View From the Library

Directorspeak: Week whaveter, Episode before vacation

2012-02-29T12:14:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't done a music review in a very long time. I've done lots of reviews so far, but since I have vacation in t-minus 6 hours, I'm totally going to rant and rave about The Black Keys, one of my favorite bands.

See, these dudes are very soulful. I could listen to their music all the time and I wouldn't be sad about that. There's something about a dude with an electric guitar waling at the top of his lungs about...well, lots of different things. Mostly, the blues are about love, and the Keys definitely talk about that a lot. Their music is pure blues/soul, with a modern twist. Fans of music in general will probably like them.

Before I start, though, don't forget to check out our library card contest!

The first track is "Lonely Boy." Give a listen:

It's a pretty classic sounding song. See, lead singer, Dan Auerbach, has a very old-sounding, soulful voice. This song has a very 70's vibe; the chorus, "Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting" is such a catchy-sounding chorus that you'll be singing it all day.

The next song, "Dead and Gone," is another soulful entry, which will again have you singing the chorus. (See, there is a pattern here. You'll be singing this entire album whether you want to or not.)

The third track, the Black Keys hit gold, literally. "Gold on the Ceiling" hearkens back to their last album, Brothers, (which we have), and it's another song with catchy music. Have a listen (and watch the video, it's pretty decent):

This is how I feel about music that has minimalist lyrics: they're awesome. Like The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," you can take whatever meaning you want out of this song. I mean, you understand what the chorus here is about, but the verses are very open-ended.

Basically, I love this song, and find myself walking around the library singing it.

Trust me, you'll be singing it too once you listen to it enough.

The next song is called "Little Black Submarines." This song has multiple layers, and is easily my favorite song on the album. I love it when a song starts out in one direction, and moves in an entirely different one. This song starts with a melodic acoustic guitar gently layered underneath the soulful lyrics of Auerbach; throughout the song, instruments, from percussion to Hammond organ to what may be another guitar, are added in layers still underneath the voice of Auerbach. Then, the song completely changes, as a crunchy electric guitar starts rocking out. It's a very blues-heavy song, and the electric guitars have great riffs.

Then there are the lyrics. They're also fantastic, and give you a sense of loss that make you ache for the singer. It's a great piece.

I want them to write music in my basement. Even though they're kinda creepy-looking.

The next two songs, "Money Maker" and "Run Right Back," are two more fantastic songs. "Money Maker" features crunchy guitars, and another simple chorus ("Hey my my she's a Money Maker/ Hey my my she's a gonna take ya") are awesome, and the very funky, Hendrix-style guitar solo lend to the song and, again, gives it a very 70's feel. (Lot's of 70's and 80's in this music; look at the photo of the album cover. I mean, come on.) "Run Right Back" is another melodic, soulful piece, but not one of my favorites on the album. I can't really describe it too much, but like the rest of the album, it's still worth a listen.

"Sister" is about the most straight-forward songs on the album. It's still fun, and you'll be singing along in short order. "Hell of a Season" is a song with really crunchy guitars, and a distorted bass that drives the rest of the song along. The chorus goes, "In this hell of season/Give me more of a reason/To be with you/Be with you, yeah," and is so anthem-esque that you'll want to get on your feet and chant the chorus right along. This song has a lot of drive, and it's a lot of fun.

"Stop Stop" is another fun song, and it's basically the story of my relationships: I've gotta stop stop, know what I'm saying? Anyway, it's a song that, again, you'll be singing in your sleep. "Nova Baby" reminds me of a few songs from their previous album mashed into one song. (Speaking of Brothers, we have that too!) I really like this song.

Kitteh Lurves music.

Finally, we come to "Mind Eraser." I think that this song ends the album better than any song could have concluded this album. It still has that great Black Keys sound, and it embodies what these guys were trying to do with this album: make a blusey, yet soulful, album that can appeal to a lot of people. I love the beginning lyrics: "When I need to replace her/I am the mind eraser/Anything goes, yeah, anything goes."

This album I'd give a 4.5 out of 5. It's a fantastic piece, and any music lover, especially those who love blues or fun rock, would love this band (and this album).

On that note, I'm off to Orlando. Let's see the weather down there:

Orlando WeatherUpdated: Feb 29, 2012, 10:05am UPDATE DATA
Today Feb 29 Thu Mar 1 Fri 2 Sat 3 Sun 4 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9

Partly    Partly   Partly   Isolated Ditto Sunny Pt.     Cloudy Most    Mostly
Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy T-Storms Cld.    Sun    Sunny
High 86°F 87°   89°     88°      69°       70°      74°    78°       81°       81°
Low 65°    63°    65°   67°    51°       48°      60°    62°       62°       59°

Since I'll be there Monday-Saturday, I think I can deal with that. Let's not get jelly, though. I'll see you when I get back.

I may have a special blog from Florida, too!

See you then!

Design our Library Card!

2012-02-29T09:26:00.000-05:00

OK folks, it's finally time to launch our contest (That I've been plugging shamelessly for the past few weeks without telling anybody what it is)! The contest is...that you, yes you, can design our new library card! We will be running the contest from today until March 12, 2012. After that, the public will be voting on their favorite design!

Anybody can design a card. In fact, we encourage everybody ever to design a card. Because it'd be fun for you, and fun for us to see what interesting ideas you will all have. You can either stop into the library to grab the rules/entry form (ask at the front desk), or you can grab them at the link below. The theme is the same as our library's theme: "Grow Your World."

Here are the rules.

Your chance to be immortalized at the library is today!

UPDATE: I should note: If you print out the form, use a blank sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 paper for your original design!

UPDATE (Part 2): I messed up with I made the link to the rules! OOPS! Now you can access them. Have fun!

Directorspeak: Week 7, Episode 1

2012-02-28T15:32:00.002-05:00

This week, I'm going to review two books at once! Mostly, because, they're related. They're like cousins. Or something.

See, here's the problem with Star Wars books: They're mostly terrible. They're always reading candy.

I read them when I don't want to read anything involved.

Not saying I don't like reading involved things. I just didn't want to think for the past couple of weeks, so I decided that the best way to do that would be to read these two books. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, though, so it's really not too big a deal that I'd choose these books.

Onto my further comments.

So, I actually kind of liked Revan. It stars Revan, the main character from the original Knights of the Old Republic video game, and it kind of finishes his story. Kind of. The ending was weak. But it was all kinds of nifty, and I did enjoy that.

Darth Plagueis, on the other hand, was still enjoyable, but definitely not as good at Revan. It tells the back story of Emperor Palpatine's master, the title character. It's all about how Plagueis is all focused on living forever. It's kind of interesting.

I'd give them a 3 out of 5 or so. They're OK, and if you're a fan, they're interesting reads.

I'm totally in vacation mode.

Oh, you didn't realize that I was in vacation mode, did you? I'm leaving for vacation very soon! (By very soon, I mean Thursday.) I'll be going here:

Yeah, Orlando, Florida. I'll be there for a while, watching this:

Mike Godissart...my brother.

Baseball is a sport that I enjoy greatly, and even better when my brother is playing. He's the ace pitcher for the Mount Aloysius Mounties. He's pretty decent.

Also happening on this trip:

Harry Potter at Universal Studios...jealous, much?

Yeah, I get to hang out with Harry Potter. That's library specific, right? (Danielle hates me for this!)

Maybe I'll blog from the south. Maybe.

Don't forget about our library card contest! I'd post a link, but I'm lazy.

Directorspeak: Week 6, Episode 3

2012-02-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

See, here's the thing: I love movies. Films are a fantastic method of provoking thoughts and ideas. In fact, sometimes they are so excellent that they can change the world. Well, at least change how people perceive their world.

Not this movie.

Now, generally I like Ed Harris. I even kind of sort of like Zooey Deschanel. And Will Ferrell has his moments. This movie has about one moment. That's it. It's supposed to be about how some chick (Deschanel) had a father who was a famous writer and turned her into a brat, but after her mom's death she goes home to try and find correspondence between her dad and her mom because she's going to sell it for a lot of money. Instead, the trip changes her life. It was also supposedly a "Two Thumbs up" film by Roger Ebert.

They're wrong.

This film is emo.

This band is less emo than this movie.

Seriously, you can avoid it. I'd say that if you're a fan of Ferrell, watch it. If you're a fan of Zooey Deschanel, meh, watch it maybe. If you think she is a sweet, girl-next door type, don't watch this movie, as she has sex with random strangers and drops quite a few "f"-bombs.

Instead, listen to this song:

This song is much better than this movie. It'll make you much happier than this movie will, and this song is kinda emo. Well, it's really emo, but it's by my favorite band, "Taking Back Sunday." They're great.

Not this movie. Please avoid this movie.

...

...

...

Are you still reading? Good. I'm trying to figure something out...I want to know who my Russian is/are. I noticed, looking at the statistics on my blogger stuff, that I have had some people from Russia looking at my site. If you see this, leave me a comment! I love Russia. I want to go there.

Russians, contact me ASAP.

If you're not Russian, but you're looking for a link to our library card contest, here it is. Click that. Go for it. Yeah. Enjoy!

Directorspeak: Week 6, Episode 2: NEW STUFF!

2012-02-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Hi again! I bought some new stuff. It's all very enjoyable stuff. There are even some CDs in this order.

If you want to check any of it out, you need to get a library card. Speaking of library cards...we're having a contest to design ours! Click here to be linked to that blog!

OK, so all our new books:

Home Front - KristinHannah

DefendingJacob - William Landay

The Fear Index- Robert Harris

Kill Shot - VinceFlynn

No Mark UponHer - Deborah Crombie

A Place ofPeace - Amy Clipston

A Life of Joy- Amy Clipston

Breakdown - SaraParetsky

The Comedy isFinished - Donald Westlake

The Healing - JonathanOdell

The Scent ofCherry Blossoms - Cindy Woodsmall

Anatomy ofMurder - Imogen Robertson

Coming Apart - CharlesMurray

HilarityEnsues - Max Tucker

Once Upon ASecret - Mimi Alford

Bringing Up Bébé - PamelaDruckerman

Behind theBeautiful Forevers - Katherine Boo

The Science ofYoga - William J Broad

Ali inWonderland - Ali Wentworth

All There Is -Dave Isay

101 TrackPlans for Model Railroaders - Linn Westcott

The Psychologyof Wealth - Charles Richards

Meeting at Corvallis - S.M. Stirling

The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling

(Teen Books)

Abandon - MegCabot

Bad Guy Earth- Malachai Nicolle

Beneath a MethMoon - Jacqueline Woodson

Between Hereand Forever - Elizabeth Scott

Bewitching - AlexFinn

Blood Red Road- Moira Young

Cloaked - AlexFinn

Daredevil:Born Again - Frank Miller

Dark Eden - PatrickCartman

Disenchantments- Nina LaCour

Fault in OurStars - John Green

FragileEternity - Melissa Marr

Getting OverGarrett Delaney - Abby McDonald

Holy Terror - FrankMiller

Way We Fall - MeganCrewe

Wicked Lovely- Melissa Marr

ButterflyClues - Kate Ellison

Geektastic - HollyBlack

Pandemonium - LaurenOliver

(CDs)

Talk That Talk - Rihanna

Home - Dierks Bentley

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Emotional Traffic - Tim McGraw

A Different Kind of Truth - Van Halen

Esperanza - Esperanza Spalding

El Camino - The Black Keys

Kisses on the Bottom - Paul McCartney

The Church of Rock and Roll - Foxy Shazam

Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay

That's all for now! What would you like to see at the library? Leave requests in the comments!

Directorspeak: Week 6, Episode 1

2012-02-21T15:42:00.001-05:00

OK, again, I apologize. I was going to attempt to blog this weekend...that was before my dog decided she was going to suddenly go blind. (Everything is cool, we just have a blind doggie.) I'm working on blogging more now.

So yesterday was president's day, and we were closed, but in honor of that, I'm posting this picture:

This is Chester Arthur, our 21st President, and he's mostly forgotten. Probably because he didn't really do too much, except for growing that WICKED BEARD. Seriously, that's some facial growage. I'd need to Rogaine my face to get that serious.

Anyway, let's talk 50/50. This movie stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as buddies, Bryce Dallas Howard as JGL's bats*** crazy girlfriend, Anna Kendrick as JGL's therapist, and Angelica Huston as his coddling mother. The premise of the film: Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character has cancer. It's basically how all the people around him deal with it...also how he will deal with it. It's an interesting look at how families/friends/relationships work whenever somebody has cancer.

The reason it's so interesting? It's basically a fictional account of a true story. The guy who wrote it, Will Reiser, was in the exact same situation with his best friend, Seth Rogen. Well, only exact in that he had cancer and had to deal with Seth Rogen. Other than that, really no parallels from what I understand.

However...Joseph Gordon-Levitt, while not a mancrush of mine, is one of my favorite actors. And, in this film, he gets to be all...cancer-ridden Joseph Gordon-Levitty.

Look at that smile. Come on.

Seriously, he's hard not to like in this role. On top of that, he reminds me of...well, me in this movie. Except that I've never had cancer. But anyway, he's great.

Another actor, whom I sometimes personally don't think is very funny, who pulls off his role well is Seth Rogen (maybe because he had already been in that situation?). Maybe one of the best scenes happens right after JGL breaks his ailment to Seth Rogen, who replies: "Oh God, I'm gonna puke." His reaction is terrific.

OK, so the female stars (Bryce Dallas Howard and Anna Kendrick) are very attractive, and nice to look at, but they both add to the story well, and Kendrick and JGL have excellent chemistry onscreen. Bryce Dallas Howard is genuinely insane in this film, and I've had my share of those (girlfriends, of course).

Basically, this film is a well-scripted and well-acted film. It's very enjoyable. There is some sexual content (Rogen's character decides that JGL should use his cancer to pick up chicks--let's just say, they pick up chicks one night) for those of you with children, which is why it is rated R. But honestly, it's a lot of fun.

It's a dramedy. I like the drama/comedy mix.

So, I give it a 4 out of 5. Go watch it. Lots of fun.

Now, tonight is something important: HOCKEY!!

Get ready to see some of this:

#71 is the MANNNNNN

Evgeni Malkin. BOOM!

See y'all tomorrow!

Directorspeak: Week 5, Episode 1

2012-02-16T11:30:00.001-05:00

I know, I know. I've been slacking.

I'm sorry. I love you all. I'm really glad when you read my blogs. It's just that, well, I'm a busy guy. Especially this time of year. This is really the wort part of the year. I've got about 19,203,480,239,174,023,984 forms to fill out beginning in late January and ending in late April. On top of those two things, I've got like 4 major projects I'm doing all at once. It's ridiculous.

So, anyway, that also means that I don't get to read as much as I'd like. If I could, I'd just sit around and do nothing all the time. Unfortunately, my life doesn't work quite like that, and I have a ton of other responsibilities. Anyway, I'm now finally going to sit here and finish this blog, which I started 2 days ago.

11/22/63 is one of the best things I've read by Stephen King in a long time. I've read every book he has released in the past 10 years or so within a few months of release, so I've read quite a bit of his things. I've pretty much read every single novel he's ever written, so I know my Stephen King. Let's just say that this book is one of his best ever. It probably won't get as many accolades as I am giving it, but you should seriously check it out.

It's funny how time travel stories usually involve similar sorts of things like, you know, a time machine. Also, usually, you have all kinds of control over when you go, whether future or past. Well, just know that main character Jake Epping doesn't hop in his DeLorean and go back in time to save President Kennedy.

Too bad my flux capacitor broke...

So, how exactly does he travel back in time? This is kind of tricky. See, King has all kinds of ideas throughout his entire catalog of stories, and those that involve how universes work are quite possibly the trickiest. See, in this novel, he tackles a lot of issues of time travel that nobody else really considers, such as the fact that every time somebody travels back in time in the manner that Jake does, they go back to the same day every time, and quite possibly construct new, multiple realities that shouldn't exist. The method of his time travel is a kind of...weak spot in reality, which takes him to the same date at the same time no matter when you step through the spot. They always end up on the same day in 1958.

He also makes interesting points on the nature of the past. He keeps saying, throughout the first-person narrative of Jake, that "The past is obdurate." The definition of obdurate is "unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding." Basically, the past doesn't want you do mess with it. The way the past attempts to get Jake to stop changing it? Well, you'll see if you read the book.

So, those ideas are very cerebral. And if you've ever read Stephen King, you'll see why a lot of people love his stories: Even though he has extraordinary ideas, they're extraordinarily accessible. This is definitely literature for the masses. It's really good.

Also really good: That this guy, who starts in 1958 in his 30's, finds himself a love...in 1961 or so. The love story is much better than a Nicholas Sparks novel (*GAGGING NOISES*), and you'll really feel for the characters involved. Seriously, it's a classic romance story.

The only reason I posted this is because it has Ryan Gosling. Also, Rachel McAdams...(*drooling on myself as I type this*)

Now, one patron returned the book and said "I didn't care much for the ending, but I really enjoyed this better than just about everything he's written for years." For me, I thought the ending was perfect. Seriously, it makes the entire novel work so much better than if he had written it slightly differently. It's enjoyable.

So come on in and grab this novel. It's fantastic, it's not a horror story, and it is very accessible. I'd rate it like a four out of five. While not perfect, it's still one of the better things I've read in a long time.

Enjoy! I'll hopefully have another up by tomorrow!

Directorspeak: Week 4, Episode 2

2012-02-10T12:24:00.001-05:00

It's Friday, which means I'm about ready to check out for the weekend. Already. Really, I enjoy working, but today, my head is in the clouds. Now, there are at least 109238209832098320 more things that I can think of right now that I would rather do than sit here in my office and do work. One of them is write this blog (which is, granted, sort of work). One of them is playing hockey.

But I can realistically only write the blog.

One other important thing to note: I'm going to see this tonight:

If don't know anything about me, then you probably don't know that I have been talking about seeing this for the past 3 days. I'm super excited. Actually, I've been secretly trying to find somebody to watch it with for the past 2 months. I finally found my movie buddy: My mother.

But I'm not here to review Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, I'm here to talk about another thing that I love: a Ryan Gosling movie.

So, as you all know, I have a total mancrush on Ryan Gosling. It's not even an unhealthy mancrush, but I am to the point where I will watch anything involving Ryan Gosling. So, when I found out that Drive was probably an exceptionally good movie, I said..."Duh, it has Ryan Gosling in it."

There's more than just Ryan Gosling, though.

First off, let's discuss Carey Mulligan, whom I didn't really know existed until watching this film. I mean, sure, she's been in a couple of other movies that I've seen, but I really didn't notice anything until last night, watching this movie. First, let's add her to my list of female celebrities that I adore now. Second, her role as the female lead is not particularly well-written; however, she pulls of a terrific performance.

Now, let's talk the soundtrack. I'm not talking about just the music, though. I'm talking about the entire sound of the movie. Listen: the best way to watch Drive is by sitting in a surround-sound home entertainment arena, where there are no other sounds to distract you. Seriously, the sounds in this film help the emotional impact throughout. There is a car chase where the only sound is the sounds of the cars. It's way more intense than, say, for instance, a car chase scene where the soundtrack is blasting some rap track (Thanks, The Fast and The Furious, for ruining car chase scenes). Basically, the soundtrack is as epic as a machine gun-wielding bear riding on a shark:

Apparently, somebody else thinks like me...

Anyway, then we have Gosling. He puts in a better performance than I've seen in any movie all year. I'm disgusted with the Academy Awards committee for not nominating him for anything. Also, I'm mad at the ladies who don't think he is sexier than Bradley Cooper:

Anyway, this movie is a solid crime flick/art film. Seriously, I give it a lot of stars out of five. Like more than I've given just about anything. It's great. Come in and put it on hold (there are a few holds on it right now).

Check back later for my review of 11/22/63, by Stephen King!

Meet Tigger!

2012-02-10T09:44:00.000-05:00

Meet Tigger!

Tigger is my oldest kitty, she's been in the family for at least 15 years. She's a good old girl too. Today she asked to come to work with me, and how could I say no to that face? So we put on her harness, clipped on a leash and off we went!

Tigger was all curious about this library and took off to check everything out. She wandered around the kid's room, visited all the offices, said "hi" to Winslow, Jean, and Amy, and found Matt. Tigger has decided that she really likes Matt.

She's fortunate that she's so cute, because Matt likes her too:

Tigger says "Now that I'm in charge of the library adoration will be mandatory"

We'll be heading home soon, but Tigger will be back to visit another day!

Downloading eBooks - How to Register

2012-02-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

One of the things people ask us the most questions about is downloading ebooks onto their ereaders. So I’m going to do a series of tutorials on HOW to download materials from OverDrive (our Digital Library) onto your device. I personally have a nook, a tablet, and an android phone, so those tutorials will be firsthand experience. Instructions for kindles and apple devices will be based on tutorials and instructions from classes I’ve taken and from friends’ experiences.

The following tutorial is pretty image heavy, so may take time to load for those with slower connections.

The first thing you’ll need to do is register your library card with our systems. In order to do so you need to log onto the internet and browse to our website: www.juniatalibrary.org. In the Online Resources box click the link for “Digital Library.”

This brings you to the Downloadable Media site. From here you’ll want to click “Digital Help – FAQ”

Scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page and you’ll see a link that says “Please contact support with a detailed description of your problem or question.” A new window or tab will open up.

Fill out the form on the new page. Make sure to include your full library card number (your library barcode.) If you have lost your library card you'll need to come in and get a new one.

When you come to the part that says “Describe your problem” type “I need to be registered” and then click “submit.” Support will register your barcode and contact you usually within 24 business hours. If you don’t receive a confirmation in 2-3 business days try to log in and see if it works, your spam filters may have caught the automated email. If not, resubmit your request for registration and double check your information to make sure everything is typed correctly.

Congratulations! You are now registered to download books and media for the library! Next up is downloading the software for ebooks. Stay tuned!

Directorspeak: Week 4, Episode 1: New Stuff

2012-02-08T09:41:00.002-05:00

Now, I know what y'all gonna say: I'm slacking. You're right; I haven't been writing blogs as often as I'd like, and I'm even mad at myself for not writing as much as I'd like. See, problem is that last week, I got done with my hours super early, and didn't have a chance to write Friday-Sunday. So, this week, my excuse is that I've been prepping for 3 major things: First, I have a board meeting tonight, so I had to gather my statistics. That's always interesting, and maybe sometime I'll show you all exactly what I track throughout the year. Second, I've been prepping our contest, which I had hoped to release last week, but it won't get done until today. Big launch for that later today! Third, the Friends of the Library are doing a Gas Raffle again, and I have to prep the tickets!! (That'll happen next week; I'll post a blog dedicated to that, too.)

OK, so now that I'm done with my excuses, I'll give you guys what you want (our most recent order for adult/teen books):

Dark AfterMidnight - Lara Adrian

PineappleGrenade - Tim Dorsey

Now You SeeHer - Joy Fielding

Catch Me - LisaGardner

Left for Dead- J. A. Jance

An Amish FamilyReunion - Mary Ellis

Quiet - SusanCain

Fairy TaleInterrupted - Rosemarie Terenzio

StrategicVision - Zbigniew Brzezinski

All In - PaulaBroadwell

League ofExtraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969 - Alan Moore

League ofExtraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier - Alan Moore

Empty - SuzanneWeyn

All these materials will be available as soon as we get them (a) in the mail and (b) processed. Our cataloger, Connie, is really fast...which means it takes somewhere between 3 and 7 days to get materials from fresh-ordered to the shelf. If you know anything about libraries, you know that cataloging/processing can take anywhere from a week (very short) to a month. Most large libraries take over a month to process items!

Also, occasionally I'm going to give you a topic that you should research/know more about. My friend Sam Adams is going to love me for this. I learned a lot about this issue from the movie Blood Diamond, but, also, from Kanye West. I'm going to let you listen to the song, "Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)":

Crazy. The song gives you a good idea of how conflict diamonds affect countries like Sierra Leone. So, basically, I'm asking you to check out where your jewelry comes from, that's all. Because purchasing conflict diamonds just spews more conflict in Africa (or other countries where they use diamonds to fund war.

Now, the message is similar in the official music video, but it's a different song (No Jay-Z):

The video gives a much better message through the actual video (no video in the previous, just music with the picture). This song faltered when it was released as a single, but I'm hoping it resonates in your mind whenever you're thinking about purchasing jewelry, because then you might think about your purchase a little bit more.

OK, that's all for right now. I'm sure I'm going to have more ranting to do. I brought home two movies last night...Friday, there'll be a review for one of them. See you then!

Library Day in the Life, Day 4, Danielle

2012-02-02T15:16:00.002-05:00

Today was a much quieter day than yesterday. Mostly because I did a lot of prep work and not as much ‘outside’ stuff.

Once again though, today is a grey and icky day. At least I don’t feel as bad for driving, though I do wish the weather would make up its mind and choose winter or spring. Apparently the groundhogs don’t even know, though Phil does say more winter…. Not that we’ve had much of a winter. Sigh.

We had our final Story Time of the week today, and like yesterday, it went well. :) Today was a slightly smaller group, but a bunch of sign ups after the program ended means that both programs will have around the same number of kids. We followed the same outline as yesterday, with one slight modification- one of our books was AWOL (I do know what happened to it), so we substituted with Skippyjon Jones, whom I love. He’s just so ridiculous looking. Plus he reminds me of a cat, and we all know that I love cats. I was *thrilled* to have some of the kids sing along with me during our calendar songs and weather songs. I guess their schools use the same songs in their curriculum, which pleases me to no end. I’m glad we’ll be able to make that ‘bridge’ for the kids. I’m not pretending to teach them calendar or anything, but I think our songs and just talking about the days will help when they do start school. Plus they’re fun.

Crud. I just realized that once again, I forgot my camera, so no pictures. Bother.

I did remember to bring in my Sizzix machine though, so we had crayon name tags. I want to make some nice ones out of cardstock and laminate them as necklaces for next week. I’ve got to go through my shapes and see what I’ve got. Most are holiday shaped, but I’m sure I’ve got some general ones in there. If I can’t find anything else the crayon is perfect.

I did some prep work for story time next week (Winter theme, so it will be warm out again) and got the songs and poems all set. I am waiting until next week to print them so I don’t lose them! Which I totally would. I still haven’t finished the ‘books’ I want to make for the kids though. I am going to work on those more tomorrow. I need to figure out some way to bind them. I’ll probably go with the Japanese sewn binding because that is fairly easy and if you use good string pretty sturdy. I’m going to go with a coloring book style so they can color the book themselves. I’d like one for my collection as well.

When refilling the Valentine books on top of the picture book shelving (new books now have their own shelf and don’t hang out on top of shelves anymore) I found a few more books I might want for Story Time and a couple of duplicates to put in storage. My next big project once I get settled in Story Time is to pull an entire section of the alphabet, sort them and put them in (temporary) order. That way I get a sense of what we have in the collection and can fix any ‘holes’ I find. So there will come a day soon when there are empty picture book shelves in the kid’s room, but don’t worry, they’ll be back!

Directorspeak: Week 3, Episode 3

2012-02-02T12:38:00.002-05:00

It's kind of funny, you know, that I can see the statistics on what is getting read. When I log into my account here at blogger.com, I can totally see how many people read each specific blog. And that's pretty cool, because then I know what people like to see me write about.

One thing that I found out (that wasn't terribly surprising): Y'all don't read about graphic novels.

Now, maybe I should have taken the hint and not written about them this time. See, thing is: I read a lot more graphic novels than I do books. It doesn't take me as much time (although a good 1000 page graphic novel might take longer than the average novel, for me), and they're infinitely more interesting than most of the drivel that are on the library shelves. That doesn't mean, though, that I don't give a poo about the other books we have.

I just like comics.

So, my guess is that maybe you aren't educated enough on the world of graphic novels. So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to post a blog that is basically a mini-lecture on how graphic novels work, and how to read them. It's interesting stuff, and very insightful.

Another thing that I can see when I look at my blogger dashboard is that y'all don't comment on my stuff.

Is it because you don't like me? I'm very self-conscious. You should leave me comments. Yes, I know Danielle occasionally leaves comments, but that's lame, because I see her everyday. Talking with you is way more exciting because I probably don't see any of you everyday; however, the conversation is currently one-sided! I want to know your opinions too.

OK, so let's talk Fables, now that I'm done ranting about comments. Fables is one of the greatest comic series I've ever read, and I've read all 16 volumes. First off, the characters are all those characters that you know and remember from your childhood, except...more mature. And by that, I mean there are all those things you didn't have in childhood: Drugs, sex, and alcoholic flying monkeys. Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

SO, let's break down the basic storyline:

1. The Fables community are all the magical people from the worlds in the different universes that are linked with ours, and they have been chased out of their own worlds by somebody called 'The Emperor.'

2. They live in New York City.

3. Those who aren't human live in upstate New York, at a site called "the Farm," as talking pigs and such wouldn't be very inconspicuous in NYC.

4. They're trying to go back to their own worlds.

5. There are more sub-plots than in a George R.R. Martin novel.

Kitties can't understand Fables

So, anyway, Bill Willingham, writer and creator of this series, is seriously a genius, for a lot of reasons. First, he takes characters that you are familiar with and makes them seemingly different, yet strangely the same, as the characters you remember. Second, he'll tug at your heartstrings literally at least once in each book. Third, he'll have you hating and loving each character at different times. Literally, these characters become so human that you'll feel like you know them.

Really, his characterization is great. When you have one of the Wicked Witch of the West's flying monkeys (named Bufkin) as simultaneously a record-keeper, a filling clerk, a librarian, a conqueror, a military genius, and a moron, you can be considered extraordinarily talented. And the stories he weaves throughout the basic plot are brilliant. I don't want to get too far into it, but I always judge brilliance by the ability of somebody to twist me around and have me confused and then, right before I'm frustrated to no end, the floodgates open and each situation gets resolved in very reasonable ways. Willingham is a master at that.

Something I just realized: The Super Bowl is this weekend. Instead of watching that, though, I'm going to watch this:

Evgeni Malkin: World Class athlete, world class prank artist.

Yeah, I'm a hockey fan.

Anyway, I'd rate this series a billion stars out of 5. Come in and grab them. We have all 16 volumes, and they're located in the teen section.

Warning: While these are accessible, they're not for small children. Be advised: When I sad sex, drugs, and alcoholic flying monkeys, I wasn't kidding. So read them, by all means...but not to your kids.

Till we meet again!

Library Day in the Life, Day 3, Danielle

2012-02-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome to libday8 day three!

Today was the first Story Time program. And I think it went pretty well… There were no complaints and the kids seemed to have fun, so I’m calling it a success.

My morning started out with two whiny cats. Tigger Marie and Squirt were both incredibly whiny and needy today. I lavished attention on them, but couldn’t stay home like they wanted me to. Story Time was calling after all. I drove to work again today because it was super gray and overcast out and with all the gadgets I have in my backpack I didn’t want to risk the possibility of rain. So of course, it is absolutely gorgeous out right now. Sunny and warm. Which is WRONG for February (the warm part that is), it should be cold and snowing out right now. But I digress.

When I got here this morning I started out setting up for Story Time by hiding the mittens for our mitten hunt. 48 paper mittens were hidden around the kids room for my Story Timers to hunt out. We found all but one. There’s a missing dark gray mitten in there somewhere…. I got my white board all set up, the calendar all ready, and my weather bear hung up. And then I noticed that the weather bear was missing some weather (rain). My weather bear was inherited from my mom, she used it in her Circle Times back in the early 90’s, so I wasn’t sure if they were still making parts. I emailed the company and they are! I can totally get new clothes and weather for the bear, even though he is discontinued. Faboo. I’ll send away for those after next week’s payday.

Our Weather Bear

After getting everything up here ready I headed downstairs to the scary, scary, cold dungeon to grab the craft materials. We decorated paper mittens today, so I had crayons, sequins, felt decorations, and confetti for us. I also moved out the three little tables to the front of the room and pulled the little chairs. Little chairs and tables are much better for little bodies. Plus they’re cute. :)

When I came up kids were already starting to arrive, so I set up the easel and white board and grabbed my bag of stuff. I made little name tags for all the kids so I wouldn’t call them by another name (note to self- bring in sizzix machine!!!) and went out to meet the kids. I had a couple of shy ones this morning, but I’m sure by the end of this session (in March) we won’t be so shy. No one sang my songs with me, but I didn’t expect them to, since they are all new to them. I also have to find my Discovery Toys cassette. The Months of the Year song I like best is on there. I KNOW I have it, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it recently…

After everyone had finished their craft and I had hung them up to dry (on a clothes line of course) I cleaned up and headed back to my ~~office~~ lair. Where I caught up on emails (including the ones about Weather Bear!) and picked out some books for ordering. I also entered some contests to win some ARC’s (Advance Release Copies), cross your fingers that we win a couple of books! I had lunch (which I remembered today- yay!) and worked on some more program planning. One of the things I’d like to do is make booklets for the story time kids with all of our poems/songs in them. Then they can take them home and learn the songs. I also need to work on a wish list for the Friends Group. I’ve got a couple of ideas, and need to write them up.

My favorite part of the day though? Teasing Matt about super expensive and pretty silly fish stuff.

Daily Trivia! February 1

2012-02-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

New! And Fun! Daily Trivia at the library!

This week's theme is Doomed Loves. See how many you can answer!

By pretending to have gone round the bend I really drove my betrothed insane. Who am I?
a. Iago
b. Laertes
c. Hamlet
d. Benedick

"Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

Library Day in the Life, Day 2, Danielle

2012-01-31T19:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, libday8 day two went by super fast! I think I got off two or three tweets and that’s it. And now I’m tired. *yawn*

Today started off a bit later than normal for me, instead of coming in for 8am I came in for 9:45. I wanted to come in for 9:30 but Mr. Squirt had different ideas. He kept crying for attention and I felt bad for him. Yes, I am a sucker for my cats. What can I say? He’s just so darn cute.

Look at him- he's just so cute!

He finally let me go and I got here in time to set up for Toddler Tuesdays. Today was our first Toddler Tuesday and my first regular story time program at the Juniata County Library. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We had 15 people show up, which was a great number (Toddler Tuesdays is a registration required program) and there were enough kids to actively participate, even with the wanderers. (I’d like to take a quick moment here to remind the parents that the wandering is fine and totally normal. I don’t expect toddlers to sit and listen to me for 20 minutes, I encourage the wandering! They’ll sit down and listen when they want to. It’s part of their development process.) Today’s ‘theme’ was mittens. I say ‘theme’ because we won’t always focus on the theme and may drop it completely if the kids aren’t interested. I like themes because they tie everything together and make a cohesive program. We sang (ok I sang) the sit down song (Two Little Feet Go Tap) and then it was down to business! We read two stories (one of which they got to take home as a mini coloring book) and sang two fingerplay rhymes. In one we got to imagine what color mittens we had on (since it definitely was NOT mitten weather today…). There were lots of fabulous colors.

After our stories and songs I popped on a CD and it was play time. We made block towers, knocked them down, played with the puzzles, and of course, played with the train table. After about half an hour everyone was finishing up and I put things away.

Then off to check emails, start to order books, talk to Geraldine (Hi Geraldine!) about the Friends for a second, and start prepping things for Story Time tomorrow. Which didn’t end up getting done right then. I got sucked into another project and then realized it was after 2 and I was *starving*

Because today was a long day for me I skipped home (with a stop at Weis for cat food- I love their sales on Friskies!) for a longer lunch. I would like to note here that despite being absolutely crushed that I left this morning, Squirt totally ignored me when I went home for lunch. Fickle kitty.

Back at the library I finally got back to the Story Time prep. I had a friendly neighborhood volunteer start prepping some things for the middle of the month (the Queen of Heart’s tarts!) for me and wrote up our routine songs to print out. Every week we will sing several of the same songs, and rotate the theme poems. I also got to rescue a staff member who’s shirt was being eaten by her zipper. Tricky things those zippers….. That was pretty funny and I’m glad I was able to save her shirt! (Note to self- find the smaller pliers…)

It was almost 6 by then and people were trickling in for Teddy Time, the evening story time session. Teddy Time is exactly (almost) the same as Toddler Tuesdays. We read the same stories, and do the same fingerplays. I had another 10 people show up for Teddy Time. Again, a good number. And a good group as well. We had some good conversations about mittens and if animals can fit in them.

People didn’t stay very long (I didn’t expect them to, it’s bed time!) in the playtime part of Teddy Time, so I finished up the prep for tomorrow. I have the graph made, the weather chart attached and the poems printed out! I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s session. I need to remember to grab a camera tomorrow though, I’d like some pictures of story time.

And now it’s past time for me to go home. I’m sleepy and hungry and I’m pretty sure I can hear my cats yelling that dinner is late from here. See y’all tomorrow!

Directorspeak: Week 3, Episode 2

2012-01-31T17:33:00.001-05:00

When I came in this morning, I had a couple of things looming ahead in the day: writing a policy manual, and working on our contest rules (which, hopefully, will be finalized tomorrow or the day after). I also knew that I could take a break from all that other junk and write a review.

Which led me to my next problem.

See, reading A Dance with Dragons (the most recent novel in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series) was pretty difficult. In fact, it took me about a week longer than I expected it to. (In my own defense, it's over 950 pages--that's a lot of pages.) Now I'm reading another book that you could knock somebody unconscious with if you hit them over the head with it--Stephen King's most recent, 11/22/63. The difference? I'm pounding through that book. I'm already almost 200 pages into it. I started yesterday at 4 in the afternoon.

Still, I wasn't sure what I was going to review. I mean, I hadn't listened to any of our newest cds in a while, and I haven't finished any books, or read any graphic novels in another series besides Y: The Last Man (still really good, I'm finished with book 3; book 4 is coming home tonight, and book 5 is in the mail to get here hopefully tomorrow). So, with all of that in mind, I decided to do a review of a movie I watched this weekend: Captain America: The First Avenger.

Now, when it comes to comic book movies, I'm one of your go-to guys. I've seen a lot of them, but I was only fairly excited for this one. Really, the only reasons that I was only fairly excited were (a) Captain America is underrated as a Super Hero (regular dude that gets all supered up but still keeps his values intact) and (b) Agent Smith was going to be in the movie. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I hope this jogs your memory:

Agent Smith: BAD DUDE

OK, I had all kinds of concerns for the movie. First was Chris Evans. See, he starred in a superhero movie before: a little ditty called Fantastic Four, probably the worst superhero movie ever (until they made the sequel). He played Johnny Storm, also known as the Human Torch (and brother to the insanely attractive Jessica Alba--OOPS, I mean Susan Storm, also known as Invisible Woman and probably the worst characterization of any superhero besides George Clooney's nippled Batman, which I still think is fun in a weird way). Now, since he played a character already in the Marvel universe, I was concerned that he would cause all kinds of mayhem in nerdy conversations, eventually causing a collapse of all known universes.

Another concern I had was Tommy Lee Jones. I mean, really, the last thing I remember him doing was No Country for Old Men, and while he did a great job...he's old. Really old. Really really old. I was concerned. Also concerning was that there were no really distinguishable actors in the film with huge parts, especially the love interest.

Well, let's start with my first concern: Chris Evans. I was wrong to doubt him. Definitely the best actor in the movie. He was Captain America. Seriously, he takes the role to a level that is beyond what I thought possible for him. Steve Rogers, the man behind the mask, is supposed to start out as a pipsqueak who becomes this great soldier because of the super soldier serum. See, here was my original problem with Evans:

This one's for all da ladies in the houuuuuuuuuseeeeeeee

Now, he isn't exactly a pipsqueak, and you can't get all skinny then bulk up like that again during a normal film shoot. So the director made him small with all kinds of sophisticated technology that I'm not getting into here. Then Evans either took acting lessons, or the director pushed him to his limits, because he's not the douchebaggy (for lack of a better term) guy that he's played in every other move he's been in. Seriously, he's great.

Tommy Lee Jones was OK. His performance was a grouchy old man...which he does all the time.

The love interest, though, was a british woman by the name of Hayley Atwell:

I love a woman in uniform.

See, if there's one thing that interests me more than just beauty (and she's beautiful), it's the English accent. Wowza.

Anyway, I was a big fan of this movie, and I don't say that often about superhero movies, since, generally, they suck. But these Marvel films have been really, really good mostly (let's forget both Incredible Hulk movies, shall we?). I'd rate it a 3.5 out of five stars. While lacking in star power, the story is great, the acting is pretty much OK, and the costuming/special effects are spot on. There aren't meant to be much in the way of crazy special effects in realistic superhero movies (besides explosions), and they keep true to that, which made me incredibly happy.

As did the British chick.

So come in and check this movie out. And while you're at it, grab a book or two, cause we've got those too. Keep an eye out for cool stuff tomorrow: We're going to talk about some more graphic novels, and we're also going to (hopefully) be launching our contest tomorrow.

Library Day in the Life, Day 1, Danielle

2012-01-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

Today marks the start of #libday8, or Library Day in the Life 8. LibDay is where librarians and library workers shed some light on what they do throughout the day. This is my first time participating, and I’m kinda looking forward to it. I’m not sure how interesting my day will be to everyone, but I am enjoying them.

Today started out with a walk to work. Something I haven’t been able to do in about a week because of the weather. Today is supposed to be nice, so I took advantage of it. And walked a whole 7 minutes to work. Just long enough for two songs on my mp3 player (no, I don’t have an iPod). Today’s songs were Prayer by Disturbed and Strib Nicht Vor Mir by Rammstein. I got the very beginning of Rammlied by Rammstein as I was walking through the front door, but the rest will have to wait.

My first official duty of the day was to play in the fish tank (ew). Our dinosaur air bubble thing wasn’t bubbling, which is sad. I pulled him out and got it to bubble, but not the way he’s supposed to, so I think poor Mr Dino is kaput. Time for something new! I spent a few minutes looking on Amazon, but didn’t really see anything I liked that had free Prime shipping. :( My choices were pretty much a barrel of jewels or a clam. Sad. I’ll look next time I go out to a pet store.

Next up was setting up an account with Discount School Supply and trying to find a fun, but inexpensive coat tree for our activity kits. No luck. I think we’re going to have to build something and paint it a fun color. I had high hopes for DSS, but nope. They do have some nice puzzles that I plan on getting for the Chidlren’s room though. We need more wooden puzzles. After doing some story time prep for tomorrow’s Toddler Tuesday (note: see if we have a portable stereo…) and giving one of our desk clerks a flip cam to play with, it was time for lunch. (Oh, yeah, Matt, I have a flip cam for the library to use....)

After “lunch” (a granola bar and diet coke since I left my lunch on the counter at home…) I ventured into the library’s scary scary cold storage space to see if I could find an easel for Story Time use. We’re doing some loose Circle Time activities during Story Time and an easel would be totally helpful. And I managed to find one! It’s a bit lopsided, but hey, it works. :) Now I have something to prop the flannel board thingie on and do our graphing and calendar activities on. I also found a new whiteboard I am going to see if I can claim*. I’d love a chalkboard too, but that can wait until I find a board of suitable size, then I’ll just make my own. (Thanks Pinterest!) Actually, I’m thinking I might use a sheet pan, because then I can also use magnets. And magnets are fun. I wonder how well that will work?

After doing some research it seems no one has blogged about trying this out. Not sure why. A #libday8 tweet had someone suggesting I sand the pan lightly to make sure it doesn’t peel. Good idea.

*Update: Matt said I can totally lay claim to said whiteboard, so it’s MINE!! Bwahahahahaha.

Tomorrow marks the first day of Toddler Tuesdays and Teddy Time. Toddler Tuesdays is in the early morning and Teddy Time is at night. Tuesdays are going to be long days for me. Hopefully I remember to comment throughout the day. Also, I need to finish up the daily trivia for February. Since, you know, it’s almost February…

Directorspeak: Week 3, Episode 1

2012-01-30T15:50:00.001-05:00

OK, so this weekend, first, I kicked my own butt on an exercise bike. While I did that, though, I watched The Hangover, Part II. I've heard a lot about the movie...and we'll see below how I thought of the movie.

I want to talk about exercise.

Seriously, why is it that, when I was in high school, I was kind of skinny (let's face it, I've had a body like Will Ferrel), but as soon as I got to college, I gained literally 40 pounds? (I've heard about the freshman 15, but the freshman 40??? HOLY COW!) I'm losing some weight, but it's rough.

Like, you know, you've gotta watch your food intake and whatnot. Now, being a single man living alone for the first time (besides college, which only sorta counts), I was, for a while, eating ridiculous foods. One day, I remember pulling up to the checkout with literally 35 frozen dinners (hey, they were a buck each). I learned about 6 months into that diet that it probably wasn't helping with my health or my waistline.

But seriously, how hard is it to wake up at 6 AM to run on an elliptical. I'm going to blame humanity for my waistline. We make crappy foods and then create television and video games, which made my waistline bigger, because I was all lazy for a while. So, I vote we yell at the TV people, then run to the couch for the next episode of The Simpsons.

OK, so The Hangover, Part II. Have you seen the first movie? It's basically the same thing. Literally, I could have predicted the entire story, with a little variation here and there from the first movie.

However, the laughs are pretty spectacular this time. Not as quotable as the last one (seriously, how funny was "Tigers love pepper. They hate cinnamon"?). This time, however, it wasn't Zach Galifinakis that made the movie for me. Actually, it was Bradley Cooper.

However, this man is not truly the world's sexiest man (please see my previous entry for the man who should receive that honor). I'm guessing I know why women love Bradley Cooper:

OK ladies, I don't understand the French being sexy thing. Listening to a man or woman speak French is like...listening to my brother when he has a cold. They talk through their noses. Seriously, it's a nasty language. Anyway, Cooper's performance in this one was excellent. He is victim of a gunshot wound at one point (grazing wound), and he is laying on the ground, screaming like a little girl. Didn't expect that at all.

But there is another shining star in Hangover 2: Jamie Chung. Let's look:

Slaksjdf

slksu

Sorry, broke the keyboard drooling. She's got a SWORD. She's cute. I love it.

It's not a great movie. I'd give it a 2.5 out of five rating. But come in and watch it anyway, especially if you're in for cheap laughs.

Or very attractive women. Or Bradley Cooper (ladies, I know you love him). It's a great Friday night movie.

Thanks for reading!

New Stuff!!!! AGAIN!!! WOOHOO!!!

2012-01-30T15:18:00.001-05:00

In case y'all haven't noticed yet, I will be posting the new stuff I'm buying on here from time to time. Seriously, check it:

Death of Kings- Bernard Cornwell

Raylan - ElmoreLeonard

Shadows inFlight - Orson Scott Card

Copper Beach -Jayne Ann Krentz

Lothaire - KresleyCole

Lover’s Leap -Emily March

Longing - KarenKingsbury

The ImpossibleDead - Ian Rankin

The Leopard - JoNesbo

Taken - RobertCrais

Ameritopia - MarkR. Levin

The Obamas - JodiKantor

Elizabeth: TheQueen - Sally Bedell Smith

GreedyBastards - Dylan Ratigan

Pity theBillionaire - Thomas Frank

Design inNature - Adrian Bejan

The Ice Balloon- Alec Wilkinson

Y: The Last ManBook 5 - Brian K Vaughan

Sandman, Volume7: Brief Lives - Neil Gaiman

If you want to place a hold on any of it, TOO BAD YOU CAN'T NAH NAH NAH! (Actually you can, I'm just being facetious.)

Also, here's an explanation of the universe:

Directorspeak: Week 2, Episode 5

2012-01-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

So, in my last movie review, I talked a lot about the women of the movie. This time, I'm going to talk about the men. See, I can appreciate a good-looking guy, and I know when they're in movies. Ryan Gosling is a good-looking guy (and according to Winslow, I look like him). So is George Clooney. So, these two dudes in a movie together...is it the female version of heaven?

See, these two guys star in the Clooney directed Ides of March, a movie we literally put on the shelf two days ago. It's fantastic. It's about politicians. I'll talk about that later, though. First, I've got to tell you all about Ryan Gosling and myself.

Gosling was first brought to my attention in the movie The Notebook (PLEASE KILL ME IF I EVER WATCH IT AGAIN), and I knew from the start he was going to be a huge actor someday. I figured out he was in Remember the Titans later, and rewatched it so I could see how he was as an actor. He was pretty OK. I saw him in a few interviews, and I realized that he'd be big. Winslow started telling me, then, that I looked like him, which, of course, fed my ego to an extent that I have decided that I'm hot. Then I saw this movie, and I've become infatuated.

Basically, my #1 mancrush (yeah, that's a word) is Ryan Gosling.

OK, so Gosling is a good looking guy, and he is exceptionally good looking in this film, seeing as his other co-stars are Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti (who aren't good looking men at all). George Clooney is also good looking, but he is really not a fixture in the movie. He's a little bit like the shark in Jaws. He moves in and out of the picture, even though he a major focal point of the story.

So, the basic rundown of the story is that Ryan Gosling is the assistant campaign manager for George Clooney, so he runs around all steamy and sexy trying to get this dude elected. Evan Rachel Wood (HOTTIE ALERT!) is seducing him, Paul Giamatti (EW) is also seducing him, although in a different way, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is, for lack of a better term, mean. Oh, and Marisa Tomei is in it. I'm also infatuated with her. Like, she's old enough to be my mother, and I'm in love with her. So, anyway, Ryan Gosling is an assistant campaign manager who will never damage library books:

Now, there are all kinds of crazy things that happen in this movie, but I don't want to spoil the fun. Let's just say, it is a movie about politicians, and that everybody politics everybody in the film. Basically, if you like political thrillers, with more plot twists than a Tom Clancy (did it again) novel, You should watch this movie. I enjoyed it a lot. Actually, at one point, Gosling's character makes some mistakes, kind of like this one:

OK, so I'm just being silly, I apologize. This script is well-written. Kudos to that. Gosling's character is developed very well. I also give Evan Rachel Wood credit; she plays the part of the sassy, sexy intern very well. However...it's kind of the same old same old story about politicians. That's probably the only downside: politicians are stupid, they don't do anything clean, blah blah blah, statement about politicians in our country, blah blah blah. It's pretty good, but just about everybody tries to make that statement (we all know that they're filthy rich, abysmal human beings).

I'd give it a four out of five rating. Come watch it. It's a pretty solid movie. I mean, I enjoyed it. So you should come and watch.

Especially if you like Ryan Gosling, and those beautiful blue eyes of his.

Directorspeak: Week 2, Episode 4

2012-01-27T18:16:00.001-05:00

Parental Advisory: If you don't know what this means by now, seriously, you haven't been reading. You should probably start back at the beginning. Seriously. If you're too lazy to read them, you're probably too lazy to read this blog post. Check them out. Children, there might be bleeped-out written lyrics, but the songs themselves posted through Youtube won't be bleeped, so ask a parent's permission before listening.

So, you're back, eh? I know, two posts in one day! I've been hammering away at the keyboard. The nice thing about writing a blog is that, unlike writing a policy manual (which I am also doing), I can just vomit my thoughts out through my fingers onto the keyboard. (Interesting visual there, eh?) (Eh? What am I, Canadian?)

OK, so, back to the topic at hand: Hip-hop. I wrote, earlier this week, a review of Jay-Z's book Decoded, which is seriously one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Jay-Z returns with a vengeance again today, in the album Watch The Throne, along with Kanye West. These two men are currently at the top of the hip-hop genre (along with Eminem). Anyway, the allusion to the title is that they are the best, currently, in the hip-hop genre. Sadly, this album isn't in many of the Grammy slots, which makes me sad, because it is honestly one of the best albums of the past year.

OK, so let's move onto the album Watch the Throne. For those of you who haven't listened to much hip-hop, this might actually be a good album to start with. These two guys are celebrated amongst hip-hop artists as being some of the most intelligent and interesting artists in the genre. They certainly know how to make their lyrics flow with the beat. Kanye West not only performs, but he produced many, if not all, of the songs. The man is, simply put, a genius.

That genius is shown quickly on the album. "No Church in the Wild" is a groovy tune, with a beat that isn't quite a normal hip-hop beat. Often, when one thinks of hip-hop music, you'd think of a "THUMP-THA-THUMP-THA-THUMP" style beat that really, eventually, grates on your nerves. This song, as well as most of the songs on the album, definitely don't do that. On top of that, these guys show their intelligence immediately. Jay hammers out "Is Pious pious cause God loves pious?/Socrates asks, “Whose bias do y’all seek?”/All for Plato, screech/I’m out here ballin’, I know y’all hear my sneaks/Jesus was a carpenter, Yeezy, laid beats/Hova flow the Holy Ghost, get the hell up out your seats/Preach." Read that like a poem. There's all kinds of double meaning and hidden meaning in just that little passage--and that's only half of Jay's lyrics. (Also, for your information, "Yeezy" is a nickname for Kanye; "Izzo" and "Hova" and all variations of that are nicknames for Jay-Z).

Jay-Z looking...wild.

The next song, "Lift Off" features Beyonce Knowles, Jay-Z's wife. If you can find me somebody with a better voice, I'd like to know. Beyonce kills the chorus to this song. Her voice soars; actually, it's kind of strange to say, she might be the superstar in this song. Jay keeps his lyrics to a very short passage on this song, and he does it in a half time for almost the entire time he performs. On this song, Kanye not only confronts his own selfish behavior, but he also proves that his fans still love him. It's a powerful piece, and not just because of Beyonce's voice.

Next comes two of the best hip-hop songs of the past 5 years (that's not even an exaggeration; I'm dead serious). If there are two songs you should listen to off this album, pick one of the next two. First one is titled "N****s in Paris," and it's most definitely a crowd favorite, right down to the surprise sample from the movie Blades of Glory. Listen:

Seriously, that's one of the best songs ever. It's basically a celebration of their careers.

Then we come to "Otis." Seriously, another ridiculous song. Here's the official video:

Again, this is another song that is a celebration of two black men who have gone from rags to riches, although "Otis" is more of a celebration of the new school and old school. Jay-Z is the latter, with a music career that is more than 20 years old. Jay spits "Drivin Benzes, with no benefits/Not bad, huh? For some immigrants/Build your fences, we diggin tunnels/Can't you see we gettin money up under you?" (Again, that's a verse rife with double meaning). Immediately after, Kanye raps "Can't you see the private jets flyin over you?/Maybach bumper sticker read "What would Hova do?"/Jay is chillin (uhh) 'Ye is chillin (uhh)/What more can I say? We killin 'em." Really, these guys have it together.

The next three songs are also fantastic (really, the whole album is). (I listen to this album at least once a week. It's one of my favorites.) "Gotta Have It" features Jay giving homage to his life pre-hip-hop, in saying "Wassup, wassup, wassup, wassup/Wassup, ma’*****, where my money at?/You gon’ make me come down to your house where yo’ mummy at/Mummy wrap the kids, have ‘em cryin’ for they mummy back/Dummy that your daddy is, tell ‘em I just want my racks." Next comes "New Day," a song to the sons they have who aren't born yet (ironically, Jay just had his first child, a girl). Kanye probably has the best couple of lines in this song: "And I’ll never let my son have an ego/He’ll be nice to everyone, wherever we go/I mean, I might even make ‘em be Republican/So everybody know he love white people." "That's My B****" is an homage to the women in their lives. Jay raps "Back to my Beyonces/You deserve 3 stacks for the Andre/Call Larry Gagosian, you belong in museums/You belong in Vintage clothes watching the whole building." The man has a point: there aren't many black women who have been considered a pin-up, like Marilyn Monroe (as he alludes to later in the verse).

However, the next song is literally the best song on the entire album (again, in my humble opinion). It's called "Welcome to the Jungle." Kanye opens: "I asked her where she wanna be when she 25/She turned around and looked at me and she said 'alive.'" However, that's about all his part is for the entire song. This song was probably recorded like this: Jay-Z comes into the recording studio, saying he has a great idea for "Welcome to the Jungle," and Kanye and the other producers tell him to go for it. About midway thorough Jay-Z's lyrics, everybody in the room's jaws have dropped. Literally, Jay-Z doesn't write anything down pretty much ever. Keep that in mind while you listen to the song:

Wow. That's all I'm going to say about it.

"Who Gon Stop Me" and "Murder to Excellence" are also very interesting songs, please listen to them. Unfortunately, I'm running out of room! So, I'm going to cut this one a little short, and tell you about the songs that interest me most.

Really, those songs are 3 fantastic tracks. "Made in America" is the story of their personal American dreams--which certainly match with Martin Luther's dream. "I pledge allegiance, uh, to my Grandma/For that banana pudding, our piece of Americana/Our apple pie was supplied through Arm & Hammer/Straight out the kitchen, shh don't wake Nana!/Built a republic, that still stands/I'm trying to lead a nation, to leave to my little man's" raps Jay (although he is nearly singing it; listen, you'll understand what I mean).

The next song, which follows "Why I Love You," is HOT. There are 3 minutes of silence (technically, the song is a bonus track), followed by the Watch the Throne theme, which is pervasive throughout. Then comes "Illest ************ Alive," a song that I'm not sure I can even follow. It's literally a song about how awesome they are, ant it's honestly true: these guys are killer. "I mean a lot of niggas got money/So basically, Russell ain’t the only Russell/Russell Brand, Russell Crowe/Zero Zero Zero Zero, a whole lot of 0’s/What you after, actor money?/You in line behind currency, yeah you after money" Kanye half-times over the beat, which is so... I don't know how to describe it. Seriously, get the cd from us and listen. It's great.

Finally, the last song I want to talk about is "H.A.M." Kanye opens: "It was all good just a week ago/n***** feel theyselves and then Watch The Throne drop/n***** kill themselves." Then Jay: "**** y'all mad at me for?/You don't even know what I've been through/I play chicken with a Mack truck/Y'all ************ woulda been moved/I swam waters with great whites/Y'all ************ woulda been chewed/I hustle with vultures late nights/Y'all ************ woulda been food." Give it a listen, you'll be surprised at their speed. (All of the videos have lots of swearing, but as you can tell from this passage, there is a lot of swearing in a very short amount of time in this song.) (This is a live version, and you can tell by the performance that these guys are incredible performers.)

So, my rating for this album? One BILLION out of five stars. If you love hip-hop, this is the best collaboration album ever. Seriously. Come and get it. If you don't love hip-hop, you should probably give it a listen, as it is maybe one of the most intelligent pieces of hip-hop I've ever listened to, and I listen to a lot. We have it. It might win some Grammys. Come check it out.

These guys are at the top of their game.

See you tomorrow!