Greyfriars Bobby on DVD

Wed, 09/12/2007 - 11:30am by manz

Here’s a touching tale that’s great for any age. A tale that's well known in Scotland, Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog is just that. Bobby is a determined and loyal pint-sized terrier living in Scotland in the 1850s. Under the care of the town’s constable he shows his loyalty and intelligence time and time again. After the constable becomes ill Bobby remains loyal to the grave of his former master and then follows the lead of a young boy named Ewan. When Bobby gets into trouble with the city, all of Edinburgh rallies to save their beloved Bobby. Talk about a feel-good and heartwarming story!

There is also a book called The ghost of Greyfriar's Bobby that tells more of the adventures of little Bobby.

Pull Up a bar stool

Tue, 09/11/2007 - 7:51pm by RiponGood

Aliens have landed and they like to hang-out in a bar in Siberia, or so Larry Niven writes in The Draco Tavern. Set in the not too distant future, the book is a collection of short stories written by Niven over almost 30 years. Rick Schumann is the owner of the Draco Tavern, where a wide assortment of aliens stop as often as a Chirpsithra liner passes through the system. If you liked the cantina scene in Star Wars, you'll love this book. We also have an audio version.

New dvd releases

Tue, 09/11/2007 - 2:57pm by Maxine

Following are descriptions of some new dvd releases on Amazon that we have at the Library. (All descriptions are from Amazon).

Friday Night Lights: First season. In the small town of Dillon, Texas, one night matters: Friday Night. Eric Taylor has recently been hired as the head football coach for the Dillon High School Panthers, the town's pride and joy. Friday Night Lights displays the stress that the town gives the high school players to win, and the hope that the team gives to a small town, and how a team has its low points, it's high points, and how they come together as a team on their way to victory.
The series is based on the book of the same name by H.G. Bissinger.

Blades of Glory. Will Ferrell makes you laugh, plain and simple. Whether he uses body movements or facial expressions, it is hard to keep from cracking up. Jon Heder does a pretty good job as the straight man and I finally see him as something other than Napoleon Dynamite... Be prepared to leave with a laughter headache. My face still hurts. (excerpted from a reader review).

Serenity. FIREFLY/SERENITY will, I believe, be viewed as critical, along with BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, in redefining film and TV Sci-fi. The two shows (and I do think of SERENITY as the final act of FIREFLY) established a new aesthetic for Sci-fi by bringing a new sense of realism along with a rejection of what could be called Magic Science for plot resolution. (excerpted from a reader review). The Firefly television series is thought of as a "prequel" to "Serenity."

Year of the Dog. Molly Shannon gives a strange and strangely touching performance in Year of the Dog. A quiet secretary named Peggy (Shannon, Superstar, Good Boy!) goes into a tailspin when her beloved dog Pencil dies, leading her to flirt with dating, veganism, animal rights activism, and violence. But though the plot may sound shapeless, the movie is sharp and focused, cutting to the bone of every character's obsessions and neuroses.

Survivor of Rwandan Holocaust to Appear

Tue, 09/11/2007 - 12:19pm by annevm

Immaculee Ilibagiza, author of Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, will be in Ann Arbor next month to speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 4 in St. Francis Catholic Church, 2250 E. Stadium. Ilibagiza and seven other women survived 91 days in their bathroom hideout in Rwanda in 1994, during a slaughter of nearly one million ethnic Tutsis in the country. The author's family members were murdered. Her book is being read and discussed by book groups at St. Francis and other churches in One Diocese, One Book. No tickets or reservations are needed for the appearance.

The Imagist Poet

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 8:20pm by Maxine

September 10 is the birthday of Hilda Doolittle one of the first of the Imagist Poets. She was born in Bethleham, Pa. in 1886. Often referred to as H.D., Doolittle was known not only as a poet but a novelist, writer of non-fiction and actress. She was friends with the ex-patriate poet, Ezra Pound who introduced her to the literati of Europe at the time. She was an admirer of Ancient Greek culture which is evident in her work. The Imagist style demands "the perfect word" and musical, lush visual language. Following is one of Doolittle's poems, "Stars Wheel in Purple," which comes close to the Imagist ideal:

Stars wheel in purple, yours is not so rare
as Hesperus, nor yet so great a star
as bright Aldeboran or Sirius,
nor yet the stained and brilliant one of War;

stars turn in purple, glorious to the sight;
yours is not gracious as the Pleiads are
nor as Orion's sapphires, luminous;

yet disenchanted, cold, imperious face,
when all the others blighted, reel and fall,
your star, steel-set, keeps lone and frigid tryst
to freighted ships, baffled in wind and blast.

Madeleine L'Engle has died

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 3:34pm by sernabad

Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, one of the most enduring children’s classics, died September 6th in Connecticut.

Publication of A Wrinkle in Time, which won the Newbery Medal, was an exercise in patience. It was rejected more than two dozen times before Farrar, Straus & Giroux published it in 1963. Alfre Woodard starred in the film version in 2004.

Ms. Engle was 88.

Queen Margot

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 3:03pm by french_film_grl

Queen Margot is an amazing historical French film based on the novel, "Marguerite De Valois", written by Alexandre Dumas. This film is set in 1572 Paris. During that medieval period in France, majority Catholics and minority Protestants were at odds. In an arranged marriage set to ease religious tensions, Catholic Queen Margot and Protestant Henri de Bourbon wed. Things do not go exactly as planned and what follows the wedding is a massacre of Protestants that have come to see Henri de Bourbon get married. This day is known in history as the infamous St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in which over six thousand Protestants were killed in the streets of Paris. After the bloody massacre carried out by the Catholics we are drawn in to a plot of allegiances, betrayals, lovers, friends, enemies, greed, and wickedness. You cannot turn away from this intense film. The acting is excellent, and the storyline full of turns. The official FFG rating for this film is 10.

Offerings at Osher

Mon, 09/10/2007 - 1:52pm by iralax

The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Michigan had its fall kickoff event on Sept. 6, and was it impressive! A large room at the Best Western was packed with hundreds of 55+ adults, signing up for lectures, study groups, and day trips to fascinating regional destinations. Dr. W. Scott Westerman, Jr. gave a spirited talk about the learning process over a lifetime and the many cultural opportunities provided in the Ann Arbor area. Two books on his reading list in the AADL collection are: The Three Pound Enigma by Shannon Moffett, and A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink.

One of my favorites

Sat, 09/08/2007 - 9:40am by RiponGood

My love of fantasy stories started at an early age. One series that really captured my imagination was Xanth by Piers Anthony. The first story is A Spell for Chameleon about a young man named Bink, a woman named Chameleon, and the evil Magician Trent.

In the land of Xanth, each person must hae a magical power or become exiled to Mundania. Unfortunately, Bink doesn't know what his power is so he must travel to visit Good Magician Humfrey to discover what it is. Thus begins one of the best fantasy series ever written.