Neil LaBute directs this Hollywood remake of the 2007 British ensemble comedy farce. Comedian Chris Rock stars as Aaron, who is trying to get through his father's funeral in one piece despite the best efforts of his melodramatic mother (Loretta Devine), his baby-obsessed wife (Regina Hall) and his playboy brother (Martin Lawrence). Meanwhile, his father's secret gay lover (Peter Dinklage) turns up demanding money, and his beautiful cousin (Zoe Saldana) spends the day dodging her infatuated ex (Luke Wilson) while trying to look after her fiance (James Marsden) - who accidentally imbibed a hallucinogen while searching for a tranquiliser to calm his nerves.

"A comprehensive and authoritative reference work on an area that ususally receives scant attention in more general reference works. . . . This vast compendium is not likely to be superseded for many years, and it is recommended for most libraries." Library Journal

An accessible, concise reference source on Polynesia's complex mythology, product of a culture little known outside its home. Encounters with the West introduced Polynesian mythology to the world—and sealed its fate as a casualty of colonialism. But for centuries before the Europeans came, that mythology was as vast as the triangle of ocean in which it flourished, as diverse as the people it served, and as complex as the mythologies of Greece and Rome. Students, researchers, and enthusiasts can follow vivid retellings of stories of creation, death, and great voyages, tracking variations from island to island. They can use the book's reference section for information on major deities, heroes, elves, fairies, and recurring themes, as well as the mythic implications of everything from dogs and volcanoes to the hula, Easter Island, and tattooing (invented in the South Pacific and popularized by returning sailors).

Prior to 1500 A.D. the Polynesians were the most widely spread people on earth, having settled an area of the Pacific, the Polynesian Triangle, twice the size of the United States. In this first reference guide to the mythology of these Vikings of the Pacific, Craig reviews Polynesian legends, stories, gods, goddesses, and heroes in hundreds of alphabetical entries that succinctly describe both characters and events. His wide-ranging and thorough introduction sets the subject in its geographic, historical, anthropological, and linguistic contexts, offering an illuminating overview of the origin of the Polynesians as a distinct people and tracing their voyages and settlements from Indonesia to Malaysia, Tonga, Samoa, the Marquesas, the various islands of eastern Polynesia, including Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. The introduction presents fascinating information on Polynesian navigational skills and the voyages themselves, as well as a chart that details the evolution of the thirty Polynesian languages and compares cognates from several of these languages. A simplified pronunciation guide and a selected list of Polynesian dictionaries and/or grammars are provided for those interested in pursuing the richness of the Polynesian languages. This introductory survey gives readers the necessary background to understand the origin, development, and dispersion of the myths throughout the Pacific basin.

"The Dictionary of Polynesian Mythology" is the result of many years of research. The individual entries were gleaned from nearly 300 sources in English, German, French, and Polynesian languages with the majority extracted from a number of primary sources that date generally in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The printed source materials for this volume are fully described and listed by geographical group, including Maori, Cook Islands, Tahitian, Marquesan, Hawaiian, Samoan, and Tongan. General collections that retell the Polynesian stories are also surveyed. The entries are alphabetically arranged by major mythological figure; lesser characters can be located in the index. Short bibliographical citations--author, date, and page number--are included at the end of each main entry to direct readers to fuller information contained in the printed sources. An appendix provides valuable supplemental information on Polynesian gods and goddesses. This dictionary is sure to become a basic reference tool for libraries, students, and scholars of Pacific history and culture, as well as for courses in mythology, religion, and philosophy.

It's a touchscreen world. And it's full of touchy subjects. As parents, we must have a strategy to guide our kids safely into adulthood, teaching them how to interact with sex, technology, and social media. How to maintain healthy perspectives on all these touchy subjects, without getting distracted by their peers or our culture. What's your approach, or do you even have one? Maybe your son or daughter is young and you don't know when you should even broach these subjects. Maybe you're too nervous or embarrassed to bring up some of these touchy subjects in the first place. Maybe you don't even realize how important these topics are. Maybe you want to talk to your kids but just don't know what to say. Sound appealing? Then we wrote this book for you.