'You hold in your hand a miracle. A book about a passion, and the hipsters, oddballs and old heads who share it, written by one of their number, albeit a ludicrously erudite one' - Danny Kelly A revival of interest in vinyl music has taken place in recent years - but for many of those from the 'baby boomer' generation, it never went away. Graham Sharpe's vinyl love affair began in the 1960s and since then he has amassed over 3000 LPs and spent countless hours visiting record shops worldwide along with record fairs, car boot sales, online and real life auctions.Vinyl Countdownfollows his journey to over a hundred shops across the globe - from New York to New Zealand, Walsall to Warsaw, Oslo to Ozstralia, (old) Jersey to New Jersey - and describes the many characters he has encountered and the adventures he accrued along the way. Vinyl Countdown seeks to reawaken the often dormant desire which first promoted the gathering of records, and to confirm the belief of those who still indulge in it, that they happily belong to, and should celebrate the undervalued, misunderstood significant group of music-obsessed vinylholics, who always want - need - to buy... just one more record. A mesmerising blend of memoir, travel, music and social history, Vinyl Countdown will appeal to anyone who vividly recalls the first LP they bought and any music fan who derives pleasure from the capacity that records have for transporting you back in time. 'Graham Sharpe's journey around the second-hand record shops of the UK is full of laugh out loud anecdotes and wonderful observations. A great read not just for vinyl fans, but for anybody who has ever visited a record shop' - Graham Jones, author of Last Shop Standing (Whatever Happened to Record Shops), Strange Requests and Comic Tales From Record Shopsand The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen
Prostate cancer really is the little understood male killer. 1 in 8 UK males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, more than 130 new cases are discovered each day and, on average, one man dies from the disease every 45 minutes. Despite these statistics, and the fact that there are getting on for half a million men living with, or in remission from, prostate cancer in the UK, the condition is rarely discussed publicly and most men ignore the warning signs. Graham Sharpe wants to help change that. Faced with a sudden and unexpected diagnosis, Graham managed - just - to overcame a desire to punch the medic charged with the task of telling him he had prostate cancer but who was keener to answer his mobile phone, and set about trying to catalogue what he went through en route to acquiring the condition and how he dealt with the grinding process of his treatment, despite having no idea of the ultimate outcome. Along the way he met and befriended many others undergoing the physical and mental stresses of treatment, emotional turmoil comparable with watching their favourite football team lose every game they play. In this intimate memoir charting his own personal experience of coming to terms with prostate cancer, Graham brings humour and a light touch to a serious subject. Combating the shortage of reading material written by anyone with direct personal experience of the disease, this book seeks to educate the ignorant, raise awareness of the risks and dispel myths - including the widely held belief that the name of the disease is in fact prostrate cancer. Here's one man's personal truth about getting, having and possibly surviving prostate cancer... 'This disease can be deadly. Please encourage the men in your lives to be aware of their prostate, before it's too late...' - Lauren Clark, wife of former England Cricket Captain Bob Willis who died of prostate cancer 'It's no secret, I'm no good with words but I do know about being diagnosed with cancer and my advice is read this book. Congrats Graham, informative, interesting and most importantly good advice - don't ignore the signs!' - Bob Champion CBE (Bob Champion Cancer Trust)
Analog Culture in the Digital Age: Pressing Matters examines the resurgence of vinyl record technologies in the twenty-first century and their place in the history of analog sound and the recording industry. It seeks to answer the questions: why has this supposedly outmoded format made a comeback in a digital culture into which it might appear to be unwelcome? Why, in an era of disembodied pleasures afforded to us in this age of cloud computing would listeners seek out this remnant of the late nineteenth century and bring it seemingly back from the grave? Why do many listeners believe vinyl, with its obvious drawbacks, to be a superior format for conveying music to the relatively noiseless CD or digital file? This book looks at the ways in which music technologies are both inflected by and inflect human interactions, creating discourses, practices, disciplines, and communities.
This is a book for the observant and the curious. A book for people who take in their surroundings and wonder at the smallest detail: why? Above all, it's a book about numbers - those that surround us every day, and the intriguing stories behind them. From the 7-day week to 24-carat gold, Chanel No. 5 to five-star luxury, The Secret Lives of Numbers figures out the mysterious background to the numbers we encounter on a daily basis. Revealing the facts behind those figures, author Michael Millar outlines where to spot each digit, what it means and how it came to be in meticulously researched and entertaining entries, creating an absorbing and intelligent book that's perfect for any numbers fan. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3... Entries include: sports shirt numbers, firearms calibres, TV ratings, football rankings, poker scores, suncream factors, A4 paper, and more.
Peter Kay's unerring gift for observing the absurdities and eccentricities of family life has earned himself a widespread, everyman appeal. These vivid observations coupled with a kind of nostalgia that never fails to grab his audience's shared understanding, have earned him comparisons with Alan Bennett and Ronnie Barker. In his award winning TV series' he creates worlds populated by degenerate, bitter, useless, endearing and always recognisable characters which have attracted a huge and loyal following. In many ways he's an old fashioned kind of comedian and the scope and enormity of his fanbase reflects this. He doesn't tell jokes about politics or sex, but rather rejoices in the far funnier areas of life: elderly relatives and answering machines, dads dancing badly at weddings, garlic bread and cheesecake, your mum's HRT... His autobiography is full of this kind of humour and nostalgia, beginning with Kay's first ever driving lesson, taking him back through his Bolton childhood, the numerous jobs he held after school and leading up until the time he passed his driving test and found fame.
What do you do when your perfect life spins out of control? A gripping psychological thriller from bestselling author Tony Parsons. 'Hard to put down, I tore through it in two sittings. This tale of an illicit one-night stand with devastating consequences is a hugely enjoyable read.' Alex Michaelides 'Bears comparison with his 2000 novel, Man and Boy ... Laced with humanity and the shadow of guilt, this is Parsons at his very best.' Daily Mail 'Such a compelling read - and a brilliant depiction of both marriage and infidelity. There's unputdownable and there's walking-into-lamp-posts with the latest Tony Parsons in your hand.' Celia Walden ____________________________ Tara Carver seems to have the perfect life. A loving mother and wife, and a business woman who runs her own company, she's the sort of person you'd want to live next door to, who might even become your best friend. But what sort of person is she really? Because in one night of madness, on a work trip far from home, she puts all this at risk. And suddenly her dream life becomes a living nightmare when the married man she spent one night with tells her he wants a serious relationship with her. And that he won't leave her or her precious family alone until she agrees. There seems to be only one way out. And it involves murder... ____________________________ 'Emotionally powerful, beautifully written and observed, this is one to savour.' CARA HUNTER, author of Close to Home and All the Rage 'Tony Parsons excels at presenting his narratives in the clearest possible prose while revealing the toughest of human emotions ... fast-moving and involving' LITERARY REVIEW 'I can testify it is a real humdinger!' PIERS MORGAN '100% unputdownable. High on my list for a lockdown read so an ideal gift to send to your locked-down Valentines ... No gift like the gift of an up to the Insta moment page-turner' OLIVIA COLE 'A roller-coaster read' BELLA
In Songbooks, critic and scholar Eric Weisbard offers a critical guide to books on American popular music from William Billings's 1770 New-England Psalm-Singer to Jay-Z's 2010 memoir Decoded. Drawing on his background editing the Village Voice music section, coediting the Journal of Popular Music Studies, and organizing the Pop Conference, Weisbard connects American music writing from memoirs, biographies, and song compilations to blues novels, magazine essays, and academic studies. The authors of these works are as diverse as the music itself: women, people of color, queer writers, self-educated scholars, poets, musicians, and elites discarding their social norms. Whether analyzing books on Louis Armstrong, the Beatles, and Madonna; the novels of Theodore Dreiser, Gayl Jones, and Jennifer Egan; or varying takes on blackface minstrelsy, Weisbard charts an alternative history of American music as told through its writing. As Weisbard demonstrates, the most enduring work pursues questions that linger across time period and genre—cultural studies in the form of notes on the fly, on sounds that never cease to change meaning.
A fun, flashy, and sassy book for beginner and expert crafters alike—with more than 150 new projects that will add pizzazz to everything from jewelry to tote bags! All that glitters doesn’t have to be gold...and diamonds (even the fake ones!) can be a girl’s—or anyone's—best friend. With Mark Montano’s step-by-step guidance you, too, can let loose your inner fashionista and make fabulous, unique accessories to complement your entire wardrobe! Think outside the box when it comes to materials, and check through your recycling to find treasures In the Bin. Show people your New Mexico style, and make a papier-mâché Zigzag Turquoise Cuff out of newspaper. When the plastic store bags start crawling out from under the sink, tame them with a Fused Plastic Flower Cuff. Make the tree-mendous Nature’s Bling Bag decorated with branches sliced thin. Or Twine Not try the hardware store for some colored twine—and pick up some aluminum flashing to find out why Tin Is “In”? From punk to retro, from bobby pins to safety pins, with more than 150 projects there’s something for everyone, whether you want to glam it up Hollywood-style or go ultra-sophisticated like a newly crowned princess.
Will - charismatic, funny, incendiary Will - has died. That means this year's Boys' Weekend with old schoolmates will be as much a wake as an annual excuse to cut loose and behave like they're all eighteen again.But he has left his long-standing friends a parting gift - one last Brainmelter, the infamous pub quiz he used to devise every year to break up the drinking during those annual trips.When they finally pluck up the courage to play his video, Will's questions turn out to be considerably more challenging than usual - tough enough to test their bonds to breaking point.Meanwhile, outside forces further disrupt their world as the weekend descends into chaos.Some secrets are carried to the grave.Others don't make it that far.One Last Question is a darkly humorous story of friendship, men ageing disgracefully and what it means to lose someone you love.
Geographies of Globalization 2nd edition offers an animated and fully-updated exposition of the geographical impacts of globalization and the contribution of human geography to studies and debates in this area. Energetic and engaging, this book: • Illustrates how the core principles of human geography – such as space and scale – lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon • Debates the historical evolution of globalized society • Analyses the interconnected economic, political and cultural geographies of globalization • Examines the impact of global transformations ‘on the ground’ using examples from six continents • Discusses the three global crises currently facing the world – inequality, the environment and unstable capitalism most recently manifested in the Great Recession • Articulates a human geographical framework for progressive globalization and approaching solutions to the problems we face Boxed sections highlight key concepts and innovative work by geographers as well as topical and lively debates concerning current global trends. The book is also generously illustrated with a wide range of Figures, photographs, and maps.
Winner of the 2022 Broadcast Education Association Book Award One of the first books to examine the status of broadcasting on its one hundredth anniversary, Radio’s Second Century investigates both vanguard and perennial topics relevant to radio’s past, present, and future. As the radio industry enters its second century of existence, it continues to be a dominant mass medium with almost total listenership saturation despite rapid technological advancements that provide alternatives for consumers. Lasting influences such as on-air personalities, audience behavior, fan relationships, and localism are analyzed as well as contemporary issues including social and digital media. Other essays examine the regulatory concerns that continue to exist for public radio, commercial radio, and community radio, and discuss the hindrances and challenges posed by government regulation with an emphasis on both American and international perspectives. Radio’s impact on cultural hegemony through creative programming content in the areas of religion, ethnic inclusivity, and gender parity is also explored. Taken together, this volume compromises a meaningful insight into the broadcast industry’s continuing power to inform and entertain listeners around the world via its oldest mass medium--radio.
