Pulling Down the Sky is a journey on roller blades. The Amazing Zephyr takes you on an extreme tour of San Francisco. It is weird romance. A voyage of the spirit. Zephyr’s remarkable trajectory is conjured with a poet’s eye. The wheels trigger his mind. He ventures beyond the compliance training of the herd. He is focused on a new horizon. Now he can see and think and feel for himself.
This extraordinary book, written from material gathered over half a century ago, will almost certainly be the last fine-grained account of traditional Aboriginal life in settled south-eastern Australia. It recreates the world of the Yaraldi group of the Kukabrak or Narrinyeri people of the Lower Murray and Lakes region of South Australia. In 1939 Albert Karloan, a Yaraldi man, urged a young ethnologist, Ronald Berndt, to set up camp at Murray Bridge and to record the story of his people. Karloan and Pinkie Mack, a Yaraldi woman, possessed through personal experience, not merely through hearsay, an all but complete knowledge of traditional life. They were virtually the last custodians of that knowledge and they felt the burden of their unique situation. This book represents their concerted efforts to pass on the story to future generations. For Ronald and Catherine Berndt, this was their first fieldwork together in an illustrious joint career of almost fifty years. During long periods, principally until 1943, they laboured with pencil and paper to put it all down - a far cry from the recording techniques of today's oral historians. Their fieldnotes were worked into a rough draft of what would become, but not until recently, the finished manuscript. The book's range is encyclopaedic and engrossing - sometimes dramatic. It encompasses relations between and among individuals and clan groups, land tenure, kinship, the subsistence economy, trade, ceremony, councils, fighting and warfare, rites of passage from conception to death, myths, and beliefs and practices concerning healing and the supernatural. Not least, it is a record of the dramatic changes following European colonization. A World That Was is a unique contribution to Australia's cultural history. There is simply no comparable body of work, nor is there ever likely to be.
Knowing very little English, eleven-year-old Jingwen feels like an alien when his family immigrates to Australia, but copes with loneliness and the loss of his father by baking elaborate cakes.
Nurture the flow of Qi energy in your body for a life of vibrancy, balance, and wellness. In Pathways of Qi, Chinese Medicine expert Matthew Sweigart shows how to use touch therapy, meditations, and gentle Qigong exercises to clear away blockages and open up to energetic nourishment. Based on ancient wisdom traditions, these hands-on assessment and treatment techniques have been cultivated to heal the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Explore the channels of energy in the body—known in Chinese Medicine as the meridians—and for each one, discover the limb position, yin/yang properties, corresponding elements, functions, affirmations, and more. With illustrations to help you master the physical postures and gestures, Pathways of Qi will guide you through gentle practices for a life of improved awareness, connection, and health. Praise: "Pathways of Qi exemplifies the essence and beauty of the Ohashiatsu modality in every way. I highly recommend this book."—Ohashi, author of Do-It-Yourself Shiatsu and Reading the Body "Matthew Sweigart's new book provides a fresh look on a subject too often taught using only boring charts and lists. In Pathways of Qi, Matthew takes the reader along on his own personal journey. Although it reads a lot like a novel the text includes an in-depth presentation of the subject. Matthew explains both the scope and the details he has discovered and become familiar with inside the body's electromagnetic field. A very worthwhile read for students, professionals, and even potential clients of Asian Bodywork Therapy (ABT) and acupuncture."—Cindy Banker, Founding President of the American Shiatsu Association and Director of the A.O.B.T.A.'s Council of Schools and Programs "Pathways of Qi is an empowering manual on Meridian Therapy providing practical ways to heal yourself and others. If you're interested in healing, this book is vital for tapping the source of your life force."—Michael Reed Gach, author of Acupressure's Potent Points "A gifted Shiatsu and Qi Gong teacher, Matthew Sweigart harmoniously combines his passion for the healing arts with his lifetime experience with the theories of ancient Chinese philosophy. Written in an easy to understand, refreshing way, Pathways of Qi is a valuable compendium for practitioners and instructors of different traditions."—Nilsa Eberhart Diaz, owner of Zen Shiatsu Caribbean Institute, San Juan, Puerto Rico "Matthew Sweigart's clear illustrations and instructions are enhanced by his wisdom stories that bring these teachings to life. The stories and teachings open your eyes to the Qi that is the source of Life, energy and healing. Pathways of Qi is a reference tool, a collection of wisdom, and a gift to humanity. Thank you for taking the time to record your wisdom for current and future generations. A masterpiece!"—Bonnie Jean Miller, MDI, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern Universit
The Nimrods is an important new book for two reasons. First, it is an accurate true-life story, told by an A-26 navigator/co-pilot who flew 182 combat missions in the Vietnam War, about a magnificent band of A-26 pilots and navigator/co-pilots who flew--from 1966 to 1969--countless high-intensity nighttime dive-bombing missions in “The Secret War in Laos” (Steel Tiger, Barrel Roll and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail). To illustrate the intensity of the dive-bombing missions in the Vietnam War, the writer describes, in detail, more than twenty separate unforgettable missions—and more importantly—the personalities and psychological reactions of all of the unforgettable characters who were a part of the 609th Special Operations Squadron. Second, the book is highly relevant to the current Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terror, because it addresses the lessons learned in the Vietnam War (and World War II and the Korean War) and advocates that Americans and their allies apply those lessons learned to terrorism and renewed threats of nuclear war from tyrants and terrorists around the world. This is a book whose time has come. The views of our military veterans and their families who have endured the life-threatening and life-changing experiences of combat are made known to the American public and our allies. Recommendations from The Iraq Study Group Report, and President Bush’s new Iraq strategy, are reviewed and analyzed. The book articulates a new way forward and a new vision that can be embraced by the entire world, and contrasts the vision of America and its allies with the vision of Osama bin Laden and the radical Islamic terrorists who threaten the security of the entire world.
Once upon a very distant time, a big Rat became the King in the house of Cats. He would walk on his four tiny legs, around the house, barking orders to all the timid Cats, all in their own house. He was the Lord, their Emperor, and even the very King they knew. And there was none, in the big house, like him. One day, however, Lord Lizard came from the bush on a state visit. He had a golden cap on his head. And his hairless skin was wrapped in pure gold. And even the very claws of his four feet were all painted and coated with the very best of purified liquid gold.
