Tripping the World Fantastic


Book Description

A fascinating journey through the world’s musical cultures. Every culture on Earth has music. Every culture that’s ever existed has had it, but we don’t exactly know why. Music is not like food, shelter, or having opposable thumbs. We don’t need it to live, and yet we can’t seem to live without it. Glenn Dixon travels the globe exploring how and why people make music. From a tour of Bob Marley’s house to sitar lessons in India, he experiences music around the world and infuses the stories with the latest in brain research, genetics, and evolutionary psychology. Why does music give us chills down the backs of our necks? What exactly are the whales singing about and why does some music stick in our minds like chewing gum? Through his adventures, Dixon uncovers the real reasons why music has such a powerful hold on us – and the answers just might surprise you.




Trip the Light Fantastic


Book Description

Abigail Gray is a dance instructor whose life tragically ends at the age of thirty-four. She is welcomed to the other side--in a room of pure white--by her guardian angel, a brown book with gold accents, a movie screen, and a remote control. With no recollection of her death, the reel commences as Abbey and her guardian angel, Michael, focus on her last year on Earth. In this year, we follow a journey of newfound love with a man named Jason, as well as a magical friendship with the spiritual intuitive who owns the town's apothecary shop. Acting as a mentor, this prestidigitator helps Abbey decipher the dreams that have been haunting her sleep since the day she bought the 'must have' picture of a dancing couple, an item she found at the local antique shop. He also teaches her the importance of living her life's truth. As the reel of Abbey's life plays out, she and Michael embark on this visual journey together, while Michael carves a wooden sculpture and offers her heavenly wisdom about life's fragility, opportunity, and purpose. "Inspirational ... a perfect blend of spiritual and earthly wisdom woven through a poignant love story." Christine Duminiak, certified grief recovery specialist, author of Heaven Talks to Children "As we follow Abbey's journey, we cannot help but pause for thought about our own personal beliefs and question the purpose of our own lives. The words of the author display a deep understanding of spiritual philosophy." Alison Baughman, numerologist, author of Get His Number! "In a story playfully sprinkled with fascinating trivia and spiritual wonder, Tracy Glassey explores the power of all the connections and influences we don't even realize are there, and in the process conveys a great deal of wisdom and practical life lessons." Ralph Marston, Greatday.com




Fantastic Realities


Book Description

The fantastic reality that is modern physics is open for your exploration, guided by one of its primary architects and interpreters, Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek. Some jokes, some poems, and extracts from wife Betsy Devine's sparkling chronicle of what it's like to live through a Nobel Prize provide easy entertainment. There's also some history, some philosophy, some exposition of frontier science, and some frontier science, for your lasting edification. 49 pieces, including many from Wilczek's award-winning Reference Frame columns in Physics Today, and some never before published, are gathered by style and subject into a dozen chapters, each with a revealing, witty introduction. Profound ideas, presented with style: What could be better? Enjoy.




The Light Fantastic


Book Description

“Humorously entertaining. . . subtly thought-provoking. . . . Pratchett’s Discworld books are filled with humor and with magic, but they're rooted in—of all things—real life and cold, hard reason.”—Chicago Tribune Bumbling wizard Rincewind and hapless tourist Twoflower have survived a host of misadventures . . . only to face annihilation as a red star hurtles towards the Discworld in this gloriously funny second installment in Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (also the second book in the Wizards collection) It’s just one of those days when nothing seems to go right—and a most inopportune time for the first tourist ever to set foot in Discworld—accompanied by the carnivorous Luggage—to extend his already eventful vacation, even if it’s not quite by choice. A monstrous red star is on a direct collision course with the Discworld and the future appears uncertain at best. Discworld needs a hero to save it from total destruction. Unfortunately, it’s got the bumbling Rincewind, still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world. The alternative couldn’t be much worse. . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but The Light Fantastic is the second book in the Wizards collection. The other books in the collection include: The Color of Magic Sourcery Eric Interesting Times The Last Continent Unseen Academicals




Tripping the Flight Fantastic


Book Description

Nabbing flights for less than a fiver, Andrew Fraser took off on a month long jaunt around ten European cities for £144. In this entertaining account of his trip, he not only describes what he saw, but also how he did it, coaching aspiring travellers in how to create their own dream travel itineraries on flights which cost less than an airport latte. Join him on a bargain journey to some of Europe's weirdest, least visited backwaters, while also learning how to plan a ten-city adventure of your own. Andrew Fraser travelled 6,928 miles at an average cost of 2p per mile. Now you can, too.This unique title - the only one available that explains how to travel so far for so little - takes in some of Europe's least discovered cities, including Skopje, Girona, Thessaloniki, Gdansk, Warsaw and Wroclaw, as well as giving an entertaining overview of some more familiar places, such as Barcelona, Rome and Brussels. It tells you how to book secret five star hotels for three star prices with no mystery about where you are going to stay, how to travel the world cheaply from your local airport, and how to save a fortune and create an adventure by abandoning the notion of the linear return flight. Uncovering the little known travel gems which you can fly to for under a tenner, it is also an often surreal, idiosyncratic and funny account of one man's adventures on the move, from attending an octopus autopsy in Barcelona to unearthing uncomfortable secrets in Europe's new Capital of Culture and discovering hip Warsovian apartments which straddle the worlds of Molotov and Madonna. What's more, it's a journey in search of culture, gastronomy and history and - on occasions - the seamier side of life in some of Europe's most thrilling but least known cities.Andrew Fraser is former Travel Editor and Deputy Editor of Attitude magazine, and former Chief Writer of OK! Magazine. He has had a love of the obscure, a love of bargains, and a love of travel since he was a strange eight year-old-boy locked in his bedroom obsessing over maps of Narnia-esque towns, cities and regions on the red side of the European map, which he was told he would never be able to visit. When the Berlin wall fell in 1989, he rushed to Prague, Bratislava and Budapest where he enjoyed the greatest adventure of his life so far, costing little more than pennies. Now the internet and low cost airlines, have brought back those halcyon days of cheap travel bliss and Andrew Fraser's mission in life is to transport you to places beyond your wildest dreams for less than the cost of your airport latte. Come join him.




Trip the Light Fantastic


Book Description

Abigail Gray is a dance instructor whose life tragically ends at the age of thirty-four. She is welcomed to the other sidein a room of pure whiteby her guardian angel, a brown book with gold accents, a movie screen, and a remote control. With no recollection of her death, the reel commences as Abbey and her guardian angel, Michael, focus on her last year on Earth. In this year, we follow a journey of newfound love with a man named Jason, as well as a magical friendship with the spiritual intuitive who owns the towns apothecary shop. Acting as a mentor, this prestidigitator helps Abbey decipher the dreams that have been haunting her sleep since the day she bought the must have picture of a dancing couple, an item she found at the local antique shop. He also teaches her the importance of living her lifes truth. As the reel of Abbeys life plays out, she and Michael embark on this visual journey together, while Michael carves a wooden sculpture and offers her heavenly wisdom about lifes fragility, opportunity, and purpose. Inspirational ... a perfect blend of spiritual and earthly wisdom woven through a poignant love story. ~Christine Duminiak, certified grief recovery specialist, author of Heaven Talks to Children As we follow Abbeys journey, we cannot help but pause for thought about our own personal beliefs and question the purpose of our own lives. The words of the author display a deep understanding of spiritual philosophy. ~Alison Baughman, numerologist, author of Get His Number! In a story playfully sprinkled with fascinating trivia and spiritual wonder, Tracy Glassey explores the power of all the connections and influences we dont even realize are there, and in the process conveys a great deal of wisdom and practical life lessons. ~Ralph Marston, Greatday.com




Tripping the Dark Fantastic


Book Description

This is a formal ball, and you'll be dancing with us all: your companion is a Soho New York zombie artist. The Prom King is the Vampire Dracula, dressed formally and very grim; music will be courtesy of an avante garde rock band as old as the stones upon the hills.




Fantastic Realities: 49 Mind Journeys And A Trip To Stockholm


Book Description

With a contribution from Betsy DevineThe fantastic reality that is modern physics is open for your exploration, guided by one of its primary architects and interpreters, Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek.Some jokes, some poems, and extracts from wife Betsy Devine's sparkling chronicle of what it's like to live through a Nobel Prize provide easy entertainment. There's also some history, some philosophy, some exposition of frontier science, and some frontier science, for your lasting edification.49 pieces, including many from Wilczek's award-winning Reference Frame columns in Physics Today, and some never before published, are gathered by style and subject into a dozen chapters, each with a revealing, witty introduction.Profound ideas, presented with style: What could be better? Enjoy.




I Stole You


Book Description

You might get stolen too.In these wide-ranging stories told from the perspectives of a Thai ghost, an Irish fairy trapped in a dog's body, a crow fae, an Icelandic birch tree elf, a dream thief, and other shapeshifting creatures, Kristen Ringman examines whether these fae would love a human or kill them after a close look into their hearts."Ringman achieves a haunting, sexy, and visually stirring collection that explores the tension of identity, longing, and the intricacies of connection and obsession in this series of beautiful, complicated settings populated by a both magical and deeply frail, human cast. She effortlessly severs the line between mythology, the supernatural and practicality, and the reader recognizes that desperation to be known, to be understood, to be considered unique to an otherworldly presence, and to ourselves." --Hilaree Robinson, co-author of The Distance"The true wondrousness of Fae is as sly as it is innocent; it is magical and grounded, brutal and graceful, edgy and tender. Through a blend of fantasy, horror, and magical realism, Ringman digs around in the human condition, unearthing truths of the psyche, the body, and the spirit." --Kate Evans, author of Call It Wonder: an odyssey of love, sex, spirit, and travel"Dark and haunting, yet beautiful and hypnotic. Ringman brings poetry and beauty even to the monstrous." --Christopher Jon Heuer, author of Bug: Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution




INTERNATIONAL LEGEND TRIPPING


Book Description

Look outside the box and go on the ultimate adventure! Enter the exciting world of myth and monsters, the paranormal, UFOs and extraterrestrials, lost treasures and mysterious places. Robert Robinson presents this epic guide to the stranger sites around the world and gives you some valuable pointers on legend tripping around the planet. There are large hairy creatures roaming all parts of the world like the Yeti, the yeren, the Alma, and the wildman to name few. England might be the most haunted country in the world but there are haunted places in every part of the world that include castles, old prisons and hotels. Visit places that have a reputation for not only being haunted, but cursed as well. Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) are not just seen in the US, but are a worldwide phenomenon, with people from all over looking toward the skies. There are still hundreds of lost treasures in the world, just waiting to be discovered, and you might be the one to find them. The world is full of mysteries of the unexplained and this book will show you not only where to go, but what to take with you. A great compendium of travel advice and weird sites!