Books about Observational from Amazon.com

"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town…." Each week, more than four million radio listeners hear these words, and settle in for some old-fashioned, up-to-the-minute storytelling

During live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor takes us to "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve," where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." These expertly crafted tales touch the heart and tickle the funnybone. Warm, poignant, often hilarious, each is a classic of live storytelling, full of gentle humor, genuine emotion, and (more often than not) surprising insights into family, community, love, faith, and hope..
Price: $14.63 [Notify me when price goes down.]

You decide to waste another perfectly good hour getting bogus car advice from the Car Talk guys when what should happen but some remark from the caller launches either Tom or Ray off topic and onto a story about The Sleek Black Beauty, their most recent wife, or their days at MIT..
Price: $7.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The first new Prairie Home Christmas collection in ten years is a warm and wonderful celebration of storytelling, music, and the holiday spirit. 

It’s Christmas in Lake Wobegon, Christmas at the old radio show, Christmas at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Christmas wherever friends and families gather to rejoice, reminisce, and share the holiday spirit. This all-new collection includes songs, sketches, sound effects, laughter, sweet nostalgia, and a monologue or two, all with a Christmas theme and all heard originally on live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. Garrison Keillor, the show’s cast, and special guests are joined by hundreds of friends and acquaintances in a holiday gala that’s sure to become a family favorite and an annual tradition. 

Contents:
 

1. Wise Men Blues – Pat Donohue with the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band (Richard Dworsky, Andy Stein, Gary Raynor, Arnie Kinsella.) 12/22/01
2. Rhubarb – Tim Russell and others 12/12/98
3. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies – Sonos Handbell Ensemble 12/21/96
4. A Child Is Born (In Bethlehem) – Garrison Keillor and Musica Sacra 12/21/02
5. Count Your Blessings – John McDonough
6. Away in a Manger – Renée Fleming and Emanuel Ax (Fred Hersch) 12/20/03
7. The Twelve Days of Christmas – Garrison Keillor and Tom Keith 12/18/04
8. Christmas Eve Blues – Pat Donohue with the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band (Richard Dworsky, Andy Stein, Gary Raynor, Arnie Kinsella) 12/20/03
9. Guy Noir – Garrison Keillor and cast 12/11/04
10. Christmastime (Just In Time) – Inga Swearingen 12/18/04
11. The Christmas Fire – Garrison Keillor 12/09/00
12. Silent Night – Butch Thompson 12/13/03
13. Christmas Time’s A-Comin’ – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (Mark Fain, bass; Jim Mills, banjo; Paul Brewster, guitar; Darrin Vincent, guitar; Clay Hess, guitar; and Bobby Hicks, fiddle.) 12/16/00
14. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – Garrison Keillor and Richard Dworsky 12/23/00
15. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Diana Krall 12/13/97
16. Santa, CEO 12/28/02
17. The Christmas Song – Sarah Jessica Parker 12/19/98
18. The Carolers at My Door - The Orianas Choir (or the Buffalo Chamber singers) 12/21/91
19. Green – 12/20/03
20. December Waltz – Pat Donohue National Steel (?) with The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band (Richard Dworsky, John Niemann, Gary Raynor, Arnie Kinsella) 12/4/04
21. In the Bleak Midwinter – Musica Sacra 12/21/02
22. Ave Maria – Renée Fleming and Emanuel Ax (Fred Hersch) 12/20/03
23. Four Christmases – Garrison Keillor; Let It Snow – April Verch, fiddle 12/22/01
24. The Christ Child’s Lullaby – The Boys of the Lough (Aly Bain (fiddle), Dave Richardson (mandolin, cittern, English concertina, and button accordion), Christy O'Leary (tin whistle, pipes, vocals), Cathal McConnell (flute, whistle, vocals), and Chris Newman (guitar)). 12/21/96
25. Silent Night - 12/21/02

.
Price: $8.14 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The guys share some of their favorite calls about the world where cars and animals meet. Luckily, it’s not dog-eat-dog, but sometimes it’s horse-eat-steering-wheel.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi are America’s foremost auto mechanics So usually people phone in to their radio show with questions about cars—buying them, driving them, keeping them running. But every so often, out of the blue, Click and Clack are also called on to be amateur veterinary psychologists. They’re asked to figure out why a horse has eaten a steering wheel, or why a 100-pound dog insists on riding on the roof of a pickup truck, or how a white rat the size of a two-liter Coke bottle got into a poor young woman’s Chevy. And while they might not know the answer, they always come up with something.

This is a collection of calls about cars, animals, and the mysterious, often hilarious times when they meet. It leads Tom and Ray down a familiar path—of wild speculation, occasional brilliant suggestions, and lots of laughs. This is a must-have for anyone who loves animals, particularly the two that host Car Talk..
Price: $4.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The enchanting NPR holiday favorite is finally on CD.

"Old Marley was as dead as a doornail"—and so, nearly, was Christmas itself when Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol" in 1843. Most traditions had been forgotten, and few if any employees got time off to celebrate. Dickens' story captured the imagination of a generation and transformed December 25 into a major holiday.

For many National Public Radio listeners, it just wouldn't be Christmas without hearing Jonathan Winters perform "A Christmas Carol." The master comedian brilliantly re-creates Dickens' cast of colorful characters: Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley's spirit, and the three Christmas ghosts, Past, Present, and Future. His distinctive and charming reading uses a special version of the story prepared by Dickens for his own performances. The liner notes are by Winters, who clearly revels in the story's language and message: "Merry Christmas, every one!".
Price: $1.99 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Lefty: Haven’t you read about the dangers of drinking?
Dusty: I have. And it led me to give up reading

Like the News from Lake Wobegon and Guy Noir, Private Eye, The Lives of the Cowboys sketch has become a signature part of A Prairie Home Companion. Each week, radio listeners can’t wait to hear Lefty’s latest poem and Dusty’s latest rant.

In six complete sketches drawn from the radio show, the two pardners cope with hangovers and citrusy aftershave, try to get in the Christmas mood (not much luck there), meet a vampire, drive a herd of 10,000 free range chickens, tangle with a territorial poet named Big Messer, pay a visit to the New York Public Library, and wind up in the San Luis Obispo County Jail for mistaking a cocker spaniel for a coyote. Each is a glimpse into daily life in and mostly out of the saddle. Includes four songs.

Garrison Keillor stars as Lefty; Tim Russell as Dusty; with Sue Scott, Tom Keith, and Danielle De Vecchio, and Julie Boyd..
Price: $7.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]

After "Will you guys please go away?," Car Talk car tunes are the most frequent listener requests fielded by Click and Clack, the famous Tappet brothers Listeners searching for disrespectful, irreverent car tunes that express their true feelings about their cars need look no further.

Facing another incomprehensible, costly repair? Wondering how you managed to buy the only lemon on the lot? Sitting by the dusty roadside waiting for a tow? Tom and Ray have always been there for you and they'll be there for you again. Just pop Car Talk Car Tunes into your car player (assuming there's still enough juice to run it) and select a tune that best expresses your deepest thoughts and feelings.

Choose from 21 tunes researched by Car Talk's Department of Automusicology, songs with titles like, "Auto Service Hell," "King of Junk," "Cab on Fire," "My Bloody Yogo" and "Under the Wrench." This compendium of Disrespectful Car Songs features 21 of the best car tunes played on the air during the last 13 years of Car Talk, from bands including The Arrogant Worms, Red Meat, Betsy in the Gene Pool, and Dork Side of the Tune. These songs are just the beginning of a long list of anti-reverential auto anthems waiting to help you find the courage to slide back in behind the wheel..
Price: $6.74 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An Observational study is an empiric investigation of the effects caused by a treatment, policy , or intervention in which it is not possible to assign subjects at random to treatment or control, as would be done in a controlled experiment. Observational studies are common in most fields that study the effects of treatments on people. The second edition of "Observational Studies" is about 50 percent longer than the first edition, with many new examples and methods. There are new chapters on nonadditive models for treatment effects (Chapter 5) and planning observational studies (Chapter 11) and Chapter 9, on coherence, has been extensively rewritten. Paul R. Rosenbaum is Robert G. Putzel Professor, Department of Statistics, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association..
Price: $75.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

In 1996 Meade, the world's largest astronomical telescope manufacturer, introduced the ETX, a low-cost and genuinely portable instrument capable of results close to the theoretical limits of optical performance. Since then several different models have been introduced, most of them controlled by on-board computers that automatically point the telescope at objects selected from a database of 12,000. Unfortunately not all these objects are visible when looking through the ETX! (They are included because they can be imaged with special equipment.) Mike Weasner is a world-renowned expert on the ETX range, and describes the "best" 100 objects to start with, and offers hints and tips about using and looking after the telescope to get the best possible results..
Price: $24.84 [Notify me when price goes down.]