Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist

I always encourage you to read the book first, even though the movie has just come out...(to rave reviews I hear)!

(FYI--Leviathan's Boy Meets Boy was pretty good too)

Synopsis
It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City—and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be—and where the next great band is playing.Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.

Publishers Weekly
This compulsively readable novel takes place in less than 24 hours. At a New York club one night, Nick convinces a stranger to pose as his girlfriend in order to fool Tris, the girl who broke his heart. He does not guess (though readers may) that kissing Norah will lead to a long, complicated evening, and a new chance for love. Levithan (Boy Meets Boy) and Cohn (Gingerbread) reveal the clever construction of the book in an authors' note: they sent chapters back and forth, he writing as Nick, she as Norah. The novel has that pumped-up feeling of a story passed among friends who each add a section, spontaneously incorporating unforeseen elements. Levithan again creates outrageous characters and witty wordplay (a "Playboygirl Bunny" bouncer asks Nick, "How long have the two of you been the two of you?"), and Cohn brings to life another rich punk rock girl. The two see a secret show on the Lower East Side, pig out in a Russian diner, and get caught making out in an ice room at the Times Square Marriott, all the time wondering if they can let go of their past loves and risk another heartbreak. Much of the novel's energy comes from the rapid-fire repartee between the two leads, plus perhaps the most vivid character, Tris-Nick's Id-driven ex and a classmate of Norah's, who ends up giving Nick advice and Norah kissing lessons. Readers will likely enjoy the ride, even if it is obvious where these two are headed.

Ages 14-up. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Public libraries are good for the community

This is an editorial that ran in an Oregon newspaper and can be found online at http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2007/0123/local/stories
/guest_library_column.htm.
If you aren't writing similar editorials, letters to your elected officials or voicing comments in support of local public libraries, you should be. Here's why...

Public libraries are good for the community
By Margaret Jakubcin

There are 10 reasons you need your public library (even if you've never set foot inside one).
If you are a reader and a book lover, you probably already use the library, love the library and cannot imagine life without a library. But even if you are not a library user, even if the extraordinary access libraries provide to books, movies, music, cultural programming, information, databases, and the world wide Web has never tempted you through the library door, you still need the library.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1. Public libraries are good for the economy. Studies have shown that public libraries have an economic impact that greatly exceeds their cost, returning somewhere between $4 to $6 to the local economy for every $1 invested. A healthy library system is indicative of a healthy community. A community without a library is unattractive to businesses and individuals looking to locate to a new area.

2. Libraries are a cornerstone of democracy. Free speech, intellectual freedom, and open access to information are essential to a free nation. Public libraries protect the right of every citizen, regardless of race, age, gender, or economic status, to have access to any information that is vital to his/her life. Without libraries, a significant number of Americans would not have access to books or the Internet.

3. Libraries play an important role in helping young children develop reading skills. Early childhood literacy and exposure to a book-rich environment are significant predictors of a child's success in school and in life. The Internet has yet to come anywhere near filling this need.

4. Public libraries provide support to schools and students. School libraries are currently endangered in Oregon, where there are now only 433 school librarians to serve 1,290 schools. As school budgets have continued to dwindle, public libraries have increasingly stepped in to fill the gap, recognizing that today's students are tomorrow's workers, leaders, and decision makers.

5. Libraries are forward- thinking, and play an important role at the cutting edge of information technology. Libraries provide Internet access to many who cannot afford it, or who live in areas where access is unavailable or slow. Librarians are trained to help Internet users winnow out irrelevant information, find specialized Internet resources, and determine the reliability, authority and safety of the information retrieved. In addition, American librarians are lobbying to maintain "net neutrality" to ensure that Internet resources remain available to everyone — not just to those who can afford to pay for them.

6. Libraries are repositories of the accumulated understanding of mankind. We live in a time when the information-of-the-moment is constantly at our fingertips, but it is important to remember that information is not knowledge. Libraries house, protect, and share materials which support a thoughtful and in-depth understanding of the world.

7. Public libraries are a bargain. The average annual cost to fund an Oregon library is only abut $42 per capita. That is less than the average cost of two hardcover books, a couple month's subscription to Netflix, or a year's subscription to only one or two magazines. It is, of course, a fraction of what it costs to obtain home access to the Internet.

8. Libraries provide a neutral community gathering place for the free exchange of ideas, culture, and entertainment. Libraries promote a sense of belonging and interpersonal connection in a society that is increasingly "virtual."

9. A vital and attractive library helps define a community, encourages civic pride, and invests residents with a sense of ownership.

10. Libraries are the heart and soul of a community and reflect the value residents place on literacy, education, culture, and freedom.

For more information on the value of public libraries, answers to frequently asked questions about the libraries, and information regarding the current Jackson County Library funding crisis, visit www.jcls.org/infoblog.

Margaret Jakubcin is west region manager for Jackson County Library Services

It's Wicked...Vote For Your Local Library!!

Great American theater started in a library.

Gregory Maguire is a born storyteller. He hails from a family of journalists, poets and professional writers. So it’s no surprise his parents sent him to a magical place where stories come to life every day: the local library.

There, he found the inspiration for his life’s work: writing fantasy, fairy tales and science fiction.
His 1995 bestseller, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West forms the basis of the award-winning Broadway musical, Wicked. His career started in the library.


Public libraries continue to help people of all ages discover their calling. The investment you make in your local library helps them develop their talents and realize their dreams. It also brings in additional tax dollars, raises property values and creates new jobs. In fact, studies have shown that: for every $1 spent on the library, a community sees an average of $4 in return.

Who knows what Wicked success story is at your library, right now?
(http://www.oclc.org/advocacy/pdfs/maguirewicked.pdf)

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD...VOTE FOR LIBRARIES!

On the Political Trail

Although I'm pretty happy about the Obama/Biden ticket, is there anyone wittier than Jon Stewart (Stewart/Colbert 2008!).

Check this out:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/33504/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-fri-sep-5-2008?c=385:492

You really have to see this Daily Show clip from last week, after John McCain's acceptance speech. Jon Stewart absolutely destroys McCain's attempt to claim that he'd bring change, and lines him up with Bush better than anyone else has done so far. Hilarious. Watch it, and then pass it along to all your friends. Thanks to Moveon.org!

Good Bye Dallas...

From the Peep on the Street

(I was searching online for something and read this. Thought it was hilarious. Two thumbs up to Andy wherever you are...)

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NEAR... but first I needed to get some Flip Flops and clean underwear. Mom always says "Don't get caught in the Apocalypse with dirty underwear." So I hit my neighborhood Target.

You know Target has really come along way since I was a kid. I remember when it was un-cool to go to Target, we called it" La Tarshea`" (misspelled) so that it would sound fancy and okay that we shopped there because it was funny. But now you can hold your head high as you walk past the guy begging for money and say "Not today lad, ever since George Bush has been in office I can barely afford my Flip Flops and clean underwear."As I made my way past the concession stand that sells Icee's, Super Pretzels and what has to be some of the best Pop-Corn ever made.

I noticed the Easter section, now I don't have kids and I'm Catholic so I'm not religious, but I do know a little about what Easter is all about. As I stood there looking at all the candy, stuffed animals and other crap. I wondered when did NASCAR have anything to do with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, I actually picked up this huge can full of all kinds of goodies and toys. On the side of this tin-can was a picture from number 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. giving a big thumbs up, didn't his father get killed racing. I never hear about him rising from the dead three days later. I can understand hiding the eggs, getting all dressed up and eating a great meal; it makes up for sitting in church for two hours and having your Catholic guilt rejuvenated.... I'm kidding... I don't go to church. I'm kidding, no I'm not.... Yes I am. But really, Jesus didn't die on the cross so that we would buy commercialized junk with "High School Musical" on it.

So I picked up the Bible and found that I was wrong and from the Book of Hershey's I found this passage:

And Jesus looked down from the cross and saw his mother the Virgin Mary holding a brightly colored basket, "Mother come forth and give me a Peep? Mary reached into the basket and pushed aside the plastic green grass and pulled out a chocolate rabbit, "Forgive me son for I have eaten the last Peep, it's been a bad day and you know I'm a nervous eater, but I give upon you my last chocolate covered peanut butter bunny. Jesus then twitched his nose and said "Look again mother, look into the basket and tell me what you have found." In the "Bratz" themed basket, Mary found not one Peep, but many Peeps. "TA-DA!" Jesus went on to say. "On this day I say unto you, do not eat all the Peeps in one sitting for they will surly make your stomach hurt." "Okay." Mary said; but Jesus could not understand her for her mouth was full of the yellow sugar covered marshmallow treat. Amen!

Now you know why Catholics' use Peeps in the Communion ceremony.

I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way; I won't go as far as to boycott Target because it's still pretty close to the house and they do have some pretty good sales on Flip Flops and clean underwear.

Happy Easter.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/target-store-dallas (Thanks Andy v.funny)

Larger Than Life

I'm not sure many of you have the June 2007 issue of Art & Antiques magazine sitting around but I was fortunate enough to have had several magazines donated to the project I'm working on and there it was...

on the cover...
a GIANT
ORANGE
BADMINTON
SHUTTLECOCK!

Art or craziness?

Have you ever seen the giant button in Philadelphia on Penn's campus? The same two artists. Meet artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Brugon and they are the team behind badminton and the button. By the way, you can see the shuttlecock at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri or online at http://oldenburgvanbruggen.com/shuttlecocks.htm.

Check out the Bat Column (pictured) in Chicago.

They have some other amazing pieces as well. Be sure to visit their site at http://www.oldenburgvanbruggen.com/lsp.htm. The pieces are larger than life!

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

(by Max Ehrmann)

Voluntourism Trips

From Daily Candy, very cool.


You got a heart of gold — and a second helping of wanderlust. Do good with your good time when you take a vacation that lets you raise money, raise awareness, and even raise walls. Don’t worry: You’ll still have fun.

Hands Up Holidays takes you to Peru to teach English or Spanish (eres genial!) and repair buildings, and to Kenya for bird monitoring and tree planting. DailyCandy’s favorite trip is the Yucatan Explorer: You assist the elderly, but the biking, snorkeling, and kayaking sound more like fun than work. We love the site because it lets you search for trips by comfort level — meaning your benevolent bones won’t have to make do with a tent.

Forgo the jungle for the sea on an Earthwatch expedition. Voluntourists do scientific field research or conservation work in one of 40 countries. Help preserve dolphins while living in a teensy Greek village; travel to the Bering Sea to study declining seal, sea lion, and otter populations; or band too-cute penguins in South Africa.

Trek Amfar’s physically challenging fund-raisers generate money for the group’s research programs and global initiatives. In order to go you must raise at least $10,000. (Dad? Can you do me a favor?) Past excursions have gone to China, Vietnam, and Namibia. This year, it’s a twelve-day hike over Northern Thailand’s Old Elephant Trail through breathtaking countryside.

Who says giving back can’t be glam? The Ritz-Carlton Give Back Getaways let you be do-gooder by day, pampered guest by night. Guard turtles in Cancun, build homes in Jakarta, help save the wetlands in Marina del Rey. Afterward? A well-deserved sleep at the Ritz (if you wish).
And a satisfaction that money can’t buy.

For more voluntour opportunities all over the world, go to voluntourism.org.

A Bit of Wisdom

Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side as long as you are true to the best that it is in you!
--Christian D. Larson

Countdown!

August 2, 2008

Something More

Monday, hard to wake up
Fill my coffee cup, I'm out the door
The freeway's standing still today
It's gonna make me late, and that's for sure
I'm running out of gas and out of time
Never gonna make it there by nine

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

Five years and there's no doubt
That I'm burnt out, I've had enough
So now boss man, here's my two weeks
I'll make it short and sweet, so listen up
I could work my life away, but why?
I got things to do before die

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate
I believe that happiness is something we create
You best believe that I'm not gonna wait
'Cause there's gotta be something more

I get home 7:30 the house is dirty, but it can wait
Cause right now I need some downtime
To drink some red wine and celebrate
Armageddon could be knocking at my door
But I ain't gonna answer that's for sure.

There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking a chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

There's gotta be something...Gotta be something more

Lyrics by Sugarland

ALASKA!

Spells & Magic...words

Highly Recommended...

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Two gifted sisters draw on their talents to belatedly forge a bond and find their ways in life in Allen's easygoing debut novel. Thirty-four-year-old Claire Waverley manifests her talent in cooking; using edible flowers, Claire creates dishes that affect the eater in curious ways. But not all Waverley women embrace their gifts; some, including Claire's mother, escape the family's eccentric reputation by running away. She abandoned Claire and her sister when they were young. Consequently, Claire has remained close to home, unwilling to open up to new people or experiences. Claire's younger sister, Sydney, however, followed in their mother's footsteps 10 years ago and left for New York, and after a string of abusive, roustabout boyfriends, returns to Bascom, N.C., with her five-year-old daughter, Bay. As Sydney reacquaints herself with old friends and rivals, she discovers her own Waverley magic. Claire, in turn, begins to open up to her sister and in the process learns how to welcome other possibilities.

(© Reed Business Information)

From Booklist

Take a pinch of marigold to stimulate affection, add a dash of snapdragon to repel evil influences, finish with a generous helping of rose petals to encourage love, then stand back and let nature take its course. It may be the recipe for Claire Waverley's successful catering business, but when it comes to working its magic on her own love life, she seems to be immune to the charms found only in the plants that have always grown behind the Waverley mansion. Like generations of Waverley women before her, Claire has accepted her family's mysterious gifts, while her estranged sister, Sydney, could not run away from them fast enough. Knowing it's just a matter of time before her abusive boyfriend finally kills her, however, Sydney escapes with her young daughter back home to the only place she knows she'll be safe. Spellbindingly charming, Allen's impressively accomplished debut novel will bewitch fans of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel, as her entrancing brand of magic realism nimbly blends the evanescent desires of hopeless romantics with the inherent wariness of those who have been hurt once too often.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic starts out as a tale of Gillian and Sally Owens, two orphaned girls whose aunts are witches--of a mild sort. For the past two centuries, Owens women have been blamed for all that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town, ever since their ancestor arrived, rich, independent, and soon accused of theft: "And then one day, a farmer winged a crow in his cornfield, a creature who'd been stealing from him shamelessly for months. When Maria Owens appeared the very next morning with her arm in a sling and her white hand wound up in a white bandage, people felt certain they knew the reason why." The aunts are daily ostracized by the same upstanding citizens who sneak to their house at night for magical love cures. To the sisters they are for the most part benevolently absent, though their bell, book, and candle routine makes life a torment for Gillian, beautiful and blonde and lazy, and Sally, who's all too responsible. But when one of the aunts' cures works too well, ending as a curse, the dangers of real love become all too clear. In Hoffman's world being bewitched, bothered, and bewildered is no mere metaphor--and neither is desire. The elbows of one enamored man pucker a linoleum counter, another walks around with singed cuffs. It's difficult to catch the author's power in brief quotes. She needs space and increment to build her exquisite variations of vision and reality, her matter-of-fact announcements of the preternatural. Practical Magic again and again makes one recall the thrill of hearing at bedtime, "Now will I a tale unfold..." (Kerry Fried)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers WeeklyHer 11th novel is Hoffman's best since Illumination Night. Again a scrim of magic lies gently over her fictional world, in which lilacs bloom riotously in July, a lovesick boy's elbows sizzle on a diner countertop and a toad expectorates a silver ring. The real and the magical worlds are almost seamlessly mixed here, the humor is sharper than in previous books, the characters' eccentricities grow credibly out of their past experiences and the poignant lessons they learn reverberate against the reader's heartstrings, stroked by Hoffman's lyrical prose. The Owens women have been witches for several generations. Orphaned Sally and Gillian Owens, raised by their spinster aunts in a spooky old house, grow up observing desperate women buying love potions in the kitchen and vow never to commit their hearts to passion. Fate, of course, intervenes. Steady, conscientious Sally marries, has two daughters and is widowed early. Impulsive, seductive Gillian goes through three divorces before she arrives at Sally's house with a dead body in her car. Meanwhile, Sally's daughters, replicas of their mother and their aunt, experience their own sexual awakenings. The inevitability of love and the torment and bliss of men and women gripped by desire is Hoffman's theme here...The dialogue is always on target, particularly the squabbling between siblings, and, as usual, weather plays a portentous role. Readers will relish this magical tale. (PW)

How READ Posters Get Made

From: http://www.ilovelibraries.org/news/topstories/readposters.cfm

In addition to the hundreds of celebrity suggestions from librarians, teachers, readers and fans, ALA Graphics staff seeks out celebrities from a wide range of occupations: movie and TV stars, comedians, athletes, musicians, innovators, heroic figures and the like. We try to find highly recognizable–and therefore popular–celebrities. We also consider a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds to reach the diverse populations libraries serve.

We track all suggestions to monitor their popularity among library staff, students, and patrons, and if demand for a celebrity emerges, we add the name to the list. We discuss possible celebrities with an informal group of librarians. With all of this information at hand, we select iconic celebrities who we feel will best encourage reading, literacy, and life-long learning among children, teens, and adults alike.

The second part of the process can be considerably more difficult–contacting representatives for each celebrity and getting them to sign on. It may surprise you to know that not all the personalities we contact want to participate, as many are contacted so frequently for celebrity appearances. We often receive suggestions for celebrities that we have contacted on numerous occasions, but can’t persuade to participate.

A celebrity who signs on for the READ campaign can choose to hold any book of his or her choice. Some choose a recent read, others a childhood favorite, or something that has inspired them in their life. The professional photoshoots most often happen in Los Angeles or New York, where the celebrities and their photographers tend to be. None of our celebrity subjects are compensated for lending their image to the campaign.

To suggest your favorite celebrity, send an e-mail to graphicsmarketing@ala.org with “READ Poster Suggestion” in the subject line. We’re also getting a LISTEN campaign underway. Who would you like to see featured on a LISTEN poster?

And, did you know that you can make your own READ posters using the ALA’s READ CDs? Ask your librarian or teacher to invest in this fun idea! It's available at the ALA Store.
Here is a list of every celebrity who has posed for a READ (or LISTEN) poster so far:

1985 Bette Midler;Bill Cosby;Mikhail Baryshnikov;Sting

1986 George Burns;Goldie Hawn

1987 David Bowie;Diahann Carrol;Paul Newman

1988 Michael J. Fox;Oprah;Phil Collins;Ruben Blades

1989 Isiah Thomas;Steve Martin;William Hurt

1990 Bo Jackson;Glenn Close;Kirk Cameron

1991 Denzel Washington;Harrison Ford;REM

1992 Alec Baldwin;Jimmy Smits;Michael Chang;Michael Keaton;Whoopi Goldberg

1993 Graham Greene;Jackie Joyner-Kersee;Kristi Yamaguchi;Roseanne Arnold;Sean Connery

1994 Edward James Olmos;Elvis;Marlee Matlin;Michael Bolton;Spike Lee

1995 Branford Marsalis;Geena Davis;Little Women;Matt Dillon;Shaquille O'Neil
1996 Antonio Banderas;Barbara Walters;Courtney Cox;Danny Glover;Dr. Quinn Cast;Lawrence Bros.;Mel Gibson;Michelle Pfeiffer;Morgan Freeman;Tim Allen

1997 Bill Gates;Bill Nye;Brandy (Norwood);Cindy Crawford;Fabio;Hercules;Jay Leno;LL Cool J;Nicolas Cage;Oprah;Power Rangers;Rob Schneider;Rosie O'Donnell;Xena (Lucy Lawless)

1998 Emeril Lagasse;Grant Hill;Kim Basinger;Muammad Ali;Olsen Twins

1999Ani DiFrancoMelissa EtheridgeMichelle KwanMonicaRebecca Lobo

2000 Christina RicciEnrique IglesiasRegis PhilbinStephen HawkingTara Dakides

2001 Britney Spears;Chamique Holdsclaw;Coolio;Dr. Ruth;Elijah Wood/Lord of the Rings;Ian McKellen/Lord of the Rings;Kristine Lilly;Liv Tyler/Lord of the Rings;Marion Jones;Mike Mussina;Susan Sarandon;Tim Robbins;Weird Al;Yo-Yo Ma

2002 Firefighte;rIndigo Girls;LeVar Burton;Salma Hayek;Serena Williams;Tony Hawk

2003 Bernie Mac;Jason Kidd;Julia Stiles;Landon Donovan;Matt Kenseth;Missy Elliott

2004 Jeff Corwin;Orlando Bloom;Renée Fleming;Rick Bayless;Trace Adkins

2005 Aishwarya Rai;Anthony Hopkins;Colin Farrell;Ethan Hawke;George Lopez;Ice Cube;Jamie Kennedy;Johnny Damon;Keira Knightly;Margaret Cho;Mat Hoffman

2006 Alan Rickman;Ben Roethlisberger;Cedric the Entertainer;Dakota Fanning;Danica PatrickJohn Leguizamo;Kelly Ripa;New York Rangers;Sasha Cohen

2007 Cesar Millan;Corbin Bleu;Ewan McGregor;Hilary Swank;Los Lonely Boys;Sendhil Ramamurthy;William H. Macy

2008 Abigail Breslin;Common;Eva Mendes;Kareem Abdul-Jabbar;Rachael Ray;Steve Carell/Get Smart;The Wayans;Tim Gunn

The 10 Brainiest Places to Retire

http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/105195/The-10-Brainiest-Places-to-Retire
What makes the difference? A city with a large local university might offer a colorful slate of arts or educational events nearly every evening. Some suburbs have found a way to create unique learning opportunities for residents, who still have an easy route into the neighboring metropolis.

The brainiest places to retire:
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Berkeley, Calif.
Boulder, Colo.
Brookline, Mass.
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Hoboken, N.J.
Lake Oswego, Ore.
Reston, Va.
Upper St. Clair, Pa.
West Lafayette, Ind.

Congratulations Detroit Red Wings!

Welcome to Hockeytown!!

Sleeper Films

Looking for something to watch. Here's a few sleeper films you might want to check out...

200 Cigarettes
A Map of the World
Akeelah and the Bee
Beautiful Girls
Bee Season
Bend it Like Beckham
Big Night
Casa de los Babys
Chariots of Fire
Clueless
Cookie’s Fortune
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dead Again
Everyone Says I Love You
Garden State
High Fidelity
Hi-Life
How to make an American quilt
I Love You, I Love you not
In America
Junebug
Kissing Jessica Stein
Life as a House
Little Manhattan
Little Voice
Lovely & Amazing
Mean Girls
Millions
Monsoon Wedding
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle
Murphy’s Romance
Music from another Room
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Napoleon Dynamite
October Sky
Party Girl
Pieces of April
Polish Wedding
Saved!
Saving Grace
Shine
Shopgirl
Short Cuts
Sideways
Simon Birch
Singles
Sleep with Me
The Anniversary Party
The Good Girl
The Good Mother
The Ice Storm
The Matchmaker
The Namesake
The Secret of Roan Inish
The Waterdance
The Witches
To Gillian on her 37th Birthday
Waking Ned Devine

What if Firefighters Ran the World?

I just have to say that this is my new favorite commerical: "What if Firefighters Ran the World?" I'm not sure if it is so funny because it's so real?
Having worked in government and also as a voter, I think this is the best.
Take a few minutes and watch this. Maybe if more people do, our meetings will be shorter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6DORwBzuA

Keaton Simons

This is a great new artist: http://www.keatonsimons.com

When considering the roll call of rock’s most influential icons, those rare artists that pose a triple threat are the ones that consistently stand out, musicians that seize the spotlight through their singing, songwriting and instrumental prowess. That hallowed breed of musician has become increasingly less common in popular music, so it’s especially worth noting that Keaton Simons also qualifies as a triple threat, given that his multifaceted talents have garnered him a presence on radio, television, film and the concert circuit. It’s an especially auspicious distinction for an artist who is only now on the cusp of releasing his debut album, the prophetically titled tour de force, Can You Hear Me, on CBS Records.The many career accomplishments he’s racked up in such a relatively short time attest to both his aptitude and his attitude.

In fact, music seemed to be in his genes. He was singing from the time he started talking… even before his first birthday! By the time he was two, he was entertaining his classmates in daycare. At age twelve he was already adept on guitar, and by fourteen he had decided to make music his career. That obsession carried over to college, earning him a degree in Ethnomusicology – the study of World Music – at The Evergreen State College in Washington State. Absorbing a varied array of classic influences – Hendrix, Dylan, The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, B.B. King and Robert Johnson among them – he immersed himself in all forms of music, from Rock to Jazz, Blues to Bluegrass and melded them into a mix that’s timely and timeless. Keaton played in various bands before college but his studies at Evergreen taught him about theory and technique.

“I was always afraid that if I learned a real regimen, I would lose my soul and spontaneity,” he recalls. “But when I actually started to study music and composition I began to realize that learning the discipline would actually enhance my ability.”Meanwhile, Keaton was also learning some real life lessons. A family friend, bassist Gordon Edwards of the famous funk band Stuff, invited him to come to New York and sit in on some sessions. Eventually, Keaton met Tre “Slimkid” Hardson of the alternative L.A. rap group The Pharcyde. He signed on as their musical director, while contributing guitar, songwriting and arranging to Hardson’s subsequent solo album. From there he expanded his musical apprenticeship and began working with other notable hip-hop acts, including the Black Eyed Peas, Medusa and Snoop Dogg, with whom he performed on The Tonight Show. Despite extensive roadwork and a growing professional pedigree, Keaton started getting restless and chose to focus on ways to move his own career forward.

Indeed, Can You Hear Me lives up to all expectations. Produced by Dave Bianco, the album mines the classic singer/songwriter traditions spawned by greats like Van Morrison, Rod Stewart, John Hiatt and other artists known for their soulful sway. Keaton’s tasteful fretwork, masterful songwriting and searing vocals bring an honesty and integrity that’s instantly embracing, a warm emotional center core that reaches from the tangled vulnerability of opening track “Without Your Skin” and the lean, sensual drift of “To Me” to the spry suggestion of the title track and the playful intrigue of “Misfits.” “Nobody Knows” proves instantly infectious, its sinewy rhythms wrapping around an irresistible refrain, while “Masterpiece” lives up to its title through a suggestive sway certain to put its listeners in a romantic mood. “I wanted to get back to honest, straight-forward expression; a purity and dynamic that relied on the strength of the songs and not the added embellishment of the arrangements,” Keaton insists. “I think this album represents who I am as an artist and captures the sound of my live performances authentically.” As he views his prospects going forward, Keaton maintains his main ambition is to continue to focus on his live performances, and draw more and more fans to his shows. “I’ve been doing this awhile, but I believe there’s so much left for me to accomplish,” he reflects.
(info from his website)

All About the T's

I love t-shirts, and I love music.
A couple years back, I was going through boxes at my parents house and found a box of t-shirts, mostly from concerts. I wiped a nostalgic tear from my eye as I saw my personal music history in cotton...Eric Clapton--I think it was the second time a blues tour in LA, Depeche Mode in Philadephia, Madonna with Lone Justice, The Eagles with Melissa Etheridge at Tiger Stadium (and Bob Seger made a surprise guest appearance), & REM at the Palace when my sister and I got to meet the band! My other sister took my David Bowie shirt from my '87 Europe trip and made it into a costume for Halloween. There were plenty of "new wave" shirts: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Erasure, Duran Duran, and INXS. Plenty of others: Sting, Jimmy Buffett, Phish, Rolling Stones, The Smithereens, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Barenaked Ladies, Elton John, Yes, Chicago, the Grateful Dead's last show at Soldier Field, Dave Matthews Band too many times to count, and even, yes believe it, Barry Manilow. So when Daily Candy's email came today, I thought this was great news. Here's what DC said...

"Check out Rotter and Friends at rotterandfriends.com.
Rotter, a New York-based artist and music obsessive, started the company to showcase musicians underrepresented in the T-shirt world. The current collection features her trippy, hand-drawn tributes to Linda Ronstadt, Roky Erickson, Willie Nelson, and (honorary Shakespearean rock star) Falstaff — the latter done by guest artist Ron Paolillo, a.k.a. Welcome Back, Kotter’s Horshack.

For fall, Rotter will pay homage to Link Wray, Judee Sill, and Bob Seger. If the shirts whet your appetite for the musically obscure, check out the Fun section of the site, where buddy Zach Cowie (Turquoise Wisdom, Small Town Talk) handpicks mixes for your listening pleasure.
All of which should have your spirits — and your wardrobe — rising from the ashes."

I'd also like to plug Threadless at http://www.threadless.com/product/917/I_Listen_To_Bands. Yes, I was that person...in my late teens into the new wave scene. My old boss used to call them "wear black, act bored." Ask my siblings about the dancing guy at the wedding in "So I Married An Axe Murderer." Although my music taste really spanned all genres, when it came to going dancing, I wanted the new wave songs. I thought my music made me too cool for school. So when I saw this t-shirt, it seemed to say it all.

Concert ticket for your favorite band: $75
Concert t-shirt you'll never wear: $25
Memories of all those concerts: Priceless

6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

I can't remember when I first heard of "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon."
I know we talked about it around the time I was in college/post college.
I heard that it was created as a drinking game at Cornell during a snowstorm--which is close but it was actually Albright College in PA--and yes, created as a drinking game by 3 college friends during a snowstorm.

In a Premiere interview for the film "The River Wild," Kevin Bacon commented that he's worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who's worked with them. About the same time, there was a newsgroup thread entitled "Kevin Bacon is the Center of the Universe" followed by "the game." The game "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon" was created by three students at Albright College, who were snowed in and watching "Footloose" followed by "Quicksilver" when they began to discuss how many movies Bacon had been in and how many people they could connect to him. They wrote Jon Stewart with their theory of "Kevin Bacon was the center of the entertainment universe" and explaining the game, and the world took it from there!

While Bacon didn't like it at first, he embraced it and eventually wrote the introduction to the book, approved of the game and even played it up on a VISA commerical and on TV's "Will and Grace." In 2007, Bacon started a charitable organization named SixDegrees.org.

For some flashback fun, check out the Oracle of Bacon: http://oracleofbacon.org/how.html
Every couple of weeks the Oracle downloads several database files from one of the Internet Movie Database's FTP sites containing around 1,250,000 actors and actresses, around 850,000 movies and TV shows, and around 150,000 nicknames.

The Oracle builds a big map of actors and movies and stores it in a 115 MB database.
The server handles three different types of requests:
Find the link from Actor A to Actor B.
How good a "center" is a given actor?
Who are all the people with an Actor A number of N?

There are several CGI programs -- one for each of the above types of queries -- that run on the UVA Computer Science department web server, which all connect to the database server using TCP.
The database server uses a breadth-first search to find the shortest path between pairs of actors.

SO...if you want to connect Jackie Chan to Kevin Bacon, which was one of the more difficult ones way back when (and I remember having to use "The Cannonball Run") but now it seems pretty easy...
The Oracle says: kevin bacon has a Chan, Jackie (I) number of 2.
Kevin Bacon was in Big Picture, The (1989) with John Cleese
John Cleese was in Around the World in 80 Days (2004) with Jackie Chan (I)

Want to waste even more time?
Check out these links...

http://www-distance.syr.edu/bacon.html
http://www.thekevinbacongame.com/
http://www.geocities.com/theeac/bacon.html

Irish Language

Go n-eírí an bóthar leat.
May the road rise with you.


Although St. Patrick's Day has passed, the Irish language is facinating. There are so many parts of the language connecting to history that people don't even realize. There is a great, detailed overview at:
http://www.irishlanguage.net/irish/history.asp


I took Gaelic for a semester at Harvard. It was very difficult. Those in the class who had studied German had an easier time. Truly what I remember most is "God be with you". Friends of mine took Scottish Gaelic when we were studying at the University of Edinburgh but I couldn't take it because it didn't meet my graduation requirements. You can get Irish Gaelic CDs from the library. To find books, you have to use speciality bookstores or the library. There is a great one in Cambridge, Mass.


This is a blessing that I like:
May the blessing of the rain be on you—the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spiritand wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,and sometimes a star.



Here are some phrases. Some of these I actually remember from class and tapes.

Irish phrases: Meeting People
Dia duit: Hello. (Literally: God to you.)
Dia's Muire duit: Reply to hello.(Literally: God and Mary to you.)
*They do this with the Saints too, especially St. Patrick
Cén t-ainm atá ort?: What is your name?
Éamonn atá orm: Éamonn is my name.
Conas tá tú? How are you?
Tá mé go maith: I am good.
Go raibh maith agat: Thank you.
Tá fáilte romhat: You're welcome.
Go n'éirí an t-ádh leat: Good luck.



Here is some history from http://www.irishlanguage.net/
The Irish Language Movement
The Irish language was the most widely spoken language on the island of Ireland until the 19th century. The first Bible in Irish was translated by William Bedell, Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore in the 17th century.

A combination of the introduction of a primary education system (the 'National Schools'), in which Irish was prohibited and only English taught by order of the British Government in Ireland, and the Great Famine (An Drochshaol) which hit a disportionately high number of Irish language speakers (who lived in the poorer areas heavily hit by famine deaths and emigration), hastened its rapid decline. Irish political leaders, such as Daniel O'Connell (Dónall Ó Conaill), too were critical of the language, seeing it as 'backward', with English the language of the future. Contemporary reports spoke of Irish-speaking parents actively discouraging their children from speaking the language, and encouraging the use of English instead. This practice continued long after independence, as the stigma of speaking Irish remained very strong.

Some, however, thought differently. The initial moves to save the language were championed by Irish Protestants, such as the linguist and clergyman William Neilson, in the end of the eighteenth century; the major push occurred with the foundation by Douglas Hyde, the son of a Church of Ireland rector, of the Gaelic League (known in Irish as Conradh na Gaeilge) which started the Gaelic Revival. Leading supporters of Conradh included Pádraig Mac Piarais and Éamon de Valera. The revival of interest in the language coincided with other cultural revivals, such as the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association and the growth in the performance of plays about Ireland in English, by such luminaries as William Butler Yeats, J.M. Synge, Sean O'Casey and Lady Gregory, with their launch of the Abbey Theatre.

Even though the Abbey Theatre playwrights wrote in English (and indeed some disliked Irish) the Irish language affected them, as it did all Irish English speakers. The version of English spoken in Ireland, known as Hiberno-English bears striking similarities in some grammatical idioms with Irish. Some have speculated that even after the vast majority of Irish people stopped speaking Irish, they perhaps subconsciously used its grammatical flair in the manner in which they spoke English. This fluency is reflected in the writings of Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and more recently in the writings of Seamus Heaney, Paul Durkan, Dermot Bolger and many others. (It may also in part explain the appeal in Britain of Irish-born broadcasters like Terry Wogan, Eamonn Andrews, Graham Norton, Desmond Lynam, etc.)

Independent Ireland & the language
The independent Irish state from 1922 (The Irish Free State 1922-37; Éire from 1937, also known since 1949 as the Republic of Ireland) launched a major push to promote the Irish language, with some of its leaders hoping that the state would become predominantly Irish-speaking within a generation. In fact, many of these initiatives, notably compulsory Irish at school and the requirement that one must know Irish to be employed in the civil service, proved counter-productive with generations of school-children alienated by what was often heavily-handed attempts at indoctrination, which created a cultural backlash. Demands that children learn seventeenth century Irish poetry, or study the life of Peig Sayers (a Gaelic speaker from the Blasket Islands) whose accounts of her life, as recounted in Irish language books, though fascinating, were taught in a poor manner, left a cultural legacy of negative reactions among generations, all too many of whom deliberately refused to use the language once they left school.

In an effort to address the half-committed attitude of Irish language use by the State, the Official Languages Act was passed in 2003. This act ensures that every publication made by a governmental body must be published in both official languages, Irish and English. In addition, the office of Official Languages Commissioner has been set up to act as an ombudsman with regard to equal treatment in both languages.

Tim Gunn's Fantastical Verbal Dictionary

With the fourth season of Project Runway just having ended, there was a run of past episodes including the reunion shows. Of course my favorite montages always feature Tim Gunn. The reuinion show for season three had a special tribute to Tim Gunn's verbal skills. There are a few that I couldn't even spell!
I bet he scored perfect on the SAT verbal portion. Here are just a few of his top $10 words...

• mitigate: to make less severe
• faux bois: fake wood
• consternation: horror that confounds the faculties, dismay
• sturm und drang: storm and stress
• caucus: meeting of persons belonging to a party
• ambivalent-uncertainty or fluctuation
• misapprehension-misunderstand
• egregious-extraordinary in some bad way
• placate-to appease or pacify
• anemic-lacking power, vigor, vitality, or colorfulness

Check out more at http://www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway//index.php.

The Power of Libraries

I think you will find this interesting. Remember to vote FOR local library services!

As economy struggles, more people rely on libraries
Published: February 19, 2008
By Terry Date Staff writer
SALEM (NH)— Librarians have long thought that the demand for library services leaps when the economy limps.
It's not just books that the belt-tightening public wants more of in tough times, but museum passes, children's programs and Internet access.
That's been the case at the Kelley Library in Salem over the past year, coinciding with the economic slowdown, according to Director Eleanor Strang. She said Salem, a border town highly dependent on the Massachusetts economy, is an early indicator of library trends elsewhere in New Hampshire.
"We see it first," she said of the increased library use in tough economic times.
Reference librarian Deb Berlin expects more people will use the library's high-speed Internet access, seeking work online after dumping Internet access at home to save money.
The library's nine public Internet computer stations have seen an 11 percent increase in usage in the last year, with bookings of 30 or 60 minutes rising from 6,341 to 7.041.
One afternoon last week, the stations were full.
Joe Pacheco, 37, of Salem sat at one of the computers researching natural medicine. He has used the stations to look for jobs in tough times, and has witnessed others doing the same.
Why? "It's free," he said.
Also at Kelley, book and CD reservations jumped by 11 percent in 2007, from 9,618 to 10,642. Interlibrary loan requests jumped 24 percent. Story-time attendance for children rose 15 percent. And museum pass requests increased 2 percent.
"I think that is a good bellwether of people wanting to save money, because the passes will get you in for free or discounted admission," Strang said.
The anticipation of greater library usage during tough times has some town library trustees and advocates defending spending requests to meet the demand.
Sandown library trustee Tina Owens did this recently at the town deliberative session.
Derry Public Library Assistant Director Jack Robillard has noticed more people coming in and asking for help navigating computers in their job searches. The library may include this observation in its budget narrative, he said.
"We were just talking about this the other day," he said.
In Windham, patronage at the Nesmith Library has consistently risen each year, with book, DVD and other borrowings rising consistently between 2001, at 111,480, and 2007, at 181,349.
Nesmith Library Director Carl Heidenblad doesn't attribute that increase to tough times, but he has heard librarians in Massachusetts say their business picks up during tougher economic times.
"It makes sense, when times are good, people don't mind one-click shopping at Amazon, but when times get tighter it makes good sense to come to the library to borrow books or DVDs," he said.
Strang remembers how out-of-work men in the early 1990s gathered in the reference section and exchanged newspaper classified sections looking for work during the region's recession.
"Library use skyrocketed in the early 1990s because of the profound recession we were in," she said.
In fact, Strang said that 1992, a low point in the economic downturn in this area, was the first year Salem's circulation eclipsed the 300,000 mark. It would be another 12 years before the library broke 300,000 again.

October Road: I'm Late to the Party

"October Road" on ABC

About the Show
Can you ever really go home again? That's the question that confronts acclaimed novelist Nick Garrett when he returns home after being away for ten years. Once back home on October Road, he quickly discovers that the circle of friends whose teenaged lives he wrote about have since settled into blue collar careers and started families.

Nick became a New York literary success by writing about those early years, and he had Hollywood heavyweights lining up for roles. With his editor putting pressure on him for a follow-up, he finds himself at a crossroads... and with serious writer's block. Then comes an offer to teach a one-day course at Dufresne College, the small liberal arts school in his hometown of Knights Ridge, Massachusetts. Hoping to tap back into that which initially inspired him, he decides to head back. Nick has had no contact with his family or the close-knit group of friends he said goodbye to shortly after high school graduation. He burned that connection when he used them as characters in his successful novel and, in the process, cast their lives in a less than flattering light. Consequently, the hometown response to his return is less than festive.

Nick's friends include best friend Eddie Latekka, who is disappointed that Nick abandoned their dream of starting a business together; there's also the good-hearted and straightforward Owen Rowan, whose family life appears the picture of perfection; the well-meaning but sometimes obnoxious Ikey; and Physical Phil, a lovable recluse since 9/11 who has adapted to living his life indoors. Before he left town, Nick told his high school girlfriend, Hannah Daniels, that he'd be back in six weeks. Now ten years later, the jilted but never-married Hannah has decided to forget Nick's unfulfilled promise and moved on with her life. She is a single mom raising her nine-year-old son, the bright and charming Sam. Hannah is involved with Ray "Big Cat" Cataldo, the former high school bully whose mission in life has been to bestow misery on the lives of Nick and his friends. Nick makes a new friend when he meets Aubrey, a pretty college student and fledgling writer whose Bohemian style intrigues him. While he sorts things out, he moves into his childhood home with his father, a widower affectionately referred to as The Commander. Nick realizes he has several reasons for staying in Knights Ridge. He wants to apologize to everyone for whatever broken promises he may have made, and to make up for how he portrayed them in his book. He also sees coincidences indicating that Hannah's son, Sam, might be his.Although Nick doesn't regret fulfilling his mother's dying wish of experiencing life outside of Knights Ridge, he finds himself oddly wanting to tie up loose ends at home, but realizes the path ahead of him is a rocky one. In spite of any love bruised or lost between his friends and family, Nick embraces the familiarity of his former life and struggles to be included again among those he let down.

I'm loving the fact that October Road also has some wonderful actors...I love Bryan Greenberg (s Nick Garrett) and it's great to see Tom Berenger as The Commander with his great Bahstin accent and you'll recognize character actor Brad William Henke who you may remember from "Must Love Dogs." Laura Prepon, from that 70s show, is Hannah Daniels and other cast members who have various parts in movies, TV and on stage include Warren Christie as Ray "Big Cat" Cataldo, Texas Native Evan Jones as Ikey, Jay Paulson as Physical Phil, Slade Pearce as Sam Daniels, Geoff Stults as Eddie Latekka and Odette Yustman as Aubrey.

But the BEST thing about this show...the music! It's like a show for the music geek in all of us. Each episode has a lot of indie type songwriter songs weaving in and out between commercials but there is also a "hot button" song for each episode.

Here are a few favorites!

Kiss: "Rock and Roll All Night"
Bay City Rollers: "Saturday Night"
Meatloaf - "Paradise By The Dashboard Lights"
Three Dog Night - "Shambala"
Poison - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"
Jackson Browne - "The Pretender"
Goo Goo Dolls - "Name"
Liz Phair - "Why Can't I?"
Boston - "Amanda"
Hootie & the Blowfish - "Hannah Jane"

So set your TIVO or your VCR and get ready to lip synch along with Nick and his pals!

This Day in History: Frisbees!

Thank you History Channel! If you would like to test your history knowledge, the History Channel has a game on their site so see how well you do...
http://www.history.com/genericContent.do?id=56082

and...

Toy company Wham-O produces first Frisbees
January 23, 1957

On this day in 1957, machines at the Wham-O toy company roll out the first batch of their aerodynamic plastic discs--now known to millions of fans all over the world as Frisbees.
The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling "Frisbie!" as they let go. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the "Flying Saucer" that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After splitting with Franscioni, Morrison made an improved model in 1955 and sold it to the new toy company Wham-O as the "Pluto Platter"--an attempt to cash in on the public craze over space and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

In 1958, a year after the toy's first release, Wham-O--the company behind such top-sellers as the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball and the Water Wiggle--changed its name to the Frisbee disc, misspelling the name of the historic pie company. A company designer, Ed Headrick, patented the design for the modern Frisbee in December 1967, adding a band of raised ridges on the disc's surface--called the Rings--to stabilize flight. By aggressively marketing Frisbee-playing as a new sport, Wham-O sold over 100 million units of its famous toy by 1977.

High school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate Frisbee, a cross between football, soccer and basketball, in 1967. In the 1970s, Headrick himself invented Frisbee Golf, in which discs are tossed into metal baskets; there are now hundreds of courses in the U.S., with millions of devotees. There is also Freestyle Frisbee, with choreographed routines set to music and multiple discs in play, and various Frisbee competitions for both humans and dogs--the best natural Frisbee players.

Today, at least 60 manufacturers produce the flying discs--generally made out of plastic and measuring roughly 20-25 centimeters (8-10 inches) in diameter with a curved lip. The official Frisbee is owned by Mattel Toy Manufacturers, who bought the toy from Wham-O in 1994.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do

ALA's Notable Books Council announces 2008 top picks

PHILADELPHIA - The Notable Books Council of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division American Library Association (ALA), today released its 2008 list of outstanding books for the general reader. The titles are selected for their significant contribution to the expansion of knowledge and for the pleasure they can provide to adult readers.
Since 1944, the goal of the Notable Books Council has been to make available to the nation's readers a list of 25 very good, very readable, and at times very important fiction, nonfiction and poetry books for the adult reader. The Council consists of members selected from the membership of RUSA's Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES).

This is "The List for America's Readers:"
FICTION
--Bloom, Amy, Away, Random House
--Carlson, Ron, Five Skies, Penguin-Viking
--Chabon, Michael, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, HarperCollins
--Clarke, Brock, An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, Algonquin
--Clinch, John, Finn: a novel, Random House
--Englander, Nathan, The Ministry of Special Cases, Knopf
--Holthe, Tess Uriza, The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes, Crown
--Jones, Lloyd, Mister Pip, Dell
--McEwan, Ian, On Chesil Beach, Nan A. Talese
--Malouf, David, Complete Stories, Pantheon
--Pettersen, Per, Out Stealing Horses, Graywolf
--Trevor, William, Cheating at Canasta, Penguin/Viking

NONFICTION
--Ackerman, Diane, The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, W.W. Norton
--Angier, Natalie, The Canon, Houghton Mifflin
--Ayres, Ian, Super Crunchers, Bantam Books
--Godwin, Peter, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, Little Brown
--Groopman, Jerome, How Doctors Think, Houghton Mifflin Company
--Howell, Georgina, Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations; FSG
--Isaacson, Walter, Einstein: His Life and Universe, S & S
--Kingsolver, Barbara, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, HarperCollins
--Margonelli, Lisa, Oil on the Brain, Doubleday-Nan Talese
--Weisman, Alan, The World Without Us, St. Martins

POETRY
--Bosselaar, Laure-Anne, A New Hunger, Ausable Press
--Kennedy, X.J., In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus, Johns Hopkins

This list will be available on the Notable Books Web page on the RUSA/ALA Web site(http://www.ala.org/rusa/notable.html) with annotations at a later date.

Did You Know?

The Social Security online site is a very user friendly tool. Besides the regular forms and bits of information, you can also see some trivia! Check out... http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=341

What are the most popular names given to babies?

Answer:
Every year, SSA's Office of the Actuary does a study of the most popular names given to applicants who were born in the current year.

The top ten boys names in 2006 are:
Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Ethan, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Anthony, and William.

The top ten girls names for 2006 are:
Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella, Ava, Abigail, Olivia, Hannah, Sophia, and Samantha.

The most popular names of twins born in 2006 are:
Jacob and Joshua; Matthew and Michael; Daniel and David; Ella and Emma; Isaac and Isaiah; Madison and Morgan; Landon and Logan; Taylor and Tyler; Brandon and Bryan; and Christian and Christopher.

You can actually even see the Popularity of a Name. How they explain it is "To see how the popularity of a name has changed over time, enter the name and, optionally, the sex and number of years. Please note that the name you select must be in the top 1000 most popular names in order for the name to appear in the table produced by your request."

You can also see Popular Names by Birth Year (any year after 1879). So in 1960, you would find that David and Mary topped the list while 1970 and 1980 had Michael and Jennifer at the top of the list. By 1990, Michael was still the most popular boy's name while Jessica took the top spot for girls names. Michael was the most popular name from 1954 to 1998 except for one year, 1960 when David took the lead. Jennifer was the most girls popular name from 1970-1984. Thinking about how many Jennifer's you know, does this surprise you?

You can also see by state. In 2006 in Texas, Emma and Mia took the top spots. Michigan had Ava and Emma; South Carolina had Madison and Emma and New Mexico had Isabella and Alyssa. For boys, Alaska had James while Arizona had Angel; Michigan had Jacob, South Carolina had William; and Massachusetts had Matthew.

There is even a game!
Is there a trend to name children after cities? Just a few years ago, the name "London" was not in the top 1000 baby names, but in 2006 the rank was 353 (for girls). Similarly, the name "Paris" has become popular. These 2 examples are European cities that have become popular baby names in the United States.
But what about U. S. cities?
Play the City Name Quiz!
From the list of United States cities with populations of 100,000 or more (as provided by the U. S. Census Bureau), we have drawn those names that are in the top 1000 names for births in 2006.
Can you guess 5 of them?

I had three correct: Dallas, Austin and Madison. There are 20 possible correct answers and let me tell you that not all of them are of the modern variety (i.e. Dakota, Georgia if you were to use states).
You try...http://www.socialsecurity.gov/cgi-bin/citynames.cgi

Just a little fun from the Office of Social Security!

The Art Thief

Don't miss this chance to read "The Art Thief" by Noah Charney. I'm listening to it on audio right now and the lilt of Simon Vance's voice is captivating. Slow and steady, the story is coming to life with the beauty of his British accent that makes me not want to turn off the CD!

(Can I also tell you that I'm totally taken in by the reference to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft, tragic, which happened during my junior year at BU in Boston. Check this out...

In March 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, was robbed by two unknown men. The thieves removed works of art whose value has been estimated as high as $300 million. These include: Vermeer, The Concert; Rembrandt, A Lady and Gentleman in Black; Rembrandt, The Storm on the Sea of Galilee; Rembrandt, Self-Portrait; Govaert Flinck, Landscape with Obelisk; Manet, Chez Tortoni.

and http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/isabella/isabella.htm)

Here is the synopsis...

Rome: In the small Baroque church of Santa Giuliana, a magnificent Caravaggio altarpiece disappears without a trace in the middle of the night.

Paris: In the basement vault of the Malevich Society, curator Geneviéve Delacloche is shocked to discover the disappearance of the Society's greatest treasure, White-on-White by Suprematist painter Kasimir Malevich.

London: At the National Gallery of Modern Art, the museum's latest acquisition is stolen just hours after it was purchased for more than six million pounds.

In The Art Thief, three thefts are simultaneously investigated in three cities, but these apparently isolated crimes have much more in common than anyone imagines. In Rome, the police enlist the help of renowned art investigator Gabriel Coffin when tracking down the stolen masterpiece. In Paris, Geneviéve Delacloche is aided by Police Inspector Jean-Jacques Bizot, who finds a trail of bizarre clues and puzzles that leads him ever deeper into a baffling conspiracy. In London, Inspector Harry Wickenden of Scotland Yard oversees the museum's attempts to ransom back its stolen painting, only to have the masterpiece's recovery deepen the mystery even further. A dizzying array of forgeries, overpaintings, and double-crosses unfolds as the story races through auction houses, museums, and private galleries -- and the secret places where priceless works of art are made available to collectors who will stop at nothing to satisfy their hearts' desires. Full of fascinating art-historical detail, crackling dialogue, and a brain-teasing plot, Noah Charney's debut novel is a sophisticated, stylishthriller, as irresistible and multifaceted as a great work of art.

Read more...
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9781433203732&z=y

Ben Schott

If you happened to see CBS Sunday Morning then you probably heard about Ben Schott. They called him the Indiana Jones of the library, looking up tomes instead of tombs. He is the master of the miscellaneous.
http://www.benschott.com/en/index2.html

"If you haven't a clue... Ben Schott is your man. He's the king of carefully marshalled facts, published in quaintly antiquarian form to enormous success. Decca Aitkenhead presses him for a few details that don't appear in the books." Read more of the article at http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/referenceandlanguages/story/0,,1640631,00.html#article_continue.

Ever wonder how to say 'I love you' in Hindi? Whether blondes win more often than brunettes in the Miss America pageant? The answers lie in Schott's Original Miscellany. Part encyclopedia, part anthology, part lexicon, the book is a collection of inconsequential tidbits that you never knew, never thought to ask, but will love knowing. As hilarious as it is addictive."
Newsweek (USA)
Curious? See more at...http://www.miscellanies.info/author.asp

Now Mr. Schott is writing almanacs filled with the best of the last, as in the last year. If you are interested be sure to "check them out." Maybe at your library!

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen

With the humor of Bridget Jones and the vitality of Augusten Burroughs, Julie Powell recounts how she conquered every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and saved her soul.
Julie Powell is 30 years old, living in a tiny apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that's going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, and she invents a deranged assignment. She will take her mother's worn, dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she will cook all 524 recipes -- in the span of one year.
At first she thinks it will be easy. But as she moves from the simple Potage Parmentier (potato soup) into the more complicated realm of aspics and crepes, she realizes there's more to Mastering the Art of French Cooking than meets the eye.
And somewhere along the line she realizes she has turned her outer-borough kitchen into a miracle of creation and cuisine. She has eclipsed her life's ordinariness through spectacular humor, hysteria, and perseverance.

To the Big Screen!

Norah Ephron adapts Julie Powell's autobiographical book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen with this Columbia Pictures production starring Amy Adams as an amateur chef that decides to cook every recipe in a cookbook from acclaimed celebrity chef Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) in order to chronicle it in a blog over the course of a year. Streep's Devil Wears Prada co-star Stanley Tucci reteams with the actress as Child's husband.

Best of TV You're Not Watching

It was a very busy fall. There were some shows you probably missed. I know I had a long queue in my Tivo. Before the football season ends, make sure you check some of these out. I've sat down to watch them and really enjoying them.

Life--on USA
Damien Lewis stars as a former police officer who, after years of false imprisonment, returns to the force with a decidedly different philosophy. You can see how the prison years give Det. Charlie Crewes a whole different insight. He's working on cases with his new partner, who also has some demons, but is secretly trying to solve the case of the person who framed him.

Aliens in America--CW
A Wisconsin mom arranges to host a foreign exchange student, believing the visitor will help her shy son become more popular. When the student turns out to be a Muslim teenager from Pakistan, her plans go awry - and everyone is likely to learn a little lesson about life. If you are missing the Gilmore Girls cast, you'll find former GG'er Luke playing the dad.

Dirty Sexy Money--ABC
At first, I couldn't figure out where this was going but it totally grows on you. When idealistic attorney Nick George's (Peter Krause) father dies, he ends up taking his father's clients, the Darlings, led by patriarch Tripp (Donald Sutherland). It's not always easy for Nick handling both legal and sometimes illegal matters. The Darling family is downright hilarious!

Big Shots--ABC
Big Shots is a drama about four friends who are up and coming executives. However there are plenty of things to also laugh about. Dylan McDermott is Duncan is a cosmetics CEO trying to outgrow his playboy image. His pal Brody is a crisis manager who spends more time placating a demanding wife. Karl is the "geek" CEO whose wife and former mistress become best friends, and Michael Vartan--who couldn't be any cuter playing the business Golden Boy--is the newly appointed "Wal-Mart" type CEO who is trying to deal with a broken marriage and a new company.

Gossip Girl--CW
It's like teen people "lite" , with cocktails, I'll admit it. But this show based on the popular Young Adult novel series is chock full of beautiful, wealthy and angst ridden upper East side Manhattanites and it's as addicting as chocolate.

Pushing Daisies-ABC
This romantic drama shows us the strange world of a man, Ned, who can bring dead people back to life through the power of his touch. The people he touches, however, can only stay alive for one minute, and if they don't die again, someone else nearby will die. Ned decides to use his ability to solve crime. Fanciful and clever!

Criminal Minds--CBS
The Behaviorial Analysis Unit is composed of an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds and anticipate their next moves before they strike again. Joe Mantagna is the newest addition replacing my fav Mandy Patinkin but I think he'll bring some interesting twists to the show.

Shark--CBS
Sebastian Stark, a charismatic, supremely self-confident defense attorney who, after a shocking outcome in one of his cases and a personal epiphany, brings his cutthroat tactics to the prosecutor's office as the head of the Los Angeles District Attorney's High Profile Crime Unit. James Woods is perfect leading a group of new DAs including the latest addition, the brother in law from Ugly Betty.

House--Fox
Dr. Gregory House puts bad bedside manner to shame. As an infectious disease specialist with a knack for diagnostics, he fights the worst of all maladies with a team of various specialists, some who are too caring for their own good and others too irreverent. He'd prefer not to deal with patients at all but as he deals with his constant physical pain, his unconventional thinking and flawless instincts have afforded him a great deal of respect. It's THE best show on television right now.

Men In Trees--ABC
After breaking off her engagement when she learns of her fiance's infidelity, Marin Frist, a relationship expert, finds herself living in Elmo, Alaska, surrounded by men and attracted to one in particular. She now has to forget everything she has learned about men and gain new knowledge about love and relationships. This show is remarkably fresh and makes you want to head up to the great white north.

Women's Murder Club--ABC
Based on the James Patterson novel series, the Women's Murder Club tells the story of four friends from different walks of life who come together to form a unique murder investigation team. Their jobs as a homicide detective, a medical examiner, a newspaper reporter and an assistant district attorney give them a formidable range of skills, and friendship to sustain them through tough times. TV welcomes back Angie Harmon.

Bones--Fox
This series is based on stories from real-life forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs. Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperence Brennan--played by Emily Deschanel, Zooey's sister, who works at the Jeffersonian Institute and writes novels as a sideline, has an uncanny ability to read clues left behind in a victim's bones. Her partner from the FBI is former Buffy and Angel star David Boreanaz, as Special Agent Booth, who is all grown up and does a great job in this role.

Chuck--NBC
After Chuck got kicked out of Stanford, he is meandering through life as a computer tech at a Best-Buy type superstore called BuyMore when he is sent an email from a former college buddy. As a last save before he died, Chuck inherits the email which makes him now the recipient of a database of government secrets in his brain. Chuck is a now an unwilling participant as a special agent to the CIA and NSA. Zachary Levi is great as Chuck and his other cast mates are just as funny, including his sister's boyfriend he calls "Awesome" and the high strung assistant manager at the BuyMore.

Numb3rs--CBS
We all use math every day ... Inspired by actual cases and experiences, Numb3rs depicts the confluence of police work and mathematics in solving crime. An FBI agent recruits his mathematical genius brother to help solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles from a very different perspective. Numb3rs stars David Krumholtz as Charlie Eppes, Rob Morrow as Don Eppes, Judd Hirsch as their father.

Not on now, but hopefully they'll start up again:
The Closer--Kyra Sedgwick is fantastic in her very smart and bumbling sort of way
Saving Grace--Holly Hunter is rough around the edges but she is really good and the cast is solid
Burn Notice--CIA spy got burned and now lives in Miami as he is trying to find out who put him there
Side Order of Life--LA thirtysomethings battle--with humor--growing up

Don't Dismiss All of Oprah's Choices

It had gotten to be almost the thing to do to purposefully not read the Oprah book selections. However I want to plug a few of them and you can check out more reviews on Amazon or BN. While they are often exceedingly depressing, they are also remarkably poignant. You might want to go back and reread a few...

Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
A sprawling saga about five generations of a family from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Fall on Your Knees is the impressive first fiction from Canadian playwright and actor Ann-Marie MacDonald. This epic tale of family history, family secrets, and music centers on four sisters and their relationships with each other and with their father. Set in the coal-mining communities of Nova Scotia in the early part of this century, the story also shifts to the battlefields of World War I and the jazz scene of New York City in the 1920s.

Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman**
When March Murray travels East with her teenage daughter to attend the funeral of the beloved housekeeper who looked after her when she was growing up, March's past comes rushing up to meet her. The present is quickly dominated by the lurking presence of her former lover, Hollis, who has patiently awaited her long overdue return. The tale is populated by those for whom love brings more sorrow than happiness: a woman afraid to commit to a relationship, a husband in love with someone other than his wife, two young people who fall for each other only to find they are close relatives, and the self-destructing love of Hollis and March. While love has the power to transform those who fall under its spell--devotion to an old racehorse turns March's daughter, a sullen teenager, into a strong young woman--the love March herself suffers robs her of nearly all sense and goodness. Hoffman deftly weaves her characters' stories against a vivid New England landscape where the past always has a grip on the present. And the listener is left at the end both satisfied and longing to hear more.

Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
A funny thing happens to Novalee Nation on her way to Bakersfield, California. Her ne'er-do-well boyfriend, Willie Jack Pickens, abandons her in an Oklahoma Wal-Mart and takes off on his own, leaving her with just 10 dollars and the clothes on her back. Not that hard luck is anything new to Novalee, who is "seventeen, seven months pregnant, thirty-seven pounds overweight--and superstitious about sevens.... For most people, sevens were lucky. But not for her," Billie Letts writes. "She'd had a bad history with them, starting with her seventh birthday, the day Momma Nell ran away with a baseball umpire named Fred..."Still, finding herself alone and penniless in Sequoyah, Oklahoma is enough to make even someone as inured to ill fortune as Novalee want to give up and die. Fortunately, the Wal-Mart parking lot is the Sequoyah equivalent of a town square, and within hours Novalee has met three people who will change her life: Sister Thelma Husband, a kindly eccentric; Benny Goodluck, a young Native American boy; and Moses Whitecotton, an elderly African American photographer. For the next two months, Novalee surreptitiously makes her home in the Wal-Mart, sleeping there at night, exploring the town by day. When she goes into labor and delivers her baby there, however, Novalee learns that sometimes it's not so bad to depend on the kindness of strangers--especially if one of them happens to be Sam Walton, the superchain's founder.Where the Heart Is oddly mixes heart-warming vignettes and surprising, brutal violence. Novalee's story is juxtaposed with occasional chapters chronicling Willy Jack's downward spiral into prison, disappointment, and degradation. And even in Sequoyah, sudden storms, domestic violence, kidnapping, and deadly fires punctuate Novalee's progress from homeless, unwed teen mom to successful, happy member of the community. This is not a subtle book; there's never any doubt that our heroine will make a home for herself and her baby or that Willy Jack will get what he deserves for abandoning them. Still, Billie Letts has created several memorable characters, and there's always room for another novel that celebrates the life-affirming qualities of reading, the importance of education, and the power of love to change lives.

We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Everyone knows the Mulvaneys: Dad the successful businessman, Mike the football star, Marianne the cheerleader, Patrick the brain, Judd the runt, and Mom dedicated to running the family. But after what sometime narrator Judd calls the events of Valentine's Day 1976, this ideal family falls apart and is not reunited until 1993. The novel explores this disintegration with an eye to the nature of changing relationships and recovering from the fractures that occur. Through vivid imagery of a calm upstate New York landscape that any moment can be transformed by a blinding blizzard into a near-death experience, Oates demonstrates how faith and hope can help us endure. At another level, the process of becoming the Mulvaneys again investigates the philosophical and spiritual aspects of a family's survival and restoration.

**I highly recommend anything written by Alice Hoffman. Her stories are really something, they unfold with an uncanny grace.

Check out the The New York Times Book Review by David Gates: "We Were the Mulvaneys works not simply because of its meticulous details and gestures.... What keeps us coming back to Oates Country is something stronger and spookier: her uncanny gift of making the page a window, with something on the other side that we'd swear was life itself."

A Few Favorite Reads

There is NEVER enough time and ALWAYS too many books to read. Here are a few selections that I really enjoyed. All can be found at a local library or you can follow the link to a bookstore.

• Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn
• The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes: A Novel by Cathy Holton
• A Girl Could Stand Up by Leslie Marshall
• Peter and the Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson and Greg Call
• Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani
• Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
• Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook
• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving