The Doctor Is In

January 17, 2017December 29, 2016 / Kaitlin / Leave a comment

Everyone has heard of Doctor Strange, which is currently in theaters. However, let’s not forget about the other famous doctors that are out there.

Doctor Who: The Complete Ninth Series
One of the most famous doctors of all time is the Doctor of Doctor Who. This is the ninth series with Peter Capaldi as the doctor, but our library has many of the other doctors as well, including Chris Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith. Watch them all!

Doctor Zhivago
This classic film is based on a book of the same name. This story is about a romance occurring during the time before World War I all the way through to the Russian Civil War.

Doctor Dolittle
This is the original story of the doctor who can speak with animals. He uses his abilities to communicate with them in order to heal them. This is a good story for the whole family.

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
This is the popular musical story of a villain named Doctor Horrible who is trying to join the Evil League of Evil so he can become a super-villain. He is also trying to speak to his crush, Penny, but the superhero Captain Hammer keeps thwarting him at every turn.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
This movie is a comedy about the tensions of the Cold War. One man tries to start a war with the Soviet Union while the President and several politicians and generals, including Dr. Strangelove, try to prevent this from happening.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
This is the classic story of a man known as Dr. Jekyll who creates a formula that turns him into an evil man known as Mr. Hyde. As time goes on, the formula he used to switch back begins to weaken.

Motley Crue: Greate$t Hit$
This CD from the heavy metal band Motley Crue contains a very popular song called Dr. Feelgood. This music is perfect for when you want to jam out with your friends.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
This is the classic story of Dr. Frankenstein. This is the man who was determined to create life but ended up creating a monster in the process.

Back to the Future
Don’t forget about Doc Brown! He’s the one who invented the time-traveling DeLorean that sends Marty back in time to the 1950s when his parents were in high school. Marty, along with a younger Doc Brown, have to make sure that his parents become a couple so that Marty and his siblings don’t get erased from existence!

The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Dr. Watson is another classic doctor. He is the companion to the great detective known as Sherlock Holmes. Check out this book to read about the adventures that these men have had.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show
To round out this list is the cult classic with Dr. Frank N. Furter. The plot is tricky to describe, but it involves transexual transvestite aliens who create a man. And throw dinner parties. And sing and dance. And other things. Watch this to complete your education.

The X Factor

January 11, 2017January 3, 2017 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom created an uproar in the movie industry. While it didn’t meet the criteria for an R rating, the intensity of the violence and its unrelenting action and danger freaked out so many kids and parents and caused so many complaints that the PG-13 rating was born – probably the same people that brought their six year old grandchildren to see Deadpool and didn’t think twice. Before that, there were just four ratings by the Motion Picture Association of America: G (general audience), PG (parental guidance suggested), R (no one under 17 without guardian), and X (now NC-17, meaning No One Under 17 Admitted, no way, no how, this will scar you for life).

Of course, as a kid, you can’t help but wonder, what’s in an X movie? What could be more violent than people beating each other up? What could be grosser than people naked? How many more swear words are there? And then the internet was born and we’ve never wondered since.

Surprisingly, though, some of our favorite movies DID have an X rating at the start. Film makers want to be cutting-edge and push envelopes, but an X/NC17 rating can sink an otherwise profitable film because it cuts out the teen crowd that hangs out at theaters every week and also makes some adult film-goers leery. After repeated trips back to the editing room, most of the movies do achieve their golden R rating.

Some, however, never do. Three movies were nominated for Oscars despite their X rating: Midnight Cowboy, A Clockwork Orange, and Last Tango in Paris. Midnight Cowboy actually won the Best Picture Oscar for 1970. When rereleased in 1971, it carried only an R rating, even though not a single edit had been made. It had been given the X rating for “homosexual suggestions,” and that was no longer a criteria. Times were already changing.

Two things are usually to blame for an X rating: extreme violence/gore, or explicit nudity/sexual content. It’s hard to believe, but for all the outcry against The Exorcist (some viewers were taken away by ambulance), it only garnered an R rating. (So, in 1969, homosexuality would get you a deadly X rating, but by 1973, demonic possession, gore, blasphemy, and violent sexual situations involving children would not. Go figure.) Sometimes the fix was something so banal as toning down the brightness of the blood (Taxi Driver), which makes you wonder who is actually doing the judging and rating of the films. Others, like Cliffhanger, needed adjustments to almost every single scene. Although Casino cranks in at more than 420 utterances of the Fornication word (that’s almost 2.5 for every minute of film), it was the violence that created its problems.

Here is a list of popular films you’ve probably heard of, and probably have seen, that were originally rated X before being edited yet again (American Pie needed four tries) to win the magic R. Some of these are very good films that just happen to be a little more graphic than others. Some of them you knew were headed for trouble just by the title (Freddy Got Fingered), but others, especially twenty years later when there sometimes doesn’t seem to be a limit on sex or violence in movies or on television (Boogie Nights drew trouble for a 10-second shot of a prosthetic penis, yet Life of Brian and Trainspotting didn’t for showing a real one), make you scratch your head at what the fuss was.

What’s Trending at Cheshire Public Library – Magazines

January 9, 2017December 1, 2016 / Linda / Leave a comment

whats magazine

The Cheshire Library offers approximately 350 magazines on a wide variety of topics. There’s something here for everyone! Below is a list of the top 20 magazines that circulated during 2016.

1. People – An American weekly magazine of celebrity and human-interest stories, published by Time Inc. With a readership of 46.6 million adults, People has the largest audience of any American magazine.

2. The New Yorker Magazine – An American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It is published by Condé Nast.

3. Rolling Stone – An American biweekly magazine that focuses on popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still the magazine’s publisher.

4. Martha Stewart Living – An American monthly magazine featuring entertaining and home decorating. It is published by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

5. National Geographic – An American monthly magazine focusing on geography, history, and world culture. It is published by National Geographic Partners.

6. Redbook – An American women’s magazine published monthly by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the “Seven Sisters”, a group of women’s service magazines.

7. Cooking Light – Cooking Light is an American monthly food and lifestyle magazine^. Each month, the magazine includes approximately 100 original recipes as well as editorial content covering food trends, fitness tips, and other culinary and health-related news.

8. Family Handyman – An American monthly home-improvement magazine, owned by the Reader’s Digest Association.

9. New York Times Magazine – A Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazine is also noted for its photography, especially relating to fashion and style.

10. Architectural Digest – An American monthly magazine featuring interior design, not architecture more generally, as the name of the magazine suggests. The magazine is published by Condé Nast.

11. Money – An American monthly magazine that covers the gamut of personal finance topics. Published by Time, Inc.

12. Time – An American weekly magazine published in New York City. It covers news in a very broad sense.

13. Prevention – An American monthly lifestyle magazine published by Rodale Press.

14. Cook’s Illustrated – An American cooking magazine published by America’s Test Kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts, every two months.

15. O: The Oprah Magazine – An American monthly magazine founded by Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Corporation, primarily marketed at women.

16. Good Housekeeping – An American monthly women’s magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women’s interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles.

17. Country Living – An American monthly magazine focusing on cooking, decorating, gardening and antiques. It is published by Hearst Corporation.

18. Cosmopolitan – An American monthly magazine featuring articles on women’s issues. It is published by Hearst Corporation.

19. Traditional Home – An American magazine published 8 times a year. It features design and decorating for the affluent reader. It is published by Meredith Corporation.

20. Real Simple – An American monthly women’s interest magazine. It is published by Time, Inc.

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Help for New Years Resolutions

January 2, 2017November 22, 2016 / Mary / Leave a comment

new-years-resolutions Everyone has good intentions at the start of a new year, and why not? A new year is a great time for a new beginning. If you need help with some of your New Year resolutions, it’s the perfect time to take a look at lynda.com.

lynda.com is an online learning site with over 3,000 courses that’s available to all Cheshire Library cardholders. Login from the library’s website!

Here are some suggested courses to get you started on your new year! To view the courses in-depth, grab your library card and head over to our eLearning page where you can login to lynda.com.

Happiness Tips: (Weekly Tips)
Get a new happiness tip every Monday to help you live a happier life. Learn practical, actionable techniques for finding more time for the things you love and maximizing your day-to-day happiness.

Personal Finance Tips: (Weekly Tips)
Each week, receive a new tip, designed to help you make smart decisions about your money.

5 Personal Finance Tips: 9 minutes, 18 seconds.
This short course provides time-tested tips on managing your spending, managing your fixed costs (regular monthly expenses), creating a budget, investing, and saving money.

Managing Stress: 21 minutes, 2 seconds.
With the right techniques, you can reduce the amount of stress in your life. In this short course, author and retired MBA professor Dr. Todd Dewett shares his tips for managing stress, including identifying your triggers, managing responses, and making positive personal choices.

Disrupting Yourself: 24 minutes, 28 seconds.
Disrupting yourself is the secret to breaking into a new field, never settling for less, and achieving more. In this course, author, Harvard Business Review blogger, and consultant Whitney Johnson walks you through her seven-step model to disrupt yourself and move to the next level in your career.

Powerless to Powerful: Taking Control: 60 minutes.
In this course, executive coach and LinkedIn’s head of organizational development Fred Kofman helps you make the choice to embrace life’s challenges, to go from victim to hero, and shows how to help others do the same through support and coaching.

Managing Your Time: 11 minutes, 11 seconds.
Learn four time-management tips that help everyone from busy executives to new employees get more out of their work day.

Time Management Tips: 43 minutes, 1 second.
Learn about everything from managing emails and calendars to setting priorities, reducing interruptions, crafting a “productivity mindset,” and creating a more comfortable and effective work environment.

Mindfulness: 1 hour, 16 minutes.
UCLA professor and executive coach John Ullmen, PhD, explains the fundamentals of mindfulness and provides step-by-step methods that anyone can use.

Improving Your Memory: 1 hour, 29 minutes.
This fascinating course explains how and when to employ tricks such as mnemonic devices, rhymes, stories, and alliteration. And it explains the best methods for different situations, like remembering names, important dates, passwords, to-do lists, quotes, and more.

Cozying Up With New Cozy Mysteries

December 21, 2016December 14, 2016 / Linda / Leave a comment

reading

It seems that in November and December, our feet don’t stay planted in one spot for too long. Be sure you take some time to put your feet up and take a step away from all the hustle and bustle by picking up a new cozy mystery to read!

Twice Told Tail (A Black Cat Bookshop Mystery) – Ali Brandon – While being suspicious of an anonymous online bidder who is offering a lot of money for one of her antique books, Darla Pettistone is roped into helping bridezilla Connie Capello get ready for her big day until their shopping excursion ends in murder.

Deck The Hallways (A Fixer-Upper Mystery) – Kate Carlisle – While trying to transform a Victorian mansion into apartments for homeless families in time for the holidays, contractor Shannon Hammer must pull-off a Christmas miracle to save her father from prison and find the real killer of a miserly bank president.

Hooking For Trouble (A Crochet Mystery) – Betty Hechtman – When she believes she has witnessed a murder, Molly Pink, the founder of the Tarzana Hookers Yarn University, calls in her ex, homicide detective Barry Greenberg, who reports that nothing is amiss, forcing her to unravel the clues herself to find the truth. Includes recipes and crochet patterns.

We Wish You A Murderous Christmas (A Year-Round Christmas Mystery) – VIcki Delany – When the son of Jack Olsen, who owns the Yuletide Inn, decides to no longer celebrate Christmas at the Inn, sending the local shopkeepers into a tizzy, Merry Wilkinson is faced with a holiday homicide when he is found stabbed to death.

The Good, The Bad, And The Guacamole (A Taste of Texas Mystery) – Rebecca Adler – When her best friend, Patti Lopez, is accused of murdering her ex-boyfriend, smooth-talking country crooner Jeff Clark, Tex-Mex waitress and part-time reporter Josie Callahan must put her sleuthing skills to good use to serve up the real killer.

Shades of Wrath (A Caprice De Luca Home Staging Mystery) – Karen Rose Smith – Hired to decorate a run-down mansion, which will now house Kismet, Pennsylvania’s women’s shelter, home stager and stray animal rescuer Caprice De Luca must instead design an investigation that will expose a crafty killer after the shelter’s director is murdered.

First Degree Mudder (A Pacific Northwest Mystery) – Kate Dyer-Seeley – An outdoor writer, Meg Reed, deciding to take her job to the next level, trains hard for Mud, Sweat & Beers, an extreme 5K mud run, only to find herself getting down and dirty in a murder investigation when her coach, Billy the Tank, is found dead.

Crime and Catnip (Nick & Nora Mystery) – T. C. LoTempio – Agreeing to look into the disappearance of a museum director’s niece, caterer Nora Charles and her faithful feline, Nick, are plunged into a world of coded messages, false identities and murder where they must solve this mystery in order to survive. Includes sandwich recipes.

Pros and Cons (A Magical Bookshop Mystery) – Amanda Flower – When she finds one of the members of the local writing group dead right before the annual Food and Wine Festival, Violet, after the shop magically tells her she will need to rely on the works of Edgar Allan Poe to solve the murder, must act fast before someone else’s heart beats nevermore.

Better Off Thread (An Embroidery Mystery) – Amanda Lee – While playing elf to Captain Moe’s Santa for sick children at a local hospital, embroidery shop owner Marcy stumbles upon the dead body of the hospital’s administrator and must, with the help of her police officer boyfriend and her Irish Wolfhound, find out who is trying to pin this murder on Moe.

Frosty The Dead Man (A Snow Globe Shop Mystery) – Christine Husom – When she finds Mayor Lewis Frost, Frosty to his friends, dead, apparently struck by the snow globe she sold him earlier that day, curio shop owner Camryn Brooks must shake things up to find a killer who is cold as ice.

The Ghosts of Misty Hollow (Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery) – Sue Ann Jaffarian – While visiting a best-selling crime writer who needs her input as a medium, Emma Whitecastle is immediately contacted by a family of ghosts who originally owned the historic Massachusetts farmhouse and need her help in locating the spirits of their two children who disappeared, which results in the appearance of a dead body.

Spouse on Haunted Hill (Haunted Guesthouse Mystery) – E.J. Copperman – When the cops show up at her doorstep, searching for her ex-husband who, owing some scary people a lot of money, has disappeared and left a body in his wake, Alison Kerby, with the help of ghosts Maxie and Paul, sets out to find her ex and clear him of the murder before the bad guys get to him first