If you're having fun when you do something is it a game or just a job you happen to like? Travel along with Le as he explores, among other things, what life is about, what is play, what is work, motion, cycles, self, attention vs. awareness and also tries to save the Earth from a game that has gotten a little out of hand. Good sci-fi, great for people who wish to escape for a weekend and just plain fun, with lots of food for the mind.

Okay here's the deal, this book is about opening our eyes to the perceptions of reality. This life we lead, is a mere shadow of the true selves that we are. So to help us see that, John Dalmas and Rod Martin, created a situation that follows thru Jan Ambers, as he goes thru experience after experience and sees that he's more than just Jan Ambers. That he is one of the beings, that protect the world. That he has an Earth persona as well as a True Persona of which he can only get glimpses of. This also involves concepts of reincarnation... You have to read it to get a glimpse of what I am talking about...

To help his character understand himself, he has him imagine himself as a video game player, whereas the person he thinks he is, is merely the cursor in the game, and where as he as a higher hidden self that is playing the game. Where there are hidden scripts, plans and things going on...

Also the enemy is a group of aliens looking for their long lost brother. The head is Cha Cha aka Charles Lawson, whose group is trying to corrupt the earth by finding ways to trick others to introduce forbidden or high level technology...

This is a classic in Sci-Fi and in New Age Fiction.... But it's also very down to earth...

A Must Read...

Martin Denton has done it again! As a topnotch theatre reviewer, Mr. Denton has thoroughly scoured the New York City theatre scene and has assembled yet another marvelous anthology of the most outstanding new off- and off-off-Broadway plays of the season. There are nine distinctly different works presented in this one volume, and I can honestly say, every one is terrific. These are plays that will touch your heart, and tickle your funny-bone.

"Cuban Operator Please" is a heart wrenching story of a young Cuban-American man's unresolved relationship with his father, while in "The Language of Kisses," an estranged mother and daughter uncover their past and rediscover each other. "The Language of Kisses," by the way, is one of the most moving, stunning plays I've read in a long time. It's a story which will stay with you and haunt you long after you've finished the book -- this work alone is well worth the price of the entire anthology!

Then there are the plays which will make you laugh. "Velvet Ropes" is a laugh-out-loud theatrical delight where two naive souls, trapped in a museum, try to make sense of the artwork; "The Elephant Man - The Musical" (AKA, Pakky Derm, Superstar) is a very funny story of John Merrick's big break on Broadway; "House of Trash" is an uproarious piece with Preacher Bob Maggot, a garbageman moonlighting as a Baptist preacher, trying to hold his wayward family together; "Straight Jacket" is a hilarious satire of one of Hollywood's leading men (Rock Hudson perhaps?), who falls in love with his screenwriter.

"Word To Your Mama" is an awesome stream-of-consciousness journey through the past decade -- it will take your breath away. And, finally the fast paced "Fate" and the eight whimsical short plays that make up "Washington Square Dreams" are delightful.

To top it all off, Mr. Denton's Introduction includes a most brilliant critical essay on each of the plays. PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS 2001 is really quite wonderful! Buy it. Read it. You'll be glad you did.

Having just finished my pre-view copy of Martin Denton's newest anthology of the up-and-coming playwrights of this new century, I am, in a word, impressed. Not just with the obvious talent and re-assurance that theatre is alive and well and will continue to be so in the future, but with the ability of Denton to seek out and discover the best of the best. I often go to NY for theatre week-ends and enjoy seeing the "off-off" Braodway as well as the "on". Denton is certainly the best source I have found for "what to see and why". I applaud his continuing to "get the word out" about all this fabulous young talent. The only play in this current anthology I have seen is "The Elephant Man, the musical", by the multi-talented team of Jeff Hylton and Tim Werenko, and I must say Denton's comments and reviews are "right-on". I too, am "hooked" and a "Jeff Hylton fan", and throughly agree, "the world needs more Jeff Hyltons and Tim Werenkos", and I would feel this was even if I were not Jeff's mother. Reading the other great selections and Denton's reviews make me want to see them all. Thanks Martin Denton...Keep up the good work!!!

This is a valuable book from a genius philosopher. It is most valuable in providing a coherent framework for exploring the thoughts of a range of important political philosophers, and in suggesting a special style without long and tedious footnotes. This book has the characteristics of those great works. It helps you to think and to understand.

If you take into your hands a book bearing the title
Political Philosophy from Plato to Mao, you will most
probably expect it to contain expositions and critical
analyses of the main political doctrines and arguments
of Plato and Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Locke,
Rousseau, Hegel, Bentham and J.S. Mill, Marx and
Engels, and perhaps one or two of the 20th century
'theoreticians' of communism and fascism, ending with
Mao Tse-Tung. After all, these thinkers, with the
exception of the Great Helmsman, form the accepted
canon of political philosophy, established well before
the publication of George H. Sabine's magisterial
text-book A History of Political Theory which three
generations of philosophy and politics undergraduates
were made to work through.

Martin Cohen's new book in some respects fulfils the
traditional or 'Sabine' image of what a book in the
history of political philosophy is like, in that it
devotes chapters or sections to several of the
canonical political thinkers. It also adds to the list
the 'Founding Fathers' of economic and social science,
like Adam Smith, Comte, Durkheim and Weber, as well as
controversial figures like Mao and Fukuyama who are not
regarded as philosophers. There is one more important
respect in which book is distinctly un-Sabine-like:
Cohen's choice and organisation of the material that
makes up the content of the book proceeds, so to speak,
from the idea of an unusual intellectual project. The
nature of his project is summed out in the opening page
of the book as follows: "This is the story of political
society... It's the story of a few powerful ideas, which
have been around for millennia, but reappear in
different guises. It's a story told in the language of
political philosophy, in the words of just a handful of
writers." He goes on to say: "This branch of philosophy
is concerned with practical questions: about the
organisation of social life, about the make-up of the
government, the role and rights of the citizens, the
duties and limitations of the state."

Cohen appears to believe that each society, from early
antiquity onwards, reflects in the manner of its
organisation and in the perennial concerns of its
members a set of ideas about what matters to them, what
they want, need, hope and value, and how these things
connect with the proper constitution, purposes, powers
and duties of the state and other political and legal
institutions. Philosophers and political thinkers
articulate and analyse these 'societal' ideas and they
proceed to develop sophisticated proposals as to how
the ideas can be realized under the prevailing
historical circumstances into concrete political
arrangements. Greeks in the 5th century BC, Englishmen
and women in the 17th century, workers in advanced
industrial countries in the 19th century, and Chinese
people in the 20th century all had more or less
definite ideas about what was good for them, what
constituted their well-being. Plato, Hobbes and Locke,
Marx and Engels, and Mao Tse-Tung formulated views as
to how their societies should be organized in order to
advance the physical and moral welfare of the people.
Thus the texts of a handful of remarkable political
writers can be read as analyses, commentaries and
proposals on issues of importance for their own
societies. This fact in turn gives importance to our
own efforts to understand and evaluate these texts.
This, at least, is what I take to be Cohen's guiding
idea for the composition of his book.
How does Cohen try to carry his project through? Each
successive part of the book is centred around a
recognizably important political thinker and his
treatment of the issues that preoccupied him and his
contemporaries social order, justice, safety, liberty,
equality, the function of government or whatever. The
social conditions which the thinker lived, and the way
they impacted on his political sensibility and threw up
the issues which he grappled with are sketched by our
author with skill and concision. At the end of each
chapter various threads of doctrine and argument are
brought together and woven into a brief summary of his
'key ideas'.
Cohen's summaries and interpretations of the doctrines of his political
philosophers seem to me to be generally reliable and fair - which I suppose
only means that his understanding of and responses to these doctrines happen
to be more or less similar to mine! No doubt other readers will form different
assessments. Something must be said about Cohen's style, which I think it is
something of a stylistic achievement: clear, relaxed, jargon-free and often
attractively witty. For example, after quoting a passage from Mao in which
the latter urged communists to subordinate their interests to those of the
nation and the masses and work with whole-hearted devotion to public duty,
Cohen adds caustically: "You can see why capitalism became more popular."
Unlike the 'Sabine' treatments of the great thinkers which may be found in
turgid academic text-books, Cohen does not hide his favour or even
admiration for some philosophers and dislike for others. In this regard his
book has similarities with the idiosyncratic judgments one finds in the elderly
Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, a book which as an
undergraduate I read with relish against the advice of my professors. I hope
that current undergraduates are offered a more varied and strongly-tasting
diet of commentaries, in which Cohen's book would be a valuable item. But
I suspect it will be some time before students are asked to deal with the
question: "Political power grows through the barrel of a gun. Discuss."

For those who are Baby-sitters Club fans, this postcard book is a great collection, whether you intend to keep the postcards or send them to a friend or family member. There are 30 full-color postcards of various Baby-sitters Club book covers, such as the one from "Kristy's Great Idea" (#1), "Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation" (Super Special #2), "Claudia and the Sad Good-bye" (#26), and "Stacey's Emergency" (#43), just to name a few. There are even covers of the BSC 1990 and 1991 calendars. Although there are no postcards of the more recent books, this is still worth owning if you're a diehard BSC fan.

This is a really good book, (well, it's kind of a book). It has many postcards and I LOVED IT !! It was originally for my little sister while I (13) ended up reading it and trading it with her for all my Halloween candy !! I really liked it because I've always been into postcards and I'm a fan of the Baby-Sitters Club. But I think that even people that aren't fans are going to love it. But if you try to describe it, owwww ! I can't put it into words, so JUST BUY IT !!! YOU'RE NOT WASTING YOUR MONEY !!! IT'S WORTH IT !!!

Good, Better, The Power Behind the Throne. If you enjoy playing adventures that challenge your brains this is for you. You can not solve problems with your blade this time. Someone will put Middenheim in to a great danger. This person is much more smarter than you can even imagine. You are to find out who is behind everything. I am not the only one who thinks that this is the best adventure ever made. I would give 6 stars for Power Behind the Throne if I could. If you do not have this book I recommend that you go and get it. As fast as you can... This book is the king of roleplaying adventures.

When it was first released in the 80s, The Enemy Within campaign was an amazing accomplishment in what was a "hack 'n' slash" era of RPGs. It boasted fully-developed non-player characters (NPCs), political intrigue, moral dilemmas, and the chance for players to expand their roles beyond the requisite magical armor and damage bonuses.

Power Behind the Throne was (and is) the high point of the entire campaign. All the players have to do is find out who is behind a new set of taxes in the city of Middenheim. Sound simple? It isn't. In order to accomplish this goal, their characters will have to mix with members of Middenheim's high society, each of whom has their own secrets, motivations, and knowledge. But it is only by getting to know these people and finding out what makes them tick that the players will ever be able to achieve their goal.

Since the NPCs play such a prominent role in the game, their description takes up the majority of this book. Game Masters are given complete details as to why NPCs act as they do, how they react to their fellow NPCs, and what skeletons are hidden in their respective closets. There is also a map of Middenheim, handouts to be distributed to players, reference cards to make the Game Master's job more manageable, and a spiffy new introductory adventure that more closely links this adventure with the book that proceeded it (Death on the Reik).

Power Behind the Throne can be played as a stand-alone, but I would recommend that you put your characters through the first two books of the campaign first. This will allow them enough time to get to develop their own characters.

I played in this campaign when it was first released, and now that it has been reprinted, I plan to run it for my gaming group. There are precious few scenarios out there that I can say that about.

This workbook is packed with a lot of examples and rich exercises; which are presented in incremental development fashion. My two children, 10 and 11 year old, have high math aptitude; two grades beyond their average level. I bought this workbook to help them in the transition to algebra and trigonometry. They are able to go thru most of these execises in one summer. I must admit the quality of the lessons and exercises have this quite enjoyable and intuitive for my children to absorb.

Being that I am 28 years of age and a freshman in college, I was placed in the remedial math class for which this text was required. I was terrified due to the fact I failed math in high school and even the WORD Algebra scared me. This book has great examples and it really helped me understand the concepts of Algebra. I have a 97% average in my class and when I go onto Algebra I next term, I won't be so terrified! :)

Preventing & Reversing Arthritis Naturally: The Untold Story by Raquel Martin and Dr. Karen Romano explain for us the basic ingredients necessary not only for good health in general, but specifically, for achieving freedom from arthritis.

In the fast-paced, and frequently artificial, lifestyles we live these days, most of us have lost or forgotten the peace, stamina and exuberance of truly healthy bodies and minds. Those "vehicles of the spirit" have become congested, sluggish, and often painful.

Her fascinating description of nutrients, herbs (phytonutrients), exercise, body therapies, stress management and sunlight is thorough, and well documented and referenced. But perhaps her most valuable contribution is the call for courage, personal responsibility and discipline; qualities innate in all of us, that must be nurtured and developed. Her personal experience and example attests to that, and these qualities combined with knowledge can lead any of us back naturally to our birthright of vibrant health.

The concept of natural hormone replacement explained in this book is "an idea whose time has come". It is a vital path to improving health and well-being.

Mrs Martin and Dr. Romano also outlines strategies for making the most of our present medical-pharmaceutical-insurance-system and suggests ideas for compassionately making it better.

I enthusiastically recommend this book, not only for people with arthritis, but for anyone who wishes to explore new ways to achieve optimum health. I also recommend it to my colleagues who would like to learn more about nutrition, phytonutrients and alternative/complementary medicine.

Ralph C. Lee, M.D.

The Estrogen Alternative: Natural Hormone Therapy with Botanical Progesterone and Preventing & Reversing Arthritis Naturally: The Untold Story As an educator in the holistic health field who teaches 200-300 new students each year, I try to keep abreast of the vast number of new books that are constantly barraging the health arena. Every year my students ask me to recommend titles in various areas of holistic health and I need to know which select few in each field are the good ones. As both a Naturopath and Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist in private practice, I like to suggest books to my patients which are both informative, accurate, easy to read, and comprehensively cover their topic. Ever since I first discovered Raquel's book The Estrogen alternative , it has been my first choice for books to educate both students and patients on the topic of alternatives to prescription hormone replacement therapy. Well she's done it again. Her new book on natural therapies for arthritis is fantastic. Somehow, Raquel and her co-author, Dr. Karen Romano, have managed to supply the reader with a very useable amount of information in just about every single subject area related to arthritis. This book is an astounding encyclopedia of useable information and it succeeds in making every other book I have read on arthritis unnecessary. This one book has it all.

David Getoff, Naturopath Board certified clinical nutritionist and Educator San Diego California

This is the first book I have ever read that deals with joint protection. The recommendations make good sense and I have already started to incorporate them into my lifestyle. I was surprised when I read the information about how arthritis can be caused or aggravated by not drinking enough water. I have already stepped up my water intake. Lots and lots of good advice and eye-opening facts about how arthritis can cause many serious, and even life-threatening, conditions...

As a health-conscious and active individual in my early thirites, I am always looking for information that can help prevent illness later on in life. This is the first book I have ever seen that tells me how to keep my joints healthy for a lifetime. The recommendations are sensible and practical, and I have started to put them into practice.

To make it short, this is a great book on mechanical ventilation. It is very comprehensive. Includes everything from history of MV to advanced techniques. I would need alot of space to review this book, but best thing is to just check out its table of contents. Hopefully 2nd ed comes out soon. Warning: this book is very heavy and is best for personal reference/library. For: MDs involved/interested in this topic and respiratory therapist (respiratory practitioners).

Great overview of traditional and non-traditional modes of mechanical ventilation. Including volu-trauma, and discussion of pressure controled modes of ventilation. Excellent overall book on the subject of adult mechanical ventilation.

This book represents a core knowledge in orthopaedics. It is a good place to start your reading on most conditions faced in practice.

The chapters are not exhaustive in their analysis of topics, hence a more detailed analysis of a topic would need to be supplemented with literature reading. e.g. Arthroplasty
It is not a technical book! but guides the reader to critical papers that should be read to supplement the book.

Highly recommended for the trainee in their first years of training to get started, or the more seasoned practitioner to quickly brush up!

A very good book which servs as the official Textbook in our orthopeadic department. Quite easy to read and very thorow.