Recommendations based on "Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs"

Named One of The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Greatest Film Books of All Time”Famed independent screenwriter and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spy Kids, Machete) discloses all the unique strategies and original techniques he used to make his remarkable debut film El Mariachi on a shoestring budget.This is both one man's remarkable story and an essential guide for anyone who has a celluloid story to tell and the dreams and determination to see it through. Part production diary, part how-to manual, Rodriguez unveils how he was able to make his influential first film on only a $7,000 budget. Also included is the appendix, "The Ten Minute Film Course,” a tell-all on how to save thousands of dollars on film school and teach yourself the ropes of film production, directing, and screenwriting.A perfect gift for the aspiring filmmaker.

Learn chess from International Master and top Youtube chess teacher GothamChess in this accessible and fun guide for beginner and mid-level players packed full of game-winning strategies and entertaining wit.Clever and informative, How to Win at Chess teaches beginner and intermediate players the art of the game, including all the important chess moves and strategies to keep you thinking several steps ahead.Teeming with Rozman's signature charm and humor, the first half introduces aspiring players to four key areas to consider when playing chess—openings, endings, tactics, and strategies—while the second builds upon these core skills. How to Win at Chess brims with 500 instructional game play illustrations to help you better visualize the board and QR codes to exclusive educational videos on the GothamChess website.Whether you want to become a recreational chess player or a Grandmaster, How to Win at Chess is the perfect interactive introduction to the world of chess!

The official illustrated history of Blue Note, the most influential and important brand in jazz. Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie-woogie and swing of the 1930s, through bebop, funk, and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, this landmark publication tells the story of an influential jazz institution and commemorates Blue Note’s momentous contribution to modern music and style. Practically all of the jazz greats passed through Blue Note’s doors, including Miles Davis, Sidney Bechet, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Ornette Coleman, Donald Byrd, and Jimmy Smith. Blue Note is not only known as the purveyor of extraordinary jazz but is also famous as an arbiter of cool. The photography of cofounder Francis Wolff and the cover designs of Reid Miles helped create a look that was an integral part of the label’s genius. A highly illustrated volume, Blue Note features the very best photographs, covers, and ephemera from the archives, including never-before-published material, and and documents a groundbreaking era in American culture.

The perfect gift for the art lover in your life. In the tradition of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Will Gompertz teaches art history with a sense of humorEvery year, millions of museum and gallery visitors ponder the modern art on display and secretly ask themselves, "Is this art?" A former director at London's Tate Gallery and now the BBC arts editor, Will Gompertz made it his mission to bring modern art's exciting history alive for everyone, explaining why an unmade bed or a pickled shark can be art—and why a five-year-old couldn't really do it. Rich with extraordinary tales and anecdotes, What Are You Looking At? entertains as it arms readers with the knowledge to truly understand and enjoy what it is they’re looking at.

The definitive exploration―told in revelatory detail―of the writing, recording, and release of John Lennon’s celebrated and magical fourth solo album Mind Games, and the era that inspired it.Described by Yoko Ono as "ahead of its time," Mind Games is a breakthrough album from John Lennon in which he employs a Plastic Ono Band comprising the cream of the crop of New York session musicians―a fan favorite that remains a cult classic ever since its first release on October 29, 1973. This insightful and beautiful book presents handwritten lyrics, letters, artworks by Lennon and Ono, and previously unseen photography alongside their firsthand commentary about the lyrics, songs, and album artwork, as well as contributions from the musicians, friends, engineers, and key figures involved in the making of this landmark album.Mind Games was the product of an exceptionally turbulent time for the Lennons. While Nixon and Hoover were attempting to have Lennon deported, John and Yoko endured endless litigations and as the popular press turned on them once again, they bravely rose above it all, continuing their campaigns for non-violent peaceful protest to end the war in Vietnam and for equal rights for women. It was also an exciting time when they both re-embraced mysticism and magical thinking. In this sumptuous volume, text and images from the key players are woven together to reveal not only the details behind the creation, recording, and release of this groundbreaking commercial and skillfully crafted recording, but also to shed new light on a period of transformation and experimentation for Lennon and Ono.Publication will coincide with extensive publicity surrounding the release of a completely remixed and reissued 6 x CD / 2 x BluRay digital edition of Mind Games, together with two deluxe Mind Games boxsets, bringing the album to a new generation of listeners. 750 color illustrations

In The Musician's Way, veteran performer and educator Gerald Klickstein combines the latest research with his 30 years of professional experience to provide aspiring musicians with a roadmap to artistic excellence. Part I, Artful Practice, describes strategies to interpret and memorize compositions, fuel motivation, collaborate, and more. Part II, Fearless Performance, lifts the lid on the hidden causes of nervousness and shows how musicians can become confident performers. Part III, Lifelong Creativity, surveys tactics to prevent music-related injuries and equips musicians to tap their own innate creativity. Written in a conversational style, The Musician's Way presents an inclusive system for all instrumentalists and vocalists to advance their musical abilities and succeed as performing artists.

This updated edition profiles twenty of the world’s leading street photographers and teaches readers how to capture profound urban moments.In recent years, photo sharing on social media has rejuvenated street photography, and its spirit has been reborn. The Street Photographer’s Manual is about the possibilities of street photography as a medium, and how it can be approached in an accessible way.The book begins with an overview of street photography, examining its past, present, and future, and looking at how the genre has changed over time. The reader is then introduced to twenty of the most acclaimed international street photographers. This new, revised edition features six new photographers: Troy Holden, Merel Schoneveld, Melissa Breyer, David Gaberle, Michelle Groskopf, and Craig Whitehead.Integrated within the profiles are twenty fully illustrated tutorials, including how to shoot a face in a crowd and how to train your eye to observe and capture the unexpected. The Street Photographer’s Manual shows you that being a street photographer is partly about looking for luck. But luck requires inspiration―and that is where this book is indispensable. 100 color photographs

Personally compiled and curated by Yoko Ono, Imagine John Yoko is the definitive inside story told in revelatory detail of the making of the legendary album and all that surrounded the locations, the creative team, the artworks and the films, in the words of John & Yoko and the people who were there. Features 80% exclusive, hitherto-unpublished archive photos and footage sequences of all the key players in situ, together with lyric sheets, Yoko s art installations, and exclusive new insights and personal testimonies from Yoko and over forty of the musicians, engineers, staff, celebrities, artists and photographers who were there including Julian Lennon, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Jim Keltner, David Bailey, Dick Cavett and Sir Michael Parkinson. A lot has been written about the creation of the song, the album and the film of Imagine, mainly by people who weren t there, so I m very pleased and grateful that now, for the first time, so many of the participants have kindly given their time to gimme some truth in their own words and pictures Yoko Ono Lennon, 2018 In 1971, John Lennon & Yoko Ono conceived and recorded the critically acclaimed album Imagine at their Georgian country home, Tittenhurst Park, in Berkshire, England, in the state-of-the-art studio they built in the grounds, and at the Record Plant in New York. The lyrics of the title track were inspired by Yoko Ono s event scores in her 1964 book Grapefruit , and she was officially co-credited as writer in June 2017. Imagine John Yoko tells the story of John & Yoko s life, work and relationship during this intensely creative period. It transports readers to home and working environments showcasing Yoko s closely guarded archive of photos and artefacts, using artfully compiled narrative film stills, and featuring digitally rendered maps, floorplans and panoramas that recreate the interiors in evocative detail. John & Yoko introduce each chapter and song; Yoko also provides invaluable additional commentary and a preface. All the minutiae is the locations, the key players, the music and lyrics, the production techniques and the artworks including the creative process behind the double exposure polaroids used on the album cover. With a message as universal and pertinent today as it was when the album was created, this landmark publication is a fitting tribute to John & Yoko and their place in cultural history. Table of Contents Preface 1. Tittenhurst 2. Recording Imagine 3. Album Artwork 4. Filming Imagine 5. This Is Not Here 6. Legacy

A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER“[A] diverse and enlightening book . . . The 99% Invisible City is altogether fresh and imaginative when it comes to thinking about urban spaces.”—The New York Times Book Review“Here is a field guide, a boon, a bible, for the urban curious. Your city’s secret anatomy laid bare—a hundred things you look at but don’t see, see but don’t know. Each entry is a compact, surprising story, a thought piece, an invitation to marvel. Together, they are almost transformative. To know why things are as they are adds a satisfying richness to daily existence. This book is terrific, just terrific.”—Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff, Grunt, and Gulp“The 99% Invisible City brings into view the fascinating but often unnoticed worlds we walk and drive through every day, and to read it is to feel newly alive and aware of your place in the world. This book made me laugh, and it made me cry, and it reminded me to always read the plaque.”—John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All The Way DownA beautifully designed guidebook to the unnoticed yet essential elements of our cities, from the creators of the wildly popular 99% Invisible podcastHave you ever wondered what those bright, squiggly graffiti marks on the sidewalk mean?Or stopped to consider why you don't see metal fire escapes on new buildings?Or pondered the story behind those dancing inflatable figures in car dealerships?99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.Now, in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design, host Roman Mars and coauthor Kurt Kohlstedt zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. With deeply researched entries and beautiful line drawings throughout, The 99% Invisible City will captivate devoted fans of the show and anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.

What is it that we do when we enjoy a text? What is the pleasure of reading? The French critic and theorist Roland Barthes's answers to these questions constitute "perhaps for the first time in the history of criticism . . . not only a poetics of reading . . . but a much more difficult achievement, an erotics of reading . . . . Like filings which gather to form a figure in a magnetic field, the parts and pieces here do come together, determined to affirm the pleasure we must take in our reading as against the indifference of (mere) knowledge." --Richard Howard