Are you a former music-maker who yearns to return to music, but aren't sure where to begin? Or are you a person who never played music as a child but you are now curious about trying? You're not alone. Many adults who used to play an instrument haven't touched it in years because either they can't find the time to practice, are afraid their skills are too rusty, or are unsure of what kind of group they could join. Others are afraid to sing or start playing an instrument because they received negative feedback from childhood experiences. Performing, practicing, and composing music may seem like unattainable goals with insurmountable obstacles for busy adults with non-musical careers. Making Time for Making Music can help adults find ways to make music part of their lives. The first book of its kind, it is filled with real-life success stories from more than 350 adults who manage to fit music-making into their jam-packed schedules. They polished rusty skills, found musical groups to join, and are having a great time. Their testimonies prove that you are never too old to learn to make music, and that there are numerous musical paths to explore. Featuring advice from dozens of music educators, health care professionals, and music researchers who point out that making music can even be good for your health, this book offers inspiration and tried-and-true strategies for anyone who wishes to return to music-making or begin as an adult.

Painting rocks and hiding them for others to find is the latest craze sweeping the nation and this book has everything you need to know to get started. From preparing rocks to paint, to hiding and tracking your creations, this book will make sure you get the most out of this fun family activity. Packed full of ideas for cool designs, hints and tips on hiding and finding rocks and lots of info on the rock painting community, this book is a must-have for anyone who wants to get involved in this exciting new hobby.

Today's model aircraft kits are more advanced than ever, including levels of detail unimaginable a few years ago. Yet there is still much that cannot be reproduced 'out of the box' and enthusiastic modellers are attracted by advanced techniques and materials to increase the realism of their models further still. The techniques described in this book will enable the modeller to improve detail, create versions of a type not offered by the kit manufacturer, recreate realistic weathering, even battle damage, and to create parts from scratch in a variety of materials.

The quantitative assessment of the impact of climate change on water availability and water resources management requires knowledge of climate, hydro(geo)logical and water resources models, and particularly the relationships between each of them. This book brings together world experts on each of these aspects, distilling each complex topic into concise and easy to understand chapters, in which both the uses and limitations of modelling are explored. The book concludes with a set of case studies using real-life examples to illustrate the steps required and the problems that can be faced in assessing the potential impacts of climate change on water resource systems.

For students, scientists, engineers and decision-makers alike, this book provides an invaluable and critical look at the information that is provided by climate models, and the ways it is used in modelling water systems. A key focus is the exploration of how uncertainties may accrue at each stage of an impacts assessment, and the reliability of the resulting information. The book is a practical guide to understanding the opportunities and pitfalls in the quantitative assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation in the water resource sector.

In recent years, cultural commentators have sounded the alarm about the dire state of reading in America. Americans are not reading enough, they say, or reading the right books, in the right way.
In this book, Alan Jacobs argues that, contrary to the doomsayers, reading is alive and well in America. There are millions of devoted readers supporting hundreds of enormous bookstores and online booksellers. Oprah's Book Club is hugely influential, and a recent NEA survey reveals an actual uptick in the reading of literary fiction. Jacobs's interactions with his students and the readers of his own books, however, suggest that many readers lack confidence; they wonder whether they are reading well, with proper focus and attentiveness, with due discretion and discernment. Many have absorbed the puritanical message that reading is, first and foremost, good for you--the intellectual equivalent of eating your Brussels sprouts. For such people, indeed for all readers, Jacobs offers some simple, powerful, and much needed advice: read at whim, read what gives you delight, and do so without shame, whether it be Stephen King or the King James Version of the Bible. In contrast to the more methodical approach of Mortimer Adler's classic How to Read a Book (1940), Jacobs offers an insightful, accessible, and playfully irreverent guide for aspiring readers. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of approaching literary fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, and the book explores everything from the invention of silent reading, reading responsively, rereading, and reading on electronic devices.
Invitingly written, with equal measures of wit and erudition, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction will appeal to all readers, whether they be novices looking for direction or old hands seeking to recapture the pleasures of reading they first experienced as children.

Create a dynamic space for designing and building DIY electronic hardware, programming, and manufacturing projects. With this illustrated guide, you'll learn the benefits of having a Makerspace--a shared space with a set of shared tools--that attracts fellow makers and gives you more resources to work with. You'll find clear explanations of the tools, software, materials, and layout you need to get started--everything from basic electronics to rapid prototyping technology and inexpensive 3D printers.

A Makerspace is the perfect solution for many makers today. While you can get a lot done in a fully-decked out shop, you'll always have trouble making space for the next great tool you need. And the one thing you really miss out on in a personal shop is the collaboration with other makers. A Makerspace provides you with the best of both worlds.

Perfect for any maker, educator, or community, this book shows you how to organize your environment to provide a safe and fun workflow, and demonstrates how you can use that space to educate others.

This is a practical guide to getting the best from the many resin and etch detailing kits available to enhance scale model aircraft, and is intended to help beginners and experienced model makers alike. Richly illustrated, it uses six model-building examples, from the very basic application of etch to the major conversions. It includes an overview of the tools required; guidance on building the basic model kit; an explanation of different types of multimedia; the methods for producing etched brass; how to undertake 3D design and 3D printing and, finally, gives the steps for successful resin casting.

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites. The subject of this volume is the Second World War German Navy's motor torpedo boats called Schnellboote, known to the Allies as E-Boats. One of the most effective coastal attack craft of the time, the type was built in large numbers and constantly improved as the war progressed, giving many variants to interest modellers. With its unparalleled level of visual information - paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs - it is simply the best reference for any modelmaker setting out to build one of these famous boats.

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeler through a brief history of the subject class, using scale plans to highlight differences between sisterships and changes in their appearance over their careers, then moves to an extensive photographic survey of either a high-quality model or a surviving example of the ship. Hints on building the model, and on modifying and improving the basic kit, are followed by a section on paint schemes and camouflage, featuring numerous color profiles and highly-detailed line drawings. The strengths and weaknesses of available kits of the ships are reviewed, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites. This volume features the King George V class battleships, the most modern Royal Navy battleships of WW2 and a very popular modeling subject. The King George V herself helped sink the Bismarck, and the Prince of Wales was famously sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Far East. Ships of this class served throughout the war in many theatres, and their changes of armament and color scheme during this time offer many opportunities to the ship modeler to modify basic kits to show ships at different periods in their lives.

Ships in Scale magazine called our best-selling manual for the first-time kit-builder, Ship Modeling Simplified, a Bible for the novice modeler. Model Ship Builder said the only problem with this book is that it should have come out years ago. Now comes the next logical step, a book on building ship models without kits, form Edwin Leaf, past president and resident guru of the prestigious Philadephia Ship Model Society. Following the proven format of Ship Modeling Simplified, here is the first complete, step-by-step course in building model ships from scratch--everything from schooners and clipper ships to modern ocean-going freighters and steel warships. This book covers in detail everything the first-time scratch-builder needs to know: choosing the right subject, building from plans, drawing scaled plans from photographs, and buying tools and materials. It also covers building half models, planked hulls, lapstrake hulls, plank-on-frame, plank-on-bulkhead, lift models, modern ships, ancient ships, masting and rigging, sails and flags. Sources and an illustrated glossary are included.

Includes a selection of projects for economical and easy-to tackle conversions of ready-to-run models to transform them into unavailable loco classes and variants.

The ukulele has gone from strength to strength in recent years, undergoing a massive resurgence. You can hear the uke all over the place, from trendster indie rock to top ten pop songs, from unshakeable TV ads to YouTube megahits. And this obsession shows no sign of abating - all over the country people are picking up a ukulele and starting to strum, at home, in classes and down at the pub. Schools are even replacing the faithful recorder with a jazzy, inexpensive uke. Famous idlers Gavin Pretor-Pinney and Tom Hodgkinson have spent hours idling away on their ukuleles to produce the ultimate uke handbook: an illustrated guide to its history crossed with a how-to guide and songbook. This is the book that will bring the underground movement into the mainstream. The first half of the book delves into the rich history of this eccentric little instrument, from its birth in Hawaii to its popularity across the world, with a timeline from 1879 to today and a ukulele hall of fame that includes George Formby, Hawaiian legend Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and YouTube ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro. Then on to the practicalities: the anatomy of the ukulele, which uke to buy, how to play it, how to strum, pick, read chord charts and tune the strings. Once you know all this, you can get playing the songbook, which includes a wide spread of songs from medieval lays and nursery rhymes to blues and rock 'n roll. Beautiful presentation and tab notation make reading the music easy, even for beginners. With the highest production values, a light touch and an irresistible instrument at centre stage, this book is a must-have for all aspiring Formbys.

John Fletcher began his railway career at the age of 15 at Lostock Hall loco shed near Preston in 1962. He soon progressed to became a fireman, working around the shed and on the footplate in the twilight years of steam in the North of England. Following involvement in the last BR steam runs in August 1968, he decided that the new railway was not for him, so left to pursue a different career, before returning to the railway until 1974. However, it wasn't long before his skills were in demand on heritage railways, and he found himself once more on the footplate, firing on preserved locos on the West Somerset Railway and in particular the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, eventually making his home in Grosmont. From there he progressed to firing on main-line-registered steam locomotives on the national network, taking him all over the country, from Plymouth to Inverness, and Norwich to Newport. John is a natural story-teller, and his fascinating and lively 'tales of the rails' not only explain the techniques of firing steam locomotives of many different classes, but vividly convey the hard work, the challenges and the sheer exhilaration of being 'on the shovel' when man and machine are working together out on the line. These lively and varied tales include a stint on Hogwarts Castle on Glenfinnan Viaduct for one of the 'Harry Potter' films, and journeys aboard a wide variety of engines from the 'Big Four' and beyond, including among many others the LMS's No 6233 Duchess of Sutherland, LNER 'A4' Sir Nigel Gresley, SR No 34067 Tangmere, GWR No 6024 King Edward I and the unique BR 'Pacific' No 71000 Duke of Gloucester.

This fascinating volume tells you everything you need to know about how to build an 00 gauge Tilbury Tank locomotive or, indeed, any similar type of tank. Written in an engaging, encouraging and easily understable style, this new work is a worthy successor to the author's first book, Scratch-Building Model Railway Locomotives, which was short-listed for the Ian Allan Railway Book of the Year Awards in 2014. Containing scale diagrams, step-by-step photos, sketches and specially commissioned artwork, the book celebrates the history of Tilbury Tanks and demonstrates a range of different techniques that will prove invaluable in constructing models of these charismatic little locomotives. If you have not yet taken the plunge and begun scratch-building, or if you want to complement your growing scratch-building skills and knowledge, this is the book for you.

Mix hundreds of thousands of LEGO bricks with dozens of artists, and what do you get? Beautiful LEGO, a compendium of LEGO artwork that showcases a stunning array of pieces ranging from incredibly lifelike replicas of everyday objects and famous monuments to imaginative renderings of spaceships, mansions, and mythical creatures. You ll also meet the minds behind the art. Interviews with the artists take you inside the creative process that turns simple, plastic bricks into remarkable LEGO masterpieces.