A Stubble-Jumper in Striped Pants: Memoirs of a Prairie Diplomat

Book Description

In the spring of 1989, Earl Drake, Canadian ambassador to China, found himself in the midst of the Tiananmen Square crisis. Asked to evacuate Beijing's Canadian residents in a hurry, to maintain control of the embassy, and to provide a voice of reason to the media, he resolved to write his memoirs if he made it out unharmed. His recollections paint a fascinating picture of the life of a diplomat initially drawn to the foreign service from his study of history, and provide a first-hand account of the growing depth and complexity of Canada's relations with Asia.

Drake knew many of the leaders of the postwar world, and his in-depth character sketches of such powerful and controversial figures as Robert McNamara, President Suharto, and China's Li Peng are written with a sense of humanity and fairness. What particularly sets this memoir apart is Drake's humour and humility. He is frank about himself and his attitudes and avoids the self-importance that is a feature of many diplomatic memoirs. In his own words, he 'looks at the old Central Canadian attitudes of the Department of External Affairs through fresh prairie eyes.'

Anyone who wants to know more about Canada's diplomatic activities in Asia will find this memoir engaging, because of both its forthright manner and the events and people recounted.

Book Description

BudgetYes! is a step-by-step, exactly "how-to" create a customized personal budget. It is a complete budgeting education--where you learn not just to track what you've done, but how to actually "run" a real budget, with emphasis on how to plan in-advance for spending. It does not focus on the outdated paradigms of "diet" and "deprivation," but approaches the topic from a perspective of organization and finding more money in your life with budgeting.

Customer Reviews:

Life Changing.......2003-09-30

This was a fabulous book. I am addicted to BudgetYes. It changed my life -- I paid off $10,000 of credit card debt in 6 months and actually look forward to paying my bills each month. For anyone who doesn't necessarily have money "problems" but who knows they ought to learn to live within a budget and wants to set a good example for their children, this is the perfect book. I've given a copy to my sister and my mother. If I could find a diet book that worked as well, I'd be in heaven.

Concepts that work.......1999-12-28

In BudgetYes! you will find solutions to your problems of wandering funds, missing money and unorganized finances. A well explained, detailed and illustrated book that lays it on the table and will help you to get organized with your money and account for every dime. Inside you will not only find well orchestrated instructions, but examples of all of the different layouts you will need to begin to get a grip on your finances. The concepts used here are very similar to the principals of accounting, yet they are explained in a way that you don't need to be a C.P.A. to understand them. I highly recommend this book for anything from getting a grip on your money to setting up a complete household budget. Well done!

Book Description

Gives standards by sales volume and 12 North American regions; compares firm operations by value added and sales.

Book Description

This beautiful, entertaining book features hundreds of full-color photos of Barbie doll fashions, detailed descriptions, and current values. A stylebook of fashions complete with all accessories. 2004 values. AUTHORBIO: Sarah Sink Eames's favorite plaything as a child grew into a lifetime of Barbie doll collecting. Sarah has been a speaker and judge at national Barbie Doll conventions. She was president of Star City Doll Club, a UFDC club, and she edited A Detailed Listing and Value Guide to Barbie Doll Fashions, Volume I and II. She is the author of Barbie Doll Fashion Volume I,II, and III. REVIEW: This volume is the first in a three-volume series by author Sarah Sink Eames. It documents all of Barbie's fashions from the years 1959 through 1967, and includes Ken doll fashions and rare gift sets.

Customer Reviews:

THE book.......2007-10-03

To say something about this book is so so easy - this is THE Barbie collection book. Great photos, great describtions of all the outfits year by year.
You don't need any other book besides this

Barbie Fashion book review-1959-1967.......2007-07-05

Great book - a must for any Barbie collector-great pictures with accessories that originally went with each outfit- easy to look up values-great fun to wander through!!

Doll Crazy.......2007-05-07

A great reference book with great photos and descriptions to keep track of your dolls clothes and your investment.

A MUST FOR THE BARBIE DOLL COLLECTOR!!.......2006-11-10

For any serious collector of vintage Barbie doll, this book is the best resource available. I have many other books on early Barbie and her fashions, but this volume is the one that I consistently use. It is an accurate, comprehensive chronology of Barbie doll, her family and friends from 1959 through 1967. The photographs alone are worth purchasing the book. The colors are vibrant and crisp. Each fashion is pictured with all of its original components. This is of great value to the collector in putting together an outfit. I keep this book by my computer for reference when making vintage Barbie doll purchases or bidding on online auctions. I cannot imagine collecting Barbie doll items without it!

Barbie Fashion, 1959-1967.......2006-08-17

I loved this first book on the Barbie outfits. Most informative...

Average customer rating:

Barbie Fashion, Vol. I: 1959-1967
Sarah Link Eames
Manufacturer: Collector Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
ASIN: B000NLM78Y

Product Description

Lincoln Cents Collectors Folder 1941-1974

Book Description

This inspirational book, with specially commissioned photography by Hugh Palmer, illustrates and discusses grand and small water gardens throughout the world, from the formal Islamic masterpieces of Granada and Kashmir to the tranquil gardens of Kyoto in Japan.

All the principal schools of garden design in America and Europe are also included. The ingenuity of the Italian garden, with its brilliant aquatic engineering and variety of water features—chutes, staircases, fountains, and grottoes—is captured in stunning views, as are the grand vistas of Versailles and other gardens in the French style, the "natural" look of English landscaping, the smaller-scale pleasures of stream and pond gardens, and the profusion of tropical gardens. Present-day instances include Geoffrey Jellicoe's finest gardens and designs by Roberto Burle Marx.

Details and close-ups are included throughout, as are examples of the remarkable variety of water features that have embellished gardens throughout the ages. An important section on the small garden and listings of major water gardens worldwide complete the book.

The Water Garden is not only a work to stimulate the modern gardener but also a sumptuous tribute to a great tradition that unites some of the most lavish and beautiful gardens ever devised. 267 illustrations, 174 in color.

Customer Reviews:

A highly enjoyable and one-of-a-kind compilation.......2003-07-19

The Water Garden by George Plumptre is an inspirational coffee-table book that contemplates a truly beautiful series of water gardens worldwide. Relaxing full-color photographs by Hugh Palmer enhanced the thoughtful water garden histories, and reflect a love of the great garden schemes permeate this highly enjoyable and one-of-a-kind compilation. The Water Garden is a welcome addition to personal and community library Exotic Gardening & Horticultural Studies collections.

Book Description

Brenda Adderly, co-author of the bestselling The Arthritis Cure demonstrates how therapeutic baby massage--long known for its ability to improve bonding between parent and child--actually increases your baby's IQ and measurably improves his or her physical health.

Book Description

By the author of the bestselling Five-Finger Discount, a hip, funny, and absorbing memoir of a journalist realizing a lifelong dream—playing drums in a rock band—as her marriage hits the rocks

Helene Stapinski took guitar lessons when she was a girl, but it was her brother’s drums that really held her interest. She used to sneak in and play them when he was away; when he realized what she was doing, he dismantled them each time he finished playing. But Helene figured out how to put them back together. She learned the classic drum solos and followed the careers of famous drummers.

As an adult, Helene put the drums aside and became a journalist. When she was thirty she interviewed Julie, the leader of a rock band, for a story. The band needed a drummer, and Helene’s long-forgotten ambitions came flooding back. She joined, and then she brought her husband aboard on bass.

Just as they started playing out at clubs, though, Helene’s husband quit the group. And as Helene’s involvement with her bandmates deepened, her relationship with her husband became distant and strained—and very nearly shattered.

Baby Plays Around reads like a novel but will ring true to anyone who has ever been in a band or just dreamed of it. Set amid the bars, clubs, and rehearsal studios of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, it’s an incisive exploration of the romance of rock and roll, and of the realization and relinquishing of youthful dreams—about ambition, freedom, and infidelity, about love lost and found again. Written with the same wit and insight that distinguished Stapinski’s uproarious memoir Five-Finger Discount—and a sense of humor as sharp as the crack of a snare drum—Baby Plays Around is a unique and deeply personal story of music and passion.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Yeah Baby , You Really Got Me!.......2005-01-24

I am always on the lookout for authentic books that deal with the music scene -- and I'm not talking about the countless fan books, nor the ones that are simply out to attack one genre or another. Stapinski's entertaining book is written with insight, passion, and unassuming honesty. On the surface it's just another band getting into playing music, being creative, and trying to make it one way or another. It is refreshing that it's not about a famous band, but a chronicle of one of the millions of groups that form and dissolve almost daily. It's easy to forget that each band is made up of musicians -- i.e., people struggling with their individual destinies and myriad relationships (the essence of all good fiction or non fiction). Having played in many bands myself, I could relate to many of the archetypal scenes described. But more than that it took a critical look at the phenomenon of rock, as well as being informative -- especially in regard to the club scene of New York City. A true delight! -- and the last page came all too soon.

Truly a love affair..........2004-09-02

"Baby Plays Around --A Love Affair with Music" really is the perfect title for this book. The author plays around town in a rock band; her husband just plain plays around. His isn't the only affair here though.

At first glance you might think that this book is meant for a pretty select audience, being about a little band struggling to make it in the New York club scene, but Helene Stapinski is really writing about relationships. As a band member, she must deal with the interpersonal dynamics occuring amongst a group of people trying to be creative and successful, and to add to the complexity of the situation, the band (at least for a time) also includes her husband. Jealousy, competition, ambition, anger and fear all come into play, but each are in a way quelled by the experience of music --an experience that seems to be an awful lot like love.

Though I'm a pretty slow reader, I finished Baby Plays Around in just a couple of days. It held me in both its details and the arc of the character's emotional growth --which I think should be the measure of any great story.

Brilliant!.......2004-06-30

One of the richest, and perhaps one of the most honest nonfiction books I've read, Helene Stapinksi mines her obsessions, both music and love, to create a riveting masterpiece. This story of a freelance writer who falls through the rabbit hole to end up living a childhood fantasy -- as a drummer in a band -- speaks to any of us who hold a dream in our hearts about 'what could have been' were we to follow our wilder creative spirits. But it comes with a price, with significant and painful fallout in many of her relationships, particularly with her husband, and Stapinski doesn't spare any of the uncomfortable, awkward, and many times hilarious experiences she encounters, taking the reader on a wild ride through the smoky downtown clubs in Alphabet City. The writing is so inviting and personal you feel as though you're helping her lug her cymbals as she chases the chimera of musical fame, and discovers the true meaning of unconditional love: a love that persists through our fleeting, nonsensical adventures.

Uninteresting navel-gazing.......2004-05-13

What is it about journalists that they think their lives are so interesting? I'm tired of reading books and articles like this. Stapinski is one of the worst of the lot; she seems to believe that the world is dying to hear everything about her life, her family, her career. Please, spare us.

Love affairs and music.......2004-05-10

Really die-hard music aficionados can probably fill you in on the dynamics in the Beatles or Rolling Stones -- and Helene Stapinski shows that it's not just the big groups that are like that. Her musical memoir, "Baby Plays Around: A Love Affair, with Music" takes on the internal workings of a rising little band.

Freelance writer Helene Stapinski wanted the play the drums since she was a little girl, so she jumped at the chance to join I Hate Jane with two other women (and briefly roped her new husband into helping out). The band becomes unbalanced when Elizabeth leaves in a huff, and a pair of men join the group. But then things smooth out, and things appear to be going well.

Professionally, that is. One day Helene's husband comes to her and admits that "baby's been playing around" with some little tart at his newsroom. Unsurprisingly, Helene is enraged, and the searing fights and all-out brawls seem to show that their marriage is doomed. So Helene buries herself in Stephonic ("I Hate Jane"'s new name) and plays the drums like never before...

Not everybody can say they have relationship advice from Elvis Costello. And that weirdly intimate chapter where Elvis saves Stapinski's foundering marriage is one of the best in the entire book. Overall, she does an excellent job of bringing the band life to the readers -- the good (musical highs), the bad (internal tension), and the ugly (Stapinski being fired for no good reason).

Stapinski's writing is pleasant and descriptive, like a novel. A very you-are-there feel. And her humor is likably self-deprecating: when thinking about how she has no cool indie music in her CD collection, she thinks "Bless me Elizabeth, for I have sinned I just purchased the new Sting album." That is, until she remembers the wonderful band Yo La Tengo.

That isn't to say that Stapinski's writing is all fun. Her relevelations about her disintegrating marriage are heartbreaking. And there's some understandable bitterness toward the vaguely stalker-like newsroom tart, and a lesser amount toward band frontwoman/singer Julie, who apparently considered herself queen of all she surveyed onstage.

Helene Stapinski draws readers into a crazy quilt of glittering clubs, Inuit towns and the heart of New York City. "Baby Plays Around," and a what a tune she plays in here.

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