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No Home on the Range: Diary of an Executive Cowgirl
Caren Cowen
Manufacturer: Merril Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0936783362 |
Book Description
This book is an inside look at a national icon under siege: ranching.
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- a little hard to use and often not true in the summer
- Great, inspiring book!
- A pearl of tent camping wisdom!
- So you want to go camping...
- Good info but, not easy reference.
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The Best in Tent Camping: Southern California, 3rd: A Guide for Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos (Best in Tent Camping - Menasha Ridge)
Bill Mai
Manufacturer: Menasha Ridge Press
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Rayovac SPHLTLED 3-in-1 LED Head-Lite
ASIN: 0897325818 |
Book Description
From the aromatic pine woods and cascading streams of the southern Sierra Nevada to the starkly beautiful desert landscapes of Death Valley, The Best in Tent Camping: Southern California is a guidebook for tent campers who like quiet, scenic, and serene campsites. It's the perfect resource if you blanch at the thought of pitching a tent on a concrete slab, trying to sleep through the blare of another camper's boombox, or waking to find your tent surrounded by a convoy of RVs. Whether you are a Southern California native in search of new territory or a vacationer on the lookout for that dream campground, this book will help you unlock the secrets to the best tent camping that Southern California has to offer.
Customer Reviews:
a little hard to use and often not true in the summer.......2007-08-16
Some of the sites in this book are as advertised, but because of the way that it's organized, it's cumbersome to use while planning a trip. You can't really tell where each site is along different routes until you look up close, and the order doesn't help you.
My biggest gripe is that some of these sites are FAR from quiet when you get there; RV's ARE allowed at some of these sites (and he doesn't say which ones).
In my opinion, you're better off with a more comprehensive guidebook that tells it like it really is for each site.
Great, inspiring book!.......2007-02-03
This book has opened up a world of camping possibilities for my family in Southern California. The ratings system is excellent, right on, for things like how quiet the sites are, etc, recommending what times of year to go to different areas,etc. We have camped in several areas that we never would have known about without this book that were stunningly beautiful, quiet, and not too crowded. Yes, the book could have been organized slightly better (a bit awkward matching up the maps with the campsites) which hopefully they will fix in the next edition. Great job, and a big thank you from a family who likes to camp and hopes to do more camping as our children grow older.
A pearl of tent camping wisdom!.......2006-08-07
Okay, this book is actually so great I almost didn't want to write a review because then other people might buy the book and take up spaces at these awesome campgrounds. But I decided not to be selfish and give you the low down. Before I do, I will caution that this book is not for the faint of heart. If pit toilets and no running water aren't your cup of tea, don't buy this. Also, note the title. Don't get this unless you tent camp...some of the places listed don't even allow RVs.
This summer, we've been on three great camping trips that were inspired by this book. The campgrounds in it are well off the beaten path...I doubt I would ever have discovered them on my own. If you're new to southern California like me, this book is essential. Also, the information on the different campgrounds is very reliable and useful, sometimes even better than that on state park websites. P.S. The map of the different campgrounds does have a key on the prior page page (just clarifying a point someone else brought up).
So you want to go camping..........2006-05-21
So you want to go camping and you don't know where to go. Maybe you have tried camping and found yourself on a parking lot surrounded by the lovely sound of multiple RV generators. This has happened to me so many times that I decided to buy this book to help out with campground choices. One of the first recommended campsites is the beautiful "Montana de Oro", which is just as nice as the author says it is. Each campsite has a two page description with some background and historical information. It also has a list of ammenities, who to call to make reservations and what time of year is best for visiting the campsite. The prose is entertaining enough to just read for fun.
Good info but, not easy reference........2006-04-23
This book provides a pretty solid system of rating for the campgrounds listed. The major flaw in this book however, is that the map has the campgrounds shown by an assigned number. The listed campgrounds are not numbered in the table of contents, or on the pages they are reviewed on. Some may be hundreds of miles apart on the map but listed sequentially. I find myself counting out in the table of contents. Review quality would rate a five because of the detail and personal character given by the author but, the ease of use was lacking.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent, though less user-friendly than alternatives.......2007-08-20
The main two books I read when studying the Maya script were this one and Michael Coe's "Reading the Maya Glyphs." Ultimately, I preferred this one because it is more in-depth and scholarly, but I did miss the exercises and easy-to-look-up tables that the Coe has. The Coe is also slightly better illustrated (or, at least, more flashily illustrated, which is admittedly not the same thing). Either book can add greatly to your appreciation of monuments at sites such as Palenque and their museums, and ideally I would recommend purchasing both books.
I'm somewhat conflicted about this next issue. The Coe book delves further into some more cutting-edge grammatical theories such as morphosyllables and syllabic disharmony (don't worry, both are explained well). These theories are fascinating, and are barely discussed by Montgomery in the book on this page. HOWEVER, there is far less scholarly support behind these controversial ideas, and in many ways I think Coe makes them seem more accepted than they are. Montgomery's conservatism is probably more academically honest.
It's very difficult to recommend one over the other because they both have their strengths and weaknesses. It may be overly general, but if you're looking for a more sophisticated and deep understanding of Maya script, the book on this page is probably better. If you want a more practical study (including exercises to test your comprehension), go with the Coe--just remember that scholars are less certain about some of his claims than it may seem.
I never got it!.......2007-03-09
Sorry, I never got the book, so I would not know what to say about it.
How to read Maya.......2003-05-08
In short, it is a book for those interested on learning how to read Mayan Hieroglyphs. It gives you a step by step approache and good examples, taking you to some final exercises that will help to start by yourself.
AWESOME!!.......2002-09-03
This will become known as one of the standards. It is a masterpiece in its format and its presentation. Mr. Montgomery did a fine job in methodically (a compliment) going through the material and explaining the nuances of "hieroglyphs." I highly recommend the book.
review of Mayan hieroglyphs guide.......2002-04-08
Excellent book. I have a degree in cultural anthropology and started studying the Maya thirty years ago. Finally, we have a clear, precise explanation of how to approach and gain understanding of the glyphs with excellent background history and perspective. Although I am now an attorney, I still study Mayan culture and archaeology and find the book extremely interesting, approachable and a great pleasure to read. The facts that are added to give background do indeed, provide a well-rounded understanding of the evolution of the cracking of the code. I can't praise it enough. I waited a long time for a book like this!
Customer Reviews:
A good start, but not too complete........2007-06-16
There's very few entries in this dictionary. I've seen word lists in films that contain thousands of entries. This maybe contains a hundred or two.
One benefit to this is that the glyphs are very big- one inch by one inch- huge, really, and you can see all the details necessary for drawing them yourself.
But it's not too terribly scholarly. If a guy wants to be fluent in this language as a careers (as I), very soon (5 years) I'll outgrow this dictionary and need another of greater depth.
Here's the big-picture low-down: ancient languages (Archaic Sumerian, Oracle Bone Script Chinese, even Middle Egyptian!) like this are poorly represented in public-accessable books, despite the number of interested scholars we have devoted to these these languages. This is something I see historically in anthro-archaeological academia: No one pubishes to get the information to the pubic, even in their own country.
I would like to become an expert in all of these languages and others and write many books for the English-speaking market. Until then, we'll have to settle for a limited selection by a labotomized group of knowledge-hogs.
lemuria.......2004-07-30
A good dictionary for studying Mayan inscriptions.I hope J.Montgomery will publish new and more comprehensive grammar books and dictionaries to enlighten us.
Customer Reviews:
emmanuel swedenborg.......2004-07-30
This deserve a heartfelt applause.In comparison to other works in this field this is the most helpful book to solve the enigma of Mayan writing system.I recommend sincerely.
Strictly for glyphies.......2002-09-27
This is a heavy duty text rather than an introduction. If you are just a dumb tourist like myself visiting Copan (there are hardly any inscriptions in Chichen Itza or Northern Yucatan -usually the places with the good inscriptions are hard or dangerous to get to - even Copan right now)and you want to understand the numbers and dates you might be better off with something simpler. In fact, for numbers and dates, old Sylvanus Griswold Morley is quite good (but don't let hard-core glyphies hear you say that). You can buy lots of gizmos with diagrams of the calendar round. I could not understand the Harris and Stearns chapter on astronomy.
This stuff keeps getting updated - the University of Pennsylvania issues supplements.
Superb Introduction to Mayan Hieroglyphs.......2000-08-12
Mayan epigraphy is still an exciting and rapidly changing field with new discoveries being made. This book opened the door of this field to me. The book presents the basic knowledge of Mayan calendrics, vocabulary and grammar clearly with ample examples from inscriptions. The technique of structural analysis used by most Mayan epigraphers is also well described. Included are several examples of structural analysis applied to texts. Interesting chapters also cover the origins of the writing system and Mayan astronomy/astrology as revealed by the texts. If you want to get started with Mayan epigraphy, I heartily recommend this book. The extensive bibliography will then help you know where to go next for further study of Mayan epigraphy.
One word of caution. The book is arranged in chapters for specific topics not in graded lessons as is usual for an introductory language text.
Amazon.com
British painter David Hockney, well known for his cool and lovely paintings of California pools, has taken on the new role of detective. For two years Hockney seriously investigated the painting techniques of the old masters, and like any admirable sleuth, compiled substantial evidence to support his revolutionary theory. Secret Knowledge is the fruit of this labor, an exhaustive treatise in pictures revealing clues that some of the world's most famous painters, Ingres, Velázquez, Caravaggio (just to mention a few) utilized optics and lenses in creating their masterpieces. Hockney's fascination with the subject is contagious, and the book feels almost like a game with each analysis a "How'd they do that?" instead of a whodunit. While some may find the technical revelation a disappointment in terms of the idea of genius, Hockney is quick to point out that the use of optics does not diminish the immensity of artistic achievement. He reminds the reader that a tool is just a tool, and it is still the artist's hand and creative vision that produce a work of art. (296 pages, 460 illustrations, 402 in color.) --J.P. Cohen
Book Description
David Hockney's controversial book, now revised in paperback with thirty-two new pages of evidence
Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney's extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.
In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey of discovery as he builds a case that mirrors and lenses were used by the great masters to create their highly detailed and realistic paintings and drawings. Hundreds of the best-known and best-loved paintings are reproduced alongside his straightforward analysis. Hockney also includes his own photographs and drawings to illustrate techniques used to capture such accurate likenesses. Extracts from historical and modern documents and correspondence with experts from around the world further illuminate this thought-provoking book that will forever change how the world looks at art.
Secret Knowledge will open your eyes to how we perceive the world and how we choose to represent it.
Customer Reviews:
Not so Secret to Art Technicians.......2007-08-13
Nothing is revealed but much is speculative, add a dash of "evidence" and juggle well.....I must admit to being both a commercial artist and a so-called fine artist, sign painter, computer graphic artist, sculptor, teacher, ceramics artist, candlemaker, etc., who has embraced all the projectors, cameras, overhead projectors, slide projectors, computers, tv's and every imaginable device that I could manage on many occasions, to meet a deadline. I've been drawing for my entire life and am quite studied. But, I find Hockney's revealing text and SECRET ideas to be simply another "fashionable" and wearable piece of entertainment from the old salt. Sue me. Then sue Rembrandt. As for the nasty reviews, what's up with the this public's deluded needs that every so-called master MUST be a superb draftsman? SIMPLY SAVES SOME TIME AND ENERGY TO PROJECT A DRAWING OR SKETCH. Hockney's work is bright, bold and fashionable. Those artists to whom we entitle as "masters" were similarly inclined, all attempted to be supported by their productions!! Any artist knows that those fuzzy afterimages he sees in his sleep certainly won't sell, and even the abstractionists of every ilk, must strive for atmosphere, depth cues, etc. Art is about making an illusion, and to use a lens is no sin. Especially when for the most part, your painting must done by candle light or very limited daylight, most often in freezing cold ateliers, heated by a wood stove....Be quiet though, the public doesn't really want their opined bubble popped!
Hockney's Evidence is Thought-Provoking, Verifiable/Falsifiable.......2007-03-27
Critics and reviewers who have rated Hockney's Secret Knowledge low seem to me to overlooks some major points. Some of these I find more persuasive than the the issue of alleged perspective misjudgment which seem to attract the greatest heat.
1. H points out that a huge majority of portraits in the period show the model as left handed--some 80%. This is consistent with use of lenses and inconsistent with the frequency of left-handedness in the population. Now, here is a verifiable fact. Are H's numbers right--or are they not?
2. H is not claiming that everyone 1400-1650 was a poor draftsman. At least in what I've seen so far, he doesn't claim e.g. that Rembrandt used optics. Part of his evidence is however that some artists who were great painters were not great draftsmen--their painting exceeds in accuracy their draftsmanship. Now this appears to me again something that is verifiable by a third party. (The question of H's own draftsmanship abilities is totally irrlevant. I don't like his art much myself).
3. In a highly competitive art market, where realism counted, what is the likelihood that artists would >not
< use devices that helped them both with accuracy and speed? Even if the great Ren artists could paint and draw realistically without optics (and their education certainly was thorough), throughput and competitive concerns surely would have pushed them in that direction.
4. To my knowledge, no one has responded to H's claim that the change in light to very strong with dark shadows from about 1400 (light is flat) to 1500 is very consistent with use of optics. Yes, that is not the only possible explanation. But from a philosophy of science perspective, this phenomenon and the phenomenon of increased accuracy need to be explained. H at least offers an explanation. The burden of an alternative explanation is on the critics. H's hypothesis could be falsified by showing that in fact strong lighting was used before this period and flat lighting afterwards.
5. Another phenomenon for which H has an explanation but for which I haven't seen alternatives is the fact that in many realistic paintings, depth of field is evident. An example is the famous Vermeer milk pitcher painting. H has an explanation of why the foreground breadbasket is out of focus, while the background basket is (oddly) in focus. If a critic doesn't like H's explanation, he/she should provide an alternative.
6. H shows that in some cases extremely precise scaling is evident--scaling that would be very difficult to do by hand. Prof Falco, the optics and superconducting physicist who collaborated with H., has done the math and claimed that obtaining such accuracy by hand is very difficult since the error is (as I remember) under 2%). Doing anything by hand with under 2% error is quite a feat--including reconciling bank statements :)-- never mind drawing. Here is another phenomenon in which either the factual statements by H and Falco can be easily verified/falsified or need an alternative explanation should be provided.
On an ad hominem note, I think it is worth pointing out that art historians have a built-in motive for rejecting H's hypothesis: They didn't find it! I took an amateur to notice the discrepancies. Finally, personal experience suggests that some people have a lot more difficult time with accuracy/obtaining a likeness than others. For H to be correct, he does not need to support the claim that everyone who was accurate used optics, only that some did and these raised the bar for the art community as a whole.
Thanks for reading.
Another great book from Hockney's first rate mind.......2007-01-12
I have spent years painting and teaching and drawing the figure. Its amazing how much a person still can learn after practicing it for so long. This is one of the joys of drawing. Every investigated mark is a learning experience. That is what I also love about Hockney. This man might not be the greatest shining star artist of our time, but it would be easy to defend him as the greatest thinker in the arts since Da Vinci.
'Secret Knowledge' is just a small chunk of Hockney's oeuvre. He has been writing books primarily through the interview form for decades. Each book has looked at aspects of art in different lights. This book only happens to be the most concise and stylized of his many efforts.
Basically, if your here reading this, I bet you have some idea what this book is about already. You know that Hockney is putting forth a thesis on how drawings were so precisely crafted by the masters two hundred years ago, while today as one of our societies foremost draftsmen, Hockney cant even come close to matching those abilities. Hockney goes into detail on how he can see characteristic pencil marks created by Warhol or other artists using over-head projectors and Ingres' drawings. This is pretty obvious if you have done both. Hockney then goes into precise detail on the drawbacks of using the camera lucidea and obscuras and how they were used.
I really find some qualms with the reviewer who says that Hockney's arguments are on par with a junior high school students and that they are not scientific. Quite the contrary. Hockney's arguments are precise and unfold in a step by step process. You can't really give scientific proof over how a drawing was created any other way than Hockney has done so. The more time you spend drawing the figure, the more you will realize what Hockney is saying, is right on.
I think that this book will go down as one of the benchmark art books of our era. Its well worth pondering over and I think that even though it does not have quite as much relevance in our post-modern era, it will be around for as long as people still want to understand art.
An Important And Original Work.......2007-01-10
An excellent read for those interested in the way artworks were produced. The book's inferences humanize Art History and will change the way you look at the works of past masters. Hockney's research is well documented, well presented and profound.
'A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth' John Singer Sargent.......2006-12-14
Reaction to David Hockney's original book SECRET KNOWLEDGE published in 2001 stirred a lot of controversy from artists, art historians, art collectors, and students: the responses ranged from resounding Bravos! to a clangorous 'Humbugs!' Now Hockney has produced a second expanded volume, partially in response to that outbreak of slander and partially to fill the voids left by his first set of observations. This newly expanded version retains the luxury of copious images of paintings from the early 15th century to the present and adds to that a fascinating series of historical quotations from across the centuries to support his theory. In other words, the book is still controversial - but now it is backed by researched documents from ancient and contemporary scholars.
His theory? Simply that artists from those following Giotto to the present used optics as a tool to create images. Hockney does not disparage this 'manipulation' as a foil to famous artists' integrity or talent: quite the opposite - he lauds the artists who had the intelligence to make use of yet another tool (like paint brushes, charcoal, paper, easels, etc) to hone their skills. Hockney gently and with respect explores the use of the camera obscura and camera lucida along with the use of concave and convex mirrors and lenses, offering the reader not only his ideas on the subject but also splendid examples of how the discovery of optics changed the quality of painting over a mere tow or three years of usage time with such luminaries as Velasquez and Caravaggio!
Whether or not the reader elects to accept Hockney's premise of the importance of optics in the development of art history will not prevent enjoying the fascinating excursion this well designed and produced book offers. Hockney intermingles his own portraits meticulously created with the use of the camera lucida to demonstrate how this technique was in no way a sign of laziness or 'copying' of a projected image on the part of the artists he discusses. Quite the contrary. By utilizing these techniques and sharing the inherent difficulties the use of optics creates in the technical aspects of painting and drawing he is able to speak with authority about his thesis.
Hockney's joy (which continues to this day) is exploring the 'How did they do that?' response to painting, not unlike the way most of us approach a canvas and as 'What does it mean?'. It is this kind of intellectual searching that makes this book such a treasure - that, and the fact that here is yet another superb art history book that the reader will actually READ instead of just perusing the pictures. Highly recommended on many levels. Grady Harp, December 06
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