For over a decade; Magnus Hastings has been photographing the worlds greatest drag superstars and asking each of them a simple question: Why drag? The result is this mesmerizing volume in which the queens strut their stuff and reflect on their shared passion through a mixture of quips and philosophizing. Subjects include icons of reality TV and underground drag royalty; and photographs range from the divine to the trashy. Featuring the likes of Bianca Del Rio and Courtney Act; this collection is a beautiful celebration of drag as an art form and an exhilarating exploration of what drag means to its greatest artists.
#2429259 in eBooks 2000-02-24 2000-02-24File Name: B0018AOH64
Review
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Living Landscape: An Ecological Approach to Landscape PlanningBy mcc5177This product came very quickly and is in good condition. The book has great info and is easy to read.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. From a landscape for living to a living landscapeBy A CustomerThe second edition of The Living Landscape has came out nine years after the first. The first. in fact. was published in 1991. it received an ASLA Merit Award for Communications in 1993. and then it was translated into Italian in 1994. where it was very well received among scholars and students of planning as well as in the schools of architecture throughout the country.The very first difference between the two editions is the publishing series. The first did not form part of a series while the second is now in the McGraw-Hill "Professional Architecture" series. The Professional Architecture series is devoted to giving helpful tools to practitioners who are on the field and The Living Landscape provides a very wide set of how-to and why-to-do-it instructions. where-to-keep information. and best practices examples to learn from. organized around an eleven-step Ecological Planning Model. I consider The Living Landscape a refined. high-level professional handbook devoted to enhance the toolbox of any present or future planning practitioners.The Living Landscape II edition. as was the first. is built around a scheme of eleven steps called "Ecological Planning Method" briefly presented in the first chapter and used as a step-by-step pattern to guide readers into the organization of a planning process. The "Ecological Planning Method" is a framework for presenting information to decision-makers. and to display "a common language. a common method among all those concerned about social equity and ecological parity" (p. 9). The approach to planning presented by Steiner is innovative for two reasons. The first is the incorporation of ecology in planning - briefly "the use of biophysical and sociocultural information to suggest opportunities and constraints for decision making about the use of the landscape" (pp. 9-10). The second reason is the authors stress on the citizens involvement in almost every step of his method. These two issues. even if they are the prime themes of the book. are prudently embedded into the body of the full text. Ecology and citizen involvement are the leitmotif of the entire book which is composed of a precise combination of techniques and tools presentation. useful references to literature. light - but effective - revocations of the theoretical frameworks on the issues. and application examples deriving from real plans or projects.The eleven-step Ecological Planning Model goes from the identification of problems and opportunities (step 1) and the establishment of goals (2) to inventories and analysis at regional (3) and local level (4). It proceeds with the realization of detailed studies (5) and the definition of planning concepts (6). The landscape plan (7) follows and it is directly assessed and criticized by citizens (8). who are involved and educated along the whole process-phasing. Design exploration (9) comes next and the study of the implementation of the plan and projects (10) precedes the administration (11) that is the last step of the model. The Ecological Planning Model is linear in its descriptions (the book chapters - excluding the introduction and the conclusion - are devoted to deepen every single step. with some minor exceptions). but the steps are strongly interactive. In the graphic scheme of the model (p. 11). solid and dashed arrows between the steps emphasize the necessity and the opportunity of feedback and retroactions in order to monitor the previous results.Citizen involvement is the center of the model. Almost every step is addressed to inhabitants and a systematic educational and citizen involvement effort occurs throughout the process. The model. between the last step - administration - and the first - problem and/or opportunity identification -. presents a dashed arrow in order to accent that problems and opportunities facing the region and the goals addressed that may be altered by time. occurrences and circumstances.Compared to the first edition. the structure of the Ecological Planning Model and of the book contents remains unchanged in the second. but the book has some 120 more pages. Graphic design of tables and figures has been enhanced - a four-color page section was added to present the GIS maps of the Desert View Tri-Villages Area (Arizona) and of the Camp Pendleton study area (California). two of the many new examples used along the entire book. New photographs. mostly authored by Steiner. follow the entire text. Sources and references have been updated including recent books and articles on the matters. New examples. as said before. have been included in this edition to present more recent application of techniques and tools explained and illustrated along the text. The final glossary. one of the many useful tools of the book. has been enlarged with 46 new entries bringing the total to 350.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The Living LandscapeBy a readerThe Living Landscape has made a lasting contribution to ecological planning through its detailed documentation of this planning process and thoughtful comparison of the processs application in case studies. Dr. Steiner demonstrates in his book that ecological planning is just not a static plan-making process. but rather a dynamic process that requires consistent and meaningful input from stakeholders. In addition. he sees plan-making as a process that has implications for different scales of the environment. from the nation to the neighborhood. He stresses that the ecological planning process does not end when the plan is finished. but rather the process continues through the linkage of planning concepts to physical design. Given the strengths of this book. it is an essential volume for the library of any professional or student in the disciplines of the built environment and environmental management.
