Ed Smith - the young Cambridge University and Kent batsman - has spent the winters since 1998 in Spring Training with the New York Mets baseball team. It has enabled Ed to contrast and compare arguably the two most iconic of sports from the inside. In fact, baseball had a thriving following in Britain until the Great War: Derby County's former stadium was called the Baseball Ground; Tottenham Hotspur was at first a baseball club. Apart from learning two very different techniques, Ed learned that the sports' ultimate heroes, the Babe and the Don - Babe Ruth and Don Bradman - might as well have come from different planets, whilst baseball's pristine Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is a far cry from the ramshackle cricket museum at Lord's. Ed Smith's PLAYING HARD BALL draws on these intriguing comparisons to paint a two-sided portrait of sports most illustrous 'hitting games'.

    A homage to beer by Cheers actor and beer connoisseur George Wendt, better known as Norm Peterson.

    

    Improvisation is as much about technique as it is what's inside your head. Improv Therapy takes a look at the improviser's mind and what blocks improvisers on stage, and gives them practical advice to overcome their issues so they can become the improviser they always dreamed of being. Written by Jimmy Carrane, host of the Improv Nerd podcast and co-author of Improvising Better: A Guide for the Working Improviser. He teaches his award-winning Art Of Slow Comedy improv classes in Chicago.

    The miracle in the mundane.One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.He fell in love.Three years and almost one thousand poems later, Tyler is now known as the creator of the Typewriter Series: a striking collection of poems typed onto found scraps of paper or created via blackout method. Chasers of the Light features some of his most insightful and beautifully worded pieces of work—poems that illuminate grand gestures and small glimpses, poems that celebrate the beauty of a life spent chasing the light.

     As seen on ESPN's Cold Pizza Fantasy football -- one of America's most popular, and profitable, virtual pastimes -- became a way of life for sports humorist and author Mark St. Amant. Utterly fed up with never having won his league championship, St. Amant abandoned a successful advertising career to make fantasy football his full-time job, embarking on a sprawling reconnaissance mission to discover what really makes this game, and its 20 million players, tick. Committed is the result of St. Amant's ranting, relentless, and strategic pursuit of his own obsession. In this wickedly funny and deeply informative work, St. Amant offers readers an all-access sideline pass to his wild, unprecedented fantasy football season, and to the hobby itself. From its humble beginnings in a New York hotel in 1962 to a multibillion-dollar business today, from local and online leagues to high-stakes, cutthroat Las Vegas competitions, St. Amant lays bare the facts, figures, and fanaticism of fantasy football in all its multidimensional glory.

    Maybe you’re dissatisfied with what you’ve been told you “should be.” Maybe you know there’s something bigger out there, waiting for you, but the people in your life just don’t understand. Maybe you feel crazy or alone, like part of you is dying. You’re not dying. You’re just waking up. Even if you have seen my content before, it's time to strap in and hold on tight because this is not your average text. It’s your soul’s reminder of how powerful you are, and of how much you already know! Stop living your life in safety and stagnation. Stop making choices through obligation and attachment. Step up, live your life to the fullest.You are ready, and the world is waiting.

    Delve deep into the mind of these creatures and learn what makes them tick.

    We know how it all turns out. But imagine if you were the people living it. If you didn't know He was coming back. If you were Mary and Martha after Lazarus died, you would have thought He came too late. If you were Peter, you would have been appalled that the Master would lower Himself into your mess to wash your feet. If you stood at the foot of the cross and heard it was finished, you would have believed it was.What shifted? What allowed them to discover hope within the hopelessness? The witness of their change in perspective teaches us of an unexpected Christ. One who shows up, turning defeat into victory, and despair into deliverance.If He did it for them, He will do it for you. The story of Easter teaches us the truth of Jesus in every unexpected season. Through Him, you can expect hope in unlikely places.

    In this wide-ranging and elegiac essay, Nick Pinkerton reflects upon Tsai Ming-liang’s 2003 film Goodbye, Dragon Inn, a modern classic haunted by the ghosts and portents of a culture in flux.

    For want of a better term, let's call these people "women."Their urge is understandable. We've all had to take measures to accommodate men, because they are involved in nearly every aspect of modern life except maybe housework and they like to run things like corporate meetings and the planet. The only other alternative has been to try to avoid men altogether, which is pretty hard to do if you are interested in stuff like reproduction or having your oil changed.That's why How to Remodel a Man is so indispensable-it is a clear, step-by-step guide for anyone who wants to alter the character and behavior of a man, written by an actual man. Author W. Bruce Cameron provides startling insight into male pattern thinking, explaining why men can open a refrigerator and not see the mayonnaise, or how it is that they can throw dirty clothes at the hamper or in front of the hamper or even on top of the hamper and yet not seem capable of getting any of it in the hamper. Normally, changing a man has certain obstacles, including, but not limited to, the fact that it is impossible. But Cameron is able to overcome this hindrance because he, himself, has been remodeled. In a move so bold it may be shocking to people unaccustomed to such personal courage, Cameron turned himself over to the women in his life and asked them to change him. It started with a list of his flaws (Cameron came up with four; the women came up with one hundred seventy eight) and ended with him writing How to Remodel a Man, so that others could learn from his experience.If you're a woman, you'll be amazed to learn that men can be trained to perform all sorts of tricks, like using the instruments on the sides of their heads (the ears) to listen to you, and the space between those instruments to think about you.If you're a man, you've been given this book so that you'll see that it's possible to watch television without holding the remote or to ask for directions from strangers without suffering a catastrophic loss of testosterone. Cameron changed, and you can too.How to Remodel a Man is the essential guide for anyone in the awkward position of having to interact with a person of the male gender.

    Winning the 2008 national championship was certainly the highlight, but the most dominant era in school history also includes a national-best 300 wins, three Final Fours and nine Big 12 titles since 2001.The consistency was unmatched.As a sportswriter covering the Jayhawks, first for The Kansas City Star and then for Yahoo! Sports, Jason King was there to chronicle it all. From Roy Williams' stunning departure to Mario's Miracle against Memphis to Kansas' 69-game winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse, King witnessed all the highlights - and lowlights - from 2000 and beyond. In short, he was the ultimate insider.Now you will be, too.With "Beyond the Phog," King provides Kansas fans with an unprecedented glimpse into one of the most memorable eras in the program's rich history. Extensive interviews with nearly 40 players from the last decade, as well as both head coaches, reveal fascinating details about the inner-workings of a true college basketball dynasty.You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be riveted - and, at times, shocked. Whatever the case, even the most ardent Kansas supporters will be exposed to candid, behind the scenes stories and anecdotes that, until now, had been confined to the Jayhawks' locker room.Here's a sample of what's inside:• Did Drew Gooden's shoes cost Kansas the 2002 NCAA title?• Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich lament their final game against Syracuse• Roy Williams provides details about his final few weeks at Kansas and his relationship with Al Bohl• Why did Wayne Simien almost quit basketball?• Jeff Graves comes clean about violating a sacred locker room rule• Russell Robinson describes why he tried to fight his own coach• J.R. Giddens gives his version of the Moon Bar stabbing• Darrell Arthur explains why he's been hesitant to return to campus since winning the 2008 title• Mario Chalmers provides a step-by-step account of his heroic shot against Memphis• Tyshawn Taylor discusses the aftermath of the Jayhawks' 2011 loss to VCU• Josh Selby talks about his decision to enter the NBA draft• And hundreds of other stories from favorites such as Sherron Collins, Keith Langford, Jeff Boschee, Aaron Miles, Michael Lee, Eric Chenowith, Xavier Henry, Luke Axtell, Sasha Kaun, Tyrel Reed, Jeff Hawkins, Brady Morningstar, Darnell Jackson and others.Time has clearly loosened lips in Lawrence. "Beyond the Phog" is an honest, candid look at what really happened during a magical - and often controversial - period in Kansas basketball history.

    

    Oftentimes, the gifts they share are difficult to identify. Mastering a new language is hard work, but learning to speak the Language of Spirit is more difficult. This book is an ABC's narrative for identifying signs, messages, and signals from the Afterworld. It shares a simple way to look for, and read, communications from the hereafter.Our special ones want to connect with us. For anyone looking to continue their relationship with a Loved One in the Afterlife, this book can help teach you how to identify their Gifts from the Other Side.Love lives forever... and so do we.

    V. Wood. Three Years in Wonderland presents the never-before-told, full story of -the happiest place on earth.- Using information from over one hundred unpublished interviews, Todd James Pierce lays down the arc of Disneyland's development from an idea to a paragon of entertainment.In the early 1950s, the Disney brothers hired Wood and his team to develop a feasibility study for an amusement park Walt wanted to build in southern California. -Woody- quickly became a central figure. In 1954, Roy Disney hired him as Disneyland's first official employee, its first general manager, and appointed him vice president of Disneyland, Inc., where his authority was exceeded only by Walt. A brilliant project manager, Wood was also a con man of sorts. Previously, he had forged his university diploma. A smooth-talker drawn to Hollywood, the first general manager of Disneyland valued money over art. As relations soured between Wood and the Disney brothers, Wood found creative ways to increase his income, leveraging his position for personal fame. Eventually, tensions at the Disney park reached a boiling point, with Walt demanding he be fired.In compelling detail, Three Years in Wonderland lays out the struggles and rewards of building the world's first cinematic theme park and convincing the American public that a $17 million amusement park was the ideal place for a family vacation. The early experience of Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and C. V. Wood is one of the most captivating untold stories in the history of Hollywood. Pierce interviewed dozens of individuals who enjoyed long careers at the Walt Disney Company as well as dozens of individuals who--like C. V. Wood--helped develop the park but then left the company for good once the park was finished. Through much research and many interviews, Three Years in Wonderland offers readers a rare opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and women who built the best-known theme park in the world.