Archive for August, 2011

24
Aug
2011

We’ve Got Class! (9 of them, actually!)

by Jake Gauslow

I know that a lot of you have been patiently waiting, counting the days until our computer classes start again. Today, your countdown reached zero.

Registration opens today for the first class in our fall lineup—Facebook: Getting Started. The class will be run from 7-8:30 PM on Wednesday, September 7th, and will be held in the computer lab on the first floor.

Here’s a look at the rest of the classes we’ll be offering this fall:

Wednesday, 9/14: PowerPoint I

Monday, 9/19: PowerPoint II

Wednesday, 9/21: Googling Smart: Searching the Internet

Thursday, 9/29: Excel I

Tuesday, 10/18: Excel II

Wednesday, 11/2: Publisher I: Calendars & Newsletters

Thursday, 11/10: Twitter: Getting Started

Monday, 11/14: Word I

Thursday, 12/8: Word II

All classes are held in the first floor computer lab. They begin at 7 PM and end around 8:30 PM. Registration is required for each class, and will open two weeks in advance. Space is limited, so remember to register early! Also, as a courtesy to other patrons, if you are registered for a class, but cannot attend, please contact us so we may open that space for someone else to attend. We’re excited to see you all back!

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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22
Aug
2011

Something Censored This Way Comes

by Jake Gauslow

Although it’s felt like it for well over a month now, the temperature outside is not actually 451 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s a good thing, too, because that’s the temperature at which paper burns, which would be disastrous when you tried to carry your books out to the car (not to mention when you tried to go outside yourself, or had to pay your electric bill).

If you’re thinking I totally knew that bit about paper burning at 451°, you probably have Ray Bradbury to thank (also possibly a degree in science). Now you know another Ray Bradbury fact: it’s his birthday (he’s 91). What better way to celebrate than by (re-)reading Fahrenheit 451, his classic novel about a world where all books are burned? Plus, it’s a great way to prepare to celebrate Banned Books Week, which is coming up about a month from now (more on that later).

One of the most entertaining ironies in literary history is the fact that, over the course of several years, the publishers of Fahrenheit 451 slowly censored something like 75 different passages, cutting out little bits that they feared might contaminate the minds of the young. It would have been a great practical joke, had they not been serious.

Or, if you’re not into dystopias, you can always try Something Wicked This Way Comes. Everyone loves coming-of-age stories centered around evil carnivals, right?

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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Posted in Books, Movies, and Music, News and Events | 1 Comment »

17
Aug
2011

X Marks the Spot

by Jake Gauslow

I’m sure that, over the past couple weeks, you’ve all been mourning the end of Summer Reading. You’re asking yourselves how can I get another chance to win fabulous prizes? Well, here’s how:

It’s time for Frisco Is a Treasure again! The annual city-wide treasure hunt started August 11th, and will run through 2pm on August 28th. All you need to do is download a treasure map and visit at least 8 of the 12 participating locations to get your map stamped (hint: the library is one of them). Once you’ve got 8 stamps, you can drop your map off in the Treasure Hunt collection box—there’s one at every location, so once you get the last stamp, you can just drop your map in the box.

Here’s some of what you can win:

Happy Hunting!

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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15
Aug
2011

Bon Appétit!

by Jake Gauslow

Trivia time!

Today’s topic: Julia Child (it’s her birthday—she would have been 99 today)

Question: Before she became famous as a TV chef and author of cookbooks, what was Julia Child’s profession?

Here’s a hint:

Still stuck? That’s the shoulder insignia of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), the predecessor to the CIA. That’s right—she was a spy! While stationed in Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka), she met her husband, Paul Cushing Child. They eventually moved to Paris, where she attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and, with the help of two friends, began to write Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is perhaps one of the most famous cookbooks ever written. From there, her fame snowballed, leading to many TV series, Emmy and Peabody awards, an appearance on the cover of Time magazine, and nearly 20 books!

If you’re interested in more details on her life as a spy, check out Jennet Conant’s A Covert Affair.

Or, if you want to know more about French cooking, we’ve also got Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Or maybe you’re not interested in cooking yourself, but you’d like to know about how someone else fared while trying to cook every single recipe in this book over the course of a year; if so, then Julie & Julia is the book for you.

Whatever your tastes are, we’ve surely got something for you! Bon appétit!

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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12
Aug
2011

Schrödinger’s Birthday

by Jake Gauslow

Perhaps you’re familiar with the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat; perhaps you’re not. Or, perhaps, if I hadn’t asked you, you would have been both familiar and unfamiliar with it at the same time…

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the physicist or his thought experiment, here’s a brief summary, minus all the complicated details:

  1. He won the Nobel Prize in 1933.
  2. He later came up with a thought experiment about quantum physics that involved a cat in a box that was simultaneously alive and dead—until someone looked in the box to check which it was.

Today is Schrödinger’s birthday, and to celebrate, I’d like to recommend Adam Felber’s Schrödinger’s Ball. It only pretends to be about quantum physics; mostly, it’s about being hilarious, and also sort of about the significance of our perceptions.

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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10
Aug
2011

Help Arrives

by Lori Carson

I read Kathryn Stockett’s The Help  over a year ago and have been anticipating its release on the big screen ever since.  Today is the day I—and probably millions of others—have been waiting for.

I have been preparing for this event for the last month.  Whenever I hear that a film based on a book that I like is coming out, I do four things.

  1. Re-read the book.  I usually wait until about a month or two before I plan to see the film to start reading the book again .  Sometimes several years may pass in between the time I originally read the book and the time the film arrives in theaters.  In this case, it’s only been a year, but I want it to be as fresh in my mind as possible.
  2. Check the local movie theater’s schedule and choose a time to go.  Buy tickets ahead of time if necessary.
  3. Invite friends along.
  4. Plan an after movie discussion group.   I love watching films and reading books.  I enjoy talking about them almost as much.  So, what could be better than reading a great book, watching the film, then discussing both with friends?  Answer:  Discussing the film and book with friends over coffee or tea!  Snacks are good, too, especially chocolate ones.

Here are some other movies based on books I have read that I am really looking forward to:

One For the Money  (January 27, 2012 release date) It should be highly entertaining to see the adventures of Stephanie Plum, Morelli, Ranger, Lula and Grandma Mazur on the big screen.  I can’t tell from the cast list who is going to play Rex the hamster, though.

 

Before I Go To Sleep (Release date TBD) If you like psychological thrillers, read this book.  Then go see the movie when it comes out.

The Hunger Games (March 23, 2012)  The books are amazing and the movie is going to be huge.  I am talking about the kind of huge in which people camp out for tickets to the premiere.  I won’t be bringing a sleeping bag myself, but I AM going to see it—perhaps just not as soon as the campers.

The Hobbit (Dec. 14 2012)  Speaking of camping out for tickets to the premiere….Tolkien and Peter Jackson.  Enough said.

 

I hope to see you at the movies.  I’ll be in the back row with popcorn.

Lori Carson Lori Carson
Material Services Librarian
lcarson@friscotexas.gov

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08
Aug
2011

And the Winner Is…You! (maybe)

by Jake Gauslow

Yesterday, we wrapped up our Summer Reading Program with the Summer Reading Send-Off. A big thank-you to all of you who attended, and congratulations to those of you who won one of our fabulous prizes! We were all very impressed with the number of reading logs we received—over 500! We look forward to doing it again next summer!

If you were one of our winners, you will be contacted very soon! Just come to the 4th Floor Ask Us desk to claim your prize!

Lori Carson Lori Carson
Senior Librarian
lcarson@friscotexas.gov
Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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03
Aug
2011

#AwesomeBlogPost

by Jake Gauslow

If you’re not a Twitterer, tweeter, or any other demonym for members of the Twitter community, you probably have no idea what a hashtag is. That’s about to change. Basically, a hashtag is a way for people who use Twitter to categorize their tweets, much like the tags you see at the right of our blog. It uses the pound sign (#) followed by a short phrase with no spaces. Twitter keeps track of the most popular hashtags in real time, so users can see what other people are talking about at any given time (they call this “trending”). Recent news events have inspired trending hashtags like #Oslo and #AmyWinehouse.

Sometimes, people actually use hashtags for this purpose. Sometimes companies use them to keep track of entries to contests they hold on Twitter. Most of the time, people use them to play silly games where you have to come up with something that fits a certain topic. For the past day or so, a hashtag called #bookswithalettermissing has been popular. The idea is pretty simple: delete one letter from the title of a book to come up with a new, humorous title. A lot of people give a brief synopsis of the altered plot, as well.

Here are some of my own contributions (with links to the originals):

Of Mice and Me: The memoirs of Robert Burns (or Walt Disney).

Zorba the Geek: A young man trades his books for computer games.

A Wrinkle in Tim: One man’s memoir of getting older.

One with the Wind: A novel of the Wright Brothers.

Where Angels Fear to Read: Some of the most dangerous libraries in the world.

Around the World in Eight Days: The accelerated version of Jules Verne’s classic

The Lord of the Rigs: Biography of J.D. Rockefeller

The English Patent: A history of British inventions.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sins: A look at the darker side of Tweety Bird.

These are just a few of the ones I’ve come up with. Do you have any of your own? Leave them in the comments, or tweet them to us @friscolibrary!

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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01
Aug
2011

The End Is Near

by Jake Gauslow

The end of Summer Reading, that is. Our Summer Reading Send-Off will take place from 2-4PM on Sunday, August 7th (this is the part where we reward you with fabulous prizes just for reading, which is more than likely something that you enjoy doing anyway). The drawings start at 3PM, and there are over 30 grand prizes to give away! The catch is that we can’t draw your name out if you don’t put it in first, so if you haven’t already, turn in your reading logs! (If you have, pick up another one!) Just bring them to the Ask Us desk on the first floor, and we’ll get you entered in the drawing.

P.S. Due to your incredible participation, we’ve run out of mugs to give away. But every four books you read gets you another entry in the drawing, which means one more chance to win. Plus, if you’re actually present when your name is drawn, you’ll also receive a bonus prize! Two prizes! One, two! Why are you still reading this? Read more books!

Jake Jake Gauslow
Adult Services Librarian
jgauslow@friscotexas.gov

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