Showing results for "Wellness" in Entertainment & Performing Arts

In September 1998, Michael J. Fox stunned the world by announcing he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease: a degenerative neurological condition. In fact, he had been secretly fighting it for seven years. The worldwide response was staggering. Fortunately, he had accepted the diagnosis and by the time the public started grieving for him, he had stopped grieving for himself.

Robin by Dave Itzkoff shows how Robin Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression - topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews - and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.

From the Stone Age to the Greek Tragedies, from Shakespeare to Robin Hood, we have always had our heroes. The hero is at the centre of formative myths in every culture and persists to this day in world-conquering books, films and TV shows. But why do these characters continue to inspire us, and why are they so central to storytelling? Scalpel-sharp on the roots of storytelling and enlightening on the history and science of myth, The Hero is essential listening for anyone trying to write or understand fiction.

Susie Bright, “The Pauline Kael of Porn” (SF Chronicle), rips open the history of erotic cinema before the internet— from the Golden Age of lavish 35mm hardcore, to the video-inspired “Porno Spring”, initiated by none other than punk, feminist, and lesbian video-makers.

"Creepy crawling" was the Manson Family's practice of secretly entering someone's home and, without harming anyone, leaving only a trace of evidence that they had been there, some reminder that the sanctity of the private home had been breached. Now, author Jeffrey Melnick reveals just how much the Family creepy crawled their way through Los Angeles in the sixties and then on through American social, political, and cultural life for close to fifty years, firmly lodging themselves in our minds.

The Art of Is contains breath-of-fresh-air thinking about how to cultivate the kind of game-changing creativity everyone seeks. Stephen Nachmanovitch shows exactly how the passion and immediacy of improvisation can be cultivated and how, in fact, we all improvise all the time - whether we are driving or deep in conversation.

While House is a smart medical drama and Gregory House faces countless ethical quandaries as a doctor, what makes the show unique is that it's much more deeply rooted in psychology than in medicine. At its core, House is a show about the mind and human behavior. Gregory House is a medical genius and a Sherlock Holmesian figure, but he's also a deeply troubled misanthrope. What's going on inside the brain of this beloved, arrogant, cane-waving curmudgeon that is so appealing?

The hilarious trials and tribulations of stand-up comedian Paul Tonkinson as he attempts to beat the much lauded three-hour mark at the London Marathon. With a supporting cast of fellow comedians, this is a warmly written and wonderfully honest adventure-through-sport that will both entertain and inspire. Along the way, we are introduced to the characters helping Paul with his quest. Celebrity names such as Bryony Gordon, Russell Howard, Roisin Conaty and Vassos Alexander pop up with wit and wisdom....

Rose and Rosie are known for their candid and hilarious YouTube videos...but now they are taking oversharing to a whole new level. Discussing sexuality, revealing secrets and empowering others, Overshare is a book packed with Rose and Rosie's unique take on friendships, fame, mental health and LGBT issues. As visibly out members of the LGBT community, they open up about their own experiences, both together and as individuals, and have written this book in the hope that it gives strength to those who have faced similar difficulties.

Imagine waking up one day to discover that you have forgotten everything about your life. Your only link with the past, your only hope for the future, is your identical twin. Now imagine, years later, discovering that your twin had not told you the whole truth about your childhood, your family, and the forces that had shaped you. Why the secrets? Why the silences? You have no choice but to begin again. This has been Alex's reality: a world where memories are just the stories people tell you, where fact and fiction are impossible to distinguish.

The Perfect Story will help you take your stories and make them perfect. Learn how to take any story and make it perfect--from storytelling expert Karen Eber, whose TED Talk on the subject has nearly two million views.

By understanding the psychological forces that drive The Walking Dead's action, fans can better grasp Robert Kirkman's compelling fictional universe. Which characters suffer PTSD, which show the most hope for recovery, and which instead show post-traumatic growth? Has Rick Grimes lost his mind? In 19 chapters from a range of esteemed contributors, The Walking Dead Psychology: Psych of the Living Dead answers these and many other questions.

In 2013, actress, television personality, and Sunday Times best-selling author Lynda Bellingham was diagnosed with cancer. Until now, Lynda hasn't spoken publicly about her illness - she has felt strongly that everyone's experience of cancer is so different, and she wanted to keep what she has been going through personal to her while she came to terms with her life now. But in this memoir, Lynda talks with beautiful poignancy about her life since her diagnosis, her family, and how together they came to terms with a future they hadn't planned.

Performance-studies scholar and acclaimed burlesque artist Lynn Sally offers an inside look at the history, culture, and philosophy of New York’s neo-burlesque scene. Revealing how 21st-century neo-burlesque is in constant dialogue with the classic burlesque of the 19th and 20th centuries, she considers how today’s performers use camp to comment on preconceived notions of femininity. She also explores how the striptease performer directs the audience’s gaze, putting on layers of meaning while taking off layers of clothing.

Back in January 1995 in Los Angeles, California, a Singaporean pornstar named Annabel Chong took cultural rebellion to an extreme, on terms that had never been negotiated before. She was filmed having sex with a long receiving line of men, servicing them 251 times over a ten-hour period to set a new world record: The World’s Biggest Gangbang.

Danny Baker is a national treasure with a well-documented and colourful life. For over a quarter of a century, he has amused and entertained audiences on both radio and television. Beginning his career at the age of 15 in a small record shop in London's West End, Danny went on to become an acclaimed music journalist and started his radio career on BBC GLR in 1989. With a unique take on life and a lot to say, Danny's latest book is full of his trademark warmth, wit and insight.

The study of classic and contemporary films can provide a powerful avenue to understand the experience of mental illness. In Madness at the Movies, James Charney, MD, a practicing psychiatrist and long-time cinephile, examines films that delve deeply into characters’ inner worlds, and he analyzes moments that help define their particular mental illness.

With anecdotes about his clients, guided steps for adopting your new practices, and tips for integrating them into your own daily routine, Skinny Habits has everything you need to shape your body and your life!

This audiobook offers a playbook for living a creative and authentic life. Using her own story as a launching spot, Mia Michaels explores the experience of the unicorn in a world of donkeys, a world where fitting in, pleasing others, following rules, and maintaining norms—no matter how messed up those norms are—is the only acceptable path. She acknowledges the struggles of the unicorn life—loneliness, ridicule, being misunderstood and undervalued—and goes on encourage listeners to reframe the unicorn life the way she has, as essential to a life of brilliance.

Throughout this audiobook's various chapters, listeners will explore the historical context of the Joker's creation, delve into the character's symbolic and iconic qualities, examine the psychological profile of the Joker, and analyze his relation to various philosophical theories such as Carl Jung's trickster and Nietzsche's will to power.