Author : Jon Stroud
Publisher : Summersdale
Page : 166 pages
File Size : 47,41 MB
Release : 2009-10-05
Category : Humor
ISBN : 0857657933
Who would live in a country where no child is allowed to win a race on sports day and you can lose your job for forwarding an ‘Irish joke’ email? About 60 million Britons, that’s who! Completely Conkers is a laugh-out-loud collection of ludicrous laws, political correctness gone mad, and ridiculous red tape.
Author : Will Jackson
Publisher : Summersdale
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 50,48 MB
Release : 2017-11-09
Category : Humor
ISBN : 1786854740
Having a good old moan about little everyday frustrations is a quintessential part of being British! This book collects the most mind-boggling and side-splitting examples of potty political correctness, ridiculous red tape and well-intentioned (but ultimately wacky) warnings from across bonkers Britain today.
Author : Felicity Hart
Publisher : Summersdale
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 16,12 MB
Release : 2016-05-12
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1783728299
Find yourself enthralled by the great outdoors with the collected wisdom inside this handy book. Packed with countryside facts and tips for identifying flora and fauna, this is the perfect companion for any nature lover. Whether you’re seeking knowledge or encouragement, The Pocket Naturalist will deepen your delight in the natural world.
Author : Steve Woolgar
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 39,49 MB
Release : 2013-11-28
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0191505293
What is to be made of the outcry when newly issued recycling "wheelie" bins are discovered to contain microchips for weighing and evaluating householders' rubbish? The angry accusations that speed cameras are generating excessive income for the government? The consternation at the measures taken by airports to heighten security in the wake of the increased threat of terrorist attacks? These increasingly widespread reactions to ordinary events and everyday phenomena share a common theme. They all embody concerns about the ways in which our lives are increasingly regulated and controlled in relation to ordinary objects and technologies. This book takes these concerns as the starting point for exploring the ways in which relations of governance and accountability in contemporary life are organized around ordinary, everyday, pervasive objects and technologies. In contrast to the contemporary literature on governance, the book argues for the importance of examining how accountability relations are enacted on the ground, in relation to mundane objects and technologies. In particular, it is crucial to understand how governance and accountability are mediated through material relations involving ordinary everyday objects and technologies. The book argues that the key to understanding governance is to focus on political constitution at the level of ontology rather than just on the traditional politics of organization, structure, and human compliance. The term ontology is used here to draw attention to the social and cultural processes whereby the nature and existence of ordinary things come to matter. The argument is developed in relation to a wide variety of empirical materials drawn from three main areas of everyday life: waste management and recycling; the regulation and control of traffic (especially speed cameras and parking); and security and passenger movement in airports.
Author : Susan Brewer
Publisher : Grub Street Publishers
Page : 297 pages
File Size : 38,16 MB
Release : 2009-04-22
Category : History
ISBN : 1844689069
“[A] combination of history and meaning behind favorite playground games and the verses . . . virtually guaranteed to make you laugh and sing” (Fiona Shoop, author of How to Deal in Antiques). This delightful book records favorite childhood games and recalls forgotten rhymes. With more children suffering from obesity, Susan Brewer looks at the social games we used to play from skipping to chase games that used up our energy during recess. Instead of costly computer games, we used rhyming games, played Jacks, and showed our balancing skills during competitive games of hopscotch. A charming book, full of anecdotes and nostalgia for how we remember our favorite place at school—the playground.
Author : Eleo Gordon
Publisher : Harmony
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 46,22 MB
Release : 2010-04-06
Category : Family & Relationships
ISBN : 0767932552
Flaps: Are you eager to spend time with your grandchildren, but anxious about what to do with them? The Really Useful Grandparents’ Book is the perfect solution. It’s a book that you can share with your grandchildren to discover the activities that will bring you closer and entertain you both all afternoon. Packed with information on the kinds of things a child will want to learn about from the world’s most dangerous animals to Mount Everest, from Alexander the Great to Henry VIII, this book will make learning fun and engaging. Is your grandchild more interested in hands-on activities? Learn how to play games and pick up hobbies that will have them all tuckered out by the time their mom comes to pick them up at night. Maybe you’ll plant a garden or play rugby, learn how to cross-stitch or play chess, write a rap or a poem, make a curiosity box, build a campfire, create a special playlist on your iPod and many other fun things which will truly enhance your relationship with your grandchild and leave both of you the richer for it. TONY LACEY has worked as an editor at Penguin for thirty years. He has two grown-up children, as well as two granddaughters and a grandson. ELEO GORDON also works in publishing. Her parents lived abroad and as a child she spent most of her holidays with her grandparents. Her grandfather was American and her grandmother Cuban and they met in New York and later settled in England. Back Cover: All grandparents are eager to spend meaningful time with their grandchildren but so often they are held back by the generation gap and aren't sure what they can do together that will be fun for everyone. Now, grandparents can stop being anxious about planning special time with their grandchildren and get involved the way they've always wanted. Whether they're looking for an activity or some impressive trivia it's all right here in this book. Some of the great ideas include: Learning and performing card tricks Starting a stamp collection Making a scrapbook Camping out in the backyard Playing chess Making Origami Having a Treasure Hunt and Making pancakes or baking meringues The Really Useful Grandparents’ Book includes simple directions and illustrations for all these activities plus a lot more. And on top of all the games and projects, it includes fun and educational conversation-starters ranging from every possible natural disaster to the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece. This is the perfect book for any grandparent who knows just how special it is to bond with his or her grandchild and is looking for ways to enhance and improve that relationship for years to come.
Author : Michael Morpurgo
Publisher : Pan Macmillan
Page : 97 pages
File Size : 34,66 MB
Release : 2023-06-01
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 1035026309
Discover the beauty and wonder of trees in this stunningly illustrated collection of poetry and stories celebrating trees and what they mean to the world around us . . . Inspired by the woods around his home, the mighty forests that support our life on Earth, and the Ted Hughes poem which gives this book its title, My Heart Was a Tree is a celebration, and Sir Michael Morpurgo's love letter to trees. There are stories from an ancient olive remembering Odysseus and Penelope, and from a eucalyptus that gave shelter to a koala; from a piece of driftwood that was made into a chair, and from a tiny sapling carried by a refugee as a reminder of home – these are poems and stories that will amuse, move and energise families and readers of all ages to appreciate the beauty and wonder of trees. Yuval Zommer's beautiful, detailed illustrations bring the natural world to life, and make My Heart Was a Tree a book to pore over for hours and hours, discovering something new each time.
Author : Jo Dunbar
Publisher : Watkins Media Limited
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 12,22 MB
Release : 2022-09-05
Category : Health & Fitness
ISBN : 1786787032
A beautifully illustrated guide to providing safe herbal remedies for common health conditions, while restoring our comforting connection to the year's natural rhythm. During the pandemic, surgeries closed their doors to their patients, and told them to self-isolate and take paracetamol. People became frightened and felt abandoned to cope with a virus against which there seemed no answer from mainstream medicine. Since then, there has been a groundswell of interest in plant medicine, and this book will help readers feel empowered and able to help themselves heal and thrive using tinctures, teas and other recipes, but without having to train as a medical herbalist. Amongst the alluring recipes are Menopause Tea, Horse Chestnut Gel and Brain Spice Condiments, and chapters include Nourishing Your Adrenals, Herbs for the Heart and Muscles and Joints. There's a huge amount of wisdom here garnered from Jo's 22 years of practising herbalism. There is nothing as magical as picking a weed from under a hedge, brewing it in the cauldron of your teapot, and using that potion to restore health. It’s everyday alchemy, and it transforms us from the base metal of material gratification into the gold of recognizing the exquisite power of nature. Secrets from a Herbalist’s Garden meets the pull to recover from illness or to alleviate a long-standing condition, as well as the yearning for a new way of life, where growing and harvesting herbs with the seasons is adopted as a new holistic lifestyle. You might consult the text with a specific ailment or a plant to harvest, but it would also guide you to a more spiritual and seasonal lifestyle.
Author : Bob Gilbert
Publisher : Saraband
Page : 238 pages
File Size : 32,82 MB
Release : 2022-07-21
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1915089689
"A joyous hymn to the urban wild." Patrick Barkham Even in the brick and concrete heart of our cities, nature finds a way. Birds and mammals, insects, plants and trees – they all manage to thrive in the urban jungle, and Bob Gilbert is their champion and their chronicler. He explores the hidden wildlife of the inner city and its edgelands, finding unexpected beauty in the cracks and crannies, and uncovering the deep and essential relationship that exists between people and nature when they are bound together in such close proximity. Beginning from Poplar, the East End area in which he lives, Bob explores, in particular, our relationship with the trees that have helped shape London; from the original wildwood through to the street trees of today. He draws from history and natural history, poetry and painting, myth and magic, and a great deal of walking, observing and listening. Beautifully written, passionate and defiant, Ghost Trees tells the secrets and stories of the urban wildscape, of glorious nature resilient and resurgent on our very doorsteps. ‘Full of deep truths and improbable marvels, this beautifully observed book is a joyous hymn to the urban wild and a clarion call for better – greener, wilder – cities.' Patrick Barkham, natural history writer Praise for Bob Gilbert's The Green London Way: ‘More than ever now, as edgeland becomes a value to be fought over, we need the sanity and the calm informative voice of walkers like Bob Gilbert. This is more than an elegy, it's an inspiration: open your eyes, see what is there and not what you are told is there.' Iain Sinclair
Author : William (Bill) E. Smith
Publisher : Charivari Press
Page : 482 pages
File Size : 31,1 MB
Release : 2011
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1895166063
Untitled Document Rant & Dawdle is a fictional memoir comprising thirty-eight interwoven stories from the perspective of a grumpy old man living on a small island off the west coast of Canada and an expectant young boy born into the poverty of WW2 English working class. The old man dreaming in retrospect, the young boy living a developing history, both to eventually rendezvous in the eighties. Filled with the humour and history of a post war generation nurtured on comic books, the Goon Show and jazz. William (Bill) E. Smith is a British Columbia-based musician, writer, editor, graphic designer, photographer, and record and film producer. With John Norris, Smith co-produced the Canadian jazz periodical Coda Magazine, Sackville Recordings and its subsidiary label Onari Records from 1976 until 2001. Smith was a founder of a succession of Toronto-based groups integral to the Canadian improvised music community in the 1970s, including Canadian Creative Music Collective, and New Art Music Ensemble. The latter became the Bill Smith Ensemble in 1980; they recorded five albums, including collaborations with Joe McPhee and Wadada Leo Smith. Smith has also recorded with, among others, Birdyak, Wolfgang Fuchs and The Six Winds. Smith initiated a series of projects with the title Imagine the Sound in the '80s, including a book of his writings and photography and the acclaimed documentary film directed by Ron Mann. Now residing on Hornby Island, Smith currently works with Arthur Bull and Tony Wilson, Comments on the self-published limited edition from fellow artists: "You covered an enormous territory and gave new life to an era of history and ideals that we all need to remember. There were so many things that rang a bell, I wished I'd taken notes. And so many times I laughed " --Renee Rodin: Writer, Visual Artist, and Cultural Worker (Vancouver, Canada). "It's bleedin' brilliant. It's not a book, it's an achievement. Bravo." --Art Lange: Writer, Producer, Former editor Downbeat Magazine (Chicago, USA). "Fantastic I started reading and found it was almost impossible to stop What is so great is that I can relate to a lot of things you write about. Thank you very much. And what a brilliant edition " --Leo Feigen, Leo Records (Newton Abbott, UK). "I laughed out loud many times. And the jazz stuff. I think it's very important that you have written it all down. Unique and insightful." --Jim Munro: Musician, Bricoleur (Richmond, Canada). "A wild bit of synchronicity today ...overburdened with work-related stress i closed my office door and on impulse dialed up You Tube to watch the Chuvalo-Ali fight, which i have never seen (it's there). Later that same day I come home to my little apartment, pour myself deep glass of scotch, open your book randomly for a read, only to find, not only the wonderful evocation of the mystique of the Colonial Tavern, but your beautiful account of that very same fight. And so it goes..." --Arthur Bull: Musician, Poet, Chinese Translator (Digby Neck, Canada).
