Transient Landscapes


Book Description

Landscape—the unique combination of landforms, plants, animals, and weather that compose any natural place—is inherently transient. Each essay in Transient Landscapes introduces this idea of a constantly metamorphosing global landscape, revealing how to see the ubiquity of landscape transience, both that which results through Earth’s natural environmental and climatological processes and that which comes from human intervention. The essays are grouped by type of environmental change: long-term, large-scale transformation driven by geologic forces such as tectonic uplift and volcanism; natural variability at shorter time scales, such as seasonal flooding; and modifications resulting from human activities, such as timber harvest, land drainage, and pollution. Each essay is set in a unique geographic location—including such diverse places as New Zealand, Northern California, Costa Rica, and the Scottish Highlands—and is largely drawn from Wohl’s personal experience researching in the field. A combination of travel writing, nature writing, and science writing, Transient Landscapes is a beautiful and thoughtful journey through the natural world.




Shadow Kings


Book Description

In the late Eighteenth Century, a goldsmith and early European banker by the name of Meyer Anselm Rothschild convened a secret meeting in Frankfurt Germany, of 13 prominent Jewish banking families, for the purpose of formulating a plan to oppose the power of the Catholic Church and gain control of the western world through financial and political manipulation. Throughout the centuries, this close affiliation of international bankers and heads of state has been referred to by many different names; the Family, the Circle, the Olympians, the Money Power, the Elites, and most prominently, the Illuminati. Their identities have remained shrouded in secrecy, but their objectives and their tactics have remained consistently true to the original plans of the thirteen bloodline families. Through the ownership and the manipulation of the central banks of Europe, and that of the United States; democracy itself. The current trends toward corporate globalization are a direct result of their plans for a one world government; the New World Order. At the start of the millennium, one thing is clear; their plans are working. John Doe is Everyman; born into an aristocratic family of the international banking elite, but raised in anonymity of a normal American family. With his unknown birth father's guidance, he discovers and explores the little known world of his ancestors and the world-dominating force they have become. He conducts a thorough study of American history to uncover the influence of the illuminati in the past, and relates that influence to the political and economic conditions affecting the present course of world events and threatening the future of the human race. Ultimately, he uses what her learns about the Illuminati to reveal their plan to the unsuspecting public, to confront the Illuminati in their own arena, and to provide the American public and the world with an antidote to the new World Order. In an anonymous run for the presidency of the United States, John Doe exposes the plans of the Illuminati, and lays down his guidelines for a moral, responsible, and sustainable world; the philosophy of Futurism. Through his own journey of enlightenment, John Doe himself discovers what it means to be a Shadow King.




The Colorful Dry Garden


Book Description

A design-focused, easy-to-use guide to colorful, eye-catching foliage and flowers for your whole yard, from the ground plane to the canopy, for homeowners and landscapers faced with replacing thirsty gardens in California and other dry regions in the Western US. If readers must reluctantly remove water-guzzling favorites from the garden, they need equally beautiful substitutes! This book is a visual treat that supports the transition to dry gardening by proving that gardeners can have all the gorgeous color and flowers they had in the past using just a fraction of the water. Maureen Gilmer provides chapters on design categories of plants—flowering shrubs, the ground plain, eye-catching accents, ephemeral flowers, perennials for color, animated plants and fine textures, canopy, and edibles—with profiles for each plant plus background info and top picks lists. The Colorful Dry Garden is unique because it features only bold plants that are also heavy bloomers despite heat and limited water. It also features more than just Western native plants by including varieties from the world's driest climates.




Bridges Over Shadows: Poetry of Home, Heart, and Healing


Book Description

Embark on a profound journey through the landscapes of the human heart with William Gomes's captivating anthology, "Bridges Over Shadows: Poetry of Home, Heart, and Healing." This meticulously crafted collection traverses the intricate realms of home, confronts the deep scars of racism and hate, navigates the tumultuous waters of grief, and celebrates the boundless expressions of love. Gomes's verses serve as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the transformative power of empathy, and the enduring connections that bind us all. Divided into thematic sections—Home, Racism, Hate, Love, and Grief—"Bridges Over Shadows" explores the unseen foundations that define our sense of belonging, the voices that echo within the walls of home, and the traditions that weave through generations, creating a tapestry rich with personal and cultural narratives. It challenges the constructs of race, examines the impact of hate, and amplifies the voices of those marginalized by prejudice, urging a collective journey towards understanding, empathy, and unity. In the realms of love and grief, Gomes delves deep into the heart, capturing the silent gestures of affection, the infinite echoes of love that transcend time and space, and the colors of mourning that paint our experiences of loss. Through vivid, multisensory imagery and sophisticated literary devices, these poems invite readers to reflect on the complexities of love and the transformative journey through grief, highlighting the unseen threads that connect us to those we've lost. Whether you find solace in the written word or the spoken voice, "Bridges Over Shadows" offers a bridge over the shadows of existence, illuminating the paths of healing, understanding, and resilience. This anthology is more than a collection of poems; it is an invitation to explore the depths of our experiences, to find light in the darkness, and to celebrate the indomitable strength of love and the human spirit. Join William Gomes on this evocative journey, and discover the bridges that carry us over shadows, guiding us back to the light of hope and the warmth of home. "Bridges Over Shadows: Poetry of Home, Heart, and Healing" is a beacon for anyone seeking solace in shared understanding, a celebration of the resilience that defines us, and a reflection of our boundless capacity to heal, to love, and to find our way home.




Urban Shadows


Book Description

**Discover a Hidden World Urban Shadows** Embark on a journey where cityscapes transform into wild frontiers and skyscrapers loom like ancient mountains. *Urban Shadows* is your guide to the thrilling realm of urban stealth camping—a unique blend of adventure, survival, and community found right in the heart of the world's busiest cities. Dive into the origins of urban camping, exploring why this unconventional lifestyle captivates explorers seeking to harmonize adventure with the practicalities of city living. Navigate the intricate maze of legalities, learning how to camp responsibly while respecting local laws and customs. Discover essential techniques for packing light yet effectively, selecting the perfect gear, and harnessing the power of technology to enhance your urban experience. In chapters dedicated to stealth, learn how to craft makeshift shelters that blend seamlessly into their surroundings, ensuring comfort across changing weather and seasons. Master the art of invisibility with tips on how to dress, act, and move with unparalleled discretion while remaining safe and secure. Uncover the lush opportunities for urban foraging, identifying safe food sources right within city limits, and master cooking methods that are as discreet as they are ingenious. Maintain hygiene without leaving a trace and manage waste responsibly, embodying a respect for both urban and natural environments. Throughout, personal stories and expert interviews provide invaluable insights, and global perspectives broaden your understanding of urban camping practices worldwide. Whether you're planning your own urban adventure or simply curious about this burgeoning lifestyle, *Urban Shadows* equips you with the knowledge and inspiration to navigate and thrive in an urban wilderness of your own making. Prepare to see cities in a whole new light—a hidden world of freedom, opportunity, and discovery awaits. Embrace change, challenge, and the thrill of the unknown. Discover the urban wilderness with *Urban Shadows*.




The Pale White of Neck Ecstasy


Book Description

The Pale White Neck of Ecstasy This book is a journey through a landscape with various women, mixing the surreal world with fascinating and infuriating details of these creatures and the irrationality of love and lust. The Monkey’s Funeral The world is filled with the bizarre and the magical, the mundane and the ordinary. This book wanders poetically through a mixture of common and irrationally beautiful thoughts, experiences and observations. In the first story, I imagine men having a funeral for a monkey... A Marine Band Marches through Her Hollywood Neck Written in response to my feelings for the woman who lived next door, a fanciful exploration of a fictional life together, she moved before I could show the manuscript to her.




Consumed


Book Description

“An eye-opening dazzler” (Stephen King) about a pair of globetrotting, gore-obsessed journalists whose entanglement in a French philosopher’s death becomes a surreal journey into global conspiracy from legendary filmmaker David Cronenberg. Stylish and camera-obsessed, Naomi and Nathan thrive on the yellow journalism of the social-media age. Naomi finds herself drawn to the headlines surrounding a famous couple, Célestine and Aristide, Marxist philosophers and sexual libertines. Célestine has been found dead, and Aristide has disappeared. Police suspect him of killing her and consuming parts of her body. Yet Naomi sets off to find him, and as she delves deeper into the couple’s lives, she discovers the news story may only skim the surface of the disturbing acts they performed together. Journalist Nathan, meanwhile, is in Budapest photographing the controversial work of an unlicensed surgeon named Zoltán Molnár, once sought by Interpol for organ trafficking. After sleeping with one of Molnár’s patients, Nathan contracts a rare STD called Roiphe’s and travels to Toronto, determined to meet the man who discovered the syndrome. Dr. Barry Roiphe, Nathan learns, now studies his own adult daughter, whose bizarre behavior masks a devastating secret. These parallel narratives become entwined in a gripping, dreamlike plot that involves geopolitics, 3-D printing, North Korea, the Cannes Film Festival, cancer, and, in an incredible number of varieties, sex. Consumed is an exuberant, provocative debut novel from one of the world’s leading film directors, a writer of “fierce sculptural intensity” (Jonathan Lethem, The New York Times Book Review) who makes it “impossible to look away” (Publishers Weekly).




The Seeming and the Seen


Book Description

Taking their cue from the polymorphous relationship between word and image, the essays of this book explore how different media translate the world of phenomena into aesthetic, intellectual or sensual experience. They embrace the media of poetry, fiction, drama, engraving, painting, photography, film and advertising posters ranging from the early modern to the postmodern periods. At the heart of the volume lie essays on works that characteristically perform intriguing interactions between the verbal and visual modes. They discuss the manifold ways in which artists as different as William Blake or Gertrude Stein, Diane Arbus or Stanley Kubrick heighten the tension between the linguistic and the seen. Taken both individually and collectively, this volume's contributions illuminate the problematics of how readers and spectators/lookers transform verbal and visual representation into worlds of seeming.




The Hatfield Lunar Atlas


Book Description

"The Hatfield Lunar Atlas" has become an amateur lunar observer's bible since it was first published in 1968. A major update of the atlas was made in 1998, using the same wonderful photographs that Commander Henry Hatfield made with his purpose-built 12-inch (300 mm) telescope, but bringing the lunar nomenclature up to date and changing the units from Imperial to S.I. metric This edition is important since the fact is that modern telescope optics, digital imaging equipment and computer enhancement can easily surpass what was achieved with Henry Hatfield's 12-inch telescope and a film camera. This limits the usefulness of the original atlas to visual observing or imaging rather small amateur telescopes. The new, digitally re-mastered edition vastly improves the clarity and definition of the original photographs - significantly beyond the resolution limits of the photographic grains present in earlier atlas versions - while preserving the layout and style of the original publications. This has been achieved by merging computer-visualized Earth-based views of the lunar surface, derived from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, with scanned copies of Commander Hatfield's photographic plates, using the author's own software. The results is a "The Hatfield Lunar Atlas" for 21st century amateur telescopes up to and beyond 12-inch aperture.




New World Poetics


Book Description

A simultaneously ecocritical and comparative study, this book talks about the poetry of Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda and Derek Walcott, three of America's most ambitious and epic-minded poets.