowledge. Additionally, documents and recorded oral commentaries, which the authors appropriately use to support their detailed treatment and general themes, contribute to make "The Sacred" an invaluable reference as well.

The authors begin "The Sacred" by distinguishing between the concepts of religion, the sacred, world view, and how these ideas function in each person's daily awareness. From this foundation they develop their ideas concerning the way thinking about the sacred--indeed, ways for thinking about the sacred for most American Indians:
1. A belief in or knowledg of unseen powers, or what some people call The Great Mystery.
2. Knowledge that all things in the universe are dependent on each other.
3. Personal worship reinforces the bond between the individual, the community, and the great powers. Worship is a personal commitiment to the sources of life.
4. Sacred trations and persons knowledgealble in them are responsible for teaching morals and ethics.
5. Most communities and tribes have trained practitioners who have been given names such as medicine men, priests, shamans, caciques, and other names. These individual also have titles given them by The People which differ from tribe to tribe. These individuals are responsible for specialized, perhaps secret knowledge. They help pass knowledge and sacred practices from generation to generation, storing what they know in their memories.
6. A belief that humor is a necessary part of the sacred. And a belief that human beings are often weak--we are not gods--and our weakness leads us to do foolish things; therefore, clowns and similar figures are neded to show us how we act and why. (pp. 8-9)

Once the reader learns what the sacred entails, along with the ways of thinking about the sacred, it becomes obvious that the sacred permeates American Indian lifeways. The remainder of "The Sacred," then, develps and inetrates these ideas within various components of American Indian life-ways.

Beck and Waters' book is an original and qualified book that is comprehensive in its usefulness. That is, it is a book that should be considered for use in more than just American Indian Religion classes. "The Sacred" is totally appropriate for introductory classes or general classes like Indians of North America (for which I am successfully using the text). "The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Sources of Life" is a positive addition to the literature on American Indian Studies, and is one that should be seriously considered for adoption in courses treating topics on American Indians.

Please, read "The Sacred," and then help me pass the word. However, also remember that this is not a novel or a popular reading book, and as such you may find parts hard to understand. If you do, contact a Native American Studies program or feel free to email me.

Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.

A wonderful compilation of Native American Practices and Religion. Interesting to both researchers and Native American practitioners. I would recommend this book to anyone needing insight to a culture that is much older and wiser than the Western European and American cultures.

"The Sacred Ways of Knowledge" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy

Excerpt(s): This textbook is about the sacred ways of Native American people in North America. Through examples from the oral tradition of The People, through interviews, speeches, prayers, songs and conversations, these ways will be explored.

The material in this textbook will attempt to describe, not intrude by analysis, the meaning, role and function of sacred traditional practices and observances in the lives of The People, individually and collectively. This textbook will perhaps also help to correct the misinformed views of Native American sacred traditions and observances. These views fill the archives, the libraries, the movies, and the textbooks students use throughout the world. By simply letting The People speak we may come to better understand the profoundness of strength, beauty, and vitality of this dimension of American Indian People.

Many Native People find it difficult to explain their ways of life, beliefs, traditions, and observances with the word "religion" Therefore, we tried to find a word that would better describe sources of life and ways of knowledge. For this reason we chose the word sacred which we will define in more detail later on in this chapter. (page 3)

The Path of Life

The place from which you had started at the beginning seemingly a long time ago, will now appear very close as if you had started but recently.

Within several religions around the world is the philosophy or idea that life is envisioned as a path or road. The terrain through which it winds and goes is representative of the pitfalls, or turns of life one must encounter as one travels the "road of life." This is made explicit in the ceremony, like the Mide of the Winnebago. The above quote comes from this ceremony.

At the root of Native American aboriginal concepts is the belief that the road conveys an eternal return. There is no end. At death one returns in some way to the beginning. On the path of life, when one has reached old age, one knows what one knew when one was born, but only realizes and acknowledges it for the first time. The concept is at the root of aboriginal beliefs because like the road, the "sacred" had no beginning or end. The road is continuous and never ending. ...

In Peyotism, the Peyote "road" is also discussed. An explanation, metaphorically, is given about the altar of a crescent moon.

At the west corner, horns to the east, is the crescent altar with a groove or "path" along it from horn to horn, interrupted by a flat space in the center where the "father peyote" is later to rest on springs of sage. The "path" symbolizes man's path from birth (southern tip) to the crest of maturity and knowledge (at the place of the peyote) and thence downward again to the ground through old age to death (northern tip).

The priest swung a pointing finger along a narrow groove running through the crest of the altar moon. "You follow life's road,: he explained to me, "then you meet peyote, and your life changes. It has for everyone in here. We meet peyote and then we continue in that Way."

Through these roads or paths life is given more meaning, purpose, and responsibility. We also find that these roads provide means or procedures by which the people may attain or achieve certain desired goals. This is the role of religions. The path of life is analogous to this role. (page 197)

The Peyote Spirit

We have been taught that all men have the right to worship God in the manner and form most satisfactory to their own conscience. (Osage Peyotists)

The definitions of Peyote are multi-faceted and varying. It depends, of course, on whom one asks and their knowledge, or experience with Peyote. Obviously many interpretations will range from the abstract, personal, and emotional to an objective concrete, scientific explanation.

Examples of the abstract are:

Peyote is a power. There is a power in there. That power, he has many names. You don't know how much power is there. It will take all your lifetime and you will know only a small part of the power. This is what I was told.

This description comes from a young Navajo man, Ron Barton, who was introduced to Peyote as a small child and has since made a commitment to it. Larry Etsitty, also a Navajo and Vice-President of the Navajoland Native American Church defines Peyote in this way,

The Peyote to me, is my bible. I know what I should be doing and shouldn't be doing. To me, when I take that Peyote, I feel humble (respectful) all the time.

Peyote has always been a religion. It is used mainly to gain power. (Manuel Watchman, Navajo) (page 233)

The Peyote experience is one of individual meditation and consequently, revelation. Prayer and contemplation provide reasonable access, through Peyote, to satisfying revelations about one's self. Shirly Etsitty explains further, "The fundamental teaching is as a sacrament . . ., it (Peyote) is the mediator. When you take the medicine, you learn from inside out." Change is inevitable, according to one's conscience and confrontation with himself. Change for the better becomes possible, necessary, and worthwhile. However, the change must be within the individual, as his environment does not visibly alter. While he cannot usually control conditions that affect him, he can influence and exercise more controls within his own life. His outlook, philosophically, and behavior adjusts accordingly. (pages 245-246)

Christianity and the Peyote Religion

Emhoolah who has spent part of his life from childhood with "Peyote People" says, "I've gone to Christian Churches. I always come back. There must be something about that herb that appeals to the Indian." Ron Barton echoes the sentiment, "I've been involved in the Native American Church all my life, since I was born. It's in me. It will always be in me. I like the Peyote Way. I pray that way. I eat that way. I sleep that way. I live that way. It puts back the dignity." Sam Gardipe talking about tradition and its place in a fast-moving technologically oriented world, shared his philosophy as Peyotist, and as an Indian. "I have a philosophy. One of the ways of rebelling, is to be traditional, to really know your own way (Peyote Way)."

To reiterate, Larry Etsitty also acknowledges that the bird he envisions can also go in the direction of Christianity. He sees Peyotism as being adaptable, supplemental and not detrimental to any other religion, including Christianity. It is acknowledged that the Native American Church in its contemporary form contains seeds of Christianity, incorporated either recently or in some cases before the 20th century.

The Peyote Religion functioned as separate independent groups prior to the organization of specific groups into the affiliated Native American Church. In doing so, some groups also introduced characteristics and the concept of Christianity. Other groups did not attempt to introduce change or did not reorganize themselves. (pages 247-248)

The Peyote Way or Peyote Road stresses four main teachings one must conform and adhere to. "Peyote People" may supply the instruction, or after Peyote is consumed it may be directly responsible for teaching. The teachings are: (1) Love for your fellow man or brotherly love; (2) responsibility for one's family; (3) self-reliance; and (4) refraining from use of alcohol. ...

Larry Etsitty stated with regard to children that he had been told by other members of the Native American Church (not of the Navajoland chapter or branch) that it delighted them to see children participate. Their age ranged from infants to expectant parents. Larry Etsitty continued, "They said they felt that's where they went wrong. At times when there were too many participants, the young ones were requested to leave to make room for older participants." He indicated that these people regretted that their young ones have not responded in the desired manner. As to the women in Peyotism, depending on the area and the time, it was once recorded they were sometimes not allowed to participate. Most tribes, as oral tradition indicates, gave the women a very high place in the Peyote Religion and usually credit her for the bringing of Peyote. The Navajo tribe is one of the very, very few who allow women to sing during the meeting. (pages 249-250)

In the Summer of 1975, the author met an elderly man at the Navajo Tribal Fair in Window Rock, Arizona. He was a golden man, all sparkly, dark skin and eyes, in the sun. He was obviously not wealthy in ways of money and extravagant finery. He and his clothes were all wrinkly and worn. Both had bags in them. He stepped up to negotiate a purchase he planned. He wanted the man's robe or sheet, half red and half black, worn in the Peyote meeting. He said he was a road man, had been one for forty years. He said he'd been to jail for Peyote, was there when Peyote followers were harassed. He said it simply and matter-of-factly. "Peyotism had endured." He said that softly, gently in Navajo. He said he would do it all over again.

Thorin's vicious barbs aimed at any whom might attempt to exhibit their control over another is definetly quite the read. Unlike other books of it's kind (books designed to "lift the veil", so to speak) "The Virus" is an actual delight to read. Thoroughly informative, Thorin quotes examples used in our modern day society to get his point across. Easily understood, even to the point of putting a glossary in the back of the book (a delightful addition). Truley a magnificent read. It's not too often you find a book that's not only inspirational, but also educational and humorous

I have read most of Thorin's book; I missed Stalking The Flock but have read The Wolf In Wolf's Clothing and Bullets. This book is very well delivered as all of Thorin's books. The only thing that it is missing is the bite that TWIWC had in it. But even Thorin recognized this and tells the "Canine Brethren" that Shrapnel will have that "bite" we expect. If you have never read a Thorin book be prepared for a blunt and honest read.
This book explores the "Programs" that society, religions, and governments have installed into the average person. It also explores how the "Programs" are installed in us and how some people will use a nice suit and tie to make us think that they have a higher intellect then the plain t-shirt and jeans people. One of my favorite quotes from this book is "Show me a man with a bouquet of flowers and I'll show you a man with a condom in his pocket". This quote is used in the book to show that not everyone is nice and most have another agenda in mind.
I really liked this book because I consider myself a pretty smart guy and hard to take advantage of but while reading this book I even discovered flaws in my armor. This book in my opinion covers one general rule in life. To be open minded but not so open minded and tolerant that you allow people to run over your views. As stated in the book people of different backgrounds and religions can get along as long as they like to talk about the weather.
I hope that you will read this book and use it to help open your mind. It's a great read and non-stop. I read this book over the course of a weekend. Very Good!
Jeremy Lynn Burke

I have read all of Thorin's books, but this book is by far the deepest. I recommend this book to anybody who is not afraid to face the truth. This book would be a great read for a psychology major, but honestly, it is a great read for anyone who dares to scratch beyond the surface. It is written for those seeking to break the chains of a mindless, programmed existance. This is an eye opening read, but I fail to give it its just due. Thorin's books are extremely hard to sum up. "Defiance and resistance to a programmed life" is the best blanket statement that I can throw over this book, but Thorin's reach is so deep and wide, even that statement fails to sum the span of his genius.

like all of his other books this is another eye popping eye opener got it this morn almost finished like a book u cannot put down open ur eyes people the time is now educate ur selves

About a year ago a teacher/performer friend asked me who my first guitar teacher was. Larry McCabe, quite a few years ago. My friend looked surprised, and told me he uses Larry's books in his own teaching, and that Larry had written something like 80 books to date. I had no idea, as Larry was in the process of writing his first book when I had lessons with him. So when it came time to brush up on some basic blues licks for a band I'm in I ended up obtaining some of Larry's books.

This book of blues turnarounds is where I started. What a great book - full of excellent turnaround licks. At this point I've only played through about half of them note for note, but have used those as a basis for coming up with my own licks. And to me, that is the mark of a great book - lots of useful information if read note-for-note, but can also be used as a springboard for creating new ideas.

The licks I've learned from the book thus far are all in the key of C, but can be easily used in other keys if one has a basic knowledge of the notes on the fretboard. I'd highly recommend this book for a beginner wanting to learn stock blues licks, or intermediate players who need to expand their blues vocabulary.

An Excellent Choice for the Early Intermediate Blues Guitarist

A turnaround is a lick played at the end of a section of music. A blues turnaround would be played in measures 11-12 of a 12-bar blues, or measures 7-8 of an eight-bar blues.

Electric urban blues turnarounds are fairly easy to play, and the difference from one to another is subtle. Having the ability to play a variety of turnarounds is an important skill in blues guitar playing. This is the best book I know of that addresses exclusively the subject of electric blues guitar turnarounds.

This a book for a VERY ambitious beginner, or an early intermediate guitarist who has an interest in Chicago blues in the classic style of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, etc.

The licks are all arranged in the key of C. This is for ease of analysis and comparison. The user is encouraged to transpose the licks to other keys - a worthwhile project for exploring and learning the fingerboard. Very, very good practice for learning the art of blues phrasing.

Great book from one of our leading authors. My students (and myself) have consistently benefited from the interesting instruction contained here.

My students and I work from several of Larry McCabe's guitar books and find that the books produce consistently high results.

This book, like the others, is exceptionally well crafted, specific in intent, and the guitar lines are accurately written exactly as they are heard on the CD. Larry McCabe books are the work of a dedicated teacher who has achieved a high level of respect nationally in the field of music education.

Larry asked me to write a review for this book, and I am happy to do so. The object of this book is to teach the art of playing blues guitar turnarounds to a guitarist who has some prior experience but is just beginning to explore electric blues.

If a student knows how to bend the strings and perhaps play slurs, slides, and hammers, blues turnarounds are not difficult to play. What is important is to play them authentically and with conviction. This book does a very good job in advancing those objectives.

A component of this book that is quite effective is that every phrase is written in the Key of C. The student should then transpose each lick to other keys, a desirable skill that encourages individual incentive and ability to solve arranging problems.

The turnarounds sound exactly like the ones played on classic blues recordings by the great artists from Chicago and other urban areas.

I know other teachers who swear by Larry's books, and I am one of them. Great book- effective in its aims, ambitious content, fun to work through, and a great value.

This very fine book has been in print in one form or another since the early-to-mid 1980s. Not many music books remain in print that long, but this is an exceptional collection of model solos in the urban blues style.

The book is quite popular with music teachers (as evidenced by the other reviews) and it is enjoyable and productive for students as well. The book is aimed at the ambitious early intermediate student, and a few of the solos will challenge an intermediate guitarist.

There are 25 full-length solos in the book, each written in notation and tablature, and each recorded note-for-note on the accompanying CD. The band on the CD is excellent. There are five solos in C, five in G, five in D, five in A, and five in E. The solos are played to standard blues progressions, meaning that they may be "plugged in" to similar blues progressions that are found in many, many songs.

The solos sound exactly like the solos heard on real blues records. They are varied and performed with taste, authenticity, and feeling. You can hear why the author was a columnist for Living Blues Magazine and why his work has received consistently high reviews in a number of guitar magazines.

Great book, highly recommended.

I wish all music instruction books were written in this format. The song tabs just go from one page to the next without a bunch of talking/writing in between, and the song numbers in the book actually match the song numbers on the cd...what a rare and unique idea! Of course, none of that would matter if the material were bad, but that's not the case, the solos are great - quite diverse too. There is a lot of helpful information in this book: theory, writing your own solos, a guide to blues styles and artists,etc. - but it's all in it's own section of the book, not sprinkled throughout the book here and there making it impossible to find. As a full time guitar instructor I would just like to say "great job", "great blues solos" and "great, easy to use format". Thanks.

The author of this book, Larry McCabe, is re-releasing books that have gone out of print for one reason or another. This particular book is an old friend. After I received it, I went into my library and found a copy. It has been in print in one form or another for 25 years. Most instruction books don't last anywhere near that long. First, this book (as the author warns) is not for beginners. You need to be familiar with the movable blues scales we all use. If you are playing out, and feel comfortable with the whole neck, get this book. The style of lead is closer to Gatemouth Brown and Freddie King than anyone else. If you don't know who these men are, buy their CDs. You are in for a treat. Please read the author's introduction. There is a lot of good info there. The Tab system is the older style. It should take about 30 seconds to adjust. It's actually easier to read than the current form. If you consider yourself a Rock guitarist instead of Blues, you really could use this book. If you use these solos as a "how to", instead of just memorizing them, they will give you some new weapons. You know, for scaring the heck out of other guitarists.

Wow! For someone like me who could never get into technical articles and books about the Internet, Ralf Hirt's 8W8 Global Space Tribes is as refreshing as a cool breeze in Death Valley.

I found myself thinking I was one of the characters in the novel waking up in EA-RA and sitting down for breakfast wondering what new insights, digital or otherwise, waited to be revealed to me that day. It made me think what different ideas I might have come up with if I had been sitting down at the table with the Golden Skyers.

I read 8W8 on a flight from New York City to LA. I was doing the Okay Fellow trip in reverse. It was almost spooky as when I began looking down and trying to put myself in his position. I began wondering what it was that I was seeing. All of a sudden, I realized that I had always had a nagging feeling that what I had been seeing wasn't really what it appeared to be. By the time we circled in from the ocean into LAX, I had stopped thinking LA as a basin and, instead, I was seeing it as a huge mountain with a large base rising higher than Everest. I remember thinking it was a good thing that the pilot was back in Web 2, because we might have crashed right into that mountain.

Before 8W8, I had never understood the future of the Internet so clearly and what it meant to me personally or the world in particular.

R. Arnold

"8W8 Global Space Tribes" leads us trough a flattened pre-Columbian InterWorld which defines the next metamorphosis of the Internet Web 3, and perhaps beyond. Rather than following a convoluted trail through a multidimensional world, the writer brings us to one spot, a vortex where all aspects of our physical world come together; where each individual identifies her or himself as a member of a tribe. Members of these tribes can be living in the Amazon, the Urals or Nebraska, however, more than a common mindset knits these tribes together: they share a common weltanschauung.

Using the clever device of a helicopter (8W8 Heli), resources, markets and capital flow can be mapped like rain water forming rivulets; then streams, rivers and, ultimately oceans. For me as a businessperson and a fan of new technologies, this book has been awesome since it reveals what, hithertofore, had been invisible... the "Golden" flow.

Ralf Hirt's 8W8 Global Space Tribes goes beyond the concept of a flat
world, it draws the reader into a virtual "What if?" reality. What if
the Internet could be used to erase national borders and
ethno-cultural divides creating entirely new social systems... global
space tribes!

Taking a ride in Hirt's 8W8 Global Space Tribes' Helicopter is more
than experiencing the Web 3.0 envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee as "an
overlay of scalable vector graphics (with) everything rippling and
folding and looking misty:" it's entering a 5-D world where Time and
Space serve as connective tissue further compressing an already
flattened world.

Eschewing technical jargon that could alienate the average
non-techgeek, Hirt, instead, introduces the reader to 15 individuals
who call themselves the Golden Sky. They are an IT think tank composed
of international business people, lawyers, politicians,
environmentalists, a musician, a doctor and a philosopher, all of whom
share one thing in common--a futuristic vision of the future. They come
together on the Big Island of Hawaii, in the home of one of their
members, Winston Chee, an IT entrepreneur, for a week-long break out
in which they intend to focus on an IT conundrum: how to make the
invisible, visible.

The author cleverly uses the house, itself, as a living entity that,
in many ways, embodies many of the same elements as their quest.
Called EA-RA, it is a six-story mansion built into the side of a
mountain. It's exterior is a semicircular sheet of black glass infused
with golden fiber which faces south and stretches in a semicircle 180
degrees from east to west. The effect is that it not only catches the
sunrise but the setting sun as well, all the while reflecting the
sun's rays like a golden mirror. Unseen and undetected from outside is
the vast interior which encloses a self-sustaining environment
including a farm on its ground floor, the entire panoply and
requisites of a modern spa and convention center on the the five top
floors, all of which are hidden from view to the outside observer.

The hero of the piece is a San Francisco based IT journalist called
Oskar Kiernan Feller, or more commonly called by his friends, O.K.
Fellow. He is probably a manifestation of the author, himself,
conflicted and driven. It is O.K. Fellow whom we first meet as he sits
in an airplane flying from San Francisco to an IT conference in
Berlin. It is a trip he has made many times in the past, but on this
trip he is gripped with a sense of anxiety. He has flown millions of
miles without an incident, but his mind has made a calculation that at
some point there had to be a "statistical fluctuation" which might
result in...? He tries to stop thinking about it by repeating a mantra
silently to himself.

Ultimately, somewhere over St. Louis he experiences an existential
moment when he begins to question what he is seeing. That results in a
dialectical switch where, for a moment, he is watching himself trying
to find like-minded individuals among the houses and buildings below.
We are introduced to all the main characters in the first two
chapters. Except for their different vocations, they all share the
same uneasiness as O.K. Fellow. They want to see the unseen elements
of their world. For some, it's a search to find people as
themselves,for the others, it is to be able to see the actual flow of
elements into streams and rivers which make up what they call "Global
Space Tribes."

Eventually, they develop the concept of a virtual helicopter which
they imagine could hover above the earth with an instrument panel.
This tool could discern hidden values from single elements to
concentrations of elements, "mountains," as they eventually see them.

This is a fast and enjoyable read for both the lay reader as well as
the technophile.

This book (and series) is WONDERFUL! Super easy to use for a first time gardener. I still use the books weekly for reference. What makes this book special is it is easy to read and all the information is tailored to our Michigan weather. The books contain flowers alphabetically and all the basic care information. Think of the little tags that come staked in the flowers but you end up losing - all organized together in an easy care manual!

I don't believe I've ever seen a gardening book where the information was as well-organized as it is in "Annuals for Michigan" and its companion volume, "Perennials for Michigan." Often books of regional interest are thrown together and published on the cheap, but these books are tightly-bound, full of color illustrations, and above all, well written. And they're really about Michigan climate and Michigan soils. Someone didn't just go through and change, say 'Iowa' to 'Michigan' with a word processor, then rename the book.

According to the authors, Michigan ranks third nationwide in the production of annual plants, so we must have a pretty decent climate for growing them. I've only had a couple escape from their beds and attempt to take over the yard--the morning glory 'Grandpa Ott' and every kind of mallow I've ever tried--so don't be afraid to experiment. Our winters usually exterminate the overly bold.

The book begins with a pictorial guide called "The Flowers at a Glance" where photographs of the annuals are listed in alphabetical order, by common name. There is a short introduction on trends in annuals and a map of the average last-frost dates for Michigan, so that you will know when to plant out depending on where you live.

The next few sections explain how to start annuals, both by growing them from seed or by schlepping over to the nearest gardening center and buying them. There are chapters on caring for annuals, and the obligatory chapter on 'Problems & Pests' before we plunge into the heart of this book: the alphabetically-arranged sections on each of the 443 selected annuals.

Each species is described, including height, spread, and flower color. Each has subsections on 'Planting' (how and when to start your plants), 'Growing,' 'Tips,' 'Recommended' varieties, and (usually) 'Problems and Pests.' There are over 400 color photographs, usually (but not always) labeled by variety, to help with your decisions on what to plant. There is also a very nice 'Quick Reference Chart' in back that lists the colors, sowing method, height, hardiness, light and soil requirements for each species.

There is even a short list of companies and their websites where you can purchase seed, although a couple of my favorites aren't mentioned, i.e. Thompson and Morgan, and Park Seed.

Annuals are so much fun. If you hate the color combinations you tried one year, you can start all over again the following spring. Sometimes if you're lucky, a favorite annual like Love-in-a-Mist will reseed itself and return even more beautifully the following season. Of course, that could also happen with pests like Grandpa Ott--we finally had to concede defeat after five years of weeding purple morning glories out of the vegetable beds. We sold our house to someone who hopefully loves this old vine.

This is an excellent book. Hundreds of color photos and growing related information for the Michigan gardner. The book is a convenient size with rounded edges. The Perennials for Michigan book is a well written book as well and a good compliment to this one.