O, Death – Ralph Stanley Dies At 89

One of the early leaders of bluegrass music, Ralph Stanley, has died at age 89. Ralph and his older brother Carter started out in the late 1940s as a duo. After Carter died in 1966, Ralph continued with his band the Clinch Mountain Boys and built a fan base fiercely devoted to his straightforward banjo and archaic-type singing known as the “high lonesome” mountain sound.

Ralph Stanley entered the Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 1992, but his unearthly tenor catapulted him to much wider fame when, in 2000 at age 73, he was asked to sing the song “O, Death” for the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou.

Happy happy happy happy birthday Terry Riley!

With all the Brexit noise on the weekend you may have missed the birthday of Terry Riley on the 24th of June. Terry turned 80.

Terry Riley,  is an American composer and performing musician associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music, of which he was a pioneer. His work is deeply influenced by both jazz and Indian classical music.

Can I recommend …

I’ve just found a new way to add to the ever-increasing list of book titles that I have great difficulty getting around to reading but have kept on my ‘For Later’ shelf in BiblioCommons. The cliché ‘better late than never’ springs to mind.

My shelf currently stands at a very respectable 17 (I’m sure there are people out there in ‘Library land’ openly gobsmacked at this paltry total BUT I have just had a cull. I was completely ruthless and it took only 2 minutes to cut it back from 27 to 17.

Oh the internal debating and agonising I didn’t put myself through! Most of these tomes have been on my ‘For Later’ shelf for an eternity and have either been recommended to me via colleagues and customers or I have read a favourable review in a magazine or newspaper and placed it onto the shelf before I forget the title.  Then I forget to look at the shelf and pick my next read from it – well nobody’s perfect!

Now I have another method by which I can add to this list – on the front page of the Christchurch City Libraries website right at the bottom of the page is a link called Books. This takes you to New in Books, Staff Picks, On Order and then Recent Comments.

Recent Comments deals with any comments or reviews of books from newspapers, library borrowers and library staff.  In a steady flow, these brief comments automatically move from one book to the next book that has been recently reviewed. Clicking on the cover will bring up a synopsis of the story line, publisher details followed by the heading OPINION where all the reviews appear.

Sometimes a certain sentence within a review personally resonates and is all that is needed to push you from apathy to action. Before you realise it, you’ve clicked on the book cover and are placing a hold OR adding to your ‘For Later’ Shelf.  If inclined you can even give the book a star rating.

Anyone out there enjoying the freedom of reviewing the books they read or feeling that they would like to give it a whirl?

Ready for the big guns? Time for eResources Discovery Search

When you have come to your senses and cast aside Wikipedia and Google in the quest for serious research solutions – then the library has what you require. The best research tool to start with is eResources Discovery Search or eDS for short. No matter how tight the deadline is this online treasure is available 24/7.

What makes it so great? Well it provides you with access to most of our eResource collection, articles, eBooks, journals, and photographs, through a single simultaneous search at a single access point. So with one search in one place you can search across huge swathes of information just like Google – but all of the information you find is authoritative and referenced without funny yet distracting cat videos.

For example what if you had to research Donald Trump? Put that name in eDS and these miraculous things happen …

Research starters – at the top of your search results there will be a “research starter” on Trump. There are starters for most topics which is useful if you want a starting point or a brief background.

To the left – tools to refine results to the most relevant. These include:

• Publication date – maybe you only want articles from the last six months?
• Source types – do you need a video, journal article or book on Trump?
• Subject – are you interested in his talk shows or his political campaign?
• Content providers – maybe you want a biography from Gale Biography in Context?

To the right – you get images, videos and newswires you can use or access the library catalogue. If you get stuck there is also Live Online to get you back on track.

Basically eDS is all you need in your answer arsenal and can be used anytime of the day but is most effective when you are really stressed and have a deadline looming. All you need to use this solution to all your research requirements is your library card number and password/PIN. Bookmark it now.

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week 2016

The dates for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) this year are 4 – 11 Hōngongoi (4-11 July) and this year the theme is –

Te reo tautoko – behind you all the way

The phrase “Ākina te reo – using the Māori to show support” is also being used as part of the campaign which includes celebrity ambassadors like Canterbury’s own Andrew Mehrtens making more of an effort to improve their te reo skills.

Te Reo Māori i Te Whare pukapuka – Māori Language at The Library

Christchurch City Libraries – Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi will be celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori with special bilingual storytimes throughout the week. See our events calendar for one near you.

The Wā Kōrero (Storytime) session at New Brighton will have a special guest performer in Kitty Brown, co-author of a series of te reo Māori board books for children.

The kids from Merrin School will be raising the roof at Upper Riccarton Library on Wednesday, 6 July with a rousing kapa haka performance. Not to be missed!

We’re also hosting a special event on The History of Te Reo Māori in Children’s Publishing on Thursday, 7 July at Fendalton Library.

But there’s no need to attend a special event to add te reo Māori to your library experience -why not simply try out the reo Māori option on our self checkout machines?

Te Reo Māori self checkout, Flickr File Reference: 2014-07-10-IMG_0669

Read our Te Kupu o Te Wiki (Word of the week) blog posts.

Or learn a new kupu (word) by reading our bilingual library signs or even just learn to say the Māori name of your local library.

Ngā Rauemi Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Resources

Whaowhia te kete mātauranga – Fill the basket of knowledge

There are many, many resources available for anyone wanting to improve their te reo Māori knowledge. Here are some suggestions for filling your basket.

• Te Reo Māori resources A list of resources in our libraries and online for learning Te Reo Māori.
• Te Reo Māori courses Search CINCH for community courses in the greater Christchurch area.
• 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know This useful resource includes sound files of the words being read out from nzhistory.net.nz.
• Video clips and language learning resources from Ngai Tahu’s Generation Reo.
• Māori words and phrases from Māori Language.Net, includes commands, phrases to use with children, months of the year, greetings and more.
• SuperValue and Fresh Choice supermarkets have te reo posters and colouring in which you can download and print at home.

Hākinakina – Sports

• 50 fun catchphrase flashcards (3.4 MB PDF) Cheer on your team in a uniquely Kiwi way with these phrases from Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori (The Māori Language Commission)
• Ākina Te Reo calendar (1.6 MB PDF) features NZ sporting heroes and important dates in the NZ sporting year.
• Sports phrases from Māori Television
• Information about the haka performed by the All Blacks and videos.

Ngā Rauemi mō Ngā Tamariki – Children’s Resources

• Te Reo Māori resources for kids
• Our bilingual Ready for Reading book “Te Wā Kōrero – Storytime” [22MB PDF]

Download one of our colouring in pages [39KB PNG, 354KB PDF]

Search our catalogue

• Māori songs for children
• Non-fiction in Te Reo Māori
• Children’s books in Te Reo Māori
• Books on vocabulary for children

We’ve also made lists of modern classic picture books in Te Reo Māori and Māori stories for older children.

Follow Brexit with the British Media and PressReader!

Find more newspapers from around the globe with PressDisplay.

Barbie: The Icon

Rightly or wrongly I was determined that my daughter was not going to have Barbie dolls, but by the time our daughter was 3 our house was awash with Barbie and all her paraphernalia. How did this happen?

To try to even things out I presented our son with Barbie – he proceeded to use her spiky limbs as a weapon! We had Malibu Barbie, Night and Day Barbie but best of all was Wedding Day Barbie! Tiny little handbags were lost as were multiple pairs of shoes … bits and pieces of Barbie limbs would appear in odd places. Thankfully all could be replaced by the neverending Barbie gravy train at the local toy store.

In my own way I became quite fond of Barbie, and I grudgingly admitted that she did provide hours of fun for my daughter and her friends.

When Barbie: The Icon arrived in the library I couldn’t help myself, and immediately borrowed it. Perhaps it’s the memories of times past, but I have had a lovely time browsing its full page photos of Barbie dressed in her finest, as well as enjoying the writing.

The focus of the early seventies was to make Barbie increasingly bendable…

and

Barbie has become the interpreter of aesthetic and cultural transformations that have distinguished more than half a century of history, but unlike other myths of contemporaneity, crushed by time passing, she has had the privilege, as a doll to be timeless.

Bendable and timeless! Oh how I envy her.

Some Barbie facts:

• After a 43 year relationship Barbie and Ken break up in 2004. Barbie meets a new man, Blain – a surfer from Australia, however by 2011 Barbie and Ken are back together again. Phew.
• Barbie has had more than 150 careers including being US President, watch out Hillary Clinton!
• It wasn’t until 1980 that a black Barbie doll was created , called… ta da…Black Barbie.
• Fashion designers who have created her outfits have included Donna Karan, Vivienne Westwood, Calvin Klein and Dior.
• Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

Find more Barbie stuff – including movies – in our collection.

Don’t Dream It’s Over: Reimagining Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand – an interview with Emma Johnson of Freerange Press

Everyone’s talking about journalism, how it is changing, and where its future lies. We asked Emma Johnson about the upcoming Freerange Press publication Don’t Dream It’s Over: Reimagining Journalism in Aotearoa New Zealand. This multi-author title includes contributions from Peter Arnett, Brent Edwards, Mihingarangi Forbes, Simon Wilson, Naomi Arnold, Toby Morris, Paula Penfold, Nicky Hager, Morgan Godfery and Beck Eleven. Freerange is crowdfunding to get the book printed, and you can contribute until 2 July. The book will be launched at the WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival 25 to 28 August.

Tell me about yourself and your role at Freerange Press.

Freerange Press is a small cooperative, which means that I get to wear many hats, though my main role is that of editor. As I love books, languages, reading and writing, working as the editor is my favourite part of the job. This entails working with people’s words on several levels: the big picture stuff (a cohesive book or well-structured essay that facilitates the reader’s experience) through to the small, finicky details such as apostrophes and the right choice of word. I also project manage the books through to publication, deal with all of the various contributors (from designers through to sponsors), organise events, do media, sales and admin.

Was there a lightbulb moment that led to Don’t dream it’s over?

After the release of our last multi-author book Once in a Lifetime: City-building after Disaster in Christchurch, Giovanni Tiso (who is one of the other editors for Don’t Dream It’s Over) attended a conference on journalism and came to us with the idea that a similar approach to Once in a Lifetime – where different voices and perspectives are presented on an important topic in a single book – was needed to look at the challenges and opportunities facing journalism. We all agreed!

What do you see as the core purpose of journalism?

For me, journalism’s core purpose is keeping the public informed – through gathering news, the subsequent analysis of that news and bringing important stories or elements of culture into the public sphere. An informed public is essential to an effective democracy and to the notion of consent being attributed to decisions made by those in government.

You’ve got a stellar lineup of contributors – how do you about getting these people on board and managing such a large bunch of writers?

It was a combination of a public call-out and approaching people we really wanted to have on the book. Sarah Illingworth and Giovanni Tiso both work in journalism circles, so they had some really good ideas regarding potential contributors. Barnaby Bennett and myself also brainstormed. Then we explained the project and approached people – many signed on. I think that the number of them indicates the need to examine journalism and the timely nature of the publication.

Can you give some examples of journalism and news sites that are dealing well with the evolving media landscape – who is swimming, who is sinking?

I think sites like Pantograph Punch, which has great arts and culture content, and The Spinoff have responded to the challenging times and are both producing great writing, including long reads, by fantastic contributors. I think that mainstream media and traditional outlets are struggling and the quality of their journalism overall has slipped for a number of reasons. As revenue is limited, they have let lots of experienced staff go, which has emptied out the profession (and in turn the journalism that the public has access to), so they turn to clickbait and such to garner attention amidst the noise. There is more content, but less diversity (some genres are really struggling).

What IS the future of the media landscape in New Zealand?

This is the question that book seeks to explore – there are many responses and points of view on this. Many of the contributors have strong ideas about where it needs to go and what it needs to do – the difficulties lie more around the ‘how’, or more specifically, how we pay for it. As a society we need to look at what we value in journalism, and seek to address these challenges.

Can you tell us a bit about your Pledgeme campaign – can people still contribute?

As making books in New Zealand is expensive, and as we wish to pay everyone (at least a little) for their work, we are crowdfunding to help get us over the line with our cash flow for printing. Our target is $11,500 (budget breakdown is included on our campaign page). We have lots of great rewards too. You can contribute until 2 July.

What do you think about libraries?

Libraries are extremely important to our communities – they are reservoirs of knowledge, and the keepers of memories and the ways we express ourselves. Most importantly, they are cultural hubs that are available and open to all,  for free.

What are you reading/watching/listening to?

I have been reading the Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante – such wonderful writing and translations. I have also just finished Silencing Science by Shaun Hendy – one of the great BWB Texts.

Find out more

• Visit the Freerange Press website
• Like Freerange Press on Facebook
• Follow Freerange Press on Twitter
• Go to the Don’t Dream it’s over PledgeMe page.
• Find books by Freerange Press in our collection.

Get a taster of the upcoming book Don’t dream it’s over – Read Navigating the waters of Māori broadcasting by Mihingarangi Forbes, published on the Pantograph Punch website.

The power of fiction

Can reading fiction make you a better person?

For example, the state of housing in New Zealand is a serious topic that surges and wanes with the seasons but never completely disappears from our radar. Winter always brings about an increase in concern: no one wants to live in a cold, leaky home, and no one can tolerate the idea of homelessness in winter. How can fiction help with this?

This month alone I’ve had books on housing fair jumping off the shelves at me. And it started from the unlikely corner of light fiction, with a novel by Marina Lewycka (she of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian fame.) Her latest novel The Lubetkin Legacy tackles the topic of council housing in England and the modern day sale of previously held council accommodation to the upwardly mobile.

This light-hearted romp introduces us to some thorny housing issues that are apparent worldwide and also raises our awareness of the architect Lubetkin who pioneered the fusion of  social, political and aesthetic factors in the drive for a better world for “ordinary people”.

Next up, the artily compiled Style Council (Inspirational Interiors in Ex-council Homes) fell into my hands. I read this book in a single night. And no, I did not only look at the pictures. It deals with exactly the same problem: the dissolution of council housing in Britain in favour of private ownership. But this time it is from the perspective of the new owners – many of whom have niggly social concerns about what they are doing, but who quite simply cannot afford anything better. The book shows how they transform their new homes, while at the same time, paying respectful homage to the original design philosophies.

Let’s not leave New Zealand out of this. I’ve looked at three books about state housing in New Zealand, here goes:

Only The Houses Remain is a well researched book on an admittedly complex topic, but it is unlikely to attract uninitiated readers like myself. For example, the word “policy” is mentioned fifteen times in the introduction alone – ever the kiss of death for me.

Homes People Can Afford (How to Improve Housing in New Zealand) is very slightly more upbeat. It consists of a series of essays by different contributors, but despite a more appealing cover, it still fails to pull in all the fence-sitters whose support it will likely need for a new housing policy to get the traction it requires.

We Call it Home – A History of State Housing in New Zealand is an older book (2005) but is the most appealing of the three as it focuses more on families and their relationship with state housing. It has more photographic content and as a result, from it I have garnered a better sense of what state housing means to New Zealanders.

What I love about this particular learning curve, is that my improved awareness of a serious topic, like housing, was kick-started by an entertaining novel, set in England and written by a Ukrainian writer.

Never underestimate the power of fiction!

Lumber on an epic scale

I discovered at the weekend with a rapidly beating heart, that one of my all time favourite writers,  Annie Proulx, has released a new novel.

Thirteen years since her last novel, Barkskins is, by all accounts, a rip snorter. According to what I can glean from good old Mr Google, it is 736 pages long, spanning 3 centuries, and tells the story of two French immigrants in the new land of America. They are bound to a feudal lord for three years and are sent to work in the dense and remote forests of the New World in exchange for a promise of land. The book follows them and their descendants from 1693 through to the 21st century and various family members travel all over the world, including to little old New Zealand.

Annie Proulx first caught my eye when I read The Shipping News, another great story of families, set in Newfoundland. I have never forgotten the ways she described snow and ice and barren landscapes and the families and eccentrics who lived amongst it.

Accordion Crimes was also a favourite, charting the lives of immigrants settling in America through the life of an accordion that is handed down through families; Jewish, Irish, Italian and many others.

Both The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain (a short story originally), were also made into movies, both well worth watching.

Ms Proulx, now in her eighties, was a bit of a late bloomer, with her first short stories published in her 50s and her first novel in 1992. She has gone onto to publish 13 works and win over twenty literary prizes, including a Pulitzer prize for The Shipping News.

Her novels and short storys are filled with hard bitten complex characters and landscapes that are wonderful described, I find I get immersed in her stories and I think this is because she herself has led a full and intense life, always on her own terms. She has been married and divorced three times and has raised three sons alone. She worked as postal worker and a waitress, and early on a writer of magazine articles on everything from chilli growers to canoeing.

She has two history degrees, drifted the countryside in her pickup truck, can fly fish, fiddle, and hunt game birds. But for all her life experience, she has said that she likes to write about what she doesn’t know, rather than draw on what she has already experienced. If you haven’t read her books, I strongly recommend them.

So, I’m on the library waiting list, hoping the book arrives quickly so I can again revel in her wondrous prose!

• Find more Annie Proulx titles in our catalogue