Goodbye: In Search of Gordon Jenkins

Book Description

Goodbye combines biography with a son's discovery of his father. Gordon Jenkins, one of America's most significant musical figures throughout his 50-year career, collaborated with many of the major talents in postwar pop and jazz. Modest by nature, he rarely spoke of his accomplishments, and there was much to discover when, on account of his father's death in 1984, Bruce Jenkins began his research. Paralleling the story of Gordon Jenkins's personal life is a veritable history of popular music, featuring luminaries from Irving Berlin to Billie Holiday. This richly anecdotal biography relates a wealth of heretofore untold stories of his encounters with icons like Sinatra, who was uncharacteristically awestruck by him, and Judy Garland, whom only Jenkins could convince to go onstage when she was crippled with anxiety. A concluding chapter documents Jenkins's slow, difficult death from ALS, leaving readers with an unforgettable image of a legend dying with dignity and unexpected good humor.

Customer Reviews:

Music Master.......2007-05-10

I enjoyed this bio from cover to cover. As a musician,i always wanted to know more about Gordon Jenkins life as a person and a musician. His son, Bruce did a wonderful job of enlightening me.

Say Hello to Goodbye.......2006-08-30

I first became aware of Gordon Jenkin's music as a boy through his marvellously exciting arrangement for Peggy Lee's "Lover". Later his style changed totally through superb albums for Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole and even "Nillson". Some thought that style old-fashioned even then but those artists thought differently.
Now thanks to this superb book by his son and professional writer Bruce, we learn that away from the podium and arranging desk Gordon Jenkins had a wonderful mordant wit and great courage in the way he coped with life's cruelties and particularly his last illness. I lent my copy to a friend who immediately had me get him his own copy. No higher recommendation than that!

Goodbye: In search of Gordon Jenkins.......2006-08-25

I have been an admirer of the musical talent of Gordon Jenkins for decades, and I enjoyed his son's biography of the life of
a most talented arranger, composer and performer, along with
insights about Jenkins' relationships with the many artists who
benefited from their associations with him.

Northing "sad" about Gordon Jenkins's life story.......2006-07-10

When you take a first rate writer like Bruce Jenkins (nationally known sports writer based at the San Francisco Chronicle) and have him write about the loving family from which he came and sprinkle a bit of musical genuis, you have one of the best musical biographies ever written!

What a delight Bruce gives us with this intimate 'gloves off' look into one of the most creative musical minds in popular music, Gordon Jenkins. Those of us who thrilled to "Manhattan Tower" ever time we played it will enjoy reading how it came about over 50 years ago and how it's still considered a great work of art. And what about the whole story of Benny Goodman's sign-off song, "Goodbye" that Jenkins wrote? Now we know why it was written.

It's told through the recollections of friends in the music business from fellow arrangers/song writers/conductor to family friends. Fascinating, entertaining and just one of the best reads you'll have in a long time. Don't miss it if you've ever been spun into musical ecstesy with the signature arrangements of Gordon Jenkins....after all some feel he's responsible for a baby boom!

I'd rather say "hello" to a book like this..........2006-02-17

I'm only halfway through this book, but I already have to give it a rave. Being somewhat obsessed with this period of music (most of which happened before I was born), I've read a lot of mediocre-to-horrible books about the legendary figures involved, and this puts them all to shame. The author obviously loves his dad, but is honest about what worked about his life and work and what didn't. Clear-eyed and sentimental, just like GJ's music.

Book Description

At the core of the book are discrete literary studies of Scotland and Shakespeare, Walter Scott, R.L. Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, the modern Scottish Renaissance of the 1920s and more recent cultural and literary phenomena. The central theme of literature and popular 'representation' recontextualises literary analysis in a broader, multi-faceted picture involving all the arts and the changing sense of what 'the popular' might be in a modern nation. New technologies alter forms of cultural production and the book charts a way through these forms, from oral poetry and song to the novel, and includes studies of paintings, classical music, socialist drama, TV, film and comic books. The international context for mass media cultural production is examined as the story of the intrinsic curiosity of the imagination and the intensely local aspect of Scotland's cultural self-representation unfolds.

Average customer rating:
Neal-Schuman Index to Fingerplays

Manufacturer: Neal-Schuman Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1555701493

Book Description

About to give up on finding that elusive fingerplay you almost remember? This unique resource indexes more than 1,600 different fingerplays, available in more than 60 sources. The fingerplays are listed alphabetically and then indexed by title and subject. A special calendar section lists fingerplays appropriate for specific occasions.

Average customer rating:

Great Help

Great for the beginner!

The best!!!

NOT for the Beginner

A Masterpiece

HTML: A Beginner's Guide, Third Edition
Wendy Willard
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability

Design for New Media: Interaction Design for Multimedia and the Web

The Elements of User Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web

Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

Getting It Printed: How to Work With Printers and Graphic Imaging Services to Assure Quality, Stay on Schedule and Control Costs (Getting It Printed) 4th Edition

ASIN: 0072263784

Book Description

HTML made easy--fully updated for the latest version

The new edition of this bestselling beginner's guide brings the book up to date with the latest changes in HTML, including XHTML 2.0. In dedicated modules that act as stand-alone lessons, you will learn how to structure a page, place images, size text, create links, generate Web-safe colors, work with multimedia, and more. Hands-on projects, self-assessments, and ‘ask the expert' sections make it easy to learn the essential skills.

Download Description

Essential skills for first-time programmers! This easy-to-use book explains the fundamentals of HTML and Web development. The modular approach of this series--including drills, sample projects, and mastery checks--makes it easy to learn to use this powerful programming language at your own pace.

Customer Reviews:

Great Help.......2007-01-11

Having no knowledge of code, this book was great. I created my whole site with code...rather than having dreamweaver create it for me! I would recommend it to anyone just learning about website creation.

Great for the beginner!.......2007-01-04

I purchased this book for an Introduction to Web course and found it to be an excellent resource. Some chapters are more detailed than others but overall, it was extremely helpful. There are lots of examples throughout the book as well as excellent chapter reviews. I would highly recommend this book to anyone just starting out learning HTML.

The best!!!.......2004-06-04

Nothing better than that book. I wasn't able to understand how frames work but within couple of hours of reading chapter 10, frames became a piece of cake!!!!
Thanks for the excellent work!

NOT for the Beginner.......2004-01-03

I have just finished the first two modules and let me tell you that if you are a pure beginner to HTML, DO NOT get this book. Module two is very confusing with very few examples for the beginner. I have been designing pretty decent web pages (www.pacificlittleleague.org) with MS Frontpage 2002 and wanted to learn HTML so I could advance to using javascript & flash. This book was a mistake purchase. It is not for the beginner. I have read all of the other comments that convinced me to buy this book, and all I can say is that maybe this would be a good book if you have already dabbled in some HTML. If you look at some of the test questions at the end of module 2, such as #9 which asks about the proper XHTML format for closing the hr tag, you will find that she hasn't even covered the tag hr yet. In # 11 it asks to rewrite "the text below" so that it doesn't show up on a web page - and then there is no text shown that could be rewritten. The author really needs to get in a frame of mind to that of a true beginner if she is going to sell this book as a beginner book.

A Masterpiece.......2003-11-21

I needed a relatively quick way to learn how to construct a custom web page for my Computer-Help website, and this book did not disappoint.

I just finished the book today, and I can now use basic Javascript, tables, frames (don't use them!), and basic CGI scripts.

All the information you need to go from beginner to intermediate is here. I highly recommend this book as the most painless means of acquiring a working knowledge of HTML.

Book Description

Essential skills for first-time programmers! XML: A Beginner's Guide will teach you the fundamentals of XML programming. You'll learn to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), XHTML, Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), and Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL). This Beginner’s Guide is Designed for Easy Learning: Modules: Each programming concept is divided into logical modules (chapters), ideal for linear learning Goals: Each module opens with the specific programming skills you’ll have by the end of the module Ask the Experts: Q&A sections throughout 1-Minute Drills: Quick self-assessment sections to check your progress Annotated Syntax: Example code annotated with commentary that points to the particular technique illustrated Projects: Coding exercises contained in each module that build on one another, from simple to complex Mastery Checks: End-of-module reviews that test proficiency using multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and simple coding questions

Customer Reviews:

Not so Hot.......2002-09-21

I am currently using this book in a class on XML. It has been used sparingly, thank God, by our instructor. The main book we rely on for good advise and examples of XML is written by Elizabeth Castro. If you don't want to waste your money on a book which is not very clear, concise, or written in a well defined and orderly manner, don't purchase this book. I have worked in the field of computer programming and written in 9 different computer languages, as well as, learning others. Take it from me, there are better books on this subject.

CAUTION: Not really a "beginner's guide".......2002-09-15

The book does a good job with explaining topics such as using XML as a database and using DOM to interface with XML. It is also a good book if you work in the Microsoft web technologies (ASP, VBScript), since many of the examples use ASP and VBScript to interface with the XML document.

However, I had to give it only three stars because it is not really a book for people new to programming, as this book advertises. A reader does need some kind of programming basics to understand some of the topics. Also, I think that the book glosses over the basics of XML. Even though the more intermediate topics like using XML as a database are explained well, a reader that is brand-new to XML could easily get lost because not enough emphasis was placed on the basics.

If you do work in the Microsoft technologies, and you want to learn and work with XML, then buy this book AFTER reviewing the free XML tutorial on [website]

A waste of time.......2002-07-16

This book went to the presses to soon. Every example is full of errors. Every example is lacking and fails to show what it is intended to show. To add to my frustrations, online resources are not updated either. There are far too few illustrations. Far too few cross references. I would recommend "The XML Companion" by Neil Bradley, Addison Wesley. Just flick through the books side by side for 10 seconds and you get what I mean.

what code?.......2002-06-12

just a warning- don`t be convinced by the "free code online" offer- they don`t give you a website, and if you do track it down from the publisher, you`ll discover its painful to use- that combined with the mistypes in the text and its a basket case.

other then that, the book is clear enough, but how can you learn a language without practice?

Frustrated with Examples and Coding errors.......2002-02-19

After reaching module 3 I became quite disappointed. The example in Module 2-1 is missing from the website and there are many coding and errors in the examples through out the book making it hard for a new comer to really learn what is right or wrong. Unfortunately there aren't many books out there for beginners. For a true new comer to XML and coding itself this book can be confusing. Would recommend at risk.

Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics

Average customer rating:

I Upgraded to This Edition - It is Excellent
An excellent addition to any serious college-level computer library.
Highly, highly recommended
Very good coverage of topic.
Good Introductory and Refresher Text

Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics
Jennifer Niederst Robbins
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0596527527

Book Description

Everything you need to know to create professional web sites is right here. Learning Web Design starts from the beginning -- defining how the Web and web pages work -- and builds from there. By the end of the book, you'll have the skills to create multi-column CSS layouts with optimized graphic files, and you'll know how to get your pages up on the Web.

This thoroughly revised edition teaches you how to build web sites according to modern design practices and professional standards. Learning Web Design explains:

How to create a simple (X)HTML page, how to add links and images
Everything you need to know about web standards -- (X)HTML, DTDs, and more
Cascading Style Sheets -- formatting text, colors and backgrounds, using the box model, page layout, and more
All about web graphics, and how to make them lean and mean through optimization
The site development process, from start to finish
Getting your pages on the Web -- hosting, domain names, and FTP

The book includes exercises to help you to learn various techniques, and short quizzes to make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. If you're interested in web design, Learning Web Design is the place to start.

Customer Reviews:

I Upgraded to This Edition - It is Excellent.......2007-09-12

Learning Web Design, 3rd Edition is pleasure to read, it is really well written. It begins with how to start, how the Web works, and the nature of Web design and she makes it interesting.

The second part of the book is on HTML markup and standards based structure. Here you learn how to start with your content, to give it a logical structure, to add your text, links, images, to use tables and forms, and to understand today's and tomorrow's standards.

The third part of Learning Web Design is about CSS for presentation. You learn how you can develop your own unique and beautiful web sites, and how to change them easily just by modifying your CSS styles.

Creating Web graphics and optimizing them for the Web fills the fourth part of the book, and the shorter fifth part is about the site development process and getting your pages on the web.

There are exercises throughout the book that you can do to test and solidify your learning. There is a Web support page with material you can use for some of the exercises.

When you are done with your studies, or even before that, this book is a good reference where you can easily find the information you need for most of the tasks you want to do or problems you may have.

Jennifer Robins writes reading this book "feels like sitting in my classroom." It must be a very nice classroom.

I used the second edition of this book for working on our NVMUG site and converting it to standards base CSS. This third edition of Learning Web Design is almost totally new and so much improved that I have ordered a copy for myself.

An excellent addition to any serious college-level computer library........2007-09-06

Jennifer Niederst Robbins' LEARNING WEB DESIGN, 3RD EDITION is subtitled 'A Beginner's Guide to XTML, Style Sheets, and Web Graphics', and herein lies its power. Chapters covering these professional ideas tell everything needed to know how Web pages work and builds a foundation of knowledge, adding applications savvy and advanced topics on top. The book's been completely revised to show how to blend modern design practices into web site design and includes exercises and quizzes, also making it a top classroom assignment pick. An excellent addition to any serious college-level computer library.

Highly, highly recommended.......2007-09-02

I was very impressed with this book, as it provides an excellent introduction to a standards-based approach for creating web sites. Developers or designers who are new to writing HTML, or individuals who are simply looking for a refresher book should look no further. The author takes the reader through the whole process of creating a web site: from HTML, to adding style elements, to basic graphics considerations, to more advanced topics. This is a very well thought out, thorough book.

Frankly, I was surprised at the depth of material included in this book. In addition to an excellent CSS reference, the author goes into more advanced topics, including the CSS box model, what exactly is Unicode, and even how to create web graphics. The addition of this extra material will satisfy advanced readers, but also give beginning HTML coders something to work up towards. In other words, once you cover the basic material of this book, there's still more material for you to learn.

If I had my way, I'd make this book required reading for all web developers. This is a great addition to any web developer's library. Even those who already have a lot of experience with creating web sites--you might learn something.

Very good coverage of topic. .......2007-08-31

As a web developer, I like to keep a copy of an html and style sheet reference handy. This book does a very good job at that, so it has become my new reference.

Good Introductory and Refresher Text.......2007-08-19

So, you want to learn how to design web pages and sites. Well, the title suggests you came to the right place. Did you? In my opinion, yes. The book covers the basics of HTML and XHTML, along with the CSS necessary to show it off.
It's amazing how much - and how quickly - web design has changed over the last few years. If you're new to the party, this book explains the current best practices in a clear manner. If you haven't kept up, this book will prove to be a good refresher course.
The text is concise and clean, and the use of colors and a multitude of sidebars really enhance the learning experience. There is a strong emphasis on the separation of content (XHTML) and presentation (CSS), which, as we all know by now, is a good thing.

Average customer rating:

Great Service
NOT A CONCISE GUIDE
Impressive!
MSorientation
Very Cool

HTML and XML for Beginners
Michael Morrison
Manufacturer: Microsoft Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0735611890

Book Description

HTML and XML for Beginners provides Web coding beginners with a concise guide to the world of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), and previews even more powerful alternatives such as Extensible Markup Language (XML). Rich in examples,the book walks the Web beginner through basic HTML techniques such as creating and publishing Web pages, formatting text, adding graphics, and creating hyperlinks. It shows how to use tables to organize content, forms to gather input from site visitors, image maps to support point-and-click navigation, and styles, properties, and multimedia to add visual and sonic interest. It clearly demonstrates how to spice up Web pages with interactive elements by using Dynamic HTML (DHTML). The book ends with an extensive discussion of the most important new language on the Web, XML, and its relevance for data exchange. The book also explores XML variants such as Vector Markup Language (VML), the standard for creating, storing, and exchanging vector drawings on the Internet, and XHTMLthe merger of XML and HTML. All in all, this title provides the fastest way to get started coding a Web page.

Customer Reviews:

Great Service.......2005-09-24

Excellent Service. Ordered this product internationally, and within the specified time as specified according to my shipment plan, was with me.

NOT A CONCISE GUIDE.......2005-09-18

This book is NOT a concise guide as the editorial review says. It is cluttered up with wordy, conversational talk unrelated to learning html/xml. The author tells about him, his family, his friends, skateboarding, christmas toys, FOX news, and everything else under the sun, cluttering up the actual learning of html/xml. And he continually clutters up the text with phrases such as; as you can see, earlier I mentioned, as you know, as previously mentioned, earlier in the chapter you learned, etc.

If I had known this was written in a redundant, wordy style, I would not have wasted my money on it. This is the style the online computer course in XML I'm taking is written in. I'm failing it and bought this book hoping it was "concise" and to the point without profuse clutter in the text.

Impressive!.......2005-09-03

I was asked if I would be willing to teach web design as an advanced course offering for high school students. I'm not new to HTML, but I have been using a WISIWYG app to manage website for years. With this course, I felt it was important to start at the beginning in order for the students to have the solid foundation of web design and it' code, and then move into the current apps. I also fekt I needed a quick refresher. Thus I was looking for a book that would clearly explain the fundamentals of HTML and be simplistic enough for high school students. After seaching I came across this one.
This book clearly explains the basic HTML and much more. After reviewing the book, I felt confident that this book would meet my students and my needs.

MSorientation.......2005-08-29

One of those "should have known"

This is from Microsoft Press and when possible it speaks from a Microsoft perspective; not necessarily selling but certainly letting you know when Explore does this or Front Page does that.

It also spends too much ink on analogies and could have packed more technical content in all those pages.

Very Cool .......2004-09-08

Well, As A guy who has his own web page, I find that it is very important to have a neat looking website, in order to aquire an audience. However, getting a website to look excelent, requires hard work. So, After Checking This Book Out At the Borders Store, I thought this book might be a nessecity for my webpage. Basically, HTML is the origin of all web designs, and anything computer related. This Book Has NEVER let me down, and has become my new best friend! At First, I had to re-read a lot of things in order to get everything straight, but now its a lot easier! I think you should get this book, because believe it or not, It WILL pay off in the long run! Your shooting yourself in the foot if you DONT get it !!! So, what are you waiting for? Get This Book!

Cascading Style Sheets: A Beginner's Guide

Average customer rating:

Frustrating!
Great once you know the basics
great textbook but needs to professional editing
Earnest & Thoughtful, but Repitious and Full of Typos
Very good book for CSS Beginners

Cascading Style Sheets: A Beginner's Guide

Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 007219295X

Book Description

Technology trainer and Web site designer James Pence clearly presents the Cascading Style Sheet essentials for programmers and Web designers, including structuring content for cross-browser presentation, building designs using selectors and declarations, and XML integration.

Customer Reviews:

Frustrating!.......2004-07-16

I swear the author of this book goes out of his way to make its readers feel incompetent. While full of useful information, this book is also just as full of typos and inconsistancies.

Do you want to know how frustrating it is to try and re-create a page using the code given to you in a book, have the page come out looking nothing like the example in said book, then finding out the reason for the discrepency is because the author actually coded their example differently? Well there's plenty of opportunities in this book!

I now have to learn inline CSS which I believe might have been covered to some extent in this book. I can't remember. That's how badly I want to forget this book! I'm sticking with CSS for Dummies!

Great once you know the basics.......2004-05-10

Use this book once you have Pence's basic HTML book down. It will provide many new tools to spruce up your exist web programming.

great textbook but needs to professional editing.......2004-04-18

It is a great hands on textbook. The author did a great job conveying concepts. Easy to understand especially talking about codes. However a lot of typing error and project data or instructional errors. Misspelled in a lot of places. Information inconsistency. Requires professional editing services. I think the author should continue to write these book. Pence is a good writer but need to make sure information, data or examples are consistent. It hinders the student when trying to do the projects.

Earnest & Thoughtful, but Repitious and Full of Typos.......2004-03-31

This book covers basic CSS. It succeeds in offering a very gentle and fairly comprehensive overview of CSS1 features, with some CSS2. However, his constant warning about the lack of robust support for CSS in browsers is somewhat dated and tiring. The book is also full of annoying typos that at times prevent examples from working--a missing period here, a misplaced semi-colon there. Perhaps to make the chapters (called "Modules" here) independent, there is quite a bit of repetition of the same ideas in many chapters. The gradual introduction of CSS syntax and techniques also seems to incourage the author to use examples that mix CSS and traditional html in ways that are not good CSS practice, just apparantely oversimplified examples to make simple points about transitioning from HTML to specific CSS features. That distinction could be lost on a lot beginners who don't get a more solid understanding of how to use CSS to build more complete and consistent pages and websites. I therefore wish the author would have included more comprehensive examples, rather than lots of smaller out-of-context and disconnected ones. This book is not terrible. I just think you could probably do better now. I would give it 2 1/2 stars if I could.

Very good book for CSS Beginners.......2004-02-26

This book teaches what it claims to teach. It teaches CSS 1 for everyday tasks you would perform. It also teaches you how to create entire layouts using CSS. I strongly recommend this book to those who have just learned HTML and want to go ahead. This book also gives overview of very basics of CSS 2.

The book is well structured and includes hints, tips and other similar helpful stuff along the way.

Of course reading a book does not really make you a master unless you think and work hard yourself as well. So if you know HTML then this shud be your next step.

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