Dancing In A Distant Place

Reeling from her husband's recent death and the discovery that he had gambled away their home and savings, Iris Chisholm takes a teaching position in a tiny Scottish Highland community, where she becomes involved in the troubles of her charges and pursues relationships with two men.

Holly and Heather share their story and help to walk the reader through the painful yet necessary healing process for when life deals us its harshest blows. Dancing on my ashes soothes and empathizes with the broken heart, while sharing the truth of scripture, and the hope that comes from the heart of God.

Born in Pakistan to Baptist missionaries from rural Georgia, Jonathan S. Addleton crossed the borders of race, culture, class, and religion from an early age. Some Far and Distant Place combines family history, social observation, current events, and deeply personal commentary to tell an unusual coming-of-age story that has as much to do with the intersection of cultures as it does with one man's life. Whether sharing ice cream with a young Benazir Bhutto or selling gospel tracts at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Addleton provides insightful and sometimes hilarious glimpses into the Muslim-Christian encounter through the eyes of a young child. His narrative is rooted in many unlikely sources, including a southern storytelling tradition, Urdu ghazal, revivalist hymnology, and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The natural beauty of the Himalayas also leaves a strong and lasting mark, providing solidity in a confusing world that on occasion seems about to tilt out of control. This clear-eyed, insightful memoir describes an experience that will become increasingly more common as cultures that once seemed remote and distant are no longer confined within the bounds of a single nation-state.

This book is a compilation of the 230 best student essays submitted in English composition classes at the Teachers College of Qingdao University in Qingdao, Shandong, P. R. China, during the spring semester of 2000. The stories were submitted to fulfill assignments given by American instructor, Mark F. Harris, for his students to write about their grandparents, parents, family life and some of their own childhood and school experiences as well as to contemplate the future. In doing research for the essays, a few of the students had the good fortune to interview their grandparents, while many more were able to question their parents. They wrote about times of hardship, sacrifice and deprivation. They gave brief but graphic accounts of the Japanese invasion and occupation of China, the War of Liberation and the founding of modern China, the Cultural Revolution and of hardships associated with famine and poverty. Some of the essays described the common relationships that exist in the traditional Chinese family. In writing about themselves, most students related memorable events of their normal, carefree childhood. They also mentioned encountering frustrations in their growing up and changing years and of competing with classmates in school activities. Almost universally, they wrote about the challenge of preparing for and passing the university entrance examination. Many essays conveyed messages portraying strong cultural values, such as honesty, perseverance, loyalty, devotion, justice and responsibility. Stories depicting situations of great seriousness are balanced with those reflecting childhood innocence and humor. The students wrote in English, which is their second language. Mr. Harris quickly learned there was a unique style to their "Chinese English". They were able to superimpose English over their Chinese language and thought patterns, resulting in writing with less precision and exactness when compared to American usage. Yet, beautiful imagery and poetic expressions seemed to flow naturally. Even though the reader may have no knowledge of the Chinese language, most probably, he will unknowingly be reading "Chinese" when studying these essays. A good example of this beautiful language is expressed in an essay by Liu Ranji (James), who concluded that "a distant place is not only a concept of space, it is a higher pursuit in spirit. The pursuit will be endless, since a distant place is like a beacon that guides my journey in life." The title of the book comes from this essay, since the "pursuit" described by the writer in many ways parallels the author's "pursuit", even in traveling to "a distant place" called China. This timely collection of essays, written by some of China's brightest young people, gives clear insight into a way of life that properly needs to be recorded.

On November 18, 1973, wide receiver Elmo Wright scored a touchdown and became the first professional football player to dance in the end zone. You don't have to be a sports fan to feel the emotions and celebration of a really good end zone dance. Interviewed more than thirty years later, Elmo Wright said, "I've accomplished a lot in my life, but what happened in the end zone is what defines my career." If you own a business, you have something in common with Elmo. Business success may have already brought personal satisfaction and financial rewards. But what happens at your inevitable exit--in your end zone--likely defines your career. An exit that falls short can cause financial disappointment, family strife, or low self-esteem. Success at exit is the crowning achievement of a career, fulfillment of financial and family dreams, or the start of your business legacy. Dance in the End Zone will change your perceptions. Exit planning is not about some distant transaction but rather making decisions today that build a better business and position for your success. The book reveals the Seven End Zone Questions, provides more than fifty tools and tactics--the plays for your Exit Planning Playbook--and shares the real--world stories of dozens of business owners like you. Whether your ideal exit is soon or many years from now, this is a must-read to one day dance in the end zone.

Music and Tourism is the first book to comprehensively examine the links between travel and music. It combines contemporary and historical analysis of the economic and social impact of music tourism, with discussions of the cultural politics of authenticity and identity. Music tourism evokes nostalgia and meaning, and celebrates both heritage and hedonism. It is a product of commercialisation that can create community, but that also often demands artistic compromise. Diverse case studies, from the USA and UK to Australia, Jamaica and Vanuatu, illustrate the global extent of music tourism, its contradictions and pleasures.

The new book by prize-winning biographer Evelyn Juers, author of The House of Exile and The Recluse, portrays the life and background of a pioneering Australian dancer who died at the age of twenty-five in a remote town in India. A uniquely talented dancer and choreographer, Philippa Cullen grew up in Australia in the 1950s and 60s. In the 1970s, driven by the idea of dancing her own music, she was at the forefront of the new electronic music movement, working internationally with performers, avant-garde composers, engineers and mathematicians to build and experiment with theremins and movement-sensitive floors, which she called body-instruments. She had a unique sense of purpose, read widely, travelled the world, and danced at opera houses, art galleries and festivals, on streets and bridges, trains, clifftops, rooftops. She wrote, I would define dance as an outer manifestation of inner energy in an articulation more lucid than language. An embodiment of the artistic aspirations of her age, she died alone in a remote hill town in southern India in 1975. With detailed reference to Cullen’s personal papers and the recollections of those who knew her, and with her characteristic flair for drawing connections to bring in larger perspectives, Evelyn Juers’ The Dancer is at once an intimate and wide-ranging biography, a portrait of the artist as a young woman.

Pasargada is a journey where four people find out answers to questions that we all have in mind but never had the opportunity to ask. What is self-help? What is the role of destiny in my life? Am I a pirate or a king? What happens to the ifs and shoulds in my life? Who is charge of that so-called life of mine? Pirates, kings, revolutionaries, monarchy all mixed up in a story that thrills and takes your soul to the limits of your imagination and self-acquaintance.