Events for the Week of June 30…

Don’t forget that the Library will be closed on Friday to celebrate the Fourth.  Don’t miss any of the exciting events going on at the library during the rest of the week…

• Summer Reading Club Kids Movie on Tuesday (7/1) at 1:00
• Teen Fuzzy Creatures Creation Program also on Tuesday at 4:00
• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (7/2) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• An animal survival science fair on Thursday (7/3) at 4:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday at 5:00
• Library Web Tools & the Internet Class on Saturday (7/5) at 2:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

Trivia of the Week...

This week’s question is who is Ibzan?

History of Highland Park…

Check out this 99-page booklet printed in 1950, titled “The City of Los Angeles: The First 100 Years.”  It includes a nicely thorough essay on the history of the city to that point as well as comparisons between the city and city services in 1950 and in 1850.  There is also a nice chart showing how much of each dollar received is spent on what department or service.  I notice (partisanly) that the library department is at the very bottom of the 1950 list receiving only 2.4 cents from each dollar spent.  I also note that one of the Council Members has the same name as my father.

Take a look at it for things that interest you.

TOW (& Answer)...

The question was… Does a disabled veteran need to pay car registration fees in California?  The answer, according to the 2014 California Vehicle Code (section 9105), is not if their car is NOT being used for hire, compensation, or profit.

The question (& answer) were taken from p. 158 of the 2014 Vehicle Code published by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

A Turn of Light

A Turn of Light is a sprawling 840 page fantasy novel by Julie E. Czerneda.  It is set in the small village of Marrowdell.  Marrowdell is an isolated place with lots of peculiarities located on (or possibly next to) a rift between its world and another, stranger world.  Our overly naive (unconsciously powerful) heroine is cursed to never leave the village on pain of death but longs only to depart.  She makes herself a husband out of her childhood playmate a spirit creature (who is really a dragon from the other realm punished to oversee her) on the same day that a good actual husband candidate arrives from outside to take up residence in the village and things precede from there.  I will admit that I only got halfway through (400 pages though) before I had to give up because I honestly could not stomach the heroine.  She was too naïve, too self-involved, too realistically 19 for my blood.

The book however was reasonably interesting and I would recommend it to people who like a long, sweeping fantasy story and who like their heroines on the cloying side.

Tap Imagery for Weight Management

…(a workshop)…

Sunday, June 29^th at 2:00

• What is EFT (or tapping)?
• What is Guided Imagery?
• Can these two techniques help you accomplish personal goals?

 Come hear what the presenter has to say & practice using the techniques.

Bring your questions!

Events for the Week of June 23…

Don’t miss any of the exciting events going on at the library this week…

• Teen Cupcake Decorating Program on Tuesday (6/24) at 4:00
• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (6/25) at 10:30 --- Special Recycling Truck visit
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• The Audubon Society visits the Kids Summer Reading program to talk all about mammals on Thursday (6/26) at 4:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday at 5:00
• Introduction to Spreadsheets Class on Thursday at 6:30
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (6/27) at 3:30
• Arroyo Book Club on Saturday (6/28) at 3:00
• Tap Imagery Weight Management Class on Sunday (6/29) at 2:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

Midnight Crossing

Charlaine Harris starts a new series with the book Midnight Crossing.  This book introduces a town - - - Midnight, Texas - - - and a cast of intriguing characters.  The story revolves around the disappearance of Aubrey.  When her body eventually reappears our cast must attempt to solve her murder while dealing with a bunch of local right-wing militia types who are convinced that Bobo (one of our characters) did it.  While the mystery was very superficial the characters themselves were quite interesting and Harris did well by hinting at things she didn’t reveal leaving the reader looking forward to learning more in subsequent books.

A book I would recommend to fans of Harris as well as a good place to point people who are unfamiliar with her work & who like light, humorous fantasy. 

Trivia of the Week...

This week’s question is… Does a disabled veteran need to pay car registration fees in California?

Fortune’s Pawn

If you’re a fan of classical, go into space with lots & lots of guns, SF you will probably like Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Bach.  This book follows the adventures of Devi Morris, a mercenary from a culture that worships armor (versatile & spacesuit like). To advance her chances of being invited to join the elite King’s guard she signs on with the Glorious Fool, a trade ship with a reputation for getting into trouble.  Devi discovers that the captain of this ship is more then he lets on, falls for the cook who is also not what he seems, and does a lot of fighting for the ship.  This book is clearly part of a series so it leaves lots of unanswered questions but it does provide an entertaining read & leaves you looking forward to the next book.

Recommended for those who like shoot ‘em up SF.

TOW (& Answer)

The question was what is meant by the term intaglio.  The term comes from the realm of printmaking.  To quote directly:

In intaglio printing, lines or tones are engraved or etched into the surface of a metal plate.  The plate is inked and then wiped, leaving the grooves filled with ink and the surface clean. Soft, dampened paper is laid over the plate, and both paper and plate are put through the rollers of an etching press.  The pressure of the rollers forces the paper into the grooves, so that it takes up the ink, leaving an indented impression of the whole plate on the paper.  This impression is known as the plate mark.  The two main kinds of intaglio are engraving and etching.

The question (& answer) were taken from p. 238 of the New Artist’s Handbook by Ray Smith.  The book was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2003.

Websites I Like…

Do you like to cook?  Are you always looking for a new variation on an old favorite?  Do you like to explore new arenas in the cooking world?  Take a peek at the Yummly (http://www.yummly.com/) website.  This site offers more then 1 million recipes with powerful search and browse tools.  The trick is in the refinement.  Start with a search on an ingredient & then use the menu bar of refinements to narrow in on the recipe you want to try. 

You can also sign up for the website and access the more customizable aspects of what they offer.  Take a look at what they have.

Events for the Week of June 16…

Don’t miss any of the exciting events going on at the library this week…

• Summer Reading Club Kids Movie on Tuesday (6/17) at 1:00
• Teen Candy Making Program also on Tuesday at 4:00
• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (6/18) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• Kids Summer Reading Animal Puppets Craft Program on Thursday (6/19) at 4:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday at 5:00
• Internet Plus for Spanish Speakers Class on Thursday at 6:30
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (6/20) at 3:30
• To Your Credit (History) Workshop on Saturday (6/21) at 2:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

The Lives of Tao

Wesley Chu brings us an interesting, if somewhat flawed, alien invasion story in The Lives of Tao.  The overall premise is that there is a race of parasitic (symbiotic to their view) aliens who crash-landed on Earth back in the time of the dinosaurs.  These aliens find hosts to inhabit and then work to influence the world around them via their host.  Flash forward to the present.  The aliens have divided into two sects, each reflecting different philosophies about how to accomplish their overall goal (evolve a host enough for it to get them off of Earth and back to their home world).  Our hero is an ordinary, out of shape, generally disaffected modern man when he becomes a host to Tao (one of these aliens).  We then follow Roen (our hero) as he learns of these aliens, is molded by his host, and joins in the war.

I found this book very irritating because the aliens take credit for everything humans do, good and bad. Admire the written words of Shakespeare --- that was really an alien.  Fascinated by the various martial arts --- again the work of aliens.  Find the Spanish Inquisition a horrific period in history --- aliens did it not humans.  And so on.  In the end it took all agency from humans and left them as nothing more then the pliable tools of these aliens.  As a human I really didn’t care for this.  Furthermore, the humans who are taken over (become hosts) seem remarkable spineless in terms of just accepting their aliens and agreeing that whatever they want must really be best.  Truly a horror story over all, though I don’t think the author meant it to be read that way.

This is a book for the lover of science fiction who doesn’t mind seeing humans as the unrebellious tool of alien invaders.

Grasshopper Jungle

For a completely different take on “the end of the world” try Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.   Here we have the end of the world as brought about by six-foot, eternally hungry, grasshopper like things.  Our protagonists inadvertently contribute to the rise of this new apex predator and seem to be, along with a few allies, the only ones to survive their arrival.  I found the book interesting for its style which was extreme stream of consciousness mixed with a incredible willingness to let a tangent go as far as possible before reeling it back in to make a new coincidence.   The style was also INCREDIBLY repetitious, the narrator would fuss over the same facts again and again.  I almost suspect the author was trying to create a book that readers would inadvertently memorize.  While this is not a style I would revisit or want to find elsewhere it was interesting as a one-time kind of thing.

All in all this book is one I would recommend to lovers of quirky off beat books about the end of the world that fixate on the smaller details rather then the larger calamity.

History of Highland Park….

Here we have a booklet, put together in 1923, titled Five Friendly Valleys (http://dbase1.lapl.org/webpics/calindex/documents/11/518939.pdf).  The subtitle is The History of Greater Highland Park and it proceeds to give us just that in 27 pages.  It includes plenty of photographs (including one of Franklin’s 1923 graduating class) and articles.  It has articles that address life in Highland Park by decade and articles that discuss particular aspects of Highland Park over time.  Give it a read.

Trivia of the Week...

This week’s question is what is meant by the term intaglio?

The Third Chimpanzee

The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond explores the evolution of human beings.  Reader’s familiar with other books by Diamond, notably Guns, Germs, and Steel will find some of the concepts he covers very familiar.  He seems to have elaborated on ideas introduced here in subsequent books.  All in all it is a fascinating look at an interesting topic that is aimed at the layman.  Some of the theories covered appear to be dated but as long as the reader keeps that in mind the book is fine.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the story of humans from an evolutionary and biological perspective. 

Events for the Week of June 9…

Summer Reading Club kicks off this week.  Be sure you drop by the library to get everyone in your family signed up!  Don’t miss any of the exciting events going on at the library during the week…

• Teen Tigertainment Sword Fighting Program on Tuesday (6/10) at 4:00
• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (6/11) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• Kids Summer Reading Reptile Family show on Thursday (6/12) at 4:00
• Fun w/ Tablets program also on Thursday at 4:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday at 5:00
• Correo Electrónico Class on Thursday at 6:30
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (6/13) at 3:30
• Make your father a card on Saturday (6/14). Drop in anytime between 10 and 12.
• Introduction to Word Processing Class also on Saturday at 2:00.

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

TOW (& Answer)...

The question was what is the Post-Boom.  The answer is that the Post-Boom is a movement in Spanish American fiction.  It began in the 1970’s and is less defined as a movement then the Boom was.  It is notable for shepherding the emergence of a number of women writers including Isabel Allende, Luisa Valenzuela, Elena Poniatowska, Cristina Peri Rossi, and Rosario Ferre. 

Find out a lot more about this literary movement from the source, p. 671 of the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature edited by Verity Smith.  The book was published by Fitzroy Dearborn in 1997.

June’s Electronic Resource of the Month…

Business Insights: Essentials is the June Electronic Resource of the Month.  This database allows you to find up-to-date information about U.S. and international companies, explore industries, look at business related statistical data and more.  A very handy tool if you are looking at companies to invest in, looking at companies to work for, exploring the industry you work (or own a business) in, or just want to write a well addressed letter of complaint.  Find a 2-page flyer with more info here.

This database is accessible from any computer via the Library’s web page, though you will need your library card if you are not on a library computer.  Go the library’s web page (www.lapl.org) and click into the Research & Homework section and then scroll down to the B’s (http://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/research-and-homework#B) to find it.

Dreamwalker

If you’re looking for a reasonably interesting, multi-world story with misplaced heros growing into power & fighting to reunite their families then look no further then Dreamwalker by C. S. Friedman.  This book centers on Jessica Drake and her dreams, involves the kidnapping of her brother & her quest to get him back, and includes a number of interesting twists and turns in the plot.  I did find the narrator’s naiveté incredibly irritating by the end of the book but I suspect a younger reader might not notice that.  All in all I would tend to recommend this book to teens looking for an interesting adventure story.

The Flight of the Silvers

In this book (The Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price) we follow the adventures of a group called the silvers (for the color of the bracelet they were tagged with) as they survive the end of their world and find themselves stuck in a parallel world.  Each of the group finds they have an odd talent when it comes to manipulating time.  They explore their talents & the world as they try to evade the local government, locals who also have odd abilities and who see these people as bringing the end of this world, and the future beings who saved them from the end of their world (after causing it).  The book is full of adventure and raises interesting theoretical questions about time and how it works.  I liked it a great deal at the beginning but found that the characters themselves didn’t ring very true so I became less and less interested in them as the book continued.  The book will clearly have a sequel and I’m not sure if I’ll read it.  On the one hand I am curious about how the story resolves but on the other hand the characters really don’t move me.

This is definitely not a book for someone who doesn’t like Science Fiction.  But if you do like SF I’d say pick it up for the meta-concepts. 

Websites I Like….

If you’re looking for local codes you need look no further then here (http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/california-local-government-documents/codes-and-charters).  This is a depository collection of local ordinance codes and charters issued by California cities and counties. It includes links to electronic versions where those are available. The perfect resource if you’re looking for noise regulation laws in the city of Los Angeles or for the building code in Laverne.

Events for the Week of June 2…

Things going on at the library during the week include:

• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (6/4) at 10:30
• Computer Basics Class also on Wednesday at 12:00
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday (6/5) at 3:00
• Fun w/ Tablets program also on Thursday at 4:00
• Como Utilizar la Internet Class on Thursday at 6:30
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (6/6) at 3:30
• Correo Electrónico Class on Saturday (6/7) at 2:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.