History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Black and Ugly (Triple Crown Publications Presents)

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BLACK (not )UGLY
hottttttttttttttttttttttttttt.
Dramatic!
Powerful
Black and Ugly

Black and Ugly (Triple Crown Publications Presents)
T. Styles
Manufacturer: Triple Crown Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0977880419
Release Date: 2007-01-01

Product Description

Parade Knight hates her complexion. As a result, she considers herself to be unattractive and condones the misuse of her body. Sky Taylor is beautiful, fly and wanted, and loves reminding Parade of her imperfections especially after suspecting that she may be sleeping with her man, Jay Hernandez. Miss Wayne is hilarious and a self-proclaimed girlfriend who enjoys the attention his friends bring. If you let Miss Wayne tell it, he s not a gay, he s just one of the girls. Daffany Stans uses her body for profit and hides a health secret so serious that it could endanger the lives of her friends, considering their sex partners are so closely related. Black and Ugly is a tale of four totally different friends from the same block, whose friendship is tested during a seemingly innocent game of Truth or Dare. When fatal secrets begin to surface, will Parade give up the friend whose shadow she has walked in all her life? And will Miss Wayne and Daphne abandon their friends to save themselves?

Customer Reviews:

BLACK (not )UGLY.......2007-10-02

OMG this book was a very great read... I am so happy that Parade turned out the way she did in the end... I am glad she learned throught it all... can't say the same for Sky... "Miss Wayne" was funny... and Daffany well she is something else...

hottttttttttttttttttttttttttt........2007-09-15

this book was so good i read it in one day no words can say anthing ,about this book but hot.

Dramatic!.......2007-09-10

I thought this book was very interesting, the characters were pretty real and it showed just how close friends can treat each other. Its definitely a great read and it just teaches people to love themselves more.

Powerful.......2007-08-21

This is the first book I read by this author but it won't be the last. So many young, beautiful sisters believe they are ugly because they are dark skin and they are so wrong. My heart went out to Parade and that Sky got exactly what she deserved. This book held my interest and would not let it go. Keep up the good work!!!!!!!

Black and Ugly .......2007-08-09

I give my props to T. Styles this is a good book it is so unpredictable you never will know what will happen next. If you are somebody that like drama this is a book for you. This a shocker series lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Average customer rating:

Great Book
Too Primitive!
Ótimo livro sobre casa toscanas
Tuscan Elements
Tuscan Style

Tuscan Elements (Decor Best-Sellers)
Alexandra Black
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Style | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0823054802

Book Description

The Tuscan house, whether a simple homestead or expansive villa, has become one of the most sought-after living environments. Its design is virtually unchanged since the Middle Ages, when landowners in the golden hills of Tuscany built country retreats with gardens, porticoes, and loggias. The landowners often drew upon the natural resources of the region-and it is these materials that give the Tuscan house its unique character. Tuscan Elements brings to life the colors, textures, and aesthetics of the Tuscan house-the magnificent stone and marble work; the hardwoods like chestnut, oak, and elm; earthy terra-cotta and brick; and the all-important water feature, used in ponds, fountains, and pools. This unique, visual sourcebook deconstructs the typical Tuscan home and examines its basic components in dazzling detail, from the tiled roof and floor, thick stone exterior walls, and vine-covered loggia to the exposed wooden beams, luminous frescoes, and the sunny courtyard garden with an ancient well or exquisite swimming pool. Filled with extraordinary photos by world-famous interiors photographer Simon McBride, Tuscan Elements emphasizes living life well with a home that nurtures and comforts, accentuates the importance of family and friends, and entertains with good food and drink. For anyone interested in infusing their present home and garden with a little bit of Tuscany, here is a delightful source of never- ending inspiration.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-05-06

This book is filled to the top with great quality pictures. Wonderful inspiration for me and our new home which we are doing a Tuscan Theme. Will make a good coffee table book as well :)

Too Primitive!.......2006-07-11

The disigns elements were too rustic for my taste. I was looking for more of a casual elegence.

Ótimo livro sobre casa toscanas.......2006-03-17

Recomendo esse livro para quem, como eu, pretende construir no estilo toscano. Claro está que não se encontra mais tijolos de 300 anos, porém, pode-se ter completa idéia de como é o ar de uma propriedade toscana. Ótimas fotos e boas dicas.

Tuscan Elements.......2005-08-19

This is the best book of its kind that I have seen on basic Tuscan home design elements. Concise descriptions, beautiful photgraphy. I would heartily recommend this book.

Tuscan Style.......2004-12-24

I normally don't buy tabletop table books because I don't feel that they represent a value or add much to my understanding of a subject. Tabletop books full of incredible pictures just do not fully capture my imagination or attention. Consequently, most tabletop books get a cursory flipping through before I put them down.

However, `Tuscan Elements' is more than a book of pretty pictures and it is worth more than just a cursory flipping through. The author, Alexandra Black, has organized her effort to capture the elements of Tuscany. The four elements are stone, wood, earth, and water. These four elements are expressed in the homes, furniture, terracotta, and ponds, respectively, of Tuscany. To stand alongside the pictures of these four elements, Ms. Black takes the time to build a supporting story from a historical and literary point of view. Quoting D.H. Lawrence and Pliny the Younger, the story of how these elements have been woven into the ebb and flow of Tuscan life since before the Roman Empire emerges with an impressive clarity and vividness.

As a lover of Tuscany I am drawn to images of Tuscany and its way of life. The seductive beauty of the Tuscan landscape and the romance of the Tuscan lifestyle as expressed in the prose and images of this tabletop book is the stuff of dreams. This tabletop book provided me the fodder for those dreams and never once disappointed me.

Josef Albers: To Open Eyes: The Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale

Average customer rating:

Outstanding Description of the Methods of A Superlative Art Teacher
Relevance
An Essential Book for Art Teachers Everywhere
Superb narrative of a brilliantly talented man

Josef Albers: To Open Eyes: The Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, and Yale
Frederick A. Horowitz , and Brenda Danilowitz
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 071484599X

Book Description

The First Comprehensive Book to Examine the Teaching Methodsof the Artist Renowned for theHomage to the Square Paintings.Josef Albers (1888-1976) has long been admired for his progressive visionas an artist who blurred distinctions between fine and applied art, butrarely has his work as a teacher been examined in detail.The German-bornartist was a remarkable classroom performer whose colorful language, wit,and dramatic flair held his students spellbound and turned his lessons intohigh adventure.Whether at the Bauhaus in prewar Germany, Black MountainCollege in rural North Carolina during the 1930s and 1940s, or at Yale inthe 1950s, Albers was driven by one thing--the desire to open his students'eyes to a different way of perceiving art and, ultimately, life.JOSEF ALBERS: TO OPEN EYES by Frederick A. Horowitz and Brenda Danilowitz,is the first book to focus on how the legendary artist Josef Albersinfluenced generations of artists, architects, and designers, includingRobert Mangold, Robert Rauschenberg, Donald Judd, Bertrand Goldberg, andTom Geismar, through his work and legacy as an educator.Marking the 30thanniversary of Albers's death, the book examines his life and teachingmethods, and reveals his philosophies on art, life, and the nature ofperception based on first-hand accounts of more than 175 students andcolleagues spanning more than 40 years.The book will coincide with amajor exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art which will run fromNovember 2, 2006- January 21, 2007.JOSEF ALBERS: TO OPEN EYES takes the reader through Albers's life inteaching.He began his career in 1923, when Walter Gropius invited him tojoin the faculty of the Bauhaus in Germany, where he quickly replaced theschool's standard course curriculum with his own innovative methods.Aftermoving to the United States in 1933, he and his wife Anni became foundingmembers and teachers at the experimental start-up BlackMountain College.In 1950, he was appointed to head Yale's newlyrestructured Department of Design and remained there until he retired in1958.Although he is widely perceived as a strong-minded theoretician, as thisbook reveals, Albers opposed rigid dogma and encouraged his students todevelop lively and original solutions to his many and varied designexercises.On their first day in his classroom, Albers's students wereinformed that his goal was to educate their eyes and that he was going toteach them how to think and to see--an agenda belied by the somewhatprosaic course names "Basic Drawing" and "Basic Design" and "Color."With energy and flair, Danilowitz and Horowitz have charted Albers'sworld-changing role as a teacher.Through their archival research oforiginal correspondence, documents, student course notes, and student workproduced in his courses, and their interviews of former students,colleagues, and associates of Albers, they reveal the way that Albers'sideas on education and his complex personality have made an indelibleimprint in the lives and work of artists all over the world.This bookprovides not only a compelling study of a key figure of 20th century art,but also ponders what constitutes art and how it is made and taught.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Description of the Methods of A Superlative Art Teacher.......2007-02-08

Josef Albers: To Open Eyes by Frederick A. Horowitz and Brenda Danilowitz, is a beautiful, magnificent book about this internationally eminent artist, teacher of art, and theorist of design and color. It simply could not be better.

Brenda Danilowitz, Chief Curator of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany, Connecticut, writes about the biography of Albers, 64 pages, while Frederick A. Horowitz, a former student of Albers at Yale, who taught a The University of Michigan School of Art & Design in Ann Arbor and at Washtenaw Community College, devotes 181 pages to Albers as teacher of design, drawing, color and painting. An additional 34 pages cover Notes, Bibliography, Sources, Illustrations and Index. To find out what made Albers such a unique and revered teacher Frederick Horowitz interviewed a total of 160 students at Bauhaus, Black Mountain College, Yale and Harvard as well as 9 of his professional colleagues.

Albers was first a student and then a member of the faculty of the original Bauhaus in Germany. When Hitler took over Germany in 1933 and the faculty, led by Mies van der Rohe, closed the Bauhaus, Albers came to the U.S. to teach, first at Black Mountain College in North Carolina and then, beginning in 1950, at Yale as Head of the Department of Design. By 1962 Yale University awarded him an honorary Doctorate at the same time she similarly honored President John F. Kennedy and former Secretary of State Dean Acheson.

Albers experimented with color relationships in the form of nested squares of color. His great dedication resulted in a retrospective exhibition of his oeuvre at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, an honor only rarely given to a living artist. Another retrospective was organized in 1988 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

At Yale all first-year graduate students in architecture, undergraduates majoring in architecture and design, and all students in design took Albers' courses in color and in drawing, while his basic design course was meant for undergraduates majoring in architecture.

Albers had a wide influence on generations of artists, architecture and design. The book makes it eminently clear why Albers was as influential a teacher as he was and why his courses and theories became the basis of art teaching all over the United States.

The text of this truly remarkable book is very informative and well written. The illustrations are superlative, carefully chosen and in many instances unique, not available anywhere else since they come from the Albers Foundation. I counted 284 illustrations, 103 in color.

By describing the life and artful work of Josef Albers this book demonstrates to teachers and lovers of art at all levels how to impart a life-long desire to experiment with fundamental principles of art and with novel materials to create new objects of art.

Relevance.......2006-12-30

"Josef Albers: to Open Eyes" by F.A.Horowitz and B. Danilowitz is not only a review into the life and work of a great complex artist and teacher. It also signals the end of a debatable era called "postmodernism" whose glitz, pomp and kitsch we have been witnessing universally since Tom Wolfe's pamphlet "From Bauhaus to Our House". "Josef Albers: to Open Eyes" also gives hope to the rediscovery of relevance. This elaborate study deserves to be part of the curriculum of the future art generation in its defining process.
Frank R Schmidt, Princeton, NJ

An Essential Book for Art Teachers Everywhere.......2006-12-20

Many people may not know that Josef Albers played a large part in revolutionizing teaching art in the 20th Century. Many people do not know how many 2oth century artists lives were in some way affected by his teaching--either directly or indirectly.

It is surprising that it has taken this long for a book on the remarkable teaching career of Josef Albers to appear, but here it finally is. Fred Horowitz and Brenda Danilowitz do a superb job of bringing the pedagogical thinking of perhaps the greatest 20th century art educator to life as well giving us a clear picture of the teacher himself. If this is the only book you ever read on teaching art you will give yourself the greatest gift possible.

The explanations and analysis of individual projects in four foundations courses, are coherent and represent the meat of this remarkable book. Plentiful fine illustrations from the Albers Foundation Archives, the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College make clear the descriptions of the problems and the reasons Albers found these to be indispensible in developing visual thinking--in opening eyes.

The choice of type weight, spacing, margin widths, and the light value of the ink may make reading the text a little difficult, but you should persevere--because real gold lies within the text. This is not just a book for the pictures!!

The publishers should take note, however, that Josef Albers as a designer would have deplored the way the layout and typography makes the reading a difficult task. I wonder whether the book designers took the trouble to read the text, or if they might benefited from some of the basic lessons imparted in Albers' famous Design courses.

I hope that with the publishing of this book, the vital lessons that Albers made the core of his life teaching will once again be brought alive and vigorous into the Foundations classrooms of colleges and art schools worldwide.

Superb narrative of a brilliantly talented man.......2006-12-11

What a mammoth yet intriguing and masterful study of the brilliantly talented Josef Albers! This book has many substantial insights, but I was personally fascinated with the depth of passion that Albers demonstrated both for his art and his pedagogy. Fred Horowitz has elegantly evoked the ways that Albers sought to "open" the eyes of his students, so they could "bring the conscious mind to bear on the task at hand" and take risks as they became "creative, self-reliant, [and] independent."

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture

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I highly recommend this book
The existing one that implements his opinion
Add to "What You Should Read" List
Everything you need to know about US
A strong foundation for continued change

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
Bakari Kitwana
Manufacturer: Basic Civitas Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0465029795
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Amazon.com

Bakari Kitwana, a former editor at The Source, identifies blacks born between 1965 and 1984 as belonging to the "hip-hop generation" a term he uses interchangeably with black youth culture ("Generation X" applies mainly to whites, he says). He calls hip-hop "arguably the single most significant achievement of our generation," yet blames it for causing much damage to black youth by perpetuating negative stereotypes and providing poor role models. But this book is about much more than just rap music; it takes a broad look at the state of post-civil-rights black America and the crises that have come about in the past three decades, including high rates of homicide, suicide, and imprisonment and a rise in single-parent homes, police brutality, unemployment, and blacks' use of popular culture (through pop music and movies) to celebrate "anti-intellectualism, ignorance, irresponsible parenthood, and criminal lifestyles." Serious problems indeed, but Kitwana acknowledges that members of this generation have more opportunities than their parents had, and he believes there is still time to make positive and lasting changes.

He looks closely at this generation's worldview, politics, activism, and its high profile in the entertainment world, which has made it "central in American culture, transcending geographic, social, and economic boundaries." Emphasizing that "rap music's ability to influence social change should not be taken lightly," he calls for a more responsible and constructive use of this unprecedented power. Kitwana is concerned about the legacy of his generation, and he wants his book to "jump-start the dialogue necessary to change our current course." The Hip Hop Generation deserves to be read both for its aim and its execution. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

The Hip Hop Generation is an eloquent testament for black youth culture at the turn of the century. The only in-depth study of the first generation to grow up in post-segregation America, it combines culture and politics into a pivotal work in American studies. Bakari Kitwana, one of black America's sharpest young critics, offers a sobering look at this generation's disproportionate social and political troubles, and celebrates the activism and politics that may herald the beginning of a new phase of African-American empowerment.

Customer Reviews:

I highly recommend this book.......2007-02-24

I highly recommend this book in order to understand the post civil-rights black african american situation. Because of the interesting topic and writing style this book was a pretty quick read. Kitwana clarified so many issues: the unemployment crisis, the prison industry, mandatory minimum jail sentences, the drug war as a means to target black men, the gender war between black men and black women, making hip hop into a political agenda, the power of rap music, etc. It is a MUST READ for those who were born into this generation (born between 1965 and 1984) or who do not understand what is going on right now especially in regards to black men (it's written from a black male perspective).

I believe that society is in an awkward transitioning phase between the old pre-civil rights U.S.A. and the new post-civil rights U.S.A. I think once the baby boomers have passed away things will catch up. The hip hop generation (the black counterpart to the mainstream's Generation X) will eventually lead the black community so that issues relevant to the younger generation will finally be addressed... But will it be too little, too late?

The existing one that implements his opinion.......2006-02-21

I like the crisis in african american culture and the hip hop generation because it allows me to know what is going on in the world. Reading that book taught me how to give back to my community if I ever had fortune and fame. It talks about how people should stick together like flies to feces rather than be against each other. It talks about how the military should give money to the community rather than spend money to send people to Iraq and have their lives taken. It talks about how the military should fight for democracy. Those are some of the things that I've benefited from the book. I think the book is interesting. I would recommend the book to anyone who is into stuff like the crisis that african american have.

Add to "What You Should Read" List.......2005-09-28

This is one of the best books for the Hip Hop generation out in circulation. His nononsense views are understandable and shed light on many current issues in society. I think everyone, parent, teacher, community leader, and political assosciate should read this book.

Everything you need to know about US.......2005-08-23

This one is good for the parents of teens and especially for the white parents to know whats up with there children and why they want to be like us. This is the only hip hop book you will ever need. This book was on hit!

A strong foundation for continued change.......2005-02-06

I appreciated Kitwana's presentation of the current issues facing today's hip hop generation. Interesting and insightfuul was the comparisions of the generation and that of the Civil Rights/Black Power generation. This book stands strong is providing a foundation on which to further examine these issues and to use the strong influential power within this generation to finally begin to resolve them.

Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women

Average customer rating:

insightful, well-written take on misogyny in popular culture
Dr. Sharpley-Whiting broke it down!

Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women
T. Sharpley-Whiting
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0814740146
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read the Prologue.

”Sharpley-Whiting's book does not suffer from the sort of cowardice one too often hears from black academics who genuflect to hip hop in order to stay current with the tastes of the students who provide them with whatever power they have on college campuses. Sharpley-Whiting calls them as she sees them and wisely quotes the offensive material when necessary. Her book is high level in its research and its thought, and those looking for adult ideas about the subject should look it up.”
—Stanley Crouch, New York Daily News

”Sharpley-Whiting gets at the heart of the paradox . . . and puts the discussion on the turntable.”
—Washington Post

”Sharpley-Whitting's uncommon perspective is one that deserves to be examined more often.”
—Bitch

”For B-girls who embrace both the brashness of Lil' Kim and the pro-feminism of Lauryn Hill, Pimps Up, Ho's Down is an intellectual look at the intricate, diverse attitudes of young black women within the hip hop community. Sharpley-Whiting combines thought-provoking text with interviews that range from the `rich' (see Trina) to the `regular' (everyday women), giving a voice to today's complex and contradictory females within hip hop.”
—The Source Magazine

”Through provocatively titled chapters such as `Sex, Power, and Punanny' and `Strip Tails: Booty Clappin', P-poppin', Shake Dancing,' Sharpley-Whiting provides a sobering analysis of women's participation in the hyper-sexualized black American, urban youth culture known as hip hop. . . . This book delivers a riveting portrayal of hip hop, from the thumping rap music that serves as a soundtrack for America's strip clubs to the predatory groupies who relentlessly pursue rap stars.”
—Ms. Magazine

”Probing. . . . A canny study. . . . Sharpley-Whiting brings both street smarts and sophisticated cultural analysis to her subject.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer

”Clear and well written. . . . It serves as a decent jumping-off point to discussions of young black women in our current society. . . . Sharpley-Whiting has opened up the dialog, offering a source for research in a burgeoning area of study.”
—Library Journal

”Sharpley-Whiting provides interesting anecdotes about the ways in which women are portrayed (and often used) within hip hop. . . . [Her] insightful analyses [include] a particularly interesting discussion of the intersections of race, class, and capitalism in strip clubs.”
—Bust Magazine

Pimps Up, Ho's Down is an in-depth look at hip hop's effect on young black women. Sharpley-Whiting discusses topics such as light-skinned black (or ethnically ambiguous) females getting more love in hip hop videos, unreported sexual abuse within black communities — even the fact that most hip hop groupies do not consider themselves groupies. She successfully ties these trends into the mainstream hip hop culture of today. Pimps Up, Ho's Down provides an intellectual look at how hip hop views and affects the young black women of this generation, most who are oblivious to what is actually going on. Sharpley-Whiting's uncommon perspective is one that deserves to be examined more often.”
—URB

“Offers a bracing, brilliant, and provocative take on how hip hop has affected young black women. Sharpley-Whiting manages the difficult task of being critical of destructive elements of hip hop culture without being dismissive of its edifying dimensions. This lucidly penned manifesto in defense of the intellectual spaces between hip hop and feminism will undoubtedly inspire heated debate and fruitful conversation about gender, black identity, and conflict between the generations."
—Michael Eric Dyson, author of Know What I Mean?

“In Pimps Up, Ho's Down, Sharpley-Whiting's razor-sharp analysis turns an illuminating spotlight on the dark, complicated intersection where feminism and hip hop meet.”
—Joan Morgan, author of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost

" Pimps Up, Ho's Down provides a vital critical assessment of the sexual exploitation of women and girls all too prevalent in hip hop culture and in our larger society. This intelligent and sensitively written study is mandatory reading for those of us who must stop the violence."
—Darlene Clark Hine, co-author of A Shining Thread of Hope: The History of Black Women in America

“In this bold critique of popular culture's stereotypical representations of hip hop, Tracy Sharpley-Whiting never wavers from her end goal of empowering the hip hop generation. Pimps Up, Ho's Down takes this discussion beyond the ivory tower and into the lives of everyday people.”
—Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation

"This compelling, well-researched-and alarming-account of how hip hop culture has impacted the lives and shaped the identities of young black women should be read by women and men of every generation."
—Paula Giddings, author of When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America

“Tracy Sharpley-Whiting's groundbreaking book makes central the harsh sexist and racist realities that hip hop generation Black women face on a daily basis.”
—Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Producer/Director of NO! (The Rape Documentary)

Pimps Up, Ho's Down pulls at the threads of the intricately knotted issues surrounding young black women and hip hop culture. What unravels for Tracy D. Sharpley-Whiting is a new, and problematic, politics of gender. In this fascinating and forceful book, Sharpley-Whiting, a feminist writer who is a member of the hip hop generation, interrogates the complexities of young black women's engagement with a culture that is masculinist, misogynistic, and frequently mystifying.

Beyond their portrayal in rap lyrics, the display of black women in music videos, television, film, fashion, and on the Internet is indispensable to the mass media engineered appeal of hip hop culture, the author argues. And the commercial trafficking in the images and behaviors associated with hip hop has made them appear normal, acceptable, and entertaining-both in the U.S. and around the world.

Sharpley-Whiting questions the impacts of hip hop's increasing alliance with the sex industry, the rise of groupie culture in the hip hop world, the impact of hip hop's compulsory heterosexual culture on young black women, and the permeation of the hip hop ethos into young black women's conceptions of love and romance.

The author knows her subject from the inside. Coming of age in the midst of hip hop's evolution in the late 1980s, she mixed her graduate studies with work as a runway and print model in the 1990s. Her book features interviews with exotic dancers, black hip hop groupies, and hip hop generation members Jacklyn "Diva" Bush, rapper Trina, and filmmaker Aishah Simmons, along with the voices of many "everyday" young women.

Pimps Up, Ho's Down turns down the volume and amplifies the substance of discussions about hip hop culture and to provide a space for young black women to be heard.

Customer Reviews:

insightful, well-written take on misogyny in popular culture.......2007-05-08

Sharpley-Whiting's accessible prose style and unique insight make this a must for anyone interested in popular culture, hip hop and rap, women's issues, Black popular culture, and youth. In all my years researching the topics of rap music, hip hop culture, gender and violence, I have never encountered such a unique and much needed approach. While much has been said about the sexist and homophobic nature of rap lyrics, very little has been done to understand how our sexually repressive, yet permissive, society including rap music has negatively affected Black girls and women. Sharpley-Whiting tackles this issue from a variety of angles demonstrating how the misogyny and sexual obsession in rap music impacts girls' and women's sense of self, how sex and rendering women as sexual objects in rap music affects Black women erotic dancers, video dancers, and groupies, and related topics.

Dr. Sharpley-Whiting broke it down! .......2007-03-23

Dr. Sharpley-Whiting has contributed a necessary and extremely timely analysis to the surface-level discussions surrounding hip hop and its impact on young black women. The exploration of complex contradictions within hip hop music and culture is both scholarly and sincere. This book is a necessary read, as it departs from the easy criticism of lyrics to the difficult and largely un-had conversations regarding sexual abuse, constructions of beauty, and the relationship between hip hop and the flourishing sex tourism industry. I learned about the prophetic warnings and relevance of Franz Fanon, I laughed about the similar and stark realities I share with the writer, and I learned, once again, that I love and am hip hop--contradictions and all!

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Battle for Black Sabbath

Average customer rating:

I'm simply astonished
Not a literary masterpiece... but we are dealing with Sabbath here.
as comprehensive as it gets
Very Informative / Very Poorly Edited
Nothing New Here I'm affraid!

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Battle for Black Sabbath
Garry Sharpe-Young
Manufacturer: Zonda Books Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0958268428

Book Description

For over a full decade Black Sabbath had dominated Heavy Metal. As much as Led Zeppelin scorned the term Black Sabbath embraced it. In an age of bona fide supergroups Sabbath were unquestionably the heaviest thing stalking the planet and quite remarkably had remained a solid unit where others around them suffered ongoing membership fall outs and line-up reincarnations. Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward had weathered internal storms just as ferocious as every other band out on the circuit but had remained resolute. They had conquered the globe, sold close to 50 million albums and without concession had not pulled back one iota from delivering absolute, pure Heavy Metal. In 1977 the unthinkable happened. Ozzy Osbourne decamped. He would be lured back for one last album 'Never Say Die' before flying solo, rapidly building a band unit that would equal the repute of the mother-ship. Between 1979 and 1997 Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne were pitched against each other in a titanic struggle unprecedented in Rock n' Roll. Both stars would employ the very finest players of the genre in the conflict and produce some of the finest Heavy Metal of the generation in the process. Tony Iommi, the man who without question invented Heavy Metal, fronted up Sabbath with vocal legends such as Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes and Tony Martin against Ozzy's awesome arsenal of guitar innovators Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. Both Tony Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne reinvented their bands time and time again. The huge array of elite players that travelled through the ranks is now a constant source of fascination and rumours for Sabbath fanatics. 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath: The Battle for Black Sabbath' reforges the author's two previous landmark tomes 'Ozzy Osbourne: The Story of the Ozzy Osbourne band' & 'Black Sabbath: Never Say Die!' along with additional material into this one definitive Metal milestone. Complete with over 140 images, many never seen before, and unique interviews, including with the late Ray Gillen and Cozy Powell as well as the highly controversial figure of Jeff Fenholt and mysterious Dave Donato, 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' is the definitive account of those years (1979 to 1997) before the reunion. Exclusive interview content with Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Cozy Powell, Ronnie James Dio, Ian Gillan, Glenn Hughes, Ray Gillen, Tony Martin, Geoff Nicholls, Rob Halford, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, Carmine Appice, Tommy Aldridge, Neil Murray, Dave Spitz, Eric Singer, David Donato, Jeff Fenholt, Bobby Rondinelli, Rudy Sarzo, Phil Soussan, Randy Castillo, Bernie Torme, Brad Gillis, Jo Burt, Pete Way, Dana Strum, Terry Chimes, Lita Ford, Steve Vai, Don Airey, Lindsey Bridgewater, Terry Nails and many, many more. Additional details: 8 page discography appendix detailing 264 career albums and singles from Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Bill Ward, Geezer and Tony Iommi; plus 7 page index with 694 entries. Product Dimensions: 8.25 x 11.0 inches (210 x 279 mm). Weight: approximately 1.6 lbs (0.75 kg).

Customer Reviews:

I'm simply astonished.......2007-09-17

I'm simply astonished by the sheer amount pf information contained in this book. Dont'get it wrong: this is a HUGE book, with A4 paper format, more than three hundred pages with two columns in each one. But, if you're into Black Sabbath and Ozzy, you will read it really fast.

The books gives detailed information about almost everything. It has good taste without relaying in useless gossip. This was one of most gratifying readings I've had in years. Highly recommended!

Not a literary masterpiece... but we are dealing with Sabbath here........2007-05-27

If you're looking for a comprehensive account of the comings and goings of singers and drummers during the 80's and 90's, this book is very interesting. It's extremely detailed. Much of the information seems to come from Geoff Nichols, the unheralded keyboardist (unheralded to the point where he was off the stage half the time) who was with Sabbath for more years than anyone but Tony and Geezer.

As a piece of writing, this is not the best. It tends to read like a very long high school term paper. There is little concept of flow and readability. Every incident is given equal weight no matter how important or how insignificant. It seems like the author literally took every bit of information at his disposal and put it here, leaving some situations underappreciated and some boringly overdeveloped.

As stated before, the editing and production are also pretty abysmal. I'm not trying to be overcritical here but, let's face it, this is something they want us to pay for. If this information was something I came across on a free website I would be a little more forgiving.

That being said, if you're going to buy this book you are, more likely than not, a big fan. You'll find something here to justify the purchase. Just don't expect to sit next to the fire with this one sipping chardonnay and eating bon bons to achieve literary orgasm. It's not gonna happen.

as comprehensive as it gets.......2007-02-07

Everything you wanted to know about the history of Black Sabbath..and then some.The only criticism i have is that maybe it details just a little too deeply,but a good read and i learnt some things i didn't know before.

Very Informative / Very Poorly Edited.......2007-01-16

An excellent read for the most devoted of Sabbath fans. However, this is by far the worst editing I've ever seen of any publication in my entire life! Blatant mispellings & poor grammar abound.

Nothing New Here I'm affraid! .......2006-12-24

There is nothing new here in this book that has not already been said! Why does the author find that he needs to rehash what he has already written in two previous excellent publications, and submit it as a new title?
Dissapointed reader..

Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba (Traditional Arts of Africa)

Average customer rating:

Indespensable
A very good book
Worth reading for student & practitioners of Yoruba religion

Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba (Traditional Arts of Africa)
Henry John Drewal , and Margaret Thompson Drewal
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0253205654

Customer Reviews:

Indespensable.......2006-02-19

Quite frankly I think every student of Yoruba culture should own this book. While Gelede is the central object of study, the books touches on multiple aspects Yoruba and Orisa spirituality. The amount of information is so overwhelming that you will literally have to read it over and over again.

A very good book.......2000-12-06

I do recommend this nice book to all those engaged in the practice of the Yoruba cult. The author gives a good persp- ective of what is behind the cerimony. Mo juba Iyami Osoronga!

Worth reading for student & practitioners of Yoruba religion.......1998-06-22

This is a fairly good book on the subject of Yoruba masks and drumming. Contains good pictures of masks (Gelede) and is very informative with regards to ceremonies performed at the Gelede.

Is recommended reading for any of the followers of the Yoruba religion and to students as well.

I would have liked to have seen a more in depth review of the ceremonies and religious aspects of the Gelede, therefore I have not rated it a 5 Star.

Book Description

Here-in a rich interweaving of considerations of connoisseurship, style, iconography, cultural and social background, and historical events-is the first extended study of the history of Florentine and Sienese painting in the later fourteenth century, in the period following the plague of the Black Death 1348.

Customer Reviews:

Art changes after the Black Death.......2007-04-27

Andrea Da Firenze, Spanish Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, "Christian Learning" 1365-67. Fig. 95, Old and New testament figures mixed on top tier. Often Old Testament figures have a New Testament saint associated with them. 3 Figures of heretics at feet of St. Thomas Aquinas. 7 Virtues are floating above them. From left to right are,3 up top are Faith, hope, and charity. 4 below are temperance, prudence, justice and fortitude. Row below, left to right are 7 theological sciences, 7 liberal arts is: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, logic, rhetoric, grammar. Firenze is anal retentive painter and very orderly in his composition.

Painting by Andrea Da Firenze Florentine school active, 1343-77 painting entitled "The Way of Salvation." Triumph of the Dominicans. In chapel of Cappella Spagnuolo, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, it is Dominican whose habits are black and white. Has 4 beasts representing the Gospels. Dominicans portrayed as teaching to the masses, giving absolution, St.Peter at the gates. Nude people in trees represent lust in church art. Figures are sized to show status. 3 Kings to right of Pope, Cardinal to the left. 3 Jews shows how Dominicans are responsible for trying to convert Jews, dogs depicted black and white like the habits because they are known as Domini Cannae, "Hounds of God" which is what the word Dominican means, they are attacking wolves who represent heresy. From 1231 on Dominicans are in charge of the Inquisitions in Europe. This painting is done to celebrate and teach of their successes.

1498, picture of landscape of city square of Florence, plague kills 70% of population. Paintings "Palazio Vechio which is the city hall. Signori have 2-month terms, they live there and don't get visitors so that they can't be bribed. Housing is densely packed walled city. Florence is known for Sodomy. 14 century artist and most famous painter is Giotto. He worked in wet fresco. Arena chapel in Padua "Joachim Expelled from the Temple" Fig. 35. 1305-12. Figures are real, they have weight and are standing on a surface. Figures are full and not emaciated like Middle Ages figures. Still people not to scale to surroundings. Giotto is considered the "Master" by his contemporaries. Uses good skin tones, figures have depth. He shows emotion and physicality, it foreshadows Renaissance of man in image of God.

Giotto's "Madonna" Enthroned Uffizi, Florence Fig. 10. is more realistic, looks like she is sitting and not floating. People are looking at Madonna, real sense of depth. There is real veneration of Virgin before the plague. Panel painting is big in Italy. Tempura (egg yoke) painting is used on wood panels allot.

Giotto's "Death of St. Francis" 1330's Art historians say it may be first Rennaisance painting. Figures very real, full figures, expressive faces, lots of emotion in painting. St. Francis had stigmata, monks, kissing his wounds.

Giotto di Bondone (Colle di Vespignano, near Florence 1267 - January 8, Florence 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was a Florentine painter and architect. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to and developed the Italian Renaissance.
Giotto was born in poverty in the countryside near Florence, the son of Bondone, a peasant, and was himself a shepherd. Most authors believe that Giotto was his real name, and not an abbreviation of Ambrogio (Ambrogiotto) or Angelo (Angelotto). Giotto's master work is the Arena Chapel cycle of the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padua depicting the life of the Virgin and the passion of Christ completed around 1305. The scheme has 100 major scenes with the heavily sculptural figures set in compressed but naturalistic settings often using forced perspective devices. Giotto's major innovation was to conceive of a painted architectural framework or grisaille using trompe-l'oeil effects that directly influenced Masaccio and in turn Michelangelo in his scheme for the Sistine Chapel. Famous panels in the series include the Adoration of the Magi in which a comet like Star of Bethlehem streaks across the sky and the Flight from Egypt in which Giotto broke many traditions for the depiction of the scene. The scenes from the Passion were much admired by artists of the Renaissance for their concentrated emotional and dramatic force, especially the "Lamentation over the Dead Christ", and studies of the sequence by Michelangelo exist. The Ognissanti Madonna now in the Uffizi and the sole surviving major panel work by the artist also dates from this period. In the fourteenth century Pope Benedictus XII was selecting artists to work for the Vatican, requesting from each applicant a sample of his ability. Although the Florentine painter Giotto was known as a master of design and composition, he submitted only a circle drawn freehand, the famous "0 of Giotto." Yet he was awarded the commission. Giotto's simple circle has been described as an ideal of elegance and perfection. At the request of the Pope, Giotto spent ten years in Rome. He was then employed by the King of Naples but little work remains from this period.
After 1320 Giotto returned to Florence, where he completed two fresco cycles and a number of altar pieces for the church of Santa Croce. Both of the fresco groups were badly damaged, though they show that in later years Giotto's style had become more ornate, perhaps as a response to the emerging International Gothic style. In 1334 Giotto was appointed chief architect to Florence Cathedral of which the Campanile bears his name, but was not completed to his design.

In his final years Giotto became friends with Boccaccio and Sacchetti, who featured him in their stories. In The Divine Comedy, Dante acknowledged the greatness of his living contemporary through the words of a painter in Purgatorio (XI, 94-96): "Cimabue believed that he held the field/In painting, and now Giotto has the cry,/ So the fame of the former is obscure." Giotto died while working on a "Last Judgement", including a portrait of Dante, for the Bargello Chapel in Florence.

Giovanni da Milano- not as intimate as Giotto's. His pictures not as intimate as Giotto's. His "Expulsion of Joachim 1365, Fig. 36 in Santa Croce Florence, all the women look the same, figures have no heft. No realism, it is a hierarchial piece not intimate. Giotto's "Meeting at the Golden Gate" 1305-1312 Fig. 26. Anna and Joachim have real emotion, embrace and kiss. Milano's same work in 1365 Fig. 27., Anna and Joachim not even looking at each other.
Giovanni da Milano (Giovanni di Jacopo di Guido da Caversaccio) was an Italian painter, known to be active in Florence and Rome between 1346 and 1369.

His style is, like many Florentine painters of the time, considered to be derivative of Giotto's. Vasari misidentified him as a student of Taddeo Gaddi, a noted Giotto protégé.
Hailing from Lombardy, the earliest documentation shows Giovanni in Florence on October 17, 1346, under the name Johannes Jacobi de Commo, listed amongst the foreign painters living in Tuscany.

Amongst Giovanni's most significant works:
* A polyptych with Madonna and Saints (c. 1355), the oldest known signed work by Giovanni da Milano, painted for the Prato Spedale della Misericordia
* A polyptych made for the Ognissanti of Florence (c. 1363), now dismembered and scattered, depicting saints and scenes of the Creation
* Man of Sorrows panel (c. 1365, Accademia, Florence), the oldest known signed and dated work
* Frescoes decorating both sides of the Rinuccini Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. Each side consists of five scenes - one side depicting the Life of the Virgin and the other the Life of Mary Magdalene. Giovanni is credited with the upper two registers of each cycle. The bottom register is credited to Matteo di Pacino.

The latest extent documentation of Giovanni's career comes in 1369, when he is known to be working in Rome for Pope Urban V with Giottino and the sons of Taddeo Gaddi
Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo altarpiece of The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints (1354-57) in the Strozzi family Chapel. Fig. 1. Florence Meiss does a lot on this piece in his book. This work is very Byzantine in nature. No depth Jesus is iconic, flat. A lot of gold. Jrsus giving the keys to St. Peter, scripture to St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John the Baptist always with ratty clothes and hair, virgin Mary always in blue, she has crown making her "Queen of Heaven, painting has Trinitarian reference.
Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c.1308-1368), better known as Orcagna, was a Florentine painter, sculptor and architect. A student of Andrea Pisano as well as Giotto di Bondone, his brothers Jacopo and Nardo di Cione were also artists. His works include the altarpiece of The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints (1354-57) in the Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella and the tabernacle in Orsanmichele (finished 1359 which was regarded as "the most perfect work of its kind in Italian Gothic". His fresco The Triumph of Death inspired Franz Liszt's masterwork Totentanz, by general consent the finest of his concerto works.

Taddeo Gaddi- Florentine, very surreal look in his work The Angelic Announcement to the Shepherds 1328-1330 very real and detailed.

Taddeo Gaddi (c.1300-1366) was an Italian painter and architect, active during the early Renaissance. As a painter, he created altar-pieces and murals and is primarily noted as a pupil and follower of Giotto. As an architect, he is credited with the design of the Ponte Vecchio.
Life and Art Son of Gaddo Gaddi, an artist of whom little is known, Taddeo's art education came primarily as a pupil of, and assistant to, the painter Giotto di Bondone. Cennino Cennini referred to Taddeo as Giotto's godson and claimed that their relationship lasted 24 years.
Early works such as the The Stigmatization of Saint Francis (c.1325-1330, tempera on wood panel) demonstrate a subtle recasting of Giotto's style. Perhaps his most famous works are the series of frescoes depicting the lives of the Virgin and of Christ in the Giugni Chapel (neé Baroncelli Chapel) at Santa Croce in Florence (1328-38). The Angelic Announcement to the Shepherds (depicted at right) illustrates Taddeo's interest in light and its effects. His study of solar eclipses in particular would eventually lead to serious eye injury in 1339. As an architect, Taddeo Gaddi is credited with the design of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, as well as the Ponte Trinita, which was destroyed in the 16th century.

Two facts point to Taddeo Gaddi's importance as a Florentine artist:
1. Giorgio Vasari included a biography of Taddeo Gaddi in his Lives.
2. Taddeo's name appears atop a list of 'the best masters of painting who are in Florence'.

Styles of Florence vs. Sienna- Duccio most famous 14 century painter in Sienna. "Entrance into Jerusalem" 1308-11 Sienna painters were more conservative for a longer period of time. Face are not individualized, do more miniature works, no depth.

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255-1260, Siena - c. 1318-1319, Siena) was the most influential Sienese artist of his time and one of the key figures in the development of European painting. Duccio is considered to have had a major influence on the formation of the International Gothic style, and to have influenced Simone Martini and the brothers Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti, among others.

His works include the Rucellai Madonna (1285) for Santa Maria Novella (now in the Uffizi) and the fabled Maestà (1308-11), his masterpiece, for Siena's cathedral. Originally carried through the streets of Siena in a religious ceremony, the multipaneled Maesta represented a major step forward in painterly style and narrative storytelling through visual art. His Madonna and Child, painted on a wood panel around the year 1300, was purchased in November 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for an estimated sum in excess of 45 million USD, the most expensive purchase ever by the mueum. In 2006 James Beck, a scholar at Columbia University stated that he believes the painting is a nineteenth century forgery; the Metropolitan Museum's curator of European Paintings has disputed Beck's assertion.
Simone Martini- Sienna painter famous "Annunciation" 1333 is famous. International Gothic school. Slender figures.

Simone Martini (c. 1284 - 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena.
He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading Sienese painter of his time. His brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. Very little documentation survives regarding Simone's life, and many attributions are debated by art historians. Simone Martini died while in the service of the Papal court at Avignon in 1344. Simone was doubtlessly apprenticed from an early age, as would have been the normal practice. Among his first documented works is the Maestà of 1315 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. A copy of the work, executed shortly thereafter by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano, testifies to the enduring influence Simone's prototypes would have on other artists throughout the fourteenth century. Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, Simone's style contrasted with the sobriety and monumentality of Florentine art, and is noted for its soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line, and unsurpassed courtly elegance. Simone's art owes much to French manuscript illumination and ivory carving: examples of such art were brought to Siena in the fourteenth century by means of the Via Francigena, a main pilgrimage and trade route from Northern Europe to Rome. Simone's major works include the Maestà (1315) in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, St Louis of Toulouse Crowning the King at the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples (1317), the S. Caterina Polyptych in Pisa (1319) and the Annunciation and two Saints at the Uffizi in Florence (1333), as well as frescoes in the Chapel of St. Martin in the lower church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi. Francis Petrarch became friend with Simone while in Avignon, and two of his sonnets make reference to a portrait of Laura de Noves he supposedly painted for the poet.

Bonaventura Berlinghieri 1235 vs. Giovanni del Biondo 1366, styles are the same frontal figures conservative depictions.

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)

Average customer rating:

Thorough
Essential! Rich!
powerful topic: execution?
Very interesting (but "brilliant"???)
"more brilliant than the sun"

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
Tricia Rose
Manufacturer: Wesleyan University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Linguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0819562750

Book Description

From its beginnings in hip hop culture, the dense rhythms and aggressive lyrics of rap music have made it a provocative fixture on the American cultural landscape. In Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Tricia Rose, described by the New York Times as a "hip hop theorist," takes a comprehensive look at the lyrics, music, cultures, themes, and styles of this highly rhythmic, rhymed storytelling and grapples with the most salient issues and debates that surround it.

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and History at New York University, Tricia Rose sorts through rap's multiple voices by exploring its underlying urban cultural politics, particularly the influential New York City rap scene, and discusses rap as a unique musical form in which traditional African-based oral traditions fuse with cutting-edge music technologies. Next she takes up rap's racial politics, its sharp criticisms of the police and the government, and the responses of those institutions. Finally, she explores the complex sexual politics of rap, including questions of misogyny, sexual domination, and female rappers' critiques of men.

But these debates do not overshadow rappers' own words and thoughts. Rose also closely examines the lyrics and videos for songs by artists such as Public Enemy, KRS-One, Salt N' Pepa, MC Lyte, and L. L. Cool J. and draws on candid interviews with Queen Latifah, music producer Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, dancer Crazy Legs, and others to paint the full range of rap's political and aesthetic spectrum. In the end, Rose observes, rap music remains a vibrant force with its own aesthetic, "a noisy and powerful element of contemporary American popular culture which continues to draw a great deal of attention to itself."

Customer Reviews:

Thorough.......2003-03-26

Hip Hop is founded on the valorization--rather than villification--of recontextualization, revision, and redaction. In a examplary work of musical and cultural studies scholarship, Rose traces the ways prior black musical/oral traditions, technological advances, and sexism undergird the discourse (just to mention a couple of the lens through which she takes on rap). The work highly accessible to hip hoppers non hip hoppers alike, furthermore. Finally, it is to Rose's benefit that she comes from an "insider's" vantage point, giving the text a genuine concern for where the music comes from, finds itself, and is indefatigably headed towards.

Essential! Rich!.......2000-07-25

Tricia Rose details the Hip-Hop Culture - and its beauty and depth - in this book I call "essential for Hip-Hoppers". For example: I'm writing 'bout Brazilian hip-hop and "Black Noise" cleared many doubts I had on hystoric, artistic, and politic aspects of the 'Culture of Streetz'. Another contribution that elevates this 'Bible of Hip-Hop' is the way Tricia Rose writes. The words flow natural, with many rich informations reduced in a very agradable text. If you don't like this book, you'll never understand the 'Black Noise' of this new millenium! Peace!

powerful topic: execution?.......2000-04-03

I read this book as a compulsory action for the 'Poetry of Rap' course in which I am currently enrolled at a major university. As a narrative and dialectic of black culture, or rather a single faction of black culture, this book is powerful and informative, providing analysis of many, many social thinkers of the Black Arts and later movements as well as Rose's perspective(s) on the developments of the culture. However, the execution of this text, ostensibly an academic account, is weakened by a diffuse structure, imprecise diction (beyond that necessitated by dealing with a topic heretofore untreated in academic circles with any rigor) and atrocious editing. I highly recommend the text, but by the same token recommend it with a disclaimer: hear why she says, and not what she says.

Very interesting (but "brilliant"???).......1999-06-03

This is an impressive interpretation of Black musical culture, with loads of interesting information and pertinent feminist content. I've read several books with somewhat similar subject matter, from Dick Hebdige's broad and helpful survey to the rather pretentious book by Russell Potter; but none of them captured my interest as much as this one.

"more brilliant than the sun".......1999-02-08

brilliant, exhausting and informative... provides a feminist point of view from the inside for all important aspects... read it and love it...

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