Hoaxes and Hexes

Hoaxes and Hexes PDF Author: Barbara Smith
Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co
ISBN: 1926936655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a “humorous or malicious deception,” and hex as “a magic spell.” In Hoaxes and Hexes, Barbara Smith explores these intriguing reflections of human nature, showing our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable. Here are tales of swindlers, charlatans and imposters, among them the flamboyant 19th-century financier known as Lord Gordon-Gordon; David Walsh, author of the horrendous Bre-X gold-mine hoax of the 1990s; and the eccentric Josef Papp, who claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade submarine. The persistent power of hexes is recorded in stories of cursed places— including a strange haunting in the Cypress Hills and a deadly Lake Superior lighthouse—and weird coincidences, such as the legendary Hollywood hex on Oscar-winning actresses. Whether you believe in the power of hoaxes or hexes or not, these bizarre stories show them to be a fascinating part of our history.

Hoaxes and Hexes

Hoaxes and Hexes PDF Author: Barbara Smith
Publisher: Heritage House Publishing Co
ISBN: 1926936655
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary defines hoax as a “humorous or malicious deception,” and hex as “a magic spell.” In Hoaxes and Hexes, Barbara Smith explores these intriguing reflections of human nature, showing our curious desire to believe in the impossible and explain the inexplicable. Here are tales of swindlers, charlatans and imposters, among them the flamboyant 19th-century financier known as Lord Gordon-Gordon; David Walsh, author of the horrendous Bre-X gold-mine hoax of the 1990s; and the eccentric Josef Papp, who claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade submarine. The persistent power of hexes is recorded in stories of cursed places— including a strange haunting in the Cypress Hills and a deadly Lake Superior lighthouse—and weird coincidences, such as the legendary Hollywood hex on Oscar-winning actresses. Whether you believe in the power of hoaxes or hexes or not, these bizarre stories show them to be a fascinating part of our history.

Hollywood Hex

Hollywood Hex PDF Author: Mikita Brottman
Publisher: Creation Books
ISBN:
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
A unique addition to the scant literature which,examines those films that have in one way or,another been associated with death. Starting with,the earliest Hollywood suicides and jinxed moviesto the death cult of James Dean, to links with,Charles Manson, Satanic churches, snuff culture,and mass murders, plus the mysterious death of,Bruce Lee, and the equally strange demise of his,son Brandon, HOLLYWOOD HEX discloses the dark,enigmatic connections between cinematic narratives,and human catastrophe, forming a psuchogeographic,study of this fascinating Dream factory.

Catholics in the Movies

Catholics in the Movies PDF Author: Colleen McDannell
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195306562
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Catholicism was all over movie screens in 2004. Mel Gibsons The Passion of the Christ was at the center of a media firestorm for months. A priest was a crucial character in the Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby. Everyone, it seemed, was talking about how religious stories should be represented, marketed, and received. Catholic characters, spaces, and rituals have been stock features in popular films since the silent era. An intensely visual religion with a well-defined ritual and authority system, Catholicism lends itself to the drama and pageantry of film. Moviegoers watch as Catholic visionaries interact with the supernatural, priests counsel their flocks, reformers fight for social justice, and bishops wield authoritarian power. Rather than being marginal to American popular culture, Catholic people, places, and rituals are all central to the world of the movie. Catholics in the Movies begins with an introductory essay that orients readers to the ways that films appear in culture and describes the broad trends that can be seen in the movies hundred-year history of representing Catholics. Each chapter is written by a noted scholar of American religion who concentrates on one movie that engages important historical, artistic, and religious issues and then places the film within American cultural and social history, discusses the film as an expression of Catholic concerns of the period, and relates the film to others of its genre. Tracing the story of American Catholic history through popular films, Catholics in the Movies should be a valuable resource for anyone interested in American Catholicism and religion and film.

Lost in the Fifties

Lost in the Fifties PDF Author:
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 9780809388448
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Wheeler Dixon examines the lost films and directors of the 1950s. Contrasting traditional themes of love, marriage, and family, the author's 1950s film world unveils once-taboo issues and television shows such as 'Captain Midnight' are juxtaposed with the cheerful world of 'I Love Lucy'.

Headpress Guide to the Counter Culture

Headpress Guide to the Counter Culture PDF Author: Temple Drake
Publisher: Critical Vision
ISBN: 9781900486354
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
An indispensable sampling of the vast assortment of publications which exist as an adjunct to the mainstream press, or which promote themes and ideas that may be defined as pop culture, alternative, underground or subversive. Updated and revised from the pages of the critically acclaimed Headpress journal, this is an enlightened and entertaining guide to the counter culture - including everything from cult film, music, comics and cutting-edge fiction, by way of its books and zines, with contact information accompanying each review.

Sex and Humor

Sex and Humor PDF Author: Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253340443
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Four important essays on humor and sexuality, plus humorous art and artifacts from the collections of The Kinsey Institute.

The Effect

The Effect PDF Author: Linda Hoy
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
ISBN: 1846949076
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Parallel worlds… time-travel… life-after-death. The Effect cuts through the whole caboodle with a razor-sharp edge, ripping up distinctions between science and the spiritual with page-turning clarity. If you thought mysticism was only for the devout or gullible, or found physics unfathomable, buckle up your seat belt and hold tight. Linda Hoy’s journey careers through quantum mechanics, high-energy physics and ancient wisdom with turbo-charged vigour. Can we predict the future? What happens when we die? Does life have a purpose? Does God exist? The Effect uses twenty-first-century science to validate what mystics and spiritual leaders have been telling us for centuries. It introduces us to groundmuts and dimension-hopping goldfish. It examines the increasingly-common phenomenon of near death experience. It turns what we think of as reality on its head. It makes us cry and laugh out loud. Prepare to be amazed. Best-selling children’s author, Linda Hoy cuts to the quick with her Quaker honesty and Yorkshire humour. With a penchant for live rock and alternative country music, Linda lives in Sheffield. ,

The Novel

The Novel PDF Author: James A. Michener
Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback
ISBN: 0812986792
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
In this riveting, ambitious novel from James A. Michener, the renowned chronicler of epic history turns his extraordinary imagination to a world he knew better than anyone: the world of books. Lukas Yoder, a novelist who has enjoyed a long, successful career, has finished what he believes to be his final work. Then a tragedy strikes in his community, and he becomes obsessed with writing about it. Meanwhile, Yoder’s editor fights to preserve her integrity—and her author—as her firm becomes the target of a corporate takeover; a local critic who teaches literature struggles with his ambitions and with his feelings about Yoder’s success; and a devoted reader holds the key to solving the mystery that haunts Yoder’s hometown. Praise for The Novel “Michener explores some of the deepest issues raised by narrative literature.”—The New York Times “A good, old-fashioned, sink-your-teeth-into-it story . . . The Novel lets us see an unfamiliar side of the author, at the same time portraying the delicate, complex relationship among editors, agents and writers.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “Michener loves literature, and his information about some of his favorite reading is almost as alluring as his explanation of how to handle a manuscript.”—Associated Press “So absorbing you simply will not want [it] to end.”—Charleston News & Courier

The Twenty-First-Century Western

The Twenty-First-Century Western PDF Author: Douglas Brode
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793615128
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 297

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Book Description
Focusing on twenty-first century Western films, including all major releases since the turn of the century, the essays in this volume cover a broad range of aesthetic and thematic aspects explored in these films, including gender and race. As diverse contributors focus on the individual subgenres of the traditional Western (the gunfighter, the Cavalry vs. Native American conflict, the role of women in Westerns, etc.), they share an understanding of the twenty-first century Western may be understood as a genre in itself. They argue that the films discussed here reimagine certain aspects of the more conventional Western and often reverse the ideology contained within them while employing certain forms and clichés that have become synonymous internationally with Westerns. The result is a contemporary sensibility that might be referred to as the postmodern Western.

The Post-2000 Film Western

The Post-2000 Film Western PDF Author: M. Paryz
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137531282
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This collection explores the post-2000 film Western. With examples ranging from major American films, through acclaimed international productions, to works such as experimental films and television commercials, the contributors seek to account for the appeal and currency of the film Western today.