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From This is True for 15 August 2004 Suggestions for further reading:
 List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $19.77 Editorial Review: This Revised Edition (also called 3.5) of one-third of the Dungeons & Dragons trinity of core rulebooks (the other two being The Dungeon Master's Guide and The Monster Manual) contains errata, rules updates, and outright changes to the already-published Third Edition rules. The majority of changes are made in a quest for the holy grail of game rules: balance. To prevent boredom and enable creative choices, no single ability, spell, character class, or weapon should have an overwhelming advantage over another. So what has changed? The spells Harm, Heal, and Haste have been toned down. Other spells have been adjusted or renamed. Weapons are classified by the Size of the intended wielder, not the size of the individual weapons. A noteworthy effect of this new weapon size system is that Small characters can wield small-size greatswords, longswords, longspears (with reach), and other two-handed weapons. Classes have been tweaked. Bards and rangers received the most changes. New feats have been added (some original, some from the builder books), and some feats have been altered (a Power Attack now gives double benefit for two-handed weapons). Redundant skills have been rolled into one (such as sense motive and read lips) while others have been renamed (such as "wilderness lore" becoming "survival"). Skill synergies have been expanded and knowledge skills now include appropriate monster lore. In addition to outright rules changes and tweaks, much of the core rule content has been clarified and updated with 3E errata. The combat section, in particular, is organized much better. Even the dreaded grapple rules are now relatively clear. A much-appreciated import from the D&D Miniatures game are new and simple rules for cover and line of sight, as well as clear photographic illustrations of the concepts of facing, attacks of opportunity, and reach. All in all, 3.5 is a welcome update. The typographical errors are forgivable, given the extent of the update. The new options available to players (in the form of new class features and feats) make the play experience more fun. Veterans will enjoy re-learning the game they love and exploring all the new character possibilities. Perhaps more importantly, they'll find that introducing new gamers to the admittedly formidable D&D ruleset is easier with 3.5 than it was with 3E--call it a +2 circumstance bonus. --Mike FehlauerEndless adventure and untold excitement await! Prepare to venture forth with your bold compaions into a world of heroic fantasy. Within these pages, you'll discover all the tools and options you need to create characters worthy of song and legend for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.  By: Steven Katz List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $19.47 Editorial Review: Film Directing Shot by Shot offers a good introduction to the rudiments of film production. Steven D. Katz walks his readers through the various stages of moviemaking, advising them at every turn to visualize the films they wish to produce. Katz believes that one of the chief tasks of filmmaking is to negotiate between our three-dimensional reality and the two-dimensionality of the screen. He covers the number of technical options filmmakers can use to create a satisfying flow of shots, a continuity that will make sense to viewers and aptly tell the film's story. Katz provides in-depth coverage of production design, storyboarding, spatial connections, editing, scene staging, depth of frame, camera angles, point of view, and the various types of stable compositions and moving camera shots.International best-seller filled with visual techniques for filmmakers and screenwriters.  By: Ashley Gilbertson List Price: $35.00 Amazon Price: $23.10 Editorial Review: Arriving in Iraq on the eve of the U.S. invasion, unaffiliated with any newspaper and hoping to pick up assignments along the way, Ashley Gilbertson was one of the first photojournalists to cover the disintegration of America’s military triumph as looting and score settling convulsed Iraqi cities. Just twenty-five years old at the time, Gilbertson soon landed a contract with the New York Times, and his extraordinary images of life in occupied Iraq and of American troops in action began appearing in the paper regularly. Throughout his work, Gilbertson took great risks to document the risks taken by others, whether dodging sniper fire with American infantry, photographing an Iraqi bomb squad as they diffused IEDs, or following marines into the cauldron of urban combat. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot gathers the best of Gilbertson’s photographs, chronicling America’s early battles in Iraq, the initial occupation of Baghdad, the insurgency that erupted shortly afterward, the dramatic battle to overtake Falluja, and ultimately, the country’s first national elections. No Western photojournalist has done as much sustained work in occupied Iraq as Gilbertson, and this wide-ranging treatment of the war from the viewpoint of a photographer is the first of its kind. Accompanying each section of the book is a personal account of Gilbertson’s experiences covering the conflict. Throughout, he conveys the exhilaration and terror of photographing war, as well as the challenges of photojournalism in our age of embedded reporting. But ultimately, and just as importantly, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot tells the story of Gilbertson’s own journey from hard-drinking bravado to the grave realism of a scarred survivor. Here he struggles with guilt over the death of a marine escort, tells candidly of his own experience with post-traumatic stress, and grapples with the reality that Iraq—despite the sacrifice in Iraqi and American lives—has descended into a civil war with no end in sight. A searing account of the American experience in Iraq, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is sure to become one of the classic war photography books of our time.  By: Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel List Price: $34.95 Amazon Price: $23.07 Editorial Review: Monster Manual IV is the most recent volume in the best-selling Monster Manual line. Sure to be popular with both Dungeonmasters and players, this supplement to the D&D® game provides descriptions for a vast array of new creatures. Each monster is illustrated and utilizies a new statblock format that facilitates faster gameplay. In addition, each monster gets more pages than used in previous supplements to detail sample encounters and pregenerated treasure hordes. Also included are details on how to incorporate creatures in a Forgotten Realms® or Eberron® campaign. This product is tied to 2006’s Year of the Dragon theme, which will be the target of marketing from RPGs, novels, and miniatures brands.  By: Rick Atkinson List Price: $30.00 Amazon Price: $19.50 Editorial Review: Arlington National Cemetery spreads across the rolling hills west of the Potomac, a serene and reverent sanctuary for the presidents, soldiers, and heroes—famous and unsung alike—who lie in eternal rest among its green lawns and quiet glades, a roster dating back to America's birth and including many of the foremost names in our history. A national monument in the truest sense, Arlington's solemn beauty embraces a brave legacy—a heritage remembered and renewed every day as the military buries its own. Bittersweet, breath-taking, sometimes heart-wrenching, always deeply respectful, this commemorative book guides readers gently over tree-lined slopes to share the ceremonies observed throughout the year, from the traditional wreath-laying on Memorial Day, which enshrines centuries of courage with a formality at once austere and profoundly emotional, to the moving graveside services that honor individual men and women who served our country. Captured in stunning color by a select group of gifted photographers, 220 unforgettable images create a portrait as poignant as it is proud. Archival photographs also trace the history of the cemetery from the early National Historic Monument, "Arlington House," to the eternal flame at the Kennedy grave to sections for the lost astronauts and victims of the 9/11 Pentagon attack. With an Introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson, this lovely volume is both a fitting tribute and a stirring reminder of the values we Americans hold dear. |
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About This is True
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A photographer, in 1936 Mydans was hired by a new magazine: "Life". At first a general photographer for the groundbreaking magazine, he soon gravitated toward a particular subject: war. "Some people have asked me over the years, 'Why did you spend as much of your time covering war?'" Mydans once said. "War is not my delight," Mydans said. "War was the event of my years." He covered conflicts all over the world, often teamed up with his wife, Shelley, whom he met at the magazine: she was a reporter for Life. They were stationed in Asia when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and both were captured by the Japanese, and were imprisoned for nearly a year. But they went back to work: Mydans' best-known photo was Gen. MacArthur wading ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, making good his promise, "I shall return." To Mydans frustration, legend has it that MacArthur staged the wet-shoe landing for the photographer, but he did not. Mydans died from heart failure at home in New York on August 16. He was 97.