From two noted experts-the first in-depth book on teaching your bird to talk Teaching a bird to talk isn't as difficult as it may seem. In this easy-to-follow guide, avian experts Diane Grindol and Tom Roudybush reveal how you can communicate with your parrot far beyond "hello" and, in turn, understand what your bird is trying to communicate to you. Teaching Your Bird to Talk compiles an impressive amount of background, training, and research regarding bird vocalizations, walking you step by step through the behavioral mechanics of training parrots to talk (as well as starlings, mynahs, and other birds). Whether you want your bird to mimic words, talk on cue, or have some understanding of what you are saying, this guide shows you the type of training you need to do with your bird. The book also takes a close look at the work of Dr. Irene Pepperberg-the world's foremost authority in the field of parrot intelligence and trainer of Alex the African Grey Parrot. * Identifies which species of bird are likely to talk and which aren't * Explores field research on regional languages and dialects of parrots in the wild * Features true stories from owners of talking birds * Explains how to handle problems with vocal parrots, such as screaming and using inappropriate language * Offers tips on feeding and housing birds, and finding an avian veterinarian

Who are we? Where is the boundary between us and everything else? Are we all multiple personalities? And how can we control who we become? From distinguished psychologist Robert Levine comes this provocative and entertaining scientific exploration of the most personal and important of all landscapes: the physical and psychological entity we call our self. Using a combination of case studies and cutting-edge research in psychology, biology, neuroscience, virtual reality and many other fields, Levine challenges cherished beliefs about the unity and stability of the self - but also suggests that we are more capable of change than we know. Transformation, Levine shows, is the human condition at virtually every level. Physically, our cells are unrecognizable from one moment to the next. Cognitively, our self-perceptions are equally changeable: A single glitch can make us lose track of a body part or our entire body, or to confuse our very self with that of another person. Psychologically, we switch back and forth like quicksilver between incongruent, sometimes adversarial sub-selves. Socially, we appear to be little more than an ever-changing troupe of actors. And, culturally, the boundaries of the self vary wildly around the world - from the confines of one's body to an entire village. The self, in short, is a fiction: vague, arbitrary, and utterly intangible. But it is also interminably fluid. And this unleashes a world of potential. Engaging, informative, and ultimately liberating, Stranger in the Mirror will change forever how you think about your self - and what you might become.

A great king had his powers to reign with his family, but his decedent came from a different world to live in the underworld. The vampire and the magician challenged many witches to bring twilight through dawn as the darkness to light. However, the fiendish witch was out of control to have the underworld come to dawn, and that leads to a battle in the field of the mortal between demon and vampire, with humans, including the wizard, in the middle.

A short story collection conceived out of a life-long intuition: know FEAR, with all of its versions and manifestations, and one will know MAN. The collection is a dissertation of fears. It is ten years of accumulated story telling, in itself, a postulation that reflects the many changes in the life of a writer. Section One is the process that one particular man undertook to get to authenticity; an inner-dialogue about existence, dying, and love, only to find himself at the end, alone and facing his own image in a bathroom mirror. Section Two is a compilation of short stories about the daily-ness of fears and the many ways in which they creep into our lives, deciding and acting for us. Section Three is an adventure story, a change of pace, an imagined and new beginning for mankind. Or perhaps, not!

Pedro has always believed his life is boring and that nothing exciting or good will ever happen to him, but things are about to change drastically. Because of circumstances beyond his control, Pedro is now the leader of his group of friends. Now tasked with making life and death decisions for which he has no previous experience, he struggles to make the right choices. He swiftly makes new friends as well as enemies, and discovers different realms that even in his wildest dreams ever imagined could exist. Because of Pedro’s lack of knowledge with traveling through other worlds, he usually ends up in the middle of the of the worst situations. In the past he was warned that “Things are not always the way they appear to be,” and swiftly realizes just how true that statement is. Steven Boyd and the Blufirs have already begun attacking and make everyone’s lives more difficult, yet somehow Pedro has managed to stay alive. But how long will they be able to survive as they travel through new and dangerous worlds where things are anything but normal? Despite all of this, Pedro has succeeded in meeting a few new allies who are now working alongside with him until more reinforcements can arrive, albeit from another solar system thousands of light-years away. As bad as things sometimes get, Pedro has always managed to make everything just a little more interesting and amusing for everybody else. But with every new world, there are more choices and challenges that must be dealt with.

Have you ever felt your marriage get cluttered up with sins and cumulative wrongs? Do you wish that you could deal with it, but don't know where to begin? Douglas Wilson loves to point out that the way you fix these sorts of sin pile-ups is the same way you declutter a garage: Begin with the first layer, work to the bottom, and then keep it clean. That's because the key to a good marriage is honest, complete, and humble confession of sin. This short little book, coming from a pastor with forty years of experience, offers concrete practical suggestions about how to confess sin properly and how to avoid other snares that married people tend to get snagged on, usually depending on whether they're the man or the woman. Decluttering Your Marriage will give you much gospel advice, with much gospel encouragement. Features an extra checklist to help implement this book in your day-to-day lives.

Everyone has heard the story -- the dwarves, the talking mirror, the evil witch. But this tale doesn't belong to Snow White anymore.... Bert and Will, the twin sons of the baron of Ambercrest, are best friends. They do everything together and can't help it if trouble just seems to...find them. But the baron is fed up and has decided that separation will keep them out of mischief. One twin, he proclaims, will stay in Ambercrest for the summer, while the other will be sent to The Crags -- a foreboding, rocky outpost on the edge of the kingdom. It is there, hidden in a forbidden black chamber, that one of the boys discovers a bejeweled and mysterious mirror. What is the precious object? And why does it make him feel so...powerful? Soon the twins' kinship is replaced by dark magic and deceit, and a kingdom hangs dangerously in the balance. What becomes of one who is ruled by the forces of evil? And can brotherly love conquer a consuming quest for power?

A provocative re-reading of Stanley Kubrick’s work and its focus on masculine desire The work of Stanley Kubrick amounts to a sustained reflection on the male condition: past, present, and future. The persistent theme of his filmmaking is less violence or sex than it is the pressurized exertion of masculinity in unusual or extreme circumstances, where it may be taxed or exaggerated to various effects, tragic and comic—or metamorphosed, distorted, and even undone. The stories that Kubrick’s movies tell range from global nuclear politics to the unpredictable sexual dynamics of a marriage; from a day in the life of a New York City prizefighter preparing for a nighttime bout to the evolution of humankind. These male melodramas center on sociality and asociality. They feature male doubles, pairs, and rivals. They explore the romance of men and their machines, and men as machines. They figure intensely conflicted forms of male sexual desire. And they are also very much about male manners, style, taste, and art. Examining the formal, thematic, and theoretical affiliations between Kubrick’s three bodies of work—his photographs, his documentaries, and his feature films—Kubrick’s Men offers new vantages on to the question of gender and sexuality, including the first extended treatment of homosexuality in Kubrick’s male-oriented work.

In a world of infinite possibilities, even your worst enemy isn’t certain. The search for their kidnapped target has taken Riyun’s mercenary team to a world of magic and dragons and a future where robots and monsters battle in a wasteland. Now he must guide them through a devastated future of ghosts and ruin. It’s a world that threatens to destroy them all. But the world isn’t completely dead, offering an oasis of hope. Then comes the realization their mission is over. Now Riyun must decide whether to take on a new contract or try to return to their own dimension. Unfortunately, nothing is ever easy. Accepting the mission means risking nightmare and death. Turning it down could mean the end of both his own dimension and the pocket dimension they’re stuck in. Grab your copy of Mirror of Souls and take another trip into the Infinite Realms.