5 comments about Old Tractors Never Die: Roger's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Ageless Iron.

1. My first exposure to Roger Welsch came from his "Post Cards From Nebraska" as aired on CBS's "Sunday Morning". The folks at CBS, lost a viewer, now that the "Postcard" segments are rarely included.
   The main result of the CBS error, was that I turned heavily to the reading of Roger's books, to maintain and increase my levels of socially acceptable gratification.
   "Old Tractors Never Die...Roger's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Ageless Iron" is a collection of pieces that originally appeared in the Successful Farming magazine. If I had more time, I'd be a subscriber...if for no other reason then to show respect to the folks that grow and raise my food. In reading "Old Tractors..." I've gain years worth of Roger Welsch's insightful, humorous and unique perspectives on this boy's favorite pass time.
   I love tools, machinery, rust and iron. The collection, restoration and maintenance of old tractors is touched on. The reasons a person would enjoy this pass-time are shared. A deeper meaning of gratitude came to me, for those that farmed with all that old iron. It's a people kind of book that will introduce you to folks you can call friend and hobby you might just pick up.



2. but Roger is such an interesting writer that anyone regardless of their life style will find this book entertaining..a book that is hard to walk away from..



3. Yep, some folks may have seen this material before, since this book's a compilation of Welsch's enrapturing material written for Successful Farming magazine. I haven't, because I'm too cheap to subscribe, but I still got to enjoy all this hilarious writing because my wife bought me the book for Christmas. There's something genuinely funny about Roger Welsch, and whether the topic is tractors, love, or interior decoration, it shines through in his thoughtful and eloquent writing. Roger starts each essay with a topic related to tractors, tractor restoration, or tractor enthusiasts, and by applying his gentle humor and a creative logic that suggests a tenuous grasp of reality, crafts gem-like vignettes of modern rural life. This book is in a class with the author's LOVE, SEX, AND TRACTORS or Howard Mohr's HOW TO TALK MINNESOTAN ... it was so funny I had to take it out to the shed and read parts of it to my John Deere "A". We both had a good laugh.



4. Anyone that has ever read Roger's tractor books will love this. If you read his columns in Successful Farming, a lot of it will be familiar, but well worth re-reading. As has been the case with each of his tractor books that I have bought, it turns into a marathon cover-to-cover reading session. I have yet to be able to pace myself while reading one.



5. Actually,the book was a compilation of articles that have appeared in Sucessfull Farming magazine over the years. His books are always funny to those who understand life on the farm and tractor restoration.

5 comments about Optical Illusions for Quilters.

1. Gave me some great ideas for expanding my creativity with dimension in my quilts. Will use one design immediately for a quilt for my six year old grandson, he will love it.



2. I was very disappointed. Book is VERY technical without much background. I think you need a very strong background and experience in drafting your own patterns. No real practical advice. I need something that will take me to the very beginning and bring me forward, not start me at the finish line.



3. this was a wonderful book. I found it to be full of wonderful examples of how these illusions were accomplished in different ways. And what a better way to be inspired but by the many examples of art in action.

   I was a little dissappointed with the pattern and instructions given at the end...but not enough to prevent me from buying this book. I find that most of my inspirations comes from viewing how others accomplished the techniques and their completed works than simply by a lesson and pattern alone. I would definately recommend this book to anyone seeking to quilt outside the lines.




4. I have made 2 of Karen Combs patterns and while they turned out well, I would have hated to have tried them as an inexperienced quilter. Her directions are not that easy to follow and require much rereading. The book is very technical. She does wonderful designs but really needs to have the pattern instructions written by someone else and it is not her forte.



5. Karen Combs does a fine job gathering examples of each "tool" used to create illusions. I've just read through the book and I feel very inspired to piece a cube. The quilts she's chosen to illustrate different techniques are amazing. If you're up for something different, this book is for you.

3 comments about Great Ships in New York Harbor: 175 Historic Photographs, 1935-2005.

1. Informative and interesting; just what I expected and needed



2. This is a superb look at New York's Harbor and the great ships that sailed to its port. There's many fantastic ariel shots of NYC in the pre-steel and glass era. Lots of history of the ports of Brooklyn, which served passengers as well as the retrofitting of many visiting ships. There's several modern day photos as well, including the liner Norway passing the World Trade Center on September 5, 2001.
   
   If anything could be added to this book it would be some pre-1935 shots of NYC's harbor, and possibly some color photos. But overall, it is a unique book for anyone who has an interest in New York City and great Ships.



3. This is a very good overview over the golden era of New York shipping.
   I'm always fascinated again whenever I look into the book. It's marvellous!
   I can only recommend this book of William H. Miller jr. to all ship- lovers and New York harbour and luxury liner-row fans!

5 comments about Designing Disney.

1. Let's face it. There are hundreds of books about Disney. The movies... the stage shows... the company... the management style... recipes... fiction... even an incredible collection of Walt Disney World Trivia (currently in its second edition!). Occasionally, a book comes through that fills a unique void.
   
   John Hench was a designer with Disney for over 65 years. His designs are as identifiably Disney as anything else coming from the mouse house. In around 150 pages, Hench shares some of his design work in artist's concepts and blueprints. These are beautiful and rare, but it is his insight into the thought behind the design choices that turn this book from yet another Disney book to a text book worth much study.
   
   Many books discussing Disney magic often push the art of looking around, taking note of details. This book helps you to know "How" to look around and "What" you are looking for... Hopefully, you'll never look at it the same way ever again. Entire sections are devoted to in depth discussion on color, costumes, character, line, layout and most of all, story. With over half a century working for Disney, Hench's resume is able to back it all up with beautiful artwork.
   
   If there is one thing that is surprisingly absent from a Disney legend that spent years working directly with Walt, it is a lack of stories that bring you into Walt's presence. It lacks that emotional touch, but makes up for it in intellectual stimulation that will affect your thinking about Disney for many years to come.



2. I do like this book, but it doesn't have the great pictures that the other Imagineering book does. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Imagineers. It has a lot of text, which will help you understand many aspects of what it means to be an Imagineer. I would recommend getting the other one first, and this one second if you are still interested. They are both great.



3. not exactly what I expected. I was hoping for a more historical perspective, but overall a good book.



4. This is a fascinating look into the mind of the premier Disney designers. Hench explains how every single detail of the Disney parks is designed to fit into a great whole: color, form, space, and even time must reinforce a narrative theme in every single ride or experience, as if the viewer had entered a film sequence. All detail is foreseen - with storyboards! - discussed, and built with this kind of total consistency of experience in mind. I was astounded that the parts were so much more deeply planned than I had imagined.
   
   I read this as part of my research for a writing project on Disney. For this, it was extremely useful and informative. It strikes me that the imagineering method is of great relevance to all managers.
   
   While easy to read quickly, this book will give anyone who likes Disney a fascinating new perspective on one of the great American success stories. Warmly recommended. The writing is clear and to the point, while elegant.



5. For most Disneyland guests, the nuts-and-bolts details behind the many attractions will ruin their illusions. Most people who are shown the tricks behind stage magic cannot get over feeling cheated. If you had to watch the process of making sausages from birth of the meat animal (pig or whatever) to the grilling of your breakfast in the restaurant kitchen, odds are that you'd enjoy your oatmeal instead.
   
   But I enjoy seeing projects grow from project to fruition. John Hench's "Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show" in an insiders peek at the Disney theme parks and cruise line. Concept art is directed at a specific audience. Usually the task for concept art is to sell the idea to the "suits"--who are a very different audience than Disneyland guests. It's been said that executives consider everyone else subhuman--especially their customers and subordinate employees--so what "sells" a concept to a panel of executives will leave the end customer unimpressed. Once the project gets the go-ahead, changes will happen. "No plan survives contact with reality!" At Disneyland, "finished attractions" will continually be changed due to economics or guest feedback until the attraction is replaced. The Disneyland Monorail is a fine example of this. On pages 26 and 27 and on page 33 monorail concept art differs significantly from today's Disneyland Monorail. John Hench wrote about how this occurred.
   
   Many ideas don't make it to the concept stage. Disenyland was very much the experimental community during the 1950's and 1960's. The Enchanted Tiki Room was originally conceived of as a dinner show. Around 1960, the South Pacific was considered romantic and adventurous. Today, the Enchanted Tiki Room is considered ho-hum boring by most--but just try to rid Disneyland of it! My visits to Disneyland are incomplete if I cannot see the Tiki Birds at least once!
   
   Hench wrote about the central theme of the park attractions, how "show" was the focus. Some of the rides and attractions at Disneyland (Disney's California Adventure is a worse offender) are just rides or exhibits. They have little if any tie-in, no synergy, with the rest of the park. Walt Disney told stories with his park attractions. The "nuts and bolts" of telling stories with a walk-in theater and live actors is explained in simple terms. No math! Imagine equations for the curve radii and bank on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! Color, character, form, space, and time are some of the elements used to tell the story.
   
   I like the panaramic photos of Main Street, Disneyland on pages 68 through 71. Disney theme parks keep changing. I like to see how the park has changed over time. Hench explained why these changes occured.
   
   This book is a nice addition to my Disney library.

5 comments about And Their Children After Them: The Legacy of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.

1. For readers of the original Agee/Evans collaboration, "And Their Children" is well worth the time. The reporter and photographer tracked down the 116 living offspring of the pseudonymous Gudger, Ricketts, and Woods families, as well as those who were part of the original book (12 of 22 who appeared in "Let Us Now" were still alive when they began their research in 1986). Not all were willing to be interviewed or photographed, but many were.
   
   As with the first book, the tale here is not a particularly happy one. The author begins by recounting the suicide of Maggie Louise Gudger, age 10 in 1936, a particular favorite of Agee's, and dead at age 45--the same age at which Agee himself died from drink. And yet there are varying degrees of hope in many of the stories, such as that of Maggie Louise's daughter Debbie and her children.
   
   The structure of the book follows each family through different periods: 1936-1940; 1940-1960; and 1960-1986. The author also includes sections on one of the local landowning families (which was far from rich!) and an African-American sharecropping family. Along the way, we learn surprising things about the evil (and Faulknerian) Fred Ricketts, the fate of Clair Bell (she did not die at age 4, as Agee had feared she would), the struggles of George Gudger, and the families' views on Agee, Evans, and the original book. About the children and grandchildren, we find out about those who ran away (and usually came back) and those who stayed; marriages; children; the end of farming; attempts at succeeding at school and at work; closeness and bitterness. It's all grippingly told. And the photographs that allow one to compare the state of things in 1936 and 1986 are excellent. Several photos exactly re-capture the originals.
   
   Quibbles: Naturally, I think, the sections on the two families who did not appear in the first book are less interesting. They could have been abbreviated. Also, the author's (negative) take on the state of America in 1986 is garden-variety journalism for that time. These sections are easily avoided, however, and do not detract from the writing about the original families.
   
   Counter to the author's gloomy opinions, his stories indicate that many of these descendents of share-croppers emerged from the Depression to enjoy a slow but steady material progress. Maggie Louise's grandchildren, now in their thirties, should do even better over the course of their lives. One hopes that another writer-photographer team will venture to Hobe's Hill in 2036 to test that proposition.



2. While I have Let Us Now Praise Famous Men on deck to read as well, the friend who loaned me the books explained she found And Their Children After Them first, and actually liked reading them in reverse order. So, I chose to follow her lead.
   
   The book, even standing alone, is an intensely personal and touching look into the lives of people who many of us who enjoy the luxury of writing reviews on the Internet can never really understand. The backgrounds, upbringings and challenges were so vastly different, and the book does a good job of showing us something different, something very real.
   
   I can understand the retiscence of some to participate in the book -- while reading passages in this book I often thought to myself what it would feel like to be the person being written about and to see the things about them in print. Like our society, there is a great deal of judgement in the book -- while they try to avoid it, it is there, and it's painful at times.
   
   But it's all worth it, in my opinion, to uncover the many thought provoking things that relate to our world today, and that give me a better understanding of history and people's place within it.



3. This book should be read right after reading James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Mem. Unfortuantely I read it over four years before I read Agee's work. When I read this book--in Feb 1996--I wrote to myself: This is a book Newt Gingrich and the crazy House freshmen should read--people who are so intent that those who cannot make it on their own should not make it.



4. First introduced to "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by James Agee and Walker Evans through a PBS Documentary, which inspired a dash to the library to read the book iteself, it wasn't until years later I went back to the library to see if anyone had ever followed up on the story. Confronted with the then new computerized "card catalog" system, I wondered how I might search for any related writings when it dawned on me what a perfect title would naturally evolve from the verse the first book title was taken: ..And Their Children After Them. Imagine my amazement when I tried that title, and there it was! Maharidge and Williamson have followed in Agee and Evans footsteps to give readers "the rest of the story" of the tenant farmers' families and grandchildren, as well as the stories of Agee and Evans themselves. I congratulation them on an excellent book, and offer thanks to the families and their descendants for sharing their lifestories. Their lives did not take the path predicted for them by Agee: life refuses to be harnessed by prediction. Some went farther than anyone could have anticipated, while others came to a place, if possible, even worse than expected. As a second generation American, descended from Polish and Prussian immigrants who lived comparable lives, but who were blessed to own their own land, I identified closely with these stories, from the first page of "Let Us Praise" to the last page of "And Their Children".



5. Unfortunately, the synopsis left out that this book won the Pulitzer for Non-fiction in 1991. Maharidge and Williamson followed the footsteps of James Agee who had profiled sharecroppers during the Depression. They found their decendants, and showed that while cotton and sharecropping had died, rural poverty for these families had been passed down to new generations. The front section of the book is a series of photographs by Williamson, and they are tremendous. Moreover, in their reporting, they filled a gap left by Agee by finding a black family of sharecroppers to add to the others profiled. This is a tremendous book. It works on multiple levels, giving both the sweep of Southern social and economic history and bringing it down to individuals. Beyond that, the book is a metaphor for our own time. "If we understand the death of cotton," Maharidge writes in this book, "we understand many things about modern America." This is a tremendous work, highly readable and moving. The recognition these two craftsmen received for it is well-deserved

No comments about Classic Fishing Lures.

2 comments about Quilts In America.

1. Quilts In America is a needlecraft treasury spanning nearly three hundred years of quilt history, techniques, patterns, and styles since America's colonial roots. Black-and-white and color plates illustrate a wide variety of historic quilts, while chapters discuss the evolution of quilts as both a practical craft and as folk art. Co-written by the director of the Textile Conservation Workshop in South Salem, New York, a nonprofit regional conservation laboratory devoted to rare and fragile textiles, Quilts In America is both an enlightening read and a reverberating experience especially for quilt lovers everywhere, and the vintage designs in the plates will prove inspirational for anyone interested in creating new quilts in historic American styles.



2. a "must" for anyone interested in American art...or quilts in general. a consummate body of work that both surveys the topic and gets into details only when appropriately necessary. written with a passion and sensitivity that sheds new light on some very old cloth.

5 comments about Aprons: Icons Of The American Home.

1. As a quilter and vintage fabric lover I found this book to be a beautiful feast. The photos are large and clear, all aprons shown are displayed over period dresses, or on their own. This book is fabulous for collectors, or people like me that love to recreate vintage designs. I hope aprons come back, but even if they don't I will still wear them. This book is very timely, and it does deserve five stars. One word of cation, it isn't a pattern book, there are no projects, or patterns. It is simply aprons, in all their glory. A great coffee table book!



2. This book is full of large, colorful photos of many beautiful aprons. It is also filled with pertinent information for anyone interested in vintage aprons. Reading it makes me feel "home again." I've been an apron collector for years, and I had the opportunity to view Ms. Cheney's apron exhibit in my town's museum recently. It was fabulous! This book is my new favorite! Thanks, Ms. cheney!



3. Aprons & Icons is for vintage clothing fans and for those who have a warm spot in their hearts for the unsung heros of the wardrobe. Documenting everything from groovy '60's styles to early 1900's workaday models, the book is well researched and beautifully presented. It makes a great gift. Each time I open it I discover something new.



4. I just loved Joyce Chaney's book, Aprons:Icons of the American Home. It is the only book to date on the history of the american apron. The photographs are beautiful and the content is complete. Every page brings a memory of mom, grandmother or an aunt. This is a must for anyone interested in american icons, aprons or vintage clothing.



5. This book will take you back through vivid memories of aprons for cooking, home, and just fun. It also inspires a fashion sense because these aprons are timeless and fit today's world as much as yesterday's. Thank you Mme. Cheney for a great book and one that fills a void in the history of fashion and textiles.

1 comments about Popular Art Deco: Depression Era Style and Design.

1. Most books about Art Deco rightly cover the fine art aspects of the movement but the authors of this lovely book explore the way commerce used deco styling in mass produced products available on any Main Street. It would be a good few years before an art style was used again to sell things, namely pop art in the mid-Sixties.
   
   Look at the many photographs of everyday items in the book and it is clear that manufacturers copied whatever deco style elements they wanted to enhance the sales potential of their products, at the same time a group of industrial designers where developing America's unique design style, streamline and contributing more elements to be copied, a good example are the three speed lines that popped up on many products.
   
   I think the illustrations in the book are well chosen and they really do cover everyday items in use during the Depression years and nicely the text is broken up with various interesting sidebars like the one on Dolores Del Rio's moderne house or festive season graphics or Deco Mexicana. To compliment this excellent survey have a look at 'Streamline' (ISBN 0811806626) by Steven Heller and Louise Fili, basically a visual book with several hundred examples of everyday graphics. Both books cover so well two exuberant art styles that everyone could share and so were truly democratic.
   
   ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

2 comments about The Tao of Cow: What Cows Teach Us.

1. The Tao Of Cow: What Cows Teach Us is a unique, fun, and occasionally inspiring compilation of seventy-four amusing, unusual photographs of cows accompanied by "words of wisdom" from our bovine friends. Classic sayings from our four legged friends such as "Stampede not through life, lest you miss the majesty of the world around you.", and "Sometimes the grass is exactly the same color green on the other side of the fence.", and "Turning the other cheek often puts your best hoof forward." translate exceptionally well into advice germane to we two legged humans.



2. A guide to being a "cow hand". Inspiring to say the least
   without spending alot of Moola ...