Book Description
The Natural House is a tour of the construction, costs, and pros and cons of fourteen natural building methods. Straw Bale, Rammed Earth, Cob, Cordwood, Adobe, Earthbags, Papercrete, Earthships…whatever the method, the common goal is to create a house that is economical, energy efficient, nontoxic, soothing to the soul, kind to the environment, and pleasing to behold. This comprehensive sourcebook offers in-depth information that will guide your search for the perfect sustainable dream home. It is a must for home builders, contractors, and architects.
Author Dan Chiras shows how you can gain energy independence and reduce your environmental impact through passive solar heating and cooling techniques, solar electricity, wind power, and micro-hydropower. He also explains safe, economical ways to obtain clean drinking water and treat wastewater, and discusses affordable green products.
While he's an unabashed advocate of natural building techniques, Chiras takes care not to romanticize and to alert readers to avoidable pitfalls. His detailed, practical, and ecologically sound advice can save tens of thousands of dollars, whether you are buying, building, or renovating a natural home.
Customer Reviews:
Great resource, but a little outdated.......2007-01-30
My husband and I are building a new house and we were looking for a good resource for information about eco-friendly options for our home. This turned out to be an excellent resource, but a little outdated. There have been so many advances in various eco-friendly technology since this book was written and it would be great it Daniel Chiras would update this book to show that. However, this book did provide us with the basic information we needed to make most of the decisions for our house. I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to build green or do a green remodel to their house. In addition to this, I would recommend getting a subscription to Smart Homeowner Magazine and/or Mother Earth, both of which will provide you with the latest in green products and technology, along with a lot of other valuable information. They make a great update to The Natural House.
An excellent overview of "natural" building; buy it!.......2006-03-30
I've recently become interested in green building. My local library system provided a lot of interesting books, most of which weren't really worth buying.
Daniel Chiras' book is different: comprehensive, well-organized, and sincere. I purchased a copy as this is a definite keeper.
Good Introduction.......2001-12-10
Being an architect already, I found that the book was an excellent introduction, even for me, to the various alternative building techniques emerging. It gave the author's honest opinion about many of the techniques, which was very appreciated. Don't expect it to be a precise how-to guide for any of the methods. It is an excellent overview, though, that can help you evaluate which building techniques you would like to explore further. The references at the end are vast and helpful.
However, I found that for a book about the "Natural House", it often suggested many un-green building materials (OSB, polypropylene bags). Sometimes their "ungreeness" was mentioned, sometimes not.
The Primer on Natural Building.......2000-10-19
If you're interested in building a natural home (cob, rammed earth, straw-bale, earthship, whatever), this is your primer. The author has done his homework and presents the description, pros/cons and pitfalls of each type of construction. He is very honest about just how "do-it-yourself" each type can be, and how much it will cost you. He also covers passive and active solar design, natural water capture and other alternative technologies to go with your natural home. This is an excellent overview on all these subjects.
The best thing about this book is that he refers you to other sources for more detail - books, videos, newsletters and organizations that will support you, give you a workshop or just give you more detailed information than belonged in this primer book.
I highly recommend this as the first book you read on the subject. Once you know which type of house you are interested in, you can pick up some of the other books he suggests on that building type.
One of the best in this subject area!.......2000-09-08
Dan Chiras has done a number of things I really like in this book.
The first part of his book provides a chapter on each of several natural building technologies with enough information to help novice readers understand what is involved. Moreover, he adds a pro and con table at the end of each to help readers compare and contrast them - and to make a decision about which is best for their particular situation.
Chiras also provides an ample helping of "food for thought" material to help potential natural builders understand the "why" of their prospective natural building projects, an essential process for anyone who is contemplating an out of the ordinary building project.
Chiras serves his readers well by acting as a "fair broker" of natural building as a concept as well as each of the technologies he presents. This allowing his readers to make their own informed judgements about which natural building method, if any, they will use. Chiras additionally provides numerous references so that readers can find more detailed material for further research and project planning.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is in the process of considering or planning construction of a natural home, especially to those who are not already familiar with conventional construction materials and methods and at least reasonably familiar with natural construction alternatives.
It's easily worth the price.
Average customer rating:
- Bastardization of a beautiful garment
- Beautiful illustrations
- Don't buy it unless you're looking for an art book
- Kimono and Yukata how to make it...
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The Kimono Inspiration: Art and Art-To-Wear in America
Rebecca A. T. Stevens
Manufacturer: Pomegranate Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Fashioning Kimono
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Art Quilt Workbook: Exercises & Techniques to Ignite Your Creativity
ASIN: 0876545983 |
Book Description
For more than one hundred years, the kimono has been a motif in American art and popular culture. The Kimono Inspiration—originally published as the catalog for the exhibition at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C.—explores the use and meaning of the kimono in America and traces the transformation of this quintessential Japanese garment from its ethnic origins, through its many appearances in fine art, costume, and high fashion, to its role in the contemporary Art-to-Wear Movement.
Customer Reviews:
Bastardization of a beautiful garment.......2001-05-22
This book takes the beauty of the traditional kimono and turns it into an abomination as "art to wear". The kimono already IS art to wear. It doesn't need to be dragged down by modernization.
But that is not my only problem with this book. In the history section, written by Toshiki Wada, the editing is so bad that spelling mistakes are made and repeated. Also, Miss Wada needs to pick up a history book sometime very soon. Her grasp on the history of Japanese clothing is tenuous at best and the more bad history sections she writes (like this one and the one in "Shibori"), the more misinformation she disseminates to the English-speaking public.
Ignore any historical information on the kimono written or "edited" by Wada. Go out and buy Dalby instead.
Beautiful illustrations.......2000-05-02
This book is about the American interpretation of the Kimono. It is a beautifully illustrated book that will appeal to anyone interested in fashion design or Japanese culture.
The first section shows the Kimono in American art, including paintings by Whistler and others. A number of old photos and postcards chronicle the Kimono as a fashion element in the early 20th Century.
Next is a beautiful section on Kimonos by American designers. The variety is stunning with traditional motifs, modern art designs and unusual materials.
There is also a history of the Kimono in Japan showing the development of style with some nice earlier examples. This is a wonderful view of the article of clothing that is an art form in itself.
Don't buy it unless you're looking for an art book.......1998-10-17
This book is an art book, like the kind you can buy at art galleries. It reviews the inspiration the kimono had to modern American art. I wasted $50 canadian on this book because I thought it would be an invaluable reference for Kimono making. It's not. If you're an art teacher or student who is absolutely IN NEED of an art book on kimono art, then by all means purchase this book. If you aren't, then don't.
Kimono and Yukata how to make it..........1998-06-16
It's the BEST BOOK out there for learning how to make Kimono and Yukata for men and women.... It has everything from how to make the pattern and how to tie an obi....even how to make the sleeper. I am so HAPPY to have found this book..
Average customer rating:
- Good read
- An attempt to justify Bowa as the manager of the Phillies
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Larry Bowa: I Still Hate to Lose
Barry M Bloom , and
Larry Bowa
Manufacturer: Sports Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1582617880 |
Book Description
As current manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Larry Bowa has seen a lot in his 34-year career in baseball; so much that Bowa himself recently exclaimed, "I've been in the game for so long now, nothing really shocks me anymore." True, perhaps, but while Bowa may no longer be shocked by what he witnesses on and off the diamond, his passion for winning has remained as constant as his love for the game. Bowa's initiation into the big leagues began in Philly as a shortstop in 1970 and has spanned the life of three Phillies ballparks. During those early years with stints at organizations including the Mets and the Cubs, Bowa gained a reputation as a passionate loud mouth. Although Bowa himself admits his misdeeds were a result of nothing more than youthful inexperience ("Since I left San Diego I've never thrown chairs or the food spread again"), he still has a flame in his heart and a flair to win. "Looking back on it, I was wrong. That's inexperience. But I still come to the ballpark every day with that burning desire to win. I hate to lose and that will never change."
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2004-04-29
I was born and raised in Philly, and make no mistake, Larry Bowa is Phillies baseball. The book focuses on his time in Philadelphia as a player and now as a manager, so it covers multiple eras. There are some great photos included too. The author, Barry Bloom, writes a really neat Preface, where he talks about about his relationship with Bowa, and how he (Bloom) was the first person to let Bowa know that he was going to be fired as Padres manager in 1988. (At the time, Bloom was writing for the San Diego Union-Tribune.) Really interesting stuff!
An attempt to justify Bowa as the manager of the Phillies.......2004-04-16
I am still trying to make up my mind if "Larry Bowa: `I Still Hate to Lose'" was written either a season too early or a season too late. If this book by Barry M. Bloom, the sportswriter who wrote the book with lengthy quotations from Bowa throughout the book," had come out a year earlier it would have been after Bowa had won National League Manager of the Year after guiding the Philadelphia Phillies to a respectable second place finish in the NL East. With the Atlanta Braves being so decimated by free agency that a thirteenth straight title seems an impossibility and the World Champion Florida Marlins having to lose several key players as well, the Phillies are favorite to win the title, which would mean a book like this next year could celebrate their success. However, given the team's collapse at the end of last year, it is hard not to have second thoughts about their prospects (signing Kevin Millwood for another season, picking up Eric Milton, and getting Billy Wagner to be the stopper are both good signs). Then again, the Phillies are getting off to a rough start, the Marlins are hot, and already there are calls for Bowa to get axed.
When I picked up this book I was expecting it to be a biography of Bowa, who enjoyed a fiery reputation as a hard playing shortstop for the Phillies and Cubs in a relatively successful career. Bowa was never going to be considered for the Hall of Fame, but he was often an All-Star and in his era when you ticked off the five best shortstops on the fingers of one hand he was going to be there most of the time. Instead, "I Still Hate to Lose" is really more of an apologia. I have seen presidential candidates pick running mates with less justification that is provided in this book for Bowa being signed to manage the Phillies. The problem is that Bloom spends so much time explaining how Bowa's problems with particular players (e.g., Stanley Jefferson, Chris Brown, Scott Rolen) are not his fault, that it is hard to remember those players who speak highly of him as a manager (e.g., John Kruk). The net result is that the failures seem to outweigh the successes, which is not exactly how you want to make your case here.
The problem is that if this book is supposed to convince me that Bowa is a first-rate major league manager it is not providing the evidence that would prove the point for me beyond the team's record. You would think there would be stories of key moves in a game, some evidence of Bowa's skill at baseball strategy, but they are not forthcoming. Instead we get stories about Bowa not throwing temper tantrums and people providing votes of confidence. The same thing applies when Bowa is described as the best third base coach in baseball; there is not one specific suggestion as to what that involves. We are constantly being told things in this book about Bowa that I would rather be shown, especially if I am to be convinced he is one of the best at his chosen vocation. I stopped counting the number of times that Bowa looked back on his past and decided he should have done things differently because I would rather have the argument made in positive terms instead of these double negatives.
There are four quotations on the dedication page, including A. Bartlett Giamatti's famous poem "The Green Fields of the Mind" and Chico Marx's baseball bit from "Duck Soup," but the most relevant one is from Bernard Malamud's novel "The Natural": "We have two lives-the one we learn with and the life we live after that." In the context of this book the life that Bowa learned with did not end until he was hired to be the manager of the Phillies, with the learning coming as a player, as a minor league manager, as the manager of the San Diego Padres, and as a third-base coach for the Phillies, Angels and Mariners. This book would have worked a lot better if the focus was on the lessons, provided, of course, that the proof was actually forthcoming to prove each point. But I have the feeling that the only way that could happen is if the book was written first person from Bowa's perspetive, because I think if Bowa kept talking he would show why he is a good baseball manager.
It is helpful to keep in mind that Bloom is a sportswriter, because there is definitely a sense at times throughout this book that the chapters are more like sports articles (so I was not surprised to see that Chapter 10 was based on an actual article in the "San Diego Tribune"). There are a couple of points that pop up more than once in the book. For those who pick up this book and want more of a biography about Bowa, apparently you need to go check out the book that Bloom wrote about him back in the San Diego days, "Bleep! Larry Bowa Manager." Maybe that is why the look at Bowa's early life and playing career is so uneven. Fans of Bowa as a player are going to be rather disappointed by this book, and even those who support him as Phillies manager are going to be uneasy after reading this book. I should have had a higher opinion of Bowa at the end of this book than I had before I picked it up and, to my surprise, that is not the case here.
Book Description
This is a book about Philadelphia and about photography, but it is not the usual book about either. On one level, this is the pictorial story of a great industrial metropolis in transition. It is the story of a railroad city, a city of trolleys and subways and horse-drawn vehicles, as it gradually succumbed to the automobile. It is the story of a city filled with neighborhood industry giving way to suburbs, to commuter travel, and to a change in the very nature of work. It is the story of a city spreading out, expanding and doubling in population in fifty years. It is the story of urban exuberance and vitality where ethnic groups mixed and mingled, but it is also the story of slums and poverty, crime and conflict.
On another level, this is a Philadelphia family album. It is filled with pictures of ordinary people, who look out at us from the past. Some of these people are captured accidentally by the camera, some are posed by the photographer, but none are seated for a formal portrait. Most are wearing their everyday clothes and many are working, shopping, walking, or playing. In addition to the faces, the photographs in this book record thousands of places—neighborhoods, markets, mills, factories, houses, and even a few farms—ordinary scenes that capture some of the texture of life in another age.
Still Philadelphia focuses on the city of immigrants and industry, not on the lives and houses of the wealthy. It says little about unusual civic occasions and nothing about political events. The reader will not find a photograph of a mayor or a celebrity, or even pictures of the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition. Although City Hall can be detected in many photographs, and a few public buildings, such as the Art Museum, may be seen in the distance in some views, the authors have avoided the ceremonial, carefully composed shots of public institutions and private mansions that usually grace photographic books on Philadelphia and other cities. In fact, this may be the first illustrated book on Philadelphia without a picture of Independence Hall.
There are some famous photographers represented here—Lewis Hine and John Vachon, for example—and some less well known, like John Frank Keith, Philip Wallace, and G. Mark Wilson. But most of the photographs in this book were taken by anonymous photographers, some working for the city, some for Octavia Hill Association, some hired to take pictures of various businesses and industries. The authors are not as concerned with who took the photographs, or the technical quality of the print, or the equipment used, as they are with what these photographs can tell us about the texture of urban life. They constantly ask the questions: Why was this photograph taken? What was the purpose and point of view of the photographer? What does the photograph tell us accidentally?
This book can be read or viewed in a variety of ways. On can begin at the beginning and move through systematically to the end, discovering the change and development of the city over time. One can read each chapter as a separate unit, or open the book at any place, for each photograph or group of photographs has an explanation that makes it meaningful without reference to other photographs. But the book has a larger meaning as well. It is a serious book, although it has no footnotes or bibliography. It is meant to be savored and studied by Philadelphians everywhere, and by all those who share our excitement about old photographs and the vitality of urban life.
Customer Reviews:
decent.......2006-05-25
Around the Turn of the Century, Philadelphia was in a turning point in its history. Put together by Temple University's Urban Archives collection, the authors do an excellent job crossing architecture with people. The South Street area was becoming increasingly Jewish as refugees from Russia fled, rubbing elbows with the Black community of the 5th ward. Italians and Irish flooded South Philly. Irish, Polish, and German immigrants flocked to the new industries in Kensington. The middle class areas of West Philadelphia and North Philadelphia became the first "street-car" suburbs, commuting daily to their office jobs in the downtown Center City, as Broad Street was widened at the same time to provide room to the new "automobile". At the same time, vast amounts of row housing put the working class (of all different origins and colors) very near their factory work places. There is a classic picture of the Stetson factory (in Kensington) Christmas party, where hundreds of factory workers are in suits lined into neat rows. You can find a Jewish man and an Irish girl courting.
Wow. "Still Philadelphia" is a treasure that any Philadelphian should take a look at. They may recognize some of their streets, and they might not. For instance, Broad and Girard Streets, today is an El Stop, in a working class Black neighborhood near Temple University, in the 1890s was the site of several mansions of the Well-to-do class of Philadelphia (who's descendants now live on the Mainline of the suburbs.) South Street, today a smorgousboard of dinky strange shops and tourist attractions, a century ago was a Jewish marketplace (though the traffic doesn't seem to have changed.) 58th and Baltimore, now a working-class Black neighborhood just blocks away from gentrification, was in 1906 farmland.
As our city rapidly changes, a city with thousands of Latino and Asian immigrants arriving, struggling neighborhoods, and areas balancing gentrification with building neighborhoods that meet the needs of the already established community, it's fascinating to look back to an earlier time when the city struggled with similar, yet different issues.
Book Description
This volume is produced from digital images from the Cornell University Library Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
Average customer rating:
- Great Player, Greater Person
- Cunningham's first book is a winner
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I'm Still Scrambling
Randall Cunningham
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0385471424
Release Date: 1993-09-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Player, Greater Person.......2002-03-26
I highly recommend this book for anyone to get an understanding of one of the most maligned great athletes of all time. While much has happened in Randall Cunningham's career since the book was published in 1993; this book is still a very good read. Randall is by far the most talented quarterback to ever play in the NFL. He's done things in his career that were never done before. For example, he is the only NFL quarterback to LEAD his team in rushing in four consecutive seasons. He is the first NFL qb to rush for 4,000 yards in a career and needs only 78 to be the first to rush for 5,000, though missing half of his career due to injuries, benchings and politics. His touchdown/interception ratio 1.544 is fifth all-time behind only Steve Young 2.168, Joe Montana 1.964, Brett Favre 1.668 and Dan Marino 1.666. He is one of the greatest playmakers in NFL history, regardless of position. He has brought excitement and enjoyment to an increasingly regimented and boring game.
Contrary to "expert" and fan opinion, Randall Cunningham is also a winner. His career winning percentage as an NFL starting quarterback is .612 [Young .657, Favre .649, Marino .612, Elway .632, Kelly .632, Esiason .452, Aikman .569, Moon .505], comparable to great quarterbacks of his and any era. What's even more noteworthy is that during Randall's 11-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, seven NFC East division teams won Super Bowl championships [NY Giants2, Washington Redskins 2 and Dallas Cowboys three. Had Randall's Eagles been in a far less competitive division in the AFC, who knows how many more wins and Super Bowl appearances Cunningham and his Eagles would have earned. Yet, he's always been maligned and vilified in the media.
Since leaving the Eagles, Cunningham has drifted to the Vikings, Cowboys and Ravens. Yet he has continued to maintain a high level of performance, even though he's had to put up with sitting behind inferior quarterbacks. This book is great for fans of Randall Cunningham. It will even give his detractors another viewpoint of this remarkably gifted athlete.
Cunningham's first book is a winner.......1999-02-16
I found Randall's book to be a captivating, thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. From his early years in Santa Barbara to his career at UNLV, Randall paints a picture of a tough but exciting upbringing. He uses colorful stories combined with retrospective wisdom to illustrate how events in his formative years shaped him as an individual. He also details his misunderstood and often criticized career with the Philadelphia Eagles, as well as his views on fellow team members and other influential figures in his life. Without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of the book is Randall's relationship with God. He talks about the many dimensions of his Faith, and there influence on him both as a player and as a person. It is genuinely refreshing for someone so well-known to acknowledge the value of his beliefs as an instrument in his success. This book is an excellent read not only for football fans, but for anyone who enjoys stories of faith and overcoming the odds.
Average customer rating:
- Fred Seibert IS an Original Cartoon!
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Original Cartoons: The Frederator Studio Postcards 1998-2005
Manufacturer: Easton Studio Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Animation
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ASIN: 0974380636 |
Customer Reviews:
Fred Seibert IS an Original Cartoon!.......2006-01-21
I finally got my copy of Fred Seibert's long awaited "Original Cartoons" and it was worth the wait...or shall I say the weight! There is so much in this book...postcards from Fred's days at MTV Networks to Hanna Barbera to Frederator, and everything in between. If there ever was a true definition of a coffee table book...this is it!
As Animation World Network says "If one man can be credited with resuscitating American commercial animation from a near-death experience in the 80's and 90's, the credit would have to go to Fred Seibert"
Bravo to Fred and Eric for a very enjoyable look back...and forward!
-Bill Sobel
Books:
- The New Cottage Home: A Tour of Unique American Dwellings
- The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Book 1 An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe (The Nature of Order, Book 1)
- The Poetics of Space
- The Portfolio: An Architectural Student's Handbook (Architectural Students Handbooks)
- The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
- The Process of Creating Life: The Nature of Order, Book 2 An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe (The Nature of Order, Book 2)
- The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling
- The Way We Live Alfresco
- Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture
- Time-Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture
Books Index
Books Home
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- Lincoln at Cooper Union: The Speech That Made Abraham Lincoln President
- Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame
- 350 Narrow-Lot Homes
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- Concrete Countertops: Design, Form, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath
- History: Fiction or Science
- Die Upon a Kiss
- Country and Suburban Homes of the Prairie School Period
- Architecture Without Rules: The Houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide: An Ingenious New Key System for Quick, Positive Field Identification of
The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling
The New Ecological Home: A Complete Guide to Green Building Options (Chelsea Green Guides for Homeowners)
The New Natural House Book: Creating a Healthy, Harmonious, and Ecologically Sound Home
Good Green Homes
Green By Design
