Entertainment Culture

This memoir of a professional biographer's life tells the inside story of how he became interested in his subjects and reveals the mechanics of the trade: how to assemble proposals for publishers, conduct interviews and archival research, and joust with editors, subjects, and their literary estates. Other biographers have described their process but remained discrete, not wishing to offend their sources and supporters. This author has forgone such caution.

"We're the buttf--kers of rock-and-roll, We want to sock it to your hole!" With these words written in a notebook, Jon Ginoli sets off on a journey of self-discovery and musical passion to become the founding member of Pansy Division, the first out and proud queercore punk rock band to hit the semi-big time. Set against the changing decades of music, we follow the band from their inception in San Francisco, to their search for a music label and a permanent drummer to their current status as indie rock icons.

What is a starf*cker? However you define it, Matthew Rettenmund, author of the acclaimed novel Boy Culture and the popular blog BoyCulture.com, readily admits to being one. The ultimate pop-culture enthusiast, he has been obsessed with celebrities ever since he was born. This hilarious, sexy memoir (arranged by memes) documents Rettenmund's affection - in the case of Madonna, it's pure mania - for movie, television, and music personalities.

Das Dossier bietet Einblicke in die Hintergründe der Flutkatastrophe in Hamburg 1962, das Oder-Hochwasser 1997, in das Seebeben/Flutwelle "Tsunami" in Thailand und in den Hurrican Katrina im Süden der USA.

Eine Naturkatastrophe ist eine natürlich entstandene Veränderung der Erdoberfläche oder der Atmosphäre, die auf Lebewesen und deren Umgebung verheerende Auswirkungen hat. Im engeren Sinne kann ein Naturereignis nur dann zur "Katastrophe" werden, wenn es sich auf Menschen auswirkt...

What songs have made up your life's soundtrack? Which have captured your every mood and deepest sentiments? Pop music, like no other form of entertainment or art, is capable of articulating our feelings, desires, joy, and pain. In a few soul-grabbing minutes, artists from every genre - from Little Richard to Lou Reed, Willie Nelson to Wu-Tang Clan, Sly and the Family Stone to the Rolling Stones - can help us understand our place in our own lives.

Michael Jackson was once universally acclaimed as a song-and-dance man of genius; Wacko Jacko is now, more often than not, dismissed for his bizarre race and gender transformations and confounding antics, even as he is commonly reviled for the child molestation charges twice brought against him. Whence the weirdness and alleged criminality? How to account for Michael Jackson's rise and fall?

When Matt Graham finds an antique gold pocket watch he little realizes that he is being swept into a vortex of nefarious intrigue that began decades ago. Ninety miles away, Marie Buford finds a nearly identical watch. Both teenagers soon uncover concealed inscriptions whose obscure meanings draw them together at the intersection of a wealthy banker's mysterious death, a million-dollar gold heist and the exploits of a French jewel thief and a Corsican pirate on the Mediterranean Riviera.

Mittels ihrer Religion richten Menschen ihr Leben an Konzepten eines "sinngebenden Ganzen" aus. Diese in sehr langen Traditionen entstandenen Welterklärungen und Anleitungen zur Lebensbewältigung werden in der westlichen Welt aufgrund christlicher und humanistischer Traditionen häufig mit der Kurzformel "Glaube" zusammengefasst...

In the 1970s a new genre of comic superhero was born: Judge Dredd. He immediately captured the imagination of millions. Hard-hitting and satirical, futuristic and violent, the infamous hero has even been turned into a major motion picture starring Sylvester Stallone. The man behind the amazing success was Pat Mills. We go deep with Mills in this interview and listen to his story and his background. Where did the Judge come from? Pat Mills spills the beans.

In this never-before-published memoir from the files of The Walt Disney Archives, Disney Legend Jimmy Johnson (1917-1976) takes you from his beginnings as a studio gofer during the days of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the opening of Walt Disney World Resort. Johnson relates dozens of personal anecdotes with famous celebrities, beloved artists, and, of course, Walt and Roy Disney.

From the sleek Aston Martin that spits out bullets, nails, and passengers at the push of a button to the microjet that makes hairpin turns to avoid a heat-seeking missile, the science and technology of James Bond films have kept millions of movie fans guessing for decades. Are these amazing feats and gadgets truly possible? The Science of James Bond takes you on a fascinating excursion through the true science that underlies Bond's most fantastic and off-the-wall accoutrements.

Drawing on new research and enlivened by Touré's unique pop-cultural fluency, I Would Die 4 U relies on surprising and in-depth interviews with Prince's band members, former girlfriends, musicologists, and even Bible scholars to deconstruct the artist's life and work. Prince's baby boomer status allowed him to play a wise older brother to the latchkey kids of Generation X. Defying traditional categories of race, gender, and sexuality, he nonetheless presented a very traditional conception of religion and God in his music.

New York City, uptown, Harlem. In the 1920s it was the most exciting place in the world. Poets, writers, dancers, and musicians all came together and invented a new American culture - a dazzling and revolutionary African American culture of music and poetry and art. Everyone who was anyone wanted to come to Harlem and hear the music of jazz genius Duke Ellington, the rap-like stylings of Langston Hughes, and the classical lyricism of Countee Cullen.

Superman was a hero. Clark Kent was a geek. Spiderman saved lives. Peter Parker sold photographs to his local paper. Chris Moyles entertains eight million people each week on BBC Radio 1. Then he goes home and plays with an Xbox on his sofa, wearing only his underpants. Welcome to the real world of Chris Moyles.

This is the first study to explore fully the myth of America as reflected in the nation's popular music. Beginning with the songs of the Pilgrims and continuing through more than two centuries of history and music, Born in the U.S.A. shows the emerging American myth and gives a close reading of the compositions of songwriters as diverse as William Billings, Henry Clay Work, Irving Berlin, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen.

The national debate over popular music's effect on character is both furious and confused. Conservatives complain primarily about lyrics, appealing to public decency and safety. Liberals, swift to the defense of any self-expression, simultaneously celebrate rock's liberating ethos and deny its cultural influence.

Die rote Linie ist überschritten, das Ultimatum des UN-Sicherheitsrates verstrichen. Allen internationalen Drohungen zum Trotz hält der Iran an seinem Programm zur Urananreicherung fest. Damit verfügt das Land zwar noch nicht über die Atombombe. In drei Jahren aber, sagen Experten, könnte es soweit sein - ein Horrorszenario, nicht nur für Israel, das Irans Präsident Achmadinedschad am liebsten "von der Landkarte tilgen" würde.

Accidental Playboy is the hilarious, erotic, and provocative memoir of a sensitive post-modern man who stumbles into the dream job of a lifetime. When Playboy magazine tapped Leif Ueland to report on its nationwide search for the Playmate of the Millennium, he was the ultimate confused American male. A self-professed nice guy, he was the last man to be on Playboy's roving audition bus, never mind its official reporter. And yet, something deep within his psyche leapt at the opportunity.

Die Entstehung und Geschichte der EU sind vor allem von Integrationsfortschritten auf wirtschaftlichem Gebiet bestimmt, die auch die tragende Funktion der "ersten Säule" für die Gemeinschaft ausmachen. Die Chancen eines gemeinsamen Marktes für Wirtschaftswachstum und Wohlstandsmehrung im Durchschnitt der beteiligten Mitgliedstaaten und ihrer Bevölkerungen waren wohl bis hin zu den jüngsten EU-Erweiterungen die Hauptmotive der Beitrittsgesuche.

Through the telling of events from his own life, Wes Moore (author of the best-selling adult title The Other Wes Moore) explores the issues that separate success and failure. He also counterpoints his story with another man, someone who shared the same name, was almost the same age, grew up fatherless in a similar Baltimore neighborhood, but is serving a life sentence for murder. Compelled to write to the other Wes, the author was surprised to receive a reply. And so began a friendship, as letters turned into visits and the two men got to know one another.