Free Library Blog - Posts by Camille T.

Time Travel

Camille T. — 2013-04-12T15:19:00-05:00

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once." - Albert Einstein

When Albert Einstein gave us his general relativity equation, E = mc2 he opened the possibility that time travel could be real. He theorized that time was simply a variable, and time could slow down and speed up, depending on your gravitational field or when you're traveling at high speeds. We all know you can't travel faster than the speed of light (299,792,458 meters per second), but if you could travel near the speed of light, time would begin to slow for you in relation to things around you – and voila! you're in the future!

So if you like to daydream about a world where time travel is a common occurrence (like me), here are some films you might enjoy:

	Planet of the Apes (1968 - Rated G) In the near future an astronaut lands on a strange planet and finds himself in a situation where apes rule the land and humans are slaves.
	Back to the Future (1985 - Rated PG) Teenager Marty McFly helps his scientist friend test his time machine, and finds himself in the past where he must unite his parents or his future doesn't exits.
	Star Trek The science fiction series *Star Trek* is notorious for using time travel as a plot device. These feature films won't disappoint: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986 - Rated PG), Star Trek First Contact (1996 - Rated PG-13), Star Trek (2009 Rated PG-13).
	The Terminator (1984 - Rated R) Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as the robot assassin who travels to the past to kill a woman whose future son will be humanity's last hope in a war against the machines in the future.
	Time Bandits (1981 - Rated PG) This action comedy is about a little boy who's imagination takes him on a wild trip where he travels to various times in history meeting historical characters and trying to find tresure.
	Hot Tub Time Machine (2010 - Rated R) In this comedy, four friends encounter a malfunctioning hot tub (spoiler alert - it's a time machine as well), which takes them back to 1986.
	*The Butterfly Effect* (2004 - Rated R) In this psychological thriller, a young man has the ability to travel time and relive his life. WIth this power, can he change his life for the better?
	The Time Traveler's Wife (2009 - Rated PG-13) In this romantic drama, a man has the strange genetic disorder which allows him to travel time at random moments. His genetic disorder causes major complications in his marriage.
	Twelve Monkeys (1995 - Rated R) In this science-fiction thriller, a man must travel back in time to save his present world from a devasting disease, by stopping the man who releases the virus which will wipe out humanity.

Search our catalog to find more items with the subject "time travel" or do you have a time travel film recommendation? Leave a comment!

Shel Silverstein - his musical side

Camille T. — 2012-09-25T12:18:00-05:00

Shel Silverstein was a very interesting and creative man. He is best known for his popular children’s books, such as The Giving Tree, Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. His works are often compared to Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne (creater of Winnie the Pooh). Even though his poems are at times very silly and dare I say crude, but that’s why they were loved by children around the world (his books have been translated more than 30 languages).

But Uncle Shelby (which he often called himself in his children’s books) created some great works for adults, in particular his songwriting. I recently stumbled across the 1972 song Sylvia’s Mother by the band Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show. The song is about a man calling up his ex-girlfriend desperate to speak with her one more time before she moves away, but her mother refuses to put Sylvia on the phone. It’s terribly sad song and I was impressed to find out it was written by Silverstein.

I later found out Silverstein penned many country-western hits:

A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash
25 Minutes to Go by Johnny Cash (similar to his poem I’m Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor)
The Unicorn by The Irish Rovers
The Cover of the “Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
One’s on the Way by Loretta Lynn

If you want to explore the musical side of Shel Silverstein you can download his album The Best of Shel Silverstein for FREE from Freegal. All you need is your library card number and pin, but keep in mind, you are limited to 3 (DRM-Free) downloads a week.

Do you have a favorite song by Uncle Shelby?

Books That Shaped America

Camille T. — 2012-07-20T09:26:00-05:00

The Library of Congress, in celebration of National Book Festival has an exhibit featuring "Books That Shaped America." They curated a list of 88 books which they feel are influential and shaped our nation. The list is below and we provide links so you can view the books in our catalog and hopefully read.

Title	Author	Publication Date
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Mark Twain	1884
Alcoholics Anonymous	anonymous	1939
American Cookery	Amelia Simmons	1796
The American Woman's Home	Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe	1869
And the Band Played On	Randy Shilts	1987
Atlas Shrugged	Ayn Rand	1957
The Autobiography of Malcolm X	Malcolm X and Alex Haley	1965
Beloved	Toni Morrison	1987
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee	Dee Brown	1970
The Call of the Wild	Jack London	1903
The Cat in the Hat	Dr. Seuss	1957
Catch-22	Joseph Heller	1961
The Catcher in the Rye	J.D. Salinger	1951
Charlotte's Web	E.B. White	1952
Common Sense	Thomas Paine	1776
The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care	Benjamin Spock	1946
Cosmos	Carl Sagan	1980
A Curious Hieroglyphick Bible	anonymous	1788
The Double Helix	James D. Watson	1968
The Education of Henry Adams	Henry Adams	1907
Experiments and Observations on Electricity	Benjamin Franklin	1751
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury	1953
Family Limitation	Margaret Sanger	1914
The Federalist	anonymous	1787
The Feminine Mystique	Betty Friedan	1963
The Fire Next Time	James Baldwin	1963
For Whom the Bell Tolls	Ernest Hemingway	1940
Gone With the Wind	Margaret Mitchell	1936
Goodnight Moon	Margaret Wise Brown	1947
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language	Noah Webster	1783
The Grapes of Wrath	John Steinbeck	1939
The Great Gatsby	F. Scott Fitzgerald	1925
Harriet, the Moses of Her People	Sarah H. Bradford	1901
The History of Standard Oil	Ida Tarbell	1904
History of the Expedition Under the Command of the Captains Lewis and Clark	Meriwether Lewis	1814
How the Other Half Lives	Jacob Riis	1890
How to Win Friends and Influence People	Dale Carnegie	1936
Howl	Allen Ginsberg	1956
The Iceman Cometh	Eugene O'Neill	1946
Idaho: A Guide in Word and Pictures	Federal Writers' Project	1937
In Cold Blood	Truman Capote	1966
Invisible Man	Ralph Ellison	1952
Joy of Cooking	Irma Rombauer	1931
The Jungle	Upton Sinclair	1906
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman	1855
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow	Washington Irving	1820
Little Women, or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy	Louisa May Alcott	1868
Mark, the Match Boy	Horatio Alger Jr.	1869
McGuffey's Newly Revised Eclectic Primer	William Holmes McGuffey	1836
Moby-Dick; or The Whale	Herman Melville	1851
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass	Frederick Douglass	1845
Native Son	Richard Wright	1940
New England Primer	anonymous	1803
New Hampshire	Robert Frost	1923
On the Road	Jack Kerouac	1957
Our Bodies, Ourselves	Boston Women's Health Book Collective	1971
Our Town: A Play	Thornton Wilder	1938
Peter Parley's Universal History	Samuel Goodrich	1837
Poems	Emily Dickinson	1890
Poor Richard Improved and The Way to Wealth	Benjamin Franklin	1758
Pragmatism	William James	1907
The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin, LL.D.	Benjamin Franklin	1793
The Red Badge of Courage	Stephen Crane	1895
Red Harvest	Dashiell Hammett	1929
Riders of the Purple Sage	Zane Grey	1912
The Scarlet Letter	Nathaniel Hawthorne	1850
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male	Alfred C. Kinsey	1948
Silent Spring	Rachel Carson	1962
The Snowy Day	Ezra Jack Keats	1962
The Souls of Black Folk	W.E.B. Du Bois	1903
The Sound and the Fury	William Faulkner	1929
Spring and All	William Carlos Williams	1923
Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert A. Heinlein	1961
A Street in Bronzeville	Gwendolyn Brooks	1945
A Streetcar Named Desire	Tennessee Williams	1947
A Survey of the Roads of the United States of America	Christopher Colles	1789
Tarzan of the Apes	Edgar Rice Burroughs	1914
Their Eyes Were Watching God	Zora Neale Hurston	1937
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	1960
A Treasury of American Folklore	Benjamin A. Botkin	1944
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Betty Smith	1943
Uncle Tom's Cabin	Harriet Beecher Stowe	1852
Unsafe at Any Speed	Ralph Nader	1965
Walden; or Life in the Woods	Henry David Thoreau	1854
The Weary Blues	Langston Hughes	1925
Where the Wild Things Are	Maurice Sendak	1963
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	L. Frank Baum	1900
The Words of Cesar Chavez	Cesar Chavez	2002

So what do you think of the list? What book would you add to the list?

The Criterion Collection and Subtitles Aren't that Bad

Camille T. — 2011-07-28T14:06:00-05:00

If you’re a movie lover, then you might be familiar with the video distribution company The Criterion Collection. This company is known for re-releasing classic and foreign films, as well as films made by celebrated directors. Many times you can only find the critically acclaimed and celebrated foreign language films in their collection.

Now, I know many people are hesitant to watch foreign language films because they don’t want to be bothered with the subtitles or they feel that reading will distract them from the action or storytelling of the film. Well, I have an easy answer for this: Borrow the DVD from the library! You can always pause and rewind if you feel you missed something. There are a lot of foriegn language gems out there that you shouldn't miss.

So today I’ll post some of my favorite Criterion Collection films the library has ready to loan (don’t worry, they aren’t all subtitled):

Click on the film title to request material from the Free Library.
Click on the trailer link to watch the film's trailer or a scene from the film.

The 400 Blows – This French New Wave film is considered a classic of French cinema by some. It portrays the story of a troubled boy in Paris. (Rating PG) trailer

Black Orpheus – This 1959 film is set during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro and adapts the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It won the Palme d’Or (the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival) and an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. (Rating PG) trailer

Monty Python’s Life of Brian – This hilarious film was considered controversial at the time of its release in 1979 due to the religious satire, and it was banned in many movie theatres. The film follows the life of Brian, a man who lived next door to and was born on the same day as Jesus Christ, and who spends much of his life mistaken for the messiah. (Rating R) trailer

My Own Private Idaho - The story of two friends (River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves) who start on a journey of self discovery and learn about the hardships of friendship. (Rating R) trailer

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou – This comedy by Wes Anderson stars Bill Murray (who in my opinion, is reason enough to watch any film), as Steve Zissou, a oceanographer on a quest to get revenge on a shark that ate his partner (think Moby-Dick). (Rating R) trailer

Battle of Algiers – This 1966 film depicts the guerrilla warfare that took place during the Algerian War. This film is critically acclaimed and was nominated for two Oscars. (Rating PG) trailer

Do the Right Thing - This 1989 film takes place in one day (the hottest day of the summer) and showcases racial division and bigotry in a Brooklyn neighborhood. Directed by Spike Lee, it was nominated for two Oscars. (Rating R) trailer

The Blob - This 1958 horror film stars Steven McQueen as teen on the run from a giant alien blob that terrorizes his town. (Rating G) trailer

The library currently has more than 170 items from the Criterion Collection - browse all.

A Science Minute: Matter/Antimatter

Camille T. — 2011-07-21T12:39:00-05:00

I first heard about mattter/antimatter from Star Trek when I was a kid, which--to be honest--sparked a lot of my fascination with science and technology. In Star Trek, they use matter/antimatter as a source of fuel for their ships (which should not to be confused with the warp drive/core, which uses matter/antimatter and dilithium crystals to go faster than the speed of light, but I digress). So the question is: What is matter/antimatter and is antimatter real?

In general terms, matter is everything – it's anything that has mass and takes up space (the substance that makes up physical objects). In more specific terms, matter is made up of atoms and molecules, such as protons, neutrons, and electrons. So antimatter is a form of matter that is equal in mass to ordinary matter but with opposite electrical properties. For instance, antimatter has “positrons” which are like electrons but with a positive charge and “antiprotons” which are like protons but with a negative charge.

Now the cool thing is, when matter and antimatter collide, they annihilate each other in a burst of high-energy photons – meaning energy (lots of it) is created. Now before you get too excited about a new source of energy, keep in mind it would cost (according to NASA) “one-hundred-billon dollars to create one milligram of antimatter” and not to mention antimatter can only be collected very slowly, a few particles at a time.

The NASA website also reminds us that it would cost far more energy to create antimatter than the energy one could get back from an antimatter reaction. Also, antimatter is a very volatile substance and would need the same safety precautions as nuclear reactors.

Well, at least we know antimatter is real and scientists are currently making advancements, such as CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), where scientists recently created antihydrogen for the first time. For now, I will just dream of a future with starships fueled by antimatter that boldly go where no man has gone before.

Interested in Matter/Antimatter? Check out these resources:

Antimatter: The Ultimate Mirror by Gordon Fraser
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith
Antimatter by Frank Close

A History Minute: The Bikini

Camille T. — 2011-07-19T10:00:00-05:00

It's summertime, that means many Philadelphia families are taking trips to the “shore” - yup, the Jersey Shore. You might not see Snooki, The Situation, or Pauly D, but odds are if you take a walk on the beach you'll see many women wearing bikinis. So today's question is: Where did the bikini come from?

You might be surprised to know that during World War II the government directed the amount of cloth in women's beachwear be reduced by 10 percent, in an effort to conserve fabric that might be needed in the war effort. This restriction caused many swimsuit manufacturers to create swimsuits with bare midriffs – but the true bikini wasn't invented until after the war.

Two Frenchmen are known as the inventors of the bikini, Jacques Heim and Louis Réard. In 1946, Louis Réard, an engineer, named his design "Bikini" after a Pacific Ocean atoll and Jacques Heim named his design "atome", the French word for atom, which he said was the world's smallest bathing suit. In response, Réard created a bathing suit with only 30 inches of fabric – it was so small, he couldn't find a model to wear it in public (eventually he hired a nude dancer who was photographed wearing one).

The bikini was considered too controversial and was banned in many European beaches, but during the 1950s many movie actresses, such as Diana Dors, Marilyn Monore and Jayne Mansfield were photographed wearing them and the bikini's popularity grew. In the 1960s, the song Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini was released along with a wave of beach-themed movies, like the James Bond film Dr. No, which featured an iconic Ursula Andress in a bikini (with a knife on her belt), and One Million Years B.C., where Raquel Welch played a cavewoman in a fur bikini.

Today, the bikini is commonplace, but it's interesting to know it all started from fabric rationing.

Interested in the history of fashion? Check out these resources:

The Complete History of Costume & Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day by Brownyn Cosgrave
History of Twentieth Century Fashion by Elizabeth Ewing
Black in the History of Fashion by Lois K. Alexander
Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion by Jane Mulvagh
How Underwear Got Under There: A Brief History by Kathy Shaskan
Bikini Beach: The Wicked Riviera as It Was and Is by Geoffrey Bocca
Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages Edited by Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast.

Father's Day

Camille T. — 2011-06-16T09:51:00-05:00

Father’s Day is Sunday, a time to celebrate those special men in our lives who helped raise us or who guided us or simply to honor the wonderful men whom we look up to. If you haven’t already purchased the obligatory tie, golf tee or grabbed reservations at your dad’s favorite eatery, perhaps these resources will get you in the mood to celebrate dear old dad.

Movies

Children's Books

Just the Two of Us by Will Smith with pictures by Kadir Nelson
Family Huddle by Peyton Manning, Archie Manning, Eli Manning, illustrations by Jim Madsen
Grandpa & Bo by Kevin Henkes
Father's Day by Anne F. Rockwell, pictures by Lizzy Rockwell
My Father's Boat by Sherry Garland, illustrated by Ted Rand
The Best Father's Day Present Ever by Christine Loomis, illustrated by Pamela Paparone

Free Library Podcasts

Ian Frazier | Lamentations of the Father: Essays
Sharon Robinson | Promises To Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America
Dr. Dan Gottlieb | Letters to Sam: A Grandfather's Lessons on Love, Loss and the Gifts of Life

Also, you might be interested in this upcoming Author Event: Alice Ozma author of The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared and Robert Strauss author of Daddy’s Little Goalie: A Father, His Daughters, & Sports on July 19, 2011.

Around the blogs: Saying goodbye to the Space Shuttle Endeavour to reading in bed

Camille T. — 2011-06-03T16:57:00-05:00

What I read and enjoyed on the web this week:

NASA closed a chapter on the Space Shuttle Endeavour last month and here’s a video compilation of the best of the best.

Rolling Stone created a list of Top 10 Picks for Greatest Summer Jams.

Lifehacker gave some great tips for creating an awesome reading list. Don't forget to check our our Readers' Advisory 101.

I'm sure you know about the fabulous Philadelphia Book Festival, but did you know about the National Book Festival sponsored by the Library of Congress?

Letters of Note posted the letter from James Bond author Ian Fleming to a fan thanking him for suggesting James Bond use a diffrent type of gun.

NPR lets us know that nearly half of all adults younger than 40 have at least one tattoo.

Say goodbye to the food pyramid and hello to MyPlate.

This website answers the question, “Is the book dead?”

According to The Great Geek Manual, here are the Most Beautiful Libraries in the United States.

A new study shows that 79% of Americans read books in bed.

The University of South Carolina has F. Scott Fitzgerald’s briefcase.

Instructables came up with a clever way to get rid of “iPhone Pocket Syndrome”.

Just for fun: In just 1 week, this video has over 20 million hits - and yes, it's a cat video.

Around the blogs?

Camille T. — 2011-05-20T13:57:00-05:00

From vintage hats to the pleasures of Shakespeare, what I read and enjoyed on the web this week:

Watch a video from the Smithsonian featuring Philadelphia fashion pioneer Mae Reeves vintage hat collection.

An archivist uncovers 500 year old playing cards.

Rob Lowe discusses writing his memoir, Stories I Only Tell My Friends: an Autobiography with the New York Times.

Rolling Stone gives us the beat on the record industry’s digital storage crisis.

They finally cast an actress to play Katniss in the new Hunger Games film – Jennifer Lawrence

Publisher Random House asked twitter “Who is your favorite villain in literature?” Check out the responses!

Charles Simic writes about a country without libraries and it’s not good.

The National Post discusses how Shakespeare changed everything.

The Christine Science Monitor lets us know that the entire library of Star Wars fiction will become available in e-book format this summer.

And Bert of Sesame Street has a conversation with actor Andy Samberg.

30th Anniversary of Bob Marley's Death

Camille T. — 2011-05-11T09:33:00-05:00

May 11, 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of legendary reggae singer and songwriter Bob Marley. Mr. Marley died at the age of 36 after battling cancer. His life was certainly cut too short but his music lives on for generations and generations. I'm sure most people are familar with the album Legend - a greatest hits collection by Bob Marley & The Wailers which is the best selling reggae album of all time. This album features the songs I Shot the Sheriff, No Woman, No Cry, Could You Be Loved, and Stir It Up to name a few.

Our new electronic resource Freegal has the Bob Marley & The Wailers album Trenchtown Days: Birth of a Legend which I highly recommend (search for "trenchtown" after you login to Freegal). This album gives you a glimpse into the early sound of the band and how they eventually fine-tuned their sound into becoming one of the best loved reggae bands of all time. If you have to download only one track (through Freegal you are allowed only 3 downloads per week) I would encourage you to grab One Love. This version isn't as polished and smooth as the version most people know but it's interesting to see the differences between the song recorded in the 1960s and the 1977 version from their Exodus album.

Learn More:

No Woman, No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley by Rita Marley
Bob Marley: The Untold Story by Chris Salewicz
Bob Marley and the Golden Age of Reggae, 1975-1976 by Kim Gottlieb-Walker
The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll edited by Holly George-Warren and Patricia Romanowski
I and I: Bob Marley by Tony Medina and illustrated by Jesse Joshua Watson
Great Spirits: Portraits of Life-changing World Music Artists by Randall Grass