Around The Bloc

Author : Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Publisher : Villard
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2007-12-18
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780307414618

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Around the Bloc by Stephanie Elizondo Griest Pdf

Desperate to escape South Texas, Stephanie Elizondo Griest dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. So she headed to Russia looking for some excitement—commencing what would become a four-year, twelve-nation Communist bloc tour that shattered her preconceived notions of the “Evil Empire.” In Around the Bloc, Griest relates her experiences as a volunteer at a children’s shelter in Moscow, a propaganda polisher at the office of the Chinese Communist Party’s English-language mouthpiece in Beijing, and a belly dancer among the rumba queens of Havana. She falls in love with an ex-soldier who narrowly avoided radiation cleanup duties at Chernobyl, hangs out with Cuban hip-hop artists, and comes to difficult realizations about the meaning of democracy. is the absorbing story of a young journalist driven by a desire to witness the effects of Communism. Along the way, she learns the Russian mathematical equation for buying dinner-party vodka (one bottle per guest, plus an extra), stumbles upon Beijing’s underground gay scene, marches with 100,000 mothers demanding Elián González’s return to Cuba, and gains a new appreciation for the Mexican culture she left behind.

Author : Timothy W. Ryback
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Music
ISBN : IND:39000005007344

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Rock Around the Bloc by Timothy W. Ryback Pdf

Rock Around the Bloc presents an in-depth history of rock music in communist Europe from the mid-1950s to the present, touching on such highlights as the Elvis craze in the late 1950s, Beatlemania in the 1960s and 1970s, and punk and heavy metal music of the 1980s. The reader comes to realize that in some ways, life in the Soviet bloc was surprisingly similar to life in the West. But there are striking differences as well, most notably, the thirty-year war between rock fans and party officials. Book jacket.

Author : Maja Fowkes
Publisher : Central European University Press
Page : 308 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2015-04-10
Category : Art
ISBN : 9789633860694

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The Green Bloc by Maja Fowkes Pdf

Expanding the horizon of established accounts of Central European art under socialism, this book uncovers the neglected history of artistic engagement with the natural environment in the Eastern Bloc. The turbulent legacy of 1968, which saw the confluence of political upheaval, spread of counterculture, rise of ecological consciousness, and emergence of global conceptual art, provides the setting for Maja Fowkes’s innovative reassessment of the environmental practice of the Central European neo-avant-garde. Focussing on artists and artist groups whose ecological dimension has rarely been considered, including the Pécs Workshop from Hungary, OHO in Slovenia, TOK in Croatia, Rudolf Sikora in Slovakia, and the Czech artist Petr Štembera, 'The Green Bloc: Neo-avant-garde Art and Ecology under Socialism' brings to light an array of distinctive approaches to nature, from attempts to raise environmental awareness among socialist citizens to the exploration of non-anthropocentric positions and the quest for cosmological existence in the midst of red ideology. Embedding artistic production in social, political, and environmental histories of the region, this book reveals the Central European artists’ sophisticated relationship to nature, at the precise moment when ecological crisis was first apprehended on a planetary scale.

Author : Jacob Pesci,Haley Pesci
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2021-10-04
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0578304910

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Around the BLOC by Jacob Pesci,Haley Pesci Pdf

Author : Francis Dupuis-Déri
Publisher : PM Press
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2014-09-11
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781629630465

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Who's Afraid of the Black Blocs? by Francis Dupuis-Déri Pdf

Faces masked, dressed in black, and forcefully attacking the symbols of capitalism, Black Blocs have been transformed into an anti-globalization media spectacle. But the popular image of the window-smashing thug hides a complex reality. Francis Dupuis-Déri outlines the origin of this international phenomenon, its dynamics, and its goals, arguing that the use of violence always takes place in an ethical and strategic context. Translated into English for the first time and completely revised and updated to include the most recent Black Bloc actions at protests in Greece, Germany, Canada, and England, and the Bloc’s role in the Occupy movement and the Quebec student strike, Who’s Afraid of the Black Blocs? lays out a comprehensive view of the Black Bloc tactic and locates it within the anarchist tradition of direct action.

Author : Judy Hopkins
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Patchwork
ISBN : 1564772659

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Around the Block Again by Judy Hopkins Pdf

Contains patterns for making pieced-block quilts for quilters who use both old patterns and modern rotary-cutting techniques, and provides advice for planning and assembling the quilt.

Author : Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 340 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2008-08-05
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781416579717

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Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest Pdf

Growing up in a half-white, half-brown town and family in South Texas, Stephanie Elizondo Griest struggled with her cultural identity. Upon turning thirty, she ventured to her mother's native Mexico to do some root-searching and stumbled upon a social movement that shook the nation to its core. Mexican Enough chronicles her adventures rumbling with luchadores (professional wrestlers), marching with rebel teachers in Oaxaca, investigating the murder of a prominent gay activist, and sneaking into a prison to meet with indigenous resistance fighters. She also visits families of the undocumented workers she befriended back home. Travel mates include a Polish thief, a Border Patrol agent, and a sultry dominatrix. Part memoir, part journalistic reportage, Mexican Enough illuminates how we cast off our identity in our youth, only to strive to find it again as adults -- and the lessons to be learned along the way.

Author : William Strauss,Neil Howe
Publisher : Crown
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 1997-12-29
Category : History
ISBN : 9780767900461

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The Fourth Turning by William Strauss,Neil Howe Pdf

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Discover the game-changing theory of the cycles of history and what past generations can teach us about living through times of upheaval—with deep insights into the roles that Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials have to play. First comes a High, a period of confident expansion. Next comes an Awakening, a time of spiritual exploration and rebellion. Then comes an Unraveling, in which individualism triumphs over crumbling institutions. Last comes a Crisis—the Fourth Turning—when society passes through a great and perilous gate in history. William Strauss and Neil Howe will change the way you see the world—and your place in it. With blazing originality, The Fourth Turning illuminates the past, explains the present, and reimagines the future. Most remarkably, it offers an utterly persuasive prophecy about how America’s past will predict what comes next. Strauss and Howe base this vision on a provocative theory of American history. The authors look back five hundred years and uncover a distinct pattern: Modern history moves in cycles, each one lasting about the length of a long human life, each composed of four twenty-year eras—or “turnings”—that comprise history’s seasonal rhythm of growth, maturation, entropy, and rebirth. Illustrating this cycle through a brilliant analysis of the post–World War II period, The Fourth Turning offers bold predictions about how all of us can prepare, individually and collectively, for this rendezvous with destiny.

Author : Christopher Franceschelli
Publisher : Harry N. Abrams
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2013-08-06
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 1419709364

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Alphablock by Christopher Franceschelli Pdf

With thick pages cut into the shape of each letter, children and parents will enjoy this peek-through guessing game around the letterform itself. Sprinkles, hot fudge, and cherries hint at I's ice cream sundae, while aquarium accessories hint at F's fish. As readers interact with the pages, they will familiarize themselves not only with the 26 letters and associated words, but also with each letter's physicality--angles, holes, and curves, both front and back. With Peskimo's animated, stylish visuals, this fresh ABC book encourages readers to manipulate the alphabet in a whole new way. Note: illustrations have a retro feel, with imperfect variations in color and texture. Also available: A BOX OF BLOCKS, featuring Alphablock, Countablock, and Dinoblock. Praise for Alphablock STARRED REVIEW "All the parts together make an appealing and fun way for youngsters to interact with the alphabet, and for slightly older children to enjoy the clever artwork." --School Library Journal, starred review "The straightforward vocabulary, cheery vintage-style graphics, and neat incorporation of cut-out letters make for a sharply designed package." --Publishers Weekly "With a pleasing, retro feel, Peskimo's art uses bold colors in a slightly muted hue and the weathered look of woodblock prints... A visually captivating delight for careful little ones." --Kirkus Reviews "While it's graphically sophisticated enough to please adults, little children can happily flip through this book on their own." --The New York Times "The baby, toddler or nursery-schooler who tears the gift wrapping off Christopher Franceschelli's Alphablock may think that she has just opened a toy, for how lively and tactile the thing in her hands will be." --The Wall Street Journal Awards Parents 10 Best Children's Books of 2013 Notable Children's Books from ALSC 2014

Author : Patrick Major,Rana Mitter
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 189 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2004-08-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9781135755676

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Across the Blocs by Patrick Major,Rana Mitter Pdf

This book asks the reader to reassess the Cold War not just as superpower conflict and high diplomacy, but as social and cultural history. It makes cross-cultural comparisons of the socio cultural aspects of the Cold War across the East/West block divide, dealing with issues including broadcasting, public opinion, and the production and consumption of popular culture.

Author : Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2021-05-10
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781351034401

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Imaging and Mapping Eastern Europe by Katarzyna Murawska-Muthesius Pdf

Imaging and Mapping Eastern Europe puts images centre stage and argues for the agency of the visual in the construction of Europe’s east as a socio-political and cultural entity. This book probes into the discontinuous processes of mapping the eastern European space and imaging the eastern European body. Beginning from the Renaissance maps of Sarmatia Europea, it moves onto the images of women in ethnic dress on the pages of travellers’ reports from the Balkans, to cartoons of children bullied by dictators in the satirical press, to Cold War cartography, and it ends with photos of protesting crowds on contemporary dust jackets. Studying the eastern European ‘iconosphere’ leads to the engagement with issues central for image studies and visual culture: word and image relationship, overlaps between the codes of othering and self-fashioning, as well as interaction between the diverse modes of production specific to cartography, travel illustrations, caricature, and book cover design. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, visual culture, and central Asian, Russian and Eastern European studies.

Author : Jonathan Wilson
Publisher : Orion
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2012-04-09
Category : Sports & Recreation
ISBN : 9781409109044

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Behind the Curtain by Jonathan Wilson Pdf

From the war-ravaged streets of Sarajevo, where turning up for training involved dodging snipers' bullets, to the crumbling splendour of Budapest's Bozsik Stadium, where the likes of Puskás and Kocsis masterminded the fall of England, the landscape of Eastern Europe has changed immeasurably since the fall of communism. Jonathan Wilson has travelled extensively behind the old Iron Curtain, viewing life beyond the fall of the Berlin Wall through the lens of football. Where once the state-controlled teams of the Eastern bloc passed their way with crisp efficiency - a sort of communist version of total football - to considerable success on the European and international stages, today the beautiful game in the East has been opened up to the free market, and throughout the region a sense of chaos pervades. The threat of totalitarian interference no longer remains; but in its place mafia control is generally accompanied with a crippling lack of funds. In BEHIND THE CURTAIN Jonathan Wilson goes in search of the spirit of Hungary's 'Golden Squad' of the early fifties, charts the disintegration of the footballing superpower that was the former Yugoslavia, follows a sorry tale of corruption, mismanagement and Armenian cognac through the Caucasuses, reopens the case of Russia's greatest footballer, Eduard Streltsov, and talks to Jan Tomaszewski about an autumn night at Wembley in 1973...

Author : Peter Block
Publisher : Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Page : 363 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2009-09-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781605095363

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Community by Peter Block Pdf

Most of our communities are fragmented and at odds within themselves. Businesses, social services, education, and health care each live within their own worlds. The same is true of individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. What keeps this from changing is that we are trapped in an old and tired conversation about who we are. If this narrative does not shift, we will never truly create a common future and work toward it together. What Peter Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation. How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? What can individuals and formal leaders do to create a place they want to inhabit? We know what healthy communities look like—there are many success stories out there. The challenge is how to create one in our own place. Block helps us see how we can change the existing context of community from one of deficiencies, interests, and entitlement to one of possibility, generosity, and gifts. Questions are more important than answers in this effort, which means leadership is not a matter of style or vision but is about getting the right people together in the right way: convening is a more critical skill than commanding. As he explores the nature of community and the dynamics of transformation, Block outlines six kinds of conversation that will create communal accountability and commitment and describes how we can design physical spaces and structures that will themselves foster a sense of belonging. In Community, Peter Block explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

Author : Peter Molloy
Publisher : Random House
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2019-06-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473532052

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Bloc Life by Peter Molloy Pdf

There was life before the fall. 1989 was a year of astonishing and rapid change: the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and an end to an entire way of life for millions of people behind the Iron Curtain. Bloc Life collects first hand testimony of the people who lived in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania during the Cold War era, and reveals a rich tapestry of experience that goes beyond the headlines of spies and surveillance, secret police and political corruption. In fact, many of the people remember their lives under communism as 'perfectly ordinary' and even hanker for the 'security' that it offered. From political leaders, athletes and pop stars, to cooks, miners and cosmonauts, the stories collected in Bloc Life evoke the moods, preoccupations and experiences of a world that vanished almost overnight.

Author : Lewis H. Siegelbaum
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9780801463211

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The Socialist Car by Lewis H. Siegelbaum Pdf

Across the Soviet Bloc, from the 1960s until the collapse of communism, the automobile exemplified the tension between the ideological imperatives of political authorities and the aspirations of ordinary citizens. For the latter, the automobile was the ticket to personal freedom and a piece of the imagined consumer paradise of the West. For the authorities, the personal car was a private, mobile space that challenged the most basic assumptions of the collectivity. The "socialist car"-and the car culture that built up around it-was the result of an always unstable compromise between official ideology, available resources, and the desires of an increasingly restless citizenry. In The Socialist Car, eleven scholars from Europe and North America explore in vivid detail the interface between the motorcar and the state socialist countries of Eastern Europe, including the USSR. In addition to the metal, glass, upholstery, and plastic from which the Ladas, Dacias, Trabants, and other still extant but aging models were fabricated, the socialist car embodied East Europeans' longings and compromises, hopes and disappointments. The socialist car represented both aspirations of overcoming the technological gap between the capitalist first and socialist second worlds and dreams of enhancing personal mobility and status. Certain features of automobility-shortages and privileges, waiting lists and lack of readily available credit, the inadequacy of streets and highways-prevailed across the Soviet Bloc. In this collective history, the authors put aside both ridicule and nostalgia in the interest of trying to understand the socialist car in its own context.