MICHAEL, why not check out
www.half.com for the Silva books and even course. Mgrego mentioned half.com the other day & i'm amazed at the offers there. So, check it out.
ALEX, thanks a lot for your indepth reply. Yes, i learned all those things in the lectures for the basic course. But we were not allowed to ask questions nor were we given any regular breaks. It was just crammed packed w/ lectures & visualizations.
Some how Ken managed to get it all in. 
