Monday, August 15, 2016

Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup

Andrew Zimbalist
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The numbers are staggering: China spent $40 billion to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and Russia spent $50 billion for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Brazil's total expenditures are thought to have been as much as $20 billion for the World Cup this summer and Qatar, which will be the site of the 2022 World Cup, is estimating that it will spend $200 billion. How did we get here? And is it worth it? Those are among the questions noted sports economist Andrew Zimbalist answers in Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. Both the Olympics and the World Cup are touted as major economic boons for the countries that host them, and the competition is fierce to win hosting rights. Developing countries especially see the events as a chance to stand in the world’s spotlight. Circus Maximus traces the path of the Olympic Games and the World Cup from noble sporting events to exhibits of excess. It exposes the hollowness of the claims made by their private industry boosters and government supporters, all illustrated through a series of case studies ripping open the experiences of Barcelona, Sochi, Rio, and London. Zimbalist finds no net economic gains for the countries that have played host to the Olympics or the World Cup. While the wealthy may profit, those in the middle and lower income brackets do not, and Zimbalist predicts more outbursts of political anger like that seen in Brazil surrounding the 2014 World Cup.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

跋涉:西藏逆旅

馬霍拉斯
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行於西藏,會感受到許多種美,有時一股衝動讓人忍不住拚命喀嚓、喀嚓地按下快門,但每張照片都不足以表達所見所感;有時卻讓人忘了拿起相機,只專注地享受當下。然而為什麼這個雲端上的美麗國度要關起大門拒絕外來者?......

作者花了三個多月時間,從雲南昆明開始,一路騎單車到西藏與尼泊爾的邊界,全程跋涉超過三千公里。由於西藏不允許臺灣人單獨自由行,因此以偷渡加上旅途中朋友的協助,突破約十幾個關卡才得以到達拉薩,過程驚險不在話下。

這段路程也許別人已走過,但作者叛逆地不想隨眾前進 ,而以自己的步調,探索了許多旅人不曾到達過的祕境,並帶著獨特的觀點與視野經歷每一段路途發生的大小事,誠實地表達出西藏之行的感受,對旅行的意義做出了最深刻的思考。


對西藏、對單車旅行有興趣的人,相信都能透過本書獲得極大的鼓舞與啟發。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


Monday, August 8, 2016

The Ultra Mindset: An Endurance Champion's 8 Core Principles for Success in Business, Sports, and Life

Travis Macy with John Hanc
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Travis Macy summited glacial peaks in the French Alps, rappelled into vast limestone caves in China, and ran through parched deserts in Utah. Most famously, he won one of the country's marquee ultra-distance events: Leadman, a high-altitude series of super-long-distance races, culminating with a 100-mile mountain biking race and a 100-mile trail run. Macy accomplished it without exceptional strength, speed, or flexibility, and without high-tech performance labs or performance-enhancing drugs.

His secret? A precise and particular outlook he calls the "Ultra Mindset," principles for daily life that are neither mysterious nor the sole province of ascetics or elite athletes: embrace fear, rewrite stories we tell ourselves, and master the art of seeking help, among others. By applying the principles such as "It's All Good Mental Training," "When you have no choice, anything is possible," and "Never quit...except when you should quit" to other areas of life, anyone can find success that otherwise would have seemed impossible.

Coauthored with award-winning running writer and journalist John Hanc, The Ultra Mindset blends exciting personal memoir with actionable, research-based advice. Dramatic stories of Macy's far-flung experiences in the professional endurance-racing world lead into relevant mindset principles, reflective self-assessments, mind- and body-enhancing workouts and activities, and compelling case studies. Macy's stories keep the pages turning as you forge your own winning outlook for success in business, sports, and life.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

先別急著跑 : 奧運教練教你正確跑步

簡坤鐘 著
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大多數人認為跑步可以減重、訓練體能和促進身體健康,但如果沒有正確的運動觀念與適當的規劃,很可能會在過程中受傷而無法持續下去。跑步和你想的不一樣,不是只要準備一雙運動鞋就可以開始;跑步的同時,必須全面性提升身體機能,身體各部位才能夠負荷跑步的動作,近而創造更佳的體能狀態。本書不只是教導大家如何跑步,更重要的是希望讓讀者透過運動達到全身心健康的目標。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)






Williams, J.: Summon the Heroes

Summon the Heroes is an orchestral composition written for the 1996 Summer Olympics by the American composer John Williams.  


Monday, August 1, 2016

Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination

Anne Allison
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From sushi and karaoke to martial arts and technoware, the currency of made-in-Japan cultural goods has skyrocketed in the global marketplace during the past decade. The globalization of Japanese “cool” is led by youth products: video games, manga (comic books), anime (animation), and cute characters that have fostered kid crazes from Hong Kong to Canada. Examining the crossover traffic between Japan and the United States, Millennial Monsters explores the global popularity of Japanese youth goods today while it questions the make-up of the fantasies and the capitalistic conditions of the play involved. Arguing that part of the appeal of such dream worlds is the polymorphous perversity with which they scramble identity and character, the author traces the postindustrial milieux from which such fantasies have arisen in postwar Japan and been popularly received in the United States.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)


The success of Pokémon and how the United States and the rest of the world went through Pokémonization is featured in Chapter 7: Pokémon: Getting Monsters and Communicating Capitalism, and Chapter 8: "Gotta Catch 'Em All": The Pokémonization of America (and the World).

解碼外國動漫 : 源流·創作·觀念·營銷

宋磊 著
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日本動漫為麼如此“卡哇伊”…... 《口袋妖怪》裡的每種小精靈都可以進化成威力更大的寵物,然而“皮卞丘”卻總是以它最初始、等級最低的姿態出現,這其中的緣由也難逃“卡哇伊”三個字…...

你一定知道在本世紀初迪士尼收購了皮克斯公司,但你不一定知道這樁收購案背後的動因;你一定知道日本動畫導演宮崎駿創作了眾多膾炙人口的動畫電影,但你不一定知道為甚麼他的作品從來不拍攝續集;你一定知道熱血動畫《灌籃高手》讓無數孩子迷戀上了籃球,但你不一定知道為甚麼它的動畫片輒止于全國大賽預選賽,而漫畫中頗為精彩的全國大賽卻遲遲沒有被改編成動畫……讓《解碼外國動漫(源流·創作·觀念·營銷)/動漫創意叢書》告訴你。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)


寵物小精靈對戰圖鑒1(彩色特別版)
online access from SuperStar Digital Library