Sep

28

A Guy Walks Into A Bar… (Part 2)

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 28, 2007 | 1 Comment

Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales From The White Hart is an entertaining collection of stories in which character Harry Purvis tells a series of tall tales, covering such subjects as ray guns (explaining how supposedly a working ray gun was once built for a Hollywood science fiction movie), virtual reality (including perhaps the first ever [...]

Sep

26

Who Needs A Librarian?

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 26, 2007 | 2 Comments

A question that’s been asked often in recent years, even by some librarians, is, Who needs librarians? For that matter, who needs libraries now that we have search engines like Google? I made some points in an article I wrote several years ago titled Googling Libraries, about the way that all Internet search engines are [...]

Sep

24

Book ‘Em: You Say You Want A Revolution.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Before she was known for directing the stage production of Disney’s The Lion King, Julie Taymor was known for her work with experimental theater, particularly puppets. Naturally she was known to a much smaller crowd; no doubt when she was asked to stage The Lion King a lot of people scratched their heads and said, [...]

Sep

21

A Guy Walks Into A Bar… (Part 1)

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 21, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Even though they’re often extremely short, the Draco Tavern stories of Larry Niven are a fun read because, well, they’re entertaining, and they set up the hope that in the distant future when we encounter alien races they’ll want to rub shoulders with us in relaxed social settings. The phrase “go out for a drink” [...]

Sep

19

Kid Nation? You’ve Gotta Be Kidding.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 19, 2007 | Leave a Comment

“There exists in our world an unusal, partly savage tribe, ancient and widely distributed, yet until recently little studied by anthropologists and historians. All of us were at one time members of this tribe: we knew its customs, manners, and rituals, its folklore and sacred texts. I refer, of course, to children.” -Alison Lurie
It’s hard [...]

Sep

17

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Mr. Dahl.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 17, 2007 | 2 Comments

Roald Dahl was born September 13th, 1916. While he’s best known as the author of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (made into a film with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka And The Charlie Factory, then made again by Tim Burton into a film with Johnny Depp, this time under the book’s original title) he wrote [...]

Sep

11

We Must Love One Another Or Die.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 11, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
-from September 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden
Six years ago, also on a Tuesday, a terrible, [...]

Sep

3

Back To School: The Cheese Stands Alone.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

September 3, 2007 | 2 Comments

This fall students going into high school or even middle school may be assigned to read one of two books: The Chocolate War or I Am The Cheese. Both books are by Robert Cormier. Born on January 17th, 1925, Cormier passed away on November 2nd, 2000, and left a legacy of some of the most [...]