Product Description
Some might call Brian Parker's musical career washed up. As the acid-tongued front man for the Soulbilly Shakers, a 1970s one-hit-wonder, he penned the hit single "Knee Trembler," a sweet little ditty about having sex while standing up. But sales for his newest record are miniscule and his concert crowds have been steadily dwindling. This being said, it's not hard to figure out why Brian is angry with just about every person who has the misfortune of drawing his attention. The brunt of most of his vitriol is his manager, Tarquin Steed, who in an attempt to broaden his client's fan base, has just signed Brian up for consecutive tours of the nether regions of Scandinavia, Tasmania, and the Arctic Circle. Just when Brian thinks things can't get any worse, he has separate encounters with a group of cultists who believe him to be their prophet reincarnate, a rare marsupial dog, and a group of Nordic cryptozoologists who will do anything to get their hands on the beast! But then again, who said the life of a rock star would be uneventful? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

...and then what happened
In Graham Parker's second quasi-autobiographical journey, Brian Porker is trying to revive his flagged career (past tense of flagging) by embarking on a tour from Hell that makes the Spinal Tap tour look like the Beatles US tour in 1965. As he struggles to be on time and alive at the various dates, he has to contend with a cast of characters not always even aware of his needs let alone interested in them. Inlcuded in this maelstrom are idiotic roadies, unscrupluous tour promoters, fugitives in hiding and a Tazmanian Devil (the extinct marsupial, not the Warner Brothers cartoon character). Told as a novella rather than a series of vignettes (the structure for 'Carp Fishing on Valium'), our hero manages to maintain his sanity if not his earnings and, in the end, the forces of Porker win out.

Funny, but it goes on a bit.
Consider now the mid-life crisis of Brian Porker, hard-rockin' creator of "soulbilly" with his one hit, "Knee Trembler." He's been living on its diminished returns ever since, playing to ever-smaller audiences in ever-smaller venues every time he tours. And that's where the fun begins......

Graham Parker the writer has many similarities to Graham Parker the rocker---venom, humor, a way with words and the tendency to plow an idea into the ground if left unrestrained by a editor (or producer). THE OTHER LIFE OF BRIAN is acidly funny much of the time, but mainly when Parker covers his hapless alter-ego's travails playing to semi-filled halls in Northern Scandinavia, Tasmania and somewhere near the Artic Circle. When he deals with the book's subplot involving an endangered marsupial and adherents to the Bahai faith, the book loses steam and it peters out altogether at the very end. I bought it at the beach this past week and read it in one sitting, and that's probably the level of involvement Parker was hoping for with this book---a quick read, a good chuckle, then pass it along to somebody else.

HYSTERICAL!!!
I am one of those people who enjoy cds of artists that arent popular so if you think GP was great on his first two albums (arent they called albums?) then you probably wont like this book.
I laughed out loud so many times i lost count. i like his writing style, the ranting, the story and the insanity of the characters life. it was torough joy to read. i dont compare this to his music although there are obvious comparisons through the cynical humor. the best of the book is some of the most original stuff ive read in a long time.

The Other Life of Brian
Having just finished off Carp Fishing on Valium I was very excited to dive into The other Life Of Brian...Graham's style of writing is very engaging.I was wisked off to the frozen tundra with a cast of amazingly funny and unique characters. Carruthers and Steed (soundman and manager respectively)play exceptionally well against Brain Porker, our hero, who is neither short on intellect, pessimism or ego. I found the entire escapade to be an enjoyable, funny and well written journey. I would recommend this book for anyone who needs a good laugh.There are plenty of them in this book.From Steed, who is one of those people who can commit a "stupid human trick" and come out unscathed (totally hilarious)to Carruthers, a rather young and gangly soundman with connections to the most interesting people in some of the coldest places on Earth.You'll catch yourself yelling Kimber and Nibbs before you're done...also, if you are a Graham Parker fan, and you appreciate his story telling ability this is a must. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Stick to Me, Howlin' Wind, Heat Treatment, Squeezing Out Sparks, the Mona Lisa's Sister, the up Escalator, the Real Macaw, Steady Nerves. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 30. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Stick to Me is the title of the third album by rock and roll singer-songwriter Graham Parker and his first group, the Rumour. Critical opinion of Stick to Me generally ranks it below their first two albums, Howlin' Wind and Heat Treatment. An undeniable shortcoming is the sound: the sessions suffered from a production mishap. The original recording was ruined, and all the songs needed to be rerecorded hastily. Parker, interviewed by Steve Hammer , recalled the making of the album: ...for "Stick to Me," we had an 80-piece string section playing. But the whole album had to be scrapped because the master tape was leaking oxide or something. The producer, again, didn't seem to spot it. We saw this black stuff coming off the tapes but he didn't notice it. When we came to mix it, it was un-mixable. The hi-hat was leaking through all the tracks. It was a nightmare, because we had a tour coming up. In those days I had a manager, and managers are always saying, "We have to play in Sweden now," like that's the most important thing to do. So we re-made the record in a week with Nick Lowe. It's not what I wanted at all. It's a very intense, grungy-sounding record, but I kind of like it now for that reason. I think people are trying to get that sound now, and have been since the late '80s, when we finally got rid of that Phil Collins drum sound and got real again. If a band made a record like that now, it would be hailed as a great low-fi record. But in those days, of course, the American press panned it. They thought I should sound like Boston or Journey or something. They thoug...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4282463 ... Read more

Product Description
The literary debut of one of rock's most critically acclaimed singer/songwriters.

For 25 years Graham Parker has rocked our world, releasing more than 20 albums, including the fabled Squeezing Out Sparks, considered to be one of the great rock and roll albums of all time.Now Graham stakes his claim in the literary world with Carp Fishing on Valium.

Carp Fishing on Valium is the story of one Brian Porker, our Everyman if you will, told in a kaleidoscopic series of episodes from Brian's life: from a nature-loving lad who collects bird eggs to a wannabe musician enduring distasteful jobs;from a husband with a different kind ofrelationship problem to a high-living rock singer auditioning as the replacement for the "newly deceased" Mick Jagger; and from a homeowner negotiating with country workmen to his final guise as an ornithologist-comedian (yes, you read that right).

Witty, absurd, keenly insightful and full of a wistfulness for what once was and what might have been, Carp Fishing on Valium establishes Graham Parker on the literary scene in the same wickedly incisive way he turned rock on its ear.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Be prepared for a surprise
A series of very loosely related narratives that serve to confirm that - whether writing songs or blank verse - Graham Parker is eccentric, ascerbic and down-right brilliant at pulling at your heart strings and leg. If there is one song that I heard in my head while reading these stories, it was "You Can't Be Too Strong," his lament about abortion. You're shocked by the content and themes but yet you can related them on a multiplicity of levels.

But, don't reject reading this book for fear it is heavy, depressing reading. Instead it is the life story of a sort of alter-ego of Mr. Parker named Brian Porker. The are enough similarities between the two men that you constantly risk trying to make connections between the two. I do not know if Parker grew up a military brat as Mr. Porker did. I know Mr. Parker did interact with Southside Johnny and others in the Asbury Park music mafia. I assumed as it went on for several years, it was on friendly terms. Brian Porker, on the other hand, seemed to despise the thinly disguised characterizations of Miami Steve van Zandt and Jon Bon Jovi. Other stories tell of audtioning to replace the late Mick Jagger; seeing and hearing a rocket-powered passenger aircraft lift off while fishing while high on valium and trying to save a bird in Cleveland, Ohio while on an apparently dead-end tour as a stand-up comedian.

It's best to read more of this and think less about it. I do have to wonder what is Mr. Parker's view of birds. One of the early stories as well as one of the last is driven by Porker's revelation about birds; the former will almost break your heart.

Starts OK, Goes Astray
I started reading this as a beach book and I enjoyed the first, maybe, eight stories.The stories about his childhood and adolescence were charming and well-written.I had to put this book down, though, when Parker strayed into the dreaded "live out my unfulfilled rock fantasy" territory.Vignettes are interesting.Reading about some obscure rocker's fantasy to sing with the Stones via a self-gratifying, markedly unclever writing style is *not* interesting.If you must buy this book, tear out the last few chapters before you read it.

Don't waste your time
A collection of random, boring, and poorly written vignettes.I guess Parker's clout as a recording artist helped him land a publisher.It surely wasn't his talent.The title and cover art are the best parts...

Clever Name. Bad Book.
Maybe it's just my fast paced brain, but I found that this book often read like a transcript of a conversation between completely uninteresting people. It's slow, it's confusing, and often consists of almost incoherent conversations between people who cuss at each other a lot.

Fans of Graham Parker may find me harsh, and if you're a fan of Graham Parker you may want to give it a try. For me, the book just didn't live up to the clever title.

A very entertaining collection
Graham Parker? The singer-songwriter behind such brilliant albums as "Howlin' Wind" and "Squeezing Out Sparks?" What's he doing writing a book? That's what I thought when I came across this book. But think about it: song lyrics are basically short stories, so why not? I was pleaseantly surprised to find a very funny, often moving, collection here.

Ths book is basically a collection of short stories that follow the life of a young boy into his life as a famous rock star. Parker has a natural gift for dialogue. My favorite story by far is "Me and the Stones," in which our narrator is handpicked by Keith Richards to replace the recently deceased Mick Jagger. Sound strange? Yes, but also very funny. Buy it! ... Read more

Product Description
For almost a decade, Graham Parker has been making art from and about spam e-mails. Fair Use presents his ''notes from spam'' - five books, each written about a different time and place, collecting essays, artworks and fragments that arrived, unbidden, in the artist's Inbox. Parker uses his growing archive on this most despised contemporary phenomenon and its historical analogues to create narratives in which Nigerian scammers mingle with medieval beggar gangs and 19th-century railroad con artists. Presented as five separate staple-bound mini-books in a cardboard sleeve, Fair Use is a fascinating journey through criminal brainstorms, from Wall Street scammers in Gilded Age New York to penis enlargement in the present day. ... Read more

Product Description
This addition to the "PARSEC Guides" series examines the role of management systems and the corresponding audit process. The author explains in detail how to: plan and implement an effective audit programme; when an audit is or is not appropriate; develop the skills required; handle uncooperative auditees; deal with discrepancies; use checklists as a tool for auditing; report findings; to decide what records to keep. A feature of the author's approach is the attention paid to communication skills, including questioning techniques and body language throughout, and by appendices of specimen checklists and control procedures. ... Read more

Product Description
Graham Parker reviews all of London¹s gay social clubs, political organizations, health services, restaurants, and night spots, ensuring that gay men and women will enjoy their visit to the capital. With maps and travel directions to all the key areas of interest, this is an essential guide to the city¹s gay scene. ... Read more

Product Description
Rough Guides editor Graham Parker has rummaged through street markets, scoured bric-a-brac and junk stores, sussed out charity shops and trawled antique dealers to select the best places for quality, value and range in London's richly varied and flourishing secondhand market. Covering all kinds of goods - from books, clothes or furniture to comics, fireplaces, stamps, toys or bicycles, with a description of each shop and three indexes, this is a fun and practical guide for anyone who enjoys hunting out a bargain or wants to make their cash stretch further. ... Read more

Product Description
This text discusses the subject of quality in the language of business decision-making, looking at the financial implications. It shows how a quality culture can be combined with a focus on business performance, illustrating its ideas with case studies, tables and figures. The book explains how to introduce a five-stage quality cost reduction programme, how to use investment appraisal criteria to prioritize quality initiatives, and how to identify the critical success factors. This is the first in a series of three PARSEC Guides, designed by PARSEC Consultants to provide strategic guidance in key areas. ... Read more

Product Description
Children Moving is a comprehensive introduction to teaching physical education to the elementary school student. This text is both soundly based in theory and a practical guide to teaching physical education to children. Its skill themes approach trains teachers to help children develop their motor skills with developmentally appropriate activities.Children Moving is a comprehensive introduction to teaching physical education to the elementary school student. This text is both soundly based in theory and a practical guide to teaching physical education to children. Its skill themes approach trains teachers to help children develop their motor skills with developmentally appropriate activities.Soundly based in the research literature and theory, this comprehensive introductory text is a practical guide to teaching physical education to the elementary school child. Its skill theme approach guides teachers in the process of assisting children develop their motor skills and physical fitness through developmentally appropriate activities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Children Moving Review
As a future teacher I absolutely love this book. This book is full of activities for Physical Education at every level. This book is very informative and easy to understand. This purchase was well worth it and I plan on using it throughout my career.

Excellent Physical Education Textbook.
This is the best textbook for preparing elementary physical education teachers.I highly recommend to teacher education programs, elementary classroom and physical education teachers, and parents/coaches of young children. ... Read more

Product Description
Follett's essays on management, originally delivered as lectures in the late 1920s, have long been considered well ahead of their time, promoting leadership and business concepts that are today, ironically, called "new paradigms." In this collection are Follett's original essays with present-day commentaries by a stellar array of modern business thinkers, including Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, Nitin Nohria, and Henry Mintzberg, that highlight the validity and relevance of her work to contemporary managers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a key to understanding contemporary innovations in managemen
In spite of a well-crafted selection of essays from Mary Parker Follett's lectures and writings, it is unfortunate that the subtitle of this text may be misleading. The significance of this publication is not that Follettwrote in the 1920's -- or even that she was a prophet of what has beendiscovered in management to date.The significance of this text is that itmay help the reflective practitioner and theoretician create the future ofmanagement on a more sound footing than we have accomplished throughoutmost of this century. As Peter F. Drucker, Warren Bennis and others havepointed out, Follett developed her approach to management on afundamentally different assumptive base than did her contemporaries.Whatremains to be articulated is the fundamental character of that contrast andtheir implications. These questions will not be answered in thecommentaries, but there is an implicit invitation to consider the issues. One may find that Follett's assumptions anticipate our own time in itscomplexity, turbulence, and uncertainty, more adequately than most writersor practitioners who are currently grappling with these sorts of issues. Ifyou are a reflective practitioner or a theoretician, and wish a leg-up onthe future, this is a good place to start. ... Read more

Product Description
High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! GrahamParker (born 18 November 1950 in London,England) is a Britishrock singer and songwriter who is best known as the lead singer of popularBritish New Waveband Graham Parker & the Rumour.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Graham Parkersang in small-time English bands such as the BlackRockers and Deep Cut Three while working in dead-endjobs like a glove factory and a petrol station. In1975, he recorded a few demo tracks in London withDave Robinson, who would shortly found Stiff Recordsand who connected Parker with his first backing bandof note, The Rumour. Graham Parker had onetrack, "Back to Schooldays", released on thecompilation album, A Bunch of Stiff Records forStiff Records. ... Read more

Product Description
Children Moving is a comprehensive introduction to teaching physical education to the elementary school student. This text is both soundly based in theory and a practical guide to teaching physical education to children. Its skill themes approach trains teachers to help children develop their motor skills with developmentally appropriate activities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Awesome condition and very helpful!
Book has helped me a great deal!I am a first year elementary teacher and Children Moving books are highly recommended!

Great book!
Great book!It's a bit long at times but generally very well structued and clear in outlining the guidelines of the skills theme approach.I think it's great.

Children Moving and moving and moving...
As a first year teacher working with students in grades PK-6, I have found Children Moving to be an invaluable resource when planning my lessons.The diagrams that outline the different locomotor, non-locomotor andmanipulative activities help break down all the skills I teach.Irecommend this book to any and all physical educators. ... Read more

Product Description
Meet the Imperial Guardsmen of Blazer Company, garrisoned in a tactical position known with typical soldier's irony as Paradise City. As the Tau attack, the regiment's famed Hellhound tanks fry Tau warriors and mortars drop explosive shells on their heads. In the midst of the battle, the fate of war could tip in the Imperial forces' favor or tip towards betrayal and annihilation! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Griz
Plenty of action! Blood and guts! Story line kind of reminds me of the old classic movie "PORK CHOP HILL".
Last ditch defenses and fixed bayonet charges. Against all odds SOME of the characters persevere. All in all a good read.

Fun read and great graphic images
Quickie

Fun to read and the guards are believable if not a bit route.I hope they keep making these!

Other Thoughts

This isn't the deepest story Graham Mcneill has ever written but it will do for a comic it isn't like he has hundreds of pages for back story but Tony Parker did a great job on bringing the characters to life... makes me realize how much talent I don't have. ... Read more

Product Description
Truly nonevolutionary in philosophy, spirit, and sequence of study. The text begins with the familiar, tangible things of nature and it ties abstract concepts to concrete examples. Key concepts are listed at the head of each chapter. Study objectives are included for each chapter section to involve students as active learners and help them prepare for class. A set of TransVision overlays of the human body show at a glance the anatomical relationships of the body's systems. The text reflects the latest advances in man's understanding of living things without neglecting a foundation in the basics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Biology Textbook
This is an excellent textbook with accurate information you won't find in most biology textbooks. Great for school or homeschool use. I highly recommend it as a resource for high school science departments. ... Read more