Blog Post
Bowie Lives On
by lucroe
What can one say about such an influential icon as David Bowie that has not been said already? He was never one to be pigeon holed into one look or one style of music. From the '60s hippie days of Space Oddity with the hit “Major Tom” to the glam rock 70s of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie was forever changing and adding new personas. Following Ziggy were such blockbusters as Aladdin Sane (“Panic In Detroit” was on this one), Diamond Dogs with its soul/funk beats and the break out hit, “Rebel, Rebel”, then Young Americans with the popular song, “Fame”, co-written with John Lennon which became his first number one hit in the U.S.
In the late '70s he changed his persona again into the elegant Thin White Duke with the album Station to Station and another memorable tune, “Golden Years”. Ahead of his time in so many ways, he experimented with electronic, ambient, and world music alongside Brian Eno to create the experimental Berlin Trilogy of albums: Low, Heroes, and Lodger. Artists, like Philip Glass would be highly influenced by his work during this time.
With the '80s came the album Scary Monsters which some consider to be his last great album with hits such as “Ashes to Ashes” and “Fashion”. But then came the hit album, Let’s Dance, with Chic guitarist, Nile Rodgers, producing and the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughn on lead guitar. On this one album Bowie had several memorable songs including “China Girl” and “Modern Love”, and once again he led the way but this time in music videos especially for the title track. Next was Tonight with the hit, “Blue Jean” which garnered him a Grammy for best music video. Lesser albums like Never Let Me Down rounded out his '80s releases. He then had a short-lived rock quartet called Tin Machine at the start of the '90s. After they disbanded, he returned to solo work starting with Black Tie, White Noise but none of them quite lived up to the commercial success of previous albums. However his last album, Blackstar was just released, and has earned rave reviews. See music videos for the album here. If you are looking for a best of album check out Best of Bowie which includes the single “Under Pressure”.
Bowie was also a noted actor on stage as the Elephant Man and in some unique movie roles such as a vampire in the Hunger, an alien in the Man Who Fell To Earth, a prisoner of war in , king of the goblins in Jim Henson’s the Labyrinth, and portraying Andy Warhol in Basquiat. He produced albums as well like those for his good friend Iggy Pop (the Idiot), and was a well-respected post-modernist painter. This of course was a brief overview of his most notable works and to read more thoroughly about him there are plenty of websites and books to fill the gaps.
If you want to remember him on twitter type #bowieliveson or post a comment below. For me, the song "Blue Jean" still gets me dancing. You can watch the video to it here. He definitely has the cheekbones to pull off that makeup!
RIP Bowie
Blog Post
Golden Globe Award Winners
by manz
Last night the 73rd Golden Globe Award winners were announced in top categories for motion pictures and television from the past year. It’s always fun to see the winners and speculate who will also win at the Oscars.
Best Motion Picture – Drama went to The Revenant, which is in theaters now (also winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Director for Alejandro Iñárritu), Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy went to The Martian (also winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for Matt Damon), Best Motion Picture – Animated went to Inside Out, and Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language went to Son of Saul.
As for TV Series… Best Television Series – Drama went to Mr. Robot, Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy went to Mozart in the Jungle, and Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television went to Wolf Hall.
Be sure to check out the full list of winners to see who won in all categories.
Blog Post
Ready, Set, BAKE!
by Sara W
Have you gotten hooked on The Great British Baking Show yet? Whether you are watching on Netflix or catching it on PBS, it's adorable and addictive, and will send you searching for a Victoria sponge recipe that uses American measurements.
Here are some ways AADL can foster your newly-awakened baking obsession:
Bakers looking to stretch their skill sets will find the recipes and instruction they need in The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: All-Purpose Baking Cookbook, which covers everything from A (apple pie) to Y (yeast breads), and probably something that starts with Z, too. Along with helpful technique tips, this cookbook provides ingredient and equipment advice helpful to bakers at all levels.
Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours is a gem - Greenspan is a true expert and offers recipes ranging from easy to ambitious, but she provides plenty of illustrations and guidance along the way. Her World Peace cookies are not to be missed.
There's also The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book: baking demystified with 450 recipes from America's most trusted food magazine, or Baking Illustrated: a best recipe classic, both produced by the team at Cook's Illustrated, and which are heavily tested and laboriously detailed. As the founder of Cook's Illustrated, Christopher Kimball has cemented his reputation as a provider of precise instruction, and he's built a dedicated fanbase through hosting PBS' America's Test Kitchen and his appearances on public radio's The Splendid Table.
If bread is more your cup of tea than sweet desserts, try Flour Water Salt Yeast: the fundamentals of artisan bread and pizza by Portland, OR-based Ken Forkish. Bakers who are serious about bread will find both excellent recipes and the reasons why they work in this bread-baking bible. For bread-lovers who do have a sweet tooth, Beard on Bread by the inimitable James Beard is a good fit. Like all of Beard's work, it is eminently readable, but the recipes within are a little sweeter and softer than bakers interested in a more artisan-approach may desire.
True disciples of The Great British Baking Show may have to check out Mary Berry & Lucy Young Cook Up a Feast just to satiate their Mary Berry fixation. She's a good-hearted master home baker who provides tried-and-true methods for foolproof recipes, and instructions for getting things done ahead of time so you can properly enjoy an event for which you are baking.
Fiction lovers might enjoy The Art of Baking Blind by Sarah Vaughn, a story about contestants in a baking competition who learn a thing or two about attempting to leave their real-life struggles behind and aiming for culinary perfection. There's also Simply From Scratch by Alicia Bessette, about a widow who enters a baking contest to shake off her grief, and ends up finding a friend in a motherless neighbor girl who came for the desserts, but finds more benefit in the companionship.
Knead any more proof of AADL's baking resources? No? How about another baking pun? No again? Well, happy baking, friends!
Blog Post
New TV Shows @ AADL
by manz
The library is always acquiring additional TV shows and new seasons of them, be they hot and new, or oldies but goodies. Here are some new-to-AADL series:
The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret
Follows the awkward misadventures of an American office temp and convenient liar named Todd Margaret. Margaret bluffs his way into a senior sales position heading up the London office for the new energy drink Thunder Muscle. His out-of-control farce reaches epic proportions when his gaffes and misfortunes wreak havoc on the city of London.
Shetland, Seasons 1 & 2
Follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.
Unreal, Season 1
A behind-the-scenes look at the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program.
The Soul Man, Season 1 & 2
Boyce 'The Voice' Ballantine was an R&B star living the life, until he got 'the calling' to become a preacher. Relocating from Las Vegas to St. Louis with his family, Reverend Boyce and his family have to get used to some changes. Not quite ready to give up their superstar lifestyles, wife Lolli and daughter Lyric have some trouble settling down.
For more TV shows, be sure to check out AADL’s lists for HOT TV shows, as well as NEW TV shows.
Blog Post
TV Spotlight: Sherlock the Abominable Bride
by manz
This past weekend the much anticipated Sherlock: The Abominable Bride aired on PBS with much buzz! For those that missed the 90 minute special, it will air again on January 10, and you can always add yourself to the list of holds if you need to see it again and again… because Sherlock!
This new episode takes Sherlock and Watson to 221 B Baker Street in the 1890s with new mysteries to solve, the big one being a murder involving the abominable bride. It was fantastic to see Sherlock, Holmes, Mrs. Hudson and the gang back together again. And it was a riot to see them during a different time period! You might be wondering how they can just go back in time and be themselves, but it all works swimmingly and is super fun! And as always, it's a great idea to view seasons 1-3 again.
Blog Post
Ghostbusters and Top Gun Are Safe for Future Generations
by Sara W
The annual list of films selected by the Library of Congress for preservation released in December and includes moments of cinematic history alongside comedy and action favorites from the 1980s.
Each year, 25 films are selected to become part of the National Film Registry and be preserved under the National Film Preservation Act for their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance. It's always interesting to see what classic and modern films make the cut and are deemed of value to posterity.
The 2015 list includes Ghostbusters, L.A. Confidential, The Shawshank Redemption, and Top Gun. Alongside these modern favorites are classic dramas like Lana Turner's Imitation of Life and Jimmy Stewart's Winchester '73. There are also documentaries, educational films, and animated shorts.
You can review the complete National Film Registry list, and if you come across any obvious omissions, nominate your own culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant films. I noticed that Mean Girls isn't on there yet. Just saying.
Blog Post
Straight Outta Compton, the Movie
by manz
This time of year is full of “top tens” for best books, albums, movies and more. This summer’s bio-drama Straight Outta Compton was one of my favorite films of the year and will be released in a few weeks and the holds are already gathering for it.
The film chronicles the formation and rise of legendary rap group NWA in the mid-80s through their more turbulent years. The film gets emotional as it digs into the violence, drugs, racial tension, eventual fame, and the interpersonal relationships with each other and their manager and the role that these things played in their lives and music.
Unknown actors gave exceptional performances as the NWA members, with Ice Cube’s son O'Shea Jackson, Jr. playing his dad – and in looks and essence he knocked it outta the park. This film had me laughing and crying and cheering in ways I didn’t expect.
To keep things humming, check out Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre, as well as the original Straight Outta Compton album from 1988.
Blog Post
PreK Bits - "3"
by ryanikoglu
Ms Rachel did stories about "3" in Storytime ...
THREE SILLY GIRLS GRUBB missed the bus and walk to school past Bobby who wants their lunch.
We sang and matched actions to the song “My Hat It Has Three Corners” which is recorded on BARNEY'S MUSICAL SCRAPBOOK.
THREE LITTLE PIGS out-wit the Big Bad Wolf.
For more stories of "Three" try the following favorites:
THREE LITTLE KITTENS – E Galdon, Paul
THREE LI TTLE KITTENS – E Pinkney, Jerry
OWL BABIES – E Waddell, Martin
THREE LITTLE PIGS – E Marshall, James
GOLDILOCKS And The THREE BEARS – E Brett, Jan
THREE LITTLE GHOSTIES – E Goodhart, Pippa
AND TANGO MAKES THREE – E Richardson, Justin
You can practice counting with these books:
COUNTING CROWS by Kathy Appelt.
1-2-3 ZOOBORNS by Andrew Bleiman.
EDIBLE NUMBERS by Jennifer Vogel Bass.
DRIVE: A Look At Roadside Opposites by Helen Hatanaka.
RACE CAR COUNT by Rebecca Kai Dotlich.
Or choose your Counting Books from the webcatalog HERE.
Blog Post
TV Spotlight: Mr. Show With Bob & David
by manz
Mr. Show starred David Cross and Bob Odenkirk and lasted four seasons, airing from 1995-1998. This was Bob and David before Arrested Development and Breaking Bad. The show features a series of sketches, each one linking slightly to the next one and offering ridiculous comedy.
This show was around during the prime 1990s sketch comedy era. You had amazing shows like Ben Stiller Show, The State, Upright Citizens Brigade, In Living Color, and Kids in the Hall, keeping you up late and laughing your face off as they launched the careers of many.
And since 1990s television shows are rebooting all over the place, sketch comedy is in on the game. W/ Bob and David is a new Netflix-only show that began in November and features four half-hour episodes including original cast members in new sketches, as well as a fifth episode acting as a behind-the-scenes.
Blog Post
New TV Shows @ AADL
by manz
The library is always acquiring additional TV shows and new seasons of them, be they hot and new, or oldies but goodies. Into comedy? Here are some new-to-AADL series:
Inside Amy Schumer, Seasons 1-3
Straight from Amy Schumer's provocative and hilariously wicked mind, Schumer explores sex, relationships and the general mix up that is life with sketches, stand-up comedy, and woman-on-the-street interviews.
The Bernie Mac show, Season 1
Bernie is a famous stand-up comedian living the good life in his Los Angeles home. Life was simple and sweet for the Mac-Man. Then one day Bernie's sister in Chicago is sent on a 'state-sponsored vacation' (rehab) and her three children: teenage adolescent Vanessa, asthmatic weaseling Jordan, and sweet, innocent Bryana, are taken into Bernie's custody. Raising kids is hard and these three are always giving poor Uncle Bernie trouble.
Girlfriends, Seasons 1-7
Meet four professional African-American women living in Los Angeles who are struggling with the weighty issues of life, including men, love, money, and more men. No matter what is going on in life, they rely on each other for support and humor.
For more TV shows, be sure to check out AADL’s lists for HOT TV shows, as well as NEW TV shows.