Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The Human Centipede

  • HUMAN CENTIPEDE, THE (DVD MOVIE)
100% Medically accurate.
The compelling simplicity of Saw. The stylish dread of Eraserhead. The black humor of A Nightmare On Elm Street. Those are the benchmarks of horror that the outrageous Dutch film The Human Centipede matches. The plot is diabolically simple: two stranded American tourists are given shelter by a famed German doctor (a maniacally intense Dieter Laser) who made his fortune surgically separating conjoined twins. Now his mad genius is pushing the doctor to do the reverse. He tells the women that they will be surgically attached to a Japanese businessman mouth to buttocks, one after the other and thus will be born a new creature: the human centipede! Compellingly perverse, hilarious, and shockingly straightforward, Dutch director Tom Six s new film is hands-down the most memorable horror film of the year.Equal parts Cronenbergian body hor! ror, perverse fetish film, and E.C. Comics-style gross-out, The Human Centipede is Dutch director Tom Six's uniquely macabre endurance test for fans of modern fright fare. What's surprising about the picture isn't the premise--its story, about a madder-than-mad doctor (German actor Dieter Laser) who unites two American tourists (Ashley C. Williams and Ashlynn Yennie) and a Japanese counterpart (Akihiro Kitamura) in a hideous surgical procedure that creates the title monstrosity, was broadcast in detail across the Internet prior to its international theatrical screenings--but rather, the degree of reserve Six applies to depicting every excruciating detail. That's not to say that Human Centipede is a bloodless affair, but Six relies more on the physical endurance and talent of his actors to present the mortal terror of their predicament, which in turn offers a more terrifying experience for the viewer than anything dreamed up by a special effects team. The appro! ach also makes up for some of the more crassly exploitive mome! nts in t he film, like the doctor's relentless abuse of his creation, which is largely clad only in filthy underwear, and Laser's occasional overacting, which at its most heated, suggests an unholy, highly medicated hybrid of Klaus Kinski, Lance Henriksen, and the late Howard Vernon's awful Dr. Orlof. Obviously, this is not for the casual horror fan, and most definitely not for the squeamish; more hard-core types should find their nerves thoroughly rattled by the time the film reaches its darker-than-dark conclusion. A final, disturbing note: the complete title is The Human Centipede (First Sequence); a planned sequel reportedly promises a 12-segment (gulp) creation. --Paul Gaita

In the Presence: The Spirituality of Eucharistic Adoration

  • ISBN13: 9780764819070
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
What would you do if you found out your father may have been a terrorist? A high school boy writes a story for class that makes this claim. Is it true? Friends, family, teachers and internet chat-room partners start to wonder and worry. Now he must journey through a maze of family secrets to find the truth about his dead father. From Academy Award-nominated director Atom Egoyan (1997, Best Director, The Sweet Hereafter) comes a story of a young man who must question everything he knows in order to learn who he is and who his father was. Adoration presents a world where there is no such thing as us versus them and the truth is never as simple as right and wrong. Adoration i! s welcome addition to Canada-based Atom Egoyan’s (The Sweet Hereafter) oeuvre that slows down and examines our fast-paced, technology-laden information age. Egoyan’s new film, like his politically charged Ararat, thematically tackles the fears and suspicions surrounding international travel, and attempts to expose what those fears are rooted in. Adoration riffs off of an actual failed terrorist attempt in 1986, for which a Jordanian man tried to pack explosives in his wife’s bag before boarding an airplane. In this film, brooding teen, Simon (Kevin Bostick), is implored by his French teacher, Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian), to tell his peers that his father was a terrorist under the same rubric, as a drama exercise. Simon, whose parents died in a car accident, is living with his Uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), and is also close to best friend Hannah (Katie Boland), though neither confidant learns of Simon and Sabine’s fiction until the escapade has spir! aled out of control via internet video chat rooms. The film ha! s a char acteristically Egoyanian contemplative stillness throughout, and the mood remains heavy. Scenes of familial interaction, alternating between flashback and invented memory, weave a tale in which Simon’s fantastic plot is as palpable as the real one. Often, narrative is relayed through internet conversation, as Simon sits in his dark room debating ethical concerns amongst, at first, his friends, then teachers, then Jewish populations who take offense at the cultural insults Simon implies. While the film conveys how quickly information is disseminated in today’s media, it more seeks to address and question the validity and quality of our news, and our eagerness to judge what we know little about. --Trinie DaltonWhat would you do if you found out your father may have been a terrorist? A high school boy writes a story for class that makes this claim. Is it true? Friends, family, teachers and internet chat-room partners start to wonder and worry. Now he must journey thr! ough a maze of family secrets to find the truth about his dead father. From Academy Award-nominated director Atom Egoyan (1997, Best Director, The Sweet Hereafter) comes a story of a young man who must question everything he knows in order to learn who he is and who his father was. Adoration presents a world where there is no such thing as us versus them and the truth is never as simple as right and wrong. Adoration is welcome addition to Canada-based Atom Egoyan’s (The Sweet Hereafter) oeuvre that slows down and examines our fast-paced, technology-laden information age. Egoyan’s new film, like his politically charged Ararat, thematically tackles the fears and suspicions surrounding international travel, and attempts to expose what those fears are rooted in. Adoration riffs off of an actual failed terrorist attempt in 1986, for which a Jordanian man tried to pack explosives in his wife’s bag before boarding an airplane.! In this film, brooding teen, Simon (Kevin Bostick), is implor! ed by hi s French teacher, Sabine (Arsinée Khanjian), to tell his peers that his father was a terrorist under the same rubric, as a drama exercise. Simon, whose parents died in a car accident, is living with his Uncle Tom (Scott Speedman), and is also close to best friend Hannah (Katie Boland), though neither confidant learns of Simon and Sabine’s fiction until the escapade has spiraled out of control via internet video chat rooms. The film has a characteristically Egoyanian contemplative stillness throughout, and the mood remains heavy. Scenes of familial interaction, alternating between flashback and invented memory, weave a tale in which Simon’s fantastic plot is as palpable as the real one. Often, narrative is relayed through internet conversation, as Simon sits in his dark room debating ethical concerns amongst, at first, his friends, then teachers, then Jewish populations who take offense at the cultural insults Simon implies. While the film conveys how quickly information! is disseminated in today’s media, it more seeks to address and question the validity and quality of our news, and our eagerness to judge what we know little about. --Trinie DaltonMary of Bethany stands alone in the Gospels. She was the friend of Jesus, sharer of His secrets. She abides . . . uninhibited and limitless . . . an eternal emblem of Adoration of Jesus.
Adoration is a profound gaze at the very human story of two sisters, their contrast full of stark meaning. Mary and Martha, symbols of choice . . . between what gains God against what loses Him.
Mary of Bethany received from Jesus what no other player in the Redemption Story received: His never-ending command that where the Gospel is preached the story of her alabaster jar is to be told . . .
This book proclaims her memorial place with extraordinary insight and reverance, laced with the goal of following this quiet one who was the delight of Jesus into our own . . . Adoration.David s landmark ! tenth CD, Adoration: Solo Piano Hymns, contains David's beauti! ful rend itions of fifteen favorite hymns, including Be Still My Soul, Just As I Am, How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace.

A Note from the Artist...

What does it mean to adore God? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the phrase to adore as to regard with a deep, often rapturous love. That very well describes how I feel about my Lord Jesus.

I am in awe of him in every way, not only because of his continuous, overflowing blessings on my life, but simply because of who he is; he is the one...

...In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 1 Colossians 1:14-17

Without ! Jesus, we are lost. We strive alone and in the darkness. We suffer for nothing.

With Jesus, we have purpose. We walk in the light and when we suffer, it s for his glory.

I adore my Lord Jesus because he saved me, both from spiritual death and from hopelessness. His love for me has overcome all my failings. For that, I cherish him, and I want every moment of my life to give praise to him.

I think the writers of the hymns understood what it meant to adore God. Just read through the lyrics in your hymnal sometime. The hymns are more than just music; they are poetry, instruction, encouragement, wisdom, exhortation and precious letters of love. They are songs of repentance, songs of victory and songs of praise. They reflect the light of God s Word, and remind us to take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Jesus where they belong. When I read them, I am moved, and when I sing them, my soul is stirred.

What a joy it has been to work on these arrangem! ents, to wrap my heart and hands around these melodies that ha! ve prais ed God for generations. I hope that in some small way, this album helps keep these songs alive and present in the hearts of modern worshippers around the world.

Look up, always look up, and give him praise. In the darkness, give him praise. Through joy or suffering, give him praise. Never cease to praise him.

Yes, I adore Him... and often with a deep, rapturous love.

David Nevue September 2007With the ancient practice of Eucharistic Adoration being rediscovered in today's modern parishes, In The Presence provides the perfect guide to the history, practice, and meaning of this tradition. In a series of brief, accessible, and theologically rich essays, Sr. Joan Ridley connects the private devotion of Eucharistic Adoration to eucharistic spirituality and common worship, combining traditional significance with the best in contemporary theology.With the ancient practice of Eucharistic Adoration being rediscovered in today's modern parishes, In The Presence p! rovides the perfect guide to the history, practice, and meaning of this tradition. In a series of brief, accessible, and theologically rich essays, Sr. Joan Ridley connects the private devotion of Eucharistic Adoration to eucharistic spirituality and common worship, combining traditional significance with the best in contemporary theology.This classic collection offers rich meditation material before the Blessed Sacrament, providing prayerful souls with insights gleaned from the wealth of Church teaching and tradition. The selections are drawn from a variety of sources and times. They come from the Old and New Testaments, the Church Fathers, great saints, popes, councils, traditional prayers. These prayers and meditations offer a rich view of the Eucharist, and their unique perspectives are intended to aid us in our understanding, appreciation and worship of this Sacrament of Sacraments.

Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. Sh! e has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still! recover ing from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers?

This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson's vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.
 
The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn't remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories reall! y hers?

This fascinating novel represents a stunning new direction for acclaimed author Mary Pearson. Set in a near future America, it takes readers on an unforgettable journey through questions of bio-medical ethics and the nature of humanity. Mary Pearson's vividly drawn characters and masterful writing soar to a new level of sophistication.
 
The Adoration of Jenna Fox is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
With the ancient practice of Eucharistic Adoration being rediscovered in today's modern parishes, In The Presence provides the perfect guide to the history, practice, and meaning of this tradition. In a series of brief, accessible, and theologically rich essays, Sr. Joan Ridley connects the private devotion of Eucharistic Adoration to eucharistic spirituality and common worship, combining traditional significance with the best in contemporary theology.

Coastlines

An American Haunting: The Bell Witch

  • ISBN13: 9780312363536
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
"'By God, we've kicked the Vietnam syndrome,' crowed President George H. W. Bush when he repelled Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991. He was wrong. The Vietnam debacle continues to haunt America's political leaders, military men, and population. Marvin Kalb and Deborah Kalb's account of this phenomenon is studiously researched, vividly narrated, and, above all, highly readable. It will stand as a major contribution to the subject."Ââ€"Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

The United States had never lost a warÂâ€"that is, until 1975, when it was forced to flee Saigon in humiliation after losing to what Lyndon Johnson called a "raggedy-ass little four! th-rate country." The legacy of this first defeat has haunted every president since, especially on the decision of whether to put "boots on the ground" and commit troops to war.

In Haunting Legacy, the father-daughter journalist team of Marvin Kalb and Deborah Kalb presents a compelling, accessible, and hugely important history of presidential decisionmaking on one crucial issue: in light of the Vietnam debacle, under what circumstances should the United States go to war?

The sobering lesson of Vietnam is that the United States is not invincibleÂâ€"it can lose a warÂâ€"and thus it must be more discriminating about the use of American power. Every president has faced the ghosts of Vietnam in his own way, though each has been wary of being sucked into another unpopular war. Ford (during the Mayaguez crisis) and both Bushes (Persian Gulf, Iraq, Afghanistan) deployed massive force, as if to say, "Vietnam, be damned." On the other hand, Carter, Clinton, ! and Reagan (to the surprise of many) acted with extreme cautio! n, mindf ul of the Vietnam experience. Obama has also wrestled with the Vietnam legacy, using doses of American firepower in Libya while still engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The authors spent five years interviewing hundreds of officials from every postwar administration and conducting extensive research in presidential libraries and archives, and they've produced insight and information never before published. Equal parts taut history, revealing biography, and cautionary tale, Haunting Legacy is must reading for anyone trying to understand the power of the past to influence war-and-peace decisions of the present, and of the future.

Ghost stories in various forms have been a part of popular literature for centuries, from Shakespeare to Dickens to Faulkner. Over the past twenty-five years, a resurgence of haunting plots has occurred in American literature. In Cultural Haunting, Kathleen Brogan makes the case that th! is recent preoccupation with ghosts stems not from a lingering interest in Gothic themes but instead from a whole new genre in American literature that she calls "the story of cultural haunting."

Examining Louis Erdrich's Tracks, Toni Morrison's Beloved, and Cristina Garcia's Dreaming in Cuba, Brogan argues that modern ghost stories offer a way for minority authors to come to terms with their lost cultural identities. At the heart of this process, she contends, is the experience of mourning as that form of memory determined by an awareness of a break with the past. While conscious of the cultural differences among these haunted tales of slavery, colonization, and immigration, the author demonstrates that they all function similarly: to re-create ethnic identity by imaginatively recovering a ! collective history that in many cases has been fragment! ed or er ased. Her readings show how the specific histories and local meanings support the pan-ethnic genre she has defined.

The book suggests that modern stories of haunting reflect the increased emphasis on ethnic and racial differentation in American society over the past thirty years. The ghosts found in contemporary American literature lead us to the heart of our nation's discourse about multiculturalism and ethnic identity.

Known throughout Tennessee as "Old Kate," the Bell Witch took up residence with John Bell's family in 1818. It was a cruel and noisy spirit, given to rapping and gnawing sounds before it found its voices.

With these voices and its supernatural acts, the Bell Witch tormented the Bell family. This extraordinary book recounts the only documented case in U.S. history when a spirit actually caused a man's death.

The local schoolteacher! , Richard Powell, witnessed the strange events and recorded them for his daughter. His astonishing manuscript fell into the hands of novelist Brent Monahan, who has prepared the book for publication. Members of the Bell family have previously provided information on this fascinating case, but this book recounts the tale with novelistic vigor and verve. It is truly chilling.
A young couple down on their luck moves into an old Texas house--but something inside the house doesn't want them to stay in this original and horrifying novel about blackest evil.From headless phantoms and screaming specters to invisible poltergeists and disembodied voices, ghosts occupy our homes, infest cemeteries and graveyards, lurk in nearby caves and forests, and even wander city streets. However, despite the wealth of sightings, aspiring ghost hunters have few resources.
        
Now, for the first time, here is a fully functioning field guide for those courageous investigators! who wish to observe and interact with supernatural beings and! the spi rit world. Drawn from all available evidence, including recent research and sightings, modern urban legends, and Native American mythology and North American folklore, this book describes in detail over 100 haunted sites and their resident specters.
        
Brimming with useful advice and practical tips for the ghost hunter, The Field Guide to North American Hauntings provides vital information for those seeking to encounter ghosts. Whether exploring the lonely cells of Alcatraz or the desolate stretch of road known as Route 666, or searching for specters at the White House, ghost hunters will always be prepared with The Field Guide to North American Hauntings.W. Haden Blackman itemizes over 100 haunted sites and their resident specters, focusing on haunted houses, haunted vessels, haunted cemeteries, and haunted sites in nature--from the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego (where Kate Morgan, killed on Thanksgiving Day in 1892, now appears in a! black lace dress and makes strange choking noises) to Franklin's Haunted Orchard (where a foreign-born peddler was killed and buried under an apple tree in 1759, and where apple trees have continued to this day to produce blood-stained blossoms and blood-streaked apple pulp).

Blackman intends his guide, however, to be more than just another ghoulish anthology. If you want to find and interact safely with ghosts, you need to know where to go, what to look for, and how benign the ghosts are. For each site, along with a full narrative and supernatural history, Blackman includes its address and whereabouts, the number of ghostly residents, their identities, and the type of ghostly activities that have been observed. He tells what their demeanors are (their personalities; propensities for mischief, violence, or both; and attitudes toward the living), and the likelihood of encountering the spirit or ghostly phenomenon while visiting. A chapter on ghost huntin! g provides worthwhile tips for anyone wishing to avoid, cope ! with, or encounter a spectral presence, and the appendices--with sample questionnaires for ghost witnesses, sample questionnaires for ghosts, a glossary, and listings by state and province--round out the practical nature of Blackman's guide. But even if you haven't the slightest interest in searching out ghost haunts, the book is worth it for the sensational stories alone. --Stephanie Gold

Known throughout Tennessee as "Old Kate," the Bell Witch took up residence with John Bell's family in 1818. It was a cruel and noisy spirit, given to rapping and gnawing sounds before it found its voices.

With these voices and its supernatural acts, the Bell Witch tormented the Bell family. This extraordinary book recounts the only documented case in U.S. history when a spirit actually caused a man's death.

The local schoolteacher, Richard Powell, witnessed the strange events and recorded them for his daughter. His astonishing manuscript fell into the hands of nov! elist Brent Monahan, who has prepared the book for publication. Members of the Bell family have previously provided information on this fascinating case, but this book recounts the tale with novelistic vigor and verve. It is truly chilling.

Before the Fall

Ghostbusters [Blu-ray]

Blue Embossed Dragonfly Leather Journal - Lined