Written by Kyle Slagley
I have a confession to make: I love Cheez-Its. And Pepsi.
And occasionally, even a Whopper or some Chicken McNuggets. I, like millions of
other folks out there, have fallen victim to that dreadful predator that
attacks when you’re at your most vulnerable, hungry, and pressed for time – the
junk food industry. Last week, The New
York Times Magazine published an article that explained to me just how much
engineering, research, and food chemistry has gone into cultivating my love for
those little orange crackers.
I happen to be one of the lucky ones with taste buds that
shun sugar, salt, and grease for the most part, and living with a vegetarian
also has a positive effect on my diet, but while I have only a handful of vices
when it comes to processed food, the research that has gone into Cheez-Its has
certainly paid off with me.
Now, I’m not here to tell you what to eat or what not to
eat, but this story and a couple related ones regarding public health that have
come out in recent weeks may make your patrons curious enough to dig deeper
into the hidden secrets of what they eat. Worry not; we can help!
Food Additives – Let’s start with
the basics. In this video, Learning Seed shows viewers a straightforward
history of food preservation and then leads into an explanation of various
flavourings, colourings, and preservatives contained in tons of things we consume
on a daily basis.
Eating for Your Future – Discovery
Education also goes for a direct approach in this video that details how eating
choices affect quality of life. Geared mainly toward teenagers, viewers will
learn that eating well does not have to be a chore and that there are numerous
ways to make a healthy-diet lifestyle fun.
Junk Food Wars – Cambridge
Educational gets a little more defensive, arming kids and teens with some knowledge
on how to ward off the dangers of too much junk food. With positive reviews
from Video Librarian, School Library Journal, and Booklist, there is enough
information in this video to help kids develop a strategy for healthy eating.
Fast Food Nation – Reporter Eric
Schlosser puts the fast-food industry directly in the crosshairs now. Attacking
everything from how the food is prepared to how restaurants market toward kids
in an effort to groom them into lifelong customers, this book may make you
think twice before super-sizing your fries.
Born With a Junk Food
Deficiency – Not only does Martha Rosenberg go after junk food, she goes
after big pharmaceuticals as well. Rosenberg doesn’t pull any punches,
resulting in an expose that targets every level of public health. If this title
seems controversial, it’s because it is, but it’s also bound to generate
discussion within your community.
Written by Kyle Slagley
Another season with the Dowager Countess has come and gone.
I won’t spoil it for you, in case you haven’t yet seen the season finale,
although chances are your patrons may have already done so. Season four will likely
begin airing in the UK in late October or early November, but that means that
even those of us who happen to be Internet-savvy will have to wait months
before getting our fix of aristocratic dramatics.
Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton
Abbey, has been tapped by NBC to create a new show called The Gilded Age. The show will chronicle
the rich and powerful of New York in the late 1800s. Although we have no idea
when the show will begin filming, period dramas are all the rage right now.
My favourite miniseries, aside from Downton Abbey that is, is set in the relatively recent past during
World War II. A far cry from the prim and proper nature of Grantham estate, Band of
Brothers ran in 2001 and starred Damian Lewis as Major Richard “Dick”
Winters. This series is frighteningly realistic in just about every way
imaginable, including the graphic nature of the wounds. I own the series and
also the book; both are fantastic.
For those who like to go further back in history, try The
Tudors, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Meyers stars as the corrupt,
promiscuous, and slightly insane Henry VIII, and through the series viewers get
to watch the drama and deception unfold in the King’s court. The series follows
King Henry through his attempts to divorce Catharine to marry Anne Boleyn, and
the political turmoil that results. With four seasons and great acting, there
will be enough to keep you entertained for quite a while.
If you want to stick with turn-of-the-century England, I
highly recommend The
Forsyte Saga, which brings us back to Damian Lewis, this time as Soames
Forsyte. Soames is a well-to-do solicitor who, through the course of two series
totaling 14 episodes, falls out of love with his wife and remarries a
Frenchwoman named Annette. The series begins in the 1870s and ends in the
1920s. At only 14 episodes, it won’t last very long, but it’s well worth it.
Finally, there is the series Upstairs,
Downstairs. The premise is similar to that of Downton Abbey: the show is set in London in the 1930s and details
the relationships of the wealthy upstairs as compared to the servants
downstairs. The 2010 series is actually a revival of the award-winning series
from the 1970s that won BAFTAs, Emmys, and Golden Globes. The original series
lasted five seasons, and the revival for two. Between the two, you should be
able to get your fix for quite a while.
Written by Jon Williams
On
Valentine’s Day last week, the 2012 CYBIL Award winners were announced. For
those of you who are unfamiliar, the Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’
Literary Awards are given to the best books published in the U.S. and Canada in
a given year. Titles are nominated mostly by the public, and judged by a panel
of volunteers who write for blogs dedicated to children’s and young adult
literature.
Here’s a
look at some of this year’s winners:
The
False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Fantasy & Science Fiction):
The first book in a planned trilogy, this book deals with a precocious orphan
named Sage who is thrust into the middle of a brewing war engulfing his
medieval kingdom.
Seraphina
by Rachel Hartman (Fantasy & Science Fiction): In the kingdom of Goredd, the
decades-long peace treaty between humans and dragons is nearing its
anniversary, and tensions are high as Seraphina, a court musician, is drawn
into a murder mystery.
Wonder
by R.J. Palacio (Middle Grade Fiction): Auggie is a youngster who has always
been homeschooled due to illness and a facial deformity. How will he react—and
how will others react to him—when he starts going to a mainstream school?
Bomb
by Steve Sheinkin (Nonfiction): Sheinkin details the thrilling true-life story
of the race by Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union to be the first
to develop nuclear weapons during World War II.
For these
winners and a list of other great titles nominated for this year’s CYBIL Awards,
click
here.
Written by Kyle Slagley
Remember when you were young and your mom, dad, grandparent,
teacher, or librarian would tell you all those fairy tales that had
happy-frou-frou endings where the prince gets the girl in the sunset and you
can practically hear the birds singing and the unicorns… unicorning?
Apparently those types of fairy tales are soooo thirty years
ago. As the recent release of Hansel and
Gretel: Witch Hunters will confirm, the new thing is the dark, creepy,
gritty fairy tale. The Brothers Grimm was one of the
films that I think really shotgunned this fad into prominence back in 2005.
Matt Damon and the late Heath Ledger as Will and Jake Grimm travel through an
eerily exotic land as con artists, chronicling their adventures.
Before The Brothers
Grimm, however, came a film from the master of all things dark and creepy –
Mr. Tim Burton. In 1999, Sleepy Hollow was released, starring
Christina Ricci and Johnny Depp. This would be just another in a long resume of
eerie movies for Depp.
More recently there have been a number of films to stoke the
flames of this craze. Snow
White & the Huntsman was released just last year starring Kristen
Stewart and Chris Hemsworth, Mirror Mirror was a new and
beautiful rendition of Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland with the
Burton-Depp duo provided a look at the teenage Alice searching for her destiny.
Television joined the party last season too with Grimm and Once Upon a Time. Grimm takes place in
Portland and follows a detective who finds out that his “precinct” covers more
than just the mortal world. Once Upon a
Time, on the other hand, takes place in Storybrook, Maine, and tells the
story of Emma and a town full of storybook characters trapped in the town by
the evil witch turned mayor.
For some tales that maybe some of your patrons do not yet
know about, especially younger patrons, I would start with the Inkheart trilogy, which start in the
present day but soon shift to another world that is much more bleak. Inkheart started as a book
by Cornelia Funke and was later made into a movie
starring Brendan Fraser. As is expected with book-to-film projects, the movie
was not nearly as good as the book, but I thought it was okay. It was only a
moderate success at the box office, which is probably why the two other books
in the trilogy – Inkspell
and Inkdeath
– never made it to film.
Finally, in yet another of my shameless plugs to promote all
things theatre, there are even fairy tales for the Broadway lovers out there.
Most girls have at least heard of the musical
Wicked, starring Kristin
Chenowith and Idina Menzel, but not all of them may realize that it started out
as a book
that is much more than just rainbows and yellow brick roads. The younger
generation may also not be familiar with the classic musical Into the Woods. Though not exactly dark, I still recommend the show for some
great music that’s made it through two revivals. To get a feel for how the set
of this show looks, be sure to watch the video
recording of the stage performance – it’s a few years old, but still worth
the watch.
Written by Jon Williams
The Grammy Awards ceremony took place this past Sunday night. Mumford & Sons (Album of
the Year for Babel), Gotye (Record of
the Year for “Somebody That I Used to Know”), and fun. (Best New Artist) took
home some of the most coveted awards, while the Black Keys and Jay-Z and Kanye
West earned three awards apiece. (For a complete list of winners, click
here.)
If you
watched the broadcast, though, you saw only a handful of those awards
presented. Most of the awards are presented beforehand, so the televised
ceremony can focus on actual musical performances. Taylor Swift kicked the
evening off with an Alice in Wonderland-themed rendition of “We’re Never Ever
Getting Back Together,” while Justin Timberlake announced a return to the music
world with a two-song performance later in the show.
Over the
years, the Grammy Awards ceremony has become known for the unique artist
combinations that have taken the stage together. This year’s ceremony boasted a
number of collaborations, such as Miguel and Wiz Khalifa, Elton John and Ed Sheeran,
Alicia Keys and Maroon 5, and the Black Keys with Dr. John and the Preservation
Hall Jazz Band. Bruno Mars and Sting were joined onstage by Rihanna and Ziggy
Marley for a tribute to the late Bob Marley; later, a similar tribute to Levon
Helm was done by Elton John, Mavis Staples, Mumford & Sons, the Zac Brown
Band, Alabama Shakes, and T Bone Burnett. (For a complete list of performers, click
here.)
You don’t
often see multi-genre collaborations of this sort outside of the Grammy
ceremony; when you do, the results can be transcendant. Here are a few:
Sound
City: Real to Reel Soundtrack:
The soundtrack to Dave Grohl’s documentary features the Foo Fighters frontman
collaborating with a number of artists, such as Stevie Nicks and Trent Reznor.
Perhaps the most notable track, though, is “Cut Me Some Slack,” which drew buzz
leading up to the 12-12-12 concert for Hurricane Sandy relief as a Nirvana
reunion of sorts, with Sir Paul McCartney on lead vocals.
Tony
Bennett – Duets: An American Classic:
This 2006 album from the jazzy pop singer, released on his 80 th
birthday, sees him perform duets with a number of today’s stars from various
genres. Some, such as Billy Joel and Elton John, don’t seem like much of a
stretch. Other songs, however, include the likes of country star Tim McGraw,
rock singer Bono (from U2), and Latin rocker Juanes.
Robert
Plant and Alison Krauss – Raising Sand:
One of classic rock’s most iconic voices, Robert Plant, best known as lead
singer for Led Zeppelin, teams up with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss for this
understated duet album of cover tunes. Produced by T Bone Burnett, a follow-up
collaboration has been in the works since 2009.
Lou
Reed and Metallica – Lulu:
Singer-songwriter Reed performed with Metallica in 2009 at the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame 25 th Anniversary Concert, which led to this album.
Metallica was no stranger to unconventional collaborations, having paired their
heavy metal catalog with the San Francisco Symphony for S&M
in 1999.
Run-D.M.C.
and Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”: Okay, so it’s only one song…but what a
song. In 1986, rappers Run-D.M.C. covered rock legend Aerosmith’s hit single
from 1977, with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry helping out. The song helped propel
rap into mainstream consciousness: the video received heavy airplay on MTV, and
it became the first rap song to crack Billboard’s Top 5.
What are
some of your favorite collaborative albums and songs? Let us know in the
comments section below.
Written by Jon Williams
You’ve
probably heard by now that J.J.
Abrams has signed on to direct the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise, due to hit theatres in 2015. Abrams is known for creating or co-creating the TV series Felicity,
Alias,
Fringe,
and Lost.
His big-screen work has included directing Mission:
Impossible III, Super
8, and, interestingly enough, the 2009 reboot of Star
Trek (as well as its upcoming sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, which releases in May).
Obviously,
Abrams’s sci-fi and action chops are well developed. With Michael Arndt (who
wrote, among other things, Little
Miss Sunshine and Toy
Story 3) drafting the script, the beginning of the next trilogy appears
to be in good hands.
What you may
not have heard is that Disney’s plans for standalone, non-trilogy Star Wars films are beginning to take
shape. It was reported earlier this week that individual films would focus on
single characters from the movies in their adventures outside the scope of
those stories. An early rumour speculated that Jedi Master Yoda would get his
own film; more plausible buzz centers on Han Solo (in his younger days) and the
bounty hunter Boba Fett, respectively. Perhaps we could see Ewan
McGregor reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi?
And there’s
more good news on the writing front for these as-yet nebulous standalone films.
One scribe attached is Simon Kinberg, who’s known for (again, among other
things) Mr. &
Mrs. Smith and Sherlock
Holmes. Another is Lawrence Kasdan, a man already known to Star Wars fans as the writer of The Empire Strikes Back (widely
considered the best movie in the series) and Return of the Jedi. The pair will also do some writing for the new
trilogy films.
Aside from
casting, one major question remains when it comes to names attached to new Star Wars films: who will write the
score? John
Williams, composer for all six films to date, turns 81 years old today. You
have to think it’s his job if he’s interested; but if he’s not…? Joel
McNeely has experience composing for Star
Wars, whereas Michael
Giacchino frequently works with J.J. Abrams. Would one of them get the job?
Needless to
say, there are still plenty of questions to be answered. One thing that goes
without saying, though, is that interest in Star
Wars remains strong. Make sure you have a broad selection of DVDs
and Blu-rays,
music
CDs, and audiobooks
for your patrons to check out and enjoy.
Written by Kyle Slagley
Some men are born great, others achieve greatness, and some
are buried under the parking garage.
By now I’m sure most of you have heard about the discovery
of the skeleton of Richard III under a car park in Leicester, England.
Leicester, in case you weren’t sure, is about 100 miles north-northwest of
London.
Historically, Richard is known for being the last king in
the House of York, and also for being the last King of England to die on the
battlefield after scheming and killing his way to the throne.
Most people are familiar with Richard III as the man who
said things like “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” and “Now is the
winter of our discontent!” For that we thank none other than the great William
Shakespeare, whose tragedy has been performed countless times all across the
world.
Having read the majority of the Bard’s plays, Richard III is definitely one of my
favourites. Richard is one of those characters you love to hate. Whether he was
actually as dastardly and despicable as the play makes him out to be may never
truly be known, though. Here’s a look at some of the adaptations of Richard III out there.
The Naxos
Audiobooks minimalist recording of the entire play is quite possibly the
most definitive version out there, starring Kenneth
Branagh as Richard. There are very few sound effects except the reading by
the actors, making it seem as though the listener is sitting in on a casual
read-through of the production. Quite simply, this is THE audiobook version to
share with your patrons.
The 1955
Criterion version is widely considered to be THE film version of this play,
mainly because it stars the be-all-end-all when it comes to Shakespearian
actors, Sir
Lawrence Olivier. I’ve seen this film a few times, and can definitely
appreciate it as being the quintessential British theatre version. I have to
admit my affection for this film only goes so far because in true Olivier style
it is grand and magnificent, but I also find it stiff and uptight –
particularly during the opening monologue.
The
Murders of Richard III is a novel by Elizabeth
Peters about an American librarian named Jacqueline Kirby who happens to be
in England attending a Richard-themed murder mystery in a large manor house. As
you might expect, the play-murders turn real and Kirby must solve the mystery.
I’ve not read the book, but if you like the Jacqueline Kirby books, I’m told
it’s one of the best in the series.
Sadly, my two favourite film versions of Richard III are
unavailable. In 1995, MGM released a modern
adaptation of the film starring Sir Ian McKellan as Richard, set in the
1930s. It has an all-star supporting cast that includes Annette Bening, Robert
Downey Jr, and Jim Broadbent. Then in 1996, Al Pacino put out a docu-drama
called Looking for Richard that
includes clips from the play that are filmed in states from black-box rehearsal
format to full-on film production. It also shows discussions about the academic
elements of the play like character development, motive, and historical
influence – all of which fascinate the theatre enthusiasts. If you happen to
have either of these films on your shelves already, I invite you to revisit
them and share them with your patrons.
Written by Jon Williams
I’ll admit up front that my research for this post
was as minimal as possible. Doctor
Who is a fairly recent interest of mine—my wife and I just finished
watching the 2006 season (the finale of which was absolutely heartbreaking)—so
I didn’t want to accidentally come across any spoilers for what’s to come.
For those unfamiliar, Doctor Who centers on a character known only as “The Doctor,” an
alien (in human form) known as a Time Lord. He travels throughout time and
space, getting into various adventures, via his craft, the TARDIS, which is
shaped like a 1960s-era London police call box. His travels frequently bring
him to Earth, where he generally befriends a female companion to accompany him
for a time.
The British series has long been a staple of BBC
programming. The first episode aired on November 23, 1963. The original series
ran until 1989; it was revived in 2005 and has been going strong ever since.
The new season, starring Matt Smith in his fourth season playing the Doctor,
premieres on the BBC and BBC America on March 30. In addition, a television
special, An Adventure in Space in Time,
is filming this year to document the beginnings of the character and the
series.
Doctor Who’s
popularity isn’t contained just within one long-running television series. One
spinoff series, Torchwood,
deals with a small team of alien hunters operating out of the Torchwood
Institute, which was established following one of the Doctor’s visits to Earth.
Another, The
Sarah Jane Adventures, follows the exploits of Sarah Jane Smith, a
former companion who finds that she can’t settle into a regular life after
traveling the universe with the Doctor. There are also a number
of books that detail the Doctor’s adventures, in addition to these TV
shows.
In the series’ 50th year, it’s still attracting
new fans (I’m evidence of that), while longtime fans will want to revisit old
favourites and discover the spinoffs. Make sure the Doctor is available at your
library.
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