MILLIONS OF AMERICAN BASEBALL FANS KNOW, WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY, that umpires are simply overpaid galoots who are doing an easy job badly. Millions of American baseball fans are wrong.
"As They See 'Em "is an insider's look at the largely unknown world of professional umpires, the small group of men (and the very occasional woman) who make sure America's favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true. Bruce Weber, a "New York Times "reporter, not only interviewed dozens of professional umpires but entered their world, trained to become an umpire, then spent a season working games from Little League to big league spring training. "As They See 'Em "is Weber's entertaining account of this experience as well as a lively exploration of what amounts to an eccentric secret society, with its own customs, its own rituals, its own colorful vocabulary. Writing with deep knowledge of and affection for baseball, he delves into such questions as: Why isn't every strike created equal? Is the ump part of the game or outside of it? Why doesn't a tie go to the runner? And what do umps and managers say to each other during an argument, really?
Packed with fascinating reportage that reveals the game as never before and answers the kinds of questions that fans, exasperated by the cliches of conventional sports commentary, pose to themselves around the television set, Bruce Weber's "As They See 'Em "is a towering grand slam.

Most land in the United States is in rural areas, as are the sources of most of its fresh water and almost all its other natural resources. One of the first books to approach resource economics and rural studies as fundamentally interconnected areas of study, Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics integrates the work of 18 leading scholars in resource economics, rural economics, rural sociology and political science in order to focus on two complex interdependencies-one pertaining to natural resources and human welfare, the other to urban and rural communities and their economies. The book reviews the past 50 years of scholarship in both natural resource and rural economics. It contrasts their different intellectual and practical approaches and considers how they might be refocused in light of pressing demands on human and natural systems. It then proposes a 'new rural economics' that acknowledges the full range of human-ecosystem and urban-rural interdependencies. It explores the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, and considers the prospects for amenity-driven growth that would benefit both new and traditional inhabitants of rural areas. Later chapters explore the politics of place, spatial economics, strategies for reducing rural poverty, and prospects for linking rural and environmental governance. Throughout, the book emphasizes innovative research methods that integrate natural resource, environmental, and rural economics.

Most land in the United States is in rural areas, as are the sources of most of its fresh water and almost all its other natural resources. One of the first books to approach resource economics and rural studies as fundamentally interconnected areas of study, Frontiers in Resource and Rural Economics integrates the work of 18 leading scholars in resource economics, rural economics, rural sociology and political science in order to focus on two complex interdependencies-one pertaining to natural resources and human welfare, the other to urban and rural communities and their economies. The book reviews the past 50 years of scholarship in both natural resource and rural economics. It contrasts their different intellectual and practical approaches and considers how they might be refocused in light of pressing demands on human and natural systems. It then proposes a 'new rural economics' that acknowledges the full range of human-ecosystem and urban-rural interdependencies. It explores the relationship between natural resources and economic growth, and considers the prospects for amenity-driven growth that would benefit both new and traditional inhabitants of rural areas. Later chapters explore the politics of place, spatial economics, strategies for reducing rural poverty, and prospects for linking rural and environmental governance. Throughout, the book emphasizes innovative research methods that integrate natural resource, environmental, and rural economics.

The photographer and filmmaker Bruce Weber is associated with a wide array of imagery: humanist portraits of artists, actors, and athletes; fashion spreads charged with emotion, irreverence, and nostalgia; lyrical tributes to eroticism and an arcadian vision of the American landscape. All these things-and golden retrievers, too. Since the very beginning, Weber has been accompanied on his travels by a pack of these benevolent canines, who have populated his photographs for fashion campaigns, prominent magazines, and the pages of his personal scrapbooks in equal measure. The Golden Retriever Photographic Society is Weber's first career-spanning collection of these photographs, one he describes as his most personal. In the introduction to the monograph, Weber remarks, "People sometimes say to me, 'In my next life, I want to come back as one of your dogs.'" Paging through this volume, we understand the sentiment. For five decades, these golden retrievers have been foils for Weber's imagination, storybook characters in the expansive life he has created with wife, Nan Bush. This book celebrates the human-animal bond, illuminating how connection to one's pets can fuel creativity, provide companionship, and foster an abundance of joy.

From the Middle Ages to the present, master draftsmen have used the technique of metalpoint to create some of the most beautiful and technically accomplished drawings in the history of art. Drawing in Silver and Gold examines the history of this evocative medium, in which a metal stylus is used on a specially prepared surface to create lines of astonishing delicacy. This beautifully illustrated book examines the practice of metalpoint over six centuries, in the work of artists ranging from Leonardo, Durer, and Rembrandt to Otto Dix and Jasper Johns. A team of authors--curators, conservators, scientists--address variations in technique across time and between different schools, incorporating new scientific analysis, revealing patterns of use, and providing a rare demonstration of the medium's range and versatility. They reappraise famous metalpoints of the Renaissance and shed new light on infrequently studied periods, such as the seventeenth century and the Victorian silverpoint revival. A new examination of an exquisite but not thoroughly understood medium, Drawing in Silver and Gold offers fresh interpretations of a practice central to the history of drawing and will serve as the most authoritative reference on metalpoints for years to come. Exhibition schedule: * National Gallery of Art - http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2015/leonardo-to-jasper-johns.html, May 3-July 26, 2015* The British Museum, September 10-December 6, 2015

This anthology is a project celebrating The Alternative New Year's Day Spoken Word / Performance Extravaganza - the 2014 event marking the 20th Anniversary of this uniquely New York tradition. The collection features the diverse work of many of the participants in what is recognizably a very verbose affair; from the seasoned wordsmith, to the literarily licentious, to the cerebrally provocative. A.N.Y.D.S.W.P.E. takes place every year in New York City's historic East Village. Hundreds of people funnel into the venue during an eight hour marathon reading on January 1st. To make the 20th anniversary extra-special, this year it was held at the world-famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Why does such an event exist? Well, if you are going to write poetry, you might as well read it aloud. And if you are going to read it aloud, people might as well come and listen. And if people are going to come and listen, you might as well make a party of it. And if you are going to make a party of it, it might as well be one of the biggest parties of the year, and if it's going to be one of the biggest parties of the year, you might as well invite some of the best artists, writers, and performers to come and entertain the masses. You can also get drunk and fall in love while you're at it. In the event that you cannot make the party, we've put together this convenient little volume so you can sample the wonder, wisdom, brilliance, and madness without having to go outside. And if you did come to the party, well this book was a sure-fire way to take a poet home with you at the end of the night. No need to thank us. Your happiness is the only reward we require. ...That and the price for the copy. Enjoy.

Every state in the nation has geographic divisions-upstate/downstate, urban/rural, major city/rest of the state-that loom large as barriers to common cause. Toward One Oregon examines the prospects for uniting one geographically diverse state in the years ahead. When Oregon became a state in 1859, its role in the nation and the global economy was quite different than it is today. Boundaries that made sense in the nineteenth century don't always serve twenty-first century needs productively. Current times demand a new, strategic understanding of the state and its role in the nation and the world if its people-all of its people-are to thrive. Oregon, like many states, is faced with recovering and rediscovering a sense of shared purpose as it attempts to meet the needs of its diverse communities, peoples, and landscapes. Toward One Oregon explores Oregon's urban and rural history and assesses the current situation through political, economic, and demographic lenses. The book's contributors include historians, urban planners, journalists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists. They explore the links and splits between urban and rural Oregon and together offer a collaborative path forward-for Oregon and for any state faced with similar, seemingly insurmountable, geographic divisions-using the best of urban and rural policies in strategic and complementary ways.