Entertainment Books

It's nearly comical to write a review of this book - - not because there's anything wrong with the book....simply because it's such a classic, it'd be like me writing a review of "War and Peace".

Every serious snare drum student (or nearly every serious one, at least) starts with this book. It's a must-have. Very slow and gradual in it's approach. Highly recommended.

"Daddy, even Mommy can do it." Those are the words my eight year-old said after a few days with this book. Information is presented in an easy to understand format, that was entertaining for both of us.

This is the book I have been using in my pursuit to learn how to drum. First off, I suggest if you are not taking lessons, you do so. even with this book, hearing and seeing someone play with you, that is experienced, is a great help. The book covers the basic drummer needs, flams, rolls, drags, timing, quarter, eigth, and sixteen notes. I would buy the dvd with the book.

I've read the book a few times and bought additional copies for several friends. The books offer's biblical facts showing where the modern day churches are back sliding. He does a great job showing how churches like Willow Creek and Saddleback water down the gospel and present the gospel incorrectly.

The book was a huge help to me in exposing the false teaching's in a church that I used to attend. It also helped me choose a new church that is Biblically relevent.

While not the primary purpose of the book, there's a section at the end of the book that is the best I've ever read discussing repentence.

The biblically illiterate who rely upon television preaching stars and pseudo theologians for their next emotional fix or a feel good pat on the head might not ever read this book, but I pray that they do.

Gilley does a fine job of showing us how the contemporary churches have lost their focus and no longer understand their true calling.

Still in the process of reading the book...but it clearly outlines how churches sell out to the world...while compromising God's way.

Gary Gilley is a student of worship and the direction, or mis-direction, that many churches are taking today. If you are serious about worship and are not afraid to take a Biblical look at the current trends of the "contemporary" church, then you should definitly read this book. Be ready for an eye opening experience.

Totally hysterical. I love it.
I'd marry Lewis Black if I could meet him.
I'd live an extra 20 years just from the benefits of his humor.

Lewis Black has a self described "potty mouth" and he uses it in this audio book. I'm not offended by the religious humor - that is what I expected but I think I would have enjoyed the reading more if someone else had performed it or if he had skipped the worst of the profanity. I've not heard anything by him before so I didn't know what to expect except when I'd seen on Larry King. I must say that I laughed a lot at his description of many TV Evangelists! And he did have one religion he liked - you have to listen to find out which one.

Me of Little Faith
I was disapointed. Louis Black is alot more funny in person than in writing. He should stick to what he knows best
pete jeffer

This just wasn't a very good book. I hope that whoever ghost wrote it didn't get paid very much. Mr. Black can be a stunningly funny comic and the material was just begging to be nailed but this attempt was sadly off. It was neither irreverent enough to be funny nor well thought out enough to be interesting. It really felt like a series of twenty second bits that he tried out in the shower over successive days and found to be too lame for his show. There were a few guffaws but for the most part i had to fight my way through the drivel to gratefully reach the end and realize that i had just invested 90 minutes of my life in what Mr. Black would call a pile of f*%&*in crap...on plain dry toast.

Lewis Black ,his intelligence and humor make a serious subject laughable. If you've seen him on TV or in concert, you can see him speaking his "wisdom" and making his frustrating faces. A winner!!

Here is someone who took something ugly and painful and created some of the most beautiful and funny moments in entertainment history. He's made us all feel better about our imperfect childhoods and our questionable families but he's also got a lot of supportive people rallying around him and hoping the rest of his life is never ugly or painful again.

This is one of the most realistic autobiographies I have ever read. George Lopez is human, funny, nostalgic, sad, and creative. The more I learn about his life and his success, the more I believe in the power of the human spirit. Spellbinding from the first to the last page, I learned to appreciate the long and winding road to success. More George Lopez, please!

I have to comment in regards to the reader who said that George Lopez is not Mexican...he is Mexican in the sense that I am Italian...it's in my blood. Is there anything wrong with his being a proud American? Why shouldn't he embrace that part of himself? As he said himself, it is Americans who buy his tickets and watch his program and 90% of them happen to be white. George Lopez is obviously very proud of his accomplishments, his Mexican heritage and his American citizenship that was his birthright. We love you George Lopez.....never change....never become leary of your loyal audience the way that so many comedians end up becoming...and always know that when we are not laughing WITH you, that we are crying WITH you! I know, huh!

I was moved by his difficult upbrings and how he fought back. I couldn't stop laughing when he talked about the mexican culture and their strange habits & sayings, because I could definitely relate being mexican myself.

I love this book. Not only did the book help me understand his comedy even more but I was was able to relate to him more now than before I read his book.

On top of him giving us a look into what his life was truly like he still made me laugh with his excerps.

For those who are complaing that this book is not a comprehensive history of The Ramones, you are missing the point. This is the story of one Dee Dee Ramone, a man who lived part of his life as bassist for the band, and lived his whole life as a drug addict. Ego? Of course. As addicts, we are insecure egomaniacs and if we don't have our sobriety, we have no chance of building a better life from this chaos.
Dee Dee never found what he needed. The only irony is that the word "Surviving" is in the title. Like thousands before and after him who are still suffering, Dee Dee did not survive.

This book was surprisingly good. Dee Dee's sincerity and honesty really showed through this confessional autobiography. The book is filled with Dee Dee's insight about his journey from a highly dysfunctional family to being a successful song writer and punk star. It made me realize how much he contributed to the band and even during the times he was out of the band he was still writing songs for the Ramones on a freelance basis. What impresses me about Dee Dee is that his main goal was happiness and he was well aware of his struggle, his own ghosts and faults. This book also is simply enjoyable to read. Dee Dee is a great writer with tight chapters that wrap up nicely. I really love this book and will definitely reread it a couple more times.

There are only a few good books out there about the Ramones. This is one of them.

Most people seem to miss the point of this book. Dee Dee is joking around... he's being authentic... being Dee Dee... a PUNK and a drug addict. Everything is exagerrated and shot through Dee Dee's Special Black Humor Lens. Every page has priceless moments where Dee Dee takes the piss out of someone... like the Idiots who buy this book and actually expect Dee Dee to be some sort of self-important Rock Historian. He invents endless bizarre stuff like Marc Bell doing the "Chicken Beek Boy Dance" and references it every 5 pages to really rub it in. Brilliant.

But where the book really shines is Dee Dee's brutally honest portrayal of the life-long battle addicts wage with there addictions. Usually a losing battle. His humanity is bared for all. And we are all one and the same. In contrast to Phony Rock Stars and Celebrities who carefully cultivated air-brushed images that absolutely no one believes anyway. After reading this book... I just love this guy. I would have cried the day he died.

This was the first book that i finish in my life, i hated reading. It takes you through dee dee's lifestyle and mentality, the lows and highs, and ofcourse his relationships with the ramones. Now if you love this style of punk, not that mohawk stuff, then this book is a must read. Dee dee is punk rock, he wrote most of the ramones songs except for joey's love songs so, the geniuse behind the voice is this man.

anyways blah blah blah get this book if you're a real ramones fan and not just a pop fan "Gabba Gabba Hey !"

If you have acoustic, I think you will have some problems. The single star reviewer was correct. Just starting out you need another book. This books (at least to me) should be used in conjunction with other beginner books (I am using Guitar method). I do like that it gives you the tabs as well as the musical notation it corresponds to. So if you know tabs, you could possibly learn to read musical note placement with this. I give it a 3 because if used with other books a beginner can get a rounded practice in and not get to board. Many beginner books have simple songs, yet you want to sound like a rock star, so having your practice remind you that your still a beginner works.

The CD's are nice, but as the title suggest, the music is played on Electric. I don't think I would have bought this book knowing that what I play on my acoustic won't sound the same and with some of the lessons I don't know if you can do that on acoustic.
thanks

This is a great book for building a variety of chops: string skipping, arpeggios, sweep picking, etc. Exercises are very short - each can be done in about 5 mins. and they build from very slow tempos to pretty quick which is a great way to go. Playing to a drum track is more enjoyable to just a click and the exercises are musical in nature, in other words, you're not just playing technical scales and stuff like that. There is also an audio track of each exercise so you know exactly how they should sound. Only reason I give it 4 stars is because I'd like a little more guidance in the intro. For example, if a passage is too hard/fast do I keep at it before I get it before moving on or do the best I can and move on? Just a little more guidance for practice techniques but overall a great book, very well organized, and well worth the cheap price.

I purchased this book at the end of December to give me something to do between songs I'm learning. I've been playing for 20 years and am still able to get some good use out of this book. The lessons actually make sense and build upon previous lessons. Granted I know a lot about playing, I'm still picking up on the little things that are improving my playing still. The key to this book and any other lessons book is that you actually stick to the regimen, otherwise what's the point?

The author spotlights 7 important techniques (alternate picking, arpeggios, sweep picking, string skipping, legato, string bending, and rhythm guitar) one for each day of the week, and builds on each every week. So every Monday is alternate picking day, and builds on the lesson of the Monday before. It's a great idea. The author says that an intermediate player can skip to around week 17 and an advanced player can probably go to week 36. I'd say I'm lower intermediate, after some 10 years of playing both steel-string acoustic and electric. I've worked my way through the first 10 weeks of lessons in 4 or 5 days. I find some of the skills like string bending, arpeggios, legato, and rhythm to be very easy, but I've never done sweep picking and found it to be a challenge. And the string skipping is something I've never done much concentrated work on, so it's great. I'm sure that when I get up to week 17 the other skills will get more challenging for me.

JR has a good point that there's not as much guidance on technique as I'd like on a couple of things. I think he was overly critical though. There are short notes on each day's lesson about technique. One was to keep the fretting pinky in place on the G while you shift from a G to an E chord - it helped me to stop fumbling around for the E shape. Another that I have not mastered, is in sweep arpeggios, to mute each note after you play it by slightly releasing the pressure on the fretting finger. That's one that I would like more details on, because I find it hard to do, especially if I'm barring the 1st and second string with my index finger on say the 3rd fret while catching the 3rd string with my middle finger. Do I roll them off, or do I ease up on all strings between each pick?

Anyhow, I like the breakdown into small bite-size daily chunks that I can spend 10 or 15 minutes on a day, as part of my regular practice.

I've only had this book for a short time, but I really like this book and I'm a beginner. Then again I love a good challenge-when I really push myself is when I learn the most- and this is definitely packed full of lessons to keep you busy for more than a year. It's not a method book, so you already need some knowledge of the guitar. But as far as technique books go, this is top notch and well written by a guy who knows guitar (Troy Nelson was the former editor of Guitar One and now I think he's at Guitar Edge). It's a bummer when you pay good money for a book and you are bored with it in a few weeks. I think I'll be proud when I can see how I've grown as a player from the easy licks to the hard ones (when I finally get there!). No I'm not mastering one a day, but everyone has to go at their own pace. I mean, a year's worth (or more) of lessons and music for under $20?! Right on.

I found this book very good to record my own songs. I have had an 8 track recorder for some time now, but everything sounded too thick, muddled etc. This book helped to learn to layer and create space.

This song covers traditional arrangement techniques. It is mostly suited to guitarists...not so much keyboardists. It has insightful info, but doesn't offer much in terms of experimental or unconventional arrangement techniques, which would have been nice. It's not one of Rooksby's best books, but it's still good (which says something)!

I loved these as a kid now they are done for adults. I got them all and when I was laid up with foot surgery has fun with them. they varried by numbers. number sequences, symbols, letters, not for little kids..a big kid toy.

I have my 5 year-old hooked on these dot-to-dots. It's a great learning tool too. He started when he was 4 and it has helped him learn to count by twos in odd and even numbers. I highly recommend it for kids of all ages who like dot-to-dot puzzles. It is a small book, so it conveniently fits in a purse...also easy for small hands to hold. Definitely worth the money!

Don't waste your time and money. I was expecting some new ideas, but this book was full of techniques that every thirteen year old boy has tried.

Normandy, Marsha and St. James, Joseph. "The Handjob Handbook: A Work of Non-Friction" with illustrations by Arlene Schunk, Simon Spotlight Books, 2008.

There is a Book for Everything

Amos Lassen

I always thought that handjobs were kind of instinctive. Most of us did not have to be taught how to give one,it just happened and I assure you that the only thoughts anyone might have had,
had to do with getting caught in action.
I, however, must give handjobs their due. They satisfy, they are quick and they are fun and practical. A handjob relieves tension and requires no primping or getting ready. However, the handjob has been forced to take a second seat to other sexual activates and Marsha Normandy and James St. Joseph, the authors of this little book, do not feel that is fair. They want handjobs in the place they so rightfully deserve¡at the head of the list of sexual activities. They claim that ¡"if a handjob is worth doing, it's worth doing well¨. The book provides twenty-five different techniques to make self-abuse more satisfying (and by the way, I am sure that the authors do not like the term self-abuse with its negative connotation). The book shows us how to be more creative and achieve more pleasure as we "spank the monkey" and "bleed the lizard". The book, quite naturally, begins with the basic handjob technique and then introduces us to such exercises as "the jiffy pop", "ants climbing up a hill", "the twist off". "taffy pull" and "taint misbehaving" among others. What a blessing it is to know that there are so many ways for a man to get off by himself (and the ways seem quite fun but I have only managed to try eight of them so far).
The book is a lot of fun and it abounds in wit and playful eroticism. Yet there is a danger here. As you read, you want to try it all and I am not that young anymore (but do I wish I were).
"The Handjob Handbook" can take you to new heights in pleasuring yourself. I understand that the book was written for women but so what? We can still learn from it and reap its rewards. Just imagine asking a friend if he would like to ¡§climb the rope¡¨ or ¡§squeeze play¡¨ with you.
We guys know that we are born with a special toy that is fun to see and touch. Some of us are masters at masturbation but there are those that can use some help. There is a talent involved in giving a good handjob and like in music, some have an ear for it and others are tone deaf. That does not mean that there is no hope. Again, like in music, practice makes perfect (or at least a little better anyway). And remember also that a handjob is always convenient and always safe.
If your technique needs work, may I suggest you "boning up" with "The Handjob Handbook". If you already mastered the skill, get a copy for the fun it provides.