I stood at the window . . . looking out.But, I couldnt make out what lay just on the other side. So it is, too . . . with The Plan we are about to embark on. What DOES lay . . . just beyond? Nobody knows . . . least of all, me. But, here we go.Here we go, like a pack of fools standing at the top of that precipice in the distance . . . and only feeling . . . the rush.

This is where it all startedthe adventures of Dustybear and that rag-taggle bunch of sillies nicknamed The Redneck Mafia. There he was, quietly minding his own business, when suddenly into his homeand his lifecame Frankie and Tess. Little did he know at that point that by merely listening to their story (and maybe getting a book out of it) that he would find himself drawn smack dab into the middle of one of the most bizarreand dangerousadventures he could have ever imagined Ahhh, but he was. Little did he know that he would find himself in so much danger...along with Frankie, Tess, and Ahhh, but pretty quick, he was. Little did he know that this large and very disparate group of people would become such an integral part of his futureand his life. That they would become as much a part of him almost as life itselfand that he, his safety and security, and his very life would become totally dependent on them. Ahhh, but Just exactly how did our hapless author, our trusty Dustybear, get so caught up in all that mystery and intrigue. Caught upIN MURDER? GASP! For that matter, how does sweet and innocent Tess come to be so caught up in organized crime, while dragging Frankie along with her? Then Bear? Then Ahhh, but Tess is where it all starts. But how? Why? Youll just have to read Dime A Dance to find out. Meanie, arent I. Dime A Dance. Book I, Part I The Dance is where it all starts, telling the story of Tess beginnings. Tess and Frankies beginnings. How they meet, and how they find themselves ultimately on the run from the Mafiaafter they fall in love, of course. It also introduces the rest of the group, including Dustybear. It sets the stage for all that is to follow, and a wild ride it is. Dime A Dance. Book I, Part II The Plan sees Frankie, Tess, Bear, and The Redneck Mafia going undercover and infiltrating one of the most powerful organized crime families in the country headed by Antonio Catalafanowith no one in that family the wiser as to their true identitiesor so they think. Then what happens? Ahhh, therein lies the mystery. With more twists and turns than a San Francisco street and more thrills than a roller coaster at full throttle, Dime A Dance will keep you on the edge of your seat, and keep you rooting for the good guys IF you can figure out just exactly who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. The lines get blurred, and frequently even Dustybear isnt too sureand maybe life just isnt always all that simple. Good vs evil. Black and white. Nope. It definitely isnt. Not for Frankie and Tess. Not certainly for Dustybear. Not for Rose and Billy. For Ofelia. Toneboi, Ryan, Derek, Eric, Brenda, Elkeand the rest. Its a real pandoras box. Bear opens that night when he opens the front door of his home in southern Louisiana. He opens it to Frankie, Tess, and Ahhh. But, therein lies the storydoesnt it. So, why dont you come along with Bear as he spins a tale of mystery, intrigue, sex and violence, and of courselove. I think you will find that you will get as caught up in the story, and the characters, and all the restas I did, when I wrote DIME A DANCETHE SAGA OF FRANKIE AND TESS BOOK 1 Parts 1 and 2, and BOOK 2

Winner of the Publication Award for Popular Culture and Entertainment for 2009 from the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America Named to Pop Matters list of the Best Books of 2009 (Non-fiction) From the lights that never go out on Broadway to its 24-hour subway system, New York City isn't called "the city that never sleeps" for nothing. Both native New Yorkers and tourists have played hard in Gotham for centuries, lindy hopping in 1930s Harlem, voguing in 1980s Chelsea, and refueling at all-night diners and bars. The slim island at the mouth of the Hudson River is packed with places of leisure and entertainment, but Manhattan's infamously fast pace of change means that many of these beautifully constructed and incredibly ornate buildings have disappeared, and with them a rich and ribald history. Yet with David Freeland as a guide, it's possible to uncover skeletons of New York's lost monuments to its nightlife. With a keen eye for architectural detail, Freeland opens doors, climbs onto rooftops, and gazes down alleyways to reveal several of the remaining hidden gems of Manhattan's nineteenth- and twentieth-century entertainment industry. From the Atlantic Garden German beer hall in present-day Chinatown to the city's first motion picture studio—Union Square's American Mutoscope and Biograph Company—to the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, Freeland situates each building within its historical and social context, bringing to life an old New York that took its diversions seriously. Freeland reminds us that the buildings that serve as architectural guideposts to yesteryear's recreations cannot be re-created—once destroyed they are gone forever. With condominiums and big box stores spreading over city blocks like wildfires, more and more of the Big Apple's legendary houses of mirth are being lost. By excavating the city's cultural history, this delightful book unearths some of the many mysteries that lurk around the corner and lets readers see the city in a whole new light.

"While the de-sexualized Rosie was celebrated, women who used their sexuality - either intentionally or inadvertently - to serve their country encountered a contradictory morals campaign launched by government and social agencies, which shunned female sexuality while valorizing masculine sexuality. This double standard was accurately summed up by a government official who dubbed these women "patriotutes": part patriot, part prostitute."

On a May morning in 1931, Nassau County police officer Fred Hirsch was gunned down by the notorious New York City gangster Francis Crowley. Nicknamed "Two Gun" for tricking and murdering cops with a second loaded firearm, Crowley left a bloody trail from the Bronx to Long Island. He shot and wounded two men at a local dance hall and a New York City police detective and murdered one of Nassau County's finest. Eventually, he was tracked to a hideout in Manhattan, where a two-hour gun battle, including more than two hundred cops and ten thousand spectators, led to his capture. His murder spree involved thousands of law enforcement personnel, stole national media attention and cut across the New York metropolitan area. Author Jerry Aylward presents the murderous life of Francis "Two Gun" Crowley from the streets of New York to the electric chair in Sing Sing.

First published in 2003. This is Volume II of eight in the Early Sociology of Culture collection and offers a sociological study on the commercialized recreation. Paul G. Cressey while serving as a case-worker and special investigator for the Juvenile Protective Association was requested during the summer of 1925 to report upon the new and then quite unfamiliar closed dance halls. This book is in a sense the outgrowth of those assignments.