Building Magic

This book redresses popular interpretations of concealed objects, enigmatically discovered within the fabric of post-medieval buildings. A wide variety of objects have been found up chimneybreasts, bricked up in walls, and concealed within recesses: old shoes, mummified cats, horse skulls, pierced hearts, to name only some. The most common approach to these finds is to apply a one-size-fits-all analysis and label them survivals and apotropaic (evil-averting) devices. This book reconsiders such interpretations, exploring the invention and reinvention of traditions regarding building magic. The title Building Magic therefore refers to more than practices that alter the fabric of buildings, but also to processes of building magic into our interpretations of the enigmatic material evidence and into our engagements with the buildings we inhabit and frequent.

“It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic.” The secret for creating “magic” in our careers, our organizations, and our lives is simple: outstanding leadership—the kind that inspires employees, delights customers, and achieves extraordinary business results. No one knows more about this kind of leadership than Lee Cockerell, the man who ran Walt Disney World® Resort operations for over a decade. And in Creating Magic, he shares the leadership principles that not only guided his own journey from a poor farm boy in Oklahoma to the head of operations for a multibillion dollar enterprise, but that also soon came to form the cultural bedrock of the world’s number one vacation destination. But as Lee demonstrates, great leadership isn’t about mastering impossibly complex management theories. We can all become outstanding leaders by following the ten practical, common sense strategies outlined in this remarkable book. As straightforward as they are profound, these leadership lessons include: Everyone is important. Make your people your brand. Burn the free fuel: appreciation, recognition, and encouragement. Give people a purpose, not just a job. Combining surprising business wisdom with insightful and entertaining stories from Lee’s four decades on the front lines of some of the world’s best-run companies, Creating Magic shows all of us – from small business owners to managers at every level – how to become better leaders by infusing quality, character, courage, enthusiasm, and integrity into our workplace and into our lives.

When this book first came to my mind it came as a history and theory of the building of Magic Cities on tables, with bricks and toys and little things such as a child may find and use. But as I kept the thought by me it grew and changed, as thoughts will do, until at last it took shape as an attempt to contribute something, however small and unworthy, to the science of building a magic city in the soul of a child, a city built of all things pure and fine and beautiful. As you read, it will, I hope, seem to you that something of what I say is true—in much, no doubt, it will seem to you that I am mistaken; but however you may disagree with me, you will, I trust, at least have faith in the honesty of my purpose. If I seem to you to be too dogmatic, to lay down the law too much as though I were the teacher and you the learner, I beg you to believe that it is in no such spirit that I have written. Rather it is as though you and I, spending a quiet evening[viii] by your fire, talked together of the things that matter, and as though I laid before you all the things that were in my heart—not stopping at every turn to say "Do you not think so too?" and "I hope you agree with me?" but telling you, straight from the heart, what I have felt and thought and, I humbly say, known about children and the needs of children. I have talked to you as to a friend, without the reservations and apologies which we use with strangers. And if, in anything, I shall have offended you, I entreat you to extend to me the forgiveness and the forbearance which you would exercise towards a friend who had offended you, not meaning to offend, and to believe that I have spoken to you as frankly and plainly as I would wish you to speak to me, were you the writer and I the reader. E. Nesbit.

"Stunningly good. Stupefyingly good." —Patrick Rothfuss Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence chronicles the epic struggle to build a just society in a modern fantasy world. A god has died, and it's up to Tara, first-year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao, to bring Him back to life before His city falls apart. Her client is Kos, recently deceased fire god of the city of Alt Coulumb. Without Him, the metropolis's steam generators will shut down, its trains will cease running, and its four million citizens will riot. Tara's job: resurrect Kos before chaos sets in. Her only help: Abelard, a chain-smoking priest of the dead god, who's having an understandable crisis of faith. When Tara and Abelard discover that Kos was murdered, they have to make a case in Alt Coulumb's courts?and their quest for the truth endangers their partnership, their lives, and Alt Coulumb's slim hope of survival. Set in a phenomenally built world in which lawyers ride lightning bolts, souls are currency, and cities are powered by the remains of fallen gods, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence introduces readers to a modern fantasy landscape and an epic struggle to build a just society. For more from Max Gladstone, check out: The Craft Sequence Three Parts Dead Two Serpents Rise Full Fathom Five Last First Snow Four Roads Cross At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Three experts from the worlds of magic and business strategy share the secrets to conjuring innovation and shattering expectations. Your organization may employ hundreds, even thousands. You may be experiencing growth and hitting your revenue targets. But unless you are creating magic for your customers—like Disney, Apple, and Amazon—you are not the innovation leader you need to be in today’s marketplace. In Creating Business Magic, a corporate strategist, a former acting CIA director, and a world-renowned magician share their secrets to success. Each chapter opens with a legendary magic act—from Harry Houdini to Pen and Teller—and explores how the same principles and techniques can be deployed to create a fertile environment for disruptive innovation and propel a company light years ahead of the competition. "The authors illuminate the power of perception, ways to innovate, to think out of the box, break down conceptual barriers, and finally bring out the magician inside all of us.” —from the introduction by David Copperfied

Written to help fantasy and science fiction storytellers, game designers, gamers, and hobbyists, Cultures and Beyond (The Art of World Building, #3) is a how-to guide for filling an imaginary world with fascinating societies. It includes chapters on creating cultures, calendars, monetary systems, military groups, religions, the supernatural, systems of magic, magic items, names, and more. You'll also learn how to leverage real world cultures while making them seem original. Even those who've never invented a world will soon be masters as the authors decades of experience walk you through using pre-made templates that make world building faster, better, and easier to complete.Understand how to use analogues to quickly build unique societies based on Earth. Invent interesting crimes and punishments that involve imaginary creatures or technologies. Create currencies for different places while keeping them easy for your audience to fathom. Master the art of creating naming styles for different societies. Fashion new military groups in gritty detail. Dream up sensible rules for magic, its practitioners, the supernatural and what happens when things go wrong. Learn what kind of files you'll need to create, how to organize them, and get jump started with the free templates you'll use again and again.Cultures and Beyond is the third volume in The Art of World Building, the only multi-volume series of its kind. Readers will learn how much world building to do for each scenario they encounter and whether the effort will be rewarding for them and their audience.

Do you want to learn the strategies for winning tournaments? Are you worried about your lacking knowledge that gets in your way of deck building? Do you need some advice? Are you ready now to master the rules of the game? Are you tired of banging your head against a wall? If you keep playing poor strategies, do you think you will master the game? Is this working for you? Magic The Gathering: 3 Manuscripts - Rules and Getting Started, Strategy Guide, Deck Building For Beginners shows you everything you need to get started. This includes an overview of types of players and a look at types of decks for winning. This is a book of action and doesn't just tell you to try harder. This book will get you moving in the right direction. Packed full of real-life examples for players like you, this book has proven techniques of that have worked for thousands of people. These methods are backed up countless games played, all which will arm you with a mindset primed for deck building with winning in mind. Easy-to-follow examples and sample cards that will release your potential. What happens if you ignore your poor strategies? * Learn what makes a player win. * Why should you care about your understanding what kind of player you are? * What cards will help you start winning * The consequences of ignoring your current strategy How will you learn to be free from bad habits and poor strategies? * Learn what makes a player win. * Why should you care about your understanding what kind of player you are? * What cards will help you start winning * The consequences of ignoring your current strategy What happens when you don't let life pass you by? * Never wonder "what if" you could have had a winning strategy! * Wake up every day with high energy and desire to beat even the toughest opponents * Inspire yourself and others to learn this amazing game. * Feel comfortable with your gameplay and strategies with your awesome deck. Find out how to let go of your flimsy strategies and take flight towards mastering Magic the Gathering, period. Become the master and show them what you have! Try Magic The Gathering: 3 Manuscripts - Rules and Getting Started, Strategy Guide, Deck Building For Beginners today by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top right of this page! P.S. You'll be able to notice a jump in your winning within 24 hours.