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May 25, 2012 | Margaret |
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The sun is shining, the birds are singing, you are lounging in your yard with a cool drink, and the delicious aroma of grilling meat gently wafts in your direction. Yes, fire up the grill, the BBQ is back! This year, why not get inspired to try something new? Check out some of these great books on BBQing:
And get ready to entertain outdoor style this summer:
May 23, 2012 | Margaret |
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Mark this date on your calendar! Saturday June 2nd is the fourth annual Customer Appreciation Day at Agincourt Library. We want to say thank-you to our wonderful library patrons so we're throwing a party!!!!
Come into the branch from 10am-4pm to:
Kids can:
Adults can enter for a chance to win a great TPL tote bag full of books and goodies, and check out our book displays too.
Hope to see you at our Customer Appreciation Day!
May 17, 2012 | Jane |
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When I was a child I had a doll whose factory name was Sweet Tears. My grandfather, apprised of the doll's special talents (Sweet Tears could "drink," and pee, and as her name suggests, cry) was flummoxed. Why, even if you liked dolls, would you want it to do those things? Is it the verisimilitude? The ramping up to later-life caregiving? Or a more obscure attempt to observe ourselves in simplified form, and by imitation parse the differences between real and made?
Which brings me to The Invention of Hugo Cabaret, the bestselling book by Brian Selznick and Academy Award-winning movie. If you've read or seen the story, you know that at its centre is a mysterious automaton what the character namesake Hugo is trying to rebuild. The automaton is a lynchpin in the plot, but is also emblematic of the fascination we have with the "place" where human and technological intersect - very much a theme of the book and movie. The automaton is mysterious, and familiar.
Every age has its version:
Hephaestus, ancient Greek god of fire and manufacture, engineered the kourai khyseai . . . golden robot handmaidens . . .
Homer, Iliad 18.416 ff (translation, Lattimore)
"[Hephaistos left his bellows] took up a heavy stink in his hand, and went to the doorway limping. And in support of their master he moved his attendants. These are golden, and in appearance like living young women. There is intelligence in their hearts, and there is speech in them and strength, and from the immortal gods they have learned how to do things. These stirred nimbly in support of their master."
Al-Jazari (1136-1206) wrote The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, which describes how to make different automata, including a robot band!
Mary Shelly explored the nexus between human and manufactured human in her 1818 novel Frankenstein.
Our modern versions of automata are whimsical: "Don't Tase Me Bro'!" . . .
Wrouggghh! . . .
. . . and look forward to an age that sees the distinctions between organism and machine blur yet more.
The new James Gleick book called The Information: a History, a Theory, a Flood also addresses - with extraordinary scope that includes chapters on language, bio-chemistry, cybernetics, physics, math - the ways in which humans and other organisms are more like machines than we once imagined.
May 16, 2012 | Margaret |
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Do you live in the Steeles L'Amoreaux area? Want to make a difference in your community? Come to the 3rd Annual Youth Speaks event at L'Amoreaux Community Centre on June 15th 5-10pm. The conference is for young men and women from the Scarborough area. It is free! Sign up by June 1st to slyecoordinator@slye.ca or call 416-460-7755.
May 11, 2012 | Margaret |
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In case you hadn't noticed, Mother's Day is coming up soon, and what better way to celebrate after spending some time with your special someone than curling up with a good book about Moms good and bad! Check out the trials and tribulations of Moms, expectant Moms and their families in these funny, touching and intense reads:
Or try some Non-fiction about celebrity Moms and daughters:
Many of these titles are also available as eBooks or eAudiobooks from Overdrive.
Happy Mother's Day!
May 4, 2012 | Margaret |
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If you're at the Agincourt branch for the exciting Chinese Homelands Festival events on Saturday, May 5, or just visiting the library this May, check out our Asian Heritage Month displays.
The second-floor display highlights books on Asian history, art, and architecture, including titles like:
Carlos Rojas' The Great Wall: A Cultural History ;
Bindia Thapar's Introduction to Indian Architecture ;
Melissa Chiu's Asian Art Now ;
and David Elliott's Bye Bye Kitty!!! : Between Heaven and Hell in Contemporary Japanese Art
The display in the first floor rotunda area features colourful cookbooks from a variety of Asian cuisines, great craft books to keep you busy this spring, and travel books to inspire future treks.
