Drinking, Smoking and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times Review

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(More customer reviews)It's a puritanical society we live in, and it sucks. This book makes for a fine release from that straightjacket.
This fabulous short story collection is pure, unadulterated (perhaps adulterous?), almost-illegal fun. Bukowski's unabashedly macho "Women", Erica Jong's Zipless...(can I say the word in a public review?), Eve Babitz's revelations on something called "The Green Death" (I must find some one day and see if it really is that good); well, it's everything your mother and the Surgeon General told you not to do, but you do anyway. Or at least you should.
Speaking of the Surgeon General, my favorite here is Fran Lebowitz's "When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes...Shut Them" (page 192), and I quote from it quite often in today's smokist, nicotine gum, get the patch society. For air pollution and my blood pressure, one would do better outlawing those pretentious, gas guzzling Suburban Utility Vehicles. I suspect that many of the writers in this book BECAME writers to be able to smoke on the job in peace.
I would quibble with a few of the inclusions. For instance, I would have used Anne Sexton's "Fury Of The Cocks" instead if "When A Man Enters A Woman". I would have picked one of Dorthy Parkers acerbic poems about love and sex rather than using "You Were Perfectly Fine". I would have left out the "Lotlita" excerpt altogether for something more overtly satisfying and taboo, such as Pat Califia's "Calyx of Isis". And I'd never have even touched the vapid, sexist, nonsensical and needlessly trashy "Candy", by Southern and Hoffenberg, which is in this collection is rather like a pimple on the chest of an otherwise exquisitely beautiful stripper.
However, the good "bad" stuff more than makes up for the, well, bad "bad" stuff, and this is a book I go back to again and again. Call it my bedtime reading, if you will....a book that goes deliciously well with a good Dunhill cigarette, a nice shot of Baileys, and a half dressed...oh, nevermind. There are kids here.

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Smokescreen: The Truth Behind the Tobacco Industry Cover-Up Review

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(More customer reviews)Smokescreen tells the ugly facts behind what 'big tobacco' has done in this country and abroad. The book itself is a little dry; it reads a little like a documentary. However, what it lacks in style, it makes up with stunning facts and secrets from the industry. If every citizen read this book, the people of our nation would be screaming for a lynching. If you smoke, it may make you quit out of spite.

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Living by the Word Review

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(More customer reviews)"Living by the Word: Selected Writings 1973-1987" is an excellent collection from prolific author Alice Walker. In this collection of essays and journal entries, Walker demonstrates the essential union of her political, spiritual, and artistic "selves."
Walker writes about many topics: animal rights, her daughter's smoking habit, her father, the problematic legacy of Joel Chandler Harris, pioneering African-American thinker Benjamin Banneker, vegetarianism, Reggae legend Bob Marley, her own 1983 trip to China, and more. Particularly fascinating are her thoughts on the controversies surrounding her great novel "The Color Purple."
Although the "New Age" vibe of much of the book may be too much for some readers, I found the book to be well-written and consistently interesting. Walker is a writer who has created a remarkable body of work, and "Living by the Word" is an excellent example of her passion and insight.

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Blender 2.5 Materials and Textures Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the book that was missing in the ever increasing collection of books on Blender. Because there is nothing more important to rendering believable scenes than convincing materials with the exception maybe of lighting, a book that systematically tackles the creation of materials was sorely missing.
Colin's book does a great job in filling this gap.
Not only does he provide you with numerous examples of natural and man made materials that are presented as ready to use recipes but he also shows which are the important bits in getting an effect across. This is enormously helpful in gaining insight into what makes a material work, insight that is essential if you want to create new materials yourself instead of simply following well travelled paths.
Blenders material system is tremendously powerful and the combination of a layer based approach with a node based system might be overwhelming at first. Many tutorial writers therefore focus on particular aspects and often the node based capabilities are more or less skipped altogether. Not in this book though. Every aspect is highlighted and even the compositor gets a share, even though it is not strictly a part of the material system but shares its node based abilities and can be a very powerful tool in getting that final look just right. Also, in Blender everything is animatable, and this is certainly true for the many attributes that make up a material. Many an example is about creating materials that can be used effectively in animations.
The best point of the book is not its breath or depth of coverage however, but the overall approach. It clearly depicts the process of how to create a material based on the effects you want to achieve. Sure, creativity and even simple trial an error can be part of this process but knowing what is possible with Blenders materials makes it possible to find what you are after in a systematic fashion instead of groping in the dark.
An excellent example is the material developed to mimic copper roof plating. A fairly simple man made material at first but Colin shows clearly the thinking behind evolving a material from a pretty shiny surface to a believable material that conveys both the origins of its manufacturing process in its many scratches and dimples as well as it weathering over time.
The many developers and contributors to Blender worldwide have always been eager to enhance Blender with the latest physical simulation and lighting techniques and even these are addressed comprehensively in this book. The uses of Ambient Occlusion and Subsurface Scattering are illustrated in an elaborate example on creating a realistic human skin material from photographic references and the final chapter is all about pyrotechnic effects, showing how suitable materials make all the difference between merely physically correct smoke and something that gets across the notion that it might leave you with blisters on your hands.
This is the book you need to rid the world of plastic car models and sterile stone walls.


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Each chapter in the book follows a themed approach to creating materials using the new Blender 2.5 features. As you read through each chapter you will learn approaches to create materials and textures. These materials and textures will help you to create a flawless simulation of real-world objects. You need not read the chapters in any particular order to learn to use the Blender 3D suite for materials simulation appropriately. Every recipe in this book will enable you to create a usable material or texture effect as well as teaching you techniques that save your time. If you are a Graphics Designer looking to master the features for materials and textures to create realistic looking models in Blender, then this book is for you. It can be read by both beginners and experienced Blender users; however, prior understanding of object creation and manipulation in Blender would be an advantage. This is a must-read for Blender users who want to learn the concepts and at the same time experiment with the different Blender Material and texture functions.

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Drink, Fish, Smoke: Preparing for a Life in Law Enforcement Review

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(More customer reviews)The red and blue lights flashing behind you as you pull to the side of the road. What did I do, was I driving too fast? As you sit and wait for the officer to explain the situation just imagine what is going through their head - every stop, every call could lead to front page news. How does someone make a career choice that leads to defending and protecting the citizens of your town? Drink, Fish, Smoke shows the more human side of law enforcement, a story most rarely consider and few ever think about. Within it's pages lie the story of a boy who grew up to protect the freedoms most take for granted, making mistakes along the way and above all being human. This book is everything you need if you are considering a career or just curious in a behind the scenes look at what makes law enforcement so intriguing. While reading this book I did something I wasn't expecting, I laughed... a lot! Humorous and well written it has something for everyone, and it just might change your outlook towards those who serve and protect.

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