Austin Reviews

If you are a fan of the Flash Gordon comics...and why else would you be looking at this page...this is a fine purchase. It's comic art at it's most simple and evocative. You don't find story lines like these (teetering between profound and silly) any more. Plus, as an artist, the perfect line work and imaginative compositions are something to view in slack-jawed awe.

Crime is an ever present problem in our society. We read it in the newspapers, hear it over the radio and see it on the television. Have you ever wondered how a crime is solved? The yellow police tape and tv programs are cool but how is a crime solved besides the way we see it in the news?

Our answer has come in this text which unvails beore us the tools of the trade in unraveling the physical mystery of crime. Forensic Science in its clear and concise prose takes us step by step through the physical processes use to solve crime scenes.

I was fascinated by the technology and various disciplines used in obtaining and interpreting the physical evidence. Forensic science covers a multiplicity of discipline such as biology, medicine, etc. and applies them to the legal field. Forensic evidence can't be changed and in most cases can be the final nail in bringing a criminal to justice.

If you share a curiosity regarding how crimes are solved in a detailed manner, this book is the one for you. It gives a broad general view of the discipline and makes us appreciative of the wide ranging team of law enforcement professionals who work in concert to solve baffling crimes through the use of science.

This slim volume grew out of talks for young people who went on retreat to a Benedictine Monastery. It contains a brief introduction which illustrates that liturgy is a sustaining act for monks then sets forth the agenda for the remainder of the book:
1. The primacy of adoration
2. The splendor of the liturgy
3. The sense of the Church
4. The formation of the interior man.

While the essays are brief, they do pay attention to detail. For example, regarding the primacy of adoration a case is made for the necessity of theocentric prayer and for the priest facing east. Here, as elsewhere, the Ratzinger report is quoted.

Regarding the splendor of the liturgy, the case is made for beauty as a need of the poor (a way of countering the relative value of finances for social justice) and as an evangelizing element. The latter is supported by the common quote from Chronicles of Nestor on Orthodox liturgy as heaven itself.

In the discussion of the sense of Church, Bossuet's definition of liturgy as "Tradition professed" and theology as "Tradition defined" provides a springboard for discussing the necessity of tradition in worship. This section also provides a telling analysis of community as thee worshipping body. It is here that the author most clearly states his bias: "... in the terrible years of the 1970s, a destructive clergy discarded genuflections, sacred rites, Gregorian Chant and reverence for the angels and saints, ..."

The final chapter regarding formation expands the discussion to include the Liturgy of the Hours and meditation on liturgical texts.

This volume is a solid introduction. However, in its dislike of the liturgical reforms it fails to make essential distinctions. Some of the chaos of the 1970's was the result of individuals' who both misunderstood the reforms and/or failed to understand the basic principles of good liturgy. Some of the reforms were required precisely because the liturgy more closely met the needs of monastics (like the author) than of laity.

In the hands of a reader with a solid understanding of liturgy, I recommend this volume. In the hands of one unwilling to acknowledge Vatican II, this could serve as an additional spark to a smoldering fire.

"The Four Hundred" begins in the post-Civil War era of America and is the tale of four ambitious men, each with his own story to tell, who hatch a plot to rob the most powerful bank in the world, the Bank of England. The story unfolds and reveals itself through the eyes of each man. Along the way, the young Americans encounter romance, intrigue, and just a little action while keeping just one step ahead of the law. This book captured me from the first page and I shall always keep it among my "treasures!"

a thorough and readable overview of two very interesting cities.

I like how they combine the two in one volume, elucidating comparisons and contrasts that make both trips fun.

With a price tag that is relatively high comapred to other design books you get a HUGE book that promises a lot but unfortunetly delives a little less. Its a collection of contemporary graphic design. No more. You see some great work beside mediocre work, some eye popping candies besides tastless mess. And all is filled with text written by the designers themselves. Im not a big fan of design reading. I buy these books for the images. But even if i were into reading the text i think i would have given up on it. Plain and simple- the text is not very interesting. But The real fault in the book definatley lies in its price tag. With what the book offers (and dont get me wrong- it DOES offer a lot) i think it could have been produced as a normal size book with a normal price.

This is a reprint of the third editon of Austin Flint Rogers, originally published in 1937, and lately reprinted by AMS Press. It has been described as a "classic with an accurate chemistry section, including a section on microchemical analysis."

This is a thick textbook: 40% of it is Part I, The Properties of Minerals, which includes crystallography, an introduction to optical mineralogy, physical properties, chemical properties (such as classical blowpipe tests and wet chemical methods). Part II is Descriptions of Minerals, each category heading in boldface for easy reference, including crystal line diagrams (which may be more useful than photographs, which were not abundant in texts of that era). Also includes, under each species name, the name of the species in German and in French. Part III is the Occurrence, Association, and Origin of Minerals; a discussion of their role and settings in geology.

This was probably written as a college text of the era, as it contains material usually included in college mineralogy texts of the era. Although somewhat dated, this can be interesting, and for students interested in chemical aspects, useful. It is very difficult to rate a book by numbers, as it is better in some aspects than others, but as I had to rate it (required), I chose a seven.

LONG LIVE THE LONGHORNS covers the first 100 years of University of Texas football from 1893-1993. It is a fairly thorough history of the sport in Austin with many interesting anecdotes and photographs. In fact the large selection of early photographs help to make this book much better than most other college football history texts.

I was searching for books on Arab masculinity and I am pleased that I stumbled upon this text. This was an interesting example of ethnomusicology. Schade-Poulsen produces an extensive, almost exhaustive, look into rai, including how the music is produced, why it is (un)popular in the West, what some Algerian men think of it, what happens in the cabarets and weddings where it originated, etc.

As a Western reader, I was fascinated to see how this Arab phenomenon differs from its Western counterparts. In the West, recording artists beg for attention, whereas the rai musicians seemed to avoid it. Here, youth rebel against their parents by playing music loudly that the older generation fears or just doesn't get. In this book, it is stressed how young men don't listen to rai in front of their fathers out of "respect." In the West, artists usually don't cover another artist's song unless the other artist is older or dead. In Algerian music settings, musicians perform anybody's latest hit.

Similarly, this book offers a much different view of a predominately Islamic country compared to what Western media usually shows. Though this book was published before September 11, 2001, recent history especially makes this contrast important. Schade-Poulsen describes few of the Algerians that he met as having any interest in fundamentalist political movements. Like young guys in the West, the men here just want to have fun and be boastful. Though Islam condemns alcohol and prostitution, both are mentioned here often, and in a way that shows no embarassment from those interviewed.

Whereas America's New York, Hollywood, and Washington, D.C. have their distinct purposes for fame, most countries have capitols where all the action takes place. This book, in contrast, focuses on Oran, the birthplace of rai, as opposed to Algiers. Similar to Liverpool in Britain or Abiza in Spain, this book illustrates how music scenes may thrive outside of "the City."

The big question on my mind is whether this book could be described as "men's studies" or not. The author mentions that due to Algerian customs on gender segregation, he was not allowed to interview female rai performers and listeners. This book does examine Algerian men's opinions on gender and manliness. It says much about male-female/heterosexual relations, infra. Still, this look at men is by default.

Different people will prefer different chapters. Some may like the description of rai's production. Others may prefer the discussion of how rai listeners practice or put off practicing Islam. Others may like the interviews of rai fans and detractors. Still, some may feel that the chapters took such different directions as to make the book feel motley or hodgepodge.

My biggest struggle with this book is how sexism is left unchallenged. If the author critiqued his Algerian male subjects, he may have come off as imperialist and racist. Further, such a critique may have warded off interviewees from telling what they really think. Still, the way that women are placed as second-class citizens so uncritically here disturbed me. Too, in this book, Arab men praise white women and badmouth Arab ones. This may be an example of the grass being greener on the other side. (Let's be honest, some Western men, across racial identifications, often talk about their desire for a foreign wife from the developing world.) Still, it came off as both sexist and Eurocentric, highly problematic.

Schade-Poulsen states that his research interests focus on male-female relations. So did the subject fit his interest or did he make it do so? I wonder whether the chapter called "The Rai of Love" was his concern more than his interviewee subjects.

I also have questions on this work. He mentions that he was only in Oran for a few weeks or a season. I find it odd that he could witness so much and meet so many people in such a small amount of time. He quotes often from Virolle-Souibes. I am impressed with how multilingual the author is. But did he just take that writer's ideas and translate them for English-reading audiences?

Despite any critiques, I appreciated this book immensely. I hope more academics, both Arab and Western, write compelling books on Arab men.

I thought this was an excellent book. It outlines required service intervals (it includes handy checklists), and has lots of pictures, which are very handy for a beginner like me.