Overall, I love audiobooks and generally rave about them. They make long trips much more enjoyable, and even the commute to and from work, or one of the many activities my kids are engaged in, more entertaining. Plus, I am "reading" works of literature that I doubt I would otherwise have found the time to begin, much less complete.
But there is a flaw in the audiobook appeal-- most of the books are read by a small number of narrators, a few hundred or so. Consequently, eventually you will hear a voice you have heard before reading to you. This isn't necessarily bad, but it is disconcerting. For example, I am currently listening to Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which is fairly entertaining, but by no means a great book. It is being read by Richard Poe (one of the most common and popular of audiobook readers), who does a good job with the material. The problem is that the last book I heard Poe read was John Steinbeck's East of Eden.
Now, Dan Brown is a pretty good author with a knack for intrigue and puzzles. But he is not, by any stretch of the imagination, in the same league as John Steinbeck. Yet, hearing Poe's voice still brings back images and recollections of East of Eden and it takes a little bit of adjusting for me to shift gears to Angels and Demons. I suppose this is a testament to the quality and lasting resonance of Steinbeck's work, but it is still... weird.
So, a minor rant against... well, what? I'm not sure exactly. But whatever it is, I wish it would stop.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Diva's Still Got Game
Got give credit to Brett Favre. He can still play and the Vikings look very good.
That said, if he still played behind the Packers Offensive (and it is pretty offensive) line, he'd probably be dead now. That unit is awful. I believe Ted Thompson made the right call on moving forward with Aaron Rodgers despite the fact that Brett's skills clearly haven't deteriorated that much.
That said, I think Ted Thompson has done a lousy job of making sure our offensive line is both talented and deep. At this point, it is neither. Similarly, the defensive line. Not as bad as the O-line, but part of the appeal of the 3-4 was supposed to be a more effective pass rush. How's that been working out for us? Anybody seen ANY pass rush, much less an effective one?
Not too early to panic, but there is an old football adage that games are won and lost in the trenches, which is to say, on the offensive and defensive lines. Which is not terribly reassuring. As always, Gregg Easterbrook's take on the NFL is definitely worth a read-- and though he gives credit where credit is due to the diva, his overall take on Favre and the amount of attention he gets (and craves) is spot on, in my opinion.
That said, if he still played behind the Packers Offensive (and it is pretty offensive) line, he'd probably be dead now. That unit is awful. I believe Ted Thompson made the right call on moving forward with Aaron Rodgers despite the fact that Brett's skills clearly haven't deteriorated that much.
That said, I think Ted Thompson has done a lousy job of making sure our offensive line is both talented and deep. At this point, it is neither. Similarly, the defensive line. Not as bad as the O-line, but part of the appeal of the 3-4 was supposed to be a more effective pass rush. How's that been working out for us? Anybody seen ANY pass rush, much less an effective one?
Not too early to panic, but there is an old football adage that games are won and lost in the trenches, which is to say, on the offensive and defensive lines. Which is not terribly reassuring. As always, Gregg Easterbrook's take on the NFL is definitely worth a read-- and though he gives credit where credit is due to the diva, his overall take on Favre and the amount of attention he gets (and craves) is spot on, in my opinion.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Return of the Diva
So, there's this football game you might have heard about coming up Monday. Vikings vs. the Pack, with some old dude quarterbacking the Vikings. Not looking forward to the non-stop hype this weekend.
Should be a good game, though, and I really think the Packers will win-- if for no other reason than that the Vikings hired Mr. Noodle from Sesame Street to be their coach.
And though I don't want Brett to get hurt, I wouldn't be at all upset if he were to play really, really awfully. A Pick-6 to Woodson or Harris would be a nice finishing touch, really.
For football news that only briefly touches on Brett Favre, check out this week's Tuesday Morning Quarterback. For my money, still the best weekly football essay out there. With a free, and clearly explained, global warming analysis to boot!
Meanwhile, the Brewers continue their long fade back into the depths of mediocrity and the Badgers look to continue their strong start to the season. And the leaves are changing. I guess fall is here!
Should be a good game, though, and I really think the Packers will win-- if for no other reason than that the Vikings hired Mr. Noodle from Sesame Street to be their coach.
And though I don't want Brett to get hurt, I wouldn't be at all upset if he were to play really, really awfully. A Pick-6 to Woodson or Harris would be a nice finishing touch, really.For football news that only briefly touches on Brett Favre, check out this week's Tuesday Morning Quarterback. For my money, still the best weekly football essay out there. With a free, and clearly explained, global warming analysis to boot!
Meanwhile, the Brewers continue their long fade back into the depths of mediocrity and the Badgers look to continue their strong start to the season. And the leaves are changing. I guess fall is here!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
TTDNTMiLS #6: Buildings and Grounds
The property the library actually occupies was rarely, if ever, mentioned in library school. Shelves, desks, reading areas, study rooms, meeting rooms, and many more interior aspects of a library were discussed, but the outside... not so much. Consequently, upon becoming Director of the fine Mukwonago Community Library, I was surprised to learn that I was not only responsible for the inside of the library (including, restrooms, HVAC units, wiring, light bulbs and... well, you get the idea), but that I was also responsible for the outside of the library.
Now, the village does do our lawn mowing and snow removal and they do help with many other routine maintenance tasks, but they don't help with garbage enclosures.
Honestly, I had never once thought about garbage enclosures at libraries before becoming the director of one. But we all have them, and they need to maintained and updated just like everything else. So, we're in the process of getting a new enclosure. The old one was too small, too rickety, and hard to access for both the staff and the disposal guys.
The new one, by comparison, is a virtual mansion. Over twice as large, much sturdier
and much easier to access. Plus, it will be comparatively inexpensive because the industrial arts program at the Mukwonago High School is providing us with the labor needed, meaning the only cost is the materials themselves. Good experience for some enterprising students and a lower cost for us-- super!
Another thing they never talked about in library school: landscaping. Fortunately, our entirely volunteer Garden Committee does most of this for us, and they do it exceptionally well. Here are a few samples of their work:
Now, the village does do our lawn mowing and snow removal and they do help with many other routine maintenance tasks, but they don't help with garbage enclosures.
Honestly, I had never once thought about garbage enclosures at libraries before becoming the director of one. But we all have them, and they need to maintained and updated just like everything else. So, we're in the process of getting a new enclosure. The old one was too small, too rickety, and hard to access for both the staff and the disposal guys.The new one, by comparison, is a virtual mansion. Over twice as large, much sturdier
and much easier to access. Plus, it will be comparatively inexpensive because the industrial arts program at the Mukwonago High School is providing us with the labor needed, meaning the only cost is the materials themselves. Good experience for some enterprising students and a lower cost for us-- super!Another thing they never talked about in library school: landscaping. Fortunately, our entirely volunteer Garden Committee does most of this for us, and they do it exceptionally well. Here are a few samples of their work:
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Economic Impact of Libraries
Many people love their local library. We love the books. We love the smell. We love the movies and the programs and the computer access and the magazines. We love studying there, researching there, and going to storytimes and other programs there. For us, the library is a wondrous place, full of fun, full of adventure, full of opportunity.
But what about those folks in the community who don’t love, or even use, the library? It’s important to for them to know just how valuable a good local library really is—not just in societal or cultural terms, but in cold, hard economic terms. A recent survey we conducted indicates that over 90% of the people that visit the Mukwonago library do other shopping and business within the village during their trips to the library. Additionally, in a 2007 survey of Wisconsin residents, 29.7% of respondents list access to a good library as a strong factor in deciding where to live. Another 31.7% list it as a contributing factor—nearly two-thirds of those surveyed consider the local library in deciding where to live.
Finally, it should be noted that the Mukwonago Community Library is not only an economic asset for the community, it is also an incredibly efficient municipal entity. We have the lowest cost per circulation in the county and among the lowest in the country. For every tax dollar that goes to the library, nearly six dollars worth of materials and services are made available to our patrons. So tell everyone you know how economically valuable the library is!
But what about those folks in the community who don’t love, or even use, the library? It’s important to for them to know just how valuable a good local library really is—not just in societal or cultural terms, but in cold, hard economic terms. A recent survey we conducted indicates that over 90% of the people that visit the Mukwonago library do other shopping and business within the village during their trips to the library. Additionally, in a 2007 survey of Wisconsin residents, 29.7% of respondents list access to a good library as a strong factor in deciding where to live. Another 31.7% list it as a contributing factor—nearly two-thirds of those surveyed consider the local library in deciding where to live.
Finally, it should be noted that the Mukwonago Community Library is not only an economic asset for the community, it is also an incredibly efficient municipal entity. We have the lowest cost per circulation in the county and among the lowest in the country. For every tax dollar that goes to the library, nearly six dollars worth of materials and services are made available to our patrons. So tell everyone you know how economically valuable the library is!
Monday, September 28, 2009
We're on Facebook
The Library has three places to visit us on Facebook. There's the main Library page, plus both our Adult Services and our Teen Territory departments have joined the web 2.o revolution. Not tons of content as of yet, but we're working on it. Join our legions of fans! Okay, okay, join our dozens of friends.
Plus, I have a profile there now, too.
If you're a Facebook fanatic (or even casual user), check us out, write something on our walls, let us know what you think. Photos and other stuff to come.
Plus, I have a profile there now, too.
If you're a Facebook fanatic (or even casual user), check us out, write something on our walls, let us know what you think. Photos and other stuff to come.
The Dogs Are Back In Town
Actually, they never left, but just as a reminder-- the library now has four therapy dogs that stop in for our Paws to Read program. The dogs are excellent listeners, providing a safe, non-judgmental audience for young kids unsure of their reading skills or older folks learning English as their second (or third) language. We have Scooby the Golden Retriever here from 7-8 pm on Monday Oct. 5 & 19, Navarre the Samoyed here from 7-8 on Tuesday Oct. 6 & 20, B.J. the Rottweiller from 6-7 pm on Wednesday Oct. 14 & 28, and Cinnamon the Afghan Hound on Thursday Oct. 15.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Disturbing... Yet Funny
In one sense, this article in The New Scientist is profoundly disturbing. That papers should be published, thus tacitly endorsed as scientific and accurate, that are complete gibberish is worrisome. As is the trend of charging authors to publish their work-- as noted in the article, the very definition of vanity publishing, and it certainly does not reflect well on the potential validity of such "science".
But the actual submission is really amusing. I think my favorite line from the "paper" is this one: "On a similar note, we show a novel application for the study of semaphores in Figure 1." Semaphores, you say? Wow, that actually sounds a lot like Terry Pratchett's satirizing of the World Wide Web in recent Discworld books. Gotta love a good semaphore.
The whole thing is a hoot. Another high point is the opening to the Implementation portion of the paper:
But the actual submission is really amusing. I think my favorite line from the "paper" is this one: "On a similar note, we show a novel application for the study of semaphores in Figure 1." Semaphores, you say? Wow, that actually sounds a lot like Terry Pratchett's satirizing of the World Wide Web in recent Discworld books. Gotta love a good semaphore.
The whole thing is a hoot. Another high point is the opening to the Implementation portion of the paper:
Our implementation of our methodology is pseudorandom, wearable, and collaborative. We have not yet implemented the centralized logging facility, asAbsolutely love a wearable implementation. It's an experiment and a stylish, yet comfy garment! What more could you ask for?
this is the least private component of our method.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Rant or Rave: The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic is Terry Pratchett's very first Discworld novel. There have been more than 30 since that one. I love them all. They very in their flavor and overall enjoyability, but that range is from good to absolutely fantastic. At his best, Pratchett is in my top five favoritest authors. At his worst, he is still better than the majority of authors I have read in my life. Oh, and as you might guess from the spelling, he is British.
But this isn't a Rant or Rave about the book, which is frankly one of the weakest of the Discworld books, but of the made for TV movie of the book, also British. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I haven't read the book in many years, so my enjoyment wasn't overly colored by my perception of the movie's "accuracy", but it definitely captured the feel of Pratchett's world and it's overall satiric and ironic over- and undertones.
The heart and soul of the Color of Magic (American spelling) is the Luggage, Twoflowers and Rincewind. And the movie pretty well nails all of those quite nicely. The acting is very good, the CGI and other effects are good, occassionally great, and the script and pacing work quite well.
So, a big rave for The Colour of Magic. An even bigger rave for Terry Pratchett and the Discworld books. If you haven't read them and enjoy British humor (along the lines of Monty Python or, perhaps, Eddie Izzard), then I strongly recommend them to you. They are all extremely funny, and the best of them are also highly satiric, lampooning such things as Death, the Cinema, Anthropology and Mythology, Economics, Race Relations, Police forces, Art, Music, War, and... well, probably a little bit of everything else as well.
But this isn't a Rant or Rave about the book, which is frankly one of the weakest of the Discworld books, but of the made for TV movie of the book, also British. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I haven't read the book in many years, so my enjoyment wasn't overly colored by my perception of the movie's "accuracy", but it definitely captured the feel of Pratchett's world and it's overall satiric and ironic over- and undertones.
The heart and soul of the Color of Magic (American spelling) is the Luggage, Twoflowers and Rincewind. And the movie pretty well nails all of those quite nicely. The acting is very good, the CGI and other effects are good, occassionally great, and the script and pacing work quite well.
So, a big rave for The Colour of Magic. An even bigger rave for Terry Pratchett and the Discworld books. If you haven't read them and enjoy British humor (along the lines of Monty Python or, perhaps, Eddie Izzard), then I strongly recommend them to you. They are all extremely funny, and the best of them are also highly satiric, lampooning such things as Death, the Cinema, Anthropology and Mythology, Economics, Race Relations, Police forces, Art, Music, War, and... well, probably a little bit of everything else as well.
Monday, September 21, 2009
About That Poll...
Initially I was discouraged by the results of the poll in last week’s Mukwonago Chief, but a few things reassured me. First, it was only 125 votes, hardly representative of the Mukwonago community. Second, online polls are notoriously imprecise and, as noted in The Chief, unscientific. But here’s the most interesting fact about it—it is still open. Go to http://www.livinglakecountry.com/polls/56715842.html and you can still vote. As I write this entry, the vote had changed considerably—55% in favor and 45% opposed, with 215 total votes. So, a huge thank you to everyone that voted in favor of expansion. We have a tremendous library, but it is too small and too old to best serve the community. We need study rooms for all our students, traditional and returning; we need another, a larger meeting room to meet the needs of our growing, inter-connected community; we really need a bigger, separate children's area so that kids can be kids (with apologies to Chuck E. Cheese) and have some fun while they read and learn at the library; and we need more shelves to hold our collection, so that we don't have to pull a book off the shelves every time we add a new one.A Slightly Different Poll
The library surveyed 265 of our patrons two weeks ago, and 83% of them shop or run other errands as part of going to the library. This number is even higher for out of village patrons, with nearly 95% doing other things in the village when they visit the library-- shopping at the grocery store, visiting the pharmacy, eating lunch at one of the many restaurants and fast food joints in town, going to Ace Hardware or Home Depot, etc., etc. Which reassures me that the library is a strong component not only of the social and cultural life of Mukwonago, but also of its economic well-being.If the library doesn't expand and the inevitable age and space constraints begin to take their toll on our ability to serve this community, we could easily start to lose our patrons to other libraries. And if they go to another library to meet their information, reading, viewing and other library needs, they'll go to some other community's grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, bike shops, hardware stores... well, you get the idea.
The library surveyed 265 of our patrons two weeks ago, and 83% of them shop or run other errands as part of going to the library. This number is even higher for out of village patrons, with nearly 95% doing other things in the village when they visit the library-- shopping at the grocery store, visiting the pharmacy, eating lunch at one of the many restaurants and fast food joints in town, going to Ace Hardware or Home Depot, etc., etc. Which reassures me that the library is a strong component not only of the social and cultural life of Mukwonago, but also of its economic well-being.If the library doesn't expand and the inevitable age and space constraints begin to take their toll on our ability to serve this community, we could easily start to lose our patrons to other libraries. And if they go to another library to meet their information, reading, viewing and other library needs, they'll go to some other community's grocery stores, gas stations, drug stores, restaurants, bike shops, hardware stores... well, you get the idea.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Rant or Rave: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
I enjoyed the Harry Potter series quite a bit. I don't fully embrace them as enthusiastically as some, and exactly why Harry was such a HUUUUGGGEEE hit is still unclear to me, but they are very well written, the characters develop extremely well during the series and the general tone and character of the books got better as they went along.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book #6, was probably my favorite of the series. I loved the gradual revealing of Voldemort's past, the interaction of Harry with Dumbledore, and the ending was absolutely riveting.
But I approached the movie version of the book with considerable reluctance. Overall, the movies had failed to live up to the books. Not that surprising, most movies fail to live up to their books, but the thing that always made the Potter movies at least pretty good representations of their written originals was the absolutely terrific casting of the movies. With one, glaring exception. When Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore in movie three after the death of Richard Harris, that casting went from just about perfect to pretty darn poor.
Gambon never fit the role in movies 3, 4 and 5, alternating between abrasive arrogance and fidgeting impatience. He never conveyed the sense of quiet confidence and compassion that is so central to the Dumbledore personae and which Harris achieved seemingly effortlessly.
Which was the central reason for my concern over movie #6. The Half-Blood Prince involves Dumbledore far more often, and more signficantly, than any of the previous books. With that in mind, and my serious reservations over the casting of Gambon as Dumbledore, I really wasn't expecting much from the movie.
So I put off going to The Half-Blood Prince but this past weekend, finally broke down and went to see it. I was pleasantly surprised when Gambon seemed rather more like Dumbledore than I had ever imagined possible. He was actually quite good in the role. And the movie itself found a good pacing, rolling in enough of the multiple plot lines of the book to make it a rich experience without losing the overall flow of the story. The cinematography reflected the darker, more somber atmosphere of the sereis by book number six, but there was enough of the book's good humor to leaven the darkness and dread. As always, the acting was stupendous.
And then came the finale. And I was sooooo disappointed. The rest of the movie had well captured the tone and tenor of the book, so by the time the climax came around, my initially lowered expectations had begun to rise. This was a good movie, one that was not always "true" to the book in literal terms, but was a very good big screen adaptation of it, along the lines of Peter Jackson's treatment of The Lord of the Rings.
So, I was really looking forward to the conclusion since, as I mentioned above, I thought the ending to book six was just riveting. But they CHANGED it. I won't go into detail, but I can't figure out WHY. There was no reason to do it, and the changes they made weren't insignificant ones. Rather, they were substantial changes, and not a single one of them made the movie better. Dreadfully disappointed.
Rant or Rave? I really liked the first 90 or 95% of the movie. Big raves for it, with only a few minor complaints. But the ending... urgh. I left the theater thinking, "Boy that could have been a really, really good movie. Why'd they have to screw it up at the end?" So, a big rant against the changes made, for no discernably good reason, at the end.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book #6, was probably my favorite of the series. I loved the gradual revealing of Voldemort's past, the interaction of Harry with Dumbledore, and the ending was absolutely riveting.
But I approached the movie version of the book with considerable reluctance. Overall, the movies had failed to live up to the books. Not that surprising, most movies fail to live up to their books, but the thing that always made the Potter movies at least pretty good representations of their written originals was the absolutely terrific casting of the movies. With one, glaring exception. When Michael Gambon took over the role of Dumbledore in movie three after the death of Richard Harris, that casting went from just about perfect to pretty darn poor.
Gambon never fit the role in movies 3, 4 and 5, alternating between abrasive arrogance and fidgeting impatience. He never conveyed the sense of quiet confidence and compassion that is so central to the Dumbledore personae and which Harris achieved seemingly effortlessly.
Which was the central reason for my concern over movie #6. The Half-Blood Prince involves Dumbledore far more often, and more signficantly, than any of the previous books. With that in mind, and my serious reservations over the casting of Gambon as Dumbledore, I really wasn't expecting much from the movie.
So I put off going to The Half-Blood Prince but this past weekend, finally broke down and went to see it. I was pleasantly surprised when Gambon seemed rather more like Dumbledore than I had ever imagined possible. He was actually quite good in the role. And the movie itself found a good pacing, rolling in enough of the multiple plot lines of the book to make it a rich experience without losing the overall flow of the story. The cinematography reflected the darker, more somber atmosphere of the sereis by book number six, but there was enough of the book's good humor to leaven the darkness and dread. As always, the acting was stupendous.
And then came the finale. And I was sooooo disappointed. The rest of the movie had well captured the tone and tenor of the book, so by the time the climax came around, my initially lowered expectations had begun to rise. This was a good movie, one that was not always "true" to the book in literal terms, but was a very good big screen adaptation of it, along the lines of Peter Jackson's treatment of The Lord of the Rings.
So, I was really looking forward to the conclusion since, as I mentioned above, I thought the ending to book six was just riveting. But they CHANGED it. I won't go into detail, but I can't figure out WHY. There was no reason to do it, and the changes they made weren't insignificant ones. Rather, they were substantial changes, and not a single one of them made the movie better. Dreadfully disappointed.
Rant or Rave? I really liked the first 90 or 95% of the movie. Big raves for it, with only a few minor complaints. But the ending... urgh. I left the theater thinking, "Boy that could have been a really, really good movie. Why'd they have to screw it up at the end?" So, a big rant against the changes made, for no discernably good reason, at the end.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Are You Ready for some Football?!
Okay, okay, this is pretty much completely un-library related, but I am a passionate sports fan and have been an enthusiastic Packer backer for my entire life. With that comes a life-long disdain for the Chicago Bears. So, Sunday night's hard fought, frequently ugly but ultimately beautifully ending 21-15 victory over the Bears was a fine, fine event.
What was most encouraging was that they managed to pull out a close game-- the Packers lost 7 games last year by 4 or less points-- and the defense looked good. Really good. Granted, the Bears offense isn't going to remind anyone of the brilliant San Francisco 49'ers offense under Bill Walsh, but they should be at least average this year.
Also encouraging is the fact that they won even with Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver having off nights. Rodgers got rattled a bit early when his right tackle kept wiffing on protecting him from getting smacked by 260 pound Adewale Ogunleye, and Driver dropped a couple of tough passes, but the type he nearly always catches despite their difficulty.
In addition to the football itself, the return of the NFL also signals the return of one of my very mostest, favoritist, bestest sports writers, Gregg Easterbrook, and his always interesting, often funny, and usually very enlightening weekly column, Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Can the 2009 Packers bring the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin? I sure hope so-- and I'm looking forward to watching the attempt, one week at a time.
What was most encouraging was that they managed to pull out a close game-- the Packers lost 7 games last year by 4 or less points-- and the defense looked good. Really good. Granted, the Bears offense isn't going to remind anyone of the brilliant San Francisco 49'ers offense under Bill Walsh, but they should be at least average this year.
Also encouraging is the fact that they won even with Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver having off nights. Rodgers got rattled a bit early when his right tackle kept wiffing on protecting him from getting smacked by 260 pound Adewale Ogunleye, and Driver dropped a couple of tough passes, but the type he nearly always catches despite their difficulty.
In addition to the football itself, the return of the NFL also signals the return of one of my very mostest, favoritist, bestest sports writers, Gregg Easterbrook, and his always interesting, often funny, and usually very enlightening weekly column, Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Can the 2009 Packers bring the Lombardi trophy back to Wisconsin? I sure hope so-- and I'm looking forward to watching the attempt, one week at a time.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Guitar Hero: Bassoon Edition
Okay, not really. But this little gem of a YouTube video does capture what classical music might be like on Guitar Hero or Rock Band. It is fascinating to watch, and really gives you a sense of the depth and richness of that most famous of all symphony openings. How Beethoven managed to hold all that in his head is amazing. But then, I suppose most geniuses are amazing in their realms of expertise.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Workshop Completed
We had our second two-day workshop with Uihlein-Wilson Architects yesterday and Tuesday. Very good sessions, lots of information. I'll try to post a more substanative summary in the near future, but there is a lot to digest. Sorry for the light blogging. Okay, non-existent blogging.
To fill the void a little, what could be more appropriate than celestial bodies in the void of space.
Perfect:
These are only a few of the amazing images you can view at the Hubble Site. If you like space, the final frontier, you can spend much happy time at the Hubble web page.
To fill the void a little, what could be more appropriate than celestial bodies in the void of space.
Perfect:
These are only a few of the amazing images you can view at the Hubble Site. If you like space, the final frontier, you can spend much happy time at the Hubble web page.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
When did Monopoly become a franchise? Even more peculiar, when did Scrabble? I stopped at Toys R Us with my son tonight, and I couldn't believe how many variations of Monopoly and Scrabble they had. No exaggeration: 16 versions of Monopoly and 10 versions of Scrabble. Star Wars Monopoly, Classic Monopoly, Monopoly Jr., Dog Monopoly, Travel Monopoly, New and Improved Monopoly with fully Irridiated Chance Cards (ok, maybe not, but sheeeesh).
Several versions of Operation, including a Hulk version. A new and improved Game of Life. Three or four different Risk variations, Disney Sorry, Simpsons Clue.
Apparently the major toy manufacturers have totally run out of ideas for games and are simply sticking other merchandising properties onto existing games. How pathetic.
Fortunately, there are some good games out there. They are more expensive, take longer to play and you have to go to a speciality game store or buy online to get them, but they are out there. I happened to like the Empire Builder series, but the Formula Deux racing games, Settlers of Catan and other Mayfair Games and Steve Jackson Games offerings are a lot of fun.
Actually, this fall or winter, I hope to start a game evening at the library to highlight some of these great games. They really are a lot of fun. Stay tuned!
Several versions of Operation, including a Hulk version. A new and improved Game of Life. Three or four different Risk variations, Disney Sorry, Simpsons Clue.
Apparently the major toy manufacturers have totally run out of ideas for games and are simply sticking other merchandising properties onto existing games. How pathetic.
Fortunately, there are some good games out there. They are more expensive, take longer to play and you have to go to a speciality game store or buy online to get them, but they are out there. I happened to like the Empire Builder series, but the Formula Deux racing games, Settlers of Catan and other Mayfair Games and Steve Jackson Games offerings are a lot of fun.
Actually, this fall or winter, I hope to start a game evening at the library to highlight some of these great games. They really are a lot of fun. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
School's In For Autumn II, Humor Edition
Doesn't seem like summer can be over, but there you have it. Part of the problem is that it rarely got warm enough to seem like summer. Which was great in many ways-- I'm a big fan of temps in the 70s and lower humidity, but June, July and August really did feel more like an extended spring rather than actual mid-summer.
At any rate, if you now have some more time on your hands with the kiddies off to school, feel free to waste some time at the Museum of Animal Perspectives' flickr site. Truly a mind-bending experience-- who would have thought sticking a camera on an animal's head or back could be so fascinating?
At any rate, if you now have some more time on your hands with the kiddies off to school, feel free to waste some time at the Museum of Animal Perspectives' flickr site. Truly a mind-bending experience-- who would have thought sticking a camera on an animal's head or back could be so fascinating?
Friday, August 28, 2009
School's In for Autumn
With apologies to Alice Cooper, it appears that school was not out forever. In fact, it is just around the corner. As children sigh and parents rejoice, I'll just remind everyone that the library is a tremendous resource for students and their parents. Not only do we have great books and magazine, but also so outstanding online resources available at home. All you need is your library card.
To highlight just one such resource: Britannica Online provides a wealth of information on a variety of school topics including: Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. It also includes an online dictionary, atlas, in-depth analysis of countries around the globe, and a continually updated news feed from the BBC News and other sources. As a bonus, there is a search function that allows you to look up particular topics of interest with a pretty good result in most instances.
Additionally, the website is actually subdivided into age appropriate resources for Elementary, Middle, and High schoolers. The default is to the High School page, so if you want to explore the Elementary or Middle School pages, you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the front page and click on the Elementary or Middle School "buttons".
To highlight just one such resource: Britannica Online provides a wealth of information on a variety of school topics including: Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. It also includes an online dictionary, atlas, in-depth analysis of countries around the globe, and a continually updated news feed from the BBC News and other sources. As a bonus, there is a search function that allows you to look up particular topics of interest with a pretty good result in most instances.
Additionally, the website is actually subdivided into age appropriate resources for Elementary, Middle, and High schoolers. The default is to the High School page, so if you want to explore the Elementary or Middle School pages, you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the front page and click on the Elementary or Middle School "buttons".
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Meet Dewey Renew
Dewey isn't real, but he is cute. He's joined the library for a short time to tell everyone about the importance of renewing their library materials. If your materials are due, please return them or renew them-- you can do it online, by calling us, or by stopping into the library. This is particularly important now because beginning Monday, October 5, the library will begin charging fines on overdue children's material.
The renewal periods and fines will be the same for children's materials as they are for adult materials. As Dewey says, "Don't delay, renew today!"
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Rant or Rave: Inkheart
It is a truism that movies from books are never as good as the book. There are a few that come close, The Lord of the Rings being the shining example, but even there the books outstrip the movies despite the excellence of the films. Inkheart is not the exception to the rule. I will throw out a big rave for the book-- it is an intriguing and extremely well-written book-- but the movie... not so much. As a frame of reference, the key and intriguing plot device for the book and its sequels is the ability of a few rare individuals to actually read things out of a book-- people, animals, items, etc.
Actually, Inkheart's not a bad movie, so I wouldn't say I was ranting against it. Actually, it's a rather entertaining movie, which I can say with some confidence because I saw it without having read the book and thought it was pretty good. But its downfall is trying to be a film version of an extremely good, somewhat iconic book. Were the movie a standalone creation it would be fairly entertaining, reasonably well crafted and pretty well acted.
But it IS based on a book, yet some of the key bits in the movie NEVER happen in the book and, in fact, actually run counter to what happens in the book. The chief example of this (spoiler alert for the movie) is when, in the movie, one of the main characters reads aloud from The Wizard of Oz and brings the tornado OUT of the book, thereby freeing them from captivity in a dangerous and spectacular manner. It's a good scene and fun to watch.
It is also completely and without exception NOT in the book, Inkheart. Nothing remotely like this is in the book. So, it's a bit of stretch to have a key event in the movie center on something that is made up out of whole cloth.
So, best case scenario, watch the movie before reading the book. This is what I did and I found the movie entertaining, though certainly not great. Fun and entertaining. Then read the book and appreciate just how much better it is than the movie. Alternatively, if you have already read the book but not seen the movie, check it out but realize going in that it is NOT going to be a visual rendition of the book you love so much as it is a fun story utilizing many of the same elements of the book you love.
Actually, Inkheart's not a bad movie, so I wouldn't say I was ranting against it. Actually, it's a rather entertaining movie, which I can say with some confidence because I saw it without having read the book and thought it was pretty good. But its downfall is trying to be a film version of an extremely good, somewhat iconic book. Were the movie a standalone creation it would be fairly entertaining, reasonably well crafted and pretty well acted.
But it IS based on a book, yet some of the key bits in the movie NEVER happen in the book and, in fact, actually run counter to what happens in the book. The chief example of this (spoiler alert for the movie) is when, in the movie, one of the main characters reads aloud from The Wizard of Oz and brings the tornado OUT of the book, thereby freeing them from captivity in a dangerous and spectacular manner. It's a good scene and fun to watch.
It is also completely and without exception NOT in the book, Inkheart. Nothing remotely like this is in the book. So, it's a bit of stretch to have a key event in the movie center on something that is made up out of whole cloth.
So, best case scenario, watch the movie before reading the book. This is what I did and I found the movie entertaining, though certainly not great. Fun and entertaining. Then read the book and appreciate just how much better it is than the movie. Alternatively, if you have already read the book but not seen the movie, check it out but realize going in that it is NOT going to be a visual rendition of the book you love so much as it is a fun story utilizing many of the same elements of the book you love.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Phew!
Apologies for the lack of blogging over the last 10 days. Things have been a bit busy here at the Mukwonago Community Library, but I hate leaving big holes in the blogosphere.
Last week Wednesday and Thursday, our architects were in the house to hear from the community on its needs, wants and concerns. We had a number of very good sessions and I think they went back to their offices with a full quota of information and feedback to digest. At the next workshop, September 8 & 9, they will be presenting a variety of different approaches to the expansion question, along with the pros and cons, and then seek further feedback on which of the proposals strike a chord, which are duds, and what elements of each spark the most positive response.
On Friday of last week, we recognized the fine work of our two high school senior artists, Anna Boelck and Jessica Schreib, for creating the beautiful Giving Tree in the lobby. The leaves on the tree recognize all of the generous individuals and businesses that have donated to the expansion fund to date-- so as we begin fundraising in the near future, we're looking to add still more leaves to our tree. The Library Board and the Friends of the Library both came out to thank the artists for creating a lovely work of art that will grace our lobby for many years to come.
Monday and Tuesday were catching up days, as the staff "reassimilated" huge quantities of materials that were returned now that the Summer Reading Program is completed. Additionally, we have already started planning for our fall events. Miss Jane has some great programs coming up later this year, and there are some fun adult programs queing up for your consideration as well.
Yesterday was Wii day, with open Wii gaming in the afternoon and the evening. The new Wii Sports Resort was a popular choice for our gamers, but some of the "classics" like MarioKart and SuperSmash Bros. were also popular. Another day of Wii play is on tap tomorrow, from 9:30-11:30 and from 2-4. Stop in and try your hand at archery, frisbee golf, 100 pin bowling (very cool!), and many more.
Last week Wednesday and Thursday, our architects were in the house to hear from the community on its needs, wants and concerns. We had a number of very good sessions and I think they went back to their offices with a full quota of information and feedback to digest. At the next workshop, September 8 & 9, they will be presenting a variety of different approaches to the expansion question, along with the pros and cons, and then seek further feedback on which of the proposals strike a chord, which are duds, and what elements of each spark the most positive response.
On Friday of last week, we recognized the fine work of our two high school senior artists, Anna Boelck and Jessica Schreib, for creating the beautiful Giving Tree in the lobby. The leaves on the tree recognize all of the generous individuals and businesses that have donated to the expansion fund to date-- so as we begin fundraising in the near future, we're looking to add still more leaves to our tree. The Library Board and the Friends of the Library both came out to thank the artists for creating a lovely work of art that will grace our lobby for many years to come.
Monday and Tuesday were catching up days, as the staff "reassimilated" huge quantities of materials that were returned now that the Summer Reading Program is completed. Additionally, we have already started planning for our fall events. Miss Jane has some great programs coming up later this year, and there are some fun adult programs queing up for your consideration as well.
Yesterday was Wii day, with open Wii gaming in the afternoon and the evening. The new Wii Sports Resort was a popular choice for our gamers, but some of the "classics" like MarioKart and SuperSmash Bros. were also popular. Another day of Wii play is on tap tomorrow, from 9:30-11:30 and from 2-4. Stop in and try your hand at archery, frisbee golf, 100 pin bowling (very cool!), and many more.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Last Day: Zuchinni Recipe Contest
Today is the last day for entry into our Zucchini Recipe Contest. You don't need to submit a sample today-- just the form and the recipe. Actual samples will be judged next Monday night. Remember there are three areas to enter recipes in: Breads & Muffins, Desserts, and Relishes & Other-- so give us your best! And while you're at it, submit the recipes to the Chamber of Commerce, too. They are looking for recipes for their cookbook.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tres Cool
The Louvre is now available online. Simply visit: http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=crt_frm_rs&langue=en to explore the musuem's vast collection. You can search by keyword, by room or by department (paintings, sculptures, etc.). Additionally, there is a special area for new acquisitions.
The search engine itself is a little clunky-- it took me about 15 minutes to find the Mona Lisa room (room 6 of the Grande Gallerie-- that's her waaaayyyy at the end), and there is no actual image or information on the Mona Lisa or many of the other prominent holdings of the Louvre. Which is odd-- wouldn't da Vinci's works be some of the first, if not the very first, works you'd include? The only reason I can think that they haven't is preservation concerns, but there must be a way of getting a good image of the painting without damaging it, right?
Finding the Venus de Milo was easier, though still a little awkward. The close-up shots are also very cool, though not necessarily easy to spot-- they pop up off the tiny links below the image of the sculpture herself. And the captions are all in French, unfortunate but not surprising.
Despite these shortcomings, the ability to virtually "tour" much of the Louvre is very cool, and the close-up imagery of many of the world's most famous artwork is extremely cool. Hopefully, they will add the other premier works of art in the future.
The search engine itself is a little clunky-- it took me about 15 minutes to find the Mona Lisa room (room 6 of the Grande Gallerie-- that's her waaaayyyy at the end), and there is no actual image or information on the Mona Lisa or many of the other prominent holdings of the Louvre. Which is odd-- wouldn't da Vinci's works be some of the first, if not the very first, works you'd include? The only reason I can think that they haven't is preservation concerns, but there must be a way of getting a good image of the painting without damaging it, right?
Finding the Venus de Milo was easier, though still a little awkward. The close-up shots are also very cool, though not necessarily easy to spot-- they pop up off the tiny links below the image of the sculpture herself. And the captions are all in French, unfortunate but not surprising.
Despite these shortcomings, the ability to virtually "tour" much of the Louvre is very cool, and the close-up imagery of many of the world's most famous artwork is extremely cool. Hopefully, they will add the other premier works of art in the future.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Schedule for Listening Sessions
The "final" version of the listening workshops for next Wednesday and Thursday is this:
AGENDA – Day I
Wednesday, August 12
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Executive Session: Building Committee
Introductions, overview of workshop
Key issues and upcoming workshops scheduled
10:35 – 12:00 Library Staff Group I
Collection sizes
Service issues
Patron and staff program needs
12:00 – 12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Friends of the Library, Library Board, neighbors
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. Break/Working
4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Library Staff Group II
Collection sizes
Service issues
Patron and staff program needs
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 8:30 Neighborhood Group Listening Session
AGENDA - Day II
Thursday, August 13
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Municipal Staff (at village hall)
10:45 - 12:00 p.m. Business/Chamber of Commerce Group
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Working Session
3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Report out and adjourn
Most of this workshop is focused on getting input from the library staff and municipality, but we do want community feedback as well. The prinicple place for community input during this workshop is 7-8:30 on Wednesday, August 12th. If you can't make that time, however, the public is welcome to attend the 1-2:30 slot on Wednesday and the 10:45-nooon slot on Thursday. If none of those times work, stop in during one of the staff sections.
AGENDA – Day I
Wednesday, August 12
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Executive Session: Building Committee
Introductions, overview of workshop
Key issues and upcoming workshops scheduled
10:35 – 12:00 Library Staff Group I
Collection sizes
Service issues
Patron and staff program needs
12:00 – 12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Friends of the Library, Library Board, neighbors
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. Break/Working
4:00 – 5:30 p.m. Library Staff Group II
Collection sizes
Service issues
Patron and staff program needs
5:45 – 7:00 Dinner
7:00 – 8:30 Neighborhood Group Listening Session
AGENDA - Day II
Thursday, August 13
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Municipal Staff (at village hall)
10:45 - 12:00 p.m. Business/Chamber of Commerce Group
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Working Session
3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Report out and adjourn
Most of this workshop is focused on getting input from the library staff and municipality, but we do want community feedback as well. The prinicple place for community input during this workshop is 7-8:30 on Wednesday, August 12th. If you can't make that time, however, the public is welcome to attend the 1-2:30 slot on Wednesday and the 10:45-nooon slot on Thursday. If none of those times work, stop in during one of the staff sections.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Quote for the Day
It's important to be surrounded by people who think differently than we do. We don't learn anything if we surround ourselves by people who think the same way we do.
--Ted Olson (bottom of the page)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
1000 Cranes for Peace
This summer the Library is highlighting the crane, graceful birds that have been embodied in a variety of legends, poems and stories. Our "One Thousand Paper Cranes for Peace Club" has been busily folding cranes all sommer long. You can see there handiwork hanging in the library, as pictured above.The goal is to work together to make one thousand paper cranes as a wish for world peace by Peace Day on August 6th. Next Thursday! We currently have over 700 cranes "flying" above the children's reference section, so we're getting close, and today at 1:30 still more of the beautiful, paper avians will be added. Come join the club (for 3rd through 8th grade), it's not too late!
For anyone interested in learning how to fold a paper crane, two of our club experts have demonstrated the process for us. Just click on the video below and follow along!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Attention all Cooks
The Best Zucchini Recipe Contest deadline is rapidly approaching. There are three categories to enter in: 1)Breads & Muffins, 2)Cakes, cookies & desserts, and 3)Relishes and other recipes. Entry forms are due by next Monday, August 10. Be creative and enter your best dish containing zucchini.
Or be a judge and come to sample and vote for the winners, and collect the entry recipes. A total of six prizes will be awarded; one in each of three categories chosen by a panel of appointed judges, and one each by public vote. Winners will receive a $10 gift card to The Elegant Farmer, a $10 gift card to Crate and Barrel, and a grocery tote bag.
Get your official entry form at the Library or online. Entry forms are due by Monday, August 10th. Limited to the first 30 entries. Voters from the public need not register. Judging is on Monday, August 17 at 6:00-7:00 p.m. or until samples run out.
Or be a judge and come to sample and vote for the winners, and collect the entry recipes. A total of six prizes will be awarded; one in each of three categories chosen by a panel of appointed judges, and one each by public vote. Winners will receive a $10 gift card to The Elegant Farmer, a $10 gift card to Crate and Barrel, and a grocery tote bag.
Get your official entry form at the Library or online. Entry forms are due by Monday, August 10th. Limited to the first 30 entries. Voters from the public need not register. Judging is on Monday, August 17 at 6:00-7:00 p.m. or until samples run out.
Insert Fork
The Brewers are done. Cooked, finished, over. Playoff contending teams do not lose to the worst team in baseball two nights in a row. At home. By 5 and 8 run margins. They just don't.
All teams go through rough patches during the ridiculously long Major League Baseball season. In July, the Brewers are 7-16 and have not won a series. That's a big rough patch, but perhaps you could write it off as an anomaly, and hope for a turn-around in August and September. Certainly, in the ridiculously long MLB season, one bad month does not completely ruin your chances.
But. The Washington Nationals are easily the worst team in baseball. Before arriving in Milwaukee on Monday, they had won ten games on the road, while losing 35. Since arriving in Milwaukee they have not just won two road games in a row, they spanked the Brewers-- 14-6 and 8-3.
Since the all-star break, the Brewers are 4-8 against teams with an overall record of 171-228. That's not a rough patch. That's just bad. Bad enough to say, it is time to pack it in for 2009-- let's make some trades to keep our farm system stocked, reload and refurbish our rotation and try again next year.
Turns out, one really good starting pitcher and two all-star position players is not enough to get to the playoffs. It is, however, a very good start. If the Brewers can fill in the holes around Gallardo, Fielder and Braun, the Brewers are legitimate World Series contenders. But the clock is ticking.
There's always next year.
Sigh.
All teams go through rough patches during the ridiculously long Major League Baseball season. In July, the Brewers are 7-16 and have not won a series. That's a big rough patch, but perhaps you could write it off as an anomaly, and hope for a turn-around in August and September. Certainly, in the ridiculously long MLB season, one bad month does not completely ruin your chances.
But. The Washington Nationals are easily the worst team in baseball. Before arriving in Milwaukee on Monday, they had won ten games on the road, while losing 35. Since arriving in Milwaukee they have not just won two road games in a row, they spanked the Brewers-- 14-6 and 8-3.
Since the all-star break, the Brewers are 4-8 against teams with an overall record of 171-228. That's not a rough patch. That's just bad. Bad enough to say, it is time to pack it in for 2009-- let's make some trades to keep our farm system stocked, reload and refurbish our rotation and try again next year.
Turns out, one really good starting pitcher and two all-star position players is not enough to get to the playoffs. It is, however, a very good start. If the Brewers can fill in the holes around Gallardo, Fielder and Braun, the Brewers are legitimate World Series contenders. But the clock is ticking.
There's always next year.
Sigh.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Listening Sessions on Expansion
The first workshop regarding the Library’s anticipated expansion will be on and Wed. August 12 and Thursday August 13. Much of this first session will be spent getting library and village staff input, but the later afternoon and evening of the 12th will be devoted to listening to the needs and concerns of the community, especially the immediate neighborhood.The second workshop will on Sept. 8 and 9, and it will incorporate even more community involvement and feedback. The final session will be on Oct. 14 and 15, at which time Uihlein-Wilson will present their three approaches or concepts for expansion to the community. After the presentation, we will be able to give them more feedback, allowing them to further refine the approach.
Details on the exact times and topics for these workshops will be forthcoming, so mark your calendars and stay tuned. We want and need your input and involvement to make the library the best it can be for our community. The August and September sessions will be held in the Library’s meeting room. The location for workshop three has yet to be determined.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Well, That's a Relief
Apparently, flesh-eating robots are not in development. In a clarification that sounds like it is coming straight out of The Onion, we get this statement:
Of course, how do you guarentee the vegetarian robot doesn't obtain a taste for meat? Bacon, say (since bacon makes everything better), and from there it's not that big a step to human flesh. Well, okay, yeah it is, but still. Although a biomass fueled robot is a cool idea.
“We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell,
Cyclone’s CEO. “We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter. The commercial applications alone for this earth-friendly energy solution are enormous.” (emphasis in the original)
Of course, how do you guarentee the vegetarian robot doesn't obtain a taste for meat? Bacon, say (since bacon makes everything better), and from there it's not that big a step to human flesh. Well, okay, yeah it is, but still. Although a biomass fueled robot is a cool idea.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Rant or Rave: Audiobooks
I used to be a book purist. I turned my nose up at audiobooks, Kindles and the like. Then I got this job in Mukwonago, while still living just northwest of Racine-- roughly a 50 minute drive one way. And I tried an audiobook to fill some of that driving time. Loved it.
Since then I have listened to many books, and just this year I have read all of the following classics on audiobooks: Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, The Hobbit, To Kill A Mockingbird, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and The Great Gatsby. Without the ability to "read" in the car, I might-- and I stress might-- have gotten through two or three of these books. More likely I would've read one, maybe two.
And those are just the classics. In addition, I have listened to two Elmore Leonard novels, Fool by Christopher Moore, Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich, part of a Harlan Coburn novel (didn't like it), and Lion in the White House (a biography of Teddy Roosevelt).
There is no chance I would've read anywhere close to that amount of material if I wasn't able to "read" while driving. Even now that I live much closer to work, I still find audiobooks to be very useful because I do a fair amount of driving for my job and because I am inevitably ferrying my children to various events, occasions and get togethers.
So, a HUGE rave for audiobooks!
A Busy Week
On Monday, the Page Turners Book Club met in the afternoon to discuss the book Don't Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhoold. That evening Mary Blott, Executive Director of the Mukwonago Area Chamber of Commerce, talked with our patrons about Staycations-- fun, local and inexpensive vacation and relaxation opportunities during the summer.
Tuesday night was Espresso Self night, with local teens painting with espresso. The art is very cool.
Last night, the Library hosted an open mic event, and local authors, musicians and artists came out to read, sing, play and discuss their works. Fueled by some excellent coffee donated by Espresso Love, the night was a lot of fun.
This morning, Miss Jane had her lapsit storytime for our littlest patrons-- newborn to 36 months-- a session that featured quite a bit of quacking. Later today and tomorrow, there will be gatherings of the 1000 Cranes for Peace Club. 1:00-1:30 both days, the event is open to grades 3-8. Help us reach our goal of 1000 paper cranes by the end of the summer. Current crane total: 213.
Also today and tomorrow, we will have visits by our therapy dogs for the Paws to Read progam. Today at 1:30, Cinnamon will be in the house, while tomorrow at 1:30 B.J. will be available.
We are having a fun, creative summer at the Library-- come join the fun!
Tuesday night was Espresso Self night, with local teens painting with espresso. The art is very cool.
Last night, the Library hosted an open mic event, and local authors, musicians and artists came out to read, sing, play and discuss their works. Fueled by some excellent coffee donated by Espresso Love, the night was a lot of fun.
This morning, Miss Jane had her lapsit storytime for our littlest patrons-- newborn to 36 months-- a session that featured quite a bit of quacking. Later today and tomorrow, there will be gatherings of the 1000 Cranes for Peace Club. 1:00-1:30 both days, the event is open to grades 3-8. Help us reach our goal of 1000 paper cranes by the end of the summer. Current crane total: 213.
Also today and tomorrow, we will have visits by our therapy dogs for the Paws to Read progam. Today at 1:30, Cinnamon will be in the house, while tomorrow at 1:30 B.J. will be available.
We are having a fun, creative summer at the Library-- come join the fun!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Rant or Rave: The Great Gatsby
Well, it isn't a rave, but I suppose it isn't really a rant, either. Pretty much a, "Huh. What's all the fuss about?"
The Great Gatsby isn't a bad book. Actually it's a pretty good book. But i wouldn't classify it as a great book, and I really don't get it being consistently included on various Top 100 Books In the ENTIRE Universe lists. I really don't.
Gatsby is an intriguing figure, but the other characters are primarily caricatures and the "twist" at the end is nearly soap operaish in both its overly melodramatic staging and its extreme unlikelihood. So how exactly it has become this masterpiece, a potential "great American novel" is beyond me. Fitzgerald is a talented writer-- perhaps the only thing saving the story from spiraling completely into absurdity-- and some of his imagery is iconic. But the story itself? Eh. Take it or leave it.
Still, I am glad I read it. It was not a waste of my time, by any means. But I can't really wrap my head around the sincere adoration the book has received from so many quarters.
The Great Gatsby isn't a bad book. Actually it's a pretty good book. But i wouldn't classify it as a great book, and I really don't get it being consistently included on various Top 100 Books In the ENTIRE Universe lists. I really don't.
Gatsby is an intriguing figure, but the other characters are primarily caricatures and the "twist" at the end is nearly soap operaish in both its overly melodramatic staging and its extreme unlikelihood. So how exactly it has become this masterpiece, a potential "great American novel" is beyond me. Fitzgerald is a talented writer-- perhaps the only thing saving the story from spiraling completely into absurdity-- and some of his imagery is iconic. But the story itself? Eh. Take it or leave it.
Still, I am glad I read it. It was not a waste of my time, by any means. But I can't really wrap my head around the sincere adoration the book has received from so many quarters.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Sports Tidbits
It's a library blog, so I won't spend too much time on this, but I do enjoy sports, playing and watching, so I have to pop in with these observations from time to time.
- The baseball season is WAAYYYY too long. 162 games is absolutely preposterous. 120 would be just fine, allow the season to start later and end earlier, and improve the overall product since less players would break down over the course of the season. It will never happen, of course, because the owners and the league would lose 25% of their revenue, but still.
- Ken Macha is doing a fine job with the Brewers. I agree with nearly all of the moves he's made and his calm, calculated approach to the game is a welcome breather from the tightly wound anxiety of Ned Yost. The one move I don't agree with? Having Carlos Villanueva pitching as a late reliever, occasionally even in the closer role. Villanueva is a pretty good pitcher, with some good value as a long reliever (as a former starter, he can go two or three innings semi-regularly). But he is not a closer. Or even the set up guy to the closer. Case in point, last night, when Manny Parra, recently returned from a stint in the minors, pitched brilliantly and left the game after seven innings with a precarious 1-0 lead. Enter Carlos V., supposed set up man and alternate closer. A single and a triple later, the score is tied and the flood gates are open. Brewers lose 5-1. Ugh.
- It is appearing more and more likely that Brett Favre will play as a Minnesota Viking next year. Unbelievable. I cannot remember a sports icon so firmly and consistently determined to trash EVERYTHING about his legacy. Two years ago, Brett Favre was a demi-god in Wisconsin and everywhere Packer nation has taken root. He was, arguably, the most popular Wisconsin sportsfigure ever-- though fans of Lombardi, Starr, and Yount might disagree. But now? The hissy fits, the Diva stomp offs, the high school histrionics and communication via cell phone. The lies, the exaggerations, the stated desire to get back at Ted Thompson no matter the cost, fans be damned. It is breathtaking. In a year-and-a-half, Favre has managed to go from beloved icon to a disliked, even hated, representative of all that is wrong in sports. And now he will likely not only play against the Packers but with one of their two biggest rivals. He will be booed at Lambeau field. Loudly and lustily I suspect. And he'll have earned all of the ill will, derision and scorn that will be heaped upon his back by people who used to adore him. Unbelievable and unbelievably sad. He could have retired as the most popular guy in the state and one of the classiest, most down to earth guys ever to have played the game. Instead, his legacy as a great QB will always be tainted by his classlessness, his disregard for the fans, his narcissism and his small-minded vindictiveness.
- As a contrast to Favre and his "me, me, look at me, aren't I great, me!" attitude, I watched the Wimbledon Final last weekend. Good heavens what a match. I cannont imagine how crushing it must have been for Andy Roddick to have played that well, for that long against the best tennis player ever... and to lose. To have his serve broken once--once!-- in five sets... and to lose. And yet afterwards he showed tremendous class and sportsmanship. He acknowledged the fans and he lauded Federer. To borrow a British expression-- it was Brilliant!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Best Invoice Evah!
I don't like getting bills-- who does?-- but one came across my desk this morning that made me chuckle. We don't do much business with the Oriental Trading Company, since most of their stuff is poorly made, yet over-priced, but sometimes we pick up small "prizes" for our various children's programs and events. Here's the rundown on our most recent OTC order:
1 Mega Notepad Assortment (250 pc)
6 Mini Sticky Hands & Feet On String (6 Dz)
4 Mini Noise Putty (4 Dz)
Mini Noise Putty? I really have to find out exactly what that is. And I can't quite shake the visual that "mini sticky hands & feet on string" pops into my brain. I hope the kids laugh at them as much as I did.
1 Mega Notepad Assortment (250 pc)
6 Mini Sticky Hands & Feet On String (6 Dz)
4 Mini Noise Putty (4 Dz)
Mini Noise Putty? I really have to find out exactly what that is. And I can't quite shake the visual that "mini sticky hands & feet on string" pops into my brain. I hope the kids laugh at them as much as I did.
Rant or Rave: Nineteen Eighty-four
Note to self: following a book that, at its core, celebrates the human spirit while acknowledging its shortcomings with a book that unrelentingly examines the darkside of human nature is both fascinating and unsettling. But that's what I did when I followed up Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird with George Orwell's, Nineteen Eighty-four. 1984 is a profound, thought provoking masterpiece. It is also disturbing, depressing and hard to digest.
In capsule form, the strangeness of following one with the other boils down to two iconic passages, one from each book. I went from Mockingbird's: “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” to Nineteen Eighty-four's: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
I do not regret reading it-- far from it, I wish I had read it sooner (slightly shamefaced admission, though I knew the gist of Orwell's classic book, I had never read it). But. It is not light fare. It is profoundly scary to think about the world Orwell describes and how it is not inconceivable even today. Hopefully the free exchange of information and ideas enabled by modern technology is making it less likely with each passing year and technological breakthrough.
Still, technology is what makes the Big Brother state of 1984 possible-- the constant surveillance of the telescreens, the ability of the Party to control the present, manipulate the past and thus determine the future-- so it is a double-edged sword. I also look to public library's as a bulwark against the type of disinformation and "doublespeak" so vital to the Big Brother state described in 1984. Still another reason why library's are important community institutions.
Though disturbing and depressing, Nineteen Eighty-four is profoundly important and still terribly relevant. It remains a book that should be on the short list of "must read" novels, and likely one that should be on the even shorter list of "must read more than once" novels.
Read it, digest it, and then go sit in the nice warm sun, free from observation by anyone and free to think and feel whatever you desire. And appreciate how lucky we are to live in a free and open society.
In capsule form, the strangeness of following one with the other boils down to two iconic passages, one from each book. I went from Mockingbird's: “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” to Nineteen Eighty-four's: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
I do not regret reading it-- far from it, I wish I had read it sooner (slightly shamefaced admission, though I knew the gist of Orwell's classic book, I had never read it). But. It is not light fare. It is profoundly scary to think about the world Orwell describes and how it is not inconceivable even today. Hopefully the free exchange of information and ideas enabled by modern technology is making it less likely with each passing year and technological breakthrough.
Still, technology is what makes the Big Brother state of 1984 possible-- the constant surveillance of the telescreens, the ability of the Party to control the present, manipulate the past and thus determine the future-- so it is a double-edged sword. I also look to public library's as a bulwark against the type of disinformation and "doublespeak" so vital to the Big Brother state described in 1984. Still another reason why library's are important community institutions.
Though disturbing and depressing, Nineteen Eighty-four is profoundly important and still terribly relevant. It remains a book that should be on the short list of "must read" novels, and likely one that should be on the even shorter list of "must read more than once" novels.
Read it, digest it, and then go sit in the nice warm sun, free from observation by anyone and free to think and feel whatever you desire. And appreciate how lucky we are to live in a free and open society.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Fifty Books for Our Times
A list-- and who doesn't like lists?-- from Newsweek. How exactly they arrived at this list as being "for our times" is a little unclear, but it is an interesting list nonetheless. Of course, I've only actually read three of the books on the list.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
More Kid Suggested Web Sites
After initially poo-pooing, and then becoming instantly addicted to, thisissand.com, I restrained my knee-jerk reaction to my daughter's pronouncement that linerider.com was "super way cool" and that I had to try it. My initial reaction was "line rider"? What the heck is that and why would I care?
Turns out, line rider is a fairly simple little flash game that allows you to create a "course" for this little sled riding stick figure. Simple, but fun. You have the option of blue "normal" lines, on which the little dude accelerates downhill and decelerates uphill, and red "acceleration" lines, that give the sledder a pretty substantial momentum boost.
Keeping him on the sled is more than a little challenging, though I did manage to launch him into space, do a complete 360 flip, and land back on a line to continue sledding. For extra kicks, check out some of the movies of the truly fantastic-- and mindbogglingly complex-- courses others have developed for the little line rider. Like this one, for instance.
linerider.com. Check it out.
Additionally, my daughter and her best friend had quite a good time over the weekend at: Architect Studio 3D, a website created by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. It allows you to design a house, furnish it and even landscape it. You can view your creation as a floor plan or in a basic 3-D model.
The site even provides you with "clients" around whose needs you can design your creation. Or you can just do what you want and see how it looks. My kids, for instance, took great pleasure in placing hot tubs in the hallway. But it is fun, and creative, and does get the kids thinking about how things fit together and why.
Turns out, line rider is a fairly simple little flash game that allows you to create a "course" for this little sled riding stick figure. Simple, but fun. You have the option of blue "normal" lines, on which the little dude accelerates downhill and decelerates uphill, and red "acceleration" lines, that give the sledder a pretty substantial momentum boost.
Keeping him on the sled is more than a little challenging, though I did manage to launch him into space, do a complete 360 flip, and land back on a line to continue sledding. For extra kicks, check out some of the movies of the truly fantastic-- and mindbogglingly complex-- courses others have developed for the little line rider. Like this one, for instance.
linerider.com. Check it out.
Additionally, my daughter and her best friend had quite a good time over the weekend at: Architect Studio 3D, a website created by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. It allows you to design a house, furnish it and even landscape it. You can view your creation as a floor plan or in a basic 3-D model.
The site even provides you with "clients" around whose needs you can design your creation. Or you can just do what you want and see how it looks. My kids, for instance, took great pleasure in placing hot tubs in the hallway. But it is fun, and creative, and does get the kids thinking about how things fit together and why.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Umm... Wow
This is a pretty impressive 9 second clip of a volcano erupting. We live in a amazing times.
Rant or Rave: To Kill A Mockingbird
Guilty admission: I had never read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. I love the movie and have seen it several times, but I had never actually read the book. So, since I am attempting this year to catch up on many of the classic books I have either never read, or don't really remember, I added Mockingbird to my list.
Top of the list, actually. But, as I have with most of my recent reading, I went with the audiobook version. A good book on CD really, really makes traveling much more enjoyable. I like music on the radio okay, I definitely like listening to Bob Uecker call a Brewers' game, and I do occassionally drop-in on talk radio, but the day I popped in my first CD audiobook was a revelatory one for me.
But I digress. To Kill A Mockingbird, as read by Sally Darling, shoots straight onto my favorite books of all time. I wish I hadn't waited so long to enjoy this marvelous book, but I'm very happy I finally took the time to do so. What a marvelous book. I do not think I can rave highly enough about this book to do it full credit.
It explores childhood, southern culture, life during the Great Depression, racism, kindness, joy, human nature, the law, schooling and more. It does so gracefully, seemingly effortlessly (though I know it took Lee a long time to write the story, with many, many revisions), and with such a gentle, easy flow that the profoundness of much of the writing seems to almost settle into the back of your brain without any conscious effort on the reader's part.
The story of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jeremy "Jem" Finch and their father Atticus, is both timeless and timely, gentle and unabashedly direct and unflinching. It is a snapshot into the past and a benchmark for the future.
In short, it is exceptional. Read it, savor it, and share it.
Top of the list, actually. But, as I have with most of my recent reading, I went with the audiobook version. A good book on CD really, really makes traveling much more enjoyable. I like music on the radio okay, I definitely like listening to Bob Uecker call a Brewers' game, and I do occassionally drop-in on talk radio, but the day I popped in my first CD audiobook was a revelatory one for me.
But I digress. To Kill A Mockingbird, as read by Sally Darling, shoots straight onto my favorite books of all time. I wish I hadn't waited so long to enjoy this marvelous book, but I'm very happy I finally took the time to do so. What a marvelous book. I do not think I can rave highly enough about this book to do it full credit.
It explores childhood, southern culture, life during the Great Depression, racism, kindness, joy, human nature, the law, schooling and more. It does so gracefully, seemingly effortlessly (though I know it took Lee a long time to write the story, with many, many revisions), and with such a gentle, easy flow that the profoundness of much of the writing seems to almost settle into the back of your brain without any conscious effort on the reader's part.
The story of Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, her brother Jeremy "Jem" Finch and their father Atticus, is both timeless and timely, gentle and unabashedly direct and unflinching. It is a snapshot into the past and a benchmark for the future.
In short, it is exceptional. Read it, savor it, and share it.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Trip Down Memory Lane
We recently dusted off some materials that had been relegated to a high, infrequently looked at shelf-- mostly because we are totally out of lower, frequently looked at shelves, but that's part of the expansion story, forthcoming-- and found some wonderful old documents from the Library's past. I can't verify the accuracy of all of these documents, nor do I know who wrote many of them, but they are a treat to read nonetheless. Hopefully, we'll be able to highlight some of them in the display cases in the meeting room.
Here's the text from one titled "Origin of the Mukwonago Library":
Some members of the Utopian Circle, who were the originators and startersof the Mukwonago Library, met at Mrs. Lena McKenzie's on Wednesday evening, August 23rd where, after due discussion, the following statement was authorised:$125 a year from the Village coffers, with an additional $50 from the Town. That would buy us roughly 15 books these days. I also love the idea of, "...some of the girls taking turns in acting as librarians." Unfortunately, the original "Origins of the Mukwonago Library" is undated and the author is unknown.
The idea of a library for Mukwonago was suggested in April of 1917 by the members of the Utopian Circle, an organized group of young women. The membership included the Misses Ada and Vinnie Vanderpool, Mayfred McKenzie, Ida, Margaret, and Leida Weir, Ollie Ahrens, Leona Lotz, Edith and Helen Stewart, Helen Chafin, Marie Kingston, Alice Smith, Amy Swan, Mmes. Safford and John Goetsch, and several members of the school faculty, namely: the Misses Agnes Hayes, Edna Hanson, Eda Koehler, Katherine Buchann, Margaret Walsh, beside other who assisted in the work at hand.
The financial nucleus of the library was a fund of $50.00, $25.00 of which was raised by the circle, in different ways suggested by the members, the other $25.00 being donated by Miss Vinnie Vanderpool. After the first $50.00 was raised, the first thing to do was to find a place to meet. After much searching and exchanging of opinions, the library was opened in June of 1917 in the north wing of the McNulty home, where it remained for about four years, some of the girls taking turns in acting as librarians.
The first books were donated by Miss Ether Potter from the John Potter library in Milwaukee. Others followed suit until those most interested were quite proud of the display of books which adorned the shelves, which had been built by Mr. John Gudger. Among those who tendered donations of books were Mrs. Mina Lobdell, Mr. Alexander Sclanders, Dr. and Mrs. L.E. Youmans, Mrs. Agnes Betts, and groups of books were received from the Waukesha library.
It was incorporated under the State Library Association when a representative of that body came and supervised the organizing and accessioning. At first it was open on Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and evening, with Miss Leona Lotz, Miss Mayfred McKenzie, Miss Helen Chafin, and Mrs. John Goetsch acting as librarians. It was supported by voluntary subscriptions and by the membership fees which were $1.00. In order to supplement the regular books we had a traveling library. Mrs. Floyd McKenzie and Miss Betty Andrews became the librarians, Mrs. McKenzie taking charge on Wednesday afternoon and Miss Andrews on Saturday evening.
In 1921 the library was moved over to the village hall where the Study Club, having taken it over, reorganized it, continuing thus until the Village Council assumed the responsibility, and contributed $100.00 a year toward its support. These librarians continued until Miss Andrews had the misfortune to fall and break her hip, at which time Miss Leona Lotz took her place, and has continued to the present time.
The library at the present is financed by a contribution from the village of $125.00 a year and $50.00 a year from the town of Mukwonago.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Fourth of July Hours
Good grief, is it really almost the Fourth of July? I guess June went by so quickly because most of it felt like March and April. Wow, almost up to July already. Okay, so here's the scoop on the Library's hours for Saturday, July 4:
There aren't any. Nor are there any on July 3.
We will be closed both Friday and Saturday of next week.
There aren't any. Nor are there any on July 3.
We will be closed both Friday and Saturday of next week.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Expansion Presentations
The Mukwonago Community Library is pleased to announce that there will be a special Library Board meeting on Monday, June 29 for the purpose of viewing presentations by three architectural firms. The library and its board welcome community attendance for these presentations, which will be held at Clarendon Elementary School, beginning at 6 pm.
The three firms, Engberg Anderson, Uihlein Wilson, and Plunkett Raysich, will each make a 45 minute presentation to the board, with presentations to include question and answer components. These firms were selected from an initial pool of six, and the company chosen after the presentations will work with the community, library and library board to develop conceptual plans for a library expansion as well as some preliminary cost estimates. There will be an opportunity for community comment after the three presentations and before the board begins its deliberations over the selection of the final firm.
“All three firms are very well-regarded and have an excellent track record of building attractive, functional and budget-conscious library facilities,” commented Library Director, Nick Weber. “The Board and myself are really looking forward to seeing their presentations, and we hope interested members of the community will join us.”
The schedule for the evening:
5:45 Arrival and set up at Clarendon Elementary
6:00-6:45 Presentation by Engberg Anderson
6:50-7:35 Presentation by Uihlein Wilson
7:40-8:25 Presentation by Plunkett Raysich
8:30-9:00 Comments from the public
9:00- Deliberation by the Mukwonago Community Library Board
The three firms, Engberg Anderson, Uihlein Wilson, and Plunkett Raysich, will each make a 45 minute presentation to the board, with presentations to include question and answer components. These firms were selected from an initial pool of six, and the company chosen after the presentations will work with the community, library and library board to develop conceptual plans for a library expansion as well as some preliminary cost estimates. There will be an opportunity for community comment after the three presentations and before the board begins its deliberations over the selection of the final firm.
“All three firms are very well-regarded and have an excellent track record of building attractive, functional and budget-conscious library facilities,” commented Library Director, Nick Weber. “The Board and myself are really looking forward to seeing their presentations, and we hope interested members of the community will join us.”
The schedule for the evening:
5:45 Arrival and set up at Clarendon Elementary
6:00-6:45 Presentation by Engberg Anderson
6:50-7:35 Presentation by Uihlein Wilson
7:40-8:25 Presentation by Plunkett Raysich
8:30-9:00 Comments from the public
9:00- Deliberation by the Mukwonago Community Library Board
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Visit Read the Books, our new Reader's Advisory tool for children and their families. A reader can search by topic, grade, series, author, state, and time period. Give it a try. Have fun!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Be Creative @ Your Library: Children's Programs
2009 SUMMER LIBRARY PROGRAM
June 15-August 8
Be Creative @ Your Library
June 15-August 8
Be Creative @ Your Library
SPECIAL EVENTS:
BE CREATIVE @ YOUR LIBRARY SUMMER READING CHALLENGE
Registraion begins Monday, June 1st.
Open to Newborns-grade 6
Read good books, earn fun prizes.
101 BOOKS EVERY CHILD SHOULD READ BEFORE KINDERGARTEN
For parents and caregivers
Tuesday, June 23, 6:30 PM
Join Miss Jane as she shares 101 of her favorite picturebooks for preschoolers. You will take home a great reading list to use with your children all summer long. With so many wonderful books available at the library, it will be hard to limit the list to just 101!
BEDTIME BUDDIES PAJAMA PARTY
Tuesday, July 7, 6:30 PM
Wear your pajamas, grab a pillow and a "bedtime buddy" and come to the library for an evening filled with books and fun. For families of all ages. Drop in; no registration necessary.
FAMILY FILM NIGHT
Tuesday, July 28, 6:00 PM
Gather up your friends and head to the library for an evening of family fun. Bring a pillow and blanket or a bean bag chair to snuggle into and bring a snack to munch. Call the library for the movie title. For families of all ages. Drop in; no registration necessary.
SERIES PROGRAMS:
PAWS TO READ
For readers of all ages
Visit the library and read a poem, picture book, or book chapter to Scooby, B.J., or Cinnamon the Therapy Dogs. Drop in; no registration necessary.
Scooby the Golden Retriever
Mondays, 7:00-8:00 PM
June 15, July 6 & 20, August 3 & 17
Cinnamon the Afghan Hound
Thursdays, 1:30-2:30 PM
June 18, July 16
B.J. the Rottweiller
Fridays, 1:00-2:00 PM
June 19 & 26, July 10, 17, 24 & 31, August 7
LAPSIT STORYTIME
For ages newborn to 36 months
Thursdays at 10:00 AM
June 18 - August 6
This program is designed for children and their caregivers to enjoy together. It features Mother Goose, books, songs, bouncy rhymes, fingerplays and lots of fun for little ones and their caregivers.Drop in; no registration is necessary.
WONDERFUL WEDNESDAYS
For families of all ages.
Wednesdays at 10:00 AM
June 17
Mama Baer, Storyteller: Good Sense & Nonsense
June 24
Chris Fascione: Juggling Funny Stories
July 1
Kathy Luck: Silly Stories & Kooky Critters
July 8
Erock for Kids
July 15
Nature in the Parks: "Toadally" Cool Summer Adventure
July 22
Jean Andrews, Storyteller: Storylore
July 29
Tim Glander, Magician: The Magic of Reading
August 5
Mary Tooley, Educator: Creative Creatures
ONE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES FOR PEACE CLUB
For grades 3-8
Thursday at 1:30 PM
June 18-August 6
Join us as we share the legend of the Grateful Crane, remember Sadako, share peace tales, learn about wild cranes, and work together to make one thousand paper cranes as a wish for world peace by Peace Day on August 6th.
EXTRA SPECIAL FUN OPPORTUNITES:
BE CREATIVE @ YOUR LIBRARY ARTS & CRAFT CONTEST
June 15-August 8
Use your imagination to create "art" from a book checked out at the Mukwonago Community Library. Bring your artwork to the library for display throughout the summer. All entries will receive a FREE order of Domino's Cinna Stix. The Grand Prize of a $25 giftcard to Michael's will be awarded to one person in each of the following categories: grades K-3; grades 4-6; grades 7-12.
FAMILY BOOK BINGO
June 15-August 8
It's back! Complete two lines of bingo on our special game sheet and your team will be entered into a drawing to win a gift certificate to a local restaurant.
ROCKIN' READERS HALL OF FAME
June15-August 8
Be on the lookout this summer as talent scouts search the library for kids caught in the act of reading. A few select readers will be inducted into the Rockin' Readers Hall of Fame and have their portrait hung in our photo gallery. Get caught reading!
Express Yourself @ Your Library: Teen Programs
2009 SUMMER LIBRARY PROGRAM
June 15-August 8
Express Yourself @ Your Library
SUMMER READING CHALLENGE
Registration begins Monday, June 1st
Read good books, earn fun prizes.
TEEN BOOK PASS
Wednesdays at 3:00 PM
June 17 & July 15
Bring a recently read book and express your thoughts about it with other Teens. Get ideas for new books to read. Pssst! We are saving the new Young Adult books for you to check out before they reach the shelves. Open to grades 7-12. Drop in; no registration required.
"ESPRESSO SELF" AT YOUR LIBRARY: PAINTING WITH ESPRESSO
Tuesday, July 14 at 7:00 PM
We drink coffee, use it in recipes, and even use the grounds in the garden. But, paint with it? Believe it! Coffee art is truly a unique art form. Completed artwork will be displayed at the Library. Open to grades 7-12. Drop in; no registration required.
ONE THOUSAND PAPER CRANES FOR PEACE CLUB
For grades 3-8
Thursdays at 1:30 PM
June 18-August 6
Join us as we share the legend of the Grateful Crane, remember Sadako, share peace tales, learn about wild cranes, and work together to make one thousand paper cranes as a wish for world peace by Peace Day on August 6th. Drop in; no registration necessary.
TEEN TERRITORY TRIVIA CHALLENGE
June 15-August 8
Complete 50 activities and you will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a prize such as a pizza, sporting tickets, a skateboard, or a coffee gift card to list a few. Check out the library display cases for other fun possibilities. Open to grades 7-12. The game ends Saturday, August 8 at 2:00 PM.
MUKWONAGO ROCKS! SCAVENGER HUNT
Win a rock tumbler!
Search the village of Mukwonago for unique rock formations--natural rocks, walls, cornerstones, art objects, etc. Searh high, search low. Search on foot, by bike, or by car. All rock formations can be viewed from public property; please do not enter private property. Open to families and friends of all ages. One random winner will be chose from all correct enries. Contest ends Saturday, August 8 at 2:00 PM.
BE CREATIVE @ YOUR LIBRARY ARTS & CRAFT CONTEST
June 15-August 8
Use your imagination to create "art" from a book checked out at the Mukwonago Community Library. Bring your artwork to the library for display throughout the summer. All entries will receive a FREE order of Domino's Cinna Stix. A Grand Prize of a $25 gift card to Michael's will be awarded to one person in each of the following categories: grades K-3; grades 4-6; grades 7-12.
Friday, June 12, 2009
A Timeless Treasure-- A Great Book Discussion Read
About two weeks ago a friend and I were talking books. My friend is a member of a WCTC book discussion group and she began talking-up their latest read-- the story surrounds the life of a woman who has spent her life managing a household, being an attentive wife and mother. She is a woman who feels caged by her second-place existence where everyone else comes first . On her 40th birthday she announces she is "retiring" from her responsibilites to find time for herself. The result is a conflict between her responsibility to her family and her personal freedom. Does any part of this woman's emotional being sound even a smidgen familiar? My friend went on to say that the reading group enthusiastically discussed the book in-depth.
Did it matter that the book was written in 1946? Is it significant that the setting is China? Absolutely not! Pearl Buck's "Pavilion of Women" transcends time and culture. Radical for its time, the book raises relevant questions about marriage, the roles of men and women, self-discipline and happiness.
Are you hooked? The Mukwonago Community Library is currently updating a very worn copy; it's replacement will be found in Adult Fiction with the Call number: BUCK P PAVILION.
"We read to know we are not alone!" C. S. Lewis
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Darrin Stephens Production
Okay, this has to be one of the creepiest ads ever (click on it for a larger version): 
Doesn't it feel like something that would've happened on Bewitched? I can just see Endora encapsulating these young welps, probably the twin grandsons of Gladys Kravitz. Darrin freaks out, "Saaammm, your mother has shrink wrapped the babies!", but then later hastily scrambles together the mishap into an advertising campaign for DuPont.
Darrin's boss, Larry Tate, is duly impressed, and the young whelps are confined to their air-tight prison. Darrin pecks Sam on the cheek, gives a sharp "Hah!" to Endora, and takes a small modicum of satisfaction in her scowl.
The unsuspecting mother of the twins would later settle out of court with DuPont for unspecified damages.
Just a little something to keep in mind the next time someone talks about how wonderful things were in the past.
Doesn't it feel like something that would've happened on Bewitched? I can just see Endora encapsulating these young welps, probably the twin grandsons of Gladys Kravitz. Darrin freaks out, "Saaammm, your mother has shrink wrapped the babies!", but then later hastily scrambles together the mishap into an advertising campaign for DuPont.
Darrin's boss, Larry Tate, is duly impressed, and the young whelps are confined to their air-tight prison. Darrin pecks Sam on the cheek, gives a sharp "Hah!" to Endora, and takes a small modicum of satisfaction in her scowl.
The unsuspecting mother of the twins would later settle out of court with DuPont for unspecified damages.
Just a little something to keep in mind the next time someone talks about how wonderful things were in the past.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts
The Mukwonago Community Library is part of the Waukesha County Federated Library System (WCFLS). What this means is that we have access to a tremendous amount of materials and resources that we would never be able to provide if we weren’t part of the system. Most of the books, movies and other materials you put on hold come to us from other WCFLS libraries. Our online catalog is a joint venture with the other county libraries. Many of our online resources, including the very popular Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest genealogical databases, the Auto Repair and Small Engine Repair collections, and the Morningstar Investment Research Center are only available because of our collaboration with WCFLS.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Remembering Tiananmen
Today is the 20th anniversary of the "tank man" showdown between student protesters in Beijing and the Chinese Army. The image is iconic and the events well-worth remembering. Interestingly, a previously unpublished photo of the lead-up to the confrontation was released yesterday.
It is an interesting view of the event-- I didn't even see the "tank man" in the picture the first time I looked at the picture. But once you do see him, it is startling. He is positioned well in advance of the tanks arrival, straight-backed, undaunted. His protest was no spur of the moment action, and while everyone else is running away, he is standing. Just standing.
What do you suppose he was thinking as those tanks slowly rumbled toward him and bullets flew all about him? Was he aware of the image he created? Did he hope that his actions would have an effect on outside opinion? Or was he just saying, "Enough. No more. Enough."?
It is an interesting view of the event-- I didn't even see the "tank man" in the picture the first time I looked at the picture. But once you do see him, it is startling. He is positioned well in advance of the tanks arrival, straight-backed, undaunted. His protest was no spur of the moment action, and while everyone else is running away, he is standing. Just standing.
What do you suppose he was thinking as those tanks slowly rumbled toward him and bullets flew all about him? Was he aware of the image he created? Did he hope that his actions would have an effect on outside opinion? Or was he just saying, "Enough. No more. Enough."?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thought for the Day
Hold on to what is good-Even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe in-Even if it is a tree that stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do-Even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life-Even if it is easier to let go.
Hold on to my hand- Even when I have gone far from you.-Native American Poem
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Food For Fines
Reduce your fines and help your community! From Monday, June 15 through Saturday, June 20, for every non-perishable food item brought to the library, we will credit $1 to any fines on your account. The food collected will be donated to Mukwonago’s two food pantries. Maximum reduction of fines is $20, and the reduction in fines does not apply to lost or damaged item fees or to fines from other libraries.
Food pantries can really use our help, as the economic crisis (recession? What are we calling this thing these days, other than "really scary"?) continues to disrupt livelihoods all across America. Of course, if you wish to bring in non-perishable food items even if you don't have fines, or in amounts greater than your fines, that would be most excellent as well.
Food pantries can really use our help, as the economic crisis (recession? What are we calling this thing these days, other than "really scary"?) continues to disrupt livelihoods all across America. Of course, if you wish to bring in non-perishable food items even if you don't have fines, or in amounts greater than your fines, that would be most excellent as well.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Video Rant or Rave: The Hobbit
Well, here is my first attempt at a video/YouTube version of my Rant or Rave feature:
It's okay, I think, but I did learn quite a bit from it. Namely, make sure the lighting is okay or you'll look like a reject from a Night of the Living Dead movie.
Additionally: Don't do this when your dog is around and wants to play tug-of-war with you. This is a recipe for disaster, and will likely require you to redo the whole thing several times. And sit up straight.
You'd think that having had to do it over a few times, I would've improved the lighting. You'd be wrong. Sometimes I have to be hit over the hard several times before my brain kicks into gear.
Anyway, hopefully this will be a more common occurence here, so let us know if you like the video embeds or no.
What He Said
Hard to expand on this article, detailing the importance of libraries. Also, the dangers libraries often face during municipal budget cutting phases. Key bit:
If education and information are going to provide the means as America digs itself out the great big hole we are in, the public library is handing out the shovels. Cut or kill the libraries and you yank away a shovel.
So please, Mayor IT Guy. And Mayors anywhere else, for that matter. Leave the libraries alone. Believe me. They are not a luxury, but a lifeline.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Listen to the 2nd Graders
My eight-year-old son wanted to visit a website yesterday. I figured it was a page full of various flash games, or perhaps something along the lines of Club Penguin. I asked him what the website was, and he replied, "Thisissand.com." Leaving me puzzled and wondering if I had misheard him.
"This is sand?"
"Yup."
"What's it about?" I ask.
"Sand," he replies. Totally deadpan. Sometimes I wish I hadn't taught my children the concepts of sarcasm and facetiousness.
"What do you do with the sand?"
"You can change its color and make little mountains and stuff."
"Okay," I said, thinking that it sounded rather dull and wondering what the attraction of sand is for a second-grader. A sandbox, sure, both he and my daughter both still enjoy the sandbox, but a website for colored sand?
Turns out, it's a hoot. It shouldn't be-- make sand-looking pixels appear on the screen with your mouse and let them "fall" down the screen to make hills and such. Change the colors if you'd like (using the C key). Repeat. Sounds dull.
It's not. Try it out-- it really is a lot of fun. Very creative, yet amazingly simple and a lot of fun to mess around with. Then check out the gallery. And imagine how long it must have taken to create some of the images. Yikes! I did this one last night.
thisissand.com Who thinks of this? Well, go to the blog to find out.
"This is sand?"
"Yup."
"What's it about?" I ask.
"Sand," he replies. Totally deadpan. Sometimes I wish I hadn't taught my children the concepts of sarcasm and facetiousness.
"What do you do with the sand?"
"You can change its color and make little mountains and stuff."
"Okay," I said, thinking that it sounded rather dull and wondering what the attraction of sand is for a second-grader. A sandbox, sure, both he and my daughter both still enjoy the sandbox, but a website for colored sand?
Turns out, it's a hoot. It shouldn't be-- make sand-looking pixels appear on the screen with your mouse and let them "fall" down the screen to make hills and such. Change the colors if you'd like (using the C key). Repeat. Sounds dull.
It's not. Try it out-- it really is a lot of fun. Very creative, yet amazingly simple and a lot of fun to mess around with. Then check out the gallery. And imagine how long it must have taken to create some of the images. Yikes! I did this one last night.
thisissand.com Who thinks of this? Well, go to the blog to find out.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Libraries Can Make You Healthier
So says the March 3, 2009 Woman's Day magazine, and thinking about it, I'm not really very surprised. The public library was Google long before computers were even conceived of, much less the internet. There is information available at the library on nearly everything-- and not just any information, dependable, critically-reviewed information. And not just information, but people willing to help you find the information you need.
Money quote from the article:
"It's funny, I was always told to be mindful of my health. Luckily, the library taught me that the way to good health is to have a mind that's full."
Money quote from the article:
"It's funny, I was always told to be mindful of my health. Luckily, the library taught me that the way to good health is to have a mind that's full."
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Coming Soon: Video Embeds
I attended a session at the annual WAPL (Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries) last week about embedding short video feeds into your web and/or blog pages. Seemed pretty straight forward. So, a free account on YouTube later, I am just about ready to create my first Mukwonago Community Library video Rant or Rave. Hopefully either this evening or tomorrow. If it goes well, I hope to be able to do more of them in the future, and possibly add other video content from around the library. Possibly from events or activities happening here.
Stay tuned!
Stay tuned!
Friday, May 15, 2009
We Got Bear!
As a lifelong Packers' fan, I am generally resistant to all things bear related; but Mukwonago is the "Place of the Bear Clan" and the village has adopted the bear as its unofficial mascot, so it seems right that the Mukwonago Community Library should have a bear. And now we do!
Thanks to the generosity of Mike and Sue Graczyk, and the talents and kindness of Bob Younger and Lee Wegner of Younger’s Woodery, the library has a new resident in our lobby. Bob and Lee have created a fantastic sculpture for the lobby, an adult black bear reading a book atop a pile of other books. It is too cool. Mike and Sue donated the money for the bear, and Bob and Lee also donated most of their time in creating the sculpture.
Additional pictures of the bear can be found at the Younger's Woodery website, but to really appreciate the bear you need to see it in person. Bring the kids and check out our new library mascot. We hope to work with Bob and Lee in the future to add a few bear cubs to the lobby to keep Mama (Papa?) Bear company.
A huge thank you to Mike and Sue Graczyk for donating the funds for the bear, and to Bob Younger and Lee Wegner for their amazing work and their kindness in putting so much extra effort and time into creating the bear.
Thanks to the generosity of Mike and Sue Graczyk, and the talents and kindness of Bob Younger and Lee Wegner of Younger’s Woodery, the library has a new resident in our lobby. Bob and Lee have created a fantastic sculpture for the lobby, an adult black bear reading a book atop a pile of other books. It is too cool. Mike and Sue donated the money for the bear, and Bob and Lee also donated most of their time in creating the sculpture.
Additional pictures of the bear can be found at the Younger's Woodery website, but to really appreciate the bear you need to see it in person. Bring the kids and check out our new library mascot. We hope to work with Bob and Lee in the future to add a few bear cubs to the lobby to keep Mama (Papa?) Bear company.
A huge thank you to Mike and Sue Graczyk for donating the funds for the bear, and to Bob Younger and Lee Wegner for their amazing work and their kindness in putting so much extra effort and time into creating the bear.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Rant or Rave: The Sopranos Final Epidsode
Slight spoiler alert-- though I will not discuss the Sopranos Episode in detail in the post, there are some spoilers regarding the content and tone of that episode. So-- be warned, there are some things discussed below that you may not want to read if you have yet to watch the finale of The Sopranos but someday hope to do so.
I do mostly raves, not so much with the rants. Not sure if that's because I'm such a naturally jovial, half-full kinda guy or because I avoid reading and watching things I know will annoy me, but there it is. Well, here's a big old Rant of the "Wow that was awful kind".
After watching-- and thoroughly enjoying-- all six seasons of the The Sopranos (available at the Mukwonago Community Library, btw), I was both looking forward to and dreading the final episode. Looking forward to it because it was the final episode, the series finale, with all that usually implies. Dreading it because a) I didn't want it to be over and 2) I was worried it wouldn't be worthy of ending such a terrific show. More so the a) since I trusted that the final episode would carry the show's terrificness all the way through to the end.
Not so much, imho. Oi, was number 2 realized. That was a terrible ending! Even knowing a fair bit about it-- given the amount of publicity it received at the time, picking up some details was fairly inevitable-- I was hugely disappointed. And I knew the ending was fairly ambiguous ahead of time, yet was still terribly let down by the complete nothingness of that final scene.
Here's my initial response: The build up to the final scene in the restaurant was great. Tension was built, much was resolved, but the final fate of the Soprano family still hung in the balance. And so it does to this day. The ending, contrary to critical opinion, was in my opinion awkward, unsatisfying and completely unworthy of the rest of the series.
Overtime, my opinion has softened a little-- it wasn't completely unsatisfying, nor completely unworthy. But I still think it was a poor ending to a fantastic series-- one of the five best TV series ever. I guess it was all part of David Chase's artistic vision, and I have trouble ripping the man since his was the genius behind the show from start to, almost, finish. But personally, his concluding vision left me cold and disappointed. Which is all the more painful and difficult to digest because the rest of the series was so blasted visionary, exemplary and just a blast to watch.
Still, I am glad I watched it through to the end. It was a tremendous ride and often a riveting production. Though I wish the ending had been other than it was, I do not regret commiting myself to the roughly 80 hours that is The Sopranos, beginning to end.
I do mostly raves, not so much with the rants. Not sure if that's because I'm such a naturally jovial, half-full kinda guy or because I avoid reading and watching things I know will annoy me, but there it is. Well, here's a big old Rant of the "Wow that was awful kind".
After watching-- and thoroughly enjoying-- all six seasons of the The Sopranos (available at the Mukwonago Community Library, btw), I was both looking forward to and dreading the final episode. Looking forward to it because it was the final episode, the series finale, with all that usually implies. Dreading it because a) I didn't want it to be over and 2) I was worried it wouldn't be worthy of ending such a terrific show. More so the a) since I trusted that the final episode would carry the show's terrificness all the way through to the end.
Not so much, imho. Oi, was number 2 realized. That was a terrible ending! Even knowing a fair bit about it-- given the amount of publicity it received at the time, picking up some details was fairly inevitable-- I was hugely disappointed. And I knew the ending was fairly ambiguous ahead of time, yet was still terribly let down by the complete nothingness of that final scene.
Here's my initial response: The build up to the final scene in the restaurant was great. Tension was built, much was resolved, but the final fate of the Soprano family still hung in the balance. And so it does to this day. The ending, contrary to critical opinion, was in my opinion awkward, unsatisfying and completely unworthy of the rest of the series.
Overtime, my opinion has softened a little-- it wasn't completely unsatisfying, nor completely unworthy. But I still think it was a poor ending to a fantastic series-- one of the five best TV series ever. I guess it was all part of David Chase's artistic vision, and I have trouble ripping the man since his was the genius behind the show from start to, almost, finish. But personally, his concluding vision left me cold and disappointed. Which is all the more painful and difficult to digest because the rest of the series was so blasted visionary, exemplary and just a blast to watch.
Still, I am glad I watched it through to the end. It was a tremendous ride and often a riveting production. Though I wish the ending had been other than it was, I do not regret commiting myself to the roughly 80 hours that is The Sopranos, beginning to end.
Culver's National Day of Caring
Today, Tuesday, May 12, is Culver's National Day of Caring. And this year (and next!), the owner of the Mukwonago Culver's, Greg Landon, has selected the Mukwonago Community Library as the recipient of the National Day of Caring donation. This means that today, and today only, 10% of all sales at the Mukwonago Culver's will be donated by Greg and Culver's to the Library's expansion fund.
Thanks, Greg! Thanks, Culver's!
So, if you are looking for lunch, dinner or dessert today-- make it Culver's in Mukwonago and benefit the Library while enjoying a delicious meal or tasty custard.
Thanks, Greg! Thanks, Culver's!
So, if you are looking for lunch, dinner or dessert today-- make it Culver's in Mukwonago and benefit the Library while enjoying a delicious meal or tasty custard.
Monday, May 4, 2009
H1N1/Swine Flu Resources
The county and state library systems have compiled a list of online resources for people concerned about the H1N1 strain (more commonly called Swine Flu) of the flu and its possible dangers and impacts. Here are a variety of links that should help:
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