Who would have guessed in the 1960s that Michael Parker, a typical young Army officer, would turn into one of the most remarkable showmen of his generation? Michael Parker's creativity and originality - all too often achieved in the face of stifling bureaucracy - along with an ability to organise down to the last detail - meant he was in continuous demand to mastermind all kinds of events such as most of the British royal jubilees and birthday celebrations for The Queen, the Queen Mother. Other events included London's G7 conference, royal weddings in countries such as Jordan, victory commemorations, charity events and some of the world's largest military tattoos - Berlin, Edinburgh and the London Tournament. He records his triumphs and disasters and the inside story of some spectacular c**k-ups - although to the spectators and television audiences all might have seemed fine. The pundits thought The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 would be a non-event - "Who would come?" they said. But Michael Parker had no doubt that he could lay on a show that was worthy of the Queen - and of Great Britain. He was right and proved the critics wrong - 2 million people flocked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace to enjoy the celebrations he had helped organise. Some 25 years earlier his complex plans for the Queen's 1977 Silver Jubilee bonfires definitely did not go to plan - much to the Queen's amusement - and as for those fireworks in Hyde Park to celebrate Prince Charles and Diana's wedding - that's another story ...as is the escaping python at the Berlin Tattoo.

The Berkshire Cookbook is a combination of recipies gathered from family and friends over many lifetimes. Recipies contained in ths book were collected from Grandparents, Parents, Aunts, Uncles, Sisters and Friends. Each recipe has been tested numerous times and written in an easy to follow format. The writter has explained in detail how to create each tasty meal with ease. This book is perfect for the first time cook or the more experienced cook.

A California billionaire has bequeathed all of his assets to his only daughter, Constance - except the $22 million yacht he wanted Josephine to have, a $25 million art collection left to Renee, and some priceless antique automobiles willed to Marjorie. Constance arrives at her father's mansion with her lawyer, determined to find out who these women are and to buy them off or contest the will. The butler seems to hold the key, and she learns from him that the three sultry ladies were her father's

Part empathetic portrait of troubled souls and part Springsteenian ode to the promise and heartbreak of the highway . . . Told with . . . emotional complexity and subtlety. The New York TimesTwo strangers meet over the hood of a used car in Texas: Marcus, who is fleeing both his financial and personal failures; and Maria, who, after years of dodging her mistakes, has returned to her hometown to make amends. One looking forward, the other looking back, they face off over the car they both want and think they need--a low-slung sky-blue 1984 Buick Electra--and, after knowing each other for less than an hour, decide to buy the Buick together. Parker has crafted a surprising love story about the power of friendship and the ways we must learn to forgive ourselves if we are ever to move on. Parker s skillfully rendered story rolls like a restless, unpredictable west Texas river . . . the watershed moments happen not with sadness or blood or pain, but with cascades of laughter. It s through moments of unabashed humor, when Marcus and Maria let go and laugh, that his characters finally, and completely, connect. Which feels a lot like real life. The Denver Post Parker deftly captures his characters uncertainties and hesitations as they struggle to move away from regret and toward the absolution they so desire. Booklist Stylish . . . Engaging . . . Brings together a pair of unlikely but likeable protagonists. Publishers Weekly Michael Parker s best novel yet . . . He] extends his geographical and emotional ranges in this layered and nuanced story of heartbroken, debt-ridden, and atonement-seeking creatures much like many of us. Mark Richard, author of House of Prayer No. 2"

The Lovers' Landing Beach Hotel, a popular wedding destination, has acquired a certain mystique as the home of 'Sandy Toes & Salty Kisses'. Recently inheriting the hotel from her late father, Audrina Brown quickly discovers that her Uncle Bubba, the hotel manager is running a variety of 'extra-curricular activities' (all illegal) on the property. It's a mystery - It's a love story - It's a new farce by the authors of Sex Please We're Sixty.

Joan Scheller lives with the great love of her life, Sandy. In an effort to hide their relationship from her overbearing sister-in-law, the former movie star Olivia St. Claire, she introduces him as her psychiatrist. One little white lie leads to another. Before long, Vinny the Enforcer, a quintessential Italian mobster, masquerades as her security guard, while her son, Chris, is forced to wear a dress and become her daughter Christina. Further complications occur when her new neighbor, Racha

"Hormone" Harry Douglas from The Sensuous Senator is back to his old shenanigans again, but this time as the American Ambassador to Great Britain. He tells his wife Lois, that he has arranged a golf outing in Scotland for the weekend. Lois in turn tells Harry that she too will be gone for the weekend at a spa, and that their daughter Debbie will be gone visiting a girlfriend. Each then tells Perkins, their newly hired butler in their country home, of their plans. He stoically watches as each of them leave for the weekend.

Farce CharacterS: 3 male, 4 female Int. The wealthy owner of a 200,000 acre Texas ranch has died. His butler Jarvis, an alluring maid, the rancher's niece his only living relative and her husband are gathered for the reading of the will. Oddly, Miss Tammy Jo Harper, a neighbor, has also been invited. As expected, the niece inherits everything. Jarvis then produces from the safe a reputed love potion. Does it work? Before long, everyone is sipping the sample with hilarious re

Characters: 3 male, 5 female

Comedy

Interior

The Ashley Maureen Cosmetics Company has been sold and two of its vice presidents, David McGrachen and John Baker, have planned a weekend off before the new C.E.O. arrives on Monday. With their wives safely off on a shopping spree in New York City, they check into The Oakfield Golf and Country Club intending to "golf their brains out." They unexpectedly encounter their new boss, Ms. Hutchison, and she insists on meeting the wives, commenting blithely "no one who went golfing for a weekend without his wife would ever work for me." So ... David and John have to produce wives. John persuades Tina, the hotel's sexy receptionist, to play the role of his wife, but the only one who can pretend to be David's wife is John. Inevitably everything goes wrong as John moves in and out of bedrooms, changing from male to female at a frantic pace. Hilarious chaos ensues when the hotel phone system goes on the blink, Tina has too much champagne and can't keep her clothes on, and, yes, the real wives arrive

"Another Michael Parker farce is all audiences need to know to start buying tickets." -Palm Beach Post

"An entertaining evening of deftly executed comedy." - The Delray Times

"A veritable laugh riot." - The Boca Raton News

Characters: 3-7 male, 3-7 female Farce Interior The Cider Mill Inn is an old, rustic and somewhat run down country inn owned and operated by an endearing elderly couple, Michael and Susan Edwards. At first they appear to be bordering on senility. We quickly learn however that they are very clever con artists, preying on their unsuspecting guests, by advertising huge discounts to various tradesmen. Using an elaborate check-in form with duplicate copies, guests are, in fact, signing a work contract, requiring them to perform various tasks and improvements at the inn. Over the course of three weekends, plumbers, tile layers, carpenters and electricians are recruited to do work they never expected. This unique play offers theatres the opportunity for the other twelve characters (Besides Susan and Michael) to be played by either two males and two females, or twelve different actors, or any number in between. The characters vary from the world's most boring man, (his wife says he's had charisma bypass surgery), to a young couple on their honeymoon. Audiences will fall in love with each of these distinctive characters, but especially the loving relationship between the two main characters, Michael and Susan, so touching that this play might be called a love story, if it wasn't first and foremost a farce. So, what is Susan's secret? On this subject the authors remain silent, preferring instead to let the audience decide on the truth, which of course, in a Parker play, is only revealed in the last few seconds of the show.

Irish Literature since 1990: Diverse Voices examines the diversity and energy of writing in a period marked by the unparalleled global prominence of Irish culture. The book is distinctive in bringing together scholars from across Europe and the United States, and it offers a rich variety of critical perspectives. This collection provides a wide-ranging survey of fiction, poetry and drama over the last two decades, considering both well-established figures and also emerging writers who have received relatively little critical attention before. It also considers creative work in cinema, visual culture and the performing arts. Contributors explore the central developments within Irish culture and society that have transformed the writing and reading of identity, sexuality, history and gender. The book examines the impact of Mary Robinson's Presidency in the Irish Republic; the new buoyancy of the Irish diaspora, and growing cultural confidence 'back home'; legislative reform on sexual and moral issues; the uneven effects generated by the resurgence of the Irish economy (the 'Celtic Tiger' myth); Ireland's increasingly prominent role in Europe; the declining reputation of established institutions and authorities in the Republic (corruption trials and Church scandals); the Northern Ireland Peace Process, and the changing relationships it has made possible. In its breadth and critical currency, this book will be of particular to academics and students working in the fields of literature, drama and cultural studies.

Full Length, Comedy

Characters: 3 male, 4 female

Huge oil reserves have been discovered in the Chagos Islands. O.P.E.C. is pressuring the Chagosians to join the cartel. A C.I.A. agent and an under Secretary of State, whose life appears to be run by her libido, are sent to a C.I.A. safe house in the mountains of Virginia to begin negotiations for the U.S. to place the Chagos Islands under their protection. Unfortunately, no one knows who the islands' representative really is. We are left to wonder how the C.I.A. agent ever got the job. He gets caught in all his own booby traps, he electrocutes himself, he sets fire to himself, he gets a bucket stuck on his head, and finally locks himself in his own handcuffs Add to the inevitable chaos, a stranded televangelist, his innocent secretary (or is she?), an ex-marine caretaker, who isn't what he seems to be, and a mysterious, glamorous neighbor, and you have a complex, laugh out loud farce, that can be played on any stage.

2m, 4f / Farce Mrs. Stancliffe's Rose Cottage Bed & Breakfast has been successful for many years. Her Guests (nearly all women) return year after year. Her next door neighbor, the elderly, silver-tongued, Bud "Bud the Stud" Davis believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liaisons. The prim and proper Mrs. Stancliffe steadfastly denies this, but really doesn't do anything to prevent it. She reluctantly accepts the fact that "Bud the Stud" is, in fact, good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called "Venusia," after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested. Add to the guest list three older women: Victoria Ambrose, a romance novelist whose personal life seems to be lacking in romance; Hillary Hudson a friend of Henry's who has agreed to test the Venusia: and Charmaine Beauregard, a "Southern Belle" whose libido does not need to be increased! Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins, as attempts to entertain all three women! The women mix up Bud's Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men: it gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping and irritability! When the mayham settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions.

Elephants & Butterflies combines the imaginative forays of The Vandals with the more meditative approach of Love Song with Motor Vehicles, Both wild and calm, boisterous and quiet, the poems in Elephants & Butterflies use surprise, song, and startling metaphor while allowing the ideas to simmer just below the surface of the lyric. The poems manage the difficult task of being highly readable and accessible, while still containing complex philosophical and personal knowledge. Alan Michael Parker (www.amparker.com) teaches at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. He also teaches at Queens University, where he is core faculty in the low-residency MFA program.

Architecture is a powerful medium for representing, ordering and classifying the world, and understanding the use of space is fundamental to archaeological inquiry. Architecture and Order draws on the work of archaeologists, social theorists and architects to explore the way in which people relate to the architecture which surrounds them. In many societies, houses and tombs have encoded cultural meanings and values which are invoked and recalled through the practices of daily life. Chapters include explorations of the early farming r archi*eye of Europe, from before the use of metals, to the Classical and Medieval worlds of the Mediterranean and Europe. Research of the recent past and present include an overview of hunter-gatherers' camp organization, a reassessment of the use of space amongst the Dogon of West Africa and an examination of mental disorders relating to the use of space in Britain. The volume goes beyond the implication that culture determines form to develop an approach that integrates meaning and practice.

Michael Parker's vast and involving novel about pirates and slaves, treason and treasures, madness and devotion, takes place on a tiny island battered by storms and cut off from the world. Inspired by two little-known moments in history, it begins in 1813, when Theodosia Burr, en route to New York by ship to meet her father, Aaron Burr, disappears off the coast of North Carolina. It ends a hundred and fifty years later, when the last three inhabitants of a remote island - two elderly white women and the black man who takes care of them - are forced to leave their beloved spot of land. Parker tells an enduring story about what we'll sacrifice for love, and what we won't.

Are we ready for the opportunities and challenges facing the aging church? Now is the time for the church to offer ministry to its increasing numbers of seniors and to benefit from ministry they can offer. In this book James M. Houston and Michael Parker issue an urgent call to reconceive the place and part of the elderly and seniors in the local church congregation. Confronting the idea that the aging are mostly a burden on the church, they boldly address the moral issues related to caring for them, provide examples of successful care-giving programs and challenge the church to restore broken connections across the generations. Cowritten by a noted theologian and an expert in the fields of social work and gerontology, this interdisciplinary book assesses our current cultural context and the challenges and opportunities we face. The authors show us that seniors aren't the problem. They are the solution.

This title was first published in 2003.Developments in genetic science are opening up new possibilities for human beings;A both the creationA and the shaping of human life are now possible in the laboratory. As these techniques develop, questions are increasingly asked about how far everything that is scientifically possible should - morally, legally and socially - be pursued.A Whilst much attention andA policy-making has focussed on the development of regulation of technologies affecting human reproduction, regulation where plants and animals are concerned is much more limited. In this book, developments in genetics are addressed in the broad sense by an international range of contributors.A This includesA not only issues such as eugenics and the modification of the human embryo, but also the genetic modification of plants and animals in the pursuit of commerce, agriculture and biomedical research. A This book is published in association with the Society for Applied Philosophy

"In Love Song with Motor Vehicles," Alan Michael Parker marshals a penetrating wit and sharp irony that mirrors that of Charles Simic and John Berryman. Parker's robust imagination explores the music in places poetry doesn't usually travel. His poems find their epiphanies early on, and, most strikingly, do not close at their endings but, rather, open.

Alan Michael Parker is the author of two books of poetry, and co-editor of two scholarly works, "The Routledge Anthology of Cross-Gendered Verse "and "Who's Who in 20th Century World Poetry "(Routledge Books). In 2000, his poems were included in all three major volumes of "younger American poets" (Carnegie Mellon University Press, University of Southern Illinois Press, and University of New England Press).

Both male and female poets cross the gender line: men assume a female voice and women a male voice.
The Routledge Anthology of Cross-Gendered Verse is a fascinating collection of such poems, beginning in the age of Chaucer and working its way through to the present day. Together these poems offer a unique collection of masks, personae and voices, rife with issues of class, gender and race.
Alan Parker and Mark Willhardt, in bringing together these poems for the first time, assert an entirely new paradigm; a theoretical and practical reading of a heretofore undefined genre. They also provide a critical introduction which synthesizes traditional literary debates with current gender theory and, through the lens of historical, literary, social and theoretical issues, present a new way to interpret these 'ventriloquized' poems.
The Routledge Anthology of Cross-Gendered Verse provides a wealth of material for students and teachers of literature and gender studies. It is a compelling collection which will also appeal to poetry lovers.

The Routledge Anthology of Cross-Gendered Verse is an entertaining journey through six centuries of poets writing in the voice of the opposite sex. Whether concerned with the playful or the tragic, the mundane or the mystical, each poem reveals a new depth in this unique and engaging anthology.
Poems both canonical and less traditional, from early modern England to present-day Africa, are in this remarkable collection. In a lively introduction and conclusion the editors explore the historical, cultural and theoretical context of the poems and of cross-gendered writing. They also provide an extensive bibliography of further reading.
Poetry lovers will delight in The Routledge Anthology of Cross-Gendered Verse. It will also be a valuable contribution to issues of gender, masks and voices in fields such as literary, gender and performance studies and creative writing.
Over eighty poets are represented here, including: Geoffrey Chaucer, John Donne, Mary Sidney Wroth, Aphra Behn, Alexander Pope, William Blake, Robert Burns, William Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Emily Bronte, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, Langston Hughes, W.H. Auden, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Suniti Namjoshi Ai, Yusef Kumunyakaa, Heather McHugh, Rita Dove.

Acclaimed author Michael Parker tells the searing and unforgettable story of one decision that irrevocably changes the course of a young man's life. In the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl-a loner, dreamer, lover of music and words-meets Tina, the new girl in town. Tina convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where Earl and Tina are quickly separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina's disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can't remember what happened in Austin, and with little financial support from his working-class family, he is sentenced for a crime he did not commit. Forty years later, Earl is released into a world he can barely navigate. Settling in a small town on the Oregon coast, he attempts to establish a sense of freedom from both bars and razor wire and the emotional toll of incarceration. But just as Earl finds the rhythm he's always sought, his past returns to endanger the new life he's built. Steeped in the music and atmosphere of the 1970s, I Am the Light of This World is a gritty, gripping, and gorgeously written story of loss, redemption, and the power of the imagination, perfect for fans of Ron Rash, Rachel Kushner, and Laird Hunt.

Puritan politician, lawyer, and lay theologian John Winthrop fled England in 1630 when it looked like Charles I had successfully blocked all hopes of passing Puritan-inspired reforms in Parliament. Leading a migration, he came to New England in the hopes of creating an ideal Puritan community and eventually became the governor of Massachusetts. Winthrop is remembered for his role in the Puritan migration to the colonies and for delivering what is probably the most famous lay sermon in American history, "A Model of Christian Charity." In it he proclaimed that New England would be "a city upon a hill"--an example for future colonies. In John Winthrop: Founding the City upon a Hill, Michael Parker examines the political and religious history of this iconic figure. In this short biography, bolstered by letters, sermons, and maps, John Winthrop introduces students to the colonial world, the Pequot Wars, and the history of American Exceptionalism.

Many medical professionals are now seeking to train in Cosmetic Practice, and there are many courses offering practical training and many texts offering detailed guides to the procedures; this text offers instead a helpful overview of the fundamentals involved and how they impact on practical skills, patient management, and potential complications. It constitutes the perfect guide to professional certification and beyond that to Cosmetic Practice. *Presents the starter in aesthetic practice with the fundamentals of minimally invasive treatments. *Offers a reliable resource for any medical professional wishing to certify in this specialty. *Combines material on both main treatment and on aesthetic patient management.