According to the cliche, California is the place where anything goes and everyone does their own thing. Maybe that's because everyone knows that in California there's no terra firma: earthquakes, mudslides, fires, and the occasional civil uprising cause constant upheaval and change. It is also legendary as fertile ground for creativity, freedom, and social consciousness, where the status quo undergoes constant renovation. This book is the first to capture the enormous body of distinctive and visually ecstatic graphic design that emanated from this great state throughout most of the twentieth century. Edited and designed by graphic designer Louise Sandhaus, this raucous gathering of smart, offbeat, groundbreaking graphic design from the Left Coast will amaze readers with its breadth and richness.

Tune into the news today, and one would think that human beings were at risk of being wiped from the face of the earth—by tsunamis, earthquakes, swine flu, or terrorism. One could be forgiven for thinking that we are in far more danger today than ever before. The fact of the matter is that danger has always stalked mankind. From ancient volcanoes and floods to the cholera and small pox, to Hitler and Stalin's genocidal murders during the twentieth century, our continued existence has always seemed perilous. Now, out of our horror comes an entertaining and epic journal through the history of disaster. Disaster! offers perspective on today's fears by revealing how dangerous our world has always been. Natural disasters and man-made catastrophes mark every era. Here is the Black Death that killed seventy-five million in Europe and Asia during the 1300s; the 1883 volcanic eruption on Krakatoa; the Irish potato famine of the mid-nineteenth century; the Nazi Holocaust; the 1970 storm in Bangladesh, now considered the deadliest in history; and more. Train crashes, air disasters, and shipwrecks litter human history. Sure to scare, inform, and entertain, Disaster! is a book of serious history that is as much fun as any horror film.

The Apocalypse could arrive at any moment, but with Surviving the Apocalypse, you'll be well-prepared and well-trained enough to survive any disaster—even the end of the world as we know it. Being prepared for what’s out there is important—you have to know what to do when everything falls apart. Knowing how to survive the end of the world as we know it will prepare you for anything and everything that could possibly go wrong. From packing the proper survival kit, to surviving on the battlefield, being physically fit, and coping in the event of a socio-economic collapse, Soldier of Fortune magazine, along with N. E. MacDougald, will make sure that you’re never caught off-guard in any situation, from natural and economic disasters to pandemics and civil unrest—even nuclear war. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with real-world, practical information that will help them to not only survive, but thrive during a period that is likely not just another downturn in the economic cycle, but according the many experts, instead the beginning of a long downward slide, and possibly the very peak in our 10,000-year experiment of civilization. While you may not plan on being in a war zone, you never know what will happen, so the best thing to always do is be prepared. Whether it's learning how to barter and haggle, how to get the proper camouflage, or how to choose the right weapon for any situation, MacDougald and Surviving the Apocalypse will give you the training and knowledge that goes into surviving any and every dangerous situation imaginable.

From one of our most astute contemporary writers, Amy Wilentz, comes an irreverent, inventive portrait of the state of California and its unlikely governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The prizewinning author, a lifelong easterner and an outsider in the West, takes the reader on a picaresque journey from exclusive Hollywood soirees to a fantasy city in the Mojave desert, from the La Brea Tar Pits to celebrity-besotted Sacramento, from the tents of Skid Row to surf-drunk Malibu, from a snowbird retreat near Mexico to the hippie preserve of tide-beaten Big Sur, along the way offering up sharp observations on politics, fund-raising, the water supply, the Beach Boys, earthquake preparedness, home economics, catastrophism, movie-star politicians, political movie stars, Charlie Manson, and location scouts who want to rent your house in order to make television commercials for bathroom wall cleansers or Swedish banks. Wilentz moved to Los Angeles from a Manhattan wounded by September 11, only to discover a paradise marred by fire, flood, and mudslides. In what seemed like a joke to her, a Democratic governor nicknamed Gumby was about to be ousted by an Austrian muscleman in a bizarre election promoted by a millionaire whose business was car alarms. Intrigued, she set out to find the essence of the quirky, trailblazing state. During her travels, she spots celebrities but can't quite place them, drops in on famous salons with habitués like Warren Beatty and Arianna Huffington, and visits the neglected office of one very special 9,000-year-old woman. Plunging into the traffic of California, Wilentz noodles out meaning in some of the least likely of places; she sees the political in the personal and the personal in the political. By now an expert on tremors real and imagined, she offers readers on both coasts insights into where California stands today, and America as well.

Thoughtful, provocative, and playful, Boom: A Journal of California aims to create a lively conversation about the vital social, cultural, and political issues of our times, in California and the world beyond.

Learn to prep your home and family to survive sudden catastrophe—from floods and fires to pandemics and terror attacks—with this practical guide. Cataclysmic events strike sleepy towns and major cities every year. Ordinary residents suddenly find themselves in scenarios where they must evacuate immediately or perishing in rising waters, raging fires, or other life-threatening conditions. Being prepared makes the difference between survival and disaster. Guiding you step by step, Bug Out tells you how to be ready at a second's notice: · Create an escape plan for where to go and how to get there · Pack the perfect bug-out bag for the first 72 hours · Find food, water, and other necessities outside of civilization Bug Out also includes detailed information on the best escape locations everywhere in the U.S., from the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to the Rocky Mountains, the Desert Southwest, the Heartland, the Gulf Coast, the Appalachians, and the Lakes and Big Woods of the North.

This book charts contemporary illustration's rich history: from the rampant idealism of the 1960s to the bleak realism of the 1970s, and from the over-blown consumerism of the 1980s to the digital explosion of the 1990s, followed by the increasing diversification of illustration in the early twenty-first century. The book explores the contexts in which the discipline has operated and looks historically, sociologically, politically, and culturally at the key factors at play across each decade, while artworks by key illustrators bring the decade to life. Contemporary illustration's impact and influence on design and popular culture are investigated through introductory essays and profiles of leading practitioners, illustrated with examples of the finest work.