Save Your Memories

/ Susan O. / Leave a comment

In December of 1983, we didn’t have internet. We barely had personal computers – a 256k machine cost $500, and you had to program it yourself. You couldn’t just save to disk, you had to format the darned thing before you could even use it. Video tape machines cost $600, and DVDs were still a dream. We were on the cusp of the CD player, but the real world still ran on cassette tapes. 

I was no different, with a cassette tape built into my stereo, eagerly recording songs and programs off the radio as they played live. Yes, we still listened to live radio programs back then, whether Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 Countdown, or Radio Mystery Theater, or, on Sunday nights, Dr. Demento, the leading program for off the wall parody and novelty music.

What’s novelty music? Novelty music is a humorous song that doesn’t fit in any other category but entertainment. You know it well. Alvin and the Chipmunks is novelty music. Barnes and Barnes’ Fish Heads. The Purple People Eater. The Monster Mash. Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Steve Martin’s King Tut. Anything by Tom Lehrer or Weird Al Yankovic. While it’s a serious industry with all the requirements of mainstream music, and such songs can hit high on the pop charts (The Monster Mash hit #1), novelty music isn’t considered “serious” music. 

On that Sunday, it was the Christmas edition of Dr. Demento, and I threw a cassette in the player and hit record, because, back then, Grandma Got Run Over by A Reindeer was just a basement tape on Dr. Demento, it hadn’t gotten a contract yet. Weird Al wasn’t mainstream, and hadn’t gotten permission from the Kinks yet to record his Lola parody Yoda. On that tape, I happened, by luck, to record a song that in the history of radio may only have been played one time. It was a “bonus” track to fill space, and it was the only time it ever appeared on Dr. Demento. It hasn’t even been uploaded to his website. And it is one of my absolute favorites of underground tapes. In the era of the cold war, that song scared the living daylights out of me.

Cylent Night, by the Scrooge Brothers, tells a short story of the start of World War 3 to the tune of Silent Night, while air raid sirens start in the background and grow slowly louder. Off went the bomb at a quarter to three/ It’s the end of you and the end of me….  Have that hit you out of nowhere when you’re listening to the radio at 10 at night in your basement. In 40 years, I’ve never forgotten a line. And I just happen to have that song on tape. 

But cassette tapes are fragile things. They demagnetize. They fade. They tangle. My very rare basement tape has been bouncing around drawers and basements for 40 years. So what did I do? With the equipment at the Cheshire Public Library AV Studio, I very easily threw that cassette into the player and transferred that song to digital Media. Now I can store it digitally, share it with other Dementoids and Dementites who have never heard it (if you didn’t hear it live, you truly never heard it), even send it back to Dr. Demento. 

We all have those things kicking around our homes. Media changes so rapidly, from reel to reel tapes to 8 Track to cassette to CD to memory stick. We all have Grandma’s vacation slides of the Old Country, with relatives no one ever met. Dad’s wedding videos. That old LP you have that’s never been released on CD (or singles, like Rolf Harris’s Two Buffalos, which Bob Steele used to play on WTIC-AM). Your personal video of MTV’s top 100 countdown of 1985, when music videos were short stories of their own. You can transfer all of them to digital media, right here.

Beware, though – transfers occur in real-time. If you’re planning on transferring that 12-hour MTV countdown, it’s going to take 12 hours to put it onto digital. You might want to do it over a few weeks. But that LP? 40 minutes, you’ll be done.

Call (203) 272-2245 ext. 61245 to schedule an appointment at the AV Studio!

The Delights of Pop Culture

/ Lauren / Leave a comment

It’s an awesome time to be a fan of pop culture. You can listen to podcasters going episode-by-episode through the shows you binge-watched on DVD in college. You can read delightfully bizarre theories about the characters in your preschooler’s favorite TV show. You can gather with other fans at venues like ConnectiCon. And as the main orderer of nonfiction books, I know this is an excellent time to read about pop culture, too. Here are some new and recent books to both entertain you and deepen your appreciation for your show / movie / franchise du jour. 

You Are What You Watch: How Movies and TV Affect Everything by Walt Hickley (2024) 

Did Arya, Maximus, or Chandler have the biggest surge in popularity as a baby name? How many parents start off dead in Disney movies? Is Ash Ketchum a better GM or coach? Find the answers in this book, which is a fun mix of visualized data and writing which explores how mere “entertainment” affects politics, the economy, and even shark populations. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hickley used to be the Chief Culture Writer at FiveThirtyEight, and it shows in his love of statistics. 

The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, the Rise of Improv, and the Making of an American Film Classic by Daniel DeVisé (2024) 

The saga behind The Blues Brothers is epic, encompassing the colorful childhoods of Belushi and Aykroyd, the comedic revolution sparked by Harvard’s Lampoon and Chicago’s Second City, the early years of Saturday Night Live where the Blues Brothers were born, and the indelible behind-the-scenes narrative of how the film was made. Based on original research and interviews of principals from director John Landis and producer Bob Weiss to SNL creator Lorne Michaels and Aykroyd himself, The Blues Brothers vividly portrays the creative geniuses behind modern comedy. 

On Locations: Lessons Learned from My Life On Set with The Sopranos and in the Film Industry by Mark Kamine (2024) 

Married and with a child, the author takes unpaid gigs to get a foot in the door, and eventually ends up working on all seasons of The Sopranos. The show’s setting and its creator’s insistence on accuracy placed the native New Jersey author in the right place at the right time to become part of television history, and to witness the effects of sudden fame and acclaim on the show’s principal players. Includes many stories about guest stars, as well as the cast, including new tales of James Gandolfini. 

Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever by Matt Singer (2023) 

Award-winning editor and film critic Matt Singer eavesdrops on the iconic balcony set of Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, detailing their rise from making a few hundred dollars a week on local Chicago PBS to securing multimillion-dollar contracts for a syndicated series. Their partnership was cut short when Gene Siskel passed away in February of 1999, but their influence on in the way we talk about (and think about) movies continues to this day. 

I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum (2019) 

In this collection, New Yorker columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Emily Nussbaum writes about her passion for television beginning with Buffy–as she writes, a show that was so much more than its critical assessment–the evolution of female protagonists over the last decade, the complex role of sexual violence on TV, and what to do about art when the artist is revealed to be a monster. And, she also explores the links between the television antihero and the rise of Trump. The book is an argument, not a collection of reviews. Through it all, Nussbaum recounts her fervent search, over fifteen years, for a new kind of criticism that resists the false hierarchy that places one kind of culture over another. It traces her own development as she has struggled to punch through stifling notions of ‘prestige television,’ searching for a wilder and freer and more varied idea of artistic ambition. 

Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery (2019) 

In 1999, Hollywood as we know it exploded: Fight Club. The Matrix. Office Space. The Blair Witch Project. The Sixth Sense. Being John Malkovich. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.  Those are just some of the landmark titles released in a dizzying movie year, one in which a group of daring filmmakers and performers pushed cinema to new limits—and took audiences along for the ride. Freed from the restraints of budget, technology (or even taste), they produced a slew of classics that took on every topic imaginable, from sex to violence to the end of the world. The result was a highly unruly, deeply influential set of films that would not only change filmmaking, but also give us our first glimpse of the coming twenty-first century. 

Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker (2023) (downloadable audiobook) 

An in-depth and hysterical look at the making of 1980s comedy classic Airplane! by the legendary writers and directors of the hit film. With anecdotes, behind the scenes trivia, and never-before-revealed factoids, these titans of comedy filmmaking unpack everything from how they persuaded Peter Graves to be in the movie after he thought the script was a piece of garbage, how Lorna Patterson auditioned for the stewardess role in the back seat of Jerry’s Volvo, and how Leslie Nielsen’s pranks got the entire crew into trouble, to who really wrote the jive talk. It also features testimonials and personal anecdotes from well-known faces in the film, television, and comedy sphere, proving how influential Airplane! has been from day one. 

Titles we don’t have but you can borrow from other libraries in our consortium: 

No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own by Erin Carlson (2023) 

The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together by Adam Nayman (2018) 

Movies (And Other Things): A Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated by Shea Serrano, illustrated by Arturo Torres (2019) 

The Third Place

/ Beth Piezzo, Library Director / 3 Comments

I am currently rewatching my favorite television series of the 1990’s, Northern Exposure. For those not familiar with this program, the show offers viewers a glimpse into the quirky lives of residents living in the small, close-knit town of Cicely, Alaska. In a recent episode, resident bush pilot, Maggie O’Connell, meets up with other locals at the town’s laundromat. Within the drab space, residents share the latest gossip as they plug coins into battered washers and dryers. Upon discovering that one of the machines has destroyed some of her clothing, Maggie decides it is time to buy her own washer and dryer. However, soon after the new set is delivered to her home, Maggie realizes it was not just about washing her clothes but the sense of connection and community the activity brought (remember, this is pre-internet and social media!). She tries calling other residents while her washer is running but they are too busy to talk on the phone. She extends invitations to friends to do their laundry at her house, but they decline. Through her experience, Maggie comes to realize the laundromat functions as the village’s “third place.”

Urban sociologist and author, Ray Oldenburg defines the concept of “third place” as distinct from a person’s “first place” which is their home and their “second place” which is work. The “third place” is defined as an informal gathering spot where members of the community can come together and exchange ideas. Traditionally, these are places such as pubs (epitomized in another great TV show, Cheers), post offices, coffee shops, barber shops or even main streets. According to Oldenberg an important facet of the “third place” is neutrality. All members are welcome to gather and freely express their viewpoints. As such, Oldenburg says “third places” are vital to the success of a democratic society.

By Oldenburg’s definition, libraries can be considered a “third place” in a community. As librarians we take great care to ensure that our buildings, services and collections are free and accessible and that all are welcome regardless of socio-economic status. While today the internet and social media allow people to connect instantaneously without leaving home, there is still a desire for people to connect with others in person.  

Library programs such as book clubs, storytimes, and educational lectures are designed to bring people together to meet and share ideas and points of view. These programs allow people to find support for their challenges from others who are going through similar situations. Throughout my career I have witnessed mothers sharing childrearing strategies in storytime, teens who feel they do not fit in finding a peer group, and adults finding hope from the experiences of others dealing with the same mental and physical health issues. 

It is a common misperception that libraries are only about books. The concept of the library as a “third place” raises the definition beyond a resource for reading or research materials. It extends the organization’s mission to be a place where those who feel excluded elsewhere can find a sense of belonging. Where those who need a respite from life’s challenges can find calm. Where those who thought they were so different from each other can find commonality and connection. It allows the library to play a key role not just, as Oldenburg says, in protecting democracy, but also in helping create a more humane society where all are treated equally and with respect. 

At the end of the episode, Maggie reports that her new washer and dryer are not working correctly and convinces the technician that they need to be sent back to the factory despite his reassurances he can fix the problem onsite. He tells her sending the machines back to the factory could mean she is without them for an extended time (it is Alaska after all) but she insists. In the final scene, Maggie is happily back in the dingy, detergent-smelling laundromat listening to the latest news and finding community with her fellow residents. If you are looking for such a place in Cheshire, I hope you will stop by the library soon and discover all this wonderful “third place” has to offer.

Still using the OverDrive app? It’s time to switch to Libby!

/ cheshirelib / Leave a comment

On May 1, 2023, the OverDrive app will be discontinued. Now’s the time switch to Libby, OverDrive’s newer reading app. Libby is made by the same people, with the same goal of connecting you to your favorite books, audiobooks, and magazines, and is streamlined to make finding and downloading digital materials easier than ever!

Why is the original app going away? Libby has actually been around since 2017, and and for that period of time OverDrive offered both options. Since then, Libby has seen much more use than the older OverDrive app, and it no longer made sense to maintain both apps.

Making the switch is easy! Simply download the app on your mobile device to get started. Good news, once you add your library card to Libby, all your loans and holds will be waiting on your Shelf! You won’t lose your place in line for any items you have on hold. If you have a Wish List, you’ll be prompted to import it from OverDrive via an in-app notification. Your wish list items will become a tag that’s available on your Shelf.

After checking out a digital item with Libby, you can read/listen right through the app. Prefer to read ebooks on a Kindle? Check out your ebook through the Libby app, then send it to Kindle and read it there:

  1. Tap Shelf.
  2. Tap loans at the top of the screen.
  3. Tap Read With….
  4. Tap Kindle.
  5. You’ll be taken to Amazon’s website. If prompted, sign into your Amazon account.
  6. Verify the “Deliver to:” device and tap Get Library Book to finish getting the book.

If you use a Kindle Fire tablet, you can sideload the Libby app to your Kindle Fire by following these instructions. You can also use the OverDrive website or Libbyapp.com in your Fire’s browser. 

Finally, if you’re more comfortable using a computer instead of a mobile device to access our digital collection, don’t worry, Libby works on a computer, as well! Visit libbyapp.com to browse, search, read or listen and more on your computer.

Teen Book Reviews: Forestborn & A Thousand Steps Into Night

/ cheshirelib / Leave a comment

Teens: did you know that you can earn community service credit for writing a book review and submitting it to us? Today, we’ll hear from someone who did just that. Find out more about how to earn community service hours from home at cheshirelibrary.org/teens/.

Forestborn by Elayne Audrey Becker. Reviewed by Lydia B.

Forestborn is beyond inventive and beautiful.

I knew I would like this book from the moment I saw it, but after reading it, I was blown away! First of all, the world-building is amazing. From rival kingdoms to magical forests, Becker makes her world both intricate and easy to follow, a must in standalone fantasy books. The forest is especially interesting, as are the animals and the way magic manifests there. There are entirely new takes on magic everywhere in this novel, especially in the main characters themselves! Rora and her brother Helos are both main characters and shapeshifters. I loved how Elayne Audrey Becker used clear limits in their abilities to create impressive but not indestructible powers in these two. There was also so much symbolism in the forms the characters took and why, which I loved just as much.

Let’s talk more about the characters! Usually I’m a fan of side characters and not main characters, but this cast was entirely lovable. We have Rora, a shifter concerned she’s overly selfish but concerned for her friend, Helos, shifter and brother to Rora, and Weslyn, the love interest and older brother of Prince Finley. Finley especially is important because the others have to venture into magical danger to find a cure for the magic plague that he’s contracted which will kill him soon without a legendary cure. Every one of these characters is full of depth and emotion. I especially love the romances in this book, even though they’re absolutely the death of me now.

Basically, Forestborn is a work of art. I’d recommend it to fans of Among the Beasts and Briars and maybe Onyx & Ivory too (haven’t read O&I in a while but from what I remember they’re somewhat similar). This is easily one of my favorite reads of 2021 and I’m so glad to have been able to read it!

5 stars.

A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee. Reviewed by Lydia B.

For a book about a girl turning into a malevolence demon, this book is surprisingly fun. This is the story of Miuko, a girl cursed to become a demon unless her human soul can prevail and she can kill the demon prince following her before she fully turns. This book is really told in the style of a fairy tale, which I really love. It reads normally, but the plot structure is like you’re reading a myth, which is so fun. There are also so many interesting characters to observe, between humans Miuko scares or spirits she enlists. My favorites were Senara and Geiki (obviously) but everyone in this story is someone worth reading about. Geiki’s natural charisma really humanizes Miuko even more than before in making her more lighthearted during a hard situation.

The world itself is done so well. I did think it was tiresome to have such a detailed world that you needed footnotes to say what everything was, and I still do, but it thins out after a while to be more manageable. I thought that while the footnotes were cumbersome, it was overall very readable since most things were recurring and not entirely new. Given that Miuko herself doesn’t know everything about the hierarchy of spirits or how on earth she can undo her curse, it’s easy to learn with her.

In terms of the plot, I did think there were a few too many twists and turns. It wasn’t too many for the book itself, just a lot to keep up with. There was a segment of the book that was entirely unexpected and while it did make everything make sense a bit more, it also delayed the climax of the novel by a lot. This was really the only thing that bothered me though, and as I just said, it was extremely plot-relevant.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this to fans of dark fantasy with detailed world-building. Although I personally would’ve gotten fed up with the sexism and exclusion and just became a demon, I enjoyed reading about Miuko’s journey and every part of the book.

4.5 stars.