It is January 2112 and fifty years since global warming moved far past its tipping point. Max and his soul mate, Ann, are partners in Aqua4, an innovative company that uses the Space Elevator as part of a system to purify seawater and offset the planets rapidly rising sea levels. As their vacation ends in the Straits of Hormuz, they learn the moon bases want more water and that Mars is their new project. While the world continues to unite to formulate solutions to the environmental crisis, Max and Ann board their spaceship and blast toward the Luna2 station in the geostationary orbit above the Pacific to resume their work. After docking at his companys headquarters, Max and his team begin to draw up the plans to send freshwater to Mars. But as he becomes immersed in a deadly game of strategy where he must outwit those who lurk in the shadows of space, now only time will tell if Maxs efforts to create a new habitable world will ever come to fruition. In this futuristic science-fiction adventure, an environmental entrepreneur and his team tirelessly work in a space station above Earth in an attempt to solve irreversible global warming challenges created by human activity.

The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation and Self is the first edited collection focused on the subject of the themed space. Twelve authors address a range of themed spaces, including restaurants, casinos, theme parks and other spaces like airports and virtual reality ones. The text is organized into four sections-theming as authenticity, theming as nation, theming as person and theming as mind.

This text provides the reader with colour images of all types of retail establishments with emphasis on clean, uncluttered exteriors. It is important for retailers to improve their visual image and make that first impression count.

This book, an analysis of American society, explores the nature of social change since the 1960s as reflected in the "theming" of America from Graceland to Dollywood, from Las Vegas to Disneyworld, from the Mall of America to local mall.

Frustrated by the indifference of the music industry and the stacks of homemade CDs gathering dust in their closets, brothers Heth and Jed Weinstein made the radical decision to bring their music directly to the masses. They began playing on street corners, in subway stations, and wherever else they could connect with a live audience. To their surprise, far from this being the terminal stop of a dead-end career, busking turned out to be just the beginning as crowds of stressed-out commuters gathered around, cheering them on, subscribing to their mailing lists, and actually buying some of those stockpiled CDs—40,000 and counting. In Buskers, Heth and Jed recount their turbulent, drug- and crime-filled adolescence in the nowhere-land of Livingston, New Jersey, their valiant attempts to achieve rock ’n’ roll success through traditional channels, and their unexpected path to circumventing the outmoded music industry. They divulge fascinating details about the technical and legal aspects of street performance, New York busking culture, and the lives of their fellow troubadours. A world of possibilities opens up when the brothers take it to the streets, proving the value of their music to themselves and anyone who’ll listen. Read their story, and your commute will never be the same.

Family Guide New York City offers you the best things to see and do on a family vacation in the Big Apple, from visiting magnificent sights such as the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty to exploring the treasures housed in the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art, and brings those places alive for children with fun facts, quizzes, and cartoons. The major sights are treated as "hub" destinations and are followed by places of interest near the "hub," ideal for planning your day ahead. These spreads offer a pragmatic as well as enjoyable itinerary, giving children a real insight into the destination, but balanced with opportunities to let off steam at a nearby park or playground. All the practical information you need appears alongside the sight, including transportation information, budget tips, age range suitability, and where to eat. Each spread is bursting with insider knowledge and loaded with ideas for activities that will engage children, from "Medieval" treasure hunts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to ice-skating in Central Park in winter. Meanwhile, the most family-friendly, best-value accommodation options have been chosen with family budgets and needs in mind. Full-color throughout, with detailed maps of the main sightseeing areas for easy navigation and all the practical information you need for a fun, stress-free family vacation.

When self-serving affairs threaten to ruin treasured relationships in the lives of Portia, Simone, Laila and Fatima, will they find the moral and spiritual strength to accept their destinies? Portia traded her church roots for the X-rated nightlife as the scene's hottest stripper. The hood respects her and the men in suits lust after her. Jay, a Brooklyn hustler en route to becoming a record company executive, delights in late-night, pre-paid, sex-on-demand romps with this conniving kitten. But will the top dog in town make a lady of the night his full-time lady.

Love is not an abstract idea. It is not saying 'I'm here for you, let me know if you need me'. It's making the decision, when someone close to you is in trouble, about what you will DO to fix as much as you can for them. It's a 'doing' thing. A verb. For Callie, love is about looking after her family - her husband and two children - and their beautiful home. For Steff, Callie's younger sister, love is about experiencing all that life has to offer without having to ever settle down. For Lila, Callie's best friend, love is about finding a soulmate. And when she meets divorced father-of-two Eddie, she knows her search is over. For Walter and Honor, Callie and Steff's divorced parents, love is about caring for the daughters they share. Then Callie gets some life-changing news. And suddenly the whole family is about to understand what 'love' really, really means....

`Alan Bryman has expanded on his internationally well-known work on Disney theme parks and Disneyization to create a fascinating and highly readable book. It should prove of interest to beginning students in a number of different courses and fields, as well as to scholars interested in culture and consumption. There is no question that the model created by Disney, and emulated in whole or in part by many organizations and in many settings, will continue to influence social structure and culture well into the future. This is an important book about a significant social process. And, it manages to be a fun read, as well!′ - George Ritzer, author of McDonaldization and Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland `Bryman′s analysis of contemporay consumption is full of detail and provides a host of examples ranging from restaurants and hotels, to theme parks, zoos and sports stadia. Without doubt students will find it an accessible text, one that should allow them to think about consumption, familiar consumer products, settings and activities, sociologically′ - Barry Smart, Professor of Sociology, University of Portsmouth `Bryman′s dissection of Disneyization is a timely and significant contribution to the growing literature on Disney. In fact, his excellent analysis of the extension of Disneyization throughout society explains why we should care about the Disney phenomenon at all. This is not only an important book for Disney scholars, but for any one interested in the future of modern society′ - Janet Wasko Professor of Communication Studies, University of Oregon This is an agenda-setting new work in the sociology of culture and modern society. It argues that the contemporary world is increasingly converging towards the characteristics of the Disney theme parks. This process of convergence is revealed in: the growing influence of themed environments in settings like restaurants, shops, hotels, tourism and zoos; the growing trend towards social environments that are driven by combinations of forms of consumption: shopping, eating out, gambling, visiting the cinema, watching sports; the growth in cachet awarded to brands based on licensed merchandise; and the increased prominence of work that is a performance in which the employees have to display certain emotions and generally convey impressions as though working in a theatrical event. This insightful book demonstrates the importance of control and surveillance in consumer culture. Of interest to a wide variety of students studying in business, sociology, cultural studies, media studies and leisure studies courses this will also be of interest to anybody interested in understanding the intricacies of modern society.