Golden Moment - Recording Secrets from the Pros (Softcover) Review

Golden Moment - Recording Secrets from the Pros  (Softcover)
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Reading this book made me feel like I had my own private interview room with accomplished engineers and producers constantly shuffling in and out. Some of the industry's top engineers share tips and advice about inexpensive gear (microphones especially), recording techniques, and mixing. Highlights include an extensive description and explanation of mic preamps by Millenia Media's John LaGrue, and an entire chapter dedicated to unconventional and interesting recording techniques (such as reshaping studio sounds with stomp boxes and complex filters). The specific gear recommendations were also very helpful for a novice like myself.
Recommended for those just starting out with recording as well as the more seasoned recordist who's looking to broaden his/her craft.

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An enlightening guide to recording-studio techniques and practices, The Golden Moment collects ten years of interviews conducted and articles edited by Keith Hatschek for the authoritative quarterly Pro Studio Edition. The book provides tips and insider information on all facets of the recording process, from studio acoustics, mixing, and microphones to digital recording, vintage equipment, and working with bands. Notable engineers and producers from a wide array of backgrounds share the tricks of the trade, including Joe Barresi (Melvins, Bad Religion), Mitch Easter (REM, Suzanne Vega), Richard Dodd (Wilco, Green Day), and Ed Cherney (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton).

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Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult Review

Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult
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As a student of history of religions and religious cults, I found this memoir to be very interesting indeed. I met Sri Chinmoy myself on several occasions and had many conversations with disciples of his, and Jayanti Tamm's description of him, his personality, and his relationships with his disciples conform completely to what I personally observed. Her honesty is commendable; she makes no apology for the life she lived in Sri Chinmoy's world, and she describes her crisis of faith in stark but touching detail. Tamm's writing is of the highest caliber and I read the book in one extended sitting. This book is a must for anyone interested in personality cults and the power of religious "group think."

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Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture) Review

Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture)
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This volume by Fuller Seminary professor Robert K. Johnston is a readable introduction to film criticism from a thoroughly Christian perspective. Johnston is evangelical in outlook, and yet does not sacrifice his love for cinema to a fearful, fundamentalistic disdain for human culture. Rather, from the outset, he affirms the Christian truth that God's grace is to be found everywhere (what theologians have called 'common grace') and that cinema can be an occasion for a 'revelatory event'. Just as all life is 'sacramental' (that is, every aspect of the world has the potential to show us God), so the movies can help us to transcend to a deeper understanding of God and humanity.
Johnston rightly affirms that a film must first be approached on its own terms (as opposed to viewing it through the lens of a preconceived agenda). Once the audience has participated in the world of the film, then is the appropriate moment to begin the dialogue with theology. For this reason, Johnston's approach is to walk us through the basics of film criticism before applying that to the Christian study of film. On a few occasions, I worried that the author was taking us too far away from the book's stated intention (ie. a book about theology and film in dialogue), but Johnston always seems to be able to bring the material back round to assessing its relevance to the task of theological application.
His examples are far-ranging: theologically, his sources draw from every stream of Christian tradition; his choice of films to be analyzed is eclectic. He frequently homes in on a specific film (eg. Shane, Smoke Signals, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) or set of films (eg. the films of Peter Weir) in order to illuminate and illustrate the points he makes. Overall, Johnston exhibits a healthy attitude towards film, and is a breath of fresh air in an evangelicalism that too often regards films with suspicion and a superficiality that is likely to oversimplify issues of content and theme (such as sexuality and violence).
This book helped me to clarify my own method in approaching film. I have long been a lover of the cinema, and have sometimes found it hard to escape the incongruity of some aspects of this with voices from my fundamentalist past. Johnston is a man after my own heart, and seems able to encapsulate my feelings about film and how the movie experience is essential to the formation of my theology. In one chapter, Johnston addresses this role of cinema in theological method, and provides useful comparisons with various models of theological method (such as the Wesleyan quadrilateral).
I can also credit this book with changing some of my views. For example, I have long had a suspicion of mainstream cinema, almost amounting to a disdain at times. Johnston showed me the fallacy of associating commercialism with artlessness, however. After all, he reasons, didn't Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel on commission? In a sense, my aversion to mainstream cinema (or, perhaps more accurately, the mainstream of the mainstream) was a kind of misconceived snobbery. Johnston's appreciation of film from every corner of the film industry helped me to see my own short-sightedness in this regard.
This is a book I would recommend not just for film-lovers, but for theologians whose knowledge of film may not be particularly wide, but are willing to let the pursuit of the knowledge of God lead them into dialogue with other possible sources of inspiration, namely, the cinema. Johnston presents an accessible overview of film criticism and, in doing so, demonstrates how films can be, in a broad, but real way, means of grace for a Christian wanting to let the knowledge of Christ invade his experience of his culture.

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Increasingly, thinking Christians are examining the influential role that movies play in our cultural dialogue. Reel Spirituality successfully heightens readers' sensitivity to the theological truths and statements about the human condition expressed through modern cinema. This second edition cites 200 new movies and encourages readers to ponder movie themes that permeate our culture as well as motion pictures that have demonstrated power to shape our perceptions of everything from relationships and careers to good and evil. Reel Spirituality is the perfect catalyst for dialogue and discipleship among moviegoers, church-based study groups, and religious film and arts groups. The second edition cites an additional 200 movies and includes new film photos.

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Time for Kids United States Atlas 2010 Review

Time for Kids United States Atlas 2010
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I bought this the week before my son's 10th birthday! He said it was so awesome it should have been a birthday gift! He went to bed reading it the first night, so that's a great sign. Who goes to bed reading an atlas?


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This full-color atlas of the United States features maps of the North American continent, regions, and individual states. Introductory maps at the front of the book include interstate maps, product maps, and topographical maps of the entire U.S. or regions. Individual state spreads feature a Data Bank of facts and statistics including state superlatives: the longest, highest, lowest, etc., photos of major natural and human-made state attractions, and state-specific interesting information. State maps are more detailed than the maps in the World Atlas to include more cities and towns. A back section features a gazetteer to define map- and geography-related terms, an explanation of longitudes and latitudes, a section of graphs and charts showing how the U.S. compares with other nations in terms of population breakdowns, GDP, hours of school per year, incomes, etc. Also includes a "Where in the U.S." scavenger hunt game for kids to complete, using compass directions, landmarks, scale of miles, and so on.

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The Producers: Profiles in Frustration Review

The Producers: Profiles in Frustration
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What is a producer exactly? In Hollywood, most people will tell you that the term has various definitions but in Luke Ford's massive exploration -- nearly seventy interviews with film and television producers, some whose name you may know, others who have been relegated to obscurity -- what emerges is a portrait of the producer as artist.
Don Phillips' tale of the making of the groundbreaking "small" film "Melvin and Howard" is worth the cover price alone. Did you know that Jack Nicholson and Mike Nichols were nearly attached to the picture? (Phillips didn't want to wait a year for Jack's availability)Elvis Presley was next considered for the role of Melvin Dumar:
"Elvis was on his last leg," Phillips tells Ford. "He was fat and jowly and passed out."
Elvis agreed, in June 1997, to do the film after he finished his latest concert tour. Six weeks later the legend was dead.
On a related note, producer Judd Bernard's anecdote about actress Annette Day -- who starred in only one film, "Double Trouble", a 1967 Elvis Presely vehicle -- was so telling about the capriciousness of show biz and life in general that I adapted the tale into my new play about an obsolete Hollywood producer, "Last Summer at the Marmont."
Among the other notable names in the book -- and there are many -- are TV wizard Stephen J. Cannell (God bless "The Rockford Files" and keep it in syndication for many years to come), Jay Bernstein, and a particularly touching interview with the late Edgar J. Scherick, creator of ABC's "Wide World Of Sports."
I have known Luke Ford in both a personal and professional capacity for almost seven years now. Often I have been one of his biggest detractors. "The Producers: Profiles in Frustration" is a piece of work that I would never thought an autodidact like Luke capable of, namely a book that is a must-read for anyone contemplating a career in the entertainment industry and, more importantly, the unknowing millions who believe that producers are nothing more or less than Hollywood fat cats with a cigar in one cheek and a bikini-clad babe in their lap. The interviews in this book prove that in the Hollywood food chain, producers are too often overlooked as -- dare I say it? -- fountains of creativity.

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In The Producers, Luke Ford profiles major players in entertainment including Edgar J. Scherick, creator of ABC's Wide World of Sports, Stephen J. Cannell, whose television programs have grossed over $1 billion, and Jay Bernstein, former manager of Farrah Fawcett and Linda Evans.

The life of a typical Hollywood producer is a "profile in frustration." What drives these middlemen to subjugate their own egos for more than a decade, at times, to make a movie or TV show?


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Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning) Review

Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and                Learning)
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Teens use technology in ways that I don't really understand. Massive amounts of SMSing (which this book argues have replaced the elaborately folded classroom-passed note), and things like that. TV use online allows light "comments" and a sense of community while doing something as isolationsist as watching T.V. And search abilities make it possible to talk about something after the fact, and have a friend go find the show later.
This book is an interesting view into this world.... a bit dry but pretty interesting so I was able to keep reading.
The first chapter is online free from the publisher here: [...]

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An examination of young people's everyday new media practices--includingvideo-game playing, text-messaging, digital media production, and social mediause.

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Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviors for Good Review

Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviors for Good
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I have adopted the new edition of Social Marketing for my Community Health course, HLED 410: Health Communication & Social Marketing, at Western Washington University. This week, I read carefully through the book to update my syllabus, and I want to share how wonderful I think the text is. Beginning each chapter with the marketing highlight examples and continuing to refer to them throughout the chapter is very helpful, especially for students who either may not connect the dots so easily or who may not have the mental energy to do so. I was also very excited to see such current examples of campaigns. Being from the state of Washington, my students will recognize many of them. Bravo!

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A systematic guide for the planning and implementation of programs designed to bring about social change

Social Marketing, Third Edition, is a valuable resource that uses concepts from commercial marketing to influence social action. It provides a solid foundation of fundamental marketing principles and techniques then expands on them to illustrate principles and techniques specific to practitioners and agencies with missions to enhance public health, prevent injuries, protect the environment, and motivate community involvement.



New to the Third Edition
Features many updated cases and includes current marketing and research highlightsIncreases focus on international cases and examplesProvides updated theory and principles throughout


Intended Audience: Recognized as the definitive textbook on Social Marketing for students majoring in public health, public administration, public affairs, environmental studies, and business, this book also serves as an ongoing reference and resource for practitioners.

Contributors

Alan Andreasen Georgetown University, Foreword

Carol Bryant University of South Florida, 'VERBÔ Summer Scorecard"

Carol Cone Cone LLC, 'Go Red for Women"

Robert Denniston Office of National Drug Control Policy, 'Above the Influence: A National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign"

Rob Donovan Curtin University, Western Australia, 'Freedom From Fear: Targeting Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence"

Sue Eastgard Youth Suicide Prevention Center, 'Youth Suicide Prevention"

Jeff French National Social Marketing Centre, 'Marketing Social Marketing in England"

Gerard Hastings Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, UK, 'A Fat Chance Pays Off"

Steven Honeyman Population Services International, 'Social Franchising of Family Planning Service Delivery: A Rising Sun in Nepal."

Francois Lagarde Social Marketing Consultant, 'E-Health Network in Canton Switzerland"

Jim Lindenberger University of South Florida, 'USDA Food Stamp Media Campaign"

Lynne D. Lotenberg Social Marketing Consultant, 'Using Storytelling to Deliver Health Messages in Rwanda"

Doug McKenzie-Mohr Environmental Psychologist, 'Turn It Off: Canada's Anti-Idling

Campaign"

Patricia McLaughlin American Legacy Foundation, "truth® Campaign"Jim Mintz Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing, 'Is Your Family Prepared?", Public Safety Canada

Gregory R. Niblett AED, 'Jordan Water Efficiency Program"

Bill Novelli AARP, 'Don't Vote: Until You Know Where theCandidate Stands"

Michael Rothschild University of Wisconsin, 'Road Crew: Reducing Alcohol Impaired Driving"

Beverly Schwartz Ashoka, 'USDA Food Stamp Media Campaign"

William A. Smith AED, 'Save the crabs. Then eat ‘em."

Shelly Spoeth Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 'African-American Women HIV Testing Campaign"

K. Vijaya Health Promotion Board, Singapore, 'Recognition & Rewards Program for Healthier Eating Establishments"

Pete Webb Pacific Consulting Group, 'Improving Service Delivery at the IRS."


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