Bicycling, Motorcycling, Rhetoric, and Space


Book Description

Bicycling, Motorcycling, Rhetoric, and Space draws from cultural studies, rhetorical theory, and political philosophy to examine bicycling and motorcycling as serious forms of communication and even thought. By analyzing how everyday movements function in modern and postmodern contexts, Hunter H. Fine is able to determine the social meanings behind human powered and motorized forms of cycling. Through the lenses of sophistic rhetoric and poststructuralist theory, the author uncovers how such mobilities inform our thoughts and interactions. Throughout history, this informing process has promoted specific ways of thinking that have resulted in moments of protest, conquest, awareness, and transgression, which all involve a cycling rhetoric. This book contributes to various academic fields within the liberal arts and humanities while further establishing bicycling and motorcycling as important social, theoretical, and political areas of inquiry. Scholars of rhetoric, communication studies, cultural studies, and philosophy will find this book of particular interest.




Bike Snob


Book Description

“Equal parts critical manifesto and tender mini-memoir about a boy and his bikes” from Eben Weiss, blogger and author of The Enlightened Cyclist (GQ). Cycling is exploding in a good way. Urbanites everywhere, from ironic hipsters to earth-conscious commuters, are taking to the bike like aquatic mammals to water. BikeSnobNYC—cycling’s most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and anonymous blogger—brings a fresh and humorous perspective to the most important vehicle to hit personal transportation since the horse. Bike Snob treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes and their riders and offers a unique look at the ins and outs of cycling, from its history and hallmarks to its wide range of bizarre practitioners. Throughout, the author lampoons the missteps, pretensions, and absurdities of bike culture while maintaining a contagious enthusiasm for cycling itself. Bike Snob is an essential volume for anyone who knows, is, or wants to become a cyclist. “This is a social manual that should be bundled with every bike shipped in America.” —Christian Lander, author of Stuff White People Like “I like to think I know a thing or two (or three) about being ruthless and relentless—either trying to win the Tour or fighting cancer. The Snob knows it too. Keeping us dorks in line is tough work. I take pleasure in getting picked on by the Snob, slightly more pleasure in reading his writing, but take the most pleasure punishing his ass (my payback) on the bike either in Central Park or on 9W/River Road. Long live the Snob.” —Lance Armstrong




Sadhguru, More Than a Life


Book Description

‘The thirst to be boundless is not created by you; it is just life longing for itself.’ —Sadhguru This is the extraordinary story of Sadhguru—a young agnostic who turned yogi, a wild motorcyclist who turned mystic, a sceptic who turned spiritual guide. Pulsating with his razor-sharp intelligence, bracing wit and modern-day vocabulary, the book empowers you to explore your spiritual self and could well change your life. It seeks to re-create the life journey of a man who combines rationality with mysticism, irreverence with compassion, ancient wisdom with a provocatively contemporary outlook and a deep knowledge of the self with a contagious love of life. Described as ‘a profound mystic, visionary humanitarian and prominent spiritual leader of our times', he is equally at home in a satsangh in rural Tamil Nadu as at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In his early years, Jaggi Vasudev (or Sadhguru as he is now known) was a chronic truant, a boisterous prankster, and later a lover of motorbikes and fast cars. It is evident that the same urgency, passion and vitality echo in his spiritual pursuits to this day, from his creation of the historic Dhyanalinga—the mission of three lifetimes—to his approach as a guru. In Sadhguru's view, faith and reason, spirituality and science, the sacred and the material, cannot be divided into easy binaries. He sees people as ‘spiritual beings dabbling with the material rather than the reverse’, and liberation as the fundamental longing in every form of life. Truth for him is a living experience instead of a destination, a conclusion, or a matter of metaphysical speculation. The possibility of self-realization, he strongly believes, is available to all. Drawing upon extended conversations with Sadhguru, interviews with Isha colleagues and fellow meditators, poet Arundhathi Subramaniam presents an evocative portrait of a contemporary mystic and guru—a man who seems to pack the intensity and adventure of several lifetimes into a single one.




Brand New Justice


Book Description

Recently vilified as the prime dynamic driving home the breach between poor and rich nations, here the branding process is rehabilitated as a potential saviour of the economically underprivileged. Brand New Justice, now in a revised paperback edition, systematically analyses the success stories of the Top Thirteen nations, demonstrating that their wealth is based on the 'last mile' of the commercial process: buying raw materials and manufacturing cheaply in third world countries, these countries realise their lucrative profits by adding value through finishing, packaging and marketing and then selling the branded product on to the end-user at a hugely inflated price. The use of sophisticated global media techniques alongside a range of creative marketing activities are the lynchpins of this process. Applying his observations on economic history and the development and impact of global marketing, Anholt presents a cogent plan for developing nations to benefit from globalization. So long the helpless victim of capitalist trading systems, he shows that they can cross the divide and graduate from supplier nation to producer nation. Branding native produce on a global scale, making a commercial virtue out of perceived authenticity and otherness and fully capitalising on the 'last mile' benefits are key to this graduation and fundamental to forging a new global economic balance. Anholt argues with a forceful logic, but also backs his hypothesis with enticing glimpses of this process actually beginning to take place. Examining activities in India, Thailand, Russia and Africa among others, he shows the risks, challenges and pressures inherent in 'turning the tide', but above all he demonstrates the very real possibility of enlightened capitalism working as a force for good in global terms.




The Gendered Motorcycle


Book Description

What happens to gender at 120mph? Are Harley-Davidsons more masculine than Yamahas? The Gendered Motorcycle answers such questions through a critical examination of motorcycles in film, advertising and television. Whilst bikers and biker cultures have been explored previously, the motorcycle itself has remained largely under-theorised, especially in relation to gender. Esperanza Miyake reveals how representations of motorcycles can produce different gendered bodies, identities, spaces and practices. This interdisciplinary book offers new and critical ways to think about gender and motorcycles, and will interest scholars and students of gender, technology and visual cultures, as well as motorcycle industry practitioners and motorcycle enthusiasts.




Watching the English


Book Description

'Brilliant and hilarious' GRAYSON PERRY 'Absolutely brilliant' JENNIFER SAUNDERS, THE TIMES 'A delightful read' SUNDAY TIMES 'An entertaining, clever book' TELEGRAPH The international bestseller and unofficial guidebook to the English national character by anthropologist Kate Fox. Have you ever been unable to explain the idiosyncrasies of English humour, bizarre mobile-phone etiquette, or the endless obsession with class? In this classic bestselling book, social anthropologist Kate Fox puts a nation under a microscope. The result is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look at the English in all our glory. Based on extensive field-research, experiments and observations, Fox deciphers a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and bizarre codes of behaviour. She uncovers the roots of English self-mockery and demystifies peculiar cultural features such as 'weather-speak', class anxiety tests, the paranoid pantomime rule and the apology reflex. If you're English, this book will help you understand yourself and your fellow countrymen in a new way. And if you aren't English, you'll finally understand why we talk about the weather so much. A worldwide bestseller, translated into multiple languages, and a set text for university anthropology courses, Watching the English is a timeless classic on the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people.




Ecotourism in Appalachia


Book Description

Tourism is the world's largest industry, and ecotourism is rapidly emerging as its fastest growing segment. As interest in nature travel increases, so does concern for conservation of the environment and the well-being of local peoples and cultures. Appalachia seems an ideal destination for ecotourists, with its rugged mountains, uniquely diverse forests, wild rivers, and lively arts culture. And ecotourism promises much for the region: protecting the environment while bringing income to disadvantaged communities. But can these promises be kept? Ecotourism in Appalachia examines both the potential and the threats that tourism holds for Central Appalachia. The authors draw lessons from destinations that have suffered from the "tourist trap syndrome," including Nepal and Hawaii. They conclude that only carefully regulated and locally controlled tourism can play a positive role in Appalachia's economic development.




Acceptable Risk


Book Description

A framework for making decisions about risks, with recommendations for research, public policy, and practice.




The Writers Directory


Book Description




Sears List of Subject Headings


Book Description

Provides a list of subject headings for use in smaller libraries.