NYPL Blogs

Wonderfully Odd Movies

Sally Speller, Mid-Manhattan Library — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:21:59 -0400

My favorite stories are the ones about the ordinary people who, while going about their daily lives, encounter strange and/or inexplicable events. How they behave in the midst of weirdness is more interesting than the phenomenon itself. I've always been a sucker for a well-told vampire tale. (Sorry!) Or an off-center ghost story or strange-baby story... Here, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite, wonderfully odd movies. Ricky, a film by Francois Ozon based on Rose Tremain's short story "Moth," replaces the story's original setting, an American trailer park, with gritty, working class Paris. An uneasy mixture of realism and allegory, this film is a fascinating look at what happens to an already fragile family when a child sprouts wings. Arthur Peyret, by turns angelic and feral, plays baby Ricky. Let the Right One In is a profoundly disturbing, stark and beautiful meditation on alienation. In this Swedish vampire film directed by Tomas Alfredson, adapted from the horror novel Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, the lonely 12 year old Oskar (Kare Hedebrant) meets Eli (Lina Leandersson) one wintry night outside his apartment complex. Eli, who is as lonely as Oskar, has been 12 years old for a very long time. The Man Who Fell to Earth, the trippy, surreal film directed by Nicolas Roeg based on the 1963 novel by Walter Tevis, stars the preternaturally elegant David Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton, an extraterrestrial who has come to Earth on a mission to bring water to his drought-stricken planet. Released in 1976, this film is prophetic in its depiction of a future world controlled by corporations. Bowie is well cast as the ultimate stranger in a strange land. Roman Polanski's adaptation of Ira Levin's bestselling novel Rosemary's Baby is a chilling exploration of innocence lost. I love this movie, set in and around New York's infamous Dakota apartment building, as much for its on-location scenes shot on Manhattan's Upper West Side in the late 1960s as for its superb narrative arc, which moves from happiness through suspicion and fear, into absolute dread. And then, to acceptance, of a sort... Mia Farrow, at her most waif-like, is Rosemary. Vincenti Minnelli's On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is another film with wonderful late '60s fashions and New York City locations (including Central Park, Lincoln Center, the Pan Am Building, the Upper West Side, and Lexington and Park Avenues). This lush, colorful musical about past life regression (still a somewhat "out there" topic for its year of release, 1970), features Barbra Streisand as Daisy Gamble, a five-pack-a-day chain smoker, and Yves Montand as her hypnotherapist. In Bell, Book and Candle, directed by Richard Quine, based on the play by John Van Druten, a free-spirited witch named Gillian (Kim Novak) falls for her upstairs neighbor Shep (James Stewart), while literally charming him away from his fiance. I used to be annoyed by the premise of this film: that a witch loses her power when she's in love. Over the years I've come to appreciate that this just might be true... One fabulous scene features Jack Lemmon on bongos and the Brothers Candoli on trumpets, performing "Stormy Weather." In The Wicker Man, directed by Robin Hardy, inspired in part by David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual and by Sir James George Frazer's The Golden Bough, West Highland Police Sergeant Neil Howie (Edward Woodward) is called to Summerisle, a Hebridean island off the Scottish coast, to investigate the disappearance of a local girl. A devout and straightlaced Christian, Howie is horrified by the the islanders' worship of the Old Gods and all that this implies — open sexuality! Pagan rituals! Could there also be human sacrifice...? Christopher Lee plays Lord Summerisle, the island's charming yet sinister laird; he has called The Wicker Man the best film he's ever made. Harvey, directed by Henry Koster, based on the play by Mary Chase, is a gentle comedy of manners with dark undercurrents. In this film, Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) and his friend Harvey, a six foot three and a half inch tall invisible rabbit (who also happens to be a pooka), collide with the forces of the psychiatric establishment. This pair, armed with delightful eccentricty and a little bit of magic, gives normalcy a run for its money. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on a novel written by R. A. Dick (Josephine Leslie), is not your average ghost story. When the widowed Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) moves to isolated Gull Cottage, she desires nothing more than to live an emancipated life; to this end, she is aided by the ghost of sea captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison). This film demonstrates that time has no meaning where there is love.

New Business Best-Sellers: May 2012

Kenneth Johnson, Science, Industry and Business Library — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:50:56 -0400

It's not quite time to worry about choosing your beach reading yet. But Memorial Day is coming, and so it is time to think ahead just a little. With that in mind, here is a selection of books new to the New York Times list of Business Best Sellers published this last Sunday, May 13th.

Also, a quick look at the Nielsen BookScan listing in the weekend's Wall Street Journal shows some titles new to this column, although one of them, The Art of the Sale, was mentioned in a recent look at The Economist's business book picks. Enjoy!

Each title is noted with its ranking. Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you at your local library. Don't have a library card yet? It's simple! Find out how to get one.

New York Times, May 13, 2012

All In, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton (5)
Reverse Information, by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble (7)
By Invitation Only, by Alexis Mayband and Alexandra Wilkis (10)

Wall Street Journal, May 12-13, 2012

End This Depression Now, by Paul Krugman (WSJ 2)
Private Empire, by Steve Coll (WSJ 3)
The Art of the Sale, by Philip Delves Broughton (WSJ 8)
The 4 Disciplies of Execution, by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling (WSJ 9) - This should be available at NYPL soon.
Every Nation for Itself, by Ian Bremmer (WSJ 10)

For a selections of additional business best-sellers at NYPL, visit the February and April postings.

Miracles Are Instantaneous: Katherine Anne Porter in the Village

John Flood, Hudson Park Branch Library — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:27:40 -0400

Katherine Anne Porter's 1962 Ship of Fools was the best selling novel of the year and assured her financial security. She is generally more admired for her shorter works, however, such as Pale Horse, Pale Rider and her collections of short stories.

She lived at 75 Washington Place and her birthday is May 15.

Here are a couple of short passages by Porter, one bleak, the other less so, depending on how you look at it:

The road to death is a long march beset with all evils, and the heart fails little by little at each new terror, the bones rebel at each step, the mind sets up its own bitter resistance and to what end? The barriers sink one by one, and no covering of the eyes shuts out the landscape of disaster, nor the sight of crimes committed there.

Pale Horse, Pale Rider (1939)

Miracles are instantaneous, they cannot be summoned, but come of themselves, usually at unlikely moments and to those who least expect them.

Ship of Fools (1962) Pt. 3

Becoming a Project Manager

Magdalene Chan, Science, Industry and Business Library — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:57:13 -0400

The field of project management is growing fast in a wide range of industries especially in the biotech and high-tech arenas. The growing demand for project managers is due to the replacement of retired workers and the growth in global projects.

If you are a competent and consistent planner with good communication skills and an analytical mind, project management may be for you.

The following information which gives you some basic understanding of project management is excerpted from A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) Third Edition, ©2004 Project Management Institute.

What is a Project?

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and a definite end. The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved, or it becomes clear the project objectives will not be or cannot be met, or the need for the project no longer exists and the project is terminated.

A project creates unique deliverables, which are products, services, or results.

A product or artifact that is produced, is quantifiable, and can be either an end item in itself or a component item
A capability to perform a service, such as business functions supporting production or distribution
A result, such as outcomes or documents. For example, a research project develops knowledge that can be used to determine whether or not a trend is present or a new process will benefit society.

What is Project Management?

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management process of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. The project manager is the person responsible for accomplishing the project objectives.

Managing a project includes:

Identifying requirements
Establishing clear and achievable objectives
Balancing the competing demands for quality, scope, time and cost
Adapting the specifications, plans, and approach to the different concerns and expectations of the various stakeholders.

The Project Management Knowledge Areas

Chapter 4, Project Integration Management, describes the processes and activities that integrate the various elements of project management, which are identified, defined, combined, unified and coordinated within the Project Management Process Groups. It consists of the Develop Project Charter, Develop Preliminary Project Scope Statement, Develop Project Management Plan, Direct and Manage Project Execution, Monitor and Control Project work, Integrated Change Control, and Close Project project management processes.
Chapter 5, Project Scope Management, describes the processes involved in ascertaining that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. It consists of the Scope Planning, Scope Definition, Create WBS, Scope Verification, and Scope Control project management processes.
Chapter 6, Project Time Management, describes the processes concerning the timely completion of the project. It consists of the Activity Definition, Activity Sequencing, Activity Resource Estimating, Activity Duration Estimating, Schedule Development, and Schedule Control project management processes.
Chapter 7, Project Cost Management, describest the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, and controlling costs so that the project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of the Cost Estimating, Cost Budgeting, and Cost Control project management processes.
Chapter 8, Project Quality Management, describes the processes involved in assuring that the project will satisfy the objectives for which it was undertaken. It consists of the Quality Planning, Perform Quality Assurance, and Perform Quality Control project management processes.
Chapter 9, Project Human Resource Managemet, describes the processes that organize and manage the project team. It consists of the Human Resource Planning, Acquire Project Team, Develop Project Team, and Manage Project Team project management processes.
Chapter 10, Project Communications Management, describes the processes concerning the timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage and ultimate disposition of project information. It consists of the Communications Planning, Information Distribution, Performance Reporting, and Manage Stakeholders project management processes.
Chapter 11, Project Risk Management, describes the processes concerned with conducting risk management on a project. It consists of the Risk Management Planning, Risk Identification, Qualitative Risk Analysis, Quantitative Risk Analysis, Risk Response Planning, and Risk Monitoring and Control project management processes.
Chapter 12, Project Procurement, describes the processes that purchase or acquire products, services or results, as well as contract management processes. It consists of the Plan Purchases and Acquisitions, Plan Contracting, Request Seller Responses, Select Sellers, Contract Administration, and Contract Closure project management processes.

Certification in these areas of management is increasingly important because it demonstrates professional knowledge and experience.

The New York Public Library owns about 400 titles on project management which include occupational information, professional knowledge and certification preparation.

For more information, please visit the Science, Industry and Business Library online or in person at 188 Madison Avenue and 34th Street.

Inspiration in the Picture Collection: Louis Slobodkin

Billy Parrott, Mid-Manhattan Library, Art and Picture Collections — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:55:30 -0400

For the famous or for those aspring to be, for those who have a job to do, an assignment to finish, or for those just doing what they love, the Picture Collection has long been a valuable resource and source of inspiration.

On May 20, 1944 the Picture Collection received a thank-you letter from Louis Slobodkin.

Slobodkin was a sculptor, author, and illustrator and a regular user of the Picture Collection.

In 1939 he was runner-up in a sculpture contest associated with the New York World's Fair. He was awarded $10,000 (the equivalent of receiving $165,030.22 today!) for his statue of a young rail-splitting Abraham Lincoln. In 1941 he headed up the sculpture division of the Works Progress Administration.

It was during this time that he started the work he is most known for. He illustrated numerous books for Eleanor Estes, including The Moffats (1941), The Middle Moffat (1942), Rufus M (1943), and The Hundred Dresses (1944). In 1943 he illustrated Many Moons, by James Thurber, which went on to win the Caldecott Medal for 1944.

The Caldecott Medal was first awarded in 1938 and is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. It was upon winning this prestigious award that Louis Slobodkin wrote a letter of thanks Romana Javitz, then head of the Picture Collection, stating "I am particularly grateful to you and your grand staff of the picture collection for the gracious and efficient service you render all artists and help some of us get a break like this Caldecott Award."

Louis Slobodkin lived in the Bronx but his studio was at 333 Fourth Avenue, just a few blocks southeast from the Picture Collection. I like to imagine Slobodkin leaving his studio for a nice ten minute walk to the Library to look for inspiration.

For almost one hundred years the Picture Collection has inspired New Yorkers to create. Has the Collection inspired you? We would love to hear your story!

Find New York Times Bestsellers at NYPL — May 13, 2012

Adriana Blancarte-Hayward, New Dorp Library — Mon, 14 May 2012 07:33:54 -0400

Please help PROTECT YOUR BRANCH nypl.org/speakout
It takes just seconds to sign a letter urging elected officials to reverse the harshest cut to The New York Public Library in its history.

For the week of May 13, 2012 we have hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, and children's picture books.

If you have an iPhone, iPad or Android phone, there is a free app! Use it with your library card/username and pin.

Click on any of the titles below and place a hold to request the item. Remember to update your contact information (phone number or e-mail address), so you are notified when the book arrives for you at your local library. Don't have a library card yet? It's simple! Find out how to get one. Titles are available in regular print, large print, audio, and in electronic format — for FREE!

Week of May 13, 2012

Hardcover Fiction

The Wind Through The Keyhole, by Stephen King
The Innocent, by David Baldacci
Calico Joe, by John Grisham
The Witness, by Nora Roberts
Crystal Gardens, by Amanda Quick

Hardcover Nonfiction

Drift, by Rachel Maddow
Lots Of Candles, Plenty Of Cake, by Anna Quindlen
Prague Winter, by Madeleine Albright with Bill Woodward
Imagine, by Jonah Lehrer
The President's Club, by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

Hardcover Advice & Misc.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: by Ree Drummond
The Blood Sugar Solution, by Mark Hyman
Weeknights With Giada, by Giada De Laurentiis
Worth Every Penny, by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck
The 17 Day Diet, by Mike Moreno

For more information on this week's best sellers, visit the New York Times website and check out the full list. There is also a special section for Best Sellers in the Library's catalog, BiblioCommons.

King of Jazz? Paul Whiteman and Hollywood's Rave Revues

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:42:06 -0400

Join us on Tuesday afternoon for a screening of King of Jazz (Universal, 1930) at LPA. Hollywood's Rave Revues is a film series programmed by John Calhoun in conjunction with the exhibition The Great American Revue, across the lobby in the Vincent Astor Gallery.

The film stars and is named for Paul Whiteman, an early radio star and innovator of symphonic jazz, now remembered primarily for commissioning Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. It is an early Technicolor, early sound film revue with links to George White's Scandals, through Whiteman, and the Greenwich Village Follies, through director John Murray Anderson.

The film presents many insights into early Technicolor and sound technology. Universal's Mono system lost the high range of voices, including most of the women singers, but favored male tenors and baritones, such as Bing Crosby. It also featured wonderful examples of eccentric dance specialties, including a truly spectacular and anatomically impossible rag doll dance.

The production number for which the film is remembered is the finale, in which costumed choruses representing immigrant groups dance their ways into a huge prop cauldron. Emerging from the melting pot is American jazz — at least the kind of symphonic radio big band jazz popular in 1930. It is an iconic sequence which shows up frequently in documentaries about American culture. It is, however, not original. Scene 5 of the Passing Show (the Shuberts' revue series) of 1919 was "The Melting Pot of America's Popular Tunes." Eddie Miller and the Winter Garden High Steppers (precision dancers) performed "America's Popular Song," by Shubert regulars composers Sigmund Romberg and Jean Schwartz and lyricist Harold Atteridge.

May in the Reader's Den: "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" week three

Corinne Neary, Jefferson Market Library — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:29:48 -0400

Welcome to week three of May in the Reader's Den! This week, we continue our discussion of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, focusing on Part II — chapters fourteen through twenty-six.

The second section of The Thousand Autumns is a complete departure from the first. Gone is the narrative voice of Jacob de Zoet, and the chronicling of life on Dejima. In part two, Mitchell shifts from Jacob's point of view to the perspectives of three other characters: Otane the herbalist, midwife Orito Aibigawa, and interpreter Ogawa Uzaemon.

It is in chapter fourteen, told from Otane's perspective, that we learn what has happened to Orito; She has become a sister at the Mount Shiranui Shrine, a secretive order about which there are many strange rumors. When we hear from Orito, we learn that she was abducted and forced to join the shrine against her will after the death of her father. Her step-mother sold her to Lord Abbot Enomoto to cover the deaths of her late husband.

The disturbing edicts of the shrine begin to unfold: sisters are impregnated by the order's monks in "engifting" rituals, and the children are taken from the new mothers, who are told that they are starting lives with adopted families in the world below. Through a scroll containing the shrine's creeds that was smuggled out by an escaped acolyte, the interpreter Uzaemon learns that there are much more disturbing realities to the rituals than the sisters know. He begins to put into motion a plan to free Orito from the imprisonment of her service, even though he knows it will likely mean his life.

Why does Enomoto choose to take Orito to his shrine, when the rest of the sisters were taken from brothels and the street?
We learn in this section of the book that Uzaemon loves Orito, and had asked permission to marry her, which his father denied. What is it about her that both Jacob and Uzaemon are drawn to? Is she destined to be loved but alone?
Did you think that Uzaemon's plan to rescue Orito would be successful?
Just before Enomoto kills Uzaemon, he tells him that he is over six hundred years old, and that the consumption of the shrine's "gifts" is what has made him immortal. Were you surprised by this supernatural element of the book?
What was your reaction to discovering that the yearly letters received by the sisters from their "gifts" were all fabricated?
Why does Orito choose to return to the shrine when she is so close to freedom?

Please leave your comments below! Next week, we will cover the final sections of the book, chapters twenty-seven through forty-one, in which war comes to Dejima and Jacob uncovers the ugly truths of the Mount Shiranui Shrine!

Transmissions from The Timothy Leary Papers: Hesse, Gurdjieff and Minor White

Jennifer Ulrich, Specialist, Manuscripts and Archives Division — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:24:16 -0400

Early into my project, I opened a box and found a folder that caught my eye. It was labeled “Minor White.” A famous American photographer (b. 1908, d. 1976), White is known for his work with Aperture Magazine, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Most research libraries and museums with major American photography collections own his works, including the NYPL Division of Arts, Prints and Photographs.

How does this folder relate to Timothy Leary? It contained a summary for the Millbrook Workshop in Creative Photography offered 12-21 June 1964 held at the Millbrook School for Boys. One of the more interesting aspects of processing a collection is discovering the purpose and meaning behind the records.

Inside this file is a twenty page outline written by an unidentified attendee. Did Leary attend this workshop, or did his organization simply retain this handout in their files? The course description references "beer and socializing" with the Headmaster and coffee offered in the mornings, clearly targeting adults, not boarding school participants. Did Minor White come to Millbrook because he shared similar interests with Leary and his associates at the time?

The previous year, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert were dismissed from Harvard University amid controversial publicity surrounding their psilocybin drug studies. Their methods were questioned as early as 1962, pushing them to take their studies off campus under the research organization, The International Foundation for Internal Freedom (IFIF).

In 1963, Peggy Hitchcock, a follower of Leary and Alpert, offered to host their research on her family estate in Millbrook, New York. The organization then changed names from the IFIF to the Castalia Foundation, taken from the society of scientific mystics in the novel The Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse.[1] They lived communally at Millbrook, continuing to run LSD sessions and other non-drug workshops.

Leary and his associates were influenced by the teachings of Georges Ivanovitch Gurjieff, (b.1872? d.1949) a mystic from the Caucuses region who developed unorthodox teaching methods to “awaken” consciousness based on spiritual theories of self-awareness.[2] The Castalia Foundation adopted some of his methods for their non-drug workshops offered at Millbrook. Like Gurdjieff, they were trying to awaken consciousness. Leary and members of the Castalia Foundation believed one could achieve this through mind-expanding drugs, but were interested in other, non-drug methods. This was done through exercises, such as those employed during their "Experiential Weekend" offered at Millbrook. These exercises would be punctuated with alternating moments of meditation in the dark and reading "messages" in the light. The purpose of these exercises in silence was to clear the mind from routine thoughts. to open the mind.

Experiential Weekend: Message 1

Your weekend in Millbrook has been planned to provide a series of novel and consciousness-expanding experiences. The first step in the process of going beyond your routine and familiar patterns is a period of
ABSOLUTE SILENCE
Shortly after your arrival at Castalia you will be given further instructions...

Other Gurdjieffian programs are found in the Timothy Leary Papers, such as this script from a program schedule. Ralph [Metzner?] says, “One of the purposes of this weekend is to see clearly that we spend most of our time as robots…”

Detail from Castalia Foundation schedule:

Minor White was also a follower of Gurjieff’s methods. In the book, Mirrors, messages and manifestations, White is described to have gone through a few spiritual transformations: “In his youth, he was for a time a devout Catholic. He studied Zen Buddhism, devoted himself to I Ching, and in later life plunged into the teachings of Gurdjieff.”[3] It is likely that Castalia Foundation members took part in this course, held at The Millbrook School for Boys. Did the Castalia Foundation introduce White to Gurdjieff's teachings, or vice versa? Perhaps a deeper look into his and White’s correspondence will answer that question. It would be quite interesting to read first-person accounts from those who participated in the photography workshop, or visited the Castalia Foundation in Millbrook.

[1] Greenfield, Robert. Timothy Leary: A Biography. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc, 2006. 208.

[2] "Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff." Religious Leaders of America. Gale, 1999. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 4 May 2012. Document URL

[3] White, Minor. Mirrors, Messages, Manifestations: Photographs and Writings 1939-1968. New York, N.Y: Aperture, 1982. Preface.

Calligraphic Inscriptions in the Library Shop

Elana Sinsabaugh, The Library Shop — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:29:17 -0400

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Friday, May 18 from 2 to 5 p.m.

In celebration of its 20th Anniversary, our bestselling journal line Paperblanks and The Library Shop are hosting a unique event for fans of the beautifully crafted, high-quality writing journals. Visitors to the Library who purchase a Paperblanks journal will be able to have their journal personalized by on-site calligraphers at no additional charge.

Many of Paperblanks journals are based on antique book cover designs like the one by Jean Grolier below.

About the calligraphers

Artist and Craftsperson, Karen Gorst has been working as a Calligrapher and Illuminator for more than 20 years.

Ms. Gorst studied with Herman Zapf, Jeanyee Wong, Sheila Waters and was President of The Society of Scribes for three terms. She brings to all her projects an in depth knowledge of paper, ink and Medieval And Renaissance art technique.

Her passion for research and recovering Medieval art techniques led her to share her findings with Medieval Congress at Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo, the interns and docents at The Cloister Branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art among others.

She also received a French government Grant to teach and resurrect the art of Illumination in that region.

Ms. Gorst is dedicated to teaching the next generation of artists how to use the Authentic processes to express their vision.

www.gorststudio.com

♦

Barry Morentz is a freelance lettering and book artist, and box-maker from New York City. He holds an MA in Medieval History and Comparative Literature. Initially self-taught, he began his formal calligraphic studies, mainly with Sheila Waters, in 1977, and eventually with Gottfried Pott, Hermann Zapf, and many other renowned calligraphers. He has taught numerous workshops throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and at five international Calligraphy Conferences. In his midtown studio he slaves away primarily for the New York Public Library, Estee Lauder Companies, Cartier, Christie's, and The Museum of Modern Art. His day-to-day work includes illuminated resolutions, award design, headings, book and portfolio design, and the eternal envelope.

♦

The title "Calligraphy Quilt Collage" describes the materials, the method, and the source of inspiration for Eleanor Winters' artwork. A commercial calligrapher and lettering artist for 35 years, Eleanor started her personal "quilt project" in the early 1990s. By cutting up pieces of her own hand-painted calligraphy and combining them with variously colored and textured papers — including marbled, metallic, Japanese and other Asian papers, as well as paste papers — she recreates and redesigns traditional patchwork quilt patterns, in many cases the same patterns that have been used for centuries to make bedding and wall-coverings.

The calligraphic element in the Eleanor Winters’ quilt collages ranges from total abstraction, i.e., letters that have been reduced to their component strokes or curves, to legible quilts, with clearly visible calligraphic letters. Eleanor has recently gone back to her calligraphic roots, creating a new series in which hand-painted alphabets, Gothic, Italic, Copperplate and Uncial, are woven into traditional and non-traditional quilt patterns. Although the quilts communicate with the viewer largely through color, shape and pattern, the alphabetic element adds an additional level of meaning to many of these works of art.

Eleanor's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and Europe.

www.eleanorwinters.com

See a sample Calligraphic Inscription

Government Information: A Quick Overview of Core Resources at NYPL

Kenneth Johnson, Science, Industry and Business Library — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:59:31 -0400

Let's face it; many different research tasks cause people to want, and in a lot of cases need, government information. Government information is on the Internet: result - happiness. Government information disappears from the Internet (or becomes nearly impossible to find, which is sort of the same thing): result - unhappiness. And then there are libraries.

Libraries, and in particular the New York Public Library, have traditionally played a major role in providing government documents and other government information to researchers. NYPL has been a Depository Library (a place where government information has been officially deposited for public use) for:

United States Federal Government Documents since 1884; and
New York State Government Documents since 1956.

New York City: Although we are not a depository for New York City (for that, visit the City Hall Library), we have thirstily collected local documents and information as fully as has been feasible.

Other States and Local Jurisdictions: NYPL, primarily in the General Research Division at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, has selective holdings of older, historical, legislative materials from other states — a fabulous trove of resources available at few other institutions. SIBL has a strong collection in labor and other economic data for other states, including through our statistical databases.

International Organizations - a quick list:

United Nations: full depository since 1946; partial depository since 1995.
European Union: depository since the mid 1950s.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
International Monetary Fund
World Bank

Other Countries: Last but not least, SIBL has substantial holdings for financial, labor, economic and general statistical material, including Central Bank publications. Holdings for legislative materials of other countries are currently part of collections in the General Research Division at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

As the title of this post states, this is only a very quick overview of government information sources. It will be the first entry in a series of explorations of government information, and in particular of the highly in demand historical legislative materials available at SIBL and other NYPL locations. So stay tuned...

Staying Out of Trouble at the Library

Beth Hays, Digital and Print Publications — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:54:13 -0400

For Bronx teen Jacques Jones, the Clason’s Point Library has long been a safe haven that has kept him off the street.

Now the branch and its staff have helped him finish his high school education. The 18-year-old from the Soundview section of the borough is proud to be getting his diploma this spring thanks to NYPL’s Wanda Luzon, who runs the Teen Zone at Clason’s Point.

“Wanda really encouraged me,” says Jones. “The Library is my stay-out-of-trouble domain. If I didn’t have the Library, I’d be outside.”

Jones, who has been coming to the library every afternoon for nearly four years, abruptly dropped out of school this winter after he broke his knee playing basketball. However, after more than a month of encouragement from Luzon, Jones enrolled in a nearby GED (General Education Development) program, which has helped him prepare to earn his high school equivalency diploma.

“I wanted him to do something,” says Luzon, who serves as a mentor to dozens of regular teen patrons, who rely on the small branch for computer access, books, and a safe place to go after school. “I wanted a legitimate reason for why he dropped out, but he couldn’t give me one.”

Jones says Luzon’s persistence was just what he needed to get back on track. Now he even has his sights set on higher education.

“I’m going to college,” says Jones, who wants to study business and go into the entertainment field. “I’m very proud of myself.”

Booktalking "Gravity" by Leanne Lieberman

Miranda J. McDermott, Grand Concourse — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:14:45 -0400

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman, 2008

Ellie, a 15-year-old Orthodox Jew, is happy to go to Bubbie's (her grandmother's) cottage this summer to learn about the flora and fawna. There, she meets Lindsay, a beautiful, provocative blond girl, whom Ellie is attracted to. Unlike boys, whom she is supposed to like, Ellie is captivated by Lindsay. They swim together in a canoe, and she visits Lindsay at her cottage.

However, Leviticus 18:22 states: "A man should not lie with a man the way he lies with a woman. It is an abomination and they should be put to death." This does not bode well for thoughts of a positive relationship with Lindsay.

In fact, as Ellie dreams of marrying Lindsay, she imagines a likely response from her Jewish relatives, "Lightning will leap down from the heavens, rivers will flood, tornadoes will spin. There will be locusts, hail and fire. First born children will suddenly perish, which means Abba (her father), Ima (her mother) and Neshima (her sister) will all die slow and agonizing deaths."

As she thinks of famous pairs, such as Romeo and Juliet, they all seem to consist of one male and one female, not two females or two males. When Lindsay and Ellie return to their homes and resume school, Ellie pursues Lindsay and they begin visiting each other at their houses. When Ellie asks Mrs. Lowenstein (her sex ed teacher) about lesbian attractions, she is informed that "Evil impulses are often just like a bad habit." Ellie fervently attempts to banish thoughts of girls from her head; she even creates a bald spot on her head by punishing herself for such thoughts. However, she is unable to stop thinking about females, and the more Ellie thinks about how gay attraction is frowned upon in Orthodox Judaism, the less enthusiastic she is about the religion. Ellie's sister Neshema is also pulling away from Orthodox Judaism as she moves towards college. Bubbie supports both Neshema and Ellie in their quest for their identities as young women in the world.

Gravity by Leanne Lieberman

Cataloging Gay Community Center libraries: I have greatly enjoyed cataloging the gay community center library in Dublin, Ireland, the Outhouse, and also the gay community center in Albany, NY. Neither of the libraries had a cataloging system. I used index cards and put the pertinent information (title, author, publication date, publishing co., etc.) on each card. I rearranged the books on the shelves so that they were in subject areas. I was also interested to discover the content of such libraries. There is much more written on gay male than on lesbian romance. However, I was happy to discover books on lesbian romance for teens in the collection of The New York Public Library. I have found the gay community to be very welcoming as well.

United States Sanitary Commission Processing Project: A Day at the (Civil War) Office

Susan Waide, Manuscripts and Archives Division — Wed, 09 May 2012 06:28:39 -0400

Anna Peterson, a graduate student at the University of Michigan's School of Information, recently helped us organize some correspondence of the USSC's Hospital Directory office in Philadelphia. Here are Anna's impressions of a letter she found in the collection during her internship with the Manuscripts and Archives Division:

The Hospital Directory, with offices in Washington, New York, Philadelphia and Louisville, was established in 1862 to collect and record information concerning the location of sick and wounded soldiers in U.S. Army hospitals. Members of the public who had lost contact with their relatives or friends contacted the Directory by letter or visit, in the hopes of learning their condition or whereabouts.

Many letters in this record group reveal the anguish felt by the families and friends of missing soldiers during the Civil War. An inter-agency letter, written not long after the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3), offers another perspective into the search for those soldiers, particularly the administrative feats required to gain information about their fates after a major battle with heavy casualties.

On July 30th, 1863, Hospital Directory superintendent John Bowne, at USSC headquarters in Washington, wrote to H.A. de France, head of the Directory's Philadelphia office. In the letter, Bowne admonishes de France for his tardy reply to Bowne's inquiry regarding a soldier by the name of McGiff. His letter also offers a glimpse into the logistics of the USSC's presence in Gettysburg after the battle.

The letter demonstrates the administrative complexities of the agency's mission. In particular, we see an example of how greatly the regional branches depended on each other to answer soldier inquiries; the offices had different registers of information about soldiers and shared that information with the other branches via letter or telegram. Despite these extensive efforts, this letter offers an example of the agency's inability to quickly satisfy every request for information.

The brief administrative delay in the information regarding soldier McGiff caused the soldier's mother much pain, according to Bowne, as she was "sobbing and distressed at the probable fate of her boy, and left the office mourning not only for her loss of him but also for her fruitless and unwise expenditure of time and money" in traveling to the office. In this case, we see clearly the urgency of the agency's activities.

Perhaps most fascinating is de France's unofficial response, written in pencil on the letter's bottom and reverse side. Here, de France explains the cause of the information's tardy arrival in Washington, offering an unexpected view into the office's daily activities.

We learn that de France was the sole employee in the office when Bowne's request arrived. For that reason, de France sent the information via post rather than using a more expedient telegram, as a trip to the telegram office demanded too much time – usually an hour. He defends his choice by delineating the occupations of other office employees that day. We learn, for instance, that three employees were not in the office for various reasons and that a fourth was occupied with other tasks:

Mr. Webb had left the office his work then having been ended
Mr. Morton had gone to see about the wagons
Mr. Anderson had gone home sick
Mr. Belcher was busy downstairs and I was
alone in the office the whole afternoon.

We do not know if de France also offered this explanation to Bowne or if he simply kept it on record in the Philadelphia office. Instead, we do see an impassioned defense of his work and can perceive the human challenges that the USSC faced in its mission to provide information about missing soldiers.

—Anna Peterson

And what of soldier McGiff? Further insight into de France's and Bowne's untiring efforts to find this one man out of thousands of wounded soldiers will be gained by reading letters written by both men in the USSC's Hospital Directory office correspondence, as well as materials in the Hospital Directory "letter of inquiry" files.

There we find a Washington Hospital Directory file for Christopher McGiff, a private in the 119th New York Infantry, Company A, who turns out to be the soldier in question. It contains a letter of introduction for his mother, Mary McGiff, a "poor woman" traveling from New York City to Washington in search of her son. Although the Hospital Directory offices could not locate him in any hospital at that time, they continued to search for him, writing to his regimental surgeon on August 17, 1863. The reply: "The last we heard of him is that, the 1st Lieut. of his Comp. saw him falling wounded; he supposes in the chest during the action of the 1st July at Gettysburg & since that time he has been reported missing. The impression of the first Lieut. is that he was then killed."

Anna's encounter with H.A. de France's letter represents the beginning of similar individual stories that researchers can pursue, using archival guides to find related materials in the United States Sanitary Commission records, when the collection is made available to the public in 2013. (Other resources within the NYPL and beyond await the curious detective.)

An Act of Kindness Paid Forward

Hyacinth Persad, Mid-Manhattan, Popular Library — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:31:15 -0400

On a recent Saturday evening feeling, sluggish because of a lingering cold, I still walked briskly to the Bryant Park subway station. I needed to arrive at the West 4th Street subway station to catch the 6:20, which later became the 6:29 "A" train to Far Rockaway, Queens. Sitting in the first car, I felt the train moving jerkily between stations. Just before the train left the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station, I felt and heard the pounding of many-hands on the side of the train's first car — the people on the station's platform were doing all they could to ensure that the driver did not leave the station. The train stopped, but the doors didn't open immediately, and I heard someone screaming. A man's foot was caught in the door.

After several minutes, someone was assisting the man, who was gasping for air, to walk on the platform. The train was taken out of service, and three members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) arrived. The driver answered their questions, briefly, and another policeman directed stranded passengers to proceed to the station's booth-attendant, to obtain block-tickets for buses arriving just outside the station.

Hordes of people were jostling each other at the attendant's booth for block-tickets. I didn't get one, but asked the attendant how to get to Far Rockaway from the Hoyt-Schermerhorn subway station. She couldn't answer my question immediately, but offered to hand me subway and bus maps. Just as she said that she couldn't assist me right away, a young woman walked over to me, said she was going to Far Rockaway, that her car was parked at the Broadway Junction subway station (three stops ahead), and that she would drive me home. Another woman, with whom I had struck up a conversation about how we were getting home that evening, was also invited to join us.

At the bus stop, just near the subway station, we introduced ourselves and waited on the bus — we knew the correct number bus to take to Broadway Junction, but a number of buses sped past us because they were packed. Other stranded passengers, knowing the area well, hurried over to the bus stop just before ours, and boarded the bus we needed to catch. We were lucky that this woman, who offered to drive us home, had her car parked at the Broadway Junction subway station, because had we gotten to the station on one of the packed buses, the "A" train to Far Rockaway would have been delayed, anyway, because of the police investigation taking place at the subway station where we were stranded.

While waiting on a bus, I phoned a family member and related my ordeal. The family member was wary of my getting a ride with a stranger, who had her car parked at a subway station, at some distance from the Far Rockaway subway station. Upon hearing this, the woman, who works as a nurse at the NYU Langone Medical Center, showed us her ID, and said that often on Saturdays, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) carries out maintenance or construction work in subway stations, and that if scheduled to work, she usually drives away from Far Rockaway to Broadway Junction, and parks her car there.

Still having no luck with getting on a bus, we decided to share the cost of a taxi ride to Broadway Junction. The person with whom I had struck up a conversation earlier, another person who was in the same predicament, the woman who offered me help, and I piled into a taxi. I'll now refer to the woman who offered me assistance as nurse-angel. The nurse-angel's explanation as to how her car was parked at Broadway Junction was good enough for me. When we got to where her car was parked, I threw caution to the wind, and climbed in, along with the other woman. I was tired, but very happy to be on my way home.

On the drive home, the nurse-angel related to us her own ordeal earlier that morning. She needed to get to work in midtown Manhattan, and after parking her car near Broadway Junction, attempted to purchase a Metro Card to ride the train. She only had a $100 dollar bill, but the booth-attendant refused to break it, even though she wanted to purchase a $50 dollar Metro Card. Shortly afterwards, another booth attendant came on duty, and accepted the large bill. She would have been late for work, had she gone in search of change outside of the subway station, and was so grateful for this act-of-kindness, shown by the second booth attendant, that she phoned her boyfriend and said that she was going to repay this act-of-kindness that day. I, along with the other woman were the recipients of her act. Before she dropped me off, we exchanged phone numbers and promised to get together. I am now looking for ways to pay this awesome act-of-kindness forward. You'll know whether you have been the recipient of an act-of-kindness or whether you have been a contributor of one, because it feels good and a reward is never sought. My nurse-angel, adamantly refused to accept payment, even for gas.

Inspired? Use the New York Public Library's newly acquired interface to the catalog, Bibliocommons, and search on the keyword, "kindness." Happy paying your acts-of kindness forward, and here are a few titles to get you started: The Kindness Of Strangers, Awakening Kindness, Training the Mind & Cultivating Loving-Kindness, and Kindness in A Cruel World.

A Sis Boom Handmade Crafternoon: May 12, 2012

Jessica Pigza, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Rare Book Division — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:44:25 -0400

Join us this Saturday, May 12th, when Sis Boom creator Jennifer Paganelli comes to NYPL for the latest Handmade Crafternoon.

My co-host Maura Madden and I love how vibrant and sunshine-y Jennifer Paganelli's designs and patterns are, so it's perfect that Jennifer will help us to make summer party garlands and banners. And I'll have summer issues of home magazines from years past to browse to inspire you in other summer project ideas!

The event will take place at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building's Margaret Liebman Berger Forum (on the Second Floor, Room 227). The event runs from 2:00 to 4:00pm. The event is free and you don't need to register in advance, but we do have limited seating and if you'd like to ensure you have a spot you are welcome to rsvp by sending an email to handmade@nypl.org with your name and the event date.

As usual at Handmade Crafternoons, there will be a spread of colorful papers, fabrics, and embellishments to use in making your banners or garlands. But Jennifer has also designed some printable banner template pdfs just for our event! If you want to make a special Sis Boom style banner, just download and print out a handful of copies of the template of your choice and bring them along!

HERE ARE THE TEMPLATES:

May in the Reader's Den: "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" week two

Corinne Neary, Jefferson Market Library — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:24:43 -0400

Welcome back to the Reader's Den! This week, we will be talking about part one - the first thirteen chapters - of David Mitchell's The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. With the exception of the opening chapter, the entirety of part one is told from the perspective of Jacob de Zoet during the first months of his residence on the island of Dejima, off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan.

With names like Artie Grote, Ponke Ouwehand, and Piet Baert, Jacob's Dutch colleagues can be as difficult to keep straight as the characters in a Russian novel. Assigned by his boss, Chief Resident Vorstenbosch to conduct an audit of past years' financial discrepancies, Jacob makes fast enemies of many of his co-workers. It is in this lonely environment, with these hostile companions, that Jacob begins to become fixated on Orito Aibigawa, the Japanese midwife with a burn covering one side of her face.

He begins a sort of courtship, using Dr. Marinus and the interpreter Ogawa Uzaemon, with whom he has developed a friendship, as middlemen. Things actually seem somewhat promising, until his efforts are stopped short by an unexpected series of events that take Orito away from Dejima and from Jacob.

Why does Mitchell open the book with a birth scene? Why is this scene important? How does it tie in to the rest of the book?
As de Zoet enters Dejima, his belongings are searched for any forbidden items - namely Christian artifacts or texts. He is smuggling in a psalter too precious to him to give up, although he is terrified of being discovered. The interpreter who inspects his trunks, Ogawa Uzaemon, allows the book into the country, and later warns Jacob to keep it very well hidden. Why does Ogawa help this strange Dutchman at his own risk?
In chapter seven, Jacob sells mercury to Lord Abbot Enomoto. Why does Enomoto say that he feels an affinity with Jacob? What is it about this man that seems powerful and intimidating?
Jacob and Orito are characters whose freedoms are restricted and who don't fit in. Jacob is trapped on Dejima for five years among Japanese interpreters and unpleasant Dutchmen. Orito is limited by the societal restrictions placed on her gender and by the burn on her face. Is this what draws them together? Or is it something more?
Does Jacob really want to return to Zeeland, and to Anna? Is his infatuation with Orito, in part, a device to free him of his attachments to home?
Why does Jacob delay in going to Orito when he sees her franticly trying to enter Dejima on the day she disappears? What forces cause him to wait until it is too late?

Please leave your comments below! Next week, we will be discussing part two of the book, through the end of chapter twenty-six, which chronicles the events that follow Orito's abduction from Dejima.

Musical of the Month: A History of The Pink Lady

Doug Reside, Digital Curator of Performing Arts, Library for the Performing Arts — Tue, 08 May 2012 07:02:25 -0400

A guest blog by project co-director, Professor William Everett

The Pink Lady (1911) is one of those delightful gems from a century ago with a title that suggests something eminently enjoyable. This is indeed the case for the English-language musical version of the French farce Le Satyre by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemaud. The Pink Lady's creative team included several significant names of the era, as did the original cast. The music and plot were closely intertwined, with musical numbers advancing the storyline and dramaturgical aspects being emphasized through musical style.

Many members of the musical comedy's creative team and stars had known one another in either London or New York. Ivan Caryll (1861-1921, born Felix Marie Henri Tilkin), the show's Belgian-born composer, arrived in London in 1882 and eventually became musical director at the Gaiety and Lyric Theatres, both of which were managed by impresario George Edwardes (1855-1915). Edwardes was the primary creative impetus behind a new style of musical comedy that fused aspects of burlesque and music hall with the idea of narrative storytelling. Many of the musical comedies that played at the Gaiety Theatre had the word "girl" in their titles and often were Cinderella-type rags-to-riches tales. Examples include The Shop Girl (1894), Caryll's first big success as a composer for the Gaiety, The Circus Girl (1896), and A Runaway Girl (1898). The Pink Lady could be seen as a maturation of these shows, for the title character is no longer merely a girl but has become a lady.

The librettist and lyricist for The Pink Lady, C.M.S. (Charles Morton Stewart) McLellan (1865-1916) previously wrote the book and lyrics for The Belle of New York (1897, music by Gustave Kerker) under the pseudonym Hugh Morton. After Belle played in New York, it transferred to London, where it was immensely popular. Just before The Pink Lady graced the stage of the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 13, 1911, Caryll and Stewart collaborated on the short-lived Broadway musical comedy Marriage a la Carte (January 2, 1911, Casino Theatre).

Klaw & Erlanger, the business partnership of attorney Marcus Klaw (1858-1936) and entrepreneur A. L. Erlanger (1859-1930), was a major force in late nineteenth century American theater. In 1896, they joined with others to form the "Theatrical Syndicate," a system of booking networks with theaters throughout the country. Klaw & Erlanger produced over 200 Broadway shows, including revivals of Humpty-Dumpty, one of the musicals featured previously as a Musical of the Month.

Readers of this blog have also encountered two musicals on which Julian Mitchell (1954-1926), who staged The Pink Lady's musical numbers, worked: The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Toyland. Mitchell's fast, fluid pacing was an absolute necessity in staging a farce such as The Pink Lady.

The show's star, Hazel Tout (1891-1988), was born in Ogden, Utah and went with her family to Wales during her father's time there as a Mormon missionary. She met Ivan Caryll at a party in London, and he advised her to change her name from the "impossible" Hazel Tout to Hazel Dawn. She made her London debut in Dear Little Denmark (1909) and her Broadway debut in The Pink Lady. Trained as a violinist, Dawn played a violin solo during the waltz "My Beautiful Lady" in The Pink Lady and later reprised this talent in The Debutante (1914). (John Doyle was certainly not the first to have instrument-playing singers on stage!) Dawn also appeared in several silent films.

Three of the male principals in The Pink Lady had significant musical theater careers. William Elliott (ca. 1879-1931), soon after his appearance as Lucien Garidel, became a producer; his credits included Oh, Boy! (1917), Leave It to Jane (1917), and Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918). Frank Lalor (1869-1932), who created the role of the Parisian antiques dealer-turned-Satyr Philippe Dondidier, had previously played Dionysius Fly in The Show Girl (1902) and went on to appear as Gideon Gay in Irving Berlin's Stop! Look! Listen! (1915) and Friar Tuck in the 1932 revival of Reginald de Koven's Robin Hood. Finally, Fred Wright Jr. (1865-1928), who played the media-mad detective Benevol, had previously appeared in several Ivan Caryll shows at the Gaiety Theatre in London, including A Runaway Girl, The Messenger Boy (1900), The Toreador (1901), and The Orchid (1903).

The combination of talent in the creative team and on stage was central to the show's success. This was an ensemble show, and the creative team and cast were keenly aware of each other's talents and abilities.

The musical represented a succession of sorts to George Edwardes' variety of musical comedy at the Gaiety Theatre. Light-hearted entertainment was the key element, but a good bit of "class," as exemplified by the Pink Lady herself in addition to the assortment of aristocratic characters who surround her, was likewise integral. Ivan Caryll's delightful score most certainly endorsed this approach, for The Pink Lady is filled with musical bon-bons. Effervescent individual numbers provide tremendous delight for audiences and performers alike. The score as a whole remains closely tied to the story, exemplifying the principles that later would become known as the "integrated" musical.

The opening number, "Here's a Lady," sets up, through music and text, the basic premise of the show: a mysterious man, the Satyr, seizes and kisses women when they are gathering mushrooms. The fast-paced tempo, almost like a collective patter song, captures the sense of giddy excitement surrounding the Satyr and his happy victims.

Caryll knew Fred Wright's tremendous gifts as a comedic character actor and incorporated them in the second song in the show, "Bring Along the Camera (one of the selections recorded for expressly for this blog). Caryll evokes the ethos of music hall in the number, which could easily function as an independent song about anyone who craves media attention. In The Pink Lady, though, it has a dramatic function in that it illuminates a central aspect of Benevol's character and is reprised in the act 1 finale.

Lucien Garidel wants one more fling before he marries Angele de Verrier in six weeks and confesses his desire in the swirling waltz "I'm Single for Six Weeks More." (In the vocal score, this number appears as an addendum, and is recorded here.) He mentions his fiancée Angele and his "old friend" Claudine ("The Pink Lady," whom he has known for one year) in the lyric, thus tying the song directly into the plot.

Angele and Maurice, a real ladies' man, discuss the nature of love in ""Love Is Divine" (recorded here), Angele's idealistic view contrasting with Maurice's cynical one. Angele's waltz refrain links her musically to Lucien, who just sang a waltz, indicating to the audience that despite all the deceptions, disguises, identity confusions, and convoluted plot twists (including Lucien's poor behavior), Angele and Lucien are true musical soul mates and will indeed be together at the final curtain.

Bebe Guingolph, Angele's cousin, and Desiree, who is quite interested in Bebe, sing one of the score's most delightful numbers, "By the Saskatchewan." Bebe tells Desiree that he will remain faithful to a girl in Saskatchewan while she implores him to take "a rest from your fidelity." The jaunty refrain with its oom-pah accompaniment opens and closes the Victor Light Opera Selections. The song was later interpolated into The Night Boat (1920, music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Anne Caldwell).

The title character's first number, "Oh, So Gently" (recorded here), displays Claudine's perkiness and slightly naughty nature. The uncredited words that appear in the libretto differ from those in the published vocal score and playbill, which are by the eminent English actor and songwriter George Grossmith, Jr. (1874-1935). The libretto's words are a bit racier than those in the vocal score and include a final stanza concerning Suffragettes. The recurring "Oh, so gently" motif, with its gently rising repetitions, creates a increasing sense of expectation that is resolved in the final line of each stanza.

Caryll showcases his admirable vocal scoring abilities in act 2's brilliant ensemble, "Donny Did, Donny Didn't, " during which the Countess of Montavert accuses Dondidier of kissing her, something he vehemently denies. Dondidier's wife and Lucien join in the proceedings, as do the Parisian dilettantes who are in Dondidier's shop. Dance-like rhythms, lightening-fast exchanges between characters, and unison patter all contribute to the innate jocularity of the number, which is featured in the Victor Light Opera Selections (1'16'' to 2'04'').

Later in act 2, Angele and Dondidier play a game of "hide and seek" to the song of the same name (recorded here). Dondidier, who had been a respectable antiques dealer, is rapidly changing his ways, thanks to Lucien's influence. He is delighted that Angele, Lucien's fiancée, finds him wicked as he is discovering, in Doug Reside's immortal words, his "inner Satyr."

In act 3, Dondidier confesses that he enjoys his new life as the Satyr in the spirited "I Like It!" (recorded here). In the verses, he recounts his experiences since Lucien, whom he calls the "bold buffoon," entered his shop earlier that afternoon and the subsequent arrival of the lady dressed in pink. He is thrilled that "the cyclone came and it whirled me 'round."

Caryll delivers a fine march, complete with fanfare motifs, in "The Right to Love," a quartet for Claudine (The Pink Lady), Angele, Lucien, and Maurice. After taking turns in the verse, the quartet sings the refrain in unison, "For love, and the right to love,/In France, you must fight for love." It is a jovial number in which the quartet decides to set things right.

One of the most famous numbers in The Pink Lady, and the one that often appears on anthologies of music from the period, is its splendid waltz. Claudine first sings it in act 2, where it is titled "The Kiss Waltz." During the evocative song, with its gentle chromatic inflections, she instructs Dondidier on how to kiss in various ways. Of course, Dondidier's wife enters at the end of the song and spies what appears to be Claudine making overt romantic advances toward her husband.

The waltz is reprised near the end of the show as "My Beautiful Lady," this time with different words. Claudine is again instructing Dondidier, but now encourages him to no longer be the wild "Satyr of the Tornado" but instead the charming "Satyr of the Waltz." She sings him words that any woman would love to hear: "To you, beautiful lady, I raise my eyes." In the libretto, the song is a solo for Claudine, while in the published vocal score, Claudine sings the first verse and Angele, whose purity of love matches her name, sings the second.

In addition to the fine individual numbers, the first and second acts both conclude with extensive, multi-sectional finales that advance the plot. The first act includes a graceful waltz in which Claudine reminds the men, especially Benevol, that they are only men and therefore must be pitied. The second act finale includes a splendid policeman's march, "Readily, steadily, tramp, tramp, tramp!," that cannot help but make one recall "When a felon's not engaged in his employment" from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.

A lighthearted farce, The Pink Lady boasts a finely crafted musical score that complements, enhances, and advances the story. The team that created the show and the cast that brought it to life may now be largely forgotten, but for 312 performances in 1911 and a return engagement of 24 more in 1912, audiences at the New Amsterdam Theatre reveled in her delights.

Vampiros por doquier...¡Vamos a Leer!

Alexandra Gomez, Central Collection Development — Tue, 08 May 2012 06:53:28 -0400

Muchas han sido las historias que se han producido acerca de los espectros de la noche, y Sombras Tenebrosas (Dark Shadows) es una de ellas, la cual es una nueva producción basada en la famosa serie de televisión producida en los años 1966-1971, y estará presentándose en los teatros próximamente con el talentoso actor Johnny Depp, protagonizando el papel de Barnabas Collins. La obra presenta la historia de la distinguida famila Collins y Barnabas Collins, quien se convierte en una criatura de la noche por una maldición que le conjura Angelique, la bruja despechada.

La mayoría de las historias originales sobre las criaturas siniestras de la noche casi siempre se desenvuelven en medio de la incredulidad de los protagonistas sobre de la existencia de estas entidades. Luego cuando cunde el pánico, la incertidumbre empieza a inquietar y entonces aumentan las visitas a las bibliotecas para leer y obtener información acerca de estos espectros y el método para combatirlos. Algunos de los que siguen las instrucciones al pie de la letra, logran protegerse y salvarse, (y hasta logran salir corriendo por sus propios pies) mientras otros no suelen correr la misma suerte.

Pero mientras tanto, ¿Que hay de nuevo al respecto? Para contestar la pregunta, esta lista no solo ofrece una breve selección de nuevas historias sobre estas inquietantes criaturas, sino también acerca de sus valientes cazadores y además protectores y los métodos de precaución y protección utilizados contra sus peligrosos encantos y extraños poderes de atracción...

Cántico de sangre
Anne Rice
En la finca de Blackwood, se encuentran todos los espectros de los dos mundos de vampiros y brujas, y es ahí donde el guardián de la familia Mayfair, no descansará hasta tomar venganza por la transformación de Mona, y atormentar a Lestat, quién se debate entre el amor, la bondad y su naturaleza de vampiro.

Cazadora
L. J. Smith
La cazadora de vampiros, que también es mitad vampiro, no solo debe de unir sus fuerzas con su antigua banda de vampiros para poder atrapar al más peligroso de todos, sino también que debe de resistir al atractivo vampiro Morgead, y mantenerse fiel a Hugh, el humano del cual está enamorada.

Damon almas oscuras
L. J. Smith
La joven Elena arriesga su vida para ayuda a escapar al hombre que ama, Stephan, quien se encuentra prisionero, en la peligrosa "Dimensión Oscura", un lugar siniestro donde los vampiros y demonios esclavizan a los humanos.

Definitivamente muerta
Charlaine Harris
En este sexto libro de la serie, a Sookie Stackhouse no le quedan muchos parientes con vida. Ahora le atormenta la pérdida de su prima Hadley, y debe de investigar las misteriosas circunstancias de su muerte y enfrentar al culpable.

El descubrimiento de las brujas
Deborah E. Harkness
En la Biblioteca Bodleiana de Oxford, Diana, una historiadora apasionada, descubre un manuscrito perdido por varios siglos, el cual no solo trae una ola de daimones, vampiros y brujas, sino también que crea su íntima alianza con el galante Matthew, un apuesto vampiro milenario.

Instinto
Amanda Hocking
Después de conocer a Jack y su hermano Pedro, la joven Alice descubre que son vampiros y ahora se encuentra atrapada entre el amor y su propia sangre.

La segunda vida de Bree Tanner
Stephenie Meyer
Bree Tanner se une al ejército de vampiros neófitos que se preparan para acercarse a Bella Swan y los Cullens.

Saga Crepúsculo: guía oficial ilustrada
Una guía de referencia sobre la Saga Crepúsculo, que provee perfiles de los personajes y sus datos genealógicos, además de una conversación con la escritora Shannon Hale, y fragmentos de las obras de Stephenie Meyer.

Todos juntos y muertos
Charlaine Harris
En esta historia que ha inspirado la famosa serie televisiva True Blood (Sangre fresca), Sookie Stackhous, la camarera de Luisiana, ha sido traicionada por su gran amor vampiro, pero esto no la detiene para intentar un nuevo romance con el apuesto Quinn, el hombre tigre, ni tampoco para luchar contra una ola de vampiros sedientos de poder.

Algunas de éstas y otras obras también pueden estar disponibles en formato visual y electrónico. Para más información sírvase de comunicarse con el bibliotecario de su biblioteca local. También puedes seguirnos por ¡Twitter!

How to Research and Employ an Attorney

Matthew Boylan, Ask NYPL — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:10:21 -0400

At some time in their life, most New York City residents will need to employ an attorney. This may reflect the need to make a will, a landlord-tenant dispute, a divorce, an accusation that one has committed a crime or as a result of a foreclosure or a business dispute. While there are certain legal resources available to those who have limited financial means and there are always attorneys from the larger and more expensive law firms who are employed by landlords, banks, corporations or the wealthy, many other New Yorkers may have a need for legal representation and may not know how or where to find it.

In New York City, there are resources for those of moderate means who need to find an attorney, and then wish to find out more about that attorney. For example, one can obtain the name of a lawyer or law practice, contact information and often certain other background information including education and practice specialties at the Science, Industry and Business Library ("SIBL") of the New York Public Library by consulting the current and back editions of the Martindale-Hubble Law Directory in print or online. It is also possible to do one's own legal research at SIBL. Other online directories that permit you to search for an attorney by practice area and location are the FindLaw Lawyer Directory and HG.org.

If you are thinking of employing any attorney — whether obtained from a directory or other source — you should first verify the most basic information about him or her: whether the lawyer is licensed to practice in the State of New York; office location, the number of years in practice, and law school. This information is always available at the Attorney Search database maintained by the Uniform Court System of the State of New York or by contacting attyreg@courts.state.ny.us or 212-428-2800.

You may wish to contact the Referral Service of the New York City Bar ("LRS") that is available by telephone at: (212) 626-7373 and in Spanish at: (212) 626-7374. There is no charge for the conversation or the referral. Any attorney that LRS refers you to holds a license, is not the subject of any malpractice or disciplinary proceeding and has experience with the relevant legal issue. You are then entitled to an initial consultation of up to a half hour with the lawyer you are referred to. That consultation is free if it concerns an injury due to an accident or a faulty product, the negligence of a doctor, or a worker's compensation or Social Security claim. If you obtain a referral about any other legal problem, a half hour consultation will cost $35.

The LRS also frequently runs at no charge a "Monday Night Clinic." At this clinic — which does require an appointment in advance at LRS telephone numbers above — an attorney will meet with you for a half hour at no charge to discuss specific issues: Landlord-Tenant; Family Law (Divorce; Child Support; Domestic Violence); Consumer Rights (including Foreclosure, Credit Card Debt and Consumer Fraud); Bankruptcy Proceedings and Employment Rights and Discrimination in the Workplace (as to Race, Sex or Sexual Preference).

Other ways a New York City resident may obtain legal representation:

If you employ an attorney to represent you, any fee — whether in a civil or a criminal action — may be the subject of a negotiation.
There are a number of programs for those over age 60 with no means test, including those of the New York City Department for the Aging. Other programs address: Medicare, Medigap and Medicaid, Consumer Fraud, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney and other legal issues that affect those over 60.
Contingent Fee Matters where there is no "upfront" payment by the client. If you have been harmed by another (e.g., in an automobile accident, at the workplace, or by a doctor) an attorney may represent you on a contingent fee basis (at no cost to you — unless you obtain a Judgment or Settlement from the responsible party — in which case the attorney may receive up to one third of the recovery.) Attorneys advertise to obtain clients on this basis. However, it is always a good idea to check the attorney's level of experience, areas of expertise and honesty.
There is also an effort to provide those of moderate means with greater access to legal assistance on certain matters: Consumer's Rights, Family Law Issues, Home Mortgage Foreclosures, Bankruptcy, and Small Business issues. Many organizations that provide legal assistance to those of lesser means are flexible with respect to means tests.