"Take a dash of Ogden Nash. Add a smear of Edward Lear. Toss in a Beatles news conference circa 1964, a sprinkle of Elvis Costello, four media-saturated childhoods and a splash of Monty Python. Garnish with a deep sense of concern about the world. Cultivate in Canada. Mix well" -Ted Anthony, AP National Writer

"{Moxy Fruvous} sound like the Roches meet XTC at a party thrown by Camper Van Beethoven for Robyn Hitchcock's marriage to Cole Porter with They Might Be Giants as wedding band and Tom Lehrer acting as minister, but just as everyone starts singing old Queen songs, the party is crashed by the entire cast of The Muppet Show. Moxy Fruvous is that good." -Dave Anderson writer for 'The Octopus', Champaign, Illinois

Based on the novel of the same title by Sarah Waters, the three-part BBC production of Tipping the Velvet brings the lesbian underground of Victorian England to vivid and moving life. Eighteen-year-old Nancy Astley is an oyster girl in search of herself and and the deeper truths of love. We follow Nan's adventures through the 1880's London Music Hall scene, decadent sapphist lairs of the lesbian elite, bitter back alleys, and the warm homelife of early labour movement organizers. With a screenplay by Andrew Davies (of Bridget Jones's Diary fame), viewers are swept away into a world of lush life, harsh realities and passionate tenderness.

Ann Arbor communications consultant, John Baldoni, is the author of several books on leadership including his most recent, Great Motivation Secret of Great Leaders. Using a variety of historical and contemporary individuals as examples to illustrate key aspects of motivation, Baldoni examines how leaders energize, encourage and exhort individuals and teams to achieve success. Baldoni spoke last year at one of the Library’s ‘Sunday Edition’ lecture programs on his previous book Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders. A video of that program will be broadcast on Ann Arbor’s Community Access Channel 17 on September 13 (3:30 pm), September 15(1:30 pm), September 16 (5:00 pm) and September 17 (1:30 pm). A videotape of his presentation is also available from the library.

I just read the most exciting book the other day. It is called Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz. It is about a boy named Alex Rider, who finds out that his recently mysteriously deceased uncle was a spy for British Intelligence, MI6. He is quickly sucked in by MI6 to finish what his uncle started. To find out what happens when a 14-year-old boy suddenly has to uncover an evil plot having to do with lab top computers and biological warfare that could kill all of the children in England, you have to read the book, OR see the movie. That’s right, if you are an Alex Rider fan, the movie Stormbreaker is in production right now. Also catch Anthony Horowitz’s new series The Gatekeepers. The first book, Raven’s Gate, is in the library now.

Producers of the James Bond franchise recently informed actor Pierce Brosnan that his services were no longer required. It seems as though just about every working male actor on the planet has been mentioned as a possible replacement, including Ewan McGregor and Clive Owen, but no one seems to fit the role like Brosnan did. Who do you think should be the next actor to utter the words, "Bond, James Bond?"

Meanwhile, if you're a Bond fan, you'll want to check out The James Bond Story, a documentary about the history of the man and the films.

As you might glean from the title, Eulogy is a comedy of the darkest sort. A feuding family returns home and and attempts to reconnect after the death of the patriarch. Long-forgotten family secrets and quarrels are rehashed, but don't prepare the family for the shocking truth they are about to encounter. Fans of filmmaker Wes Anderson will love this spastically funny, low-budget comedy. The ensemble cast includes Hank Azaria, Zooey Deschanel, Famke Janssen, Kelly Preston, Ray Romano and Debra Winger.

The terrible disaster that struck the Gulf coast has been holding my attention for the last few days. Here are a few websites that might be of interest for people tired of watching endless hours of CNN, but eager for more information.

Craiglist Help for Katrina Survivors

Disaster Preparedness

Public Health Impact of Hurricanes

Federal Disaster Assitance

UPDATE: Housing Katrina Victims
Librarian's Index to the Internet Guide to Katrina Websites and Information

If you want a good chuckle to fight off the back-to-school blues, meet Mrs. Rosemary, the best teacher Donald Davis ever had. And while you are at it, tap along with the hilarious Down in the Backpack, by Bill Harley. These two amazing tellers remind us that some of our most outrageous stories come from school.

Ellington Was Not a Street is based on the poem Mood Indigo by Ntozake Shange. This winner of the 2005 Corretta Scott King Illustrator award takes me back to my home Harlem, New York. A beautifully illustrated tribute to great men like Duke Ellington, Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Dubois who once walked the streets that now bear their names.

The New York Times calls it “riveting”, a “meticulous dissection of the Enron story.” Kurt Eichenwald weaves together the stories of Enron’s top executives in the years and months leading up to the startling collapse of “America’s best-managed company.”