Friday, October 12, 2007

Three CDs and a Tarantino

CDs

Let it Go by Tim McGraw. I guess this guy sings okay. His wife is good looking.

Now That's What I Call Music! 25. A bunch of chart topping tunes. Remember, that's the title talking, not me. I haven't heard any of these songs. But Library staff member Stephanie will probably check this one out.

Timbaland Presents: Shock Value by Timbaland. A rapper? I think so. That Justin Timberlake guy is on several tunes which confuses me. Timbaland, Timberlake, Timbaland...I used to think they were the same person.

DVD

Death Proof starring Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Sydney Poitier. Tarantino's half of his and Robert Rodriguez's Grind House. Kurt Russell is in it so it has to be good.
You doubt me about Kurt Russell? Well then take a look at The Thing, Used Cars, or Big Trouble in Little China. But don't watch Tango and Cash. What a massive pile of junk that was. Massive.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

DVDs

DVD

Black Book starring a bunch of Dutch actors. Rachel Stein tries to escape Holland with other Jews but is the only survivor of a Nazi ambush. Rachel joins the resistance, is assigned to tempt a Captain at German headquarters, and finds out the Resistance has a mole.

28 Weeks Later starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Catherine McCormack. I screwed up on this one and ordered the full screen version. I hate full screen versions, 1/3 to 1/2 of the picture ends up getting chopped off to fit the screen. Dang it.

High School Musical: The Concert starring a bunch of teen actors. Touring stage production of High School Musical.

TMNT starring a bunch of voice overs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are still around. Amazing.

Gracie starring Dermot Mulroney Elisabeth Shue. Fifteen year old girl soccer player has no girls team to play for. So, she challenges her parents and school policy to play on the boys team. based on Elisabeth Shue's time in high school.

A Merry Bunny Christmas starring Max and Ruby. Here is a guess: Ruby bosses Max around, Max is Mischevious.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Fiction and NonFiction

Fiction

Camp Ford by Johnny D. Boggs. The cover makes this look like a western. The story is actually set during the Civil War. Win MacNaughton enlists in the Union Army, is captured in Louisiana, and then sent to Camp Ford in Texas where the inmates start a baseball team and challenge the guards to a game.

Tango for a Torturer by Daniel Chavarria. Chavarria is an interesting character. Chavarria is a Uruguayan professor of literature and an expert in the history of prostitutes and prostitution.
Aldo Bianchi is a former Argentine revolutionary now living in Italy. On vacation in Havana Aldo meets a hooker and through her finds out the location in Havana of the torturer from Argentina he is hunting. Aldo sets out for personal justice.
"Daniel Chavarria portrays the sensuousness and skullduggery of contemporary Havana - a city that offers erotic thrills to pleasure-seeking tourists, even as it hides the villains in its humid embrace."

An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris. Harper Connelly can communicate with the dead ever since she was twelve years old and struck by lighting. She now makes her living by locating missing and murdered people. Harper's latest job in North Carolina sets her into the path of a killer after teenage boys.

Large Print Fiction

Heartbreak Town by Marsha Moyer. Lucy Hatch is raising her son in Mooney, TX when her ex-husband and former country music star Ash Farrell shows up and parks his trailer in her backyard. Will they get back together? Will town gossip drive them further apart?

Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter. Police Detective Lena Adams is a murder suspect in a neighboring town. Her superior, Police Chief Tolliver, heads over to help her out. Tolliver's wife is not happy about Tolliver's behavior but soon finds herself in the middle of things.

NonFiction

In Other Words: the meanings memoirs of euphemisms by Dominique Enright. Laced mutton: a prostitute. Given your cards: dismissed from your job. Take a walk: a defecting spy. Prestigious: in a real estate agent's description this means expensive.

Essentials Grilling: simple & delicious recipes that are easy to make by Bernice Hurst.

Comfort Food: a selection of traditional recipes just like your grandma used to make by Parragon Publishing.

Marine Corps Tank Battles in Korea by Oscar Gilbert. "We just loaded shells into that goddamn thin. It was just a bonfire. That tank was burning from one end to the other in no time at all" G.G. Sweet's encounter with a T-34 tank near Pusan.

North American Exploration by Michael Golay and John Bowman. Entries covering every major expedition, leader, geographical feature, and milestone.
I'm listening to the audio version of Dan Simmons' The Terror which is set Arctic Canada and based on a true expedition. I'll have to look it up in here.

What Makes Flamingos Pink?: a colorful collection of Q & A's for the unquenchably curious by Bill McLain. The stuff they eat makes them pink, I knew that already. I did not know that "chickenpox" dates from 1720 and is labeled as such to show it's mildness in comparison to smallpox.

Public Executions: from Ancient Rome to the present day by Nigel Cawthorne. The attempted quartering of Robert-Francois Damiens, They continued their repeated efforts for more than an hour, without making any progress towards dismembering him other than stretching his joints to a great length. This was probably due to the fact that the horses were young and vigorous. Consequenetly they were too wilful and unruly to pull with a concerted effort. The physician and surgeon on hand told the commissioners that, unless the main sinews were cut, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to carry out the sentence of dismemberment.


Monday, October 08, 2007

CDs and Two DVDs

CD

It's been a while since we had new CDs. So here you go, Glenn.

Magic by Bruce Springsteen. You can find reviews anywhere. Steven Van Zandt has been promoting the disc like mad on his radio show.

Revival by John Fogerty. Latest album by Fogerty. The first in three years. I think that close to the whole catalog of Fogerty and Creedence discs is available through the library.

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace by Foo Fighters. What happened to the bassist from Nirvana?

Awakening by Melissa Etheridge. I've never much enjoyed her tunes much but she does have a strong singing voice. This is her "cancer" disc, songs about life drawn from her chemo treatments.

O.C.M.S. by Old Crow Medicine Show. I bought Big Iron World by Old Crow Medicine Show a few months ago and think it is great. A neat mix of country and rock (I read a description saying" neo-traditionalist folk" which is probably most accurate). I searched for the band on YouTube and found some other great tunes from O.C.M.S..

Last Days of Wonder by The Handsome Family. I don't recall how I heard of this duo. Probably by searching the catalog for alt-country or doing the same search through Allmusic.com. One of the former directors at Watertown, Matt Williams, was a msic fan and also cataloged the music CDs. Cataloging is incredibly boring but a good cataloging, with proper subject headings, makes catalog searching a breeze and uncovers items that would otherwise go unnoticed.
Anyway, I listened to two earlier albums from Watertown PL and decided we should get this 2006 release.

DVD

Knocked Up starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd. Gla gets pregnant during one night stand with Loser Dude. Loser Dude and gal come to grips with impending parenthood. A comedy.


The Valet starring a bunch of French actors. Billionaire philanderer Pierre is caught by paparazzi while he is out with his supermodel mistress. Pierre tries to convince wife that the mistress is really the girlfriend of the valet caught in the paparazzi photographs with them. This had a write up in People or Entertainment Weekly or some gossip rag.

Non Fiction, Large Print Fiction

Large Print

North River by Pete Hamill. I read a reprint of a Hamill book a few months ago which had a story about a journalist in trouble with the IRA. That was a good book.
Dr. Jim Delaney of Manhattan treats the down-and-out residents of Manhattan. Delaney has been grieving his wife's suicide in the North River for a while when his three-year-old grandson is unexpectantly left on his doorstep.

Falling Man by Don DeLillo. The emotional aftermath of 9/11 on several New Yorkers. Title is from the image of the falling restaurant worker from Windows on the World.

Killer Weekend by Ridley Pearson. Sun Valley, Idaho Patrolman Walt Fleming saved the life of U.S. Attorney General Shaler seven years ago. Now Walt is Sheriff and Fleming is back in town to announce her candidacy for President; and another threat on her life is underway.

Died in the Wool: A Torie O'Shea mystery by Rett MacPherson. I think this is one of those "cutesey" cozy mysteries. There is probably some quilting, sewing, or cooking in it.

Hourglass by Barbara Metzger. Some romance between a soldier's widow and and a ghost from the Crusades. Sounds stupid to me.

NonFiction

Who's Watching the Spies: establishing intelligence service accountability edited by Hans Born, et al. The strengths and weaknesses of several countries' intelligence services and how different experiments have worked out.

Generals: Andrew Jackson, Sir Edward Pakenham, and the Road to The Battle of New Orleans by Benton Rain Patterson. The six week Battle of New Orleans begun in December, 1814. The death of Pakenham and the rise of Jackson.

Universal Book of Mathematics: from abrcadabra to Zeno's Paradoxes by David Darling. A one volume encyclopedic look at mathematics history and theory.

Ferrari: from the prototype 125 and classic 250 GTO to Ferrari's stunning F430 supercar by Andrew Chapman. A photo history. If you like this check out Inside Ferrari: unique behind-the-scenes photography of the world's greatest Formula One team.

Diabetic Cookbook: simple and delicious recipes for a healthy life by Sarah Banbery. As if the subtitle would be difficult and revolting recipes to kill you fast.

Vanishing Beauty by Bertie and Dow Winkel. A coffee table photo book of vanishing cultural traditions from around the world.

Drawing Animals by Victor Amburs. Sketching guide.