Blake Books

This is as a nice reference for the blues guitarist. It's nice to have so many new ideas in one place. The only downside (more so for the beginner), is most of the turnarounds are in the key of C which means you'll need to transcribe them to different keys. This is not a bad thing as it is helps develop a better knowledge of how the blues scales are put together. It is a good investment as it is a reference and a learning tool.

(101 Razor-Sharp Blues Guitar Fill-In Licks)


Leading Book of Its Type

This is undoubtedly the leading book of its type on the market today. 101 authentic urban blues guitar fill-ins in the Chicago blues style, each accurately transcribed in notation and tablature. Each lick is recorded note-for-note on the companion CD and accompanied by a professional blues band (complete with singer Charles Atkins), and wonderfully engineered by Fred Chester, a well-known engineer in the Southeast who has recorded albums for jazz piano great Marcus Roberts and persons of similar caliber.

As a professional music teacher of many years, I have found Larry McCabe's music instruction books to be of consistently high quality, popular with students, focused and effective in accomplishing the particular objective.

Small wonder. Larry has one of the most reputable names in the music publishing industry. His resume lists over eighty published books for Mel Bay, Centerstream, and other big names in the industry. Two of his books were written for none other than Roy Clark. And he was the guitar writer for Living Blues Magazine for three years, and a member of the W.C. Nominating Committee for many years. This is a teacher who knows how to play and teach the blues.

The author, Larry McCabe, is a well-known and respected author of many instruction books and he has a strong background in the blues. I recall that in the 1990s Larry authored a popular blues guitar column for Living Blues Magazine.

Against the backdrop of a live band complete with singer Charles Atkins, each fill-in lick is played exactly as you would play it on stage or in a jam session. The licks are tasteful and performed in the authentic Chicago style-the licks are the real thing, played by a guitarist who knows how to play the blues and write blues instruction.

I would recommend this book to an early intermediate guitarist whose ambition is to play in the urban blues style. The incredible thing about this set is that the user is actually sitting in with a live blues band that includes a singer.

In the rush to play solos, fill-in are sometimes overlooked. This book is unique and unlike any other book on electric blues guitar. And in fact, Red Dog Music Books entire series of 101 Razor-Sharp Blues Books are enthusiastically recommended to all electric guitar teachers who have students who want to learn to play the blues.

This book doesn't tell you when to use different effects, transitions, etc, but just how to physically do them in Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. Like literally how to do a wipe or a fade. The cd that comes with it is also really bad and you'll find yourself either laughing at it or bored out of your mind. This book isn't worth the money unless you're someone who's barely ever used computers and needs to know that you much drag and drop an effect to get it to work.

This book starts with the basics. If you've never loaded a movie into your computer (like me) then the authors walk you through those steps. I found it to be a great help. I had never used Movie Maker before and was able to get into it pretty easily. You may need to get a book for iMovie or Movie Maker if you are new to these types of apps (doesn't teach these programs). But I was able to pick it up pretty easily.

This book is a cookbook of digital video recipes; you can skip around the book and choose the effect you want to achieve. The steps are thoroughly explained and easily performed. There are a bunch of creative suggestions sprinkled throughout the book. There are movies samples provided for your use for both iMovie and Movie Maker!

So you are probably wondering what types of effects you can achieve. A few of my favorites include:

Dealing with adverse lighting

Glamour shots

Sporting events

Vintage slapstick

Sound narrating

Rolling credits

The projects are fun and very well written. If you want to learn some new techniques to spice up your home movies then this book is for you. There are directions for exporting for use on DVD, CD-ROM or for the internet.

The CD has a ton of useful tools such as sound files, sample clips for all 50 projects, demo software.

I've got to admit that although I'm intrigued with digital video, I'm just a novice and find the whole video editing process a little intimidating. This book helped me over the hump: I found it to be a great resource for helping me create some cool effects by simply following the step-by-step instructions -- and there are certainly plenty of effects to choose from here. An added bonus is the included CD-ROM, which allowed me to preview each effect before I tried it with my own footage. I would definitely recommend this book.

I liked this because it enlightened me to her past and how she is different from everyone else. Right from the beginning.

Loved this!!! Great pictures and great insight into a wonderful person's world. Being a fan I had heard most of the stories from Angelina interviews in the past, but there were some things that surprised me. It also offered a lot of information on her marriages and why they didn't work out.

I bought this book as my Christmas present to myself and I was not disappointed. I couldn't put the book down. Very well written and well-rounded. I feel like I know Angelina now as if I'd grown up with her. I respect and love her even more after reading this book. She literally transformed herself and morphed into the amazing woman she is now. This book is a must for all Angelina Jolie fans everywhere.

Blake Morrison's "As If" was this reader's favorite find of the year. Morrison finds himself compelled to view the unfolding of Liverpool's James Bulger murder trial, and in doing so is forced to assess his own life in relation to what it means to grow up "normally". Who is truly guilty or innocent in this shocking act of two ten-year olds murdering a two-year old? He says he must determine the "why" of the crime. As we sink with him into the morass, we find that the answer becomes more and more elusive, and we wonder how different these families are from yours or mine.

In Liverpool, two ten year old boys have murdered a two year old boy. They encountered him - they did not know him before - in a shopping square, took him by the hand, walked him two miles to the train tracks, and bashed his skull in with bricks (and some suspect, sexually abused him). The two year old boy allegedly did not put up much fight the entire way. He was two, and two year olds are trusting.

Blake Morrison, an Englishman and father of three, was asked by the New Yorker magazine to cover and write about the trial. Morrison is interested first and foremost in one thing: the Why. What would make two ten year old boys (both were troublemakers) decide to kill a two year old stranger? Is the answer in their family history, their genetic predisposition, the movies they were watching (Child's Play 3), or what? That quest to find The Why is what this book is primarily about.

Along with an account of the very short and relatively unclimactic trial we get ruminations on childhood, parenting, the 'nature' of evil, and even the justice system. Morrison is quite good at this, and where many would come off sounding like an amalgamation of plattitudes, Morrison really does have something to say on all of these subjects.

Yet, what bugged me - and bugged me it did - was that Morrison is too 'literary' for his own good. Every sentence finds Morrison trying to be witty and poetic, outdoing the last. There is a time and a place for this kind of spakly writing, but, to my eyes, this was decidedly not the venue for it (at least, keep the floweriness in moderation!).

The other complaint was that while Morrison is an above-average ruminator, anyone looking for a 'trial story' will be disappointed by this book. The book is probably 1/3 trial and 2/3 reflection and rumination. And it does, to be honest, tend to drag because of that.

So, to sum up, "As If" is an average book and I cannot say I am suprised to see it (seemingly) out of print. It is a book that will be hard pressed to hold the interest of any but the most patient or intrigued readers.

I bought this novel in the summer while I was in England. A few weeks ago, when I was looking for a book to read, I came across As If on my book shelf. Since then I have read it three times. Morrison made me ask questions of myself and of society that I would have never asked otherwise. He explains the trial, not only in a factual manner, but in an extrordinarily philosophical way as well.

I just read a copy of this 30s thriller and I was deeply impressed at how much more elegant and mature it is than most examples of the genre. It concerns a man whose son is killed in a hit and run, and he decides to find and murder the person responsible. The first half of the book, his discovery of the driver and plot to murder him, is superb. It reminds me of Patricia Highsmith, with its ambiguity of motive and its difficulty of determining guilt. The second half becomes more conventional, as a detective tries to sort out what happened and so on, but even that is good writing, except for the ending. If you're in a hurry, just read Parts 1 and 2 and pretend it's an exercise in open-ended thrillers.

The "Nigel Strangeways" books are a classic series of detective thrillers written under the "Nicholas Blake" pseudonym of Cecil Day-Lewis. "The Beast Must Die" is typical of the series, the 1938 melodramic tale of a man who decides to murder the hit-and-run killer of his only son. When someone else commits the evil deed first, Strangeways is called in to sort out the resulting mess.

Taken on one level, The Beast Must Die is an entertaining, if rather over-written, crime thriller. At another level, it's a much more entertaining spoof of the kind of mannered stories about the British middle class between the wars that were popular at the time. The book's opening sentence has become a classic: "I am going to kill a man... I have no idea what he looks like. But I am going to find him and kill him."

The title is taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes: The beast must die, the man dieth also, yea both must die.

I am going to kill a man. I don't know his name. I don't know where he lives, I have no idea what he looks like. But I am going to find him and kill him.

The Beast Must Die (1938) begins with this short paragraph, the first lines in a diary. Through the eyes and mind of a killer, the reader searches for a victim and evolves a carefully designed plan for murder. But like most human activities, murder can go awry. This well-crafted, fascinating plot offers unexpected twists and a satisfying conclusion. The Beast Must Die is among the best Nigel Strangeways mysteries.

Early on the story transitions from a diary format to a more conventional narrative form. The execution of the murder plan moves forward at a deliberate pace, with full attention to every detail. The Beast Must Die is one of the few stories in which Nigel's remarkable wife, Georgia, one of the three most famous women explorers of her day, joins him in the investigation. Not unexpectedly, his long term friend Inspector Blount of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case.

A poet-detective may not seem entirely credible. However, for readers new to the Nigel Strangeways mysteries, it might help to note that the author, Nicholas Blake, was actually a pseudonym for Cecil Day-Lewis, Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. The actor Daniel Day-Lewis is his son.

Although the Nicholas Blake stories are apparently no longer in print, used copies are not that uncommon. In the 1970s and 1980s the Strangeways mysteries were reprinted as Perennial Library paperbacks by Harper and Row Publishers. Another source, The Nicholas Blake Treasury, is an inexpensive, book club edition published in four volumes by the Mystery Guild. Finding even a single volume is a delight as each volume contains three Strangeways mysteries.

The Beast Must Die was also published around 1990 by the Franklin Mystery Library in an attractive, gilt edge, hardcover binding. This particular edition is not easy to find, however.

Thou Shell of Death (1936) and The Corpse in the Snowman (1941) are two other excellent Nigel Strangeways stories dating from the same period as The Beast Must Die.

Edgar Allan Poe is the Nietzsche of literature world

I had to read it for class. But, I really enjoyed it

When he read the poetry, it seemed he was reading so fast that - before I could think about what he was saying he said something else. You should get this if you're not really interested in the entertainment value over just listening to some Poe and visualising his stories. It's "generic," yet good listening.

I'm only sorry I couldn't have found this book sooner. I just recently discovered Blake's 7 and this guide really "hit the spot" as far as my curiosity was concerned. It gives you a lot of insight into why things were a certain way or how they really wanted to do something but didn't have the funding. It was also a pretty easy read. They didn't get into a whole lot dull detail and there were enough little interesting facts and stories to keep it interesting. If you are a true Blake's 7 fan, you'll definatly want to add this to your library.

After excellent behind-the-scenes books such as "Star Trek Memories" and "Patrick Stewart, the Unauthorized Biography," this book was a big disappointment. Overall, the book delivered little more than a few interesting items of trivia. The "funny" anecdotes weren't funny--I guess you had to be there. I still don't feel like I know what really happened behind the scenes. The departures of Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette and Stephen Grief are made to sound like no big deal. What really happened? Perhaps their departures were really as nonchalant as the book suggests. If so, I guess there wasn't as much behind the scenes as I thought there was. Unfortunately, after reading the book I still feel like I don't know. The authors are apparently good friends with former cast members, so there is very little in the way of "investigative" reporting. Still, as a Blake's 7 fan, I did find a number of items somewhat interesting and I am glad to have the book in my library. It just was much less than I was hoping for and expecting.

This book is an excellent look at how Blake's 7 was made. This BBC sci-fi show was made on a very small budget and the book relays insightful and often humourous stories on how all the cast and crew managed with flimsy props, wobbly sets and muddy locations. Sheelagh Wells, who was a make up artist on the programme, gives the reader many little stories and incidents that happened. The photos are wonderful, both in colour and black and white and many candid shots. There are also many sketches, diagrams and such of the sets, the ships, etc. For anyone who is a fan of Blake's 7 or science fiction this book is it.

Although Blake's Therapy is a short book it is one that needs pondering over. It is difficult to discern reality and truth among the conflicting narrative voices. The book opens with a lecture from an unnamed therapist who proclaims that we are here to help Graham Blake. What follows is what appears to be the therapy where Blake, a CEO of a huge multinational company is at the verge of a breakdown and must learn to weigh his power over the personal comfort and freedom of his employees. From there things get sketchy: are the people Blake is interacting with real or just actors? Has his therapy ended by the close of the book? The last chapter is a report from our unnamed therapist to Blake's ex-wife but the details here are still fuzzy.

If you enjoy clear cut plots and well defined characters, Blake's Therapy isn't for you. If however you like to be challenged and enjoy stories with multiple realities, then I recommend Blake's Therapy to you. In terms of tone and general themes, the novel reminds me of the Argentine film Hombre mirando al sudeste (1986). If you haven't seen the film, then I recommend a weekend combo of watching the film and reading this book.

A book hadn't disturbed me so much since Nude Men. Dorfman captures the lunacy of the depressed mind with the insight of a prophet. His vantage point is one of unhampered voyeurist... Blake's therapist, which happens to be the unidentified narrator, feels that his patient might benefit from a rather unique treatment in which Blake witnesses the turbulent life of one of his female subordinates through a hidden camera. He has been given the power to dictate the woman's future. There are so many disarming scenes in this novel -- it's like Reality TV for the insane. Even if you've never watched the ubiquitous programs that prowl the cable system, you will be uncontrollably bewildered by this story, for it questions morality and raises various questions regarding today's success-driven society. I read it in two sittings. Do not eat or drink while reading this book -- you don't want to spray coffee over your copy of what may be, to date, the purely and unapoligetically thought-provoking book of the new millenium...

Blake's Therapy raises a lot of issues and, in my opinion, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. But it many ways that's OK. At the very least, it will make you think.

I'm giving the book four stars instead of five because I really think the book should have been longer. Dorfman has paced the book quite fast . . . you zip along from one surprise to another. But I would have liked to have had more. I want to know more about the background of the characters, particularly those who act out Blake's whims. I wanted to know more about the company that was giving Blake the "therapy." These are just two examples.

Dorfman offers us many intriguing mysteries, but then doesn't give us the answers.

Despite these criticisms, it's a very good book. Those claiming that Dorfman doesn't understand CEOs are missing the point. Blake, given his interests and the company he created, resembles the kind of person you might find working at Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop, or Working Assets -- companies that are dually committed to both a profit and progressive political ideals. Blake is believable in that role.

But even then, in the broader sense, if Dorfman isn't offering us a realistic CEO, one has to wonder how morally ambivalent a real CEO would be before they would care about their employees. If Dorfman is offering us an unrealistic vision -- a CEO who cares "too much" perhaps? -- then it makes for a damming commentary, not on Dorfman's work, but on the world we live in. Because overall, Blake is a good guy. He wants to make a profit like the rest of us, but he doesn't want to destroy the planet in the process and he wants to help people at the same time. He feels guilt when he fails at doing these things. One only has to look at Enron to realize that many CEOs aren't like that.

it's also pretty good. I'll read her next offering if/when it come to my library.

THis is a "first" for this author, and I always fear that the quality will drop over time, particularly after the publisher (and the public) start putting the pressure on to get books written. THis is a particularly well-written book, and my only hesitation in giving this 5 stars is that the lead detective is an angry, unhappy, and troubled person (not unusual in a certain genre of mysteries -- think Rankin, for example), and after a while, it got to be a bit much.

Samantha (Sam) Falconer is a London-based private detective who is a retired Judo world champion. She has a bad relationship with her mother and does her best to ignore her stepfather (her father was in the SAS and killed when she was 4 -- or so she was told). Sam's gay brother, who teaches at Oxford, is the only bright spot. He refers a client to her, a psychoanalyst in Oxford whose wife has disappeared -- he is dissatisfied with police efforts and wants Sam to find out what happened to her. Meanwhile, Sam gets a note -- ostensibly from her father, saying he will be in contact with her. If that weren't enough, she's dealing with the psychologically impact of having discovered a dead child in a previous assignment. And did I mention other threatening events happening to Sam, but she's unsure who is threatening her and how dangerous they really are?

Heavy stuff indeed. But this was a mystery I could hardly wait to get back to -- well plotted and well written. I only wish it had been a little less gloomy, particularly by the end. I think Europeans are less averse to books filled with existential angst than most Americans are.

I picked up this book to read this afternoon and finished it a few hours later having not been able to put it down. It is a really terrific story with a very compelling lead character. Sam Falconer is a flawed heroine and extremely compelling. The mystery itself was good, but most of the drama was in Sam's life as she dealt with her ghosts. I look forward to reading Victoria Blake's next novel.

A small book but of good value. Very useful to see the full color plates that Blake had designed along with the text. The combination of the two increased my enjoyment of the work. The poetry is a bit obtuse and requires multiple readings to really extract what Blake was saying.

Anyone else notice the parallels between Blake's illuminated text and the universal origins described in the recently uncovered scrolls contained in the Nag Hammadi Library, the ones that are the oldest origional records of the words of Jesus Christ in the Secret Book of James? From the ignorant splitting from the undescribable origional of the lesser and jealous "God" (arguably the Old Testament's Jehova) to the metaphor of the chain, it seems as if they could be mirror images. The interesting part is that the Nag Hammadi library was discovered in 1947- the same year the Dead Sea Scrolls were found-- and has been dated back to approximately 50 AD. Almost all other Gnostic writings had long been destroyed by the early Church. Read into this what you may, but Blake most probably never read this particular text. Personally, I take this as proof of at least authenticity, and moreover that Blake was in greater alignment, more like Christ, if you will, than most humans so far. I bet he could make a killer salad.

Blake's "The [First] Book of Urizen" is an incredible poetical and visual depiction of the rise of the flesh and the implications of being bound to our bodies. Particulalry interesting because the book manages to depict an occurance that, according to Blake himself, is impossible to describe. The use of the metaphorical tool of a mythology by the book comes as close as one could expect from a peice of writing to achieving this depiction (the rest, appropriately enough, is up to our imagination). It is this undertaking of what seems to be an impossible task (that of attempting to represent the metaphysical through the physical) that shows this poem's bravery.