Summer Blockbusters

Check out Summer Hits from years past.

Ever since Jaws jumped out of the water to the horror and delight of audiences in June 1975, Hollywood studios have been realeasing their crowd pleasing films during the summer.  I remember going to the Swap Shop Drive-In in Ft. Lauderdale (which is still there by the way) in the summer of 1994 to see Speed.  Watching Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock navigate that bus through the streets of LA kept us all on the edge of our lawn chairs (much more comfortable than sitting in the car). If you want to relive great memories of summer favorites, check out the DVD display on the library’s first floor.  These Summer Blockbuster include, to name just a few:

• Star Wars
• E. T.
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Iron Man
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 

Happy Birthday Will!

Today is William Shakespeare’s birthday (born April 23, 1564).  Oddly enough it is also the anniversary of his death (died April 23, 1616).  Other odd facts about Shakespeare:

He has a whole library dedicated just to his works (The Folger Library in Washington, DC.)

Shakespeare wrote 11 plays set at least in part in Italy.  While some speculate Shakespeare spent time in Italy, there is no hard evidence, he ever visited the country.

“Although he wrote plays that championed the rights of the poor and the needy, archived documents show the playwright was actually a wealthy landowner repeatedly dragged before the courts and fined for illegally stockpiling food and threatened with jail for evading taxes”. (Shakespeare ‘dodged tax and hoarded food’.” Daily Mail [London, England] 1 Apr. 2013: 21. Biography In Context. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.)

Shakespeare’s plays are “good for your brain, Researchers at Liverpool University in England observed heightened brain activity in 30 people reading the bard’s original plays, compared with when reading them in modern English. The theory: Shakespeare’s inventive use of language, grammar, and syntax creates a puzzle for modern readers that excites the brain”. (“Your brain on Shakespeare.” New York Times Upfront 11 Mar. 2013: 3. Biography In Context. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.)

Why not celebrate the bard’s birthday by watching one of the Lynn Library’s Shakespeare on Film DVDs.

The Most Controversial Book of 2013 (so far)

Sheryl Sandberg’s interview on 60 minutes touched off a storm of controversy.   Sanberg contends that women unintentionally hold themselves back from leadership in the workplace.  This argument seemed to touch a nerve.  Forbes featured a story, Don’t Lean In. Walk Out.  The Pittsburgh Post Gazette complained that “the super-successful Sandberg seems ignorant of the reality of a non-rich life.”  Blogger Carey Goldberg writes,  Sandberg has a central blind spot, a striking omission. Her push for women to work full-time in high-powered jobs, even through motherhood, seems to willfully ignore this fact: A great many of us don’t want to, not when our children are young. We want — often desperately — to cut back. If we can possibly afford it.

Facebook’s CEO

So now you can read “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” for yourself.  Ask for the Library’s copy at the Information Desk.

Happy Birthday Bach!

J. S. Bach 1685-1750

Today is Johann Sebastian Bach’s 328th birthday.  (This is the Old Style date—Bach is one of those people who lived through the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar so you may also see his birthday listed as March 31.)  You could celebrate by coming to the library to check out one of the many CDs we have which feature Bach’s music.  Some suggested titles are:

• Live Elmar Oliveira: the violin concerti of J.S. Bach.
• Bach / Canadian Brass
• The well-tempered clavier
• Sacred cantatas

Also you can listen to Bach’s music online via the Naxos Music Library.

Going Mobile….Need your help

If you tried to use the library website from your mobile phone in the past, it was undoubtedly a bad experience.  So we are in the process of building a new mobile site for the library and would love your feed back.  Simply go to www.lynn.edu/library on your smart phone then leave a comment here or email Leecy Barnett at lbarnett@lynn.edu with suggestions.  Remember this site is only in development so many links have not yet been added.  Please help us have the best mobile presence possible.

Confessions of a Downton Addiction

Downton Abbey Season 3

Why is January 6th a notable date.  In the Christian calendar it is the celebration of Epiphany which commemorates the coming of the Magi (wise men) to Bethlehem with gifts for the infant Jesus.  It is also the birthday of many famous people from Joan of Arc to Khalil Gibran.   But this year January 6 is important for a new reason.  It is the start of the third season of my favorite television series, Downton Abbey.  Apparently, I am not alone in my admiration for the show.  Recently Downton was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series.  Last fall I found out there are many other Abbey Addicts right here in Boca Raton when I spoke on The World of Downton Abbey to the friends of the Boca Raton library (you can see the Prezi I made for the talk.)  The library has the DVDs of the complete first and second seasons if you need to catch up.  Also we have many of the books I used to learn about the social and historical background of the show.  Stop by the library first floor to see the Downton Abbey display.  (You might want to bring a coat because as I write this, the library air conditioner is stuck on full blast and it is colder than winter in Yorkshire (home of Downton Abbey)).

Book TV/C-SPAN is coming to campus

Dr. Watson

Book TV/C-SPAN is coming to the Lynn University campus to film Dr. Robert Watson, Coordinator of the American Studies program,  discussing his latest book Wednesday, December  5 at noon in the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall.

The book, Affairs of state: the untold history of presidential love, sex, and scandal, 1789-1900 gives an historical perspective to all the charges and counter charges we saw in the 2012 election.

This years’ scandals may have been mild compared to the furry surrounding Andrew Jackson’s marriage, the revelation of Grover Cleveland’s illegitimate son or Lyndon Johnson’s multiple affairs carried on right under Lady Bird’s nose.

The entire Lynn Community is invited to the Book TV filming.