Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson, with the assistance of veteran Associated Press sportswriter Gordon Beard, shares a personal play-by-play account of his celebrated career and life in this newly updated paperback edition of Ain't the Beer Cold! Since his broadcasting beginnings fresh out of high school in 1939, Thompson has served with the Armed Forces in World War II, relaxed as a one-man audience for a crooning Bing Crosby, and done sportscasting for the Phillies, A's, Senators, and Orioles. In 1993, Thompson's broadcasting achievement was honored with a place in the Broadcasters' Wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Here he offers a delightful and insightful perspective on his profession, its people, and its place in the heart of American sports.
Coming of age during the Vietnam War, Mike McCurry decides to join the U.S. Army rather than be drafted or take a fl ight to Canada. He is assigned to the Army Security Agency and begins a life of covert operation as a voice interceptor. In the late 1960s, McCurry arrives at Teufelsberg, a super-secret listening station in West Berlin. McCurry and his fellow operatives have direct access to some of the most sensitive conversations of top offi cials of the East German governments Central Committee in East Berlin. Unfortunately, McCurrys group of interpreters and analysts are supervised by regular Army personnel, who have no idea of the tasks being carried out by those under their command. McCurrys supervisors are more interested in how their troops perform on the drill field than how they are fulfilling their assigned intelligence mission, and that doesnt sit well with McCurry when national security is at stake. It doesnt take him long to recognize that it will require a combination of guile and humor to overcome the obstacles put in his path by clueless supervisors. But the incompetence of the leadership ultimately becomes deadly, forcing McCurry to make a choice between following orders or facing a court martial.
The guru of extreme tourism sets out to face his worst fears in Africa, India, Mexico City, and—most terrifying of all—at Disney World In the widely-acclaimed Smile When You're Lying, Chuck Thompson laid bare the travel industry's dirtiest secrets. Now he's out to discover if some of the world's most ill-reputed destinations live up to their bad raps, while confronting a few of his own travel anxieties in the process. Whether he's traveling across the Congo with a former bodyguard from notorious dictator Joseph Mobutu's retinue or diving into the heart of India's monsoon season, To Hellholes and Back delivers Thompson's trademark combination of hilarious stories and wildly provocative opinions, as well as some surprising observations about America's evolving place in the world.
The author of Smile When You're Lying describes his controversial road trip investigation into the cultural divide of the United States during which he met with possum-hunting conservatives, trailer park lifers and prayer warriors before concluding that both sides might benefit if former Confederacy states seceded.
It's not every day you witness someone's brains blown out over the scorching desert sand, much less survive a meteorite strike. This day has included both.The media manipulates, politicians lie, banks steal and the world is not what you've been taught to believe it is by those in power, the education system or even your parents. We were once endless possibilities, now we are the property of limited liability companies. And nobody has bothered to inform you.There is an alternative to the reality you think you know. There is another side to life. Beneath what you have seen and experienced, behind the artificial and illusory constructs of social media and its fabricated fantasies lies the dirty, deranged and downright desperate. From psychotic Samurai swordsmen in Swansea, shotgun-wielding cockney cowboys in London's seedier suburbs, hashish hallucinations in the sun-blasted desert of the Middle East to a seemingly never-ending flow of spice under Tokyo's neon night sky... step into the shadows, travel the globe and explore the less frequented corners of society and the human psyche.This is not a journey for the politically correct or faint of heart. This reality requires more than just a TripAdvisor review and a Google translate app. This trip requires a thirst for raw knowledge, a total disregard for the law and an appetite for radically altered states of consciousness. Or possibly just a lack of common sense when you're surrounded by chaos and danger where death could be your final destination. Enter Chuck Thompson's world, witness his reality and let him show you the life less travelled.
Putting our problem solving energy and attention into cursing ourselves, holding onto bitterness, or quickie justifications are three examples of slipping. We do not get stuck on trials because they are difficult but because our energy and attention "slips" away to something else. This is the subject of Slipping and Sliding Through Trials, a sequel to The James Prescription, which uses the trials of life as opportunities for spiritual formation and personal growth.
Presence and Truth is a comprehensive counseling system originally written to help Christian students connect their faith while studying counseling theories in graduate programs that may not be sympathetic to the integration of psychology and Christianity. It has evolved into a counseling system that is simple enough for novice people-helpers to learn the basic counseling skills of being present and telling the truth but is pervasive and flexible enough for seasoned people-helpers to use as a strategy for incorporating diverse therapeutic techniques and strategies into one over-arching approach.
From Mount Carmel to Mount Horeb" begins by diagnosing the prophet Elijah as depressed; he is preoccupied with morbid thoughts and negative self-attributions, his sleep has increased and he must be forced to eat. From naming Elijah's depression it proceeds to explain his depression as a disintegration of his identity story. It traces the development of the identity story of "I am the only one" through the various high points of his life until it crashes under the broom tree in the desert. A new identity, story, found at Horeb, allows Elijah's story and life to continue.
You want a deeper relationship with God. And you know God wants a deeper relationship with you. But how are you supposed to make that happen? After all, you have to get the kids to their activities, pay the bills, buy groceries, return emails, work overtime, and update your Facebook status. Who has time for prayer or a moment of meditation? In Busy and Blessed: 10 Simple Steps for Parents Seeking Peace, Deacon Chuck Thompson helps parents balance the craziness of raising children and the need for spiritual peace. Woven within a fictional tale about a deacon in Chicago and a mysterious visitor named Francis, these simple and inspiring steps are intended to transform your attitude and change your life as a parent and spiritual seeker. As you incorporate each of the steps into your daily life, you will find yourself listening for God's message in every activity and disruption-and living a more peaceful life because of it. Whatever is keeping you from building a deeper relationship with God throughout your busy day, you will find your solution in these pages.
How did rescue dogs become status symbols? Why are luxury brands losing their cachet? What’s made F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous observations obsolete? The answers are part of a new revolution that’s radically reorganizing the way we view ourselves and others that “will be hard for pop-culture readers to put down” (Booklist). Status was once easy to identify—fast cars, fancy shoes, sprawling estates, elite brands. But in place of Louboutin’s and Lamborghinis, the relevance of the rich, famous, and gauche is waning and a riveting revolution is underfoot. Chuck Thompson—dubbed “savagely funny” by The New York Times and “wickedly entertaining” by the San Francisco Chronicle—sets out to determine what “status” means today and learns that what was once considered the low life has become the high life. In Status Revolution, Thompson tours the new world of status from a small community in British Columbia where an indigenous artist uses wood carving to restore communal status; to a Washington, DC, meeting of the “Patriotic Millionaires,” a club of high-earners who are begging the government to tax them; to a luxury auto factory in the south of Italy where making beautiful cars is as much about bringing dignity to a low-earning region than it is about flash and indulgence; to a London lab where the neural secrets of status are being unlocked. “Chock-full of shocking revelations” (In Touch Weekly) and with his signature wit and irreverence, Thompson explains why everything we know about status is changing, upends centuries of conventional wisdom, and shows how the new status revolution reflects our place in contemporary society.
If you knew your life was about to end, how would you prepare yourself? First-century Jerusalem was always in political turmoil as the seven Jewish sects completed for power under the watchful presence of Roman occupation. But with the death of the Roman procurator and the installation of a new high priest, the danger to James escalated considerably. James, the brother of Jesus, and the leader of the Christian sect known as The Way, knew well that it was a volatile time. Ananas, the new high priest, was seizing this opportune moment to pressure James into denouncing his faith, his Lord, and his brother. Who would guess that the simple answer to Ananas' question would cost James his life...but build an enduring legacy of faith for generations to come? The intriguing story based on the last days of James, the brother of Jesus and writer of the epistle James in the Bible, who was martyred in 62 AD.
Using the challenges, warnings, and observations from the Epistle of James, "The James Prescription" weaves a strategy for engaging life during trials. Readers learn attitudes that make a difference, wisdom that can be applied, and virtue that can be developed. (Christian Religion)
Jasper Lilla's mother, Vernalisa, returns from Hendersonville with a nasty bite from a Black Mamba snake. Because Vernalisa is who she is the bite does not kill her, but it does put her in a coma. With Vernalisa out of the way, the balance of power in nature is threatened. The threat comes in the form of a mysterious red-headed woman who uses the opportunity to expand her dominion. If she wins all of nature will be diseased and decay. In her service is a host of crazed vermin and scavengers. The only thing standing between her and the demise of planet earth is 17-year- old Jasper Lilla, his sister, their nanny and the wolves of Banner Elk.
Before he inherited his father's wolf tooth necklace, Jasper Lilla considered himself to be the most ordinary guy in Boone, North Carolina. He'd have done anything to please Riley Lyons, the girl with the strawberry lip gloss, but why would a girl like her be interested in an ordinary guy like him? To please her, he put on the necklace, and his life became anything but ordinary. Despite the disapproval of his mother, Jasper got a job as an errand boy at Lion Pharmaceuticals. A man died in his arms. A panic attack sent him to the ER. He was nearly killed...twice. Was the necklace responsible for that, or did the necklace save him? Could the necklace have something to do with the uncanny appearances of the white wolf? What was its connection to the weird security guards at Lion Pharmaceuticals? A deeper confusion came when Jasper discovered his father's journal. Did his father really believe the necklace had some sort of magic power over wolves? Could it be a talisman used by the Nicatani, a legendary, priestly Cherokee clan? Could the necklace hold the key to who he and his family really are?
Close your eyes and picture -- just for a moment -- hell. Fire? Demons? Eternal torment? Well, yes -- that's the place, in one very hot nutshell. But that's not all there is to the forbidding world beneath us. For a few millennia now, we mortals have imagined and reimagined hell in countless ways: as a realm of damnation, as an inspiration for highest art, as a setting for the lowest of lowbrow comedy. One might conclude that for all our good intentions to enter para- dise, we can't seem to get enough vivid details of its counterpart, hell. Provocative, colorful, and damned entertaining, Go to Hell takes readers on a tour of the underworld that is both darkly comical and seriously informative. From the frozen hell of the Vikings to the sun-drenched Cayman Islands' town of Hell (where tourists line up to have their postcards aptly postmarked), from Dante's circles of hell to Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Hellmouth, Go to Hell embraces our evolving relationship with the sinner's final destination, revealing how we truly think of ourselves in this world. What's down below? Meet HEL, the hideous, half-rotting goddess of the Viking underworld. Beware the Egyptians' AM-MUT, an unsightly mix of lion, crocodile, and hippo parts, and insatiably hungry for wicked souls. Visit JIGOKU, a Buddhist realm of eight fiery hells and eight icy hells: an all-you-can-suffer hot-and-cold buffet. Step into the INFERNO for a tour of Dante's nine circles of the damned...
Ben Thompson was a remarkable man, and few Texans can claim to have crowded more excitement, danger, drama, and tragedy into their lives than he did. He was an Indian fighter, Texas Ranger, Confederate cavalryman, mercenary for a foreign emperor, hired gun for a railroad, an elected lawman, professional gambler, and the victor of numerous gunfights. As a leading member of the Wild West’s sporting element, Ben Thompson spent most of his life moving in the unsavory underbelly of the West: saloons, dance-houses, billiard halls, bordellos, and gambling dens. During these travels many of the Wild West’s most famous icons—Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin, John Ringo, and Buffalo Bill Cody—became acquainted with Ben Thompson. Some of these men called him a friend; others considered him a deadly enemy. In life and in death no one ever doubted Ben Thompson’s courage; one Texas newspaperman asserted he was “perfectly fearless, a perfect lion in nature when aroused.” This willingness to trust his life to his expertise with a pistol placed Thompson prominently among the western frontier’s most flamboyant breed of men: gunfighters.
Alan Davis directs readers to the most exciting parties on the planet. The Fun Also Rises calendar starts the year at Nassau's Junkanoo and ends at Edinburgh's Hogmany.. In between, it directs readers to the Opera Ball in Vienna, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Rio's Carnaval, and dozens of other holiday celebrations, sports events, and music and arts festivals around the world.With detailed three-day itineraries for each event, this guide also directs travelers to restaurants, nightlife accommodations, and attractions at each location.
TO PUSH OR NOT TO PUSH - is that the question?What is the importance of pushing ourselves?...Why do we push?Pushing implies effort, Effort implies desire, Desire implies emotion, And emotion implies passion.If this is accurate for most of us, Pushing To The Frontassumes a passionate mindset.The Celebrity Authors in this book have one thing incommon - passion for their goals. They have 'blood, sweatand tears' invested to make a success of their pursuits.Now, we all have passion, which is one part of the menufor success - but: Do we have a plan to utilize and direct that passion?The Celebrity Experts in their field in this book havedeveloped multiple methods to succeed in their fields.They started out looking to improve their health, wealthand success in their lives. See how they achieved theirsuccess. They will show you their secrets.With odds not much different to yours, and at timesmuch more difficult, read how these Celebrity Expertshave done it, then copy these methods of "Pushing ToThe Front" to achieve YOUR goals.One finds limits by pushing them. Herbert Simon
The fishing in Montana is better than ever, which is why Wilderness Adventures Press is releasing this completely revised edition of the Flyfisher's Guide to Montana, complete with full-color photography and brand new, highly detailed maps! The updated maps include all of the BLM land, National Forest, Wilderness Areas and state-owned land for all of Montana's major fisheries, and many smaller rivers and lakes. All access points, boat launches, campgrounds and more are shown with GPS coordinates, highways and access roads. You will be able to find your way to the river, whether you're familiar with the area or not. This completely revamped edition details the wealth of great flyfishing in Big Sky Country. From major rivers like the Yellowstone, Missouri, Beaverhead, Big Hole, Clark Fork, Bighorn, and Madison down to the smallest fishable creeks and lakes, veteran fishing author Chuck Robbins tells anglers everything they need to know about Montana’s best fisheries. In addition to covering all the most famous rivers and streams, this book introduces flyfishers to waters well off the beaten path, including high-country lakes where many of the fish have never seen a fly or lure and hidden gems in eastern Montana. Also includes other great travel and angling information. Update your dog-eared copy of the original with this fantastic new edition!
Jesse Lee Hall (1849-1911) was one of many young men seeking a new life following the Civil War, when he left North Carolina to find adventure in Texas. After a stint as a deputy sheriff and a Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Representatives, he joined Captain Leander McNelly’s Texas Ranger Special State Troops in 1876. This was the career move that he had needed as he soon found enough action in South Texas. When McNelly could no longer command due to illness, Hall was named to take his place. Hall was involved in arresting King Fisher and his gang, and he (with a small squad) arrested seven of the Sutton faction, effectively ending the bloody Sutton-Taylor Feud. One of his men, John B. Armstrong, finally captured the most wanted man in Texas, John Wesley Hardin, in far-off Florida. In 1878 Hall took part in the gun battle ending the career of outlaw Sam Bass. Nearing his fiftieth birthday, Hall hoped to join Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders,” but that did not happen. Instead he was posted to the Philippines, where as a commander during the Philippine Insurrection he was so badly injured that he was given a medical discharge. The old warrior died in San Antonio in 1911, loved and respected, having a reputation equaled by few.
America’s Wild West created an untold number of notorious characters, and in southwestern Texas, John King Fisher (1855-1884) was foremost among them. To friends and foes alike, he insisted he be called “King.” Standing over six feet tall, a dark and handsome man, King often dressed as a frontier dandy. A Texas Ranger remembered King as wearing an “ornamented Mexican sombrero, a black Mexican jacket embroidered with gold, a crimson sash and boots, with two silver-plated, ivory-handled revolvers swinging from his belt.” Early in life King fell victim to bad influences. After a stint in Huntsville Prison as a teenager, he found a home in the tough sun-beaten Nueces Strip, a lawless land between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. There he gathered a gang of rustlers around him at his ranch on Pendencia Creek. For a decade King and his gang raided both sides of the Rio Grande, shooting down any who opposed them. Newspapers claimed King avoided the penalties prescribed by law by killing potential witnesses—in spite of many charges he was never convicted of cattle or horse stealing, or murder. King’s reign ended when he was arrested by Texas Ranger Captain Leander McNelly. In no uncertain terms he advised Fisher to change his ways. Having emerged victorious in gunfights with outlaws from across the Rio Grande, King Fisher chose a life style which would prove to be just as dangerous—deputy sheriff of Uvalde County. Now he would enforce the law, with his badge as well as his six-shooter. But his hard-won respectability would not last. On a spring night in 1884, King made the mistake of accompanying the truly notorious gambler and gunfighter Ben Thompson on a tour of San Antonio, where several years prior, over a gambling dispute, Thompson shot down Jack Harris at the latter’s saloon and theater, the Vaudeville. Recklessly, King Fisher accompanied Thompson back to the theater to call upon Harris’s former partners. Warned of their coming, assassins were waiting. Within minutes of entering the theater, when the smoke cleared, Fisher was stretched out beside Thompson, dead from thirteen gunshot wounds.
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