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History Will Be Made
Today playoff season begins for our very own San Jose Sharks. In celebration of what will be their road to Lord Stanley’s Cup, here are some quite interesting facts about hockey, the Sharks, and anything else related.
- The Stanley Cup is the only professional sports trophy that is passed from team member to team member of the winning team.
- The Montreal Canadiens have won the most Stanley Cup titles… 24! Their nickname, “Habs” comes from “les habitants” a name given to the first settlers of New France during the 17th Century.
- “Sharks” was actually the runner-up name for the team. The initial name for the team was going to be the Blades.
- Coach Todd McLellan tied former NHL coach Mike Keenan with 152 wins in his first three seasons with the Sharks. McLellan’s former job was as assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings.
- The Junior Sharks 12 U girls hockey team won the first national title for the programbeating the New England Jr. Falcons on April 2nd.
Let's Go Sharks!
New Gems from an Old Master
In the 60s and 70s, Larry Niven wrote a succession of Known Space stories which are considered some of the classics of science fiction, combining interesting hard science with fast-paced adventure. Now, like a visit from a dear old friend, he has returned to this fictional universe, in a set of collaborations with Edward Lerner. The new stories, with familiar characters, include: Fleet of Worlds; Juggler of Worlds; Destroyer of Worlds; and Betrayer of Worlds
Discover California Native Plants
Four years ago I discovered the Going Native Garden Tour and was inspired to redesign my front yard to feature California native plants. If the idea of waterwise, low maintenance, and bird and butterfly gardening appeals to you, sign up on the California Native Plant Society, Santa Clara Valley Chapter's website for their upcoming April 17th garden tour. It's a great opportunity to peek into expert gardener's front and back yards and to get advice on plant selection and growing techniques. Once you're inspired to try native plants, checkout the SJPL's collection of California native plant books, buy some new plants, and grab your shovel!
Summer Camps for Children on the Autistic Spectrum
Enriching the Lives of Children with Autism, Inc. or ELCA, Inc., has wonderful summer programs at the end of summer for children on the spectrum. Since most children with special needs attend summer school, these camps fall during the peak period when the child might be getting bored with their summer.
Attend the Recess Skills Camp, which explores different games elementary school-aged children play during their recesses and the social skills required to navigate those games. There is also a School Readiness camp for the younger preschool set, who are just getting ready to dip their toes into the lake called "elementary school"!
ELCA, Inc. specializes in the ABA method. To learn more about the Applied Behavior Analysis method, check out these books:
Success Strategies for Teaching Kids With Autism by Wendy Ashcroft
Applied Behaviour Analysis and Autism: Building a Future Together edited by Mickey Keenan
Targeting Autism: What We Know, Don't Know, and Can Do to Help Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders by Shirley Cohen
This is Autism Awareness Month! If you have any summer camps to suggest, add a comment to this post. Watch for future posts about other kinds of summer camps. If you would like a particular kind of summer camp (theater, science, etc.) explored, mention this in your comment.
Early Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows DVD Release!
Hey Harry Potter movie fans! Get first dibs on the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows....at the LIBRARY???? Yes, HP fans, rejoice! You can see the movie two days before it's wide release on tax day, April 15! Wow!
Of course, we always encourage reading the book first! There are several differences from the book. Most significantly, Kreacher's "breakthrough" is not developed on film. It was one of the most uplifting scenes in the book, IMHO.
This is all leading up to the movie finale on July 14th! Read the whole series again before that time, though:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Meet all of the characters for the first time)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Learn about the first horcrux here!)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Sirius!)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (The nail-biting Triwizard Tournament)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry, the angry outcast)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Romance is in the air)
To keep up with the wizarding ways, visit some fun HP sites, including:
Expelliarmus!
A Prophet
A petty criminal goes too far and is sentenced to hard time in a brutal French prison. Behind bars, he is forced to work for the Corsican faction that runs the place but senses that their dominance may be waning and makes plans of his own. A film by Jacques Audiard, A Prophet was nominated for an Academy Award and has a 90 percent rating at Metacritic.
A Lengthy But Worthwhile Read
Jonathan Franzen's long-awaited novel Freedom lives up to the promise shown in his last novel, The Corrections, which won the National Book Award in 2001. Freedom focuses on the Berglund family of St. Paul, Minnesota. The first 25 pages of the book lay out the family’s story and set up the book’s conflicts. Patty Berglund is a Volvo-driving, home renovating, stay-at-home mom who may focus too much of her attention on her son Joey. Walter Berglund is a bicycle-commuting 3M employee who, we learn in the first paragraph of the book, eventually gets into trouble for working with the coal industry. Joey chafes at his mother’s attention and rebels by taking up with a girl whose mother is Patty’s nemesis while Jessica, the Berglund’s daughter, seems to fade into the background of the story. After all these stories are laid out, Franzen dives into each one, filling in the details of each. I enjoyed each story and though many of the plot twists were out of the realm of believability, it is still a good read.
Freedom has been out for several months and though I had to wait a long time for my hold to come in, there are now copies available at the San José Public Library. You might even be able to check it out and renew it if you need to. And you might need to; this book clocks in at 562 pages.
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
Anyone who eats in restaurants should find Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl entertaining, and a bit shocking. The author tells of her years as food critic for the New York Times and her efforts to hide her identity as she visits some of the city's most famous restaurants. With the help of friends and associates, she creates a variety of disguises, and assumes a particular identity with each one, in order to find out how some of these restaurants treat ordinary customers. It's incredible how badly she is treated in some of Manhattan's most well-known and priciest restaurants when she shows up in some of her disguises.
Available at San José Public Library as an audiobook, a downloadable ebook, and in print.
150th Civil War Anniversary
April 12, 2011 will mark the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the U.S. Civil War, or The War Between the States. On April 12, 1861 at 4:30 A.M. the first shots of the war were fired by Confederate forces on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. And so began a terrible conflict between the North and South that lasted four years. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the onset of the Civil War, many events and exhibits will be held throughout the United States. Check out these outstanding Civil War documentaries and books that the library has to offer.
- The Civil War This award winning PBS documentary written and filmed by Ken Burns chronicles the Civil War from beginning to end.
- The Civil War: An Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns and Ken Burns is the companion book based on the Ken Burns PBS film documentary.
Popular historical fiction based on the Civil War include the following novels :
- Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
- Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
- Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane
- Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
- North and South, by John Jakes
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch
Alison Arngrim, the actress who played Nellie Oleson in the TV series Little House on the Prairie, has written a biography. In Confessions of a Prairie Bitch she tells with snide humor about life with her wacky family, her time on the set, and her life afterwards, living with the dubious notoriety of such an iconic character. But she is strong enough and smart enough to survive this onerous responsibility (and much more) and laugh about it in the meantime!
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