The latest Death Cab for Cutie album is on its way! Plans is the latest release from this excellent band, and it will not disappoint fans. If you’re an O.C. watcher, I’m sure you’ve heard their music. They also have several previous albums that are worth listening to (Transatlanticism, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes, The Photo Album, and more…).

Ben Gibbard (one of the band members) also collaborated with Jimmy Tamborello, of Dntel, to form The Postal Service. This is an awesome pop album, and you may have heard the song “Such Great Heights” on the radio or TV.

This month Paul McCartney has put out yet another CD: Chaos and Creation in the Backyard. For this album, Sir Paul has teamed up with Nigel Godrich, who has previously worked with Radiohead, leading him to create a deeper, more meaningful sound. Check out Amazon for more reviews and samples of the songs.

Get on the hold list today! The CD should arrive soon.

Sorry for the delay! This week’s installment of banned books (read last week’s here) once again features books banned or challenged in America for “interesting” reasons. This week we have:
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, challenged by the Alabama State Textbook Committee (1983) because the book was, quote, “a real downer.” Hmmm…a book about the holocaust is depressing, and they were surprised?
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts by Edna Barth, challenged in Arizona (1992) because the book “interests little minds into accepting the devil with all of his evil works.”

With the Gulf Coast in our thoughts right now, bring home a flavor of New Orleans to taste with your baby. Two books with jazz and rhyme are Jazz Baby and Charlie Parker Plays Be Bop. Try the recording Mother Goose Jazz Band featuring jazz greats including Dave Brubeck, Chuck D’Aloia, and Laurel Masse, and you've got a taste of the Big Easy in your living room.

Everyone who likes apples, bears and babies, start counting. With a book and song you like to repeat, Baby will learn to say, "Again!" Try Ten Red Apples: A Bartholomew Bear Counting Book. Learn songs to sing with Toddlers Sing Playtime and Unbearable Bears and you can sing in the car on your way to market. Don't forget to count the apples.

The Play Ground is keeping busy as the musical scene heats up in the area. On the horizon is the awesome Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival of 2005. The festival will kick off September 25-29 with student jazz combos playing free shows from 6-7:30pm at Whole Foods in Ann Arbor. In addition, on Wednesday, September 28 at 7:00 our very own Ann Arbor District Library is presenting: Concert and Discussion: Tune Up for the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival: Odessa Harris and Johnnie Bassett Sing, Play and Discuss Blues and Jazz.

Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel proprietor who sheltered more than 1,000 refugees during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and inspired Don Cheadle's Oscar-nominated performance in the 2004 feature film Hotel Rwanda, will receive the 15th University of Michigan Wallenberg Medal on October 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Power Center. For more on the Rwandan genocide, check out Sometimes in April, a critically-acclaimed HBO feature film that follows the tragic paths of one family torn apart by this same tragic event.

... and she may well have been right. Jimi Hendrix died 35 years ago today. Get to know him through his music, his famous performance at Woodstock, or one of the many biographies written about him since his death.

Or learn to play guitar and see how you measure up to one of the masters.

I guess I'm not so sure about the propriety of wishing happy birthday to someone who passed away in 1990 (Emily Post, where are you when we need you?), but the rest of us can celebrate -- today is the 100th anniversary of Greta Garbo's birth. Crack open one of her films or maybe just find out a bit more about this famous recluse. See how she fit into the studio system with the other "golden girls of MGM."

This week a batch of cool readers hit the shelf at the library. Check out the new I spys titles: I spy : 4 picture riddle books, I spy a school bus, and I spy a dinosaur's eye. For all those beginning reader Care Bear fans, we have Care Bears : 4 easy-to-read stories, and Care Bears : most valuable bear. There are also some new Margaret Hillert readers to add to our collection: Three Little Plays, Penguin, Penguin, Not too little to help : (a version of The lion and the mouse), The no-tail cat or, I like what I am, and another adventure with our favorite dragon Happy Mother's Day dear dragon.