Triple Entendre discusses the rise and spread of background music in contexts as diverse as office workplaces, shopping malls, and musical performance. Hervé Vanel examines background music in several guises, beginning with Erik Satie's "Furniture Music" of the late 1910s and early 1920s, which first demonstrated the idea of a music not meant to be listened to and was later considered a precedent to modern, functional background music. Vanel argues that when the Muzak Corporation's commercialized ambient music became a predominant feature of modern life in the 1940s--both as a brand and a genre of background music--it also became a powerful instrument of social engineering in an advanced capitalist society. Different kinds of music were developed to encourage or incite greater productivity in the workplace, more energetic shopping, or more animated socializing. Vanel's discussion culminates in the creative response of the composer John Cage to the pervasiveness and power of background music in contemporary society. Cage neither opposed nor rejected Muzak, but literally answered its challenge by formulating a parallel concept that he called "Muzak-Plus." Forty years after Satie presented his work to general critical puzzlement, Cage saw how background music could be combined with mid-century technology and theories of art and performance to create a participatory soundscape on a scale that Satie could not have envisioned, again reconfiguring the listener's stance to music. By examining the subterranean connections existing between these three formulations of a singular idea, Triple Entendre analyzes and challenges the crucial boundary that separates an artistic concept from its actual implementation in life.

As they continue their quest for the gems that will hopefully save their world, Twig and Splat run afoul of the Trappers, a deadly group of hunters with nothing good on their minds. And the Trappers are not the only menace waiting for them along their way! Part three of the new limited series from Eisner Award-winning writer SKOTTIE YOUNG (I HATE FAIRYLAND, MIDDLEWEST) and artist KYLE STRAHM (SPREAD, UNEARTH) brings the peril and keeps the adventure moving for our hapless heroes.

This volume argues against Gérard Genette’s theory that there is an “insurmountable opposition” between drama and narrative and shows that the two forms of storytelling have been productively intertwined throughout literary history. Building on the idea that plays often incorporate elements from other genres, especially narrative ones, the present study theorises drama as a fundamentally narrative genre. Guided by the question of how drama tells stories, the first part of the study delineates the general characteristics of dramatic narration and zooms in on the use of narrative forms in drama. The second part proposes a history of dramatic storytelling from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century that transcends conventional genre boundaries. Close readings of exemplary British plays provide an overview of the dominant narrative modes in each period and point to their impact in the broader cultural and historical context of the plays. Finally, the volume argues that throughout history, highly narrative plays have had a performative power that reached well beyond the stage: dramatic storytelling not only reflects socio-political realities, but also largely shapes them.

This book, MTConnect: To Measure Is To Know, answers the question, "how and why a royalty-free and open source standard is revolutionizing the business and technology of manufacturing." This is the world's first book on MTConnect and open systems. This book is not just about MTConnect, but it is first a book that discusses the many lessons learned in the world of open systems. Dave Edstrom has spent 35 years in the computer industry, where he worked at such companies as Sun Microsytems for over 23 years. Dave helps the reader understand that MTConnect is not an evolution in manufacturing, but it is a revolution and a true game changer. MTConnect is making possible the dreams and desires of generations of manufacturers, machine tool builders and manufacturing equipment providers who all want to see the same goal of different devices having a common connection on the plant floor. Learn how and why the lessons of open systems are being applied to manufacturing and changing the business and technology of manufacturing with MTConnect. It is available at Amazon in paperback and in Kindle format, at Google Play aka Android as well as on iTunes at Apple.

Eisner Award-winning I HATE FAIRYLAND and MIDDLEWEST writer SKOTTIE YOUNG and artist KYLE STRAHM (SPREAD, UNEARTH) come together for an all-new epic fantasy/adventure miniseries! It’s the first day of Twig’s new job as a journeyer on a JEFF SMITH’s Bone-esque quest to save a The Dark Crystal/Labyrinth-style world. Join our hesitant hero for an inspiring and imaginative tale of hope, heartache, and determination to overcome insurmountable odds!

The death of the Pathsayer sends Twig and Splat on a journey to a mysterious lab, where a premonition sheds dark light on further dangers to come. Join Eisner Award-winning writer SKOTTIE YOUNG (I HATE FAIRYLAND, MIDDLEWEST) and artist KYLE STRAHM (SPREAD, UNEARTH) as they bring us deeper into this unique dark-fantasy world.