Author: Josh Chetwynd Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 1101514876 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 217
Book Description
You may fancy yourself a sports fan, but chances are you don't know: A fish eyeball was used as the center of some nineteenth-century baseballs The race to make better billiard balls led to the invention of plastics The Nerf ball was originally created to be part of a board game featuring cavemen Balls are the unsung heroes of sports. They are smacked, flung, dribbled, crushed, thrown, and kicked. They're usually only the subject of scrutiny when something goes wrong: a tear, the application of an illegal foreign substance, or a dent from overuse. Nevertheless, if you're watching nearly any major sporting event from around the world, you're likely following the ball wondering where it will go next... The Secret History of Balls mines the stories and lore of sports and recreation to offer insight into 60 balls-whether they're hollow, solid, full of air, or stuffed with twine or made of leather, metal, rubber, plastic, or polyurethane-that give us joy on playing fields and in every arena from backyards to stadiums around the globe.
Author: Josh Chetwynd Publisher: National Geographic Books ISBN: 0399536744 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
You may fancy yourself a sports fan, but chances are you don't know: A fish eyeball was used as the center of some nineteenth-century baseballs The race to make better billiard balls led to the invention of plastics The Nerf ball was originally created to be part of a board game featuring cavemen Balls are the unsung heroes of sports. They are smacked, flung, dribbled, crushed, thrown, and kicked. They're usually only the subject of scrutiny when something goes wrong: a tear, the application of an illegal foreign substance, or a dent from overuse. Nevertheless, if you're watching nearly any major sporting event from around the world, you're likely following the ball wondering where it will go next... The Secret History of Balls mines the stories and lore of sports and recreation to offer insight into 60 balls-whether they're hollow, solid, full of air, or stuffed with twine or made of leather, metal, rubber, plastic, or polyurethane-that give us joy on playing fields and in every arena from backyards to stadiums around the globe.
Author: Gilbert Gottfried Publisher: Macmillan + ORM ISBN: 1429978562 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 285
Book Description
Nobody ever reads this part of the book. Somebody at the publishing house explained to me that it's actually called the book flap. That sounded dirty, so I giggled for three hours. But it says in my contract that I have to write something over here in this tiny space, even though I don't think anyone will notice. Some people might open up to the middle of the book and start flipping through pages, but nobody will read this part. In fact, I'll bet anything that you're not reading this part now. And if it turns out that you are . . . well, the guy in the bookstore is probably staring at you, saying, "Stop reading that book!" I guess there's a reason bookstores are going out of business, left and right. Cheap fucks like you think it's okay to stand in the aisles and read to your heart's content. So for the sake of bookstores everywhere, buy this fucking book. I myself don't care. I only care about the poor working man. Oh, and the sanctity of the written word. I care about that, too. And in my case, those written words, of course, include fuck, dick, and pussy. In the early 1970s, as our nation's youth railed against every conceivable societal norm, a funny-looking teenage Jew started turning up at open mike nights in various New York City comedy clubs. Surprisingly, he didn't suck. That funny-looking teenage Jew is now the even funnier-looking middle-aged comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who despite his transparent shortcomings has managed to carve out a hardly-respectable career—and a reputation for shock and awe unrivaled outside the Bush administration. With this scathingly funny book of rants and musings, Gottfried sullies an entirely new medium with his dysfunctional worldview. HILARIOUS HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: • Gut-wrenching stories from his bizarre childhood • A list of celebrities Gilbert would like to have sex with • A somewhat shorter list of celebrities who would like to have sex with Gilbert • An even shorter list of Gilbert's comely co-stars who have been forced to have sex with him on- screen • Side-splitting tales of the worst gigs he's ever performed • Incredibly awkward encounters with famous people from Gilbert's years as a celebrity (of sorts), including Harrison Ford, Keifer Sutherland, Hugh Hefner and one wildly offensive exchange with Marlee Matlin that left the actress speechless • Signature takes on timeless jokes, presented in a clip‘n save format so humorless readers can commit them to memory or tear them from the book's spine and carry them around in their wallets to amuse their friends • The story behind Gilbert's infamous retelling of the classic "Aristocrats" routine that defined the most recent phase of his career • And much more!
Author: Simon Lovell Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781725961289 Category : Languages : en Pages : 120
Book Description
Imagine if you could reach new levels of happiness and joy; releasing years of shame, guilt and stress from your life. Are you ready for a spiritual awakening and to start fully living life? You may be holding onto a Black Ball. After childhood bullying, debt, alcohol, gambling and drugs, business mentor Simon Lovell went on a huge journey into self-help and personal transformation, but still found himself lost after invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was living a double life. Finally, in 2018 he experienced a profound spiritual awakening that was captured live on Facebook, releasing 30 years of shame from a secret that he was holding deep inside. This was his 'Black Ball'. It was raw, emotional and impactful to everyone watching. Suicide is both a major mental health and national public health issue around the globe with rates rising sharply. A person dies every 40 seconds by suicide and up to 25 times as many again make an attempt to take their life. The Black Ball is Simon's journey, as well as a series of courageous stories from people around the world who have released their shame and guilt and are living happier lives through the groundbreaking Black Ball process. Simon also reveals a powerful four step process to letting go and living your best life possible. Simon writes, "It was finally when I was willing to let go of the masks I was wearing and stop playing the character of Simon Lovell that everything changed. Now I understand personal transformation at a much deeper level because I've found 'home', the real Simon Lovell. Now it's my mission to help others release their Black Ball and for them to be 100% okay with the story of their life. Are you ready to reach huge levels of happiness? This book is for anyone who is currently feeling helpless, lost and wants to boost their self-esteem with a motivational message as well as simple action steps to change. It's also for those who are currently on their personal transformation and self-help journey and want to boost their spiritual growth.
Author: John Thorn Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 0743294041 Category : Sports & Recreation Languages : en Pages : 386
Book Description
Think you know how the game of baseball began? Think again. Forget Abner Doubleday and Cooperstown. Did baseball even have a father--or did it just evolve from other bat-and-ball games? John Thorn, baseball's preeminent historian, examines the creation story of the game and finds it all to be a gigantic lie. From its earliest days baseball was a vehicle for gambling, a proxy form of class warfare. Thorn traces the rise of the New York version of the game over other variations popular in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. He shows how the sport's increasing popularity in the early decades of the nineteenth century mirrored the migration of young men from farms and small towns to cities, especially New York. Full of heroes, scoundrels, and dupes, this book tells the story of nineteenth-century America, a land of opportunity and limitation, of glory and greed--all present in the wondrous alloy that is our nation and its pastime.--From publisher description.
Author: Philip Ball Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022647092X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 350
Book Description
From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries. Water has been so integral to China’s culture, economy, and growth and development that it provides a window on the whole sweep of Chinese history. In The Water Kingdom, renowned writer Philip Ball opens that window to offer an epic and powerful new way of thinking about Chinese civilization. Water, Ball shows, is a key that unlocks much of Chinese culture. In The Water Kingdom, he takes us on a grand journey through China’s past and present, showing how the complexity and energy of the country and its history repeatedly come back to the challenges, opportunities, and inspiration provided by the waterways. Drawing on stories from travelers and explorers, poets and painters, bureaucrats and activists, all of whom have been influenced by an environment shaped and permeated by water, Ball explores how the ubiquitous relationship of the Chinese people to water has made it an enduring metaphor for philosophical thought and artistic expression. From the Han emperors to Mao, the ability to manage the waters ? to provide irrigation and defend against floods ? was a barometer of political legitimacy, often resulting in engineering works on a gigantic scale. It is a struggle that continues today, as the strain of economic growth on water resources may be the greatest threat to China’s future. The Water Kingdom offers an unusual and fascinating history, uncovering just how much of China’s art, politics, and outlook have been defined by the links between humanity and nature.
Author: Peter Lamont Publisher: Penguin ISBN: 0143130633 Category : Performing Arts Languages : en Pages : 370
Book Description
Pull back the curtain on the real history of magic – and discover why magic really matters If you read a standard history of magic, you learn that it begins in ancient Egypt, with the resurrection of a goose in front of the Pharaoh. You discover how magicians were tortured and killed during the age of witchcraft. You are told how conjuring tricks were used to quell rebellious colonial natives. The history of magic is full of such stories, which turn out not to be true. Behind the smoke and mirrors, however, lies the real story of magic. It is a history of people from humble roots, who made and lost fortunes, and who deceived kings and queens. In order to survive, they concealed many secrets, yet they revealed some and they stole others. They engaged in deception, exposure, and betrayal, in a quest to make the impossible happen. They managed to survive in a world in which a series of technological wonders appeared, which previous generations would have considered magical. Even today, when we now take the most sophisticated technology for granted, we can still be astonished by tricks that were performed hundreds of years ago. The Secret History of Magic reveals how this was done. It is about why magic matters in a world that no longer seems to have a place for it, but which desperately needs a sense of wonder.
Author: Richard Moss Publisher: Unbound Publishing ISBN: 1783524871 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 566
Book Description
The Macintosh challenged games to be more than child’s play and quick reflexes. It made human–computer interaction friendly, inviting, and intuitive. Mac gaming led to much that is now taken for granted by PC gamers and spawned some of the biggest franchises in video game history. It allowed anyone to create games and playful software with ease, and gave indie developers a home for their products. It welcomed strange ideas and encouraged experimentation. It fostered passionate and creative communities who inspired and challenged developers to do better and to follow the Mac mantra ‘think different’. Drawing on archive material and interviews with key figures from the era – and featuring new material from Craig Fryar, Apple’s first Mac games evangelist and the co-creator of hit game Spectre – The Secret History of Mac Gaming is the story of those communities and the game developers who survived and thrived in an ecosystem that was serially ignored by the outside world. It’s a book about people who followed their hearts first and market trends second, showing how clever, quirky, and downright wonderful video games could be.
Author: Christopher J. Fuller Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300227671 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 369
Book Description
An illuminating study tracing the evolution of drone technology and counterterrorism policy from the Reagan to the Obama administrations This eye-opening study uncovers the history of the most important instrument of U.S. counterterrorism today: the armed drone. It reveals that, contrary to popular belief, the CIA’s covert drone program is not a product of 9/11. Rather, it is the result of U.S. counterterrorism practices extending back to an influential group of policy makers in the Reagan administration. Tracing the evolution of counterterrorism policy and drone technology from the fallout of Iran-Contra and the CIA’s “Eagle Program” prototype in the mid-1980s to the emergence of al-Qaeda, Fuller shows how George W. Bush and Obama built upon or discarded strategies from the Reagan and Clinton eras as they responded to changes in the partisan environment, the perceived level of threat, and technological advances. Examining a range of counterterrorism strategies, he reveals why the CIA’s drones became the United States’ preferred tool for pursuing the decades-old goal of preemptively targeting anti-American terrorists around the world.
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Author: Josh Chetwynd
Author: Josh Chetwynd
Author: Gilbert Gottfried
Author: Simon Lovell
Author: John Thorn
Author: Philip Ball
Author: Peter Lamont
Author: Annie Emma Challice
Author: Richard Moss
Author: Christopher J. Fuller