This book is an excellent guide to the odd side to film. It really made me enthusiastic about low-budget, high-creativity films. Besides excellent interviews with strange film-makers, it has a great guide to the many genres of strange films and an even more amazing guide to strange film personalities. I recommend this book for anyone, whether a film enthusiast or not, as an excellent way to find good entertainment and great reading.

If you are a fan or collector of 'B' Films and rare eccentric movies, then this book is made for you. You will find commentaries and editorials of everything from low budget horror films like "Corpse Grinders" to many of those tantalizing Russ Meyer beauties. This book dredges through the archives of film to document some of the most under-appreciated directors of all time and hails those films made outside the chains of mainstream production. Re/Search #10: Incredibly Strange Films not only appeals to a large audience of cult film fanatics, but also is an incredible book to add to any collection.

As with all the Research Series books, Incredibly Strange Films lavishes the reader with little known information on a marginal subject with great detail. I originally received this book in 1986 and was immediately impressed with the exhaustive research of all our forgotten films as well as the profiles on directors such as H.G. Lewis. It also includes a helpful index (as far as I can remember) that will send you running for the video store. I haven't written a book on films but I know that you need not be a film buff or major to enjoy this book. The photos are reason enough to buy this book.If you don't believe me, just view the cover!

I found out about the game through being a friend of mine and then I heard Shaggy and J giving it props so I figured that I'd give it a try and I have loved every minute of playing this game. The day after I got it, my friends and I started to play and we haven't stopped since, and that was more than six months ago! So, I just wanna let all the Juggalos and Juggalettes out there know, this is the game for you.

I have had this book for only one night. You can refer to the book whenever you are bored, or even if you are not. There are so many variations of things to do that it can never get old. This is more than just a game. This is not the type of thing that you just sit at home by yourself and stare at a blank screen. This places you out, interacting with people, and brings new, and enlightening experiences to you. All I really have to say is buy this book, and you will never be bored again!

I, like so many others, got introduced to AD&D through a little hardcover tome called the Player's Handbook. From there, after a decade or so of Gurps, Time Master, Paranoia, Battletech, Palladium, and many others, I moved into CCGs and LARPing. Then I learned about Morton's List. It is light years beyond any other game out right now. Your hour-long adventures are in the real world, and you are actually doing randomly determined real-life "Quests," as the game calls them. I read the rules and played with my friends - I had no idea that we would be placing personal ads using sentences constructed solely from haiku. I'm sort of shy when it comes to girls, so I really didn't know how to react when I actually started receiving responses in my voicemail box! Now, I'm not going to say that I met someone special, and that my life has been changed forever, because that would sound too far-fetched, but I will say this: "Morton's List TOTALLY rocks! Thank YOU Morton's List!"

This is the first book that I have found that explains VWAP trading from the point of view of a money manager. It provides a mathematical description and decomposition of the VWAP statistic. It then provides an outstanding approach of how to devise a trading strategy to beat VWAP based upon proprietary price movement estimates and ones risk appetite.

Most industry personnel that I have spoke with, i.e., brokers, give convoluted explanations of what VWAP really is just so they can not be held accountable to any performance measure or trading outcome. Optimal Trading Strategies provides a simplistic explanation of VWAP trading and provides a technique to forecast ones result prior to commencement of trading. And just as importantly, it shows how managers can take the advantage back from brokers and win at the VWAP trading game. This is an outstanding reference and one that has been long over-due in the marketplace.

Signed,
A Very Happy Manager

This is the finest resource for Transaction Cost Analysis I have ever seen. The authors give a comprehensive overview of the current trends in the Transaction Cost Analysis arena and discuss advantages and disadvantages of each approach. They then provide realistic and simple measures to evaluate broker-dealer, and trader performance. I have used these techniques to decided upon which brokers to use to execute a trade. The most exciting part of this book to me is that it provides techniques to evaluate both Agency and Principal Bids. Inferior Brokers Beware- Your time is up!

Optimal Trading Strategies provides a complete set of power mathematical tools for professional investors. At the core of this toolbox is a simple optimization formula:

min ç(x)
s.t. R(x)<=R*

OTS assists investors and fund managers in addressing the fundamental problem known as the "Traders dilemma". Trading too aggressively increases costs, while trading too passively increases exposure to risk. This formula calculates the minimum cost [ç] of a trade [x] while ensuring that the risk of the trade [R(x)] will be within an acceptable level of risk [R*] for an investor.

This is a great concept, and OTS makes it powerful with it's collection of precision tools to calculate both cost and risk. Costs are unbundled into nine distinct components. Thorough mathematical formulas are provided for analyzing each component. A key example is the 3 models in chapter 9 designed to calculate market impact of a potential trade. The 3 different approaches help clarify the elusive effects that imbalance, volatility, trading style, and liquidity have on market impact.

There is also a practical discussion of why traders select the popular Volume Weighted Price Strategy (VWAP). It is accompanies by the most complete mathematical analysis of VWAP I've ever seen. Examples with solutions are even included for practice using these newly acquired tools.

The authors of OTS utilize an unprecedented combination of mathematical theory and real world experience to create a powerful framework that focuses investors on maintaining equilibrium between acceptable levels of cost and risk. No professional investors toolkit will be complete without it. Their new dilemma is where to pick up a copy of OTS.

Open this book and you will float down Venice's Palace lined canals, stopping at over eighty grandiose residences. Sometimes you will stand in their porticos, to see the canal from behind the elaborately carved facade, other times you will be ushered into their private interiors of unrestrained luxury. Full room views to take in the sumptious furnishings and decorations. Close ups allow you to feast your eyes on the intricately carved and gilded ceiling beams, world famous Renaissance paintings and the rich damasks and silks, marble sculpture, oriental carpets.

Starting with a history of the most illustrious families and then an outline of Venetian Heraldry, the introduction sets the scene for your voyage. In these beginning pages you will find crisp reproductions of engravings and paintings illustrating various residences, city views, family documents and other aspects of private life. Divided up by styles, the tour begins with Venetian-Byzantine architecture, followed by Gothic, Renaissance and the Sixteenth Century and finishing off with the Seventeeth to the Twentieth Centuries.

The author, Alvise Forsi, who is dedicated to the historic preservation of this city, focuses primarily on the history, rather than the architectural and interior aspects. With 500 spectacular photographs brought to life with intriguing backgrounds of the privileged inhabitants and their families, this book is a wonderful choice.

If you appreciate Venetian architecture or any architecture, this is an absolute must have book. I could only rate it five stars, but it deserves a hundred. The best book on Venice in my library of over a dozen, hands down!

A beautifull book that comprehensively covers the history and design of the palazzos of Venice. Particularly noteworthy for many stunning interior shots that are rarely find in other publications, and for the family crests that accompany each building. Excellent text that places each building stylistically, historically and contextually. Good paper stock and type. Makes you want to paint your walls red and cover everything in velvet. Really!

When I first picked up this book I had to ask myself as a CFIDS sufferer who is plagued with viruses and a suppressed immune system is this too good to be true? This seems to be the cure-all that everyone has been looking for and what's more, it is natural and has been used for thousands of years (and microbes have not become resistant to it like antibiotics). All of Dr Walker's claims are empirically supported with detailed studies and personal accounts. At times you can be blinded my science and if I had any criticism of the book it would be that layman's terms could have been employed more for those that aren't familiar with the latin names of their body parts.

Overall however once you have waded through the jargon you are inspired and enthused by its incredible message. Olive Leaf Extract is the official infectious disease remedy of Hungary. Why are our doctors not doing more? As I am now starting a course of treatment of Olive Leaf Extract time will tell as to whether reality matches the promise and if it does I will let you know.

The product, Olive Leaf Extract is incredible. It has been used by Europeans before the discovery of antibiotics. It has anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties and can keep a cold from developing into bronchitis. My office sounds like the inside of a consumptive ward. Everyone one is on antibiotics. I got a cold one week after a recent trip on a plane. I went to a health food store and asked what to take to lessen the impact as I had all the beginning symptoms of the flu. The owner handed me Olive Leaf Extract. I followed the directions, had a slight fever but in two days I was up and running. O.L.E. also has other benefits, heart, sinus cholesterol etc. READ the book. It is enlightening. Get off of antibiotics!

Dr. Walker does a stupendous job at explaining exactly what Olive Leaf Extract is and what it does. His medical evidence and research is meticulous. His writing is concise. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to eradicate infectious disease from his or her life. What we're looking at is a complete and total cure for virtually all viral, bacterial, fungal, and protozoal infection. Here we have DOCUMENTED PROOF that the HIV virus is killable and no one seems to know or care. The only way we'll ever know is to read this book and apply its advice. The medicine is textbook sound, and Dr. Walker obviously has done his homework. Please buy this book and tell the world that the AIDS curse has finally--thank God in heaven above--come to a definite end.

In the first pages of this book, author Frederic Morton reveals the reason he has such an interest in Austrian history. His grandfather died in World War I and his father came to the United States from Vienna. If you read books such as Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, you can't help but hate the Habsburg monarchy that ruled for centuries over Austria and much of Eastern Europe. The Austrians shamelessly mistreated their subjects, using divide and conquer strategies to keep their client states in line. The Austrians also looted the distant reaches of their vast holdings for Austrian benefit. Many of the difficulties found in the Balkans today can be traced to the inept government of the Austrian Empire. That's one view. The other can be found in this exquisitely majestic book. This text is not a panegyric to Habsburg rule, however. Rather, it is a tribute to the fabulous city of Vienna during the waning days of empire, when World War I was looming on the horizon of time.

Vienna is presented as an international city that attracted numerous historical figures. According to Morton, within a period of months Vienna was home to Adolf Hitler, Josef Broz (known to history as Marshal Tito), Uncle Joe Stalin, Leon Trotsky and Sigmund Freud. These characters lived out their own private paths to destiny within blocks of each other. Morton really makes these people come alive with his narrative. We see Hitler in a homeless hostel where he has his own personal chair that no one dares to sit in and occasionally launches into oratorical tirades against Jews and foreigners. Tito works at a car factory and likes to scope out chicks on the weekends (which is much easier to do when you don't have a chest full of medals!). Trotsky indulges himself in French literature and lively debate at the cafes, where he has a brief encounter with a dour Stalin. Sigmund Freud engages in an intellectual war with Carl Jung and writes numerous papers in psychology that would come to form much of what the common man knows about that discipline. Stalin arrives to research a pamphlet before returning to Russia and a three-year stretch in Siberia. What all of these stories ultimately prove is that Vienna was truly a hub of Europe and an important city of the time. It's still pretty neat to think about all of these huge figures moving about in the same city at the same time, though. Morton shows us how almost all of these figures were influenced by their time in Vienna. Hitler talks about it in Mein Kampf and Trotsky wrote about it as well. About the only figure that doesn't seem to be changed is Stalin, who stomps and grumbles about in shabby peasant clothes. It was interesting to learn that Stalin beat Lenin at chess seven times in a row, though!

What Morton succeeds in doing with this book is humanizing history. Today we only see Hitler in old newsreel footage screaming his head off at rallies. In Vienna, Hitler often gave money to his fellow boarders who can't afford food or rent. Sigmund Freud, who always looks so stodgy in those old pictures, loved to hunt mushrooms with his children while wearing outlandish local garb. Even the Habsburgs are painted with a brushstroke of decency. Franz Ferdinand, the sullen heir to the throne who was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914, comes off much better here than in most history books. Morton paints him as a dove surrounded by hawks. Franz constantly tries to avert war, especially with Serbia. Of particular note is the relationship the archduke had with his wife, Sophie Chotek. Chotek, who Morton constantly refers to as "morganatic," was not of the right blood to marry a Habsburg heir. She rarely got to share in the royal activities, and when she did, courtiers of the archduke's father, Franz Joseph, belittled her endlessly.

The end of the book shows us the dramatic countdown to war, as the archduke and his wife drive to their deaths and into history. The account of the assassination is very interesting and well worth the read. I feel it rivals the Kennedy assassination in terms of sheer incompetence and idiocy. When someone tosses a bomb at the archduke's motorcade, these morons actually continue the procession! Franz Ferdinand's security detail should have been shot for this action alone. Of course, the procession wasn't stopped and the result was war. The whole mess reeks of conspiracy.

This is an excellent book that can really spark an interest in history. Morton uses lots of sources, such as newspapers, to convey the actual feel of the time. A few pictures thrown in helps to place faces with names. Often, Morton tells us what the weather was like on a certain day before he unfolds the events. This gives the text an insight often missing in scholarly accounts. We can almost see things happening. That being said, this really isn't a book I would use for research. It is more of an interpretative text to provide entertainment. If I were teaching a class on this time period, I would assign this book in conjunction with other, more serious books. Very nice, indeed!

A wonderful book written about the cosmopolitan city of Vienna before the outbreak of WWI. Morton's style of writing makes this an enjoyable read this is not dry history. In 1913 Vienna was host to men who would make an indelible impression on the 20th century. Just to name a few, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Hitler, Tito, Freud, and the Hapsburg Royal family all within one square mile of each other. Morton gives a good portrayal of the lives of these men during their formative time spent in Vienna. He also gives a good account of the tension between Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand who wanted to reform the Austro-Hungarian Empire to include the room for nationalist aspirations of the Slavs, and Emperor Franz Joseph who wanted to maintain the status quo. I t makes one wonder how European history might have been different if Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated and was given the chance to reform the Empire.

As a retired Army officer and political philosopher,I recommend this book to all who are interested in history of WWI or to those who want to learn more about the "gilded age" of Europe.

An excellent and lovely book that reads almost like a novel, it is also an alarming book if you read it, as I did, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The diplomatic and military blunders that produced World War I seem, at this moment, to provide a kind of blueprint for starting a war that no one really wants to start. Some of the correspondences between then and now are startling--for example, the super-ultimatum given to the offending country with the expectation that the terms cannot be met. Altogether I would rate this book higher than Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, though, to be fair, Tuchman's book is more of a military history and gives only a tiny look at the opening shots of WWI--the murder of the Archduke who was the heir to the Austrian throne--whereas Morton's book establishes the Archduke Franz Ferdinand as a major character in the narrative, then reveals that the Archduke was (ironically) a pacifist who was trying to avert a war in Europe, and then places the Archduke's story in the context of the larger story of Vienna, Austria and Europe. One of the many pleasures that the book offers is an evocative look at the old, whimisical royalty-besotted Vienna just as it was begetting the new Europe--Freud, Trotsky, and Stalin all figure in the story of pre-WWI Vienna as do a number of other major political and artistic figures. Vienna was a prosperous, beautiful, pleasure-loving city that perversely found a way to start a horrific and self-destroying war.

Readers should know that the facts which describe the Spanish immigrants mentioned in this book were actually taken from the stories of Pilar Mendez Bertomeu and Sally Mendez Selles, my grandmother and her sister. The sisters, so eloquently described as Eva and Juanita Quinones in this book, immigrated from Galicia, Spain, not Bilela. My grandmother always used to sing Munequita Linda to her grandchildren

The result of diligent research, intensive interviewing and careful editing, the "Ellis Island Interviews - In Their Own Words" is a historical treasure trove. In the tradition of Studs Turkel, editor Peter Morton Coan has compiled dozens of interviews depicting the Ellis Island immigration experience. In their own words, immigrants from all walks of life relate the stories of their passage, often providing information about the places they came from, what their trip to the United States was like, why the came, and where they went after leaving Ellis Island. Each story is different of course, but each has a common goal: the dream of a better life in America. Coan also includes interviews with Ellis Island employees and provides background information on U.S. immigration policies and Ellis Island operations to help orient the reader.

Coan's excellent research and editing of the interviews has yielded an invaluable resource of our country's immigration history. The stories are fascinating, and the guts and determination possessed by many of the immigrants are beyond admirable. Reading the "Ellis Island Interviews" is a touching and humbling experience - it will help you to better appreciate what those who came before you have endured. Ellis Island ceased to be an INS port in 1954, and almost all of those who came to the U.S. through Ellis Island are now very advanced in age - we have Coan to thank for preserving their stories for generations to come.

This is an incredible book for anyone interested in how their ancestors immigrated to America. It gives honest first hand accounts of people that are currently in their 80's - 100's. I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about their roots.

This is an easy-to-read book for teachers who are uncertain about how to incorporate technology into their classroom. Jessica Morton gives excellent ideas for integrating the Internet with the classroom curriculum, as well as examples of how she used the 'net with her own class. This book is full of ideas, examples, and information about using the Internet in the classroom. I recommend reading Kids on the 'Net to all of us out there who are not sure of successful, educational ways to use the 'net with our students.

This easy-to-read book is a must for teachers who are uncertain of how to integrate technology into their classroom. Jessica Morton gives excellent examples and suggestions of how to use the Internet with your students. Step by step directions are given to ease teachers into the world of technology. I recommend reading this informative book to all of us teachers who are hesitant to use the Internet. It is well-written and full of helpful tips for new and old teachers alike.

Jessica Morton's book, Kids on the 'Net, is absolutely outstanding for any educator who is leery about bringing the Internet into the classroom. This book takes you step-by-step into how the 'net can be beneficial for your students' or childrens' learning. The book is chock full of ideas and personal reflections by the author to show you that the Internet can be our friend. The book is written in a style that is non-threatening and easy to flip through. Morton's book teaches you how even young children can e-mail pen pals (e-pal) from around the world and be interactive in newsgroups. This is a must needed resource for teachers of the new millennium. She offers web sites that are useful for creating projects and reproducibles that go along with certain lessons. If technology is the way to go in your classroom, then you need this book.

This was a well-researched, informative and entertaining read. The author's point may not be a new one, but he has done a fresh and original take on it, and we can't say it often enough: that the oppression of human beings in the name of God is a horror and an abomination, and it never seems to stop. The fact that Yanow's characters are lively, and the style so accessible, will hopefully encourage people who aren't keen on history to read it and think. The one thing that bothered me somewhat was the anachronistic dialogue (Guidotti and other characters sometimes sounded like Mafia goons), but perhaps that's the price you pay when you're trying to appeal to a big cross-section. Overall, a terrific book.

February 17,2000 is the 400th anniversary of Giordano Bruno's burning at the stake as a heretic by the Catholic Church in Rome. He said that the Earth turned and that as it turned it circled the Sun (Copernicus' 'heresy'). He also said that the Universe was infinite with many peopled worlds etc. His ideas threatened the Church then. Now we know that some of his ideas were true. Bruno was a martyr for truth, and for freedom of thought and expression. Though flawed and difficult, he was a man ahead of his time who paid dearly for rights we take for granted. We should remember and honor him in this anniversary year. A good start would be to read Yanow's excellent historic novel about Bruno: The Nolan:... It's thoroughly researched, well written and a good story. I've just finished it and highly recommend it.

A lively glimpse of the early conflict between scientific thought and discoveries versus the tightly held dogma of Western religion. Written in a highly accessible and entertaining style, the historical characters of this book become alive as we delve into their power struggles, intellectual challenges and courage. A fascinating read for people with diverse interests and in various walks of life.

If you love wildlife art that shows every hair, whisker or feather of a wild creature and every blade of grass, leaf or branch in the "background", Carl Brenders is your man. His work is technically brilliant and acutely observed, resulting in paintings that are more real than reality.

This man can draw! There are a few pencil sketches included in the book. They are a little looser than his impeccable paintings and they appeal to me more than the paintings.

So much art is a matter of taste - I am awe struck by the patience Brenders must possess in order to produce these images, but I personally prefer a more spontaneous approach. I subscribe to James McNeill Whistler's view: "To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows great and earnest labour, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit for view." Brenders manages to achieve a fusion of "great and earnest labour" (he must take months to do each painting!) and creative excellence. That's the only reason why I give a four- and not five-star rating! It's just a little TOO slick for my taste.

The layout of this book is clean and fresh, allowing his detailed paintings lots of white space. Accompanying the paintings is a brief commentary from the artist. This text reinforces the artist's absolute love of his subject.

If you are not a collector of wildlife paintings or limited edition fine art work yet, you definitely will be after you see these images. Many people belive these are only photos. Carl Brenders captures so much detail in his paintings, most are fooled who do not know of his works. From the finest feathers of a golden eagle's head to the glass-like eyes of a Canadian Lynx to lichen and moss on rocks and trees.
I have been an art dealer for many years and still am in awe at his paintings and prints. It is truly amazing that someone has the ability to represent wildlife in such a way.

Carl Brenders is a fantastic artist. I had his calendar hanging in my office and people thought his drawings were photographs. This is an excellent book of his works.