5 Questions with , author of Get your Lower Back Pain under Control

 

Is there any quick usable tip you could give to improve your back pain?

Improve your physical conditioning. The more fit you are, the better shape you are in to manage your pain.

What chapter was the most interesting to write?

Instead of a chapter, I would say the Preface was most interesting to write because it combines all of the areas and forced me to discuss them in one section.

How can hypnosis be used to remove back pain?

Hypnosis teaches your brain a different way to process sensory signals.


What is the most inspiring story about removing lower back pain you've heard?

The stories of my patients who have resumed a normal life after seemingly having it destroyed by their pain.

What's next for you?

I plan on writing another consumer oriented book but focusing on the neck.

5 Questions with Roger Barker, author of The Effective Board

 

1) What makes an effective board?

An effective board must provide the organisation with a coherent and easily understandable mission. It should ensure that its vision and values are communicated and applied at all levels of the company. It is likely to play an important role in developing company strategy, and will rigorously test strategic proposals that are made to it by executive management. It will carefully monitor the performance of the executive team without intruding on their operational responsibilities, and may have to take tough decisions about the leadership of the company. Last but not least, it must ensure that the company has a constructive relationship with its shareholders and other stakeholders to whom it is ultimately accountable for the stewardship of the company.

2) What's the most effective board you've seen?

Often the most effective boards are those that you don’t see. They are quietly succeeding in steering companies towards their objectives. This is happening every day in those companies that are demonstrating sustainable success over the longer term. Boards often become high profile after things have gone wrong.

3) What's a good way to start creating an effective board?

A key issue is to recognise that a successful senior executive is not a ready-made director. A board member must take a much wider perspective than an executive with responsibility for a single operational area. Aside from appointing individuals with the necessary breadth of vision, training and professional development can play an important role. New directors should recognise that they need new skills and perspectives which have not necessarily been perfected in their executive careers.

4) Where can you network to meet people that would make an effective board?

National institutes of directors are obvious networking opportunities for people with an interest in the role of the board and the application of sound corporate governance. But effective directors can potentially emerge from many areas of life. It is a mistake to believe that an effective non-executive director should necessarily come from an executive management background. Consulting, the professions, academia, journalism and the public and voluntary sectors could all be fertile breeding grounds for aspiring directors.

5) What's next for you?

At the IoD we are committed to assisting directors in all aspects of their boardroom role. This involves disseminating best practice and providing practical advice to boards in both the private and public sectors. We are also working hard to ensure that government appreciates the perspective of business, and directors in particular, in their economic and commercial policies.

5 Questions with Jim Masselos, author of The Great Empires of Asia

 

 

What was the most intriguing empire? 
In a volume with 7 excellent studies from 7 authors about 7 extraordinary empires it is difficult to answer the question adequately– each empire in its own right is intriguing – each had an amazing trajectory across the face of Asia or parts of it. Each was unique with styles of governance and cultures very much their own. Above all each was innovative and creative, each adding to the sum of human knowledge and its store of what was beautiful or remarkable. What is intriguing is how such achievements were transmuted out of the violence and chaos that characterised the beginnings of these empires.

Which image struck you the most in the book?
There are so many extraordinary images it is impossible to select only one. As one looks through the book images merge into spectacular assertions of diverse creative experience. There is for instance the individual and cumulative impact of great Muslim buildings: here mosques, tombs and palaces from Turkey, Iran and India fuse into an overall impression of intricate splendour and singular aesthetic expression. Then there are the extraordinary massive Buddhist structures of the Khmer empire, and the delicate restraints of Ming art. The extended sweep of the Mongol steppes makes as striking an image as do the Japanese prints of western-apparelled warriors caught at their most intense.

What is the most underrated or overlooked empire?
For a long time Khmer sites were overlooked given that their monumental structures were embedded in a spreading jungle controlled in the recent past by the Pol Pot regime. But a sense of their grandeur remained: Angkor seems always to have had surrounding it a mystique all its own. In some ways however the most overlooked of the empires has been the Mongol whose reputation has long been only for their ferocious and lightening quick military conquests. That Mongols ruled most of Asia and a significant portion of Europe is part of their achievement but so too are the arts they and their successors nurtured.

How long did the book take to complete?
Work on the book started in 2007 when I began discussing the concept with Terka Acton at Thames and Hudson. Most of this was done through emails – lots of them. I then approached specialists in specific empires to persuade them to draw their detailed research together into interpretive overviews of the empires they had studied. What makes their chapters special is the enthusiasm and freshness of their approach, and their mastery of detail. Collectively the book breaks new ground in its wide-ranging sweep, in how it provides a perspective into some of the world’s greatest empires – and in doing so illuminates empires unfamiliar to most of us.

What is next for you?
My next project leads me away from the macro view of Asian empires to take an intensive look at some of its fascinating detail.  I will be tracing the life story of the late Raj Mata (Queen Mother) of Kutch in western India. In doing so I will be drawing on many sessions with her in India over the years as she told me her stories of her life as the young bride of the Crown Prince and of her later experiences in a changed world after Indian Independence. It too is a fascinating story.

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5 Questions with Bernard Fontana & Edward McCain, authors of A Gift of Angels

 

Which chapter was the most intriguing for you?
After the introduction, the chapters describe specific areas within the church.  Virtually all the stories of the lives of the saints (there are 64 of them represented in the church) I found to be intriguing.  But when it comes to the marriage of art with story telling, the sanctuay (Chapter 9) probably stands out.  Here we find God the Father; the story of Christ's birth from the Annunciation and Visitation to the Nativity and Adoration of the Magi; the patron of the mission (San Francisco Xavier); Christiaity's earliest martyrs (Saints Lawrence and Stephen); a quarter of Apostles; and the Immaculate Conception as Tota Pulchra -- in paintings as well as in sculptured art enhanced by lavish use of gold and silver leaf on plaster surfaces.  That's a remarkable undertaking, certainly unique in North America!

There are many stunning photos in the book, which one is your favorite?
I have two.  One is the view of the mission from the northeast (Fig. 1.1), a perspective which to my knowledge has never before appeared in print.  It's almost as if the church were cited in Morocco or elsewhere in North Africa rather than in southern Arizona.  My other favorite image is that in Fig. 1.6 which shows much of the interior of the church as the priest sees it from the sanctuary.

Why do you feel this is an important book for readers to check out?
Anyone with an interest in Christianity, in its meaning and history, and in the ways in which these have been represented visually, is likely to find this book of more than passing interest.  The art of Mission San Xavier del Bac, with its extraordinary depth and breadth, is universal Christian art.  It is incidental that this treasure left to us by New Spain is located in Arizona in the Sonoran Desert.  Its message, and its beauty, are transcendent.

What did you learn from the process of putting the book together?
Although Roman Catholicism is my religion, spending more than a decade in deciphering the religious imagery of Mission San Xavier made me realize how shallow my knowledge and understanding of the Church had been.  I found myself on a daily voyage of discovery.  The mission became almost as a university for me, one provoking curiosity and challenging my intellect.  I was reminded once again there are few aspects of life more important than learning and, thereby, growing.

What's next for you?
Given that I will be 80 years old in fewer than two months, I shudder to think!  But I am contemplating writing my memoirs about a life which for nearly 60 years has been daily divided between academia and  the reality of living within fifteen feet of an Indian reservation with neighbors whose life experiences and worldviews are very different than those with which I grew up.  Its working title: Mesquite Wine: A Memoir.

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5 Questions with Aaron McKinney, author of The Unruly Alphabet

 

How'd this book come about?

I’ve always been interested in books that straddled the line between child and adult audiences.  Edward Gorey who is a huge inspiration of mine and he was a master of that.  With this book I pushed that concept and made it a children’s book strictly for adults letting me get away with a lot of really inappropriate subjects in a playful light.

Which letter did you feel evoked the most emotion and best illustration?

I’m not really sure. I have a few favorites A&B were fun to do Y&Z is one of my favorites and with G&H it was fun to draw something throwing up.  It’s been fun to see what people consider their favorites, with each person it seems to be different.

What's the best compliment you've received on the book?

I had somebody tell me it was unlike any other book they had ever seen, I thought that was pretty cool considering the amount of books out there.

By anthropomorphizing every letter in the alphabet, when you read do you look at things in a very different way?

It’s funny I do, I also pay a lot more attention to fonts after hand drawing all the text in the book.  It also made me think about the history behind the letters and words themselves which leads into the next question.

What's next for you?

I’ve been working on an illustrated  book on etymology, a brief history of curse words and other strange everyday sayings.  So far it’s been loads of fun to work on.  I’ve also got a true children’s book in the works.

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5 Questions with Galen Smith, author of New York Dick

 

What inspired the book?

Whenever you ride the subway in New York you see a lot of scrawled on and defaced advertising posters. On the subway platforms the posters are right there at eye level so you're always physically interacting with the ad, standing in front of it, leaning on it, writing on it if you want too.

I had been seeing all kinds of defacements on the posters for years and never really thought about them, they just seemed like part of the visual clutter. I liked their crassness, but whatever was going on seemed to be vague and minor, the ad was in charge. But whenever I mentioned seeing a particularly notable example of a schlong attacking a superstar people would always remember similar examples and recount the weird details of the drawing style, the pop personality involved, and where the thing was sticking, or growing.

So in a sense I began to notice the obvious. A loud pushy statement is made by the voice in charge of the situation (the ad), but at the very moment that I am "consuming" the advertising statement these rude graphics make clear how strange, fake and self absorbed the whole statement is. This upsetting of the expected is what made the dirty doodles funny, and not just lewd or hateful. The statement of disrespect was a fair one, and one we all understood.

This odd graphic communication fascinated me. It was an amazing blend of elements; a graphic icon filled with various meanings, a new meaning created out of old, and power co-opted by an artful yet stupid drawing. And the idiocy of the graphic was part of the kryptonite-like power of the whole enterprise. No matter how superhuman an ad was it was made feeble by a penis being drawn on it. I started taking photos and keeping notes, over time I began to feel that the documentation of a bunch of dingus drawings could make an interesting travelogue of the advertising landscape.

 
What's your personal favorite pic?

Picking a favorite image from so many ridiculous examples is very difficult, they're all special and stupid in their own way. But one of my favorites is the next to last image in the book. On a poster that carried the headline "Now Every Guy Can Get Some" an immature genius restates the obvious by drawing a big wang on one of the stars of the show. Interestingly it's entering the front of his thick skull and emerging out the back, leaving the nuts dangling on his forehead and the star looking a little perplexed. Unexpected and brilliant, a little hairy too.

What drives people to deface advertising?

I think there are several factors, boredom and the accessibility of writing instruments being one. But I think there are also some emotional motivators too. Many of the ads seem to be really begging to be taken down a notch, they're annoying you as if you can't do anything about it. But on a New York subway platform people have a rare opportunity to show an ad how they really feel about the pitch, and also to show this comment to all the other viewers of the ad. It's as if you were watching a TV commercial that you have seen dozens of times and are totally sick of, but instead of putting up with it or changing the channel you step right into the commercial and start giving all the actors the finger, or mooning them. It's a rare chance to give back some of the respect and cleverness that ads have given us all these years.

What's the best compliment you've received on the book?

Positive remarks tend to come in two related forms. Some people react to the off-color humor in many of the images, and relate to the disrespectful and contrary aspect of the defacements. Others have more of an affection for the grass roots defusing of the powerful media/consumer/industrial complex. In a way both takes are related and both feel right to me. And really, who doesn't get the message sent by drawing a tiny penis attacking the rump of a mega-star in fat suit. It's all true in it's own way.

What's next for yourself?

I'm still attracted to the weirdness, rudeness, and humor of defaced posters, and I'm continuing to document and share them with anyone who cares to see the truth, at least the truth that's brought forth by drawing penises on schills and superstars.

5 Questions with Mike Schreiber , author of True Hip-Hop

 

WHAT INSPIRED THIS BOOK?

I HAD A SHOW OF MY WORK (KIND OF LIKE A RETROSPECTIVE) IN 2009, AND PEOPLE SEEMED TO REALLY LIKE THE STORIES I TOLD ABOUT DIFFERENT PICTURES AND THE CURATOR, ALEX EMMART FROM MIGHTY TANAKA GALLERY, SUGGESTED THAT I PUT IT ALL IN A BOOK. SO I DID.

WHICH PICTURE MEANT THE MOST TO YOU?

THERE ISN'T ONE PICTURE THAT MEANS THE MOST TO ME, BUT I DO HAVE PARTICULAR FAVORITES. THE MOS DEF PICTURE IS SPECIAL BECAUSE IT'S THE FIRST ONE THAT I TOOK THAT I KNEW WAS SPECIAL. AND THE PHOTO OF VOLETTA WALLACE (BIGGIE'S MOM) IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PORTRAITS... AND M.I.A. ON THE BOOMBOX.


WHO'S THE MOST INTERESTING HIP HOP ARTIST YOU'VE MET?

I DON'T THINK THERE'S ONE THAT'S MOST INTERESTING. I JUST LIKE MEETING NEW PEOPLE. I GO INTO EVERY SHOOT WITH AN OPEN MIND AND A CURIOSITY AND DESIRE TO FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING IN EVERYONE I SHOOT. M.I.A., DAVID BANNER, MAINO, DMX, C-MURDER, THEY ALL HAVE INTERESTING STORIES.

WHO IS THE MOST PHOTOGENIC HIP HOP ARTIST?

DEFINITELY M.I.A... AND THE LADIES SEEM TO LIKE MOS DEF.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR YOU?

RIGHT NOW I'M DOING SHOWS TO SUPPORT THE BOOK AND GET THE GOSPEL OF MIKE SCHREIBER OUT INTO THE WORLD.I'VE GOT SOME IDEAS FOR PROJECTS THAT I'D LIKE TO SEE MATERIALIZE, BUT THEY'RE ALL TOP SECRET AS OF NOW. AS FAR AS MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY, THAT'S UP TO THE PHOTO EDITORS AND ART DIRECTORS. I CAN'T WORK WITHOUT THEM HIRING ME.