Imani Winds are mindblowing

Happy Leap Day! In honor of this day, my post will be a little scattered: I’m going to start in one place and leap to whatever subjects it brings to my mind.

Last night I went to see a concert put on by the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society. How fitting that during Black History Month they had the formidable Imani Winds come to perform!  Even better, this Grammy-nominated wind quintet boasts a Pittsburgher as their bassoonist: Monica Ellis, who told us that she went to Schenley High School.

Seeing this performance was inspiring not just for its range of repertoire and the talent it represented – it brought to mind so many things to recommend that you can find right here in the library and for free online.

Watching the quintet perform piece after piece with distinctive personality and terrifying precision, I could only hope that this was the kind of fun career one of my favorite fictional clarinetists had in store: Jal from Skins (Seasons 1 & 2) (click to request from the catalog!).  Here’s a clip of her auditioning for a spot at University — fair warning, she’s just learned something that has her unsettled about her life and, being cranky, flings a swear word at one of the admissions officers.  This is not generally the type of behavior recommended for such occasions (something to note if you’re trying out for CAPA).

Imani Winds   performed a wide range of pieces, from the flautist Valerie Coleman’s own composition inspired by the Romani culture (“Tzigane”) to two traditional Klezmer tunes, to a Wind Quintet by a Czech composer who ultimately died in a concentration camp, to an amazing adaptation of “The Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky – a piece that originally caused a riot when it was first performed – and not just because it is a piece of music about a ritual sacrifice.

There’s a crazily-fascinating exploration of this story on this episode of Radiolab – Musical Language.  It discusses how too much dopamine may have caused the extreme reaction to Stravinsky’s music, and how a year later when the piece was performed again, changes in the brain’s perception of music made it the hit of the town! It’s available free to download.

If you are someone who hears “chamber music” and thinks “boring”, I challenge you to check out Imani Winds from the library, or on YouTube.  Go to a chamber music concert – student tickets are only $15!  There’s really nothing like seeing music being made in person.

 

And here are some other Eastern-tinged musical selections that could be of interest:

Kronos Quartet, Caravan

Arrangements of classical pieces based on Turkish, Yugoslav, and Spanish composers and musical traditions

Shakira – Ojos Así, from ¿Dónde están los ladrones?

My favorite Shakira album – sadly not available in the library, but the song is on her Greatest Hits cd, which is.  And there’s an english version on Laundry Service.

If you hear the words “chamber music” and “composer” think that’s my future! Check out the scholarship options for the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival – you can apply if you’re 16 and older.

Happy leaping!

-Tessa, CLP – East Liberty

DIY T-Shirt Boa Scarf

Picture from Generation T website

I have what feels like, a million t-shirts laying around. I wanted a quick and easy project to use up some of my t-shirts.  I love this one!  All the cutting required takes a little bit of time, but you can do it while you watch tv, so it’s not too painful. I got this project from the book: Generation T: beyond fashion.

The author, Megan Nicolay, has great step by step instructions along with plenty of photos. Go ahead, try one of her projects.

If you’d like to get started right away, there’s a tutorial on the boa scarf  at HERE on YouTube.

Taylor Swift~2012

Taylor Swift is only 22-years old, but she’s been part of the show biz scene for more than 6 years now.  It looks like 2012 is going to be a very big year for her!

Taylor was on the cover of VOGUE magazine in February! That’s right, VOGUE!  Taylor has been on the cover of hundreds of magazines.

Taylor won 2 Grammy Awards on Febrary 12, 2012.  She won Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for Mean.  She has won 6 Grammy Awards during her career and 102 Awards in total!

On February 13, 2012, the video for Safe and Sound from the Hunger Games Soundtrack featuring The Civil Wars was released.  The Hunger Games:  Songs from District 12 and Beyond comes out on March 20, 2012.  Taylor has two songs on the soundtrack.

In March, Taylor is heading to Australia and New Zealand to perform in concert.

March 2nd, Dr. Suess’ The Lorax opens in theaters, and Taylor provides the voice for the character Audrey.

Copyright - Universal Studios

Currently, 29,105,386 people like Taylor Swift on Facebook!  That’s Incredible!

~Marian, CLP–Mt. Washington

Mysterious Mass Hysteria

There’s been a bizarre story trailing through the news over the last month, and as a collector of bizarre stories, this one has really got me interested. Back in the fall, a couple of teenage girls in LeRoy, New York suddenly came down with some strange symptoms: involuntary muscle spasms, twitching, shouting, clapping and other tics. Puzzled doctors were able to rule out Tourette’s syndrome and any communicable disease, but as the symptoms quickly spread to more than a dozen other students, the town started to wonder what was really going on. The school was examined by the health department, but no toxins or troublesome substances were identified. A handful of environmental activists are still investigating the area to see if they can identify some environmental factor to explain the symptoms overtaking the town’s teens. Meanwhile, medical experts have settled on a different diagnosis: mass hysteria.

Mass hysteria (a.k.a. mass psychogenic illness) is a phenomenon in which a group of people suddenly develop the same physical ailments without any obvious cause. The symptoms are real—but they are rooted in psychology, not disease or infection. In other words, through the power of social suggestion, psychological symptoms become physical conditions. Mass psychogenic illness is thought to occur in people who are under a lot of stress and is most common in groups of young females with close social bonds. Basically it’s an amazing example of “mind over matter”— outbreaks like this are usually made worse by the excitement, rumors, and media reporting that follow.

There have been many cases of mass hysteria documented over the years. Consider the great Pokemon Panic of 1997, in which thousands of kids in Japan fell ill after a particular episode of the cartoon aired. And then there was the Tanganyika Laughing Epidemic of 1962, wherein an outbreak of uncontrollable laughter among a few students spread so fast that the school had to be shut down!

Historians even believe that the Salem Witch Trials can be blamed on a case of mass hysteria among the young girls in the community, who created a major historical controversy when they started accusing their neighbors of witchcraft.  Girls began falling into trance-like states and violent fits and reported many other maladies that they blamed on black magic in the community. You can read all about it in Rosalyn Schanzer’s awesome book Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem– or check out the 1996 film The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem Witch Trials (which was itself a commentary on the rampant fear of communism in America in the 1950’s).

If this kind of hysterical illness could take hold in Puritan New England, imagine how it might spread today in the world of Facebook and 24/7 news coverage. Some of the girls in New York posted YouTube videos of themselves that showcased their symptoms to the Internet—could this have widened the influence of the epidemic? How powerful is the power of suggestion?

Want to learn more? Check out Robert E. Bartholomew’s new book The Martians Have Landed! : A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes to keep reading about the freakish power of the media when it comes to spreading panic and creating hysteria. You might also pick up Time to Dance, Time to Die, which describes the strange true story of the Dancing Plague of 1518.  Or dig into more web content on cases of mass psychogenic illness throughout history.

Happy Reading!

-Maggie, CLP- Carrick

Why We Liked (or Didn’t Like) Why We Broke Up

Joseph: Okay, CLPTeensburgh readers, this is Joseph from the Main-Teen Department…

Morgan: And Morgan, also from Main-Teen.

Joseph: We’re here to talk about the book “Why We Broke Up,” a Printz honor book and one that was named to a number of best of 2011 lists. Morgan, can you start us off with a brief summary?

Morgan: Sure, “Why We Broke Up” is a novel told in words and pictures in which Min Green details the events of her whirlwind high school romance with basketball star Ed Slaterton after all the dust has settled.

It’s written as a letter to Ed, explaining to him, basically, why they broke up.

Do you have anything to add, Joseph?

Joseph: No, except that the author, Daniel Handler might be familiar to readers by a different name.

Morgan: Ah, yes, Lemony Snicket, of A Series of Unfortunate Events fame.

Joseph: Yes, and anybody who wants to see him in action, promoting the book, can go to the link: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/12/09/why-we-broke-up-daniel-handler-trailer/ to see him interviewing people in Grand Central Station in NYC about their own tales of heartache and woe.

But the reason we’re here chatting about it is because we both had two different opinions of the book.

The Birth of Your Apple Product

A few months ago, Corey blogged about an iphone app game that details the beginnings of an iphone, complete with “NES-style graphics, mini games, slave labor, and suicide”.

Lately, there has been a lot more talk and news coming out regarding Apple’s labor practices, particularly in China. After visiting the country and interviewing workers at the Apple factory Foxconn, Mike Daisey wrote a theatrical monologue that paints an awful grim picture of what he learned there regarding worker’s rights (or lack there of) and just how much that iPhone in your pocket cost – in terms of human price. Click HERE for a This American Life piece on this one man show.

Love your iphone? Don’t want to watch, listen, or read anything that will change that  love? Well, just know that Mike Daisey was an Apple product lover going into his research.  This simple fact should help you to see that you can still love your iPhone and look at it with a critical eye, and that you absolutely should consider where it was born and those who assembled it.

Last night at 11:35pm, on “Nightline” they aired the story “iFactory: Inside Apple,” if you caught it – remember that Apple contacted “Nightline” to do this story.

Looking for more information?  Put a reserve on Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired–and Secretive–Company Really Works by Adam Lashinsky.

Until Next Time,

LeeAnn Anna, Teen Services Coordinator

New Teen Book Club at CLP Main

From Emily Carlin's Flickr Stream

I love to read and discuss books- that’s why I became a librarian!  Strangely though, I’ve always been reluctant to join a book club.  I find that the hardest part about committing to one is being required to read a specific book- the same one as everyone else!  Maybe I have a problem with authority, but I just don’t like being told what to read and I bet you don’t either.  That’s why I’ve started a different kind of book club.  The days of having to read the same title as everyone else in order to participate are over, my friends!  CLP Main- Teen is modeling a new kind of book club for teens.  Here’s how it works:

• Every month the discussion will focus on a different theme.
• Try to bring a book you’ve read and enjoyed that relates to the theme.
• Meet other teens who love reading and learn about their favorite books.

So, now you have no excuses.  Participation is as simple as showing up.  In fact, come by even if you don’t have a book in mind to talk about.  Share a little about a great movie you saw or an article you read on the subject.  And by the time you leave, you’ll have a whole list of new titles you’ll want to check out.

Fourth Tuesday of Every Month
4:oo pm to 5 pm
CLP Main- Teen
4400 Forbes Ave.
For more information or to register, contact teensmain@carnegielibrary.org or 412.622.5526

Themes for upcoming book clubs include:
February 28: African American Voices
March 27: Sports, Games, and Gaming
April 24: Poetry and Novels in Verse

Don’t know what to read?  Ask a librarian for a suggestion or check out CLP’s monthly, featured books lists.

Music Streaming With Spotify

I first met my friend Dan in fifth grade homeroom. Starting Middle School was a stressful time–students from two elementary schools came together which meant a lot of new kids were in my grade. We were also in a new building (a much larger building) and we had lockers for the first time. All of this combined to make me extra anxious about the transition.

That’s why, when I saw Dan had the cassette tape of a band I liked on his desk in front of me, I hoped we’d become friends. Because we were shy that didn’t really happen for a couple more years, but it did eventually and we’ve been friends ever since.

Fast forward a bunch of years and, later this year, Dan’s getting married. I’m proud to say that I’m going to be in the wedding party as a groomsman. In preparation for the wedding, Dan has asked me to help create some playlists for the wedding reception using Spotify, the streaming music service. You probably already know Spotify, but, if not, just check out the video below for a quick briefing on the service:

If you haven’t yet used it, Spotify is a service that legally streams music from thousands of artists. Most all of the music you’re looking for will be on Spotify*and it won’t take up any room on your hard-drive. You can stream music from Spotify through your mobile phone or computer and share it with friends through Facebook as well as through shared playlists.

Dan lives in New York and I’m here in Pittsburgh, but we can still share our playlists through Spotify. Our friendship was largely formed around our taste in music–Dan had a tape I thought was cool and, later, I got him into bands he hadn’t heard of yet. It went on that way through the rest of Middle School and High School and even on into college. Now, in the months leading up to his wedding, we continue to connect through music. What a cool service Spotify is!

- Corey, Digital Learning Librarian

P.S. If you’re interested in listening to one of the wedding reception playlists as it’s put together, click here.

*Spotify is a Digital Rights Management service, which means that all of the music available through the service is streamed legally, though access is limited based on copyright law. You can freely access tons of music through Spotify, but some groups (e.g. The Beatles) have agreements with other services (iTunes in the case of The Beatles) which further limit legal availability of their music.

Big Changes @ Your Library: CLP Increases Hours at Most Branch Locations

If you call one of our branch libraries home, expect big changes starting next week.  As of Monday, February 20, every location (with the exception of Downtown and Business and the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) will be open six days a week!  That means that every day after school your library will have its doors open so you can finish those last-minute projects and have a space to meet with your friends.  Check out the new hours  on CLP’s website.

photo by flickr user loveable lar

Another thing to keep your eye out for is new library staff members at many branches.  If you notice an unfamiliar friendly face at the desk, say hi!  Chances are that they’re the new teen specialist who is there to work with you!

Teen Kindle Book Club!

Come join us for the first ever Teen Kindle® Book Club at the Hazelwood Library! Don’t have an e-reader? You will have access to a Kindle Fire® to use at the Library! Even better yet, pizza will be provided!

source: pcworld.com

Open to all middle and high school students. Sponsored by Duquesne University School of Education. Contact Michael at (412) 421-2517 for more information and to sign up!

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hazelwood
4901 Second Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15207
Wednesday, February 29^th at 4:00 PM & Tuesdays, March 6^th, 13^th, 20^th, and 27^th at 5:00 PM