O Say Can You See: Patriotic Books

July 4, 2013July 1, 2013 / Jenn / Leave a comment

Patriotism comes in many forms. Some people express it by joining the military and defending their country, both home and abroad. Some rally citizens through songs, speeches, writing, and art. And others instill patriotic values in their families, workplaces, places of worship, and in their own lives.

However you take pride in your country, here are a few books to celebrate your inner patriot.

A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches
A Patriot’s Handbook by Caroline Kennedy

Celebrating the Land We Love by Caroline Kennedy. This collection of more than 200 selections has themes like “The Flag”, “Freedom of Speech”, and “The Individual”. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are rewritten in full, along with presidential speeches, farewell addresses, and decisions from landmark Supreme court cases. Poems and selections from fiction, including authors like Alice Walker, Stephen Crane, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are included, along with popular patriotic songs. Kennedy also includes dissenting voices such as Thoreau, Oscar Wilde, and Frederick Douglass, reminding us that while we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, we still have much to do to make it so.
Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War: America’s First Couple and the
Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War by Hugh Howard

Second War of Independence by Hugh Howard. Perhaps the most forgotten war, the War of 1812 celebrated it’s 200th anniversary last year. This conflict was truly our second war of independence, as Great Britain was looking to assert her dominance over us on both land and water. Author Hugh Howard presents this important war as James and Dolley experienced it. More came out of this war than Dolley running from the White House with the portrait of George Washington.
Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American
Revolutionary Summer by Joseph Ellis

Independence by Joseph Ellis. Joseph Ellis is the master of taking a large subject like the American Revolution and paring it down to the nitty gritty. His latest in his canon of American Revolution titles is Revolutionary Summer, where he examines the summer of 1776 and how it changed not only our history, but history across the world. Influential figures from both sides, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, General William Howe, and Admiral Lord Richard, help tell the story of one of the most important summers in human history.
Patriot’s History of the United State: From Columbus’s Great
A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart

Discovery to the War on Terror by Larry Schweikart. Schweikart believes that American history has been distorted by intellectuals searching for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history and seeks to right those wrongs by telling the history as it happened. He argues that more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than George Washington, and more on the Japanese internment during WWII than D-Day or Iwo Jima. I can’t say I entirely agree with this statement, as American history is full of those problems and “oversights”, but for the right person who appreciates reading about “old dead white men” this book is for you.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson. I would be
Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson

completely remiss if I didn’t include something from the Civil War. During this 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, it is important to remember what led us to our nation’s greatest conflict, what happened, and what we can learn. MacPherson, a well-known Civil War scholar, makes the topic readable, approachable, and entertaining for readers of all ages, reading abilities, and knowledge. The most important lesson we today can learn from that terrible war is that divided horrific things happen, but together we can accomplish anything.

Susan picks music: Chants! Chants! Some of Them From France!

June 27, 2013June 24, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

Most people are familiar with school yard chants, jump rope rhymes, and various sports chants, yet most people think of musical chants as only belonging to monks in the Middle Ages and quickly run away. Not true! Popular music is full of rhythmic chanting, from rock (think Blondie’s “Rapture”, or the opening to Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”) to rap music to new age drum circles to American Indian dances to soundtrack music from such films as Lord of the Rings and Temple of Doom. The tune O Fortuna’s been used in hundreds of films and commercials – you might not know the title, but you’d know the music. Chants are all around us! And chants aren’t the same as a cappella music; chants can be accompanied by anything from nothing at all up through a full orchestra, every bit as musically complex as a Handel chorale. Here’s a variety of great chant music that is sure to please just about everyone:

Buddhist Chants and Peace Songs: This album knocked me off my feet! I expected that ho-hum Gregorian motif, and what I found was a light, bright, happy tune filled with undulating harmonies that sank into your head and had you singing along in phonetic Chinese. Composed of two long (40-minute) tracks, this is fabulous background music for artwork, writing, relaxing, or meditating. Absolutely delightful and unexpected.

Enigma: Love Sensuality Devotion – Enigma, my long-standing New-Age relaxation group. Enigma dances along the line of New Age-Rock, filled with chants, beats, echoes, and whispers. Wonderful for relaxation or background at a cocktail party. My favorite track? Principles of Lust.

Chant: Sure, it’s your traditional French Benedictine Nuns wailing in plainsong, but the rhythms get under your skin and the choral is magnificent. Even if you aren’t up to stroke on your Latin or care about the religious aspects, let yourself get carried away by the sheer beauty of the form.

Acoustic Africa: Not so much a direct chant, but a lovely album incorporating rhythms and music we aren’t used to in our pop-rock society. A great album to try if you’re bored with radio music but don’t particularly care for folk music.

Nendaa – Go Back by Jerry Alred and the Medicine Beat: New-Agey Native-American-style music with chants, wails, guitars, and drums. Perfect for a dark night and a campfire.

Give one a try, or some of our other Chants, whether Benedictine, Russian, or popular! And don’t forget the O Fortuna!

Susan Picks: Foreign Films

June 7, 2013June 5, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

I like foreign films as a form of foreign language practice. The people speak at a normal rate and use conversational words as they would if you went to their country. But, like most people, if it’s a language I don’t know well, I tire of the gibberish after five minutes, and I rarely have time to sit and watch subtitles. On the other hand, I like foreign films because they aren’t the same repetitive formulaic Hollywood boredom. They often rely heavily on character development, less on action, and are hard on irony. The sceneries are often exotic and intriguing, ways of life (like collapsible yurts and nomadic circles) so very different – yet oddly similar – to America in all its forms. You sympathize with the main characters and feel their pain. Here’s a weekend’s worth of films that you probably haven’t heard of and are well worth your trouble:

Since Otar Left – a Georgian film about three generations of women who haven’t heard from their bread-winning relative in ages, and imagine how well he’s doing as they wait for him to call. Kind of like Waiting for Godot in Sochi.

Tulpan – a Kazakhstani film about a young nomadic sheepherder named Asa who returns after serving in the Russian Navy and wants a wife – but try and find one on the empty steppe. Then there are the crazy traditional courting rituals to be conquered …

Combination Platter – a story about an illegal Chinese immigrant trying to live out the American promise while working like a slave in a Chinese restaurant and dodging the terror of immigration.

9^th Company – a modern Russian film about their futile 1980’s war in Afghanistan, a no-holds-barred action thriller every bit as good as any American movie. You might have hated them in 1980, but you will cheer for them now.

Vitus – a sweet Swiss film about a little boy whose parents help push him to be a brilliant concert pianist by the age of nine – but all he really wants to be is a little boy.

Travel the world from your recliner and give one a try today!

Make Tonight the Night

March 25, 2013April 1, 2013 / Susan O. / 1 Comment

Ever notice how some people seem to have it all – talent, timing, and a killer smile? John Barrowman has all that, and more. Born in Scotland and raised in Illinois, Barrowman is an actor with a huge array of talents. You may not know his name, but you may have come across his face. He’s performed on Broadway (Anything Goes, Putting It Together), done extensive theater in London’s West End, done American TV (Titans, Central Park West, Desperate Housewives), frequently featured on BBC programs (including Any Dream Will Do and Tonight’s the Night), appeared in feature films (The Producers, De-Lovely), and written three books. He is most well-known for the lead role of the time-hopping, immortal rascal Captain Jack Harkness on the BBC TV series Dr. Who and Torchwood. And on top of all that, Barrowman is a singer.

And an accomplished singer at that – he has more than ten albums to his credit, some of which have debuted as high as number twelve on the British album charts. Whether he honed his voice on Broadway, or it was his voice that put him there is anyone’s guess, but he certainly has the capability to belt out a tune with the best of them.

Cheshire Library recently acquired his album, Tonight’s the Night: The Very Best of John Barrowman. Barrowman is a showman, singing cover songs, but if you like easy listening – Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Broadway singers, America’s Got Talent – give Barrowman a try! This album is nice in that it allows enough of a variety to really showcase some of his talent. My favorite tracks: You’re Just to Good to Be True and The Winner Takes It All. Weakest: Few people should be singing The Police, outside of The Police, and his Americanized over-enunciation on She’s Always A Woman bothers me. Barrowman has a fantastic voice that tends to be held back by poor musical direction – slow, plodding music does him no good. He needs those catchy all-out showtunes to really shine – and he’s one star that shines very brightly.

The Great Gig in the Sky

March 18, 2013 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

This month marks the 40^th anniversary of one of the most seminal rock albums of all time: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, which was released in March of 1973.

Dark Side of the Moon, with its iconic album cover of a prism and rainbow on a black background, holds the American record for most weeks spent on the album charts – 741 weeks. That’s more than 14 years! Johnny Mathis had been the previous record holder, at 10 years on the charts. Most major music lists consistently place the album in the top 50 rock albums of all time.

Dark Side became Pink Floyd’s most successful album at more than 50 million copies sold, more than double their hugely successful 1979 rock opera, The Wall. The album was Pink Floyd’s first attempt at a concept album, loosely following former bandmate Syd Barrow’s decent into mental illness, as later would The Wall. Interspersed among the lyrical 12-string guitar solos and ethereal synthesizers are snippets of conversation, clocks, helicopters, and of course, the rhythmic banging and chiming of cash registers at the start of Money – an early melodical version of Stomp!, combined with classic rock beats and timeless lyrics.

I received my first copy of the album sometime around 1978 – so long ago I had the album on 8-track! Now, on CD, it remains perhaps one of my top-20 favorite albums, wonderful for relaxing to or as a background music for writing or painting. My favorite way of listening to it? With noise-canceling headphones, in total darkness, where the quadraphonic effects bounce around you out of nowhere, the music carries you away, and you lose all track of time. If you haven’t experienced the album, give this piece of music history a try. If you have, it’s the perfect chance to reacquaint yourself with a classic.