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Jimmie Dale Gilmore Comes to The Ark

by manz

Grammy nominated Jimmie Dale Gilmore brings his country-folk bliss to The Ark in Ann Arbor on Monday, October 13 at 8pm. Rolling Stone calls him “The poet laureate of the Buddhist cowboys.” His musical influences range from Texans such as Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly to acts such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan to an array of folk artists. His most recent album, Come On Back, is what he calls “a compilation of recordings of some old songs that my dad loved. I love them too, and it is a project very dear to me.” Texas based Gilmore is not only a singer and songwriter, he is also a record producer and actor. (Including a brief role in The Big Lebowski.) Check out The Ark’s website for more details and ticket information.

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The Play Ground

by Albert

She's beautiful, smart and talented and she's coming to Ann Arbor. She was once quoted as saying she would retire when she reached the age of 45. Thankfully for us, Anne-Sophie Mutter says she was misquoted. After embarking on a major Mozart project two years ago, she now turns her attention to JS Bach. She will be playing with the Camerata Salzburg which was founded in 1952 and also has a rich tradition of musical excellence. Hill Auditorium, Sunday, October 19, 7pm.

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Census Records Explained

by Debbie G.

Census records are an invaluable tool in genealogical research but they are a tool that presents challenges for both new and seasoned genies. The Geneaolgical Society of Washtenaw County will host a lecture by genealogical masterwonk Barb Snow on Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:30 p.m. at the St. Joseph Merch Education Center Auditorium. AADL has Census records on microfilm, remotely through Heritage Quest and online at the library through AncestryPlus.

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The Play Ground

by Albert

We're feeling hip these days. A little hippy too, but that is another story. So we want to be hip and do hip things. We are thinking of going to see The Wayne Shorter Quartet and the Imani Winds at Hill. Shorter will be here to celebrate his 75th birthday. "Universally regarded as a living legend in jazz, Shorter’s great body of work as a composer for such illustrious groups as Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis’s famous quintet from the 1960s, and the fusion group Weather Report is enough to ensure him a spot in the Jazz Hall of Fame." Opening for him is The Imani Winds, an eclectic African American quintet. The two groups unite at the end of the evening as a nine-piece ensemble, covering a vast range of musical territories. Hill Auditorium, Saturday, September 27, 8 pm. NPR Feature on All Things Considered 3/2/05

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Book Finalists Chosen for Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2009

by iottJen

The theme of the 2009 Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads program is The Universe: Yours to Discover. Three books have been chosen as finalists for the community read and are available at AADL. Request the books online or visit the display in the lobby of the Downtown Library.

The three book finalists are available in alternative formats for those who are unable to read or use printed materials due to a physical disability (blindness, macular degeneration, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, dyslexia, etc.). Please contact the Library of Michigan Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 1-800-992-9012 for more information.

The finalists are:

Timothy Ferris, Seeing In The Dark: How Amateur Astonomers Are Discovering the Wonders of the Universe. New York: Simon & Schuster, c2002.

Homer Hickam, Rocket Boys: A Memoir. New York: Delacorte Pres, 1998.

Dava Sobel, The Planets. New York: Viking, 2005.

A selection committee of community leaders, librarians, and students in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area will meet in October to choose the book that will be the focus for 2009.

Community members are encouraged to visit the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti website -aaypsireads.org - and blog about their favorite of the three finalists. Committee members will be reading the blogs.

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Braaaiinninsss....

by articia

Fall is upon us and that means colder weather, cider mills, changing leaves, and Halloween! With the season of spooks nearing I thought it an appropriate time to warn you all about the upcoming invasion. That's right, on October 26th, 2008, Ann Arbor will be overrun by zombies!! No need to worry though as these zombies have better intentions and motives behind their staggering than the typical zombie. 10/26/08 is the 40th anniversary of Night of the Living Dead and World Zombie Day and to help celebrate people are asked to bring non-perishable food donations to the zombie walk. All donations for the Ann Arbor walk will be given to Ann Arbor’s food bank Food Gatherers.

The walk will start at Espresso Royale

More information and history on zombie walks is located here
More detailed information and updates about the Ann arbor Zombie walk can be found here on their myspace page
Also, check out some of our zombie materials at AADL

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The Play Ground

by Albert

We were listening to Michigan Public Radio this morning and they reported on a British play that will make its U.S debut in Ann Arbor tonight. Hmmm, we wanted to hear more. The play is called "A Disappearing Number" and it won The Olivier Awards, the British equivalent of the Tony Award for Best Play last year. It takes place near the beginning of WWI as an English mathematician receives a letter filled with mathematical theorems from a young Indian visionary whose idiosyncratic and creative approach to mathematics ultimately led to some of the most complex and beautiful mathematical patterns of all time. Intrigued we were and we called UMS for tickets. Apparently, we weren't the only ones--seats were hard to come by. Listen to the MPR report and decide for yourself-it will be at the Power Center through Sunday.

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Comic Masters Film Series Playing at the Michigan

by manz

The Comic Masters Film Series playing at the Michigan Theater features select comic works by some of Hollywood’s master comedy directors. The series is starting off with films by Woody Allen, and will eventually feature films by Mel Brooks, Blake Edwards and Hal Ashby. The remaining Allen films are Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, and Zelig. Be sure to check the theater’s website for the full schedule of all films playing by all directors between now and mid-December. (Including Young Frankenstein and Harold & Maude!) What a great way to celebrate some of our greatest directors of comedy.

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The Play Ground

by Albert

This year the University Musical Society will be providing a rich season of dance programming. First up is The Mark Morris Dance Group on September 19 and 20. This modern dance ensemble was formed in 1980 and gave its first concert that year in New York City. The company’s touring schedule steadily expanded to include Europe. MMDG is noted for its commitment to live music, a feature of every performance. Power Center, 8pm.

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What are you reading?

by Clarence Cromwell

If you're searching for a good mystery, Robin Agnew would like to make a couple of suggestions.

Robin is the vice president of the Kerrytown BookFest (which takes place this Sunday, Sept. 7). What's more, she and her husband Jamie own Aunt Agatha's, the peculiar book shop at 213 South Fourth Ave. that specializes in mystery and detective books.

They founded the store in 1992, after Jamie, also a bookworm, spent some time working for Borders, another book store that originated in Ann Arbor. The choice to sell mystery and detective fiction was natural, Robin said. She worked her way through Nancy Drew in elementary school, and in middle school she read every one of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. She's remained a mystery reader ever since.

Robin is usually on the lookout for new authors to share with other book lovers, and this year she's telling people about Cornelia Read, after being impressed with her first novel, A Field of Darkness. She emailed us last week that the book was "terrific," and the writing "beautiful."

Now, here's what she has to say about Cornelia Read's latest novel, The Crazy School:

"Cornelia Read's series character, Madeleine Dare, is a young woman from a very advantaged background who has married and lived first in Syracuse and now lives in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, where she works at a school for disturbed teenagers. Her present penny pinching lifestyle has been somewhat resolved (for her) in the first novel; this second novel is more directly concerned with her job, as the husband in question (with the interesting job of working on a device to shave railroad tracks to extend their life) is kept mainly off canvas. He fulfills the job a lot of wives had in older detective novels - he's the warm space the heroine comes home to while she figures out what's going on (he even cooks).

"In any case, while Madeleine hopes she is helping the children she works with, she's not sure, and several things about the school disturb her. It's "crazy" on more than one level, with the students probably being on the lesser end of the crazy scale. It's run by a man named David Santangelo whose main concern seems to be the helipad he's building on campus; meanwhile some of the students (who are paying the equivalent of a college tuition) are living in buildings so infested with rats it's the job of some of the students to set out poison for them every night. The teachers are all forced to go to counseling - something Madeleine sees as completely bogus, especially when one of the counselors tells her she's sure Madeleine had been abused as a child because she sits up so straight. (Obviously this counselor was never sent to ballroom dancing school).

"Madeleine becomes more involved with the students while at the same time becoming more suspicious of the administration - something that becomes even more baffling when she's offered a higher level job seemingly out of the blue. When two of the students turn up dead the rest of the school is sure it's a suicide, but Madeleine, who's pretty sure she herself has been poisoned, is certain they've been murdered. Working with an unusual group of "helpers" - and Read is able to twist and change your expectations of certain characters - she's able to find a solution to the deaths, but it comes at a high price. What Madeleine Dare might be doing in the next novel is anyone's guess, but I feel sure that after you read this book you'll want to find out what it will be."