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Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles
An exuberant journey through what might be called the Golden Age of
Outdoor Advertising in Cambodia. From 1990-2000, small businesses
blossomed, in contrast to the preceding decades when the Khmer
Rouge and Vietnamese regimes suppressed or vigorously regulated
entrepreneurial ventures. As free enterprise spread, so did an
abundance of eye-catching, creative, hand-painted shop signs.
Inspired by the simple beauty, and often humor, of their folk-art
style, public health officer Joel Montague began collecting these
unique advertising images in 1991. The Boston Center for the Arts
and the Fowler Museum at the University of California have
displayed his collection, now presented to readers here for the
first time. Montague's other books include "The Colonial Good Life:
A Commentary on Andre Joyeux's Vision of French Indochina,"
"Picture Postcards of Cambodia 1900-1950," and "La Terre de
Bouddha: Artistic Impressions of French Indochina."
Charlie's introduction to his blog put it best: "A lifetime in
marketing actually equips a man for very little... Now pushing 58,
I realise with some horror that it is a full half century since I
last took cycling remotely seriously. If this trip does not go
well, I might leave it as long until my next attempt. In September
2012, seven friends of varying fitness and circumference,
accompanied by an elderly camper-wagon and driver, are cycling from
France to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain." Despite
being well past their prime they cycled up the equivalent of Mount
Everest plus a bit as they crossed the Pyrenees, the Montes de Oca,
the Montes de Leon, and the Cantabrian Mountains, in the process
expending over 20,000 calories each (according to Susie's iPhone
App), most of which were put back on each evening. They cycled in
the footsteps of 1,000 years of history, marveled at the art and
architecture accumulated over the centuries, and at times crashed
into it. They visited the sites of miracles and pondered their
meaning, and crossed the 200 meter bridge at Hospital de Orbigo
which in 1434 was the site of a month long jousting tournament.
They experienced the highs and lows of triumph and disaster, and
felt compelled to test the efficiency of the Spanish medical
system. Comment on the blog from Barnaby: "God, troops...it is epic
reading and I am on the edge of my seat as I follow your progress
on my map." The De-Caff Camino is in turn amusing, informative,
easy reading and irreverent, and yet is imbued throughout with the
greatest respect for the history and traditions of the Camino and
those who have written their names into its lore. Improbably
arriving at their destination after two weeks and 500 miles on the
road, the author offers some forthright advice to the Vatican on
how to enhance the experience for pilgrims at last achieving their
goal after so much exertion, self-sacrifice and denial. The De-Caff
Camino is an essential and most entertaining addition to the body
of knowledge of The Way of St James.
This book offers an archaeological study on China's ancient
capitals. Using abundant illustrations of ancient capital sites, it
verifies the archaeological discoveries with documentary records.
The author introduces the dynamical interpretation of each ancient
capital to the interpretation of the entire development history of
China's ancient capitals. The book points out that for most of the
almost 2000 years from the earliest Erlitou ( )to the Ye city ( ),
there was an era where ancient capitals didn't have outer
enclosures due to factors such as the strong national power, the
military and diplomatic advantage, the complexity of the residents,
and the natural conditions. Thus an era of "the huge ancient
capitals without guards" lasting for over 1000 years formed. The
concept that "China's ancient capitals don't have outer enclosures"
presented in the book questions the traditional view that "every
settlement has walled enclosures". Combining science with theory,
it offers researchers of history a clear understanding of the
development process of China's ancient capitals.
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