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TV Spotlight: Master of None

by manz

The critically acclaimed Master of None is a brilliant comedy that follows the personal and professional life of 30 year old Dev Shah as he navigates his way through life in New York City. Aziz Ansari, best known for playing Tom Haverford on Park & Recreation, is charming and hilarious as Dev.

He is a struggling actor bouncing from commercial to commercial in between bad dates at good restaurants, and having coffee with his best friends. The show relies heavily on witty dialog and I was delighted to have enjoyed it so much. The show also features Ansari’s real parents as his parents, as well as Eric Wareheim and H. Jon Benjamin.

The 2015 Netflix show was renewed for a season 2 which is set to air later this year.

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Blog Post

New TV Shows @ AADL

by manz

The library often acquires additional TV shows and new seasons of them, be they popular, new, or classics. Here are some recent new-to-AADL series:

Animal Kingdom, Season 1
This bold family crime drama centers on teenage J Cody, who moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of an overdose. Quickly pulled into the family's life of excess, he soon discovers that it's all being funded by criminal activities. Joining the family comes with more danger and excitement than he might be ready to handle.

Insecure, Season 1
A painfully funny new comedy series which follows best friends Issa and Molly as they navigate the tricky professional and personal terrain of Los Angeles while facing the challenges of being two black women who defy all stereotypes. Insecure explores the black female experience in a subtle, witty, and authentic way, as Issa and Molly stumble their way toward pulling their lives together while trying their hardest to never settle for less.

You Me Her, Season 1
Centers around a three-way romantic relationship involving a suburban married couple.

Schitt$ Creek, Season 1 and 2
When filthy-rich video store magnate Johnny Rose, his soap star wife Moira and their two kids -- über-hipster son David and socialite daughter Alexis -- suddenly find themselves broke, they are forced to leave their pampered lives to regroup and rebuild their empire from within the rural city limits of their only remaining asset, an armpit of a town they once bought as a joke. (With Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara)

Six, Season 1
Follows members of Navy SEAL Team Six, modern American warriors whose mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a U.S. citizen working with the terrorists. Inspired by real missions, the series authentically captures the inside world of America's elite special operations unit, what these SEALs do, their personal lives, combat, and the life-and-death decisions they make.

Fore more TV shows, be sure to check out AADL’s lists for HOT TV shows, as well as NEW TV shows.

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Blog Post

LEGO Batman: The Movie

by PizzaPuppy

LEGO fans will be excited to hear that the new LEGO Batman Movie is due to arrive in theaters this Friday, February 10th! In it, Bruce Wayne struggles with fighting the criminals of Gotham City, as well as raising the young boy he has adopted (who most will recognize as his sidekick Robin!).

To prepare yourself for the new movie, you might want to catch up on what the Caped Crusader has been up to in books such as LEGO Batman Movie: Robin to the Rescue! or any of the LEGO DC Super Heroes books: Batman's Missions, Ready for Action!, or Carnival Capers.

We also have several LEGO Batman movies for you to check out, such as DC Super Heroes Unite!, Gotham City Breakout, Cosmic Crash, and Justice League vs Bizarro League.

You can remind yourself of why "Everything is Awesome" with the first LEGO Movie (or by listening to the soundtrack).

Can't get enough LEGO? We have a really fun LEGO Connection program coming up on Sunday, February 26th at 1 pm at the Westgate branch where you can come build whatever you like during open LEGO play.

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My Family and Other Animals

by manz

Last year marked the 60th anniversary of My Family and Other Animals by naturalist Gerald Durrell. This book was the first in a trilogy, followed by Birds, Beasts, and Relatives (1969) and Fauna and Family, AKA The Garden of the Gods, (1978). In the books Durrell tells of the period during his childhood where he and his widowed mother and siblings briefly left England and lived on the rustic island of Corfu off Greece between 1935 and 1939. Gerald found himself surrounded by beautiful creatures and pretty soon the house and surrounding areas are encapsulated by his birds and reptiles.

The memoirs are delightful and the family is a fierce and quirky bunch that makes these books a pleasure to read. Gerald grew up to be a naturalist, conservationist and author of many books.

There have been a few adaptations of the books for television. Notably was the 2005 series My Family and Other Animals, which centers on 12 year old Gerald and his animal adventures, namely from book one. The acting is superb, with Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge!) leading the charge as Mrs. Durrell, tyring to rein in her 4 children, while wondering how on earth they turned out the way they did. Larry is a writer, Margo is a teen discovering herself, Larry love his guns, and then there's Gerry and his traveling zoo. There are 3 episodes and I loved it so much I watched them all twice.

Last year came a newer, longer adaptation that involved stories from all three books. This first season of The Durrells in Corfu features 6 episodes, and more emphasis is placed on the mother in this one. As with books and film adaptations, things were changed from the books a bit, but the wonderfulness of Gerald and his family remains. This show was also a pure delight to dive into with the Durrells. Season 2 is in the works.

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Blind Date with a Book and Surprise Books for Kids!!

by PizzaPuppy

Stop by any of the AADL locations for a sweet February surprise!

Adults and teens will find Blind Date with a Book displays, where one can hopefully find the mysterious item of their dreams! Books (and movies!) are wrapped in butcher paper and decorated with hearts in red, pink and purple. They have a short description of what the material inside contains… but you’ll have to check out the item and take it home to unwrap to find out if it’s really meant for you!

Kids aren’t left out either! There are Surprise displays at every location too, where kids will find mystery items decorated with stars and question marks in bright rainbow colors, and wrapped up with only hints written on them to imply what’s inside.

These displays will be up for the entire month of February, so don’t miss your chance to find your match!

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Blog Post

Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me

by ballybeg

…you’re movin’ on the back roads, By the rivers of my memory, Ever smilin’, ever gentle on my mind.

In the 1960s, Glen Campbell was the most sought after session guitarist in the industry. He played for the recordings of every singer and group you could name: Sinatra, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Stevie Wonder, The Monkees, and dozens of others. For two years he was a Beach Boy. With the wildly-popular, 1967 Grammy-winning hit, Gentle On My Mind, he came out front, and charmed his way into people’s living rooms for four years with his weekly television variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, full of popular music and hokey skits. He had a short-lived acting career, mostly because he was a mediocre actor, but as a musician and host he was brilliant. His fusion of country/pop/bluegrass/soft rock produced many more hits, and he has sold more than 50 million records over the course of his career. Boyishly good-looking and affable, with a down-home Arkansas persona which always seemed a bit out of place in LA, his smooth, lonesome, tenor voice, and his lightning-quick fingers on the neck of his guitar, he won all the major music awards, including, in 2012, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. I didn’t follow him after the early 1970s, but I grew up watching the tv show with my country music-loving grandparents, collected his albums as a young teen, and still thrill to the sound of that banjo at the beginning of Gentle On My Mind, and his astonishing displays of prowess on the guitar.

Imagine my dismay to watch this documentary, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me, and discover that in 2011 Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He and his family decided to make and film a farewell tour, as a way to celebrate his long career, but essentially documenting the course of his demise. The goal was to raise awareness about the dreaded disease and the urgency to understand it, fight it and fund it, and, to that end, we watch Campbell in a most vulnerable, delicate state, often forgetting the words to songs he sang thousands of times, not recognizing his children (three of whom played in his band), becoming disoriented more and more frequently as the year-and-a-half tour rolls on. It is hard to watch, but his family felt strongly it was what he wanted, and that it was a necessary sacrifice to shine light on the Alzheimer’s experience. Four years later, Campbell is currently in the seventh, and final, stage of the disease, where he cannot understand any language or communicate. His very brave choice to film his experience, has given voice to millions who suffer with the indignities of Alzheimer’s.

I knew I had to write this blog, when my 27-year-old daughter asked me, as she happened upon me crying over this film, “Who’s Glen Campbell?” You don’t have to be a country music fan to appreciate the talent of this man, or be grateful for his contribution to an understanding of the disease which has slowly stolen the “river of his memories” and eaten away his brain.

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Blog Post

A Few Good Films...

by oldnews

Just in case you'd like to delve a little deeper than the internet and fake news, here are a few acclaimed DVDs we bought last year that deal directly with issues in the news:

Welcome to Leith: How would you feel if a notorious white supremacist bought up property in your hometown to create a community center for his movement? Locals in a small North Dakota town reckon with democratic principles as they try to get rid of their menacing neighbor.

Requiem for the American Dream: In a series of compelling interviews over a four-year period, leftist social critic Noam Chomsky provides his captivating analysis of income inequality in the United States.

Weiner: I know, I know - you’ve seen enough of this guy. Haven’t we all? But Weiner’s ex-chief-of-staff Josh Kriegman had unprecedented access to the disgraced former Congressman during his 2013 mayoral bid and the result is a fascinating film short-listed for the Oscars.

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Blog Post

New TV Shows @ AADL, Pt. 2

by manz

The library is always acquiring additional TV shows and new seasons of them, be they popular and new, or oldies but goodies. Here are more new-to-AADL series:

Victoria, Season 1
In 1837, a diminutive, neglected teenager is crowned Queen Victoria, navigates the scandal, corruption, and political intrigues of the Court, and soon rises to become the most powerful woman in the world.

Masters of Horror, Season 1
They are obsessed by the dark. They share an obsession for terror. Thirteen visionary directors present the first season of an anthology series that challenged the very limits of cable television. Zombies, slashers, creatures and more, each episode is presented uncut and uncensored.

Master of None, Season 1
Aziz Ansari stars as Dev, a 30-year-old actor who attempts to make his way through life in New York City.

Vice Principals, Season 1
Comedy about a power struggle between two high school administrators who are vying for the top job of principal.

Animal Kingdom, Season 1
The series centers on 17-year-old Joshua Cody, who moves in with his freewheeling relatives in their Southern California beach town after his mother dies of an overdose. Headed by boot-tough matriarch Janine "Smurf" Cody and her right-hand Baz, who runs the business and calls the shots, the clan also consists of Pope, the oldest and most dangerous of the Cody boys; Craig, the tough and fearless middle son; and Deran, the troubled, suspicious "baby" of the family.

The Unusuals
A dark and gritty series that explores both the grounded drama and comic insanity of the world of New York City police detectives.

The Syndicate: All Or Nothing
The once-impressive Hazelwood Manor has been in the family of Lord Hazelwood since the eighteenth century. There used to be more than 30 staff at the house, but now, with a mounting debt of 6.5 million, only five remain since Lord and Lady Hazelwood were forced to let the others go. With the future of Hazelwood in question and their jobs on the line, the unthinkable happens, the staff wins the lottery! This is the 3rd installment of The Syndicate, but they are all stand-alone seasons, so you need not have viewed prior series.

Fore more TV shows, be sure to check out AADL’s lists for HOT TV shows, as well as NEW TV shows.

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Blog Post

New TV Shows @ AADL, Pt. 1

by manz

The library is always acquiring additional TV shows and new seasons of them, be they hot and new, or oldies but goodies. Here are more new-to-AADL series:

Versailles, Season 1
In 1667, the powerful king of France, Louis XIV, is but 28 years old when he decides to build Versailles, the greatest palace in the world. After draining the budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.

Scream Queens, Season 1
A mysterious Red Devil killer wreaks havoc at Wallace University's Kappa Kappa Tau sorority, putting every pledge on edge! Tension mounts as it becomes clear that anyone could be the murderer, or the next victim! Get all thirteen outrageous season one episodes, along with more killer moments and special features that grant the watcher exclusive sorority access into Kappa house.

Fuller House, Season 1
In a continuation of the original 1980s Full House series, D.J. Fuller is a mother of three young boys and is a recent widow. D.J.'s sister Stephanie, her best friend Kimmy and Kimmy's teenage daughter all move in to help raise her sons. (Sounds familiar, eh?)

The Librarians, Seasons 1 & 2
The show centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden all around. This group solves impossible mysteries, fights supernatural threats, and recovers powerful artifacts, including the Ark of the Covenant, the Spear of Destiny, and Excalibur.

Graves, Season 1
President Richard Graves, a former two-term POTUS, embarks on a Don Quixote-like quest to right the wrongs of his administration and reclaim his legacy 25 years after leaving the White House. With topics ranging from immigration to gay rights, foreign policy to public funding for arts and sciences, Graves holds nothing sacred as he unspools some of his administration's proudest victories.

The Quarry, Season 1
Quarry, a disillusioned Vietnam War vet, returns home to Memphis in 1972 only to find rejection and scrutiny at every step. A mysterious man known only as The Broker gives him an offer he can't refuse - to work for him as a hitman.

Hap and Leonard, Season 1
Based on the novels by Joe R. Lansdale, the six-hour series event follows Hap Collins, an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine, a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. When Hap's seductive ex-wife Trudy resurfaces with a deal they can't refuse, a simple get-rich-quick scheme snowballs into bloody mayhem.

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From the Page to the Screen: Hidden Figures

by PizzaPuppy

The new movie Hidden Figures is in theaters now, and is already generating positive reviews and a plethora of award nominations. This amazing true story, first published as Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, chronicles the trials and tribulations of a group of extraordinarily talented and dedicated African American female mathematicians, whose calculations launched John Glenn into Earth's orbit and won the space race. These "human computers" used slide rules, pencils, and adding machines to perform the advanced mathematics needed to calculate trajectories, launch windows, and navigational charts in case of electrical failures, among others. These brave women faced adversity through sexism and segregation, but persevere through it all to become key players in evolution of NASA and space exploration. This amazing story is also available on audiobook and Large Print.

Author Margot Lee Shetterly will be speaking at Rackham Auditorium on January 24th from 4-8:15 PM. More information is available here.

Looking to learn more about the phenomenal women scientists that propelled us into space? Check out Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars (also available here in Large Print. Or learn more about the many women who have since traveled to outer space through items such as Promised the Moon, Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, and Astronaut Pam: Countdown to Commander (an especially interesting nonfiction movie that follows Commander Pam Melroy and her crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery). We also have books about women inventors, such as Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women.

Also check out our resources regarding two very famous pioneering female astronauts: Mae Jemison and Sally Ride. Books on Sally Ride for an adult audience include this photobiography and Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space. To the Stars, Sally Ride: Life on a Mission, and Who Was Sally Ride? are all intended for kids interested in learning more about Sally Ride. We also have many resources on Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel to space, such as this biography, You Should Meet Mae Jemison or Mae Jemison, Awesome Astronaut!. You can even read books written by the astronaut herself, such as The 100 Year Starship.

Just into space? We have lots for you to check out here at the library, such as Eyewitness Space Exploration, or the Astronaut Handbook. The Dream is Alive is a fascinating DVD that uncovers life on a space station, and witnesses the first space walk performed by an American woman. We also have a Library Space Camp program for kids coming on Thursday, April 6th at the Downtown branch, where you can learn all about what makes a successful astronaut and complete cool space activities.