About
Anne-Rae Vasquez, a published author, wrote the novel and screenplay Almost a Turkish Soap Opera (to be released in 2013), Gathering Dust - a collection of poems, and Teach Yourself Great Web Design in a Week, published by Sams.net (a division of Macmillan Publishing). Almost a Turkish Soap Opera is her feature screenplay and film directorial debut. As a teenager, Anne-Rae had an interest in the fine arts and participated in theatre and drama. Anne-Rae as a youth escaped from her impoverished and hard life by writing and producing and acting in her theatrical projects. She eventually pursued a career in Internet Publishing at the point when the internet was in its infancy. She foresaw that the internet was a platform for her to further express her creative skills and establish her career as an internet pioneer.
Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness
Description
<p><b>The absorbing, definitive account of CrossFit's origins, its explosive grassroots growth, and its emergence as a global phenomenon.</b><br /> <br />One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, <i>Learning to Breathe Fire </i>combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the modern gym fails an obese society, and the psychic rewards of ending up on the floor feeling as though you're about to die. <br /> <br />The story traces CrossFit’s rise, from a single underground gym in Santa Cruz to its adoption as the workout of choice for elite special forces, firefighters and cops, to its popularity as the go-to fitness routine for regular Joes and Janes. Especially riveting is Herz’s description of The CrossFit Games, which begin as an informal throw-down on a California ranch and evolve into a televised global proving ground for the fittest men and women on Earth, as well as hundreds of thousands of lesser mortals. <br /> <br />In her portrayal of the sport's star athletes, its passionate coaches and its “chief armorer,” Rogue Fitness, Herz powerfully evokes the uniqueness of a fitness culture that cultivates primal fierceness in average people. And in the shared ordeal of an all-consuming workout, she unearths the ritual intensity that's been with us since humans invented sports, showing us how, on a deep level, we're all tribal hunters and first responders, waiting for the signal to go all-out. </p>
Story Behind The Book
"Turkish soap operas are huge in Europe and the Middle East" Turkish soap operas dubbed in Arabic and many other languages have become a hit in the Middle East and European countries since MBC (Middle East Broadcast Center) started broadcasting the shows on their satellite channels. The soap opera storylines are always full of drama and excitement with a mixture of mafia, arranged marriages, affairs, divorce, scandals all within the backdrop of modern Muslim lifestyle in Istanbul. These soaps have caught the attention of men and women, and young and old alike. Families work around their daily schedules so that they are home in time to catch the next episode of their favourite soap. Some Islamic religious leaders blame the TV soaps for injecting Western society's influence on Muslim family beliefs and traditions. But in most part, viewers find the shows entertaining and they find they can relate to them because they depict everyday life with people who have similar cultures unlike the characters in shows from mainstream American television or Hollywood blockbusters.
