Originally founded in 1889 as a manufacturer of playing cards, this book examines the history and political economic status of the multinational consumer electronics and video game giant Nintendo. This book offers a deeper examination into Nintendo as a global media giant, with some of the industry’s best-selling consoles and most recognizable intellectual property including Mario, Pokémon, and Zelda. Drawing upon the theory of the political economy of communication, which seeks to understand how communication and media serve as key mechanisms of economic and political power, Randy Nichols examines how Nintendo has maintained its dominance in the global video game industry and how it has used its position to shape that industry. This book argues that while the company’s key figures and main franchises are important, Nintendo’s impact as a company – and what we can learn from its evolution – is instructive beyond the video game industry. This book is perfect for students and scholars of media and cultural industries, critical political economy of media, production studies, and games studies.
A dominant international cultural force, the video game industry is diverse and increasingly influential. In this illuminating study, Randy Nichols examines the origins, history, and current characteristics of the industry - including case studies of it's major players and analysis of it's culture, production processes and ties to other industries.
From the pages of a lost journal comes the true story of a small town police officer in the 1980s. Author, Randy H. Greer, details his experiences fighting crime in an era when resources were slim, backup was far away, and danger was often present. Equipped only with a badge and revolver Greer patrolled the streets and back roads of this rural community battling ruffians, gun runners, thieves, killers, and even town officials. Greers memoirs include accounts of manhunts and murders, sheriffs and shenanigans, triumphs and tragedies, punctuated with historical events of the region. Working the night shift, Greer shares details of a world virtually unknown by most, a world where criminal activity hides under the cover of darkness. A personal account of the life and times of a small town police officer, this book serves as a tribute to those who dedicate their lives to protect and serve.
The unforgettable stories of two legendary American frontiersmen by Randy Lee Eickhoff and Leonard C. Lewis in one low-priced edition! And Not to Yield Nurtured by devout, staunchly Abolitionist parents, young James Butler Hickok leaves their hardscrabble farm to homestead in Kansas. He effortlessly succeeds as a rancher, gambler, Union soldier, lawman, merchant, marksman—and lusty lover. But Hickok's many talents did not bring him peace. Guided and plagued by phantoms from his past, Hickok must fulfill his destiny through his travels. From bleak upstate New York to the rugged Badlands, from New York City's Broadway to the Rockies, from the Mississippi riverboats to the Great Salt Flats, here is the compelling odyssey of the gun-slinging American icon Wild Bill Hickok. Bowie Jim Bowie, the descendant of Highland Scots, grew up riding alligators and working the field on the Texas frontier. Taught three languages and a sense of honor, he went on to live a life filled with brawls and battles, loves and losses, a life cut short at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. This is his story, as told by those who, whether they loved or hated him, were united by their awe of this amazing frontiersman. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
John Wayne remains a constant in American popular culture. Middle America grew up with him in the late 1920s and 1930s, went to war with him in the 1940s, matured with him in the 1950s, and kept the faith with him in the 1960s and 1970s. . . . In his person and in the persona he so carefully constructed, middle America saw itself, its past, and its future. John Wayne was his country’s alter ego." Thus begins John Wayne: American, a biography bursting with vitality and revealing the changing scene in Hollywood and America from the Great Depression through the Vietnam War. During a long movie career, John Wayne defined the role of the cowboy and soldier, the gruff man of decency, the hero who prevailed when the chips were down. But who was he, really? Here is the first substantive, serious view of a contradictory private and public figure.
This unauthorized biography of Cher is based on interviews with former husbands, family and friends. It traces her development from being a hippie in the 1960s with partner, Sonny, to becoming an Oscar-winning actress and singer during the 1980s.
ÊBuck 'Em! The Autobiography of Buck OwensÊ is the life story of a country music legend. Born in Texas and raised in Arizona Buck eventually found his way to Bakersfield California. Unlike the vast majority of country singers songwriters and musicians who made their fortunes working and living in Nashville the often rebellious and always independent Owens chose to create his own brand of country music some 2 000 miles away from Music City ä racking up a remarkable twenty-one number one hits along the way. In the process he helped give birth to a new country sound and did more than any other individual to establish Bakersfield as a country music center. In the latter half of the 1990s Buck began working on his autobiography. Over the next few years he talked into the microphone of a cassette tape machine for nearly one hundred hours recording the story of his life. With his near-photographic memory Buck recalled everything from his early days wearing hand-me-down clothes in Texas to his glory years as the biggest country star of the 1960s; from his legendary Carnegie Hall concert to his multiple failed marriages; from his hilarious exploits on the road to the tragic loss of his musical partner and best friend Don Rich; from his days as the host of a local TV show in Tacoma Washington to his co-hosting the network television show ÊHee HawÊ; and from his comeback hit Streets of Bakersfield to his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In these pages Buck also shows his astute business acumen having been among the first country artists to create his own music publishing company. He also tells of negotiating the return of all of his Capitol master recordings his acquisition of numerous radio stations and of his conceiving and building the Crystal Palace one of the most venerated musical venues in the country. ÊBuck 'Em!Ê is the fascinating story of the life of country superstar Buck Owens ä from the back roads of Texas to the streets of Bakersfield.
For thirty years, the twin towers of the World Trade Center soared above the New York City skyline, eventually becoming one of the most conspicuous symbolic structures in the world. They appeared in hundreds of films, from Godspell and Death Wish to Trading Places, Ghostbusters and The Usual Suspects. The politicians, architects and engineers who developed the towers sought to imbue them with a powerful visual presence. The resulting buildings provided filmmakers with imposing set pieces capable of conveying a range of moods and associations, from the sublime and triumphal to the sinister and paranoid. While they stood, they captured the imagination of the world with their enigmatic symbolism. In their dramatic destruction, they became icons of a history that is still being written. Here viewed in the context of popular cinema, the twin towers are emblematic of how architecture, film and narrative interact to express cultural aspirations and anxieties.
After the successful and innovative first two editions, now in a new, restructured 3rd edition, this remains the most authoritative introduction for studying comic books and graphic novels, covering their place in contemporary culture, the manifestations and techniques of the art form, the evolution of the medium and how to analyze and write about them. The new edition includes: - A completely reworked introduction explores the comics community in the US and globally, its history, and the role of different communities in advancing the medium and its study - Chapters reframed to get students thinking about themselves as consumers and makers of comics - Reorganized chapters on form help to unpack encapsulation, composition and layout - Completely new chapters on comics and how they can be used to report, document, and persuade, as well as a new Preface by Karen Green Illustrated throughout, with discussion questions and activities for every chapter and an extensive glossary of key terms, The Power of Comics and Graphic Novels also includes further updated resources available online including additional essays, weblinks and sample syllabi.
Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press" Idaho is a state with many varied interests vying for political control. Whether it be in the politically liberal north, the staunchly conservative southeast or the rapidly changing southwest of the state, the social and political factors that determine who gains power in the Gem state often flies in the face of logic and makes for an interesting study in contrasts.
This descriptive reference grammar of Nishnaabemwin (Odawa and Eastern Ojibwe) includes extensive descriptive treatment of phonology, orthography, inflectional morphology, derivational morphology, and major structural and functional syntactic categories.
With a particularly student-friendly and engaging style, this third edition gives readers the fundamental tools necessary to effectively communicate in interpersonal interactions. Natural Bridges in Interpersonal Communication, Third Edition, is a concise and practical book that introduces students to the basic concepts and skills of interpersonal communication in both face-to-face and online interactions in personal and professional settings. Each chapter features human interest stories and review exercises to help students better understand the concepts covered. This edition continues its expanded coverage of foundational research and devotes additional space to discussions of cultural safety, race and ethnicity, issues of mental health, and technology and social media. This textbook is designed for communication studies, business, and career and trade courses in interpersonal communication and communication skills at the community college and four-year university levels. Online instructor materials that accompany the book include an instructor’s manual, sample exams, and a sample class schedule. They are available at www.routledge.com/9781032355054.
Research Methods for Community Change: A Project-Based Approach, Second Edition is an in-depth review of all of the research methods that communities can use to solve problems, develop their resources, protect their identities, and build power. With an engaging writing style and numerous real world examples, Randy Stoecker shows how to use a project-based research model in the community to: diagnose a community condition; prescribe an intervention for the condition; implement the prescription; and evaluate its impact. At every stage of this model there are research tasks, from needs and assets assessments to process and outcome studies. Readers also learn the importance of involving community members at every stage of the project and in every aspect of the research, making the research part of the community-building process.
Thomas Clayton Gurley loses his mother, father, and sister to a tragic car accident when he is only fifteen. With no family to care for him, he's forced to live with the dreaded "Bastard Boats," his father's half brother. Boats seems to have a vendetta against young T. C., and it goes back to T. C.'s parents, although T. C. isn't sure why. In a new town, at a new school, under a hostile roof, T. C. has to fight to survive. He joins up with the high school football team just to get out of the house. He makes friends and begins to experience new things-notably drugs, music, and girls. All the time, though, Boats is on his back. There's a light at the end of the tunnel when T. C. is taken in by Buck and Rosie Hagan, a local foreman and his wife. Even so, T. C. is haunted by the loss of his family and the oppressive Boats. Something criminal is going down in their tiny Oklahoma town, and Boats is at the center of it. As T. C. grows into a man, he begins to realize the danger Boats could bring upon the Hagans and T. C.'s group of friends. Boats's involvement with a corrupt business cartel could cost lives, and T. C.-once an innocent-will have to stand strong to protect the people he has come to love.
What is the most famous event in the history of the world? For millions of people, the answer is the birth, life and death of Jesus Christ. The coming of God's human son. Even non-believers have heard the story countless times, and somewhere in the darkest corners of their mind, they too, wonder, what if? What if it happened again? Today? What if God sent another son to the world once again to be raised by good and honorable people, living average lives? Would anyone believe it? And even if they did, how would they react? Would they rejoice, or cower in fear? Would they come to worship the modern-day savior, or would they come, as some did before, to destroy him? Against the backdrop of modern American culture, this is the story of Isaac, the unexpected son of Melanie Russel, a schoolteacher, and her husband Jack, a gifted physician. Good people, living average lives until the fate of the world is suddenly bestowed upon them in the form of a very special son. But just as it did more than 2000 years ago, this story involves much more than the Holy Child and the incredible task assigned to him by the creator. It also deals with the tremendous burden placed on Isaac's parents, their friends and loved ones, and even the unknown protectors who for different reasons step forward to care for the earthly Son of God. Of course, this is also the story of Isaac, the brave, isolated child who is sent into the lion’s den to live, love, learn, and mature, and who is eventually asked to return to his true Father and report on the waning condition of the human spirit. But more than anything, this is the story of simple people, committed and willing to sacrifice everything, in order to love and nurture a not-so-simple child. Why? Because they believe. Because they were chosen.
Karen Carpenter was the instantly recognisable lead singer of the Carpenters. The top-selling American musical act of the 1970s, they delivered the love songs that defined a generation. Karen's velvety voice on a string of 16 consecutive Top 20 hits from 1970 to 1976 – including Close to You, We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Superstar, and Hurting Each Other – propelled the duo to worldwide stardom and record sales of over 100 million. Karen's musical career was short – only 13 years. During that time, the Carpenters released 10 studio albums, toured more than 200 days a year, taped five television specials, and won three Grammys and an American Music Award. But that's only part of Karen's story. As the world received news of her death at 32 years of age in 1983, she became the proverbial poster child for anorexia nervosa. Little Girl Blue is an intimate profile of Karen Carpenter, a girl from a modest Connecticut upbringing who became a Superstar. Based on exclusive interviews with nearly 100 friends and associates, including record producers, studio musicians, songwriters, television directors, photographers, radio personalities, classmates, childhood friends, neighbours, personal assistants, romantic interests, hairdressers, and housekeepers.'...thorough and affectionate biography of a singer who's been constantly undervalued by the music industry.' MOJO 'Schmidt cannot be faulted... carefully factual, sensitively pitched book.' The Word 'The first truly convincing account of her nightmarish story.' The Guardian
Without a big budget, special effects team, or professional actors and crew members, Herschell Gordon Lewis created films that he himself admits were trash. Yet, while Gordon's softcore porn (The Adventures of Lucky Pierre) and heavy-duty gore (The Gruesome Twosome) were never blockbuster films, they were popular drive-in fare in the sixties and seventies. They have had a strong influence over more recent productions, and they have created for Lewis his own special niche in the world of exploitation and horror film. The history of Lewis the man and the filmmaker is a surprising one. Behind titles like Blood Feast and The Gore-Gore Girls is a warm and friendly gentleman whose road to his own brand of film glory was paved with disappointments, surprising successes, and lots and lots of fake blood. His career is examined in detail, with personal anecdotes and insights into making really gross movies on really small budgets. A filmography is included, and photographs, many of them rare, complement the text.
Each volume contains twelve short scripts using simple props, with messages on such timely topics as gossip, health consciousness, sin, and treating friends well.
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