Blog Post
Thomas A. La Veist will speak at the University of Michigan
by Stewart
Research Scientist, Author and Public Speaker Thomas A. La Veist will be in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health on Tuesday, November 18th 3:30 - 5:00 pm. The event is sponsored by the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health and co sponsored by the Program for Research on Black Americans and the MICHR(Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research)/Health Disparities Research Program at the University of Michigan. Mr. La Veist will be speaking on Disentangling Race and Socioeconomic Status: Advancing Understanding of Race Disparities in Health.
Blog Post
Think local first
by Maxine
Judy Wicks, owner of the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia and co-founder of Business Alliance for Local Living Economies will be speaking at Think Local First's annual meeting. Wicks' 25 year tenure with the White Dog Cafe has led to numerous other ventures and community collaborations that support local economies. She is the recipient of many awards including the The James Beard Foundation's 2005 Humanitarian of the Year award. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. and the talk will be at 7 at Kerrytown Concert House, 415 N. Fourth Ave. Tickets are $20 at the door and $15 in advance at Nicola's Books, Shaman Drum Bookshop and The Peaceable Kingdom.
To supplement Wicks' talk, read The Small Mart Revolution: How local businesses are beating the global competition by Michael H. Shuman.
Blog Post
October 14, 1964 - Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
by darla
Have you ever wondered about the Nobel Prizes? We all know them as a mark of prestige, but where did those world-famous awards come from and who decides the winners? Check out The Nobel Prize and wonder no more. Burton Feldman relates the lively history of the awards, touring their century-long existence forward from the will of dynamite mogul Alfred Nobel. Readers will learn about the quirky preferences of the award committees, winners who really didn't deserve to win, losers that should have been winners, and amusing bits of Nobel trivia (like the awarding of the prize in medicine to the inventor of the lobotomy). For details on Martin Luther King, Jr. and his award, the AADL has a GIANT collection of MLK materials for you to peruse. Enjoy!
Blog Post
Mudbound
by ballybeg
Every two years, Barbara Kingsolver funds a prize for the best work of fiction by a new author writing about social change. Called the Bellwether Prize, the 2006 recipient was Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. A darkly brooding story, told in alternating, first-person narrative by each character, the events reveal the scarring and devastating effects of both racism and war on two families in rural Mississippi. The long-standing hatreds of the community, combined with two returning soldiers' crippling experience of violence in World War II, beget the final betrayal for each character.
Why would one want to read such a stark-sounding, downer of a book, you may wonder? Because, frankly, it is a stunning story, told in a strong, clear voice, with characters you may never forget, and, though it unveils the dark, frightening forces at work in the human soul, it also celebrates the fierce allegiances to family, land, and love. Jordan’s first book is a compelling journey with the characters to a chilling and inevitable conclusion. What surprises and satisfies is how she shines a light of hope at the end.
Blog Post
National Coming Out Week
by pkooger
Cities and universities all across the country are celebrating National Coming Out Week. This annual observance takes place during the week of October 11, National Coming Out Day, which marks the anniversary of the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. National Coming Out Week is a week in which people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or allies celebrate their identities and remember the efforts and obstacles of the pioneering GLBT people who made a difference in this country.
The University of Michigan has an extensive list of GLBT-related events this month, including panel discussions, lectures, a Coming Out Rally, and even a performance by David Sedaris! A complete list of events can be seen at the University's Spectrum Center website. Some events are free and open to the public, and some events require tickets. Check it out and have fun supporting your GLBT friends and family!
Blog Post
As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial
by ballybeg
Is there anything funny about global warming? Derrick Jensen, a committed and very serious environmental activist, manages to find some thin threads of humor behind the despair in As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial. In the format of a graphic novel, he tells a fable-like story of the Earth versus big business, environmentalists versus profiteers, creatures (yes, snails and foxes and a one-eyed bunny) versus dam builders. The result manages to score the point: if we don’t change our direction, we will end up where we are headed. Other titles by Jensen include Thought to Exist in the Wild, which presents the case against zoos, and How Shall I Live My Life?, interviews with ten progressive thinkers about resisting the dominant culture of excess.
Blog Post
Furstenberg Park!
by jaegerla
Looking for an opportunity to volunteer? This Sunday is the Furstenberg Native Plant Garden Stewardship Workday! From 12-3 pm the park is seeking people to assist with general caretaking (Note: Minors must be accompanied by a guardian). For more information on volunteering at Ann Arbor's parks please take a look at the Volunteer Stewardship Calendar. If you would like to find other ideas for volunteering, you may want to check out The Busy Family's Guide to Volunteering, The Helping Hands Handbook, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, and People Power.
Blog Post
September Books to Films
by muffy
Man on Wire is based on the book To Reach The Clouds: My high wire walk between the Twin Towers(2002) by Philippe Petit
One August 7th, 1974,@7:15 a.m. a young Frenchmen stepped out on the high wire and walked (Oh, he more or less danced!)across the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, 1350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan. It is about Petit’s 6-plus years of dreaming, 8 months of planning, and the actual spell-binding feat itself. Terrific and terrifying!!!
Based on the author's memoirs(1995), (And)When Did You Last See Your Father? is an unflinching exploration of a father/son relationship. Blake Morrison's memories of his childhood are interspersed with scenes in the present, as he struggles to come to terms with his father, and their history of conflict. With a star-studded cast - humorous and heartbreaking at the same time.
Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane (2003) is now a feature film. Nazneen is forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, exchanging her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. As she pines for her home and her sister, she struggles to do her duty by her husband until the day a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life. A truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit. A visual feast.
The film Elegy is based on The Dying Animal (2001), a brutal, short novel by Philip Roth. David Kepesh is an eminent 70-year-old cultural critic (played by Ben Kingsley) who's womanizing ways were ended by a devastating affair he had eight years before with a voluptuous graduate student (Penelope Cruz). Check out the New York Times review.
Blog Post
Book Banning
by jaegerla
Censorship is an ugly word, especially to libraries. But the subject of book-banning has once again reared its head into the news in recent headlines. As controversial as selectively censoring materials can be, the topic at least stands as a reminder to us all to appreciate free speech and our right to read all available published works without requiring approval from other citizens. The library has many holdings on the topic of censorship, including 50 Ways to Fight Censorship, Censorship: How Does It Conflict With Freedom?, and The Writer and Human Rights.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #124
by muffy
A Map of Home* by Ann Arbor author Randa Jarrar hits the bookstores today.
Critics are calling this fiction debut “sparkling”, “intimate, perceptive and very, very funny”. It’s the story of Nidali, an audacious Muslim girl (with a Greek-Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father) who grows up in Kuwait, Egypt and Texas.
As citizens of the world, this family weathered some harrowing experiences that were even funny and wacky at times, but it is Jarrar’s handling of adolescent angst - "stifling parental expectations, precarious friendships, sensuality and first love; and her exhilarating voice and flawless timing that make this a standout”.
You can find Randa Jarrar's profile in myspace. She will be at Shaman Drum on September 15th, at 7:30 p.m., one of only two Michigan stops on her fall book tour.
* = Starred reviews