Customer Reviews:
Intuitive Light:An Emotional Approach to Capturing the Illusion of Value,Form,Color,and Space.......2006-12-19
An inside look at a true masters approach. Easy to follow, great pictures, great information for all levels.
Aptly named: intuitive.......2006-07-11
As most pastel artists know Handell is a master of the medium.
This publication is wonderful
wonderful.......2005-12-05
This book is a winner. Alfres Handell is a master painter. Intuitive Light is the most elusive and the Most Important aspect of painting. Using his own work to illustrate his instruction gives the book strengh, clarity and depth.
I recommend this book for any pastelist who can't attend one of Mr Handell's workshops, and for anyone who has. This book sums, illustrates, and reinforces what Mr Handell teaches.
I took a workshop from Alfred two years ago. He helped me to "see" and to develop and strenghen my own style and my work. I didn't grasp everything he taught in the workshop so this book is a useful extention of the workshop.
The workshop participants were rapt as he explained his techniques while he demonstrated. He seems to see what he paints with magical eyes. And how he translates what he sees with deft strokes also magic. By reading his commentary and studying his illustrations in the book, one can make progress in learning to see and to translate that vision onto pastel board.
Alfred is a sweet gruff. His lovely wife, Louise, also an accomplished artist, accompanies him on workshops. The love and respect they have for each other is reflected in the calm and respectful atmosphere of their workshops. In turn, the workshop participants are respectful of each other; encouraging rather than competitive. I can "hear" Aflred talking in his Brooklyn accent as I'm reading the book. Alfred, through this and his other books, will help you improve your work.
We can do it!.......2005-08-06
A great book by a great pastelist. This book should be encouragement to all newcomers to pastel use.
The Best.......2002-03-11
I have always wanted to attend a seminar given by Mr.Handell, however due to allergys, it has not been possible. I am so pleased that his book is available and it is all that I had hoped for and a treasure to review again and again.
Book Description
The second book in this acclaimed series from noted photographer and digital imaging expert Eddie Tapp delves into color management, a topic that has needlessly become a mystery to experienced digital photographers, whether they're avid amateurs, serious students, or working professionals. With his easygoing yet authoritative style, Eddie sheds light on this topic and supplies an understanding of color management that readers apply to their own work.
Clear and concise, this highly visual book explains how color management is a part of the overall photographic workflow. Eddie demonstrates the three stages of color managed workflow, from choosing a color space, to calibrating your devices, to applying appropriate profiles, and shows you exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. Color management scientist Rick Lucas contributes a chapter on the hard-core technical aspects. Other books on color management are much too long, involved and intimidating. This absorbing book sets the right tone and supplies you with key answers quickly.
Our
Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography book series brings you the focused knowledge you need on specific areas of digital photography. Acknowledged as one of the premier trainers of digital imaging in the world, Eddie brings his teaching experience to bear on issues that other books gloss over or bury under general coverage. Now, you don't have to buy a doorstop-sized book to get the key information you need on color management, efficient workflow, or a variety of other specific digital imaging topics.
Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography also covers workflow setup; advanced and professional production techniques; controlling digital color and tone; creative enhancement techniques; and more. This series is a perfect complement to O'Reilly's general list on Photoshop and digital photography, and offers you focused books that cover technical issues at prices that are affordable and solutions that are quickly accessible. We're thrilled that Eddie Tapp has finally agreed to publish books -- and with O'Reilly.
Customer Reviews:
Good advice and information about a confusing subject.......2007-05-13
Eddie Tapp is a great photographer who travels and gives practical inforamation in workshops. I have attended his workshops and so I wasn't reluctent to try his book. I am glad I did. It gave me the information I needed to correct my color management workflow.
Really valuable information on an arcane subject.......2007-05-06
One of the major hurdles of the digital imaging revolution has been learning a whole new set of concepts and their associated language. It's a very different science from the analog, silver-based photography of the last hundred years or so and it takes a certain amount of serious concentration and persistence to master. One of the core threads running through all of it is the concept of color management - the control of color data from start to finish so what you end up with is as close as possible to what your eyes saw in the first place.
This is no small order as it includes multiple input, editing, and output devices along with completely different methods of gathering and displaying color information. In addition, there's as much art as science in the process, and agreement on standards has been slow to evolve. Fortunately, we've reached a point in the technology stream where a serious photographer or graphic artist can now do a very credible job of keeping colors on track with a modicum of specialized tools and the purposeful discipline to use them.
For the average digital photographer, color management theory can be mind-numbingly arcane, even though it is crucial to setting up an efficient and effective overall workflow. If you want to color manage properly, you have to assimilate a certain amount of theory or the whole process will fail to make any sense. This is where Eddie Tapp does an excellent job of simplifying the information as much as possible, presenting it in a logical order, and is able to pack a very thorough discussion of the topic in less than 150 pages - a real feat.
The book is laid out in an interesting fashion with text on the outside third of each page and the center section filled up with colorful pictures and screen shots. Some of it's eye candy, but that's what sells books these days I'm sure. Many of the screen shots and other illustrations are valuable though as they answer important questions regarding particular selections in critical software dialog boxes, and the explanation of terms and methods is very lucid and direct. The author does an excellent job of going deep where it's important while avoiding unneeded complexity for its own sake. There's a certain amount of technical heavy lifting that one has to do to become competent in this arena, but Eddie's made it as easy as any document I've seen. In addition, the appendix contains a highly useful excerpt from the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines and extensive additional resource listings.
Clear, consise and realistic color management........2007-02-26
How do you make sure that the color you're seeing on your screen is what the rest of the world will see when you distribute your finished work? That is the question that Eddie Tapp attempts to answer in his latest book Practical Color Management.
Practical Color Management is divided into five chapters and one appendix. "The Search for Consistent Color," covers where the concept of color management came from and why it has evolved into what it is today.
"Understanding Key Color Management Concepts," explains the difference between calibration and profiling.
"Establishing a Color Management-Friendly Workflow," guides you through developing a efficient workflow.
"Three Stages of Color Management," describes breaking the basic color management into their three stages.
"Technically Speaking," brings in color expert Rick Lucas to explain in-depth color management concepts.
At first look, it almost seems that the approach will be too basic, but it builds quickly and will be of benefit to newcomer and professional alike.
A more visual approach than most, but including easy instructions even novices can readily understand........2007-02-04
Plenty of how-to books discuss color photography basics - but how many narrow the focus to assuring that color will retain uniform features when viewed across mediums and on different desktops? PRACTICAL COLOR MANAGEMENT is the key to assuring such continuity of quality, using simple language to provide solutions to common color challenges. Chapters tell how to calibrate devices, convert device output more effectively, prepare files for printing, and more. Plenty of color screen shots and examples emphasize the step-by-step technical explanations, which require no prior knowledge of either digital photography or color - or art - to prove accessible. General-interest library lending collections will find PRACTICAL COLOR MANAGEMENT a very popular pick, offering not only a more visual approach than most, but including easy instructions even novices can readily understand.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Provides Good Understanding and Useful Tips.......2007-01-18
I was very excited to see this title because color management has always been a difficulty for me with my various job tasks and hobbies. Between web & print design along with heavy digital photography work, getting colors workable across many devices is a constant effort.
At first I was a bit worried that this was going to be just a theory book despite the title. The first several chapters were spent on history and understanding the need and how color management is needed and works. The later chapters delved into some of that nitty gritty I was looking for.
I would not call this a comprehensive guide, yet it was well worth the read for the information it provided. I found it more targeted to those with ink jets and general business printing. Don't be dissuaded if you are often printing on 4 color presses, the workflow tips and understanding here is very applicable.
I enjoyed Eddie's straightforward and easy to understand writing style. The book has a page layout style that is atypical but enjoyable - with heavy emphasis on the visuals.
Amazon.com
In Full Moon, one of the best science photography books ever published, Michael Light presents a voyage in images to the Moon and back. Light took NASA's master negatives of photos taken by Apollo astronauts and scanned them electronically. The resulting pictures are so vivid they seem more clear than real life. Light orders the photos sequentially, selecting the most arresting images from each mission, to create a truly cinematic experience. In the first section, depicting blastoff, you can almost feel the violent shaking of the rocket as it strains to escape Earth's gravity. Then you see the quiet stillness of weightlessness, the astronauts' view down at a perfectly silent Earth, boundless oceans contrasting with bright white clouds. A spacewalk adds vertigo--the astronaut looks fragile and very alone as he floats outside his capsule far above his home planet. Then comes the waiting, as the long voyage toward the Moon continues.
As you watch the cratered surface get closer and closer, you have no sense of scale until you see the miniscule silver and gold lander dropping gently to land on the Moon. Leaving the cluttered interior of the capsule in bulky, awkward suits, the astronauts bring delicate tracings of color--gold on the lander; red, white, and blue on the spacesuits' flag patches--to this black-and-white world. Five huge gatefolds in this section give you indescribable views of the intricately scarred surface of the Moon.
You return to space for the reuniting of the lander and capsule, and a repetition of the tedious journey back home. Finally, you watch a chaotic splashdown in the riot of colors that is Earth.
A nice section in the back of the book explains each photo with a detailed caption, and an essay by author Andrew Chaikin (A Man on the Moon) adds more written context to this stunning visual experience. The book is printed on very high-quality paper, with matte black frames for the photos and a gorgeous, wordless cover. Every space fan should have a copy. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
The most thrilling of all journeys--the missions of the Apollo astronauts to the surface of the Moon and back--yielded 32,000 extraordinarily beautiful photographs, the record of a unique human achievement. Until recently, only a handful of these photographs had been released for publication; but now, for the first time, NASA has allowed a selection of the master negatives and transparencies to be scanned electronically, rendering the sharpest images of space that we have ever seen. Michael Light has woven 129 of these stunningly clear images into a single composite voyage, a narrative of breathtaking immediacy and authenticity that begins with the launch and is followed by a walk in space, an orbit of the Moon, a lunar landing and exploration, and a return to Earth with an orbit and splashdown.
Graced by five 45-inch-wide gatefolds that display the lunar landscape, from above the surface and at eye level, in unprecedented detail and clarity,
Full Moon conveys on each page the excitement, disorientation, and awe that the astronauts themselves felt as they were shot into space and then as they explored an alien landscape and looked back at their home planet from hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Published on the thirtieth anniversary of Apollo 11--the first landing on the Moon--this remarkable and mesmerizing volume is, like the voyages it commemorates and re-creates, an experience both intimate and monumental.
Customer Reviews:
amazing photography.......2007-04-01
This is a beautiful book. It is a series of photos from various Apollo missions, put together in a way to illustrate a voyage from Earth to the moon & back. The photos take up whole pages, or are panorama fold-outs. The photos are crystal clear. I have seen close-ups made from these photos before, but never the originals as are in Full Moon. That's when I realized the resolution of the cameras the Apollo astronauts were using was incredible.
My only disappointment was that my copy arrived with the dustjacket all scraped up and dented, and the edges of many of the pages were mangled, so I had to return it. The book still gets 5 stars because that is no fault of the publisher, or Michael Light. I'll buy it again when I can find a good copy at a "bricks & mortar" bookstore; it's worth the extra $$.
Excellent High Resolution Print found nowhere else.......2006-12-10
I can use "picture book" to describe Full Moon, as images contributed as the major part of this book. Don't think that this book is not worth reading, indeed, it is on the contrary, this is an extraordinary book, because of the photos.
There are a lot of astronomy books contain lots of photos, but when you read them, you would find the images are not so good at all, but not because of the photo itself, because of the low resolution. And if you are familiarize with those photos, you would immediately notice that the original photo is not so small in resolution. It is really a very bad idea for the publisher and editor to ignore the importance of image resolution.
However, when you first look into Full Moon, you will find you're getting into a different world as you are already delighted by the spectacular images of the Moon taken from Apollo Mission. Normally, owing to the technological limitation in 1960s and 1970s, all images are only mostly available as hard copy and not so high resolution. However, Project Full Moon can turn those hard copies into very high resolution images. I can even tell you that, NASA even don't have such high resolution images before.
Since these reasons, I would rank this book as my list of Top 10 Astronomy Book. If you really love astronomy, you must not miss this book, miss the extraordinary journey to the Moon
Phenomenal.......2006-04-27
If you are looking for a book with all the same press shots you've seen a thousand times then this book isn't for you. The panoramic composits are excellent and the choice of photos is very intelligent. See what Apollo was really about in this book. The quality in terms of photo reproduction and book design is impeccable.
Beautifully Done........2006-02-25
A rare glympse at other-world light and shadow phenomena presented in photographs from an exciting time in our space journey. The presentation is a beautiful reminder that we were once there and need to go back to "check on things."
A story told with pictures.......2005-09-08
If you are looking for a coffee table book with random photographs of the moon and space travel, this book is not for you. Rather, the pictures in this book tell a story - the book takes you on a trip to the moon.
Most notable, as one begins to page through the book, are the captions. There are none. Each page carries only its photograph, and does not limit the reader's focus or imagination through words. The photos are not arranged by topic, but rather in a loosely sequential order, giving one a feel of taking a trip to the moon. The effect is deep, and somewhat haunting...
A photo of the lunar lander descending gives a sense of scale to a moon that, as we see it from here, always seems very small. An astronaut's family picture, photographed on the ashen landscape, is silent but moving. Other shots and composites are equally impactful.
There are captions for each photo at the end of the book, as well as some additional notes and explanations, but in this book, the pictures tell the whole story. This photo book is one that deserves to be "read" from cover to cover. Start it when you have time to enjoy it - you won't be able to put it down.
Average customer rating:
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Race and Ethnicity: Across Time, Space and Discipline (Studies in Critical Social Sciences)
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
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Color Space and Its Divisions: Color Order from Antiquity to the Present
Rolf G. Kuehni
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Color: An Introduction to Practice and Principles
ASIN: 0471326704 |
Book Description
It has been postulated that humans can differentiate between millions of gradations in color. Not surprisingly, no completely adequate, detailed catalog of colors has yet been devised, however the quest to understand, record, and depict color is as old as the quest to understand the fundamentals of the physical world and the nature of human consciousness. Rolf Kuehni’s Color Space and Its Divisions: Color Order from Antiquity to the Present represents an ambitious and unprecedented history of man’s inquiry into color order, focusing on the practical applications of the most contemporary developments in the field.
Kuehni devotes much of his study to geometric, three-dimensional arrangements of color experiences, a type of system developed only in the mid-nineteenth century. Color spaces are of particular interest for color quality-control purposes in the manufacturing and graphics industries. The author analyzes three major color order systems in detail: Munsell, OSA-UCS, and NCS. He presents historical and current information on color space developments in color vision, psychology, psychophysics, and color technology. Chapter topics include:
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A historical account of color order systems
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Fundamentals of psychophysics and the relationship between stimuli and experience
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Results of perceptual scaling of colors according to attributes
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History of the development of mathematical color space and difference formulas
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Analysis of the agreements and discrepancies in psychophysical data describing color differences
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An experimental plan for the reliable, replicated perceptual data necessary to make progress in the field
Experts in academia and industry, neuroscientists, designers, art historians, and anyone interested in the nature of color will find Color Space and Its Divisions to be the authoritative reference in its field.
Download Description
It has been postulated that humans can differentiate between millions of gradations in color. Not surprisingly, no completely adequate, detailed catalog of colors has yet been devised, however the quest to understand, record, and depict color is as old as the quest to understand the fundamentals of the physical world and the nature of human consciousness. Rolf Kuehni’s Color Space and Its Divisions: Color Order from Antiquity to the Present represents an ambitious and unprecedented history of man’s inquiry into color order, focusing on the practical applications of the most contemporary developments in the field.
Kuehni devotes much of his study to geometric, three-dimensional arrangements of color experiences, a type of system developed only in the mid-nineteenth century. Color spaces are of particular interest for color quality-control purposes in the manufacturing and graphics industries. The author analyzes three major color order systems in detail: Munsell, OSA-UCS, and NCS. He presents historical and current information on color space developments in color vision, psychology, psychophysics, and color technology. Chapter topics include:
Experts in academia and industry, neuroscientists, designers, art historians, and anyone interested in the nature of color will find Color Space and Its Divisions to be the authoritative reference in its fi
Customer Reviews:
THE book on color spaces.......2006-12-29
I am preparing my color lectures for a computer graphics class this spring and stumbled across this book. Although its main subject is a history of color spaces (where it is the most comprehensive I have found) it also serves as an excellent way to learn about the current color spaces in use. I have always found all the active color spaces and their strengths and weaknesses confusing. Seeing how Kuehni discusses their historical context and motivations makes them much easier to understand. This is one of the best books on any subject I have read.
Average customer rating:
- 3rd in series...probably the weakest link
- Back in the Saddle
- All things considered, an excellent read
- Certainly Not a Starting Point
- Not too bad....
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Winning Colors
Elizabeth Moon
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Sporting Chance
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Rules Of Engagement
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Hunting Party
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Once A Hero
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Change of Command
ASIN: 0671876775 |
Customer Reviews:
3rd in series...probably the weakest link.......2007-09-30
Winning Colors is the weakest link in the series. It gets bogged down in politics. But don't let that turn you off. The cover art for this book is silly. If you read Against the Odds and Sporting Chance, hang in there. You will still get a dose of space battles and horses. Check this one out from the library.
Here's the book order if you are intersted: Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colors, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, and Against the Odds.
Back in the Saddle.......2006-01-14
It looks like Heris Serrano will finally be vindicated. After being unjustly cashiered from the fleet, she has served as the yacht captain for a rich lady. Even that has had its share of adventure but she has always pined for the fleet. Now she has a chance to return but that chance is a dangerous one.
Her mistress is visiting a planet intent upon buying some horseflesh. While there, Serrano learns of the locals' fears of imminent invasion. She manages to offer some good advice and help them drive off a probe but things fall apart when elements from her own fleet show up and appear to be turncoats. She might be able to save the system from destruction from the real invasion fleet only if she foments a mutiny and takes command of the fleet herself. Needless to say, the turncoats have other ideas.
This seems as if it will wind up the Serrano trilogy. That's a shame. It has been a good series thus far.
All things considered, an excellent read.......2005-01-21
Heris Serrano, formerly a captain in the Regular Space Service, has spent the last several years commanding a rich old lady's private transportation instead. Now, in the concluding volume of the trilogy begun by Hunting Party and continued with Sporting Chance, she's offered what may be a chance to go back to the life she loves best. The charming rural planet where Lady Cecelia wants to do some horse-trading lies undefended, and the so-called Benignity of the Compassionate Hand (an outlaw state) has it slated for scorching and annexation. All that stands between the enemy forces and Xavier's frightened population is Heris and her crew. Aboard what? An armed yacht. Aided by a few shuttles, a snail-like ore carrier, and one museum-vintage starship.
This wonderful adventure story gets needlessly complicated in places because of all the subplots we're following as the author moves toward tying up the trilogy's many loose ends. You do need to know the characters already in order to grasp what's going on; I wouldn't recommend trying to read this book first, and reading it as a standalone would be frustrating at best. But it does a fine job of pointing up its theme of maturity, as the younger characters achieve this quality that was lacking when we first met them; and as the older characters start to realize how their potentially endless lives (thanks to "rejuv") will alter their children's and grandchildren's futures. Or perhaps I should say nieces and nephews, not children and grandchildren; because aside from Heris herself, this book's most notable characters are its formidable maiden aunts.
All things considered, an excellent read.
Certainly Not a Starting Point.......2003-11-17
This was my first and last Elizabeth Moon novel. Something about the cover art appealed to me, but a pretty painting covers an awful book.
Winning Colors suffers from a rambling plot, an unlikely political setting and absolutely dismal characterization.
Adventures remembered by characters are not flashbacks to illustrate a point, but filler snippets from previous books in a series. This device (dating back to the pulp age of science fiction when authors were paid by the word) has no place in 21st century sci-fi.
Much of the disjointed nature of the book comes from the fact that a word-count was being sought. Once Moon reached that count, the book wraps in less than 10 pages. The plot of this book is boring, hackneyed and predictable. Adding insult to injury, the plot that is rehashed here from a previous book in the series seems far-fetched; in addition to being boring, hackneyed and predictable.
There is a principle in series fiction that each installment should, in some way, stand alone. That is definitely not the case here. If you try (as I did) to enter Moon's universe with this book, you will likely be disappointed.
If you have a favorite character from an earlier book, you might find something worthwhile here. In the span of this novel, none of the characters appeared interesting enough for me to care much what happened to them. The excessive number of characters for such a thin plot is not new to series fiction, but in this case they were so unlikable that their continuing presence became an additional irritant.
Try out this book from your local library before you waste $7 on a poor effort.
Not too bad...........2003-07-16
I'll have to admit that I struggled to finish this book. The second half of the book couldn't really keep my attention. I finished the first half pretty quick, then nursed the rest of it along bit by bit.
I would say that while I liked the ending, for the most part, the storyline wasn't tightly spun enough to really give this book the unputdownable quality it needed.
Lots of different sub plots that will eventually link up. A wealthy Morreline is killed by miners in Patchcock, The Famillias is struggling to regroup with Bunny at the helm after the abdication of the King. Cecelia's finally in the pink of health and out to sue Ronnie's family. Ronnie and Raffa have a relationship going against the wishes of their parents. And so on.
This book draws a little more on Heris' military roots as she finds herself in command of a miniscule task force. I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes of Heris in command of her ships. She reminded me a litle bit of David Weber's Honor Harrington in her demeanour and the way she handled the battle.
And we finally meet Junior Grade Lieutenant Esmay Suiza, the character Moon will use to head the series from the next book on out.
Overall, not too bad. But I think the first couple of books in the series were much better than this one. Still, if you're a fan of the Serrano series, it won't hurt to struggle through Winning Colors just so you can get to the next book!
Amazon.com
Born Herman Poole Blount in Alabama in 1914, he reinvented himself in the 1950s as Sun Ra, the great surrealist of jazz whose free-form performances with his Arkestra amply justified the description "'jspace music." His mystical beliefs were equally avant-garde; Yale professor John Szwed sympathetically explains some fairly far-out notions as "driven by a hunger for totality that only music could express." Szwed recovers the biographical facts Sun Ra was often at pains to obscure, without losing sight of the overriding role imagination played in this visionary life.
Book Description
Always riveting, Space Is the Place is the definitive biography of "one of the great big-band leaders, pianists, and surrealists of jazz" (New York Times)--unparalleled for his purposeful outlandishness, a man who exerted a powerful influence over a vast array of artists.
Sun Ra--a/k/a Herman Poole "Sonny Blount--was born in Alabama on May 22, 1914. But like Father Divine and Elijah Muhammad, he made a lifelong effort to obscure many of the facts of his early life. After years as a rehearsal pianist for nightclub revues and in blues and swing bands, including Wynonie Harris's and Fletcher Henderson's, Sun Ra set out in the 1950s to find a way to impart his views about the galaxy, black people, and spiritual matters through the various incarnations of the Intergalactic Arkestra. His repertoire ranging from boogie-woogie, swing, and bebop to free form, fusion, and whatever, Sun Ra was above all a paragon of contradictions: profundity and vaudeville; technical pianistic virtuosity and irony; assiduous attention to arrangements and encouragement of collective improvisation; respect for tradition and celebration of the fresh.
Some might have been bemused by his Afro-Platonic neo-hermeticism; others might have laughed at his egregious excesses. But Sun Ra was at once one of the great avant-gardists of the latter half of the twentieth century and a black cultural nationalist who extended Afrocentrism from ancient Egypt to the heavens.
Customer Reviews:
The Sun Shines Brightly.......2006-11-06
Sun Ra has remained one of the most misunderstood musicians of our time. And in the case of many music geniuses, Sun Ra would keep the critics and fans at arm's length, but welcome musicians into his world of philosophy and art.
Author John F. Szwed does an almost impossible task of peeling of the layers of myth and disinformation to present the real life, struggles and triumphs of Sun Ra. Szwed brilliantly weaves through the situations which shaped his life while growing up in Birmingham, Ala., the highs and exteme lows in the jazz world of Chicago and New York City & how persistence finally yielded an understanding - on various levels - from fans who also wanted to challenge the barriers erected in the music industry.
The philosophy of Sun Ra is explained and Szwed shows how it influenced every facet of his life on and off stage. I strongly believe Szwed ends any debate on how Sun Ra lived his life and what he demanded from those around him.
This must have been a very difficult undertaking for Szwed, but his outstanding research and balanced reporting yields a fantastic biography on a person we can continue to learn from.
An erudite effort for a daunting task.......2006-05-31
Frankly, Sun Ra seemed to go out of his way to make a biography pretty much impossible. Professor Szwed is to be commended for his effort, though I think at times the professor takes Ra and himself too seriously. It is a hip jazz disease that Ra played off of brilliantly and would have been amused by.
What is of value is you get some idea of the depth of this fellow, the complexity, the seriousness and simultaneous playfull nature. In being too deep or altogether dismissive of him, we missed the amazing creations.
The book confirmed my evaluation of Ra's heart and motivation. A few years prior to reading this book, I went with my family to an assembly of jazz musicians who processed, played outrageous free jazz, and did this while listening to an old woman recite Sun Ra's poetry while "dancing" and "singing" in Wichita. My young daughter was squealing with delight and loving the wild affair. The adults were being so "into it", solemn, and so serious. This book confirmed to me she was likely the only one Sun Ra would have concluded got it. He probably would have commenced to direct the band to improvise off of her squeals.
He from above probably was smiling and particularly happy that a little white girl "understood the vibrations" and would have been encouraged for the future of the earth which he was convinced would take all the races working in harmony to rescue.
equal to its subject.......2005-02-05
Great book.
If you have an interest in who Sun Ra was you ought to read this. Not a lot of musical analysis, but an extrordinary explanation of the ideas and philosophies behind it. Good job on the life as well.
I wish the highly-praised Lewis Porter Coltrane biography was a quarter as good as this.
A stunning masterpiece.......2004-05-09
This is, simply put, the greatest jazz biography I have ever read. Sun Ra is a complex and fascinating character, and Szwed's narrative more than lives up to the challenge. The most impressive thing about this book is that Szwed places Ra's, shall we say, bizarre beliefs in a context that makes him seem brilliant, lonely, compassionate, and vulnerable--in a word, human. Interwoven with the facts of Ra's life, his childhood, his musical development, his status as 60s cult icon, Szwed goes into long, fascinating digressions on the roots of Ra's beliefs--from ancient Egyptian mythology to the Bible. After reading this book, it was as if a whole world had been opened to me, and I now enjoy and appreciate Ra's art so much more. I wish I could convey how much this book moved me...it is more than the best jazz biography I have ever read, it is one of the best biographies I have ever read, period. If you are at all interested in Sun Ra, experimental jazz, or modern mythmaking, then DO NOT hesitate to pick this book up.
Fine Explanation of a Complex Phenomenon.......2002-06-11
The book is well-written and does what it sets out to do - explain who Sun Ra was and what he was doing. This is no mean feat. Sun Ra was a man of many interests and beliefs, of whom many misconceptions exist. Even most of his fans (I've been listening to Ra's music for about 10 years now) will probably learn much and gain tremendous perspective on him from this book (I certainly did).
The book's story is one of a man with artistic genius within him, who probably could have been a millionaire and musical "star" - who chose to do other things instead. Here is the unusual story of what he did and why he did it.
There is room for another book in the world on Ra's discography, that traces the patterns, forms, and themes of his vast catalogue of recorded music. There is room in the world for a book that tells the stories of the members of Ra's Arkestra. But this is not those books, this is the first logical step in studies : an explanation of Sun Ra himself. It's a difficult job very well done.
Book Description
Color in Three-Dimensional Design explores all of color's facets, from associative elements and mechanics to psychology and color's impact on form and identity. The emphasis is on integration of color with form in ways that strengthen overall design concept. Written by highly respected architectural and interior design professional Jeanne Kopacz -- also an exceptional design instructor -- this resource helps you build an unbeatable set of analytic and problem-solving tools for meeting design challenges with cost-effective color solutions.
Customer Reviews:
Great Resource for Color........2006-03-06
While this book will primarily appeal to interior designers, it is a great resource for those interested in the play of color and color theory. Coverage of theory is extensive, including harmony and identity. Fully one third of this book is about theory.
The other two thirds of the book cover color three dimensional perception and application. For those who are decorating digital rooms, the application of color to the setting is the same as the real world, if the outcome is to replicate reality. How color interacts in the setting alone and with other colors is sometimes not readily thought of, but the impact of the tone, texture and color used creates the setting, more than the physical structure itself - note to those with small home offices in the basement.
Recommended as an introductory text for design and architecture or any class that deals with color, this book has a lot of photos of color at work, as well as illustrations on color maps and dialogue. Not a book to get your next project done by example, but rather shows you how to get to that end point.
A great resource for professional designers as well.
Professional interior Designer recommends this book.......2004-01-11
Color in Three- Dimensional Design by Jeanne Kopacz is a definitive and comprehensive book on color. There is no other reference book like it. Students to professionals, homeowners to artists, will find many usages for this book.
This book covers everything from Color Theory to three-dimensional perceptions to three dimensional applications. You will learn how artists, interior designers, and architects invoke emotions from the use of color. How the amount of color with texture and lighting can create different effects.
I highly recommend this book for novices and professionals...you can't go wrong with this purchase. I wish I had this book when I was in school. I would have saved time in research and experimentation.
Great professional resource........2003-10-12
Finally! I've been looking for a book like this for years.
As both an interior designer and architect, I'm concerned about how to use color for everything from bricks to wall coverings. The typical books I've found on color are either of the 'pretty picture' coffee table variety or are texts focusing on narrow aspects of the subject, such as the science of color or the environmental impact of color. "Color in Three-Dimensional Design" is the first book I've seen that puts it all together: history, theory, light, materials and impact. While there are numerous illustrations and photographs showing theory and real world examples, this is not a book that dictates color schemes. Rather, it is a book that gives both students and professionals the tools to use color effectively in a wide range of design projects.
Beyond its obvious use as a textbook for students of color, I'm sure that other design professionals will find it to be as invaluable a resource as I do.
Average customer rating:
- Space Between the Stars: My Journey to an Open Heart
- Thanks Deborah
- Sublime Joy
- Substitute for Love
- not what you think
|
Space Between the Stars: My Journey to an Open Heart
Deborah Santana
Manufacturer: One World/Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
African-American & Black
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0345471261
Release Date: 2006-04-11 |
Book Description
Deborah Santana is best known for her marriage to music icon Carlos Santana–a thirty-year bond that endures to this day. But as a girl growing up in San Francisco in the 1960s, daughter of a white mother and a black father–the legendary blues guitarist Saunders King–her life was charged with its own drama long before she married.
In this beautiful, haunting memoir, Deborah Santana shares for the first time her early experiences with racial intolerance, her romantic involvement with musician Sly Stone and the suffering she endured in that relationship, and her adventures in the freewheeling 1960s. Yet it is her spiritual awakening that is the core of this story. The civil rights movement was the foundation of her growth, the Woodstock era the backdrop of her love with Carlos. The couple was drawn indelibly together by a search for truth and spirituality, but while yearning to be filled with God’s light, they were pulled dangerously toward a manipulative cult. They eventually disengage themselves from the guru and reclaim control of their lives, putting their love for each other before the cult’s increasingly strenuous demands.
Space Between the Stars is a moving account of self-discovery, rendered in raw, beautiful prose, by a woman whose heart has remained pure even in times of despair. As Deborah Santana talks frankly about her lifelong fight against racial injustice and her deep-seated loyalty to her family, ultimately it is the struggle to remain a spiritual and artistic force in her own right, in the shadow of one of the world’s most revered musicians, that shines through as her most indomitable pursuit.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Space Between the Stars: My Journey to an Open Heart.......2007-09-19
I was so impressed with the book I bought copies for all my sisters and mother. We all loved the book and my 81 year old mother reads reads regency romance novels exclusively. A miracle ocurred and she read this book and didn't want to put it down! We all loved it. The book gave us courage and opened our hearts. THANKS Deborah.
Sincerely,
Karen Gravina Hull, Massachusetts
Thanks Deborah.......2007-07-15
Deborah Santana opens her heart and life in this book much the same way a musician such as her father or husband does on stage. Truly a great writer Deborah chronicles a period of Rock and Roll as an insider. We are lucky to have an account from this period of two famous bands to which she was connected. But Space Between the Stars isn't just about Rock and Roll. It is a story of a strong woman who has survived that era and come out stronger. The Music on The Cds is incredible. Her son Salvador is likely to be a force in the music world, admired and respected as were his father and grandfather.
Sublime Joy.......2007-03-07
This is an amazing book full of truth and wisdom. "You house the truth of God's essence inside yourselves, to be heard in the wisper of silence". "Really, all brokenness is a lack of oneness with one's own spirit and light". For those unfamiliar with Carlos's wealth of music and message, we learn; "every note is chosen with the hope that in the listener it will sing a story, spark a journey to goodness and mercy". I laughed, I cried, I loved it! I am a middle aged white guy who honestly thinks Carlos Santana is a Prophet, chosen and inspired by God. Just listen to his music (all of it!). Deborah Santana is a gifted writer, who tells her story in a magical and compelling narative. The message is truley inspirational. Thank you.
Substitute for Love.......2007-01-08
For the first two-thirds of Deborah Santana's autobiography, I was very worried. Sisterly concern radiated from me like a constantly buzzing red light of warning. I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her. Be careful! That man, that guru, that drug, that situation is not right. Keep away! Stop! Reboot! What are you thinking, you foolish naive little girl?
Well obviously all of Deborah's experiences are in the past, and she successfully navigated them to her present apparently self-realized state. And of course my cautionary voice came from... where? Oh yes, the voice of experience. Is this a generational thing? Or a Women-Coming-of-Age-in-the-USA thing?
Those of us born in the 1950's and before were, at least subliminally, instructed to put aside our own personalities in order to grace the life of a man or a god. Yet we came of age during a time in the US when women as a gender were carving out new roles and civil rights. This clash of philosophies led many of us to what we gently refer to as "adventures" or " interesting circumstances". At least this happened to those of us who sought to embrace the greater world and the myriad of opportunities it presented. After all, we had freedoms never or rarely afforded women before - but little in the way of experience or wise grannies to temper us.
Still - how could someone raised in what appears to have been a loving open-minded family tilt so headlong into such tawdry difficulties? It all comes down to naiveté and the desire for love, and so many of us have been there. Deborah abandons her own ego to that of the abusive and drug addicted Sly Stone. Then abandons it again to guru Sri Chinmoy, and yet again to Carlos Santana. She finally seems to begin to get her identity together when she has children and realizes that even if her beloved husband has a roving eye, she still has worth and purpose. But it none-the-less remains based on glomming her personality onto that of another: Sly, Chinmoy, Santana, babies. Even the book title describes her as a void between brilliant bodies of light. Primordial ooze aside, methinks there is still self-realization to be achieved here. And I believe she is currently doing this through the Milagro Foundation, her family's philanthropic outreach.
What is ultimately so marvelous about this book is that Deborah articulates eloquently the struggle so many of us in our generation have had to reconcile purpose and identity in a material society. Although she writes of racism, I see her story as more of a cautionary tale of sexism, the gullibility of young sheltered women, and, above all, the need for love that is so strong it can blind the seeker to all logic and reason. For this reason, the book is a fantastic book club read. Less inspiration than commiseration, it serves as a wonderful stimulus to discussion of our role as women, how this is evolving, and where it needs to go.
not what you think.......2006-12-28
I thought this would be a book about a woman's growth. It ended up being full of excuses for what she didn't accomplish but had stated she wanted to accomplish. It seems "god" always had other plans for her that kept her in an easier position. I found Deborah to be easily susceptible to persuasion with no critical thinking and greatly influenced by the men in her life and their dreams despite what she believes about herself to be the opposite. She seems to base her self worth on how much worth she bestows on the men who "chose" her. I would have my daughters read this book only as a cautionary tale - not one of personal growth. If she were not Deborah Santana I can't imagine that any publisher would have found this to be worth publishing or enlightening to women in any way.
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