Who would have thought that a book about a remote foreign land would be so entertaining? Reminiscent of Bridget Jones' Diary, with MUCH more depth, Mr. Mracek has no inhibitions when sharing his adventures in this wild, wacky, and wonderfully wicked territory. The characters are endearing, and yes, quite unbelievable. The beauty is that this all really happened. I give Craig Mracek credit for his persistence with survival and relationships with women! Guys you're all going to want to travel to Czechoslovakia at Easter time! Gals, have no fear - it's all in good fun. But the Women's Prison Chapter is by far the absolute best! I want to see a film version of this book staring Robin Williams!!

Order this book now - and tell your friends!!!!

Hundreds of photographs and dozens of 'step-by-step's'

I started Bonsai a little while back and have bought a couple of books to help me. The first one I bought was too advanced for me but the second book, Bonsai for Beginners, by Craig Coussins was just the very thing I needed. It was great. Lots of step-by-step examples and easy to understand text. I recently found out that Craig Coussins has written a new book, Bonsai School. This book is amazing. When I received it from Amazon, I had what could only be described as a 'real book' in my hands. I mean it was big, thick and packed with wonderful photographs of bonsai, techniques and examples of many Bonsai Teachers work. Just like a school, the book has different techniques explained in detail by teachers in different subjects. Craig Coussins, the architect of the book, has brought together exciting talented and knowledgeable instructors who share that knowledge with 'me'. I say me because the book is like my own personal college faculty. I found Bonsai School very easy to read. That was funny initially as I first thought it was purely a technical book until I found myself reading the book. It is superbly written and really, a Bonsai book for everyone. Gardeners, bonsai growers and horticulturalists.

It starts with a history that is truly fascinating and indeed, riveting. Craig Coussins has gone into this research in a very thorough way. It shows. Peppered with great images, this section looks at the discovery of bonsai in different countries. With its origins arising from accidents as well as discoveries, the Chinese Penjing-Chinese Bonsai- are superbly illustrated and the subsequent development in Japan is then discussed by a famous Bonsai historian. The chapters seamlessly bland and makes the book easy to follow. A joy!

The book is divided into chapters covering the styles, techniques and methods of growing Bonsai and Penjing. Many teachers are represented here. Uniquely this book is not just one person's view but a sharing of views from around the world. Indeed from afar a field as China, Italy, America, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Vietnam, England, Wales and of course Scotland, the authors home country.

What that means is that we now have far ranging step-by-step sections that are profusely illustrated with a specific subject which the individual writer wishes to share with us.

It covers all areas of ability. You may be a beginner or advanced but the author is considerate enough to show that everyone can use this book. In any event, you will always start somewhere and develop with study. That is where Bonsai School is so perfect. Clearly the author is a very experienced master of his art but the fact that he is shown pruning what can only be described as a beginners bonsai while later in the book refining a fantastic Yew Bonsai illustrates his thoughtfulness in catering for his audience. It is not about him but about the reader.

I can recommend Bonsai School to everyone and would urge you to choose this unique, well-written and profusely illustrated book for your pleasure, learning and study.

the book is an excellent , it really cover all the necessery info about breast cancer, prevention and treatments

I enjoyed this book! I found it informative giving a glimpse into life and businesses in the early 1900's. Mr. Andrews does a good job of keeping the reader interested through the whole book. He presents the story factually allowing the reader to form his/her opinions about the origin of today's Mickey Mouse. This is a must read for Disney enthusiasts.

We just love this book! I'd recommend this book in a heartbeat! Its a little long for my 22 month old daughter, but my 3 and 1/2 year old son just loves it. Its a great story with lots of warm fuzzies that teaches a deeper, more important meaning of Easter without any religious overtones. Grade: A+

Once you start it is hard to put this book down. The story of Sister Margaret is a tale demonic possession, sex, and hate. At the side time the secret convent life of the 17th century is exposed. The book is an easy, entertaining read that also teaches of female religious life in early modern Europe. It is a refreshing way to approach history and the subject of women and convents.

This book is a comprehensive blueprint for translating business processes into applications to enable those processes. The author approaches this challenging and complex undertaking by framing the blueprint within the context of the development life cycle.

A few key items about the approach: (1) it's based on data and models, which is a correct approach in my opinion, (2) it fully supports component-based architectures, which in turn, promote reusability, and (3) it does not end with release - the author addresses post-deployment issues.

The heaviest emphasis given in this book is on modeling, which depends greatly on requirements management and validation. I especially like the emphasis given to business rules because I believe them to be the best way of documenting and expressing requirements. The reason for this is business rules are expressed in a logical manner and are elicited directly from the intended users. Moreover, well expressed business rules are testable, which means that verification and validation can begin early in the life cycle of an application or system. However, business rules are but one aspect of the approach - the author prescribes an integrated set of models (process, scenario, role, workflow) that enable you to capture the business process being automated from a number of views that will be integrated into requirements and specifications, and translated into the application which will support it. I also like the fact that important milestones, such as test and release to production, are accounted for in the approach.

As much as I like this approach, I am not sure that many organizations will adopt it in its entirety because of the numerous competing methodologies that have found homes (at least in name and lip service) in larger companies. It's the larger companies that typically embark on projects of the magnitude described in this book. However, even if the entire approach is not adopted, many components of the author's approach can certainly be adapted to fit within any methodology. Also, some of the boutique consulting companies might find this approach useful because if it's followed with a strong commitment to *completely* perform in accordance with the author's methods it can be used as a differentiator in a competitive bid.

Mike Craig's ability to 'karate-chop' the picket fences without convention, re-lace a glassy thorax with a corset, and carry us into his talc-dusted waiting room [Borandaho,yes?] is astonishing... his [poems] are visions akin to Blake, but swing and attend to the world like Neruda. I hesitate for a moment in his lobby of 'protractions and regional artifacts', but as a great artist, he lives in the telling, and loves the world as if he sees it in some rare bird's nest, and he believes, as he confides, that the mystery still circulates in the stillness and silence of strict observation, and in the simple catastrophe of one's daily ritual with persons and objects. In imagery and amplitude, I think of Magritte, Joel-Peter Witkin, Hopper, Benton, and, at times, Francis Bacon. As far as poetry writing today, I see no other like him painting with such vibrant, honest, and unlimited scope. I carry these images with me, and often, while walking down the street, they'll jump up from nowhere and scurry back toward their fortresses.

I was a "festival virgin" at last year's event and this book was a life-saver. Cannes is expensive, but if you know where to go and what to avoid, it can be a much more enjoyable experience. The insight into a rather confusing festival structure was also incredibly useful. Lonely Planet for filmmakers!