Set 500 years in the future, Firefly centres around Mal Reynolds, captain of the ship-for-hire Serenity and its eclectic crew of galactic misfits. When he takes on two passengers, a young doctor and his mysterious, telepathic sister, he gets much more than he bargained for. This official companion is just what the show¹s fervent fans, the 'Browncoats', have been waiting for, with unseen photos, scripts, behind the scenes secrets, and exclusive input from the cast and crew, including of course creator Joss Whedon.

    David Weisman filmed Edie for the last years of her life in his cult film Ciao! Manhattan. After uncovering lost footage, he was inspired to create Edie: Girl on Fire, a book and a documentary film that explore Edie's true story, in the process unearthing hundreds of unpublished photos and interviewing many of Edie's surviving intimates. A rebuttal to Hollywood's highly fictionalized Factory Girl, this is an insightful and startling portrait of a woman that nobody quite knew.

    Features works prior to the Tree Show, including Blood, Sweat, Tears, and The Creatrix. A survey of 55 of Ryden s most impressive works from past shows to the present. A gem of a book, presented in a beautiful hardcover, clothbound format. Text in Japanese.

    Through the lens of esteemed writers and critics such as Carlo McCormick, Steven Heller and Roger Gastman, Fairey's work is seen for all its depth and placed in context as art, design, social experiment and "getting over". This massive book pulls no punches and all areas of the enigmatic artist's work, travels and travails are illuminated; from exhibitions, posters, flyers, silkscreens and stickers to high altitude pursuits, citations and police beatings, it's all documented in a museum quality layout and binding. The evidence is in, and it's clear that Shepard Fairey is not one to rest on his laurels, the work must go on. For both long time fans wanting the complete collection and those just curious to know what this OBEY business is all about Supply and Demand is the answer.

    Among the highlights are the seminal Rolling Stone interviews -- anthologized here for the first time -- by Jann Wenner, Jonathan Cott, Kurt Loder, and Mikal Gilmore, as well as Nat Hentoff's legendary 1966 Playboy interview. Surprises include Studs Terkel's radio interview in 1963 on WFMT in Chicago, the interview Dylan gave to screenwriter Jay Cocks when he was a student at Kenyon College in 1964, a 1965 interview with director Nora Ephron, and an interview Sam Shepard turned into a one-act play for Esquire in 1987. Dylan expert Jonathan Cott writes an introduction to this must-have collection of the artist in his own words.

    The New York Times declared it "a breakthrough musical," and after a two-year run, the Golden Theater is still selling out eight shows a week. Its success is not limited to the Great White Way, however: This summer, the cast will be swearing, drinking, and ennui-ing their way across the country.As smart, risqu, and downright entertaining as the show itself, Avenue Q is a must-have companion book. In addition to the complete Tony Award-winning book and songs (perfect for those who can't get enough of the lyrics to "It Sucks to Be Me"), Avenue Q is packed with exclusive interviews with the cast and creatures, and features puzzles, connect-the-dots, and other "educational" activities to prepare readers for life after college. With a distinctive cover and chock-full of gorgeous photography and original illustrations, Avenue Q is a jam-packed thrill ride of a book.

    A collection of notorious 1970s recipe cards for everything from Fish Balls to Celery Logs, Caucasian Shashlik to Frankfurter Spectacular from a popular diet plan have been reproduced in all their scary goodness.

    Magazine, Bitch was launched in the mid-nineties as a Xerox-and-staple zine covering the landscape of popular culture from a feminist perspective. Both unabashed in its love for the guilty pleasures of consumer culture and deeply thoughtful about the way the pop landscape reflects and impacts women's lives, Bitch grew to be a popular, full-scale magazine with a readership that stretched worldwide. Today it stands as a touchstone of hip, young feminist thought, looking with both wit and irreverence at the way pop culture informs feminism--and vice versa--and encouraging readers to think critically about the messages lurking behind our favorite television shows, movies, music, books, blogs, and the like. BITCHFest offers an assortment of the most provocative essays, reporting, rants, and raves from the magazine's first ten years, along with new pieces written especially for the collection. Smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous, and clear-eyed, the anthology covers everything from a 1996 celebration of pre-scandal Martha Stewart to a more recent critical look at the "gayby boom"; from a time line of black women on sitcoms to an analysis of fat suits as the new blackface; from an attempt to fashion a feminist vulgarity to a reclamation of female virginity. It's a recent history of feminist pop-culture critique and an arrow toward feminism's future.

    Produced by Turner Classic Movies, this playful and definitive guide to fifty unforgettable actresses mirrors the focus of a month-long film festival on the channel. The life and accomplishments of each actress is celebrated in an insightful career overview, accompanied by an annotated list of essential films, filmographies, behind the scenes facts and style notes, Academy Award wins and nominations. Full of delightful trivia, film stills, posters, and glamorous photos, Leading Ladies pays tribute to the most charismatic, enduring, and elegant actresses of the silver screen.

    Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore reinvented rock 'n' roll in the 60s, and their influence can be felt even today. Now, for the first time, the living members of the band are opening up their personal archives to their fans, telling their story in their own words. This book is filled with untold anecdotes and never-before-seen photos from their private collections. Fans can learn first-hand what really went on in America's most enigmatic and mythical band.

    This book is the definitive account of how the new Doctor Who came to our screens. Gary Russell has talked to everyone on the show from David Tennant, to executive producer Russell T Davies, to the people normally hidden inside the monster suits.With unparalleled access to design drawings, backstage photographs, costume designs, previously unpublished photographs and with an in-depth look at each of the 26 episodes of series one and two, as well as an exclusive look ahead to the Christmas special and series three, this is the book no Doctor Who fan can afford to be without.

    Produced by Turner Classic Movies, this stylish and definitive guide as the inside scoop and off-the-record reveals of fifty unforgettable actors and is also the focus of an on-air film festival on the channel. The lives and accomplishments of each actor are celebrated in an insightful career overview, accompanied by an annotated list of essential films, filmographies, behind the scenes facts, Academy Award wins and nominations. Full of surprising trivia, film stills, posters, and stunning photos, Leading Men pays tribute to the most charismatic, enduring, and elegant actors of the silver screen: an essential resource for movie buffs and pop-culture enthusiasts alike.

    This book is a lavish visual retrospective of the duo's career, featuring behind-the-scenes shots from every video, concert and theatre show.

    The perplexing plotlines and bewildering array of characters on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning television program "Lost" are analyzed and pieced together in this in-depth exploration.

    50 b&w photos.

    Collating classic music press and glossy magazine articles, Morrissey in Conversation describes the rocker's crazy-quilt career in his own words. It’s all here — how the Smiths created 1980s indie rock; the anti-rock credentials, feminist sympathies, and militant vegetarianism; Morrisey’s obsession with pop culture and girl groups, his (a)sexuality, and sardonic salvos against the mediocre. This is the story of how one man bewitched the ‘80s, peaked in the ‘90s, and triumphed in the new millennium.

    Offering strong coverage of the music business, rock's visual culture, and contemporary music, the text is complemented by listening guides to over 70 major works.

    Now Bill Carter, bestselling author of "The Late Shift," goes behind the scenes to reveal the inner workings of the television industry, capturing the true portraits of the larger-than-life moguls and stars who make it such a cutthroat business. In a time of sweeping media change, the four major networks struggle for the attention of American viewers increasingly distracted by cable, video games, and the Internet. Behind boardroom doors, tempers flare in the search for hit shows, which often get on the air purely by accident. The fierce competition creates a pressure-cooker environment where anything can happen . . . - NBC's fall from grace--Once the undisputed king of prime time, NBC plunged from first place to last place in the ratings in the course of a single season. What will be the price of that collapse--and who will pay it? - CBS's slow and steady race to the top--Unlike NBC, CBS, under the leadership of CEO, Leslie Moonves, engineered one of the most spectacular turnarounds in television history. But in this ruthless world, you're only as good as last week's ratings . . . . - ABC's surprising resurrection--"Lost" and "Desperate Housewives"--have brought ABC the kind of success it could only dream of in the past. So why don't the executives responsible for those hits work there any more? - The end of the news as we know it--In a stunningly short period of time, all three of the major network news anchors--Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings--signed off, leaving executives scrambling for a way to keep network news relevant in an era of 24/7 information. - Crazy Like Fox--They're outrageous, unconventional, and occasionally off-putting, but more and more people are watching Fox shows. Most of all they keep watching "American Idol." How did Simon Cowell snooker himself into a huge payday? Stay tuned . . . In" Desperate Networks "Bill Carter digs deep inside the industry, delivering utterly irresistible "dish" that you won't find anywhere else. It's the perfect book to read when there's nothing on TV.

    You didn't wait for someone to come and discover you. That was the most important thing that came out of punk... We came home and we cut our hair and bought skinny trousers. It was year zero. That was the moment for me' Billy BraggPunk Rock is a book like no other. It is an oral history of a radical movement which exploded in Seventies Britain. With its own clothes, hair, artwork, fanzines and radical politics, Punk boasted a DIY ethos that meant anyone could take part. The scene was uniquely vibrant and energetic, leaving an extraordinary legacy of notorious events, charismatic characters and inspirational music. John Robb has spent over a year interviewing more than 100 contributors including Glen Matlock, Mick Jones, Don Letts, Slash, Billy Bragg, Hugh Cornwell and Captain Sensible. Now, for the first time, they give the inside view on events such as The Sex Pistols' swearing live on the Bill Grundy TV show and staging their anti-Jubilee riverboat party on the Thames, famous gigs at The Roxy and 100 Club, and the groundbreaking records by The Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and others.From the widely debated roots of punk in the late-Sixties through to the fallout of the post-punk period in 1984, and the ongoing influence on today's bands, Punk Rock is the definitive oral history of an inimitable and exciting movement.

    This stunning work of cinematic archeology combines Chaplin’s movie images with archival photographs, vintage maps, and scores of then-and-now comparison photographs to conjure up the silent-movie era from an entirely new perspective.By describing the historical settings found in such Chaplin classics as The Kid, City Lights, and Modern Times, Bengtson illuminates both Chaplin’s genius and the evolving city that served as a backdrop for his art. Part time machine, part detective story, Silent Traces presents a unique look at Chaplin’s work, and a captivating glimpse into Hollywood’s most romantic era.

    And as the leader of the Beach Boys, he sold 100 million records, produced Pet Sounds, and built a catalog of songs that continues to define the sound and feel of American popular music. He also became one of the culture's most mysterious and tragic figures. But after spending years lost in a wilderness of despair, Wilson has fought his way back to productivity. And now with teh release of Smile - the masterwork that nearly undid him - he has returned to music's center stage.Now Peter Ames Carlin, who conducted in-depth, exclusive interviews with dozens of sources and listened to hundreds of hours of unreleased studio recordings and live music, tells a uniquely American story of the band, the music, and the culture the Beach Boys both sang about and helped create. Carlin brings a fan's passion, a seasoned journalist's objectivity, and a cultural critic's insight to his subject, and the result is a magesterial and authoritative account of the Beach Boys' visionary figure, who has emerged into a new era of creativity.

    Chronicle Books is proud to present an exclusive catalog featuring ACME's must-have, best-selling line of items, each guaranteed to promote a happy* life provided that they are used properly.** Including ACME classics and entirely new and untested items, the ACME Catalog showcases 100 products untarnished by government regulations. There's something here for everyone. An extruder that doubles as a pasta maker for Grandma. A roof-mounted catapult for Dad. And what about a little jet-powered pogo stick for yourself? Each item is matched with a thorough product description, the price, and the shipping cost. As always, the ACME Company brings corporate identity sans responsabilit to everything sold with its label. Please note that the ACME Company has no retail outlets or web site. In other words, this catalog is the only way for consumers to access this highly sought-after ACME line.*"Happy" being relative to the level of one's acceptance of fate. **Liability is limited to the competence of the user.LOONEY TUNES and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

    Come for the trials, tribulations, and trivia! Stay for the mysteries, magic, and mayhem! You’ll go behind the scenes for the sordid scandals, biggest bombs, greatest triumphs, and the unsung heroes who make it all come together. Featuring quotes, puzzles, quizzes, and Uncle John’s famous “running feet” facts at the bottom of every page, this book will give you a new appreciation for the Silver Screen (and you’ll know exactly what a gaffer and best boy do). What else is in here? Check out these previews!Bad boys on locationThe origin of VarietyThe biggest cult movie of all timeThe “Blond Bombshell Murder Mystery”How Ray Harryhausen brought fantasies to lifeWretched reviews (for what are now considered great films)The strange Pink Floyd and Wizard of Oz connectionThe “Taglines of Terror” quizBathrooms on the big screenUnfortunate remakesHaunted HollywoodAnd much, much more!

    As shocking as contemporary feminist pin-ups are intended to be, perhaps more surprising is that the pin-up has been appropriated by women for their own empowerment since its inception more than a century ago. Pin-Up Grrrls tells the history of the pin-up from its birth, revealing how its development is intimately connected to the history of feminism. Maria Elena Buszek documents the genre’s 150-year history with more than 100 illustrations, many never before published.Beginning with the pin-up’s origins in mid-nineteenth-century carte-de-visite photographs of burlesque performers, Buszek explores how female sex symbols, including Adah Isaacs Menken and Lydia Thompson, fought to exert control over their own images. Buszek analyzes the evolution of the pin-up through the advent of the New Woman, the suffrage movement, fanzine photographs of early film stars, the Varga Girl illustrations that appeared in Esquire during World War II, the early years of Playboy magazine, and the recent revival of the genre in appropriations by third-wave feminist artists. A fascinating combination of art history and cultural history, Pin-Up Grrrls is the story of how women have publicly defined and represented their sexuality since the 1860s.

    

    Frogger. Super Mario Bros. These classic videogames are burned into the collective consciousness of an entire generation, thanks to countless hours spent at pizza parlors and bowling alleys across the country. Now artists such as Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, and Ashley Wood put their memories to paper, canvas, and wood to create original works of art inspired by the art of the videogame. Chuck Klosterman shares his thoughts in his distinctively insightful and entertaining style in a foreword on how videogames created a new playground for artistic expression. With more than 100 thought-provoking, amusing, and simply fun pieces of original art, i am 8-bit is a pixilated stroll down memory lane.

    We’ve always said it takes a real man to wear makeup.”—Bret Michaels, Poison (1988)There was a time—not so long ago—when pomp and spandex dominated MTV and pop radio playlists. American Hair Metal visually celebrates this orgy of flamboyance, androgyny, and animal magnetism, of big-haired alpha males and the beautiful women who surrounded them.Hundreds of striking photographs are surrounded by hedonistic ephemera from bands like Poison, Cinderella, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, and Stryper, and wild interview quotes from major players such as David Lee Roth, Jon Bon Jovi, Sebastian Bach, Tommy Lee, Nikki Sixx, Bret Michaels, Don Dokken, and a good number of unsung heroes.Interest in hair metal is currently exploding—witness the barrage of VH1 specials, arena-level revival tours, and reissue compilations that are even today best-selling CDs.

    They produced hit after catchy hit, each one instantly recognizable, infectious, and irresistible. Nearly a quarter of a century later, these beloved songs gave birth to the blockbuster musical MAMMA MIA , which became a legend in its own right. It opened in 85 cities and has since been seen by more than 20 million people throughout the world. This officially sanctioned book tells the double story of the band and the play--and it's told by those know it best: two of the group's singer/songwriters and MAMMA MIA producer Judy Craymer. It's colorful literally and figuratively, and jam-packed with illustrations from the group's own archives. Through first-person recollections from ABBA members, intertwined with commentary from the MAMMA MIA team, "Thank You for the Music" cuts through the thicket of myths and misconceptions that have grown up around ABBA to reveal what actually happened.

    He found expression through music, and by thirteen he was playing in bands at clubs. He had taken every kind of drug there was by the age of fourteen, and had found himself on the wrong side of the law in petty-crime offences. As an adult he turned to acting, but continued to live by his own rules, confounding and delighting critics and fans alike with his choice of roles. He has only played parts that speak to him ? from Edward Scissorhands to Captain Jack, a colorful array of misfits, outsiders and renegades ? and commits only to films that he believes posses value. And now, with the staggering box-office success of Pirates of the Caribbean, he has achieved a formidable position in Hollywood without compromising along the way. This book traces that extraordinary journey from wild-child rebel to Hollywood mogul. Compelling, charismatic and edgy, Johnny Depp has become one of the world's most bankable stars, but more despite his artistic in

    With more than 500 uncommon examples, this book documents history by examining this ubiquitous and affordable article of clothing. With full color photographs throughout, Vintage T-Shirts is a must have for t-shirt collectors, fashion buffs, and pop culture junkies alike.

    Beginning with urban vinyl artists, the phenomenon has taken root not only in the toy world but also in the global art community. Created by fashion designers, comic book artists, underground illustrators, graffiti artists and fine artists, these toys have a hot collector's market and range in price from five pounds to thousands of pounds. With kids, parents, celebrities and design aficionados hooked, the designer toy phenomenon is only going to get bigger. Artists and toys featured include: Frank Kozik, Dalek, Gary Baseman, Bounty Hunter, Junko Mizuno, Jason Siu, Pete Fowler, Maywa Denki, Nagoya Twim, Nathan Jurevicius, David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim, Run DMC dolls, Kubricks, Qees, The King of New York and Gloomy Bears.

    Personalities such as Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jordan are more recognizable to many people than are most elected officials. With Amusement for All is the first comprehensive history of two centuries of mass entertainment in the United States, covering everything from the penny press to Playboy, the NBA to NASCAR, big band to hip hop, and other topics including film, comics, television, sports, dance, and music. Paying careful attention to matters of race, gender, class, technology, economics, and politics, LeRoy Ashby emphasizes the complex ways in which popular culture simultaneously reflects and transforms American culture, revealing that the world of entertainment constantly evolves as it tries to meet the demands of a diverse audience. Trends in popular entertainment often reveal the tensions between competing ideologies, appetites, and values in American society. For example, in the late nineteenth century, Americans embraced "self-made men" such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie: the celebrities of the day were circus tycoons P.T. Barnum and James A. Bailey, Wild West star "Buffalo Bill" Cody, professional baseball organizer Albert Spalding, and prizefighter John L. Sullivan. At the same time, however, several female performers challenged traditional notions of weak, frail Victorian women. Adah Isaacs Menken astonished crowds by wearing tights that made her appear nude while performing dangerous stunts on horseback, and the shows of the voluptuous burlesque group British Blondes often centered on provocative images of female sexual power and dominance. Ashby describes how history and politics frequently influence mainstream entertainment. When Native Americans, blacks, and other non-whites appeared in the nineteenth-century circuses and Wild West shows, it was often to perpetuate demeaning racial stereotypes -- crowds jeered Sitting Bull at Cody's shows. By the early twentieth century, however, black minstrel acts reveled in racial tensions, reinforcing stereotypes while at the same time satirizing them and mocking racist attitudes before a predominantly white audience. Decades later, Red Foxx and Richard Pryor's profane comedy routines changed American entertainment. The raw ethnic material of Pryor's short-lived television show led to a series of African-American sitcoms in the 1980s that presented common American experiences -- from family life to college life -- with black casts. Mainstream entertainment has often co-opted and sanitized fringe amusements in an ongoing process of redefining the cultural center and its boundaries. Social control and respectability vied with the bold, erotic, sensational, and surprising, as entrepreneurs sought to manipulate the vagaries of the market, control shifting public appetites, and capitalize on campaigns to protect public morals. Rock 'n Roll was one such fringe culture; in the 1950s, Elvis blurred gender norms with his androgynous style and challenged conventions of public decency with his sexually-charged performances. By the end of the 1960s, Bob Dylan introduced the social consciousness of folk music into the rock scene, and The Beatles embraced hippie counter-culture. Don McLean's 1971 anthem "American Pie" served as an epitaph for rock's political core, which had been replaced by the spectacle of hard rock acts such as Kiss and Alice Cooper. While Rock 'n Roll did not lose its ability to shock, in less than three decades it became part of the established order that it had originally sought to challenge. With Amusement for All provides the context to what Americans have done for fun since 1830, showing the reciprocal nature of the relationships between social, political, economic, and cultural forces and the way in which the entertainment world has reflected, refracted, or reinforced the values those forces represent in America.

    First prize? Giftcertificates to Fashion Friendz-y, of course! The girls sign up in a hot minute only to discover that one of the challenges is to ride the super-sized Ferris wheel. And poor Rinnie is afraid of heights! Will the Lil' Bratz help Rinnie overcome her fear and win the contest?

    For those of us who remember them from times past, these tin toys can transport us back to our childhoods; they call up a vision of a time we thought we had already forgotten. They also bear witness to history; they have survived wars and crises, and tell us something of the fashions, colors and tendencies of their times. This book will be of special interest to anyone fascinated by early space travel and technology, those who simply want to wax nostalgic about a bygone era of their youth, and of course to collectors and fans of 50s and 60s tin toys. The roots of today's toys can be seen in these precursors, notably in the early transformer robots. Taken from collector Teruhisa Kitahara's vast collection, which is on display in many museums in Japan, the tin toys featured here are quite rare and give a wonderful overview of this era in the history of toys. A must for any toy lover!

    

    Now in it''s second edition, the Rough Guide clarifies the mysteries surrounding the man and the music, looking at the lyrics, the influences, the legends and the musicians he worked with. Features include: The Life - from Minnesota to Manchester, from the Albert Hall to the Never Ending Tour, The Music - 50 essential Dylan songs and the stories behind them and Dylanology - the movies, the sayings, books and websites.

    Carmela Soprano from the hit Tv series 'The Sopranos' offers a complete guide to entertaining - from dinner parties to barbecues, from student parties to birthdays and anniversaries.

    Essays from experts in the field illuminate such processes as DNA testing, ballistics, crime-scene photography, and autopsy procedure. With pieces that focus on the leads' varying appeals, the history of forensics on television, the show's treatment of alternate sexualities, and whether the incredible attention to detail actually gives criminals an advantage, this anthology provides an in-depth investigation that enriches the viewing experience.

    After a three–year hiatus, Family Guy returned triumphant, garnering a second Emmy nomination and rating in the top 5 most watched shows among viewers 18 to 34. After strong sales of Stewie's Guide to World Domination, and strong projections for Family Guy: The Official Episode Guide, we introduce to the reading public Brian Griffin's Guide to Booze, Broads and the Lost Art of Being a Man.From the mouth of the Griffin's bon vivant pooch come words of wisdom––in English mind you. More than just the family dog, Brian is the most learned and eloquent of the family, with insights as sharp as his speech is slurred, and a wit as dry as his martinis. Within this mighty tome he waxes philosophic on unrequited love, the relationship between master and dog, the adult film industry, and just how hard it is for a dog to get a bone.

    Written by Lars Pearson (Wizard magazine) and Christa Dickson (Dusted: The Unauthorized Guide to Buffy), Redeemed critiques the entire show in berserk detail, with an eye toward reconciling the features of the Angel-verse against themselves, and dissecting the formidable vision of Angel producers Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Jeffrey Bell and their Mutant Enemy colleagues. Among other concerns, this book seeks to answer such vitally important questions as Why Do Catholic Objects Harm Vampires?, How Does the Vampire Invitation Rule Work?, When Did the Powers Intervene Without Anyone Noticing? and the not-so-obvious Who is Angel's True Love?

    Premier showbiz photographer Greg Williams creates a unique visual record for the making of the MGM film, scheduled for release on November 17. Full color.

    about Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, Sophia, and the beloved sitcom.It's the classic TV sitcom—now finding a new generation of fans in reruns on Lifetime. Go behind the scenes with Q Guides to find out just what it is about Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia that so attracts both gay and young hetero fans.

    He chose the name “Harmony in My Head,” based on his favorite Buzzcocks tune. As lead man for Black Flag, Rollins was present at the raw beginnings of punk and knew many of its stars. But Rollins’ taste encompassed more than punk, and the show became a cult favorite featuring artists as disparate as the Stooges, Miriam Makeba, the Simpletones, Slim Galliard, and the Weirdos. An inspired Rollins began compiling extensive annotations for each song he played, a mix of history, anecdote, and Rollins’s trademark trenchant opinions. His show can still be heard online in streaming audio, and his notes live on in this irresistible collection.

    It is this feeling, this emotional "conversation" with the page that fuels Adbusters' vision: to prevent the deadening of society, everyman, us, me. You.

    It was also a time of cultural revolution, in music (The Beatles, the Stones, the ascendancy of rock 'n' roll), literature (Ken Kesey, Richard Brautigan, Kurt Vonnegut, et al.), journalism (Tom Wolfe's New Journalism and Hunter Thompson's Gonzo journalism), films (Mike Nichols, Bob Rafelson, Sam Peckinpah), and the heady conflation of Fine Art with the Pop Art movement (Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney).Comics were undergoing their own revolution and no one epitomized underground comix and psychedelia more than Victor Moscoso, whose posters for such bands as The Grateful Dead, Big Brother The Holding Company and the Steve Miller Blues Band, stand as enduring works of art and instantly recognizable icons of their time. Moscoso (along with fellow artists Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Wes Wilson, Alton Kelley and Peter Max) revolutionized the poster aesthetic and defined the visual culture of a generation. R. Crumb invited Moscoso to join the Zap Comix collective in 1968, and Moscoso's work has appeared in every issue from Zap #2 to present. His comix work contrasted with his fellow artists (R. Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Gilbert Shelton, et al.) by his unique stylization, less confrontational point of view, hallucinatory visual rhythms, and wordless, dreamlike stories.Sex, Rock 'N' Roll Optical Illusions is Victor Moscoso's first major, career-spanning retrospective, from his earliest poster work in 1966 to his most recent graphic experimentation. Optical Illusions contains his best posters that advertised bands playing in San Francisco's famous dance ballrooms of the time—the Avalon, the Matrix, and the Fillmoreas well as many of his Zap Comix contributions, and his solo comix work, many in Moscoso's signature color. This wide-ranging career retrospective—Moscoso's famous technique employing "vibrating colors" that he pioneered in his posters is impeccably reproduced with as much fidelity to the original as modern printing can achieve, his black-and-white and full color comix work is collected here for the first time is an intense, vibrant, and revelatory experience.

    The authors argue that these works are part of an existentialist tradition that stretches back from the French atheistic existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre, through the Danish Christian existentialist Soren Kierkegaard, to the Russian novelist and existentialist Fyodor Dostoevsky. Whedon and Dostoevsky, for example, seem preoccupied with the problem of evil and human freedom. Both argue that in each and every one of us a demon lies hidden. Whedon personifies these demons and has them wandering about and causing havoc. Dostoevsky treats the subject only slightly more seriously. Chapters cover such topics as Russian existentialism and vampire slayage; moral choices; ethics; Faith and bad faith; constructing reality through existential choice; some limitations of science and technology; love and self-sacrifice; love, witchcraft, and vengeance; soul mates and moral responsibility; love and moral choice; forms of freedom; and Whedon as moral philosopher.

    Through extensive interviews and unprecedented access, San Jose Mercury News Technology and Gaming Writer Dean Takahashi takes you behind the scenes as he reveals... The birth of the machine as seen through the eyes of the Xbox 360 engineers who designed it... Blow-by-blow coverage of the heated internal debates as senior Microsoft executives battle to define the future of the Xbox brand... The strategic chess moves as Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and company take risk after risk, trying to outmaneuver their archrivals for the brass ring: dominance of the incredibly lucrative video game market... Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, the entire Microsoft Xbox 360 team, and the industry's most celebrated game developers -- all of the major players are included in this captivating story.

    The ultimate retrospective on the stunning career of comic genius and Eisner winner George Perez covers his 30-year career in comics! Includes never-before-seen art, sketch material from all of his major projects: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Teen Titans, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman, I-Bots, Ultraforce, and Sachs & Violens!

    He was without a doubt the most prolific, and for that reason was often referred to as "The Jack Kirby of humor comics." But he might have been likewise compared to pinup artist Gill Elvgren for his ability to render the female form in a way that was at once funny, charming, and unbelievably sexy. DeCarlo worked mostly on wholesome all-American features like Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica and My Friend Irma, but he populated these innocent stories with his irresistibly attractive women. This unique blend of hilarious homespun humor and libido-sparking art made DeCarlo's work outshine the competition.For nearly six decades, DeCarlo entertained the world with his special talents. Though best known as the definitive Archie Comics artist and creator of Josie and the Pussycats, DeCarlo also brought his unique style to dozens of other characters including Millie The Model, Willie Lumpkin, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Big Boy, Batman and even The Simpsons.In 2005, Fantagraphics published The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo, a beautiful two-color knock-out of a collection featuring his best pin-ups from the 1950s/'60s Humorama digest. With Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo, Fantagraphics Books presents a fitting tribute to the life and art of one of the world's all-time best cartoonists in a wider-ranging career retrospective. DeCarlo fan, friend, and fellow cartoonist Bill Morrison has written and produced the ultimate book on this remarkable artist, lavishly designed with over 300 illustrations. Included are rare World War II-era cartoons, original Humorama pinups, seldom-seen newspaper strips, examples of his justly famous commercial comics work, and of course, lots and lots of those fabulous DeCarlo girls!

    All it takes is a single clever stroke of the G-pen to instantly change a manga character's mood from one extreme to the other: glad to sad, sassy to shy, angry to embarrassed. Illustrator Saori Takarai presents original pencil sketches alongside her finished full-color drawings to show just how the transformations take place. In addition, each of the facial expressions is labeled with the Japanese word for the mood being depicted, along with common Japanese conversational phrases and English translations, making this delightful book a great gift for aspiring artists, language enthusiasts and manga fans alike.

    With feature spreads on related themes appearing throughout—from vampires, ghosts, and comedy horror, to the occult, giallo, cannibalism, and serial killers—this book offers a superb introduction for beginners as well as something new for the die-hard horror fan. Each section has a detailed introduction looking at the development of the genre, followed by an A-Z review listing of key films, with feature spreads on dominant themes.

    Yet those dreams nearly vanished when a shark tore off her left arm. In Bethany Hamilton: Follow Your Dreams!, young readers will follow Bethany's recovery from the devastating shark attack as she retakes the surf and waves. Full-color photographs, timeline, and a compelling biographical narrative will engage readers as they learn how Bethany overcame the greatest challenges of her young life. Bethany Hamilton is part of Bearport's Defining Moments: Overcoming Challenges series.

    Beginning with the unconventional sources of Clive Barker's inspiration, the book follows Barker from his pre?Hellraiser cinematic experience through the filming of the horror classic. It examines various themes (such as the undermining of the traditional family unit and the malleability of the flesh) found throughout the film series and the ways in which the representation of these themes changes from film to film. The religious aspects of the films are also discussed. Characters central to the franchise?and the mythos?are examined in detail. Included is a foreword by actor Doug Bradley, who portrayed the infamous Pinhead.

    The five co-authors Colleen Dunn Bates, Jill Ganon, Sandy Gillis, Mel Malmberg and Mary Jane Horton are all longtime San Gabriel Valley residents, and the foreword authors are Larry Mantle (from NPR's KPCC) and Larry Wilson (editor of the Pasadena Star-News). The book is rich in history, arts, culture, restaurants, gardens, architecture, children's activities, sports and much more, and it is filled with interviews with people who make a difference in the community. It is written and designed with wit, style and intelligence. Hometown Pasadena became an immediate success, going into its fourth printing in less than one year. 256 pages, four-color throughout, flexibound binding with flaps, extensive photography and color maps

    

    A diverse and hilarious collection of treatises, insightful essays, philosophical diagrams, saucy poetry and other amusing trifles, The Affected Provincial's Companion will inspire you to transform yourself into a living work of art, thus setting you upon a course towards that misty, faraway shore known to the ancients as Enchantment.The perils of sportswear, self-defense for sissies, the proper grooming of facial hair, and how to become a bon vivant—all this and much more may be found between the shimmering covers of this sleek and utterly beguiling volume.

    Although the park is best known today for its high-speed roller coasters, this book recaptures its earlier years when it was devoted to the various periods of Georgia s history. Six Flags Over Georgia revisits such classic rides and attractions as the Log Jamboree, Tales of the Okefenokee, Jean Ribaut sAdventure, the Krofft Puppet Theater, the Happy Motoring Freeway, and many others. It also explores how the park s focus changed and expanded over the decades and takes a look at some of its classic advertising and souvenirs."

    Working out of her car, she drove around the city's five boroughs from assignment to assignment, always on the lookout for interesting feature shots. Cooper quickly found that the city's poorer neighborhoods had the richest street life and her favorite location became Manhattan's Alphabet City--north of Houston Street between Avenues A and D--as she would habitually wind through Manhattan's Lower East Side on her way back to the Post at the end of the day. In Street Play, Cooper takes us through the Alphabet City of the late 70s, when this area was undergoing extensive urban renewal--a process that is still continuing today. At the time, the neighborhood had more than its share of drug dealers and petty criminals, and the landscape often seemed ugly and forbidding. But to the children who grew up there, the abandoned buildings and rubble-strewn lots made perfect playgrounds, providing raw materials and open space for improvised play. A crumbling tenement housed a secret clubhouse, rooftops became private aviaries, and a pile of trash might be a source for treasure. Street Play shows the creative and indomitable spirit of city kids determined to make the best of their inhospitable environment. Today the neighborhood is transformed, although the days of go-carts and skelly caps can still be found down certain streets between new developments and parks. Martha Cooper's work attests to a transitional, post-tenement and preartist period on the Lower East Side when this street culture was not pushed to the fringes of this already out-of-the-way neighborhood, but held turf in Alphabet City.

    Certainly, the music originated among black Creoles of southwest Louisiana. But the swamps of southwest Louisiana spill across the Sabine River into southeast Texas, and the music originally known as “la-la” quickly trickled west, too. There it fused with blues to create a new sound that came to be known, spelled, and recorded as “zydeco.” Black Creoles from Louisiana began moving into southeast Texas in search of better jobs during the first half of the twentieth century. As they resettled, so did their music. Texas Zydeco describes how many of the most formative players and moments in modern zydeco history developed in Texas, especially Houston. As the new players traveled back and forth between Houston and Lafayette, Louisiana, they spread the new sound along a “zydeco corridor” that is the musical axis around which zydeco revolves to this day. Roger Wood and James Fraher spent years traveling this corridor, interviewing and photographing hundreds of authentic musicians, dancers, club owners, and fans. As their words and images make clear, zydeco, both historically and today, belongs not to a state but to all the people of the upper Gulf Coast.

    Shirley Temple was a phenomenon, a child star whose talent and personality earned her a permanent place in Hollywood history. The extraordinary six-year-old entertainer struck a chord with audiences all over the globe. Her career sparked a marketing sensation, spurring the production of anything and everything bearing her image-from dolls to tin whistles-in all corners of the globe, both authorized and unauthorized. Despite the decades-long interest in everything Temple, never before has there been a lavishly illustrated art book examining the phenomenon that was Shirley Temple as a child star in the 1930s. Many of the rare and unusual Shirley Temple collectibles have never been featured in print. Along with an informal, concise history of the childhood career of Ms. Temple (featuring film stills, many never-before-seen photographs, and personal snapshots of Shirley as well as several taken by her), this book is a visual treat befitting the magic of the most famous child star of all time, as well as the Golden Age of Hollywood.

    It covers 43 officially released albums with extensive commentary on each track. Included are details of label, credits, year of release, timings, and collaborative efforts. It is packed with information and details about each song ever recorded and released—including the live and bootleg versions that have been appearing in recent years. Bob Dylan's influence on popular music is boundless. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of music from confessional to narrative. He redefined the role of the vocalist and is an inspiration to musicians across all genres—from country and folk to traditional and progressive rock. This book is the perfect reference for anyone interested in Bob Dylan and his work.

    This companion explores the social, political and economic forces that have made America what it is today. It shows how these contexts impact upon twentieth-century American literature, cinema and art. An international team of contributors examines the special contribution of African Americans and of immigrant communities to the variety and vibrancy of modern America. The essays range from art to politics, popular culture to sport, immigration and race to religion and war. Varied, extensive and challenging, this Companion is essential reading for students and teachers of American studies around the world. It is the most accessible and useful introduction available to an exciting range of topics in modern American culture.

    When a burglar killed his beloved Uncle Ben, a grief-stricken Peter vowed to use his amazing abilities to protect his fellow man. He had learned an invaluable lesson: With great power, there must also come great responsibility!

    In 1976, music changed forever. Punk arrived—offering an electrifying alternative to the bloated, sterile rock music of the day. No More Heroes chronicles not only the icons of the punk movement, but also looks at the lesser-known bands and music of the era. Here are detailed accounts—often at variance with conventional wisdom—about the careers of groups like the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, the Buzzcocks, the Stranglers, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Based on 200 interviews with some of punk's key players, this is an exhaustive A-Z overview of the subject, including extensive biographical notes, complete discographies, a buyer's guide, and many never-before-seen photos.

    Known as the "Crocodile Hunter," after his TV series of the same name, Steve was only 44, and his untimely death robbed the world of one of its greatest and most popular naturalists, conservationalists, and environmentalists. Although an undeniably gifted broadcaster and consummate showman, Irwin was first and foremost an animal lover, and this book traces his extraordinary story, telling how his irrepressible energy and all-consuming passion for wildlife and the natural world caught the imagination of TV viewers all over the world, turning him into a global phenomenon. With astonishing photographs throughout, it looks back at the "Crocodile Hunter's" great adventure, celebrating this unique force of nature, and providing a fitting tribute to one of Australia's most colorful and much-loved sons.

    It gives detailed reviews for each cemetery, including where all the most notable people are buried, from Sid James to Karl Marx. The book also reveals some of the fascinating history surrounding London's cemeteries including the Victorian railway line dedicated to transporting the dead, with first and second class tickets for the deceased.

    Common motifs include crime and punishment, the upheaval of traditional moral values, and a pessimistic stance on the meaning of life and on the place of humankind in the universe. Spanning the 1940s and 1950s, the classic film noir era saw the release of many of Hollywood's best-loved studies of shady characters and shadowy underworlds, including Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, Touch of Evil, and The Maltese Falcon. Neo-noir is a somewhat loosely defined genre of films produced after the classic noir era that display the visual or thematic hallmarks of the noir sensibility. The essays collected in The Philosophy of Neo-Noir explore the philosophical implications of neo-noir touchstones such as Blade Runner, Chinatown, Reservoir Dogs, Memento, and the films of the Coen brothers. Through the lens of philosophy, Mark T. Conard and the contributors examine previously obscure layers of meaning in these challenging films. The contributors also consider these neo-noir films as a means of addressing philosophical questions about guilt, redemption, the essence of human nature, and problems of knowledge, memory and identity. In the neo-noir universe, the lines between right and wrong and good and evil are blurred, and the detective and the criminal frequently mirror each other's most debilitating personality traits. The neo-noir detective -- more antihero than hero -- is frequently a morally compromised and spiritually shaken individual whose pursuit of a criminal masks the search for lost or unattainable aspects of the self. Conard argues that the films discussed in The Philosophy of Neo-Noir convey ambiguity, disillusionment, and disorientation more effectively than even the most iconic films of the classic noir era. Able to self-consciously draw upon noir conventions and simultaneously subvert them, neo-noir directors push beyond the earlier genre's limitations and open new paths of cinematic and philosophical exploration.

    Rich in gossip, it is also an eyewitness report of Hollywood in transition. In the summer of 1924, Valeria Belletti and her friend Irma visited California, but instead of returning home to New York, the twenty-six-year-old Valeria decided to stay in Los Angeles. She moved into the YWCA, landed a job as Samuel Goldwyn's personal and social secretary and proceeded to trip over history in the making. As she recounts in her dozens of letters to Irma, Valeria Belletti encountered every type of Hollywood player in the course of her working day: moguls, directors, stars, writers, and hopeful extras. She shares news about Valentino's affairs, Sam Goldwyn's bootlegger, the development of the “talkies,” her own role in helping to cast Gary Cooper in his first major part and much more—often in hilarious detail. She writes of her living and working conditions, her active social life, and her hopes for the future—all the everyday concerns of a young working woman during the jazz age. Alternating sophistication with naiveté, Valeria’s letters intimately document a personal journey while giving us a unique portrait of a fascinating era.

    In looking at the early film industry as an industry—a place of work—Mahar not only unravels the mystery of the disappearing female filmmaker but untangles the complicated relationship among gender, work culture, and business within modern industrial organizations.In the early 1910s, the film industry followed a theatrical model, fostering an egalitarian work culture in which everyone—male and female—helped behind the scenes in a variety of jobs. In this culture women thrived in powerful, creative roles, especially as writers, directors, and producers. By the end of that decade, however, mushrooming star salaries and skyrocketing movie budgets prompted the creation of the studio system. As the movie industry remade itself in the image of a modern American business, the masculinization of filmmaking took root.Mahar's study integrates feminist methodologies of examining the gendering of work with thorough historical scholarship of American industry and business culture. Tracing the transformation of the film industry into a legitimate "big business" of the 1920s, and explaining the fate of the female filmmaker during the silent era, Mahar demonstrates how industrial growth and change can unexpectedly open—and close—opportunities for women.

    From TV dinners and Jiffy-Pop to Jell-O and Velveeta, these precursors to fast food were welcomed by "too-busy-to-cook" women as another indispensable "mother's little helper" that freed them from kitchen drudgery. "Just Heat It 'n' Eat It surveys these fascinating concoctions that became staples of millions of American homes -- and remain so today -- along with the post-war, space-age culture that created them.