Cruise Vacations For Dummies 2007 (Dummies Travel) Review

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(More customer reviews)For those interested in taking a cruise this book serves as a very thorough guide. It discusses pretty much all of the available cruises. It talks about planning your cruise and what experiences are available on board - spas, shows, activities and, of course, lots of food. It also covers the excursions available at the different ports of call and where each cruise line goes to, with an emphasis on the Caribbean, Alaska and the Mediterranean.
The only reason I am deducting a star is that the writers give only rave reviews for every cruise line. It seemed like they were often just advertising for the cruise companies rather than offering objective opinions that would be useful for its readers. This made it hard to figure out which cruise lines were best because the writers made each one sound so wonderful. So readers seeking to narrow their options might want to go online to the websites where people offer reviews on their cruising experiences rather than rely on this book.
But for all the nuts and bolts information on planning a cruise, what places you can cruise to and what activites are available, both at sea and on shore, this book is an excellent choice.

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On a cruise vacation, getting there is half the fun—or more. Even if you're a land lubber, this guide will get you ready and eager to set sail. You'll learn what to expect and how to enjoy every minute—on board or in port. As the authors write, "The captain does the driving, the chef does the cooking, the bartenders do the pouring, and the stewards make your bed." You unpack once and then relax and enjoy.
Discover how to pick the cruise for you and choose great things to do, with:
Reviews of the best cruise lines and specifics such as the best ships for families, best romantic cruises, best party cruises, best small ship cruises, and more
Overviews of popular cruise ports in the Caribbean, Alaska, the Mediterranean, the Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, and New England and Eastern Canada
Special icons that point out Bargain Alerts, Heads Ups (warnings about tourists traps, unsafe neighborhoods, etc.), and Kid-Friendly options
Info on onboard entertainment and activities, food, spa offerings, shopping, gambling, and children's activities
Recommendations on the top attractions and best shore excursions at popular ports
Details on everything from passport requirements to packing tips, and from embarkation day to clearing customs

Like every For Dummies travel guide, Cruise Vacations For Dummies 2007 helps you make the most of your vacation. It includes:
Down-to-earth trip-planning advice
Info on the best ships for every budget
Tips on sightseeing at ports of call
Handy Post-it Flags to mark your favorite pages

Whether you're looking for adventure on the high seas or laid-back fun in the sun, get your sea legs and get set for smooth sailing with this friendly guide.

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Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports (Contemporary Sports Issues) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is very informative. The author's love for baseball and her knowledge is apparent. The book is well-written and well-researched and includes the author's personal opinions and glimpses into her background with the sport and a good coverage of historical information about minor league baseball, including detailed information on teams and leagues (past and present).
I highly recommend the book for anyone who is in the business of owning a baseball team or wants to understand the history of minor league baseball, especially in small towns.

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Examine the big-league benefits of minor league baseball!The Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports examines the role played by minor league baseball in hundreds of cities and towns across the United States. Written from the unique perspective of a sociologist who also happens to be an avid baseball fan, the book looks at the contributions minor league teams make to the quality of life in their communities, creating focal points for spirit and cohesiveness while providing opportunities for interaction and entertainment. The book links theory and experience to present a "sociology of baseball" that explains the symbiotic relationship which brings people together for a common purpose—to root, root, root for the home team.From the author: Minor league baseball is played across the country in more than 100 very different communities. These communities seem to share a special bond with their teams. As with all sports teams, there is a symbiotic relationship between the team and the city or town that it represents. In the case of major league professional sports, the relationship is often fueled by economic outcomes. On the minor league level, the relationship appears to go beyond mere money and prestige. Minor league teams occupy a special place in our hearts. We are more forgiving when they lose, and extremely proud of them when they win.Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports is a detailed look at the connection between town and team, including:
economic benefits (development strategies, community growth)
intangible benefits (ballpark camaraderie, hometown pride)
fan attachment and attendance (demographic variables, stadium accessibility, "home court advantage")
case studies of two Maryland minor-league franchises--the Class AA Bowie Baysox and the Class A Hagerstown Suns
Minor League Baseball: Community Building Through Hometown Sports also includes an introduction to the organizational structure of the minor leagues, a history of each current league, and charts and tables on attendance figures and franchise relocations. This book is essential reading for sociologists, sport sociologists/historians, academics and/or practitioners in the fields of community sociology and psychology, and of course, baseball fans.

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Mothers Who Think: Tales Of Real-life Parenthood Review

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(More customer reviews)Most of the essays in this slim but powerful book originally appeared in the Mothers Who Think column on Salon.com, including a real winner by Anne Lamott. Although they vary tremendously in tone, subject, angle, and focus, all together they create a powerfully articulate image of what it means to be Mother. And I'm talking Mother in a minute, interior sense, not in the do-goody style of parenting magazines. There's nothing soapy or sappy in any of these essays - so read it.

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The Impact of Adventure-Based Training on Team Cohesion and Psychological Skills Development in Elite Sporting Teams Review

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(More customer reviews)This work clearly articulates the powerful life changing process adventure based training can have on participants.
A recommended read for those wanting insight into how one can construct an adventure based training program to meet the needs of clients. Clear description in the methodology makes this process easy to follow.
The athlete testimony of how the adventure intervention transferred to improved team cohesion and mental skills to enhance athletic performance is inspirational. Tranfer from the bush to the athletic field of endevour can occur!

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Adventure-based training has become an effective medium for delivering experiential training programs within a variety of disciplines such as; school outdoor education, corporate teamwork development, youth at risk and psychological counseling. In addition, Meyer & Wenger (1998) and Meyer (2000) were instrumental in pioneering research in to the efficacy of adventure-based training with sporting teams. This investigation adds to the growing body of knowledge in this area by demonstrating the positive effects an adventure training intervention has on athletes ability to learn new team and psychological skills. In addition, results indicated that individual and team performance might have been enhanced because of skills learnt during the intervention. This study examined the impact of an adventure-based training intervention on the group cohesion and psychological skills development of elite netball players. Data was gathered using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Many researchers are of the belief that the two methodologies compliment one another and thereby strengthen the total research model (Henderson, 1993).A phenomenological approach to qualitative data collection was followed based on the work by Dale (1996). Knowing how the intervention impacted on the participants from their perspective, is a critical question often overlooked by researchers. Results clearly indicated how athleteschanged and developed during and after the intervention. Improved cohesion around task issues was especially evident, along with enhanced mental skills to handle the pressures of major competition. Lewin s change theory was examined to explain the learning process; modifications to this theory were suggested. Recommendations were outlined for improving sport psychology teaching practice, along with improved facilitation of adventure programming.

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Golf: Lower Your Score with Mental Training Review

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(More customer reviews)Golfers at all levels of expertise and sports psychology practitioners will surely want this book which offers "scientifically tested ways to perform better at golf while actually enjoying it more." Without hype or sensational promises, Saunders imparts the mental skills and strategies that make for an improved game.
Golf is an self-help instructional program with an audio CD of brief recorded exercises for relaxation, self-hypnosis, meditation, affirmations and visualization. You will see evidence of NLP and hypnosis throughout. The theoretical background of the program is based on right-brain-left-brain research showing that peak performance occurs when the right brain dominates and practiced skills become unconsciously driven. Imagery and self-hypnosis exercises in Golf teach golfers how to reprogram limiting beliefs and unwanted behaviors that get in the way of performance.
Saunders begins with the premise that good golf performance, and indeed, all sports performance depends, in part, on mental skills: the right level of "active relaxation," positive concentration, intuition, imagination, and total focus on the here and now. Drawing from his experiences in teaching self-hypnosis, his own golfing, and consultations with sports psychologists and both professional and amateur golfers, Saunders has produced an easy-to-follow program.
The program starts with progressive muscle relaxation for energy balance. Then Saunders adds guided imagery, to keep the golfer focused on a positive result, instead of replaying past mistakes. Next, readers learn NLP methods for anchoring resourceful states such as confidence, active relaxation, self-belief, and tempo. Saunders recommends affirmations and meditation to instill a positive mental attitude and ward off memories of bad shots and the self-criticism that creates negative expectations.
In Golf, readers will find remedies for bad golfing habits and problematic reactions to errors. His chapter on peak performance is particularly instructive. Saunders writes that playing "in the zone" involves mental skills such as self-confidence, optimism, motivation, and a positive attitude about errors. The CD allows the reader to actually experience the recommendations and exercises in the text. The relaxing background music and Saunders' gentle voice giving well-paced instructions provide enjoyable listening.
Saunders is a coach par excellence who teaches his readers how to apply NLP, visualization, positive thinking, and self-hypnosis to the game of golf. He makes a rather complex subject easy to understand and the psychological principles easy to apply. Every recommendation rests on findings from scientific research in sports psychology. In this book, readers will find a highly practical and readable text and a professionally-produced CD. No serious golfer should be without this book!


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This book offers the reader sound, scientifically tested ways and means to perform better at golf while actually enjoying it more! It presents a powerful strategy for players to not only improve on their golf game, but also their personal lives as well.Golf is essentially about the present moment—now, this shot! You play the shot that faces you and play it to the best of your ability, and when you are in the middle of one of these flows of good golf, your concentration is positiveand you are not haunted by the memory of bad shots. This book explains a quick and effective method for producing more of those great flows of golf, and how to avoid the pitfalls and the negative thinking.You will discover howeasy it is to develop—and keep—a confident frame of mind for better shot making.The program presented is developmental, as opposed to clinical or problem solving in nature.You learn about and develop your inner mental skills, skills which require you to 'go inside yourself' to that part of your mind where youfoster behaviors that promote good performance. Creative use of imagery makes it possible to re-program the software of your brain and rid yourself of unwanted behaviors and beliefs, which get in the way of good performance.By reading this book you will discover how easy it is to:--Achieve active relaxation--Use mental imagery to learn and improve your game--Develop positive thoughts and behavior patterns--Focus completely on the shot you are about to make--Increase your chances of having and then sustaining peak performanceThis book, as well as the accompanying CD of relaxation exercises, will give you the tools to achieve peak performance in golf and in other sports you play.It has a parallel and perhaps more important goal: to help you develop a lifestyle that is healthy, and behaviors which lead to peak wellness.

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Broadcast Announcing Worktext, Second Edition: Performing for Radio, Television, and Cable Review

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(More customer reviews)Reading this book and working through the cd won't exactly make you a broadcasting star, but it definitely guides you at the required talents and qualifications for conforming to industry standards.
The cd-rom consists of video and audio segments or snippets as they are quite short on the average; it includes voice commentaries, installation videos, teleprompters, and practice media for you to develop your skills.
The book is and entertaining read with chapters on the history of broadcasting, the various types of broadcasting( radio dj, television, cable etc), the great broacasters, interviews, the biology of the human voice mechanism, techniques and the like.
Overall this book is definitely helpful in guiding towards the broadcasting industry and could be useful for students of mass communication and media studies.

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Broadcast Announcing Worktext, Second Edition provides the aspiring broadcast performer with the skills, techniques, and procedures necessary to enter this highly competitive field. In addition to the principles of good performance, this text addresses the importance of "audience" and how messages change to communicate effectively to various groups. Television and radio studio environments, announcer specializations and responsibilities, and developing a broadcast delivery style are just a few of the many topics covered.Factual information is presented in brief, easy-to-digest modules and is enhanced with self-study questions and projects that encourage active reader participation. The self-study provides an immediate check on the comprehension of what was presented, and the projects allow for a practical application of key concepts in the material. The worktext format, with many real-life examples, combines both traditional textbook learning and practical experience. A companion CD-ROM illustrates techniques and concepts in each chapter with audio and visual examples. *Additional practical material in this edition*First time instructor's manual available*Expanded coverage on announcing techniques*Companion CD-ROM with audio and video examples

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Smart Start-Ups: How Entrepreneurs and Corporations Can Profit by Starting Online Communities Review

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(More customer reviews)The whole first part of the book is basically built around one idea: mobile phone based "communities" & social networks. He keeps reiterating the same point in different ways while promising to explain how to do any of the stuff he talks about in later chapters. The first hundred pages come off sounding like a commercial for the author's other chapters or other projects.
By the time you actually get to the later chapters you'll find them very weak on any substantively useful information or action steps to emulate. The whole project just seems rushed to capitalize on current Web trends and makes a hypothesis of dubious relevance.

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Praise for Smart Start-Ups"Silver's new book is a masterpiece of clarity concerning the next great entrepreneurial wave, and my only problem with it was the charley horse in my elbow I got turning the pages."-Robin Richards, founding President, MP3.com, and CEO, Notification Technologies Inc."Silver is a modern-day Prometheus. For community entrepreneurs, Smart Start-Ups contains the secrets of fire from the heavens. If you work with communities of any kind, you ignore this book at your own peril."-John Szeder, former senior game developer, Digital Chocolate, Inc., and CEO, Mofactor, Inc."Silver dives in and pulls the naked truth out of the world of online communities. There's nothing like it on the shelves. He speaks with the best and brightest in the mobile and online community markets."-Sean Malatesta, founder, Yack Media Services, and Vice President, Indiagames, Inc."Smart Start-Ups is a must-read for any aspiring Internet entrepreneur. Silver cuts right to the heart of the important fact that communities are like entire nations, but without geographic borders, and they're creating the greatest transformation since the Industrial Revolution."-Clarence Briggs, founder and CEO, AIT.com"Silver's book is an excellent, captivating, ingenious, and essential read for anyone who wants to know how to create wealth by starting an online community. One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way; Silver certainly succeeds in that respect."-Kyle E. Gillman, founder and CEO, Forgefinder, Inc.

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