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On Beauty and the Everyday: The Prints of James McNeill Whistler opened last week and runs through Nov. 28. Most of the works - and most of the Ann Arbor museum's Whistler holdings - came from Margaret Watson Parker, whose 1936 bequest to the museum included Whistler's prints and an extensive Asian art collection.

According to an article in the Washington Post, " (the) exhibition of more than 100 prints by James McNeill Whistler at the University of Michigan Museum of Art is the largest collection of the 19th century American artist's work to be displayed there in more than 15 years. "

Please check the program calendar of the Museum for gallery talks and tours.

62nd primetime emmys
The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards aired on Sunday, August 29th on NBC and highlighted the best of the best in primetime television. Why not take the time to watch a few of the primetime TV series' nominees and winners?
The most anticipated categories include Outstanding Comedy, Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Reality Competition Program.

Outstanding Comedy nominees were ABC's Modern Family, Showtime's Nurse Jackie, NBC's 30 Rock and The Office, HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and FOX's Glee. Modern Family won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series marking the show's first win and nomination in the category.

Outstanding Drama nominees were AMC's Mad Men and Breaking Bad, CBS's The Good Wife, HBO's True Blood, Showtime's Dexter and ABC's Lost. Mad Men won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for its' third year in a row.

The Outstanding Reality Competition Program category was introduced in 2003. This year's nominees included Bravo's Top Chef, CBS's The Amazing Race, FOX's American Idol, ABC's Dancing with the Stars and Lifetime's Project Runway. Top Chef won the award in this category for the first time and defeated The Amazing Race which has dominated and won the award every year since the inception of this category.

One of my favorite podcasts is Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett from American Public Media. Next month the show's name becomes "Krista Tippett on Being" -- and it sounds like Krista has more good shows planned. This summer, my favorite was her interview with Shane Claiborne, a 30-something social activist you can read about in Esquire magazine accessible in General Reference Center Gold.

On August 23rd, The University of Michigan Press launched a new e-book rental program encompassing over 250 of its library's scholarly texts (for a full list, click here.) UM faculty and students will be able to download texts from more than a dozen academic disciplines including Psychology, Sociology, Music, and Literary Studies. Texts are currently available for rent for between 40 and 75% off the list price, depending on the length of rental. More books may become available in the near future pending customer response. While the service is only available to U of M students and faculty, its a sure sign for all that the e-books are making their way to the mainstream! For information about the Ann Arbor District Library's e-book rental service, click here.Ebook

AccuVote

The Washtenaw County Clerk's office has official results for the local, state, and national primaries from Tuesday. You can find further coverage of winners at Michigan Radio. Annarbor.com has a guide to all of their primary coverage, with articles on results of all the primaries in which Washtenaw County voted. Over 20% of the county's registered voters visited the polls yesterday, which is an improvement from recent primary rounds.

When a critic remarks that "Michael Crichton might have produced this had he had a literary sensibility. Thoroughly well-written, grounded in science and a sorrowful sense of human nature, this book is utterly memorable", you pay attention.

Science writer and journalist Laurence Gonzales' debut novel Lucy** is "explosive and daring".

Scientist Jenny Lowe rescued Lucy, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a primatologist from the jungles of the Congo during a civil war uprising and brought her to live in the suburbs of Chicago. It turns out that Lucy's incredible physical and intellectual powers are due to her unique heritage: she is half human and half bonobo. Forced to go public, Lucy becomes an instant and endangered celebrity, accruing marriage proposals and death threats.

"Lucy is irresistible, her predicament wrenching, and Gonzales' imaginative, sweet-natured, hard-charging, and deeply inquisitive thriller will be a catalyst for serious thought and debate", raising profound questions about identity and family, the moral, ethical, and philosophical issues of genetic engineering.

As part of his research, Gonzales observed the largest colony of bonobos in the world at the Milwaukee Zoo, an hour from his home. Bonobo extinction is a real threat, hear and watch the many faceted discussion on the Diane Rehm Show.

For a first person account of working with bonobos in the wild, read Vanessa Woods' Bonobo Handshake : a memoir of love and adventure in the Congo (2010).

Readers interested in relationships between primates and humans will not want to miss Sarah Gruen's Ape House coming out in September. This is her new novel after the blockbuster of a debut Water for Elephants.

** = Starred Reviews (In the interest of full disclosure, reviews are mixed. You be the judge but I LOVED it).

vote

The primary election Tuesday, Aug. 3 will include candidates for mayor, city council, county commissioners and state and federal elected officials. City of Ann Arbor polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Several polling location changes are in place for the August 3rd primary so be sure to check the list for your polling location. And remember to bring photo I.D. with you to vote.

Looking for a sample ballot? Not sure what your polling location is? Not sure if you're registered to vote? Visit the Michigan Voter Information Center, the State of Michigan online voter information center. The City Clerk is still accepting applications for absentee ballots and will be open on Saturday, July 31, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In-person requests for absentee ballots will be accepted at the City Clerk's Office, 2nd floor of City Hall, until 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2.

Daniel Schorr, journalism giant for 70 years, has died

Daniel Schorr, newsman extraordinaire for seven decades, died yesterday in Washington, D.C.

In the 24 hours since his death was announced, print, radio, TV, and online media have rightly sung his praises and listed his stunning list of journalistic accomplishments as well as his principled pushbacks against challenges to the reporting that cost him dearly. His career began at CBS in the early 50s where he was mentored by Edward R. Morrow. His interview with Nikita Khrushchev was the Soviet leader's first TV appearance. During the Watergate scandal, Nixon wanted the FBI to investigate Schorr who had read on air Nixon's 'enemies list', an especially noteworthy broadcast since Schorr read his own name. His #17 position on that list brought Schorr more satisfaction than his three Emmys.

He came under FBI scrutiny again in 1976 when he commented on air about a leaked report concerning extremely unorthodox activities of the CIA. When he refused to name his source, CBS stripped him of his reporting duties and he resigned. Literally to his dying day, Schorr never revealed the source of the leak.

In 1980, Schorr became CNN's very first senior news analyst after Ted Turner signed an agreement that Schorr would have veto power over his assignments. When CNN broke the agreement, Schorr left in 1985 for NPR where he gave his last broadcast just two weeks ago.

To lose Mr. Schorr at any time is a terrible loss. To lose him this week, this week, when BP was outed for photoshopping pictures about its alleged cleanup and monitoring activities of the Gulf oil catastrophe and when Andrew Breitbart and Fox News manufactured and promoted a fake story that nearly destroyed the career and good name of Shirley Sherrod and when citizens can recite chapter and verse the latest Mel Gibson phone rants but can't articulate what happened to the energy bill in Congress, is a particularly disheartening event. One can only hope that this stark contrast between real news vs. infotainment will inspire the ethical journalists still among us to work even harder at fact finding and unbiased reporting and that the legacy of Mr. Schorr, who was just 93 years old, will lure more young journalists into the fourth estate.

compost cart

July 30, 2010 is the deadline for ordering a compost cart at the one-time only fee of $25. But wait there's more! The carts will be home-delivered starting in September. And ordering couldn't be easier. You can order online, by phone at 734.994.7336 ext 0 or in person at 220 E. Huron -- the Customer Service Center. So quit dragging those paper yard waste bags and starting rolling with the flow -- the recycle flow.

George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, has died

George Steinbrenner, the controversial, 'love-him-or-hate-him' owner of the New York Yankees, died this morning after suffering a massive heart attack.

Steinbrenner was a 42-year-old shipbuilding magnate in Cleveland, OH, when he purchased the Yankees in 1973 for $10 million. His belligerent determination to do whatever it takes to win earned him accolades, animosity, a criminal indictment (for an illegal contribution to Richard Nixon's political campaign), a lifetime banning from the day-to-day operations of the Yankees (in 1990, by Baseball Commissioner, Fay Vincent, punishment for Steinbrenner's underhanded efforts to destroy Yankee Dave Winfield's reputation), and a $50,000 fine (for criticizing umpires in 1993). And the list goes on.

What is not disputed is that Steinbrenner was ferociously devoted to his Yankees and was a Master Tweaker of personnel (he famously fired (and rehired) Billy Martin five times), which accounted for the Yankee's great success under his leadership and for its precipitous decline in 1990, and again for its resurrection as a powerhouse team.

Steinbrenner was 80.