New Releases by Brendan James

Profiles the top 50 golf courses in Australia. Welcome to every golfer''s ''must play'' list. Great Golf Courses Australia nominates the top locations down under. Features a range of unique locations, from the major metropolitan courses to stunningly diverse locations such as King Island, Kalgoorlie and Port Fairy. It''s a best of the best list of astonishingly beautiful and challenging locations for enthusiasts. The line-up was compiled by long-time Golf Australia editor Brendan James. For each course covered there is information on the standout holes, history and features. The stunning colour images, many captured by drone, will inspire golfers to start planning their next trip.

Nocturnes is a contrubution to dramatic poetry that explores grief in the dreamworld in search of consolation..

Brendan James Murray has been a high school teacher for more than ten years. In that time he has seen hundreds of kids move through the same hallways and classrooms - boisterous, angry, shy, big-hearted, awkward - all of them on the journey to adulthood. In The School, he paints an astonishingly vivid portrait of a single school year, perfectly capturing the highs and lows of being a teenager, as well as the fire, passion and occasional heartbreak of being their teacher. Hilarious, heartfelt and true, it is a timeless story of a teacher and his classes, a must-read for any parent, and a tribute to the art of teaching. -- Publisher''s website.

Missing data is a common problem for researchers. Before one can determine the best method to be used in handling missing data, one must first examine why the data is missing. That is, one must identify the missingness mechanism. Failure to discern an ignorable from a nonignorable missingness mechanism can greatly influence parameter estimates, standard errors and create other biases in statistical analyses. This study examined the efficiency and accuracy of a MNAR multivariate imputation by chained equations framework (miceMNAR) model proposed by Galimard et al. (2016). By applying their method to a real dataset (2018 National Survey of Children''s Health) the efficacy of the miceMNAR model was examined. Imputations and parameter estimates using the miceMNAR method were compared to more commonly used methods for handling missing data: complete case analysis and multivariate imputation using chained equations (MICE). Overall, the miceMNAR approach provided very large standard error estimates compared to both complete case analysis and MICE and demonstrated difficulty in providing accurate parameter estimates under MNAR conditions. Further research is recommended on the miceMNAR method before applying it to real data with potential MNAR mechanisms. The results from this study will help inform researchers on potential best practices for dealing with missing data when the mechanism is unknown.

Mischievous Freddie Butler is a bit of a handful, who likes nothing more than to cause disruption at school - much to the annoyance of his teacher, Miss Brushforth. Being the apple of his bumper car operator father''s eye means the only person who is able to keep Freddie on the straight and narrow is his long-suffering mother, whose only recourse is to threaten a temporary ban of his train spotting hobby.Freddie''s dream is to drive one of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway steam locomotives when he grows up, but the occasional trip in the meantime would suit the eight-year-old down to the ground. But occasional trips cost money, and money doesn''t grow on Butler trees. When the Bradshaw twins move to the village, Freddie sees an opportunity to capitalise on their naivety and ride his beloved train all the way from Dymchurch to the end of the line at Dungeness. He devises a plan. But will the five-year-old twins be persuaded to travel with him?

Cabin 6444 is a one-act play for 4 actors. It tells the story of two strangers on an overnight ferry from England to Spain who spark up a conversation which leads to one plotting to blackmail the other by using his own stepdaughter as bait without her knowledge.

Instant New York Times bestseller “Howard Zinn on acid or some bullsh*t like that.” —Tim Heidecker The creators of the cult-hit podcast Chapo Trap House deliver a manifesto for everyone who feels orphaned and alienated—politically, culturally, and economically—by the lanyard-wearing Wall Street centrism of the left and the lizard-brained atavism of the right: there is a better way, the Chapo Way. In a guide that reads like “a weirder, smarter, and deliciously meaner version of The Daily Show’s 2004 America (The Book)” (Paste), Chapo Trap House shows you that you don’t have to side with either sinking ships. These self-described “assholes from the internet” offer a fully ironic ideology for all who feel politically hopeless and prefer broadsides and tirades to reasoned debate. Learn the “secret” history of the world, politics, media, and everything in-between that THEY don’t want you to know and chart a course from our wretched present to a utopian future where one can post in the morning, game in the afternoon, and podcast after dinner without ever becoming a poster, gamer, or podcaster. A book that’s “as intellectually serious and analytically original as it is irreverent and funny” (Glenn Greenwald, New York Times bestselling author of No Place to Hide) The Chapo Guide to Revolution features illustrated taxonomies of contemporary liberal and conservative characters, biographies of important thought leaders, “never before seen” drafts of Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom manga, and the ten new laws that govern Chapo Year Zero (everyone gets a dog, billionaires are turned into Soylent, and logic is outlawed). If you’re a fan of sacred cows, prisoners being taken, and holds being barred, then this book is NOT for you. However, if you feel disenfranchised from the political and cultural nightmare we’re in, then Chapo, let’s go…

A widower struggling to come to terms with the passing of his beloved spouse is confronted with a serious dilemma when a handwritten letter containing sensitive information about his late wife arrives out of the blue. A full-length play for 5 actors.

Poetry and Stuff Like That is an eclectic collection of light-hearted and hard-hitting poems, a song requesting a change to the English national anthem, a comedic monologue set in a shower and an account of a Spanish tradition involving the slaughter of two pigs. Each piece is preceded by an introduction providing insight into the original idea.

The texts that the protagonists produce of themselves are figured as their very flesh transubstantiated, and as nothing other than the poetic works that we are reading. These metaphysical dimensions of the fiction make forceful statements about the power of the artistic act, and especially its potential to reclaim and restore the self in a gesture of political defiance. By establishing a distinct set of images, themes, and techniques shared by the authors, along with a conceptual framework in which to discuss them, this dissertation responds to a scholarly need, until now not substantively articulated, to place Mandel’shtam’s and Nabokov’s creative projects into dialogue. As much as it invites a parallel gaze, however, the study equally contributes daring new chapters to each author’s existing body of scholarship and opens fields of inquiry that demand continued critical attention.

In recent years scholars have discussed the role of communication in the Roman political system. These studies have focused mostly on major public events like votes and contiones. This study will add to that discussion by looking at word-of-mouth communication. Rome’s political elite formed information networks to spread news and took great care that their public events like contiones and ludi were well attended and made news. Rome’s non-elite lived in a thriving city that encouraged the movement of people and information. Using theories taken from communications studies, sociology and the spatial turn of archeology, this study will examine the way information was spread after public events. The Roman elite relied on word-of-mouth to ensure that their reputations grew and their agendas received public support. They took great care to ensure that their public events would become news by encouraging favorable audiences to share accounts of the events with their peers. Sharing news, therefore, would have been an integral way from Romans to participate in politics.

In the early years of the twentieth century, an awareness was growing among European Australians of an unexpected threat, one that seemed the very embodiment of the dark, ominous power of the Australian bush. To the Indigenous people of the Guugu Yimithirr nation, it was nguman; to the whites it was the taipan, an eight foot, lightning fast venomous snake whose bite meant certain death. Venom is an examination of European settlers'' troubled and often antagonistic relationship with the land, seen through the lens of the desperate scramble for an antivenom, and highlighted by the story of George Rosendale, a taipan bite victim of the Guugu Yimithirr nation.

A dozen poems, a song, a monologue and a short story - all preceded by an introduction explaining the inspiration behind them. A light-hearted look at poetry which takes away the pain and frustration of understanding the author''s message

Mysterious intruders infiltrating the mind of every individual on the planet in order to monitor for potential threats to a civilisation beyond mankind''s reach is the stuff of science fiction movies, isn''t it? For BBC researcher Andy Crawford, however, a reoccurrence of disturbing dreams confirms unequivocally that unwarranted intrusions from an enigmatic entity are only too real. Inevitably, communication is firmly established between both parties and our protagonist is profoundly shocked to learn of the monumental task he has been instructed to fulfil. His initial reaction is to reject it out of hand, but he eventually finds himself confronted by an impossible dilemma which requires a great deal of rational thought. With his marriage crumbling around him and his professional life in jeopardy, the question is whether or not his personal problems will affect his decision making. Even though it is morally wrong, will he ultimately be persuaded to complete the assignment that he has been given?

Understanding what factors affect the origins, maintenance, and evolutionary and behavioral dynamics of cultural transmission is essential to build a comprehensive picture of cultural transmission in any species. To address all of these aspects, more ecologically valid studies in the wild are needed to complement both captive studies and the wealth of extant theoretical models. However, field data are difficult to collect, interpret, and analyze, as cultural transmission is a dynamic process affected by myriad factors. In this dissertation I present my efforts to address these challenges in white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus capucinus. In Chapter 1, I discuss what factors affect the origins of cultural traits by evaluating what individual-level factors predict propensity to innovate. I find that predictors of individual annual innovation rate differ across behavioral domains. Older, more sociable individuals invent more forms of social interactions. Younger capuchins invent more foraging, investigative, and self-directed behaviors. Chapter 2 documents one means through which extractive foraging traditions are culturally transmitted via an experimental introduction of Sterculia apetala fruits to a group of wild capuchins. I develop and present a dynamical, hierarchical Bayesian statistical approach to estimate individual heterogeneity in social learning strategies and its contribution to group-level cultural dynamics. Pay-off biased learning is shown to best predict the transmission of S. apetala processing behaviors. I provide evidence that multiple learning strategies might be jointly employed. I also find substantial variation in individual learning strategies that is patterned by age. Younger individuals are more influenced by both social information and their own individual experience. This suggests that aggregate cultural dynamics depend upon the variation in learning strategies and the age structure of wild populations. In chapter 3, I discuss equifinality- the idea that steady states in a cultural system can be reached via multiple mechanisms from multiple initial states. I suggest methodological ways to anticipate and address instances of equifinality, and discuss how the inability to attribute cultural dynamics to a single driving factor is not a bug– but an inescapable and potentially informative feature of cultural systems.

The importance of sustainable financial management of water and wastewater pipeline infrastructure has grown in recent years due to the increasing backlog of maintenance, renewal and replacement of aging water and wastewater infrastructure. As the water and wastewater infrastructure age, the condition of the water and wastewater infrastructure will continue to deteriorate increasing the cost for renewal and replacement. In response to the aging and deteriorating potable water and wastewater infrastructure Public Sector Accounting Board PS3150 and Regulation 453/07 under the Ontario Safe Drinking Water Act were established. PS3150 requires local governments to report their tangible capital assets along with their depreciation on financial statements. One key component of this reporting is determining the need for and cost of the replacement of these assets. Ontario Regulation 453/07 requires public utilities to prepare and submit long term financial plans for water systems. One key principle of the financial plans is that the expenses of operating water systems should be paid by revenues generated from providing the water systems. A crucial aspect of PS3150, Ontario regulation 453/07 and the financial management of water and wastewater infrastructure are accurate estimates of future capital works construction prices. Historically, construction indices are used to forecast construction prices. Engineering New Record (ENR) Construction Cost Index (CCI), Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) composite National Highway Construction Cost Index (NHCCI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) have been used to estimate future construction prices of water and wastewater infrastructure in Canada. However, these indices do not accurately represent the circumstance of the water and wastewater infrastructure construction sector, which can lead to errors and inaccuracies in construction price forecasts. It is recommended sector specific construction indices be used to forecast construction prices. However, there are few construction indices available for the water and wastewater infrastructure sector and available indices are not based on actual construction data. This thesis presents a methodology to accurately estimate future construction prices for water and wastewater pipeline capital works based on actual construction price data. The methodology contains three components: construction data processing, development of unit price indices for watermain and sanitary sewer construction, and estimation of inflation in watermain and sanitary sewer construction. The data processing component cleans and transforms actual construction price data from the City of Niagara Falls from 1981 to 2014 into a centralized, organized and auditable construction price dataset. Based on the construction price dataset, unit price indices specific to the watermain and sanitary sewer construction sector were developed. Unit price indices were developed and calculated for watermain projects, pipes, valves, and hydrants, and sanitary sewer projects, pipes, and maintenance holes. Geometric Brownian Motion was used to estimate inflation in and forecast future construction prices for watermain and sanitary sewer capital works construction based on the developed unit price indices. A Microsoft Access relational database containing the data processing function, calculation of watermain and sanitary sewer unit price indices, and estimation of inflation was developed to improve the accuracy, efficiency and consistency of the methodology. Additionally, the methodology allows contractor markup in watermain and sanitary sewer construction and factors influencing watermain and sanitary sewer unit price indices to be examined. The inflation of watermain reference project construction is 5.79% per annum from 1982-2014, while the inflation of sanitary sewer reference project capital works construction is 4.66% per annum from 1981-2014. The inflation rates of watermain pipe, valve and hydrant construction from 1982-2014 are 6.36%, 5.09%, and 2.81% per annum, respectively. The inflation rates of sanitary sewer pipe and maintenance hole construction from 1981-2014 are 7.41% and 5.25% per annum, respectively. Inflation of watermain and sanitary sewer reference projects is above inflation of CPI, NRBCPI and LDCCT at 2.25%, 3.17% and 3.77% per annum, respectively, but below inflation of S&P/TSX composite index at 6.90% per annum. This indicates when forecasting future prices within a construction sector, the use of a proxy index will result in inaccurate estimates of future construction prices. In the water and wastewater pipeline construction sector the use of CPI, NRBCPI or LDCCT will result in significant underestimation of future construction prices. To obtain accurate estimates of future construction prices it is important to use sector specific indices which the developed unit price indices represent for the water and wastewater pipeline construction sector. In this thesis contractor markup is defined as a financial premium in excess of market inflation in the form of a per annum interest rate surcharge. Contractor markup includes risk premiums, overhead and profit. The contractor markups for watermain and sanitary sewer projects are 3.54% and 2.41%, respectively. As the number of tender bids submitted for a project increase, the unit price of reference projects generally decreases. This is caused by an increase in the competition among contractors resulting in a decrease in the unit prices of the reference projects as bidders attempt to win the project. The Infrastructure Stimulus Fund increased the total number of projects and the total value of projects in 2009 and 2010 but did not significantly alter the watermain and sanitary sewer unit price indices.

A collection of favorite photographs and lyrics from Singer-Songwriter Brendan James taken throughout the course of his musical career.

A chance encounter in a fish-''n''-chip shop set Brendan Murray on the trail of a mystery. Had a gay man been secretly murdered on HMAS Australia during the Second World War? The veteran he spoke to was certain. ''I knew about it,'' he said. ''We all did.'' But was the story true? If so, who was the dead man? And why was it so hard to find out? The Drowned Man is a search for the answer, almost stymied by cover-up and silence. In the end, it brings us to the lies that have shrouded our understanding of war, and especially of war at sea. As one of the survivors poignantly says, ''I want to pass it on to the next generation. What it was like. What it was really like.'' This is a spellbinding story told by a powerful new Australian voice. Uncovers the possibility of a murder that has never before come to light. Offers a completely new perspective on Australian military history. Takes an unwavering look at the horrors of war, which act to contextualise the murders by way of the violent indifference of the time. Reveals a great deal not only about Australia in the 1940s, but also Australia today; hate crimes like these continue, alongside more general discrimination in the navy and elsewhere. For people who love Australian history, true crime and naval stories Captures the reality of war on board the HMAS Australia in World War II.

This book describes several enlightening and heartwarming occurrences experienced by young Ned Bradford one Christmas Eve, as well as some of the life changing results for the people involved.