Agnes: The biography of Lady Macdonald

Book Description

A fellow hairdresser once told me, "When the cape goes around the neck of the nicest person in the world, she grows horns." This autobiography spans nearly thirty years in the hairstyling profession and satirically exposes the infinite facets of human nature from both sides of the styling chair. The story of my fledgling years as a hairdresser, personal growth and the poignant events which led me to own my own business, will surely entertain both hairstylist and their clients. Veterans of the business will nod their heads in agreement as they recall their own difficult customers, headstrong co-workers and tyrannical bosses. Anyone considering a career in cosmetology will benefit from the advice and experience this book imparts. These pages describe a journey through a lonely and abusive childhood. My hunger for a fulfilling marriage and family life turned sour when a cheating husband threw me into the arena of the newly divorced, single parent in the working world. As a result, I found my soul mate, my real father and a brother. The tales tell of silliness and sadness, frustration and success along with observations of humanity with wet hair.

Book Description

The objective of this book is to set up an economic quantitative model for the assessment of financial market risk. The Measurement of Market Risk reviews the probabilistic modelling of so-called risk factors, which represent the uncertainty of financial markets, and discusses the issue of risk as the perception of uncertainty by individuals when faced with a decision problem. Further, the book discusses the pricing of financial instruments as a function of risk factors. Emphasis is put on options, because they exhibit a non-linear exposure to the risk factors. The core of the text is the assessment of risk for financial portfolios by way of estimating the portfolio probability distribution. A new approach, the Barycentric Discretisation with Piecewise Quadratic Approximation (BDPQA), which poses no assumptions on the risk factor distribution and accounts for the non-linearity of the price functions, is introduced.

Book Description

This 14th edition of the most comprehensive catalog in

baseball card collecting is fully updated! As the baseball card

market fluctuates every year, it?s important for collectors to

have the most current pricing information for buying, selling

and understanding the value of their collections. Accurate

market values for over 500,000 cards, as well as other related

collectibles, can all be found in this one-stop reference. Cards

are listed with card number and value; over 12,000 listings

contain photos for easy identification.

Chronicling the constant flow of new card issues, this latest

edition now contains 1,800 large-format pages of cards from

the most popular ever issued to rare listings not documented

anywhere else. This must-have reference for any baseball card

enthusiast explores over 100 years of hobby history, right up

to today?s latest trends.

Average customer rating:

misleading and incomplete

Not enough entries

Huge holes in the guide

Not the right thing

The Official Beckett Price Guide to Baseball Cards 2005 Edition #25 (Official Price Guide to Baseball Cards)
Dr James Beckett
Manufacturer: House of Collectibles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Baseball | Sports Cards | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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The Official Beckett Price Guide to Football Cards 2006 Edition 25 (Official Price Guide to Football Cards)

The Official Beckett Price Guide to Basketball Cards 2005, Edition #14 (Official Price Guide to Basketball Cards)

The Official Beckett Price Guide to Basketball Cards 2006 Edition #15 (Official Price Guide to Basketball Cards)

2005 Baseball Card Price Guide

2006 Standard Catalog Of Baseball Cards

ASIN: 0375721002
Release Date: 2005-04-12

Book Description

Over 10 million copies sold!
Written by the leading authority on sports card values, this collectors' classic is the definitive guide to organizing and pricing baseball card collections. A bestseller for over 25 years, The Official® Price Guide to Baseball Cards continues to cover all major baseball card manufacturers, including Bowman, Donruss/Playoff, Fleer, Topps, and Upper Deck.

•Close to 300,000 prices for individual cards and complete sets issued from 1948 to the present
•Professional advice on buying, selling, grading, and storing cards
•Valuable coupons for discounts on Beckett Grading Services and Beckett magazines

Customer Reviews:

misleading and incomplete.......2006-06-03

ever heard of pacific trading cards or donruss?apparently beckett
hasn't!

Not enough entries.......2005-08-20

I have a very large baseball card collection, and am using the book to rate the cards. So far, after going through several hundered cards, I have had a very difficult time finding many of the cards listed in the book. It is very frustrating. I expected more from Beckett.

Huge holes in the guide.......2005-04-29

Comprehensive: "So large in scope or content as to include much."

The guide does indeed include a lot of cards. The guide states "...provides easy-to-use listings from all baseball manufacturers from 1948 to the present." and it's true that it does contain listings from all manufacturers. However, anyone planning on buying this guide should realize that there are enormous gaps. The guide often has gaps that span a half dozen or more years for major card companies like Upper Deck. When I bought the 2004 price guide I complained in a previous review that many of the sets I wanted to price were missing. In my naivety I figured that the 2005 price guide would fill in many of the gaps. I thought that Beckett would likely swap out some sets and replace them with others that were missing the previous year. My mistake.

If you want listings for 1988 and 1989 Score traded sets you're in luck since they're in both the 2004 and 2005 price guides but if you want the regular sets too bad. So what does Beckett have against 1992 Upper Deck and 1991-2001 Fleer. Yes, the guide is missing 11 straight years of Fleer however 1990 Fleer appears in both guides. My 1988 Donruss set is MIA still I'm lucky that I didn't collect during the years from 1991-2001 for Donruss `cause they don't exist. I should give the guide a one star out of spite but I'll give it a two out of generosity.

Not the right thing.......2005-04-17

I bought this thinking that it was Beckett's annual baseball card price guide that lists and prices every card ever made. I have bought such price guides in the past, so there was nothing to lead me to think otherwise. However, when I finally received it and started looking up prices, I was stunned to find a lack of listings. There are no insert cards listed, period. Also, there are only select sets listed as well. Needless to say I was very displeased with this book. I have since looked on Beckett's own web site and found that there is such a 2005 edition of their price guide. It is, however, listed as #27. What is the deal here? Is Beckett purposely running two editions concurrently to confuse people like me?

The Official Beckett Price Guide to Football Cards 2005, Edition #24 (Official Price Guide to Football Cards)

Average customer rating:

The Official Beckett Price Guide to Football Cards 2005, Edition #24 (Official Price Guide to Football Cards)
Dr James Beckett
Manufacturer: House of Collectibles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 037572060X
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Book Description

The most accurate price guides from the leading authority in sports cards.
•Lists over 200,000 football cards, issued from 1948 to the present, with today’s marketplace value.
• Features prices for full sets and individual cards from Fleer/Skybox, Pacific, Pinnacle, Topps, Upper Deck, and more.
• Every card is identified by year, manufacturer, size, format, team, and player.
•Includes tips on buying, selling, caring for, and storing your cards.
Written by America's leading sports card statistician, Dr. James Bekett, founder and president of Beckett publications and Beckett.

Average customer rating:

2005 Baseball Card Price Guide
Sports Collectors Digest
Manufacturer: kp books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0873499867

Book Description

Baseball card collecting has become a serious business, with billions of cards being sold every year. Collectors need a practical, and most importantly accurate, price guide just to stay on top of the latest releases. The 2005 Baseball Card Price Guide, now in its 19th edition, covers all regular issues from the 1980s to today - that's more than 325,000 baseball cards!

Collectors will easily research card values for all regular issues, inserts, parallels, and rare variations, from the hundreds of thousands cards listed alphabetically according to card manufacturer and set. Each card is accurately priced by the Price Guide Editors of Sports Collectors Digest, the nation's top sports collectibles hobby publication, and prices are based on actual card transactions from SCD's dealer network and online auction results. This unparalleled reference also includes listings for baseball memorabilia.

-More than 2,000 of the set listings include a large, clear photo of a popular player's card -Tutorial explains common hobby terms and how to grade and evaluate cards -Includes wax box and pack pricing for each product

Book Description

Vast array of emblems — selected from Old and New Testaments as well as the medieval and modern church — depict signs that represent the Trinity, Apostles, saints, sacraments, Easter, the Ark, and other elements of Christianity. Ideal for use by illustrators and designers — of interest to anyone fascinated by symbols and their cultural evolution. 456 black-and-white designs.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Set Lacking Color.......2006-12-28

I have not used this set much yet but that is because my current project requires color and this set is all black and white. It is, however, a nice set.

The quality of the images is good. They people who organized them seemed to have some basic knowledge of the traditional iconography. The art comes with a book that has all the images making it easier to find what you are looking for. All in all, it is well planned.

There are gaps and omissions but this is a nice resource, especially for the price.

Useful for the price.......2006-11-10

It doesn't contain the variety that i had hoped for, but for the price, this is a book of good resource.

Amazon.com

When you remodel or build a house, you have what can seem like a million options. Knobs, handles, or finger grooves in the kitchen cabinets? Self-rimming sink or drop-in? Top vent fireplace or direct vent? Often you're at the mercy of a contractor whose eye is on getting a bigger cut of the eventual cost, so you can end up with the most expensive--and not necessarily the best--choice. Myron Ferguson diagrams and describes the options efficiently and helpfully, and straightforwardly states when and why a certain choice is best. This simple, pragmatic guide will be worth its weight in gold to the first-time remodeler and builder.

Customer Reviews:

Grandiose checklist.......2004-11-04

This book is about the pieces-parts (as the commercial used to say). There are little sections on just about every piece in the house: plumbing, countertop material, HVAC, security etc. It also talks quite a bit about proper design, such as: which way a door should swing,; when to use pocket doors; where to put the dishwasher (better yet: where NOT to put the dishwasher); how to vent the dryer; what size kitchen hood to use; etc.

As I mentioned, he writes one or two pages on nearly every visible or finish piece in the house (notable exceptions: framing materials and foundation). His primary focus is functionality and user-friendliness of the house, followed by quality and durability of the materials.

Buy this book BEFORE you decide on a floorplan. It will help you spot design flaws. As you move through the building process, refer to it often as you are required to make decisions on materials, surfaces and appliances. A great reference source but not a "how-to" or "construction timeline" book.

A Must read if you are building a home!!!.......2004-06-28

I've been nothing but impressed with this book! It gives you a complete comprehensive guide of what and what not to do when building a home. The author discusses HVAC types, stove vents and their installation, where to place the light switches, types of doors and why and a complete breakdown of the kitchen from cabinets to dishwashers just to mention a few topics. (He covers it all) The things you honestly wouldn't think about and items often missed or ignored by a builder. If you are planning on building your home give this a read, it could save you a ton of money and certainly squash quite a few common mistakes that make a big difference after you move in.

Linoleum isn't vinyl.......2003-12-07

Hey Michael Bird - learn what linoleum is before talking about it like it is vinyl. There is a big difference.

Bible For Building My Home.......2003-04-08

Read this book with a notepad by your side and take notes on every chapter. The main focus is to show you how to build a home that is convenient for you with the knowledge that sometimes this can be inconvenient for the builder. It talks about hundreds of little details that most people aren't aware of when designing a home. Room sizes in relation to furniture, light locations in relation to tables, materials, door swings, vents, heat lamps, and on and on and on...

Might save you from bad planning, but it leaves a lot unsaid.......2002-07-25

There is a lot of good information in this book, but there is also a lot missing as well as some misleading information. I'd recommend this book to someone that was planning on building or remodeling with the caveat that they also read from other sources or better consult with established professionals in each and every trade on the project.

The strong points of this book include good discussion of doorway layouts, spacing in kitchen and baths, things to look out for that could be problems and good questions to ask or things to consider when planning. Pointing out problems and potential problems that a homeowner may face in the future makes this book worth the money, after all, if after reading this book an owner solves or prevents just one simple mistake, the book has paid for itself many times over.

The weak points of this book are why I suggest reading elsewhere or consulting with professionals. I am an electrician by trade so I read the chapter on electrical first. It wasn't that any of the information was really bad or mistaken, but simply that I felt it didn't mention a lot of things that could and should be brought up when planning.

The author makes a point (several times) about having three conductor wire run to any potential ceiling fan location. While this isn't bad advice, it's incomplete. Many of the top of the line fans use remote control switching and don't require an extra wire. The best fans I have installed use a remote that is battery operated and the ceiling fan itself is wired to a two conductor wire that isn't even switched. If an owner picked up one of this fans they would now have a switch on the wall that did nothing or worse a switch that if turned off would cancel out the auto temperature function of the remote.

While pointing out the importance of having an extra outlet outside for things like Christmas lights, he fails to mention the nice addition of eve high outlets wired to a timer.

There are many reasons to consider timer switches, especially for outside wall and path lights. The best is a 7 day 24 hour electronic timer that fits in the space of a regular switch. These can be programed to go off at various times through out the night, a nice feature when on vacation or simply for added security.

The use of lighting controls, dimmers, timers, etc. is barely touched on or not discussed at all. While these systems can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, all but very meager budgets such at least consider the options available because for some applications the extra money can be justified.

The use of dimming xenon lighting for undercabinet use instead of fluorescent is not discussed. I believe it is a much better option.

I also noticed some problems in other trades. The use of insta hot water heaters is mentioned as a good way to save energy in the kitchen because the hot water doesn't have to travel to get there. I am not sure what the author was basing this information on, but it isn't correct. First off he implies that an insta hot can supply water at the sink but he doesn't mention that there are two kinds of systems. One is the insta hot that keeps about a gallon of near boiling water for use in making coffee, tea and instant soups and oatmeal. While this is great for people on the go or someone that doesn't want an elderly member of the family turning on the tea kettle and perhaps forgetting it; it is not an energy saving device. The second kind of insta hot is a small unit that doesn't store any water, it just heats up the water as it passes through the unit. It is really only designed for one purpose only hand washing. In the discussion on supplying extra or insta hot water for bathrooms, the author mentions that planning for the space and supplying electrical or gas are the considerations. But what about venting the unit if it is gas? This is a big consideration and would make adding a second unit not very cost effective. The best solution would simply be to add a circ pump and if necessary increase the size of the water heater. The way the information is laid out in the book would probably just confuse the non-professional.

The biggest problem I had in my reading of this book was when I read the author describe linoleum as the floor of choice in the kitchen. I nearly quit reading right there and then and threw the book in the trash. To his credit he does mention that in certain parts of the country tile is the way to go and if you live in those parts it's ok to go with tile. I happen to live in Southern California where linoleum is the flooring used in apartments and condos and cheap o tract homes. I can't believe anyone would recommend linoleum over tile. Tile stands up for years and if one breaks, which is unlikely, it can be replaced with another tile. If linoleum rips, which it's easy to do when moving appliances around, it is not as easy to fix as replacing a tile and regrouting, it will have to have a seam and seams tend to come apart after time. Plus linoleum over the years tends to get dull with wear while tile can be cleaned and resealed, linoleum is a print on paper and once it wears out or is ripped or scratched it can't be taken back to it's pristine state. While I personally hate the current trend in fake wood floors (laminates) because I think they look fake, I think a compelling argument could be made to use them over linoleum. The author of this book obviously doesn't mind linoleum, which is fine, but he fails to make a case for the other options as well as he could have and should have so that the reader could make informed choices.

Finally I would like to say that despite my misgivings and the problems I found, I'd like to reiterate that anyone going into building or buying a new home wouldn't be hurt by reading this book and even a simple suggestion or solution to a problem would pay for the cost of the book, but don't stop with just this book. It leaves too much out.

Customer Reviews:

Amazing!.......2005-01-04

Great book, full of words of wisdom. It will encourages you to follow your dreams and to believe in love!!!

Average customer rating:
Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya: Russia, Music, and Liberty Conversations With Claue Samuel
Mstislav; Vishnevskaya, Galina Rostropovish
Manufacturer: Amadeus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LUUH2U

Book Description

Jacob Adler, with his performances in the Yiddish King Lear, Uriel Acosta and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, became first a megastar of the exploding Yiddish theatre, and then all of Broadway. His memoirs, originally written and published in Yiddish and now translated (by his granddaughter) into English provides not only a compelling portrait of one of America's greatest actors but a fascinating social history of his time.

Customer Reviews:

A compelling and highly recommended social history.......2001-11-13

Translated with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, and enhanced with an informative introduction by Stella Adler, A Life On The Stage: A Memoir is esteemed Yiddish actor Jacob Adler (1855-1926) self-written autobiography. Acclaimed during his own lifetime as one of the great actors of his day, a time now more than seven decades gone. This candid and engaging memoir was originally composed and published in Yiddish and provides the reader with a kind of "window in time" to discover what life was like in the Yiddish theater and on Broadway. From his years with a troupe of Yiddish folk singers and theatrical productions in Odessa, to his journey to America and performances at the Union Theater on Lower Broadway, we are treated to a memoir that is as much a tribute to the development of the Yiddish theater in Russia, England, and America, as it is a compelling and highly recommended social history as lived through by a most remarkable and memorable man.

Bright star of exile: Jacob Adler and the Yiddish theatre

Average customer rating:

Bright star of exile: Jacob Adler and the Yiddish theatre
Lulla Rosenfeld
Manufacturer: Crowell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0690014465

Average customer rating:

A Life on the Stage
Jacob Adler
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679413510
Release Date: 1999-11-02

Book Description

A rediscovery. A lost document of theatrical history written more than seven decades ago is now translated for the first time into English -- the autobiography of the great Yiddish actor Jacob Adler. It is, as well, a history of the Yiddish theater -- for which Adler himself was almost single-handedly responsible--in Russia, England, and the United States.

"The man's size -- I do not refer to his physique -- imposed a sense of peril," Harold Clurman said of Jacob Adler. "Grandeur always inspires a certain shudder at life's immeasurable mystery and might."

Adler's astonishing career as an actor took him from tsarist Russia in the late 1800s to London, and to New York at the turn of the century, where he was applauded and lionized (he was called Nesher Hagodel, "The Great Eagle") in role after role. We see Adler's powerful and revolutionary portrayal of Shylock; his Yiddish King Lear; his Uriel Acosta, from the Yiddish drama set in Spain under the Spanish Inquisition ("A classic dream, a truly great role . . . My soul was full of Uriel"); his great success in Tolstoy's posthumously discovered play, The Living Corpse.

The only son of an Orthodox Jewish wheat dealer, Adler was taught the Talmud by his rabbi grandfather, and introduced to the stage by his theater-loving uncle. We follow Adler from his school days in Odessa to his youthful boxing career, which lifted him out of anonymity, to his apprenticeship with "a hole-and-corner lawyer," to his chance meeting with a group of Yiddish folksingers whom Adler -- now an official of the Department of Weights and Measures -- brings to Odessa, thereby launching the Yiddish theater in Russia.

We see their first performance before a paying audience, their first production in which a woman appears, their first full-length play, called Schmendrick. And then on to the provinces of Minsk, Vitebsk, and Lodz, playing everywhere and anywhere -- in granaries and stables -- with stowaways who sneak up to the roof to watch between the rafters (as Adler says his lines "Birds in the heaven, tell me, pray, where is my beloved?" he looks up to see hens, roosters, and bearded men peering down at him).

We watch as Adler begins to understand the work of the actor, not to imitate but to play the part as he feels it ("The gifted artist will always give it another nuance because he lives it through in himself, in his temperament, in his life experience"). And always, in the background, the large Russian drama -- the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by the revolutionaries; Alexander III's coming to power and overturning the reforms of his father, denying the Jews due process under the law, confiscating their land, shutting down their schools, outlawing their press. Adler recalls the pogroms of his childhood. And, in his adult life, the mobs destroying the synagogues and houses of study, the thousands trying to escape at the railroad station, being pushed back as Adler and the other actors in their fine clothes are taken for Christians, while old men bend low and cry out to them to "save us from death."

We see Adler forced to leave Russia, immigrating to London, facing poverty and worse, with no place to perform . . . finding a theater in a Whitechapel club, and remaining for seven years, playing first to Russian immigrants, then to London Jews.

And coming to America in 1889, taking over the Union Theatre on Lower Broadway, now embraced by the whole population of the Lower East Side.

We watch as Adler is invited twice by the producer Arthur Hopkins to perform his Shylock on Broadway: the cast would be American; Adler would speak in Yiddish (he refused both times until a friend said, "Do it. You owe it to the Gentiles. Let them see how a Jew plays Shylock"). And finally the building of the Grand Theatre at the Bowery and Canal -- the first house specially built as a Yiddish theater for the more than half a million immigrants who came through Ellis Island from 1905 to 1908.

We follow Adler's passions, his three marriages to dramatic actresses -- only the last, Sara, his equal on the stage -- his many affairs, the lives of his children, his friendships, scandals, and rivalries.

His memoir is a revelation of a man and a world. It is brilliantly translated from the Yiddish with commentary throughout by his granddaughter, Lulla Rosenfeld.

Average customer rating:

The Yiddish Theatre and Jacob P. Adler
Lulla Adler Rosenfeld
Manufacturer: S.P.I. Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0933503261

Average customer rating:

The Yiddish Theatre Amd Jacob p. Adler
Lulla with Harold Clurman Rosenfeld
Manufacturer: Shapolsky Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KK410A

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