Muscle Smoke Mirrors

Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors

The research for this extensive, two volume project... represents a comprehensive effort to establish a complete context from which the sport of bodybuilding arose. "Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors" is the rise and fall of what was truly once an extraordinary discipline associated with a term known as "Physical Culture". Experience what bodybuilding was originally and learn just exactly what "Physical Culture" really is. See what growing philanthropic power flexed its financial and political muscles to foster its corporate agenda, compromising human health internationally. Read how the merger of technology and politics culminated in the industrialization, commercialization, federalization, internationalization and finally the STERILIZATION of a nation's food supply, rendering it suspect not only to the general public; but also to the most elite of athletes. Whether you are a novice, an elite bodybuilder or simply sports-nutrition minded, learn how the emerging forces of the Iron Game evolved. Ultimately, the factions of this industry would grow powerful and manipulative while fighting for control over the Game. It took the running of several parallel histories on bodybuilding, nutrition, supplements and the role of drugs to offer a complete, first-time unraveling of the web of confusion and politics that still permeates the sport into the 21st century! Volume I of "Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors" is truly the untold stories surrounding "Bodybuilding's Amazing Nutritional Origins."

Muscle, Smoke, & Mirrors

Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors

This collection of Shona Proverbs and Parables contains some of the most thought-provoking and contemporary proverbs and parables emerging from Zimbabwe. The collection links the pre-colonial Shona cultural expressions with the contemporary Shona folklore. The proverbs and parables offer penetrating questions and induce debate on the significance of the study of proverbs and parables. As well as being universal, they reflect their cultural roots. While the proverbs and parables provide amusement, they deftly impart lessons for living. The literal translations for each proverb and parable add insights for better understanding. There are times when "a small bird which does not search for food does not get fat", just as a person who is not willing to explore new ventures remains static. "A bird does not abandone its way of singing" like the old habits that die hard. What of "the one who recognises a path through a rock who is the only one that uses that path"! Surely, are those who are vociforous in condemning a wrong-doing not the chief culprits? It's no exaggeration to say this collection of Shona proverbs and parables is not only a source of inspiration to the young Zimbabwean generation, but has application for those studying African folklore and behaviour, sociology and ethics.