Megatokyo Meet UP

Mon, 07/25/2005 - 5:07pm by erin

Megatokyo begins at a gaming con, but, that's not the whole story. Largo and Piro, the main characters, end up in Tokyo with no way of returning back to the U.S. With a little help (and lots of ammunition and weapons of all sorts) they may return to the States. While you can read past comics in the print versions Megatokyo is a webcomic that you can read at Megatokyo. Even better: come meet the author, Fred Gallagher at AADL on Wednesday, July 27 from 7:00-8:30 P.M. in the DOWNTOWN multipurpose room. Space is limited to 150 and advance TIX are required and must be picked up IN PERSON at the DOWNTOWN youth department desk.

Green Day Heads MTV Video Award Nominees

Mon, 07/25/2005 - 1:54pm by erin

The popular, punk-pop band, Green Day leads the MTV Video Award Nominations with 8 nominations - including two for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "American Idiot." Other nominees include Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliot, U2, Kelly Clarkson, Coldplay and Snoop Dogg. The 22nd annual MTV awards will be broadcast from Miami on Aug. 28. on MTV.

Lance Wins His Seventh Tour de France

Sun, 07/24/2005 - 2:33pm by Van

Read how he won the first six in Daniel Coyle’s Lance Armstrong’s War: One Man’s Battle Against Fate, Fame, Love, Death, Scandal, and a Few Other Rivals on the Road to the Tour de France.

And now that Lance is retiring from the Tour de France someone needs to take his place.

These books may help:

Bicycling Magazine’s Training Techniques for Cyclists: Greater Power, Faster Speed, Longer Endurance, Better Skills

Bicycling Magazine’s Guide to Bike Touring: Everything You Need to Know to Travel Anywhere on a Bike

The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair

Those Wacky Artists

Sat, 07/23/2005 - 3:25pm by Rich

I think we'd all have to agree that there's something about art that makes people act a little crazy. If you've been enjoying the Ann Arbor Art Fair recently, I'm sure you've witnessed firsthand some of this "unbalanced" behavior of which I speak. Actors love playing artists because it allows them to portray very passionate, eccentric characters. Check out some recent films about famous artists like Jackson Pollock, Jean Michel Basquiat, Johannes Vermeer, and Frida Kahlo. You'll see some great performances.

Guns for Hire

Sat, 07/23/2005 - 12:22pm by Mazie

Robert B. Parker switches from mysteries to westerns in Appaloosa and creates his finest novel in years. All of his trademark humor, themes and inimitable dialogue are here but are refreshed and enhanced in this setting. Fans will enjoy trying to decide how much Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch resemble Spenser and Hawk. I could easily imagine this story as an episode on the old “Gunsmoke” series or as a script for a Sam Peckinpah movie.

New Non-fiction Titles on the New York Times Bestseller List (July 24, 2005)

Sat, 07/23/2005 - 12:21pm by Van

At #4 is Bob Woodward's The Secret Man: the story of Deep Throat.

At #6 is Bernard Goldberg's 100 people who are screwing up America (and Al Franken is #37): Paris Hilton made the list. She is "the most vapid, empty-headed, inane, hollow, vain, tasteless, self-centered, useless twerp in the entire country." Dwight Garner of The New York Times quipped "I bet she puts that on a T-shirt."

At #12 is James Frey's My Friend Leonard: Leonard is his mobster guardian as Frey tries to rehab from alcohol, drugs, and prison.

Memory of Running, by Ron McLarty

Sat, 07/23/2005 - 11:32am by sernabad

You think Lance Armstrong has a tough gig on the Tour de France?

That’s nothing compared to Smithy Ide’s odyssey across America. In Ron McLarty’s terrific Memory of Running, 43 year old Viet Nam vet Smithy is a gentle wreck of a human being. A star athlete in a Rhode Island high school, he ballooned to nearly 300 alcoholic pounds after he was discharged from the military to recover from 23 bullet wounds. When his parents die in a car accident, Ide attends their service in a drunken stupor and then climbs aboard his old high school bicycle and starts pedaling. His destination: California, to search for his sister, lost to the ravages of schizophrenia.

McLarty, a hugely popular narrative performer of audio books, recorded this title which, at first, was only available as a recording. Later, through the dogged efforts of a Virginia librarian, with a big push by Stephen King, Memory of Running was released last year to wild acclaim.

New Fiction Titles on the New York Times Bestseller List (July 31, 2005)

Sat, 07/23/2005 - 10:53am by Mazie

Popular authors return to the list this week with new summer releases.

At #1 is Lifeguard by James Patterson & Andrew Gross: a $5 million heist at a Florida resort goes wrong.

At #3 is Until I Find You by John Irving: the life and loves of movie star Jack Burns.

At #5 is Origin in Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts): Lt. Eve Dallas investigates the double murder of cosmetic surgeons in 2059.

At #10 is Crusader’s Cross by James Lee Burke: Dave Robicheaux searches for a serial killer in Louisiana.

At #11 is Breaking Point by Suzanne Brockmann: romantic suspense involving an FBI agent in charge of counterterrorism unit and a woman in peril.

The Year of the Year in Non-fiction Book Titles

Fri, 07/22/2005 - 3:27pm by Van

After a spell when John Doe: a Biography seemed the favorite form for titles, this year the trend is to use a year as the title with a descriptive subtitle.

1066: the Hidden History in the Bayeau Tapestry by Andrew Bridgeford

1453: the Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

1759: the Year Britain Became Master of the World by

1776 by David G. McCullough

1812: the War That Forged a Nation by Walter R. Borneman

1942: the Year That Tried Men’s Souls by Winston Groom

Roman Polanski's Life and Films

Thu, 07/21/2005 - 8:04pm by Rich

Legendary film director Roman Polanski is making news headlines, and once again it has nothing to do with any of his films. Or does it? Polanski is one of those filmmakers whose personal life is so interesting that you just have to wonder how it all relates to his films. With a film like The Pianist, the link between Polanski’s personal life and screen is clear since it’s well known that Polanski is a Holocaust survivor. With other films, it’s less obvious. The library collection includes several of Polanski’s best films, including my personal favorite, Death and the Maiden. Here are some others: Knife in the Water, Macbeth, Rosemary’s Baby, and Chinatown.