Portfolio 2 Columns

The Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, was a philosopher, mendicant, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader who lived in Ancient India. He is revered as the founder of Buddhism. He taught for around forty five years and built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on his insight into suffering and the end of such – the state called Nirvana. Prince Gautama was born into an aristocratic family but eventually joined the renounced order of life. After several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to understand the workings of the cycle of rebirth and how it can be escaped. The Buddha then traveled widely teaching. He taught the middle way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism. He taught a training of the mind that included self-restraint, and meditative practices such as mindfulness. The Buddha also critiqued the practices of Brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice. Here is the illumined heart of his divine timeless teachings.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving, both appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. Irving made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death, at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York. 

House of the Vampire is a Gothic 1907 novella. It is a very unusual and compelling vampire story. An ambitious young writer comes under the powerful influence of a mysterious older master, who seems to have left a trail of ruined proteges in his wake. The story is as much about the nature of artistic creation as it is a chilling and unlikely vampire tale. Guaranteed to chill the blood and frighten the soul! An audio book must for all Gothic horror fans!

Ginger Baker is, without question, the foremost drummer of his generation, having formed supergroups Cream and Blind Faith. In the early 1990s, Geoffrey Giuliano received a call from Baker asking if he would be interested in writing his autobiography. From there, a turbulent yet fruitful relationship ensued between the two. While the book they wrote has yet to be published, here, at last, are the exclusive, in-depth, upfront, and highly personal conversations the two unlikely friends recorded in a Western New York studio all those years ago. Ginger speaks his mind, holding forth on the particulars of his amazing life and work and in so doing reveals something he has always ardently tried to hide – that he is really a lovely, caring, sensitive man. For everyone interested in the history, art, and cultural significance of the popular music of the 20th century, this series is a once in a lifetime, must have audio event. Perfect for universities and all educational media. Contains adult language and mature themes.

Jimi was certainly one of a kind. The man was a walking contradiction. Barely educated he never had even a single guitar lesson. He was wildly aggressive, sometimes even violent with his music – and yet as a person he was quiet, passive and ever polite. Hendrix spoke what he wanted to say through his music – off stage, among friends, he earned the nickname Gentleman Jim. In this unique audiobook on the unlikely life and times of one James Marshall Hendrix, who left us all too soon under very mysterious circumstances, you’ll find the very best of the man and his music via rare interviews with Jimi and those who knew him best. 

The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. It is neither exclusively nor predominantly a sex manual on sex positions, but written as a guide to the art of living well, the nature of love, finding a life partner, maintaining one’s love life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life. The text is a mix of prose and poetry. The text acknowledges Vedic concepts, and lists desire, sexuality, and emotional fulfillment as one of the proper goals of life. Its chapters discuss methods for courtship, training in the arts to be socially engaging, finding a partner, flirting, maintaining power in a married life, when and how to commit adultery, sexual positions, and other topics. The majority of the book is about the philosophy and theory of love, what triggers desire, what sustains it, and how and when it is good or bad.

Recently Forbes magazine named John Lennon the ultimate, all time, iconic rockstar for the ages. While that’s certainly true John was even more than that: a dedicated peace politician, philosopher, early women’s advocate, proponent of yogic meditation, Hare Krishna and eastern philosophy, as well as his well-known anti-war efforts and timeless inspirational music – here is a man who made his brief life count! In this comprehensive compendium of the best of John Lennon.

In this original production, the real John Lennon is revealed through the insightful narration of Beatles historian Geoffrey Giuliano. Lennon was a complex man whose incredible body of work often obscured the sensitive, fragile man behind the music. Since his violent death in 1980, Lennon has become an almost fictional character; a hippie prince of peace, an idealized icon, a romanticized caricature. Along the way, the authentic John Lennon has been all but lost. Join the author in an in-depth, no-holds-barred look at the phenomenon of the Beatles and the often troubled Liverpool man behind it. Perfect for every serious fan, rock historian, critic, the media, as well as all university and school systems.