Where the Wild Critters Are

As previously discussed, there are only three animals I truly like: bunnies, doggies and kitties. Bunnies are fluffy, kittens are cute, and doggies are cute, sweet, plus they’re actually happy to see you, unlike cats, who think humans were put on this earth to be their servants. But, as someone pointed out to me, no one wants to see a library program on bunnies, doggies and kitties. Correction: no one but I would want to see such a program. Thus on Sunday, September 20th, we hosted Nature's Critters, a local group which presented Where the Wild Critters Are. Julie Allen brought in animals from different habitats: salamanders, hedgehogs, chinchillas and more. The children especially liked the snake, which was extremely lucky to have been born in captivity---she was missing a pigment which would have made her easy to spot in the wild. Adults cringed as the snake came near, but the children were more than happy to wear the snake around their necks.

As for me, I’m okay with animal…in print form. I don’t know about you, but mock croc and faux snakeskin are as close as I need to be to the real things.

RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL

,,Desierto Adentro" de Rodrigo Plá


,,La culpa de los padres caerá sobre los hijo." sirve como epitafio a la humanidad en esta película del director mexicano Rodrigo Plá. Durante la turbulenta década de los años 20, la gran mayoría de las iglesias católicas fueron cerradas abruptamente debido a la separación del estado mexicano y las iglesia, y también a la ola de anticlericismo tan fuerte en ése país. Esa historia sirve como el trasfondo histórico de esta película que se trata del comienzo d ela guerra cristera. Aunque esta película se estrenó hace varios años aún sigue causando largas charlas conmovedoras sobre los crímines realizados no solamente por parte del gobierno sino también de parte de los mismos Cristeros. ¡Las heridas aún estan abiertas! ¡Muy buena película!

Sacramento history photo of the week number 24!

In January of 1918, as America's involvement in the First World War was ratcheting up, bond drives were a common sight around the nation. In the case of Sacramento, millions of dollars were accrued. Motivational tools would abound as bond-buyers had their names printed in city papers while it was the community's responsibility to build this "Soldier of Freedom," as he stood against the wall of Sacramento's first and only (at the time) Federal building, the U.S. Post Office. Each section of the body represents a county within the Sacramento Valley. Sacramento County was represented by the soldier's rifle. The trick was simple - the more bond monies won by the county, the faster the respresentative body-part or accessory were placed on the soldier.

Mark your calendar as, on November 5 at 6:30, the Central Library will be presenting The Great War in the Great Valley: Sacramento During the First World War. The program will include discussion on the city and War and a presentation of photos of Sacramento during World War I.

This photo and many more like it can be found on the Central Library's Third Floor, which is where one can view both the Sacramento Bee and Union back into the mid-nineteenth century.

First Floor Display: Staff Picks

"You must really love your job! You get to sit there and read all day long!" We hear this every so often, and we sure wish it were true! The truth is library staff works at work, and reads at home or on the bus.

This month's book display on the first floor is "staff picks". These are titles we've read and enjoyed, and thought you might, too.

My personal "picks" this week are:

John Hamamura's "The color of the sea", a semi-autobiogaphical novel about the Japanese-American experience in Lodi during the Second World War.

Andrea Levy's "Small Island", which chronicles the experiences of two Jamaican families when they move to London, post World War II

Meve Binchy's "Whitethorn Woods", where the stories of several people tell the story of St. Anne's Well and Whitethorn Woods. The stories are like threads in a tapestry. Only when they are all woven together does the full picture appear.

Sarah Smith's "Chasing Shakespeares", a lightweight mystery involving a bequest of Shakespeare collectibles to a minor American university. One of the manuscripts seems like it might actually be valuable, and it is taken to London for examination by experts.

RINCóN LATINO: PELíCULAS EN ESPAÑOL

,,Lake Tahoe" de Fernando Eimbcke


En medio del desierto en el norte de México Juan decide chocar el coche de su familia contra un poste telefónico. ¿Porqué? Bueno...Juan acaba de vivir un episodio trágico cuando un familiar de repente muere. ¿Cómo vivirá las siguientes 8-9 horas de su vida? El interesante y espeluznante elenco de personalidades que habitan éste pequeño pueblo como por ejemplo Don Heber, un viejo mecánico paranóico quien ambula sus proximidades con Sica su mascota boxer con habilidades casi humanas. Lucía, una joven madre con aspiraciones de ser un cantante punk ,y "él que sabe", un joven mecánico obsesionado con las artes marciales. ¿Qué tiene que ver el título con el pintoresco lago californiano? ¡NADA!

¡Escuchen la entrevista con Fernando Eimbcke!

LAKE TAHOE Podcast by Film Movement

The Number Three - Mary Travers

Folk tales, folk songs, fables and jokes all use the number three: three pigs, three bears, three sons, three attempts, three choices, three chances. This week, yet another loss rocks America with the death of Mary Travers, the "Mary" in Peter, Paul and Mary. Affecting statements from Peter and Paul appear on their web site.

I was introduced to their music at age 15 by a cousin from Canada, and immediately began collecting their albums. Having grown up with recordings by Pete Seeger and Burl Ives, the familiar folk format in a new setting thrilled us and provided material for many sing-alongs.

The Biography Resource Center and Marquis Who's Who On the Web contain additional information about the life and career of Mary Travers.

May her music and her message be forever blowin' in the wind.

Patrick Swayze, 1952-2009

Who could ever forget the movie Dirty Dancing? Certainly not the men who were forced by their fiancees to learn the famous dance sequence and perform it at their wedding receptions. Yet even if you never had to take your two left feet and perform a graceful pirouette, you probably still remember the movie, or at least the line, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” Patrick Swayze was not the actor originally picked to play Johnny Castle. Billy Zane was slated for the role, until it became apparent that Zane could not dance. Swayze had trained at Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools. Dirty Dancing, a movie which was supposed to go to theaters for one weekend before heading to video, catapulted Swayze into the spotlight.

However, maybe dancing wasn’t your thing. There was Point Break, which had Swayze play a surfer/felon who robbed banks while wearing a Richard Nixon mask. There were other movies, shows, and animated features, but it was likely Ghost which the public will best remember Swayze. Ghost had it all---action, comedy, and an early scene which made throwing a ceramic pot downright romantic. It was a sad story, but one about second chances, and why you should tell people you love them instead of just “Ditto.” And it makes you ask yourself, what would you do if you had another chance to do something good?