New Releases by Michael Townsend

Mr. Ball is back in this latest installment of the popular series. Mr. Ball sets out for his best friend''s birthday party with a VERY large cake. Hilarity ensues as he encounters one hiccup after another, and his cake gets increasingly smaller! Will the party be ruined?

Para todos aquellos que se sienten abrumados por las exigencias y ansiedades de la vida cotidiana, Respira ofrece prácticas para fomentar la relajación, la atención y la concentración. Cuando encuentras el equilibrio en la vida, puedes hacer cosas increíbles: crear, subirte a un escenario, liderar un equipo, emprender un negocio, formar una familia. Pero muy a menudo, frente a los cambios, permitimos que el estrés se apodere de nosotros y nos sentimos descentrados. Michael Townsend Williams, expublicista convertido en profesor de yoga y mindfulness, defiende el «buen hacer», abogando por una vida productiva, pero no a costa de nuestra salud y bienestar. ¿Y cuál es la clave para lograr esto? El aliento. Nuestra respiración, que es la conexión directa entre nuestra mente y nuestro cuerpo, refleja aquello con lo que estamos lidiando en cada momento. Nos avisa cuando algo nos sobrepasa. Con sencillos ejercicios de respiración y elementos de yoga, meditación y atención plena, Respira te ayudará a: • Reducir el estrés y aumentar tu bienestar • Mejorar la concentración y la productividad • Cultivar nuevos buenos hábitos y abandonar los malos • Desarrollar el coraje y la resiliencia ¿Estás preparado para respirar mejor? La crítica ha dicho... «Respira es un libro fantástico sobre algo que hacemos 600 millones de veces en la vida, pero en lo que raramente pensamos.» Michael Acton Smith, CEO de Calm «Perfecto para cualquiera que busque aprender a respirar mejor, encontrar la paz y comprender los conceptos básicos de la atención plena.» Lynchpin Media

Aphoristic, quasi-poetic meditation on humor as key to life''s complexities.

Memoir of a life in theatre by Michael Smith, playwright, critic, producer, lighting designer, a key player in the Off-Off-Broadway theatre movement of the 1960s and beyond.

When you get the right balance in life you can do amazing things: create, perform, lead a team, build a great company, raise a family. But so often the scales tip and we feel overwhelmed and stressed. Michael Townsend Williams, an adman turned yoga teacher and mindfulness coach, is an advocate of ''welldoing'' – leading a busy and productive life, but not at the expense of our health and wellbeing. And key to this? Our breath. The crucial link between mind and body, our breath reflects what we''re dealing with at any given moment. It tells us when we''re out of our depth. With simple breathing exercises and elements from yoga, meditation and mindfulness, Do Breathe will help you to: Reduce stress and increase productivity Improve focus and work flow Cultivate new good habits and drop the bad Build courage and resilience Why not breathe yourself better?

As theatre critic for the Village Voice in the 1960s, and as a director and playwright, Michael Smith was a key player in the Off-Off-Broadway movement in New York. Since 1990 he has been active on the West Coast as a playwright, director, lighting designer, and producer. This volume contains eleven of his dramatically varied plays, dating from 1974 to 2010: "The Dinner Show," "Heavy Pockets," "Turnip Family Secrets," "Half Life," "Trouble," "Life Before Death," "Fast Forward," "Dogs Bark All Night," "Bad Dog," "Summer Lightning," and "Hamlet in Love."

Cute kittens, cute puppies, and more! An explosion of cuteness tailor-made for "I Can Has Cheezburger" fans. Janie Jane''s life takes a turn for the cute when she receives an adorable puppy as a birthday present. She and Sir Yips-a-lot do everything together. But before you know it, it''s Janie''s birthday again and she''s got a new, potentially cuter present to unwrap: Lady Meow-meow, "The World''s Cutest Kitty." Wait! Sir Yips-a-lot has always been the cute one in Janie Jane''s life. What if she doesn''t need him anymore? Michael Townsend has crafted a lighthearted romp that will help children--especially those with new siblings--recognize and overcome feelings of jealousy.

Monkey thought Elephant was his best friend. He was even bringing him some surprise cupcakes—and found a party going on that he wasn''t invited to! Elephant thought Monkey was his best friend. He was even planning a surprise wrestling party for him—but then Monkey put all his favorite toys in the freezer! From there the war of revenge is on, and life on their small island is becoming dangerous! Until the townsfolk find a creative way to make Monkey and Elephant talk out their problems (cement shoes, a boat, and a chisel are involved . . .). Happily, Monkey and Elephant realize their fight was based on a misundersanding. But if only they had talked sooner, innocent teddies wouldn''t need defrosting. This is a laugh-out-loud comedy of a book with the helpful message that "using your words" is infinitely better than, say, painting a mean face on their butt.

John P. Dodd, the light man at the legendary Caffe Cino in Greenwich Village in the early sixties, assisted at the birth of Off-Off-Broadway and collaborated with key figures in New York''s downtown world of theatre and dance. This book, illustrated with rare period photographs, recounts Dodd''s colorful life and career from the unique perspective of playwright and director Michael Smith, drama critic of The Village Voice and his intimate companion in that transformative decade. Smith''s personal narrative, thoughtful recollections by friends and colleagues, and Dodd''s own words attest to his originality and unusual force of character. A year-by-year record of his wide-ranging work as a lighting designer confirms the importance of his theatrical art.

These mostly poem-like artifacts were published as they were written at http://michaeltownsendsmith.blogspot.com. A log of course is a record of a journey-in a ship''s log, location, weather, and daily events. The macrotext of this weblog tracks seasons, moods, happenings, and the national temper; but its real concern is less with external circumstances and more with inner action. The writer''s minimalist, allusive diction skips the mechanics of language and attempts to project mental movement directly, the sense arising with the words.

While preparing for his move, Kit Feeny recalls all the special and crazy things he and his best friend did together and suddenly starts to worry about what is to come when his friend is no longer in his life. Simultaneous.

This dissertation examines the development of digital network infrastructure in the world''s great cities at the turn of the 20th century. Drawing upon the concept of cities as information systems and techniques of communications geography, it analyzes how the physical components of digital networks were deployed in major urban areas during the 1990s. It finds that historical processes and pre-existing differences between places shaped the evolution of this infrastructure at multiple spatial scales; global, metropolitan, and neighborhood. As a result, rather than bringing about the "death of distance", digital network infrastructure actually reinforced many of the pre-existing differences between connected and disconnected places. With the telecom bust of 2000-2002, these differences were likely to persist for a decade or more. Yet just as the development of wired digital network infrastructure slowed, wireless technologies emerged as a more flexible, intuitive, and efficient form of connecting users to networks in everyday urban settings. As a result, an untethered model for digital networks emerged which combining the capacity and security of wired networks over long distances with the flexibility and mobility of wireless networks over short distances. This new hybrid infrastructure provided the technology needed to begin widespread experimentation with the creation of digitally mediated spaces, such as New York City''s Bryant Park Wireless Network.