Chris LeDoux was a rodeo icon, known for his ability to ride bareback horses and a world championship. But Chris also had a talent with a guitar and an ability to put the life and thoughts of a rodeo cowboy into song. With the help of his family Chris started selling audio-cassettes out of his rigging bag at rodeos, just as a way to help pay his way down the road. Little did he or anyone else know that after he hung up his bareback rigging and stowed the rigging bag, that he would become a country music sensation, "Gold Buckle Dreams: The Life and Times of Chris LeDoux" tells not only of Chris's life growing up and on into rodeo, but is has been expanded to include his life after rodeo. Although Chris LeDoux and his music had a big following in rodeo, it was not until Garth Brooks mentioned LeDoux in a song, that the rest of the world discovered the man. When his career ended in rodeo, LeDoux found a second round of fame in the music world, where he gained an international following. Unfortunately his life ended prematurely, the legend and music of Chris LeDoux live on.

By 1912 the large-scale cowboy ranches of the Old West had been disappearing for years and the Calgary Stampede -- along with other exhibitions, like Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show -- was set-up to commemorate a fading way of life for younger generations and for those who still remembered the mythic era. The Canadian Northwest shared in that grand tradition, and the time was right for a great Canadian cowboy showcase. After a century of international acclaim, the western dream continues and to commemorate the early days of the great Calgary Stampede, a collection of post cards from its enthusiastic youthful years illustrates the look and feel of those exciting times. Taken from the vast post card collection held by the University of Alberta Libraries, these classic views capture all the excitement, from the championship cowboys, cowgirls, and horses, to the tragedies of defeat and injuries. The parades, the aboriginal camps, and all the lively hoopla are recalled in these images, with historical text to add context to those days of dust, sweat and glory.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK setting out the full instructions for a routine of amazing card tricks. All the tricks involve the production of the Aces in a variety of spectacular ways. The book is designed to guide the beginner in card magic through the basic handling of the cards to the successful production of the tricks.

This unique guide contains over two hundred workable clown acts. Since the origin of many of them is extremely vague, it is difficult to give credit where credit is due. The author therefore thanks all in general who have carried on the circus tradition with clowns and clowning. Even for the most inexperienced clowns many of these acts will prove sure-fire. The more difficult acts will require training. Any production, of course, is the better for good planning, preparation, and rehearsal.Though only 168 clown acts are numbered, there are many subdivisions of additional stunts which bring the total in the book to well over 200

Shock, amaze and astound anyone with mind blowing card tricks - just like those performed by David Blaine, Criss Angel and David Copperfield Discover over 280 pages of fully illustrated, step-by-step secrets of card trick masters and exactly how to perform them yourself. My name is Nick Williams, and through years of practice and an astute sense of observation, I've honed my skills to perform jaw-dropping card tricks - the same kind of slick moves performed by TV magic superstars like Criss Angel and David Blaine. In card magic revealed I "put all my cards on the table" so to speak to bring their secrets - and many more, out to you. Card Magic Revealed is packed with fully-illustrated tricks, slights and manoeuvres that teach you the secrets behind playing card tricks using progressive, build-on-as-you-go techniques to go from beginner to master. This natural learning progression is perfect for both budding magicians and advanced practitioners because it enables you to add on and further refine your skills with detailed photos and steps showing precisely how each trick and slight is accomplished. In fact, this revolutionary approach is why card trick magicians worldwide have been raving - * 'must have...for anyone who loves performing card tricks ' - Dave J. Castle (LearnMagicTricks.org) * 'probably one of the best books I have read this entire year...it will literally blow your mind' - Aaron Smith * 'It's awesome...even the beginners tricks fool everyone, it's unbelievable' - Paul Naas Card Magic Revealed details 70 distinctive, memorable and incredible card magic tricks for novices, amateurs and expert magicians alike. With names like The Haunted Deck, Houdini Card Trick and That's Not Possible - you'll have an arsenal of astounding tricks up your sleeve - ready to dazzle and impress an audience

The global rise of festival culture and experience has taken over that which used to merely be events. The Cambridge Companion to International Theatre Festivals provides an up-to-date, contextualized account of the worldwide reach and impact of the 'festivalization' of culture. It introduces new methodologies for the study of the global network of theatre production using digital humanities, raises questions about how alternative origin stories might impact the study of festivals, investigates the festivalized production of space in the world's 'Festival Cities', and re-examines the social role and cultural work of twenty-first-century theatre, performance, and multi-arts festivals. With chapters on festivals in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Arab world, the francophone world, Europe, North America, and Latin America it analyses festivals as sites of intercultural negotiation and exchange.

Crossing Central Europe is a pioneering volume that focuses on the complex networks of transcultural interrelations in Central Europe from 1900 to 2000. Scholars from Canada, the United States, and Europe identify the motifs, topics, and ways of artistic creation that define this cross-cultural region. This interdisciplinary volume is divided into two historical periods and includes analyses of literature, film, music, architecture, and media. By focusing first on the interrelations in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century, the contributors reveal a complex trans-ethnic network at play that disseminated aesthetic ideals. This network continued to be a force of aesthetic influence leading into the twenty-first century despite globalization and the influence of mass media. Helga Mitterbauer and Carrie Smith-Prei have embarked on a study of the overlapping artistic influences that have outlasted both the National Socialist regime and the Cold War.

Over 100 tricks that can be done with any pack of cards-in their best professional versions. This rich collection has taught thousands of magicians how to perform dozens of eye-catching, yet really workable tricks. Over 200 illustrations. "Recommended."-Linking Ring.

The Edible Monument considers the elaborate architecture, sculpture, and floats designed for court and civic celebrations in early modern Europe, including popular festivals such as Carnival and the Italian Cuccagna. Like illuminations and fireworks, ephemeral artworks made of food were not well documented and were difficult to describe because they were perishable and thus quickly consumed or destroyed. In times before photography and cookbooks, there were neither literary models nor iconography for how food and its preparation should be explained or depicted. Drawing on books, prints, and scrolls that document festival arts, elaborate banquets, and street feasts, the essays in this volume examine the mythic themes and personas employed to honor and celebrate rulers; the methods, materials, and wares used to prepare, depict, and serve food; and how foods such as sugar were transformed to express political goals or accomplishments. Although made for consumption, food could also be a work of art, both a special attraction and an expression of power. Formal occasions and spontaneous celebrations drew communities together, while special foods and seasonal menus revived ancient legends, evoking memories and recalling shared histories, values, and tastes. This book is published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Getty Research Center from October 13, 2015, to March 23, 2016.

Move over, David Copperfield. The coolest magic tricks have been gathered together in one book, best-selling author David Pogue's Magic For Dummies, which is guaranteed to leave your friends, family and coworkers spellbound at your mastery of the mystical arts.

Perform great magic at the drop of a hat with these tips and tricks -- literally -- from Pogue and 35 of America's top professional magicians. With a little practice (and some clever misdirection, which lays at the heart of all magic tricks), you'll bewitch everyone around you with card tricks, coin tricks, disappearing acts, and even mind-reading! Magic For Dummies features more than 90 deceptions, illusions, and sleights of hand for all occasions, along with photos, patter, and presentation tips for every trick in the book. You'll be pulling rabbits out of your hat for years to come with these great magic tricks...easy enough to learn, and enchanting enough to keep folks baffled and bewildered.

Puppets of Nostalgia is the first major work in any Western language to examine the ritual origins and religious dimensions of puppetry in Japan. In a lucid and engaging style accessible to the general reader, Jane Marie Law describes the "life, death, and rebirth" of awaji ningyo shibai, the unique form of puppet theater of Awaji Island that has existed since the sixteenth century. Puppetry rites on Awaji helped to maintain rigid ritual purity codes and to keep dangerous spiritual forces properly channeled and appeased. Law conducted fieldwork on Awaji, located in Japan's Inland Sea, over a ten-year period. In addition to being a detailed history and ethnography of this ritual tradition, Law's work is, at a theoretical level, a study of the process and meaning of tradition formation, reformation, invention, and revitalization. It will interest scholars in a number of fields, including the history of religions, anthropology, cultural studies, ritual and theater studies, Japanese studies, and social history. Focusing on the puppetry tradition of Awaji Island, Puppets of Nostalgia describes the activities of the island's ritual puppeteers and includes the first English translation of their performance texts and detailed descriptions of their rites. Because the author has lived on Awaji during extended periods of research, the work includes fine attention to local detail and nuanced readings of religious currents in Japan that affect popular religious expression. Illustrated throughout with rare photographs, the book provides an in-depth view of a four-hundred-year-old tradition never so thoroughly revealed to Western readers. Originally published in 1997. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Beginners interested in learning how to perform card tricks will find this volume an excellent guidebook. Diagrams and easy-to-follow directions provide the novice with fundamentals for successfully mastering more than 50 impressive techniques, among them The False Shuffle, The Corner Crimp, Finger Tips, Palming, The Glide, Sensitive Finger Tips, The Slip Force, and Reading the Pack. There is special emphasis on presenting magic for the spectator's entertainment. ..". extremely well done." -- "Hugard's Magic Monthly."

America's Favorite Holidays explores how five of America's culturally important holidays - Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving - came to be what they are today, seasonal and religious celebrations heavily influenced by modern popular culture. Deftly distilling information from a wide range of sources, Bruce David Forbes reveals often-surprising answers to questions about each holiday's traditions. Was Christmas always as commercialized as it is today? Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday? When did we begin trick-or-treating on Halloween? Appealing and insightful, America's Favorite Holidays satisfies our curiosity about the origins of our holidays and the fascinating ways in which religion and culture mix.

!Viva Mexico! !Viva la Independencia! Celebrations of September 16 examines the Independence holiday, exploring how this most important public festival in the civic calendar has given Mexicans a rich tradition of national celebration that is part creation myth, part official pomp, and part popular merrymaking. The editors examine how Independence Day festivities have provided a medium for informal education, sketching on the canvas of the public sphere national values, glorifying specific historical events and individuals, and celebrating government plans and achievements. Since 1823, this festival has served as an essential contribution to the conversion of Mexicans to common ideals, as people across the country express their national identity with the cry, '!Viva Mexico! !Viva la Independencia!'

The world's greatest and most celebrated magicians, conjurers and illusionists can make us believe the unbelievable, the impossible possible. But, of course, just like everybody else these conjurors had to start at a beginning. They too had to learn simple (but effective) card tricks, easy (but imaginative) coin tricks and basic (but still mind boggling) sleight-of-hand tricks before advancing to more innovative and radical skills and techniques. Amazing Magic Tricks is a cool compendium of diverse tricks to inspire all aspiring magicians to pick up a wand and impress their friends and family! Full of trivia as well as simple illusions to practice, perfect and perform at home, Amazing Magic Tricks will guide you on your way to becoming a master magician quicker than you can say 'Ta-Dah!'.

Henry Box Brown is well-known in America for remarkably escaping slavery by being nailed up in a box and posted from Virginia to Philadelphia. The passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 made it unsafe for Brown to remain in America so he relocated to England. There, he had a very successful career, initially as a speaker on abolitionism, before he began speaking on other subjects and then branched out into other forms of entertainment including as a magician. He married again to Jane Floyd, who, along with their children, appeared in his acts. With his wife and surviving children, he returned to America in 1875 finally moving to Canada, where he died. This book tells his story, concentrating on the relatively unknown period of his life in Britain, detailing both how he was received and how he developed as a performer. It is the biography of a brave, intelligent individualist who was always willing to learn and to take chances, becoming the first black man to achieve landmarks in British law and entertainment.