NYPL Blogs: The Ticketless Traveler

Traveling Vicariously with Pico Iyer

Hyacinth Persad, Mid-Manhattan, Popular Library — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:21:32 -0400

Fresh from my mid-winter cruise, and a bit disappointed because the ship did not make one of its appointed stops in the Cayman Islands due to stormy weather, I was looking for something new to read, especially if it had to do with travel. Back on terra firma, and ignoring my "For Later" shelf (books to read later), a feature which I use on the New York Public Library's newly acquired interface to the catalog, Bibliocommons, I picked up Paul Theroux's The Tao of Travel. In it, he surveys travel writings and includes excerpts from a variety of writers, including the essayist and novelist, Pico Iyer. A short time after completing Theroux's book, I happened to see that Pico Iyer was to be interviewed by Paul Holdengräber, director of LIVE from the NYPL, on February 7th, 2012. My interest soared, because I had just read about him.

On the evening of the LIVE from the NYPL program, Pico Iyer discussed his latest book with Paul Holdengräber, The Man Within My Head. He spoke of how Graham Greene (1904 - 1991) had a lifelong influence on him. Greene's first published novel, in 1929, was The Man Within. I am interested in finding parallels, so I've begun reading Iyer's works before delving into Graham Greene's ouevre. The first book that I read was Cuba And The Night, a work of fiction. My feeling is that because Iyer made trips to Cuba, of some duration and frequency, that this enabled his deft insight into Cuban culture. The result was a work of fiction revolving around ordinary people's lives, their relationships to relatives and friends, living both in Cuba and the United States.

The next work of fiction, Abandon: A Romance, I read slowly. A romance develops, but furthermore it becomes interwoven into the mystery-adventure, surrounding the search by an Islamic scholar of the poet Rumi's lost texts. The reader is taken back and forth from Iran to Southern California—a statement on the Copyright Page, makes it clear, that Pico Iyer never visited Iran, and that everything he wrote was not based on actual events.

Taking a break from Iyer's fiction, I read The Lady And The Monk. The reader is informed, in the most romantic of ways, how it came about that Iyer makes his home in Kyoto, Japan, when not living in California or travelling. The writing is mesmerizing, and I like how Iyer includes foreign-language words, into this, and each of his books I've read so far. For instance, we may know that Moshi-moshi means hello, and, Arigato, means thank you, but Iyer weaves many more Japanese words and phrases into this book. Iyer has lived in Japan for many years, and has said that he does not speak fluent Japanese.

Another non-fiction work is The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home. This book consists of a series essays. One theme, revolves around the coming-together of different cultures arriving at L.A. International Airport, which he describes as being its own city. Another theme surrounds an international business traveller, who holds several plane tickets and more than one passport at one time. What undergirds these, and other essays in this book, is that of being in a state of flux, or rootlessness. As you read them, you may even get a feeling of déjà vu.

Currently, I am reading Sun After Dark: Flights Into The Foreign, a work of non-fiction. As I read this book of themed essays, it strikes me that the first part of the book's title, Sun After Dark, could be read as metaphor for countries that have endured, each in their own way; whether it's the current Occupation of Tibet, or war-torn Cambodia, where over forty thousand people have lost limbs due to land mines. Iyer inures himself of how people in a country live, puts it into current and historical contexts, and the results are spectacularly compelling narratives.

I eagerly await the reading of Tropical Classical: Essays From Several Directions, Video Night In Kathmandu: And Other Reports from the Not-so-Far Near East, and, Falling Off the Map: Some Lonely Places of the World.

For biographical information on Pico Iyer, visit the New York Public Libary's Articles and Databases page, and select the Biography In Context database, which is accessible both onsite from all Branch Library Locations, and remotely with your New York Public Library Card and pin number. While still on the Articles and Databases page, you may also choose the Academic One File database to read Iyer's essays and articles from magazines and journals such as Time, Harper's, Times Literary Supplement, Partisan Review, American Scholar, and Iowa Review. Iyer is also a contributor to the New York Review of Books; the online version of this magazine may only be accessed when onsite at any of the New York Public Library's locations, using the Full-Text Electronic Journals Page.

The Ticketless Traveler: Paris in the Springtime

Melanie Locay, AskNYPL — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:40:23 -0400

Paris in the Spring just sounds fantastic doesn’t it? It could be argued that adding "Springtime" to anything can make it sound lovely, just ask The Producers... though Paris alone is a good selling point. We can begin planning our trip of a lifetime by researching affordable travel deals in the most recent issues of Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, full electronic access is available onsite at any NYPL location. I was able to find a helpful article published in the May 2011 issue that is still quite relevant to my travel needs: “Eat Your Way Through Paris” by Claudine Ko. Is there really any other way through Paris?

Then there is the matter of the French. We may encounter a few of them in between all of those meals. We should be able to chat them up. Perhaps we could even come off as actual Parisians that have gotten a bit turned around while heading to the Musée du Louvre or Bibliothèque nationale, as opposed to silly Americans seeking directions. With an active New York Public Library Card you can create a FREE account in Mango Languages and then learn français on your computer or with the Mango Languages App on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. They offer interactive courses in almost forty languages, including Pirate. We can begin with French and possibly move on to Pirate depending on the mode of transportation we choose to get to Paris.

When packing for a trip I like to know the climate of the destination, both weather and political. Press Display provides access to top French newspapers, for example Aujourd'hui en France, Le Figaro and Le Monde. If you’re not yet quite confident enough in your French you can also access The Wall Street Journal Europe through Press Display. You can access the Press Display database from home with an active New York Public Library card number.

I possibly may not make it to Paris this Spring. Instead, once again, I will most likely find myself on the couch relying on Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris to satisfy my desire to roam the streets.

No matter your travel or staycation plans this Spring the aforementioned resources can definitely get you off on the right start. If you do happen to find yourself in the City of Light remember to send me a post card... and a baguette... and a lot of cheese. Au revoir!

Print and DVD

E-format

Frommer's Paris Day by Day
Search "paris" at ebooks.nypl.org to find even more
Foreign Language Study - French (eAudio)
Browse Paris Rough Guide 2007 online through Gale Virtual Reference Library (log in with your library card)

The Ticketless Traveler: Ireland

Kerri Wallace, Mulberry Street Branch Library — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:20:07 -0500

It was 7 a.m. when I arrived in Dublin, and I looked greasy, unrested, and ready to hurl after the vegetarian Indian curry that was my in-flight 3 a.m. "dinner." I unhappily waited my turn through customs and prepared for the official behind the plexiglass panel to ask me the standard questions. I answered the gentleman with the demeanour of a zombie, but suddenly perked up when he made a cheerful, sing-song assumption I wasn't expecting:

"You're here to meet a man!"

I denied his assertion with several tries and laughter, but he cut me off by officially letting me into Dublin with a stamp and a wink. I walked through Dublin airport romantically contemplating my solo trip with a sigh — but unfortunately, those trips only happen in the movies.

I've loved Ireland for as long as I can remember, which stems from the many stories shared about my grandparents growing up in Newry, County Down. I once tried to convince my first grade teacher that I was an excellent candidate for ESL (English as a second language) because I "knew" Irish and demonstrated it with "top of the morning to ya!" My infatuation was established, but also proved that any of my future attempts to get out of class would be futile. After years of waiting, writing school reports about my family's history, and glancing at photos, I finally crossed the pond for the first time in 2007 and went back again three years later on my own. The land is beautiful, the people are hospitable, and the sheep are abundant. But if that isn't enough to convince you to visit the Emerald Isle, perhaps a few of my favorite spots will.

1. Dublin — First, let me start off this places-to-go in Ireland post with this bit of advice: go in the spring. Last year I went to Ireland in December to celebrate my birthday, and, like most of my traveling weather luck, it snowed — a very rare event for Ireland. Lucky me. Dublin is a great walking city with plenty of excellent sites to visit. Make sure to visit Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, Dublin Writers Museum, Dublin Castle, the General Post Office, and the James Joyce Center, to name a few. Walking tours are a great option as well!

2. Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth — On my group tour in 2007, our immediate stop after landing in Dublin was our visit to Knowth in the Boyne Valley, where I was nominated to crawl through a small muddy passageway, as I was the shortest in the group. Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth are ancient neolithic mounds which were the center of farming communities and held spiritual significance. Newgrange is the most famous of the three and is known for its winter solstice ceremony held every December 21. My birthday happens to be on December 21 and I thought this might be a great activity, but unfortunately they don't let just anyone go. This festivity is extremely popular and tickets are given away on a lottery system.

3. Giant's Causeway — Ireland's most legendary figure is Fionn mac Cumhaill, or Finn MacCool. There are many different tales of Finn, but one in particular is his residence at Giant's Causeway where, you guessed it, he was a giant and did giant things, like challenging other giants to fights and creating the Causeway by building a bridge to Scotland to, well, fight a giant over there. Scientists say that the Causeway was created as the result of a volcanic eruption. Also in the area is the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, which dangles about 100 feet above jagged rocks.

4. Ulster American Folk Park — For New Yorkers, Ellis Island is a symbol of the millions of immigrants who came from various parts of Europe and the world. Well, they had to start somewhere. For those with Irish ancestors, the Ulster American Folk Park explores the history of the Irish emigration to America.

4. Glenveagh National Park — If you ever wondered what paradise might look like, then stop by the gardens at Glenveaugh National Park. If you're short on time, skip the castle tour and explore the gardens or climb to the top of the hill (located behind the castle) to get an amazing view of the lake and its surroundings.

5. Ben Bulben and Yeats Country — Driving along the roads of Ireland (if that is your choice of travel), you will pass beautiful green mountains and fields, but if you venture into Sligo, your eyes will pop as you look upon the plateau, Ben Bulben. For hikers, climbers, and even sheep, this is a great place to stop and take the challenge of climbing to the top. Be sure to also stop and visit the grave of William Butler Yeats. If you're lucky you might catch one of his faerie folk.

6. Croagh Patrick — From the beginning of my 2007 trip there was non-stop talk of our soon-to-be walk up Croagh Patrick. Since the average age on the bus tour was 60+ I was picturing a hill, but when we arrived in the beautiful village of Westport, County Mayo, I turned to my good friend Seana and said "That's a mountain!" Croagh Patrick is known for its once-a-year pilgrimage where thousands climb up the mountain, some on their bare feet. At the top there is an amazing view of Clew Bay.

There are plenty of sites that I would love to include on this list, but since this is just a blog post and not a guidebook I'll stop right here. If you would like to prepare yourself before heading to Ireland, here are some of my favorite writers, films, and other resources that are available at NYPL.

Novels:

1916 by Morgan Llywelyn
The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle
The Country Girls Trilogy by Enda O'Brien
A Potrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
Trinity by Leon Uris

Movies:

Music:

You have to prepare yourself and learn some lyrics to traditional Irish folk songs. Everyone sings in Ireland. Try the Rough Guide to Irish Music.

Happy travels if you venture to Ireland, and "May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back."

Sannu Niger!

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:58:00 -0500

The capture last week of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi who, disguised as a Tuareg, was trying to flee to Niger — where one of his brothers and some high-ranking officials have found refuge — has turned a spotlight on a country few people have heard of.

“Niger? You mean Nigeria?” No Niger, the largest country in West Africa. “The country of the Nigerians?” No, the country of the Nigeriens.

I have visited Niger several times and always came back with wonderful memories... and exceptional crafts. It is one of the most fascinating places I know.

Sannu (hello) Niger!

With over 490,000 square miles, Niger covers more territory than Nigeria. But the latter’s 167 million inhabitants make it the seventh most populous country in the world while the former is home to just above 15 million people. Not surprising since the Sahara desert occupies more than two-thirds of Niger’s landmass. The landlocked country is surrounded by seven sometimes difficult neighbors: Algeria, Libya, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Nigeria, and Chad.

A Tuareg rebellion that lasted for years; famines in 2005 and 2009 and food insecurity foreseen for 2012; the presence of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; and the reinsertion of 200,000 Nigerien emigrants who fled Libya empty-handed are some of the issues the country has been facing. Moreover, at the UN General Assembly, President Mahamadou Issoufou, a mining engineer, has warned that the circulation, in the desert, of heavy weapons following the Libyan revolution could pose serious threats not only to his country but also to the region and beyond.

But Niger is more than the sum of its problems. I love its arid environment and the desert has some extraordinary sandscapes, however it is the people I find remarkable. Nigerien pageantry is unparalleled. It is colorful yet restrained; mysterious and friendly.

I vividly remember the astonishing sight of thousands of men crossing a bridge over the River Niger, in total silence. Hausa on horseback, their boubous (kaftans) and turbans shining in the sun; Tuareg on camels, with only their eyes visible; and Bororo on foot, sporting long braids and delicately embroidered clothes. It had taken them days and for some, weeks, to reach the capital, Niamey, for a cultural festival.

An otherwise poor country whose main resource is uranium, Niger is rich in culture and diversity. The Tuareg, people of the Sahara whose men wear face veils but women do not, are incomparable silversmiths. Their delicate, abstract jewelry is too hard to resist. The Wodaabe or Bororo, Fulani nomads, are renowned for the gerewol, a distinctive yearly event. Young men, painted and dressed up, dance in front of young women in a male beauty pageant that has no parallel in the world. The Hausa, majestic horsemen whose brightly caparisoned horses are a sight to see, look like medieval knights.

One could imagine that Niger lives in a time warp with camels in the streets and people who look like they have just stepped out of a historical epic; but these same people have a cell phone in their pocket. Young entrepreneurs are opening high-tech companies; students back from universities in Morocco, Great Britain, France, or the US are creating new businesses; and the country will extract its first barrel of oil next week.

On the cultural front, Niger has emerged as a leading force in African hip-hop. Fearless rappers tackle political and social issues. High fashion may not come to mind when talking about Niamey but the city is home to celebrated designer Alphadi, called the Prince of the Desert, whose creations are shown all over the world.

If "land of contrasts" were not a cliche, I would apply it to Niger.

Books

Ousseina Alidou, Engaging Modernity
Alison Behnke, Niger in Pictures
Samuel Decalo, Historical Dictionary of Niger
Zarma Folktales of Niger

Music

Etran Finatawa - Bororo and Tuareg contemporary music

Photos

Gold, Freedom, Faith, and Baroque in Brazil

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:26:47 -0400

I had not slept for 34 hours. After a bad flight and two long bus trips, I was hiking, ecstatic, in a muddy mine. I touched the walls from top to bottom. Perhaps “he” had put his hands there too. I was walking in the steps of Galanga, renamed Francisco, and known as Chico Rei (King Chico).

Story -or legend-has it that 270 years ago, Chico Rei, believed to have been a ruler in Congo, his family, and others were forced aboard a slave ship. The Middle Passage took his wife and children, but he and one son survived. They landed in Brazil and were sent to Vila Rica (Rich Town, founded in 1711) in the region of Minas Gerais, the center of the gold rush. For a few years, half of the extracted gold in the world came from its hills — the city is at 4,000 feet elevation — and rivers.

Like another 21,000 enslaved people (97 percent of them African-born) Chico Rei, it is said, labored in the mines. Working every Sunday for himself, he bought his son’s freedom, then his own, and later purchased the Encardadeira mine — where he used to work. With its benefits, he freed a large number of Africans who in turn bought the freedom of others. They built a church dedicated to the Nubian princess St. Iphigenia. The church is located on the highest hill so that it could be seen from everywhere. Inside are representations of two other black saints: Benedict and Antônio de Noto. Fact or fiction — and there is a lot of the latter, as Chico Rei has gained mythical status and his very existence is in dispute for lack of evidence— it is said that Africans went to mass with gold powder in their hair and washed it away in the baptismal fonts.

Chico Rei is credited by the brotherhood with being the founder of the Congado — a religious and cultural dance and procession that culminates in the coronation of the king and queen of Congo — in Minas Gerais. Congados continue to be held every year at the end of October, on January 1, and on May 13, which marks the abolition of slavery in 1888.

Getting to St. Iphigenia is not easy; I kept on sliding downhill, and though I am fit, I was out of breath. As I sat down on the steps, I reflected on the horrible toll that the gold “adorning” so many Baroque churches in Brazil and Portugal took on Africans and their descendants. Perhaps this is why there is so little gold in their church.

I visited another black house of worship. In the low part of town, the black brotherhood Our Lady of the Rosary — active since 1715 — erected a quaint, rounded edifice called Our Lady of the Rosary for the Blacks. Started in 1753, it was finished in 1785. Its altars display images of the black saints Iphigenia, Elesbao (Ethiopia), Benedict, and Antônio de Noto.

Vila Rica was a haut-lieu of art, music, poetry, and architecture, as well as the birthplace of the most famous Brazilian Baroque sculptor, Antônio Francisco Lisboa (ca.1730-1814). The son of a Portuguese sculptor and an enslaved African, he became known as Aleijadinho (little cripple), as leprosy ravaged his body and took away his fingers. He worked with his tools strapped to his wrists. Aleijadinho’s masterpiece, as an architect and sculptor, is the church São Francisco de Assis, designed in 1766. He died poor and forgotten, but there is an Aleijadinho Museum in his hometown.

In 1823, after Independence, Vila Rica became Ouro Preto (Black Gold) an apt, if involuntary, description of who made the city so fabulously rich (actually the gold ore, mixed with silver turned black when exposed to the air). It is an extraordinary 18th-century town of red tiled roofs and green hills that looks very much today as it did in Chico Rei and Aleijadinho’s time. Walking up and own its vertiginously steep and slippery cobblestoned streets is demanding but rewarding. Every house, fountain, bridge, and church (there are 23 of them), is a piece of art and will remain so: the city has been on Unesco’s World Heritage List since 1980.

To Find Out More

To learn how many people were deported from West Central Africa to the Americas by the transatlantic slave trade, and how many Africans arrived in Brazil, see The Abolition of the Slave Trade: The Forgotten Story.

Books and CDs

NYPL holds several dozen books in Portuguese about Vila Rica/Ouro Preto, slavery in Minas Gerais, Chico Rei, and Aleijadinho. Here are a few titles in English:

Laird W. Bergad, Slavery and the Demographic and Economic History of Minas Gerais, Brazil, 1720-1888
Elizabeth W. Kiddy, Blacks of the Rosary: Memory and History in Minas Gerais, Brazil
Graciela Mann, Twelve Prophets of Aleijadinho
Arthur Ramos, The Negro in Brazil
In 1933, Brazilian classical composer Francisco Mignone created Maracatu de Chico Rei, a ballet for choir and orchestra inspired by Congados.
Videos

2011 Congado in Ouro Preto
Another Congado
Sweet homage to Chico Rei from the children of Ouro Preto, in front of Our Lady of the Rosary for the Blacks

The Ticketless Traveler: Barbados, Bajans, and Burns

Sherri Liberman, Mulberry Branch — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:10:51 -0400

Crystal clear, turquoise water. White powdery sand. Intoxicating rum punch.

Second degree sunburn.

What do all these things have in common? Just a smattering of experiences I recently acquired during a six-day trip to Barbados.

The Serrano ham-shaped island, about twice the size of Washington, D.C., is home to a population of roughly 280,000 people, making it one of the more populous Caribbean islands. Tourism plays a prominent role in the economy, as does manufacturing, but the nation still holds to the legacy of the sugar cane harvest and molasses production. I bought along with me to read on this trip A History of Barbados: From Amerindian Settlement to Nation-State by Hilary Beckles, which covers the political history of Barbados including earliest settlements, colonialism, slavery, independence from the UK (in 1966), and modern parliamentary government.

I saw much of the country from the windows of local buses, and spent a fair amount of time waiting at bus stations for arrivals and departures. I was charmed by the names of destinations such as "Fairy Valley" and "Pie Corner," and impressed by the orderly manner in which people lined up to board the vehicles, a far cry from the push n' shove 'em of the MTA.

When I wasn't riding buses and gawking at gorgeous landscape, I was lying prone on one or another of the gorgeous beaches that ring the Caribbean and Atlantic coastlines of Barbados. Despite the claims of my SPF 50 sunscreen, I managed to get a scorching sunburn on the entirety of my legs. The burn got me thinking about that hole in the ozone layer, so I placed a hold on the environmental treatise The End of Nature by Bill McKibben when I returned from my trip.

The interior of Barbados is hilly and covered in forested limestone, rich in flora and fauna. On a trip to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve I encountered peacocks, a bearded fig tree, tortoises, children running after and smacking the shells of tortoises, and a troop of green monkeys. One monkey cleverly divulged the presence of a banana, nestled in my friend's bag, with a swift and stealthy movement. You need not travel anywhere in particular on the island to hear the chorus of whistling tree frogs, which begin their nightly serenade at dusk until dawn. For a treat for the eyes, check out 300 Frogs: A Visual Reference to Frogs and Toads From Around the World by Chris Mattison.

Sightseeing and beachcombing are great, but no vacation is complete without copious amounts of food and drink. Fishcakes were abundant (actually more like fried fish spheres, but that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as nicely), as was to-die-for macaroni pie, and rum, the national spirit, appearing in rum punches and frothy daquiris. To explore more of the cuisine of the Caribbean, check out Caribbean Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes by Rita G. Springer.

We happened to be visiting Barbados just before thee annual Crop Over celebration, which marks the end of the sugar cane harvest with Carnival festivities. In conjunction with Crop Over, we caught the Pic-O-De-Crop calypso contest at Bridgetown's stately Kensington Oval — the cricket stadium. This year's monarch was a contestant named Popsicle. Much of calypso music has a tradition of social commentary, dressed up in outlandish performance. Check out some classic calypso here.

As a librarian, of course I had to stop by the public library in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. I was charmed to see a bona fide card catalog still in use (alongside a bank of Internet PCs, of course). What made this library special was a thorough collection of West Indian literature, both fiction and non-fiction. One title that fascinated me was a travel book called A Black Woman's Odyssey Through Russia and Jamaica: A Narrative of the Life and Travels of Ms. Nancy Prince. Ms. Prince was a free African-American woman living in Massachusettes in the decades before the Civil War. Working for abolitionist and feminist causes, she eventually moved to czarist Russia with her husband, Nero Prince, who came to Russia as a sailor and served in the Imperial Court. After returning to America a widow ten years later, Nancy Prince then set off to Jamaica as a missionary to work with newly emancipated Jamaicans. A travel odyssey indeed.

Postcards from Maine

Sherri Liberman, Mulberry Branch — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:49:32 -0400

The Maine of my imagination finally became a reality this summer, with a brief road trip to the land of many lobster.

After the fourth hour of highway driving towards our destination, entertainment hit a plateau. "What's the state motto of Maine?" I wondered aloud to my co-pilot.

"Dirigo," it was revealed in Google. "Which means 'I direct.' But the license plate motto is Vacationland." The former motto harkens back to a time when the North Star was still the trusty mariner's guide, and the state just joined the Union. And by extension, the delights of seaside shores, locally brewed ale, and stunning parkland had effectively guided us to Vacationland.

We first meandered along the Southern coast of Maine, with forays into the towns of Ogunquit, Wells, York, and Kennebunkport. This region boasts The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, and seeing the serene coastline and the wealth of waterfowl that it harbors makes it clear why Rachel Carson felt strongly enough to write Silent Spring.

Next we hit Portland, Maine. My friend and I had the pleasure of being scolded by an eagle-eyed security guard from the Portland Museum of Art for photographing the artwork (the tiny slash camera symbol, located across the wall from said objects, was out of the scope of our vision.) But before the harsh security crackdown, we managed to take in some great artworks, including Maine's own Marsden Hartley.

After Portland we headed up to the region known as Downeast, destined for Acadia National Park. The park is so far East, that the top of Acadia's Cadillac Mountain is the first location in the USA to receive the earliest rays of the sun. Acadia's scenic beauty has not surprisingly made it the location of at least seven feature films, including John Irving's The Cider House Rules.

Our hotel near Acadia National Park didn't have a working TV, so this presented a good opportunity to catch up on some reading. I bought along Ruth Reichl's memoir of being an undercover food critic for the New York Times, called Garlic and Sapphires.

Food was never far from the forefront of our minds, and eating lobster was one of the Maine reasons we came to visit. Check out the essay Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace (also available online at gourmet.com), where he truly captures the spirit of the annual Maine Lobster Festival.

For further reading, check out some of these other famous Maine authors:

The Ticketless Traveler: Into the Woods

Kerri Wallace, Mulberry Street Branch Library — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 07:35:49 -0400

"We just passed two huge black bears on the trail. They're not cute."

My hike in Harriman State Park started off with the only concern being the chance of rain and ticks. I had packed my 99 cent rain poncho and doused myself in OFF bug spray to the amusement of my friends. I could handle seeing snakes, bucks, and other wild animals, but ticks were the last thing I wanted to find on my body or in my hair. My fears soon changed when we passed a father and daughter who mentioned the two black bears they had come upon, which unfortunately happened to be in the direction we were headed. On we pressed, clapping our hands and serenading the hiding bears with today's greatest hits and a new song we named "We Love Bears." Fortunately for us, we did not run into the uncuddly bears.

I live within driving distance of many great trails and parks, but have never taken advantage of the free activities that are available. A few years ago, a friend and I decided to take a walk at the Ramapo Reservation on a beautiful spring day. After strolling around for an hour, we realized that we had no idea where we were, but managed to back track to our starting point. It was during that scary moment of feeling lost that I realized there's a lot more to hiking then just throwing on a pair of sneakers and walking around aimlessly. Soon after, I became obsessed wtih this outdoor activity.

Hiking is a great way to clear your mind and is usually an inexpensive getaway. But don't let living in New York City stop you from escaping this urban jungle and finding the great outdoors. Listed below are some great resources and tips to get you out on the trails.

Hiking readling list:

AMC's Best Day Hikes Near New York City: Four-Season Guide to 50 of the Best Trails in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey by Dan Case
Appalachian Trail Guide to New York-New Jersey by Daniel Chazin
The Hiking Companion by Michael W. Robbins
Hiking the Road to Ruins: Day Trips and Camping Adventures to Iron Mines, Old Military Sites, and Things Abandoned in the New York City Area—And Beyond by David A. Steinberg.
A Journey North: One Woman's Story of Hiking the Appalachian Trail by Adrienne Hall
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Online resources:

A few of my favorite hikes:

Appalachian Trail / Major Welch Trail (strenuous but amazing views!). These directions suggest that you start at the Major Welch Trail, which is very steep and challenging. As an alternate suggestion, you can also start at the Appalachian Trail, take in the view at the top of Bear Mountain, and come back down the way you came up. For the non-hikers, you can also drive up to Perkins Tower.

1777 E Doodletown Bridal Loop from Route 9W (easy to moderate). I just love saying Doodletown. Doodletown was an old mining community and you can still see remains of the foundations. If you see a sign for the waterfall, be sure to take a quick detour and check it out!

The Great Stairs (challenging). Like all hikes, but most importantly this particular hike, it is very important that you wear very good hiking boots. The Palisades are very steep when climbing up and down. The rock scrambles and stairs can be very slippery, especially during the fall season.

Shore Trail / Long Path Loop via Carpenters Trail (moderate). Walk along the Hudson River on a beautiful day! The Carpenters Trail is very easy to miss, but even if you decide to just walk along the Shore Trail it will be a really great experience. If you're looking for a good workout, the Carpenters Trail will lead you to the top of the Palisades' cliffs.

Wild things are out there:

Black bears
Coyotes
Deer
Poison ivy, oak, and sumac
Snakes
Ticks and other creepy crawlers
Smithsonian Wild (Hidden camera shots of animals in the wild, includes the Adirondacks of New York)

Be sure to check out some of these suggested books and websites so you know what to bring and what to wear. Just remember to be prepared, be aware of your surroundings, stay hydrated, and have lots of fun! It's the same advice my mother gave me when I started working in the city.

A Reading List for New Orleans

Karen Rose Ginman, Mid-Manhattan Library — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 08:45:15 -0400

Regina Spektor's music, summer nights, and NYC are intertwined inside of me. As the air grows warm, I find myself listening to her music as she sings of summer in the city and selling butterflies on street corners. This summer, I am attending my first American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans. I am bursting with pure joy to visit such a literary and musical city while attending my first professional conference. I have had a few summers in this city, and now I am ready to experience a small slice of another.

To prepare for the conference, I am reading books and articles with New Orleans as a theme. I am also watching films, television shows, and documentaries about New Orleans. I don't pretend that reading and watching these things will help me to completely understand the city. Yet, I want to give the city and the people who make it so wonderful the respect they deserve by preparing for my visit. I will just be a "tourist" (a terrible thing for most New Yorkers) in New Orleans, but at least I will be a well-read tourist.

As for the list below, I have inlcuded things that I have already read or seen, along with things that I am currently reading (and will be reading when I get back). The conference starts with the Keynote speaker, Dan Savage, who is a sex columnist, author, editor, and activist, whom I admire as much as Ira Glass (and I didn't think that was possible). I have included Mr. Savage on my list because he is funny, admirable, and worthy of recommendation. Please comment on the blog and include more suggestions for the list!

Dan Savage:

Viewing List:

Treme
When the Levees Broke
True Blood: Seasons 1, 2 & 3
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Easy Rider
Panic in the Streets
The Skeleton Key

Non-Fiction Reading List:

Fiction Reading List:

Music:

Food:

Articles by Francis Lam (disclaimer: we have a mutual friend, but I have not met Mr. Lam, so I am still partially objective):

For a more complete list of works with New Orleans in mind, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_in_fiction

The Ticketless Traveler: Ohio

Lauren Lampasone, Reference and Research Services — Wed, 25 May 2011 06:31:07 -0400

Ohio is not that far from New York... two or three states away, depending how you drive. But you wouldn't know it by talking to any native New Yorker. It might as well be Iowa, or Idaho, they all kind of sound the same. "Flyover country."

Ohio is considered part of the Midwest, though it seems strange to me to be lumped in with North Dakota and Missouri, places I've never been. Ohio is the huge metal buckle of the rust belt, a swath of former industrial cities that surround the Great Lakes. I hail from the rubber capitol of the world, and my grandfathers worked for competing tire manufacturers.

And you know what? There are hundreds, thousands of expat Ohioans in New York City. I mean I bet there are. We don't go around bragging about it, even though we totally could.

Fiction

The Coast of Akron by Adrienne Miller: a fantastical parallel-universe kind of Akron in which the wealthy Haven family has fallen from grace.
The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace: there is an even more weirdly unrecognizable near-future version of Cleveland (it abuts the Great Ohio Desert, or G.O.D.) in DFW's first novel.
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson.
Other writers from the Buckeye state: Ambrose Bierce, O. Henry, Toni Morrison, Dawn Powell, James Thurber.
Cartoonist Bill Watterson.

Poetry

Hart Crane, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes... or log in to Columbia Grangers and do an Advanced Search with Ohio as the subject.

A map of literary Ohio.

Nonfiction

Ian Frazier is an Ohio to NYC transplant and a former NYPL Cullman Fellow! He writes for the New Yorker, and has published numerous books of essays and longer nonfiction.
Harvey Pekar wrote autobiographical comic books in collaboration with artists like R. Crumb and others.
All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House by David Giffels: documents the restoration of a Gilded Age mansion by the journalist and former writer for Beavis and Butt-Head.
Bags That Rock: Knitting on the Road with Kelley Deal: Listen to the Breeders while you knit.
The Ohio Knitting Mills by Steven Tatar with Denise Grollmus: sweater patterns and historical materials from the archives of the Ohio Knitting Mills, producer for many major department stores in the mid-20th century.
More Ohio Social Life and Customs and Ohio History & Culture - the auto industry, the Browns, Soap Box Derby, Hopewell culture...

Music

Cleveland is home to the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum; according to legend DJ Alan Freed first popularized the term "rock & roll" there and it was the site of the first concert. For more, try Hang On Sloopy: The History of Rock & Roll in Ohio by Nick Talevski. Some famous (and infamous) musicians from Ohio include:

Ohio is a Piano - map of 88 counties that you can play like an instrument.

Movies

American Splendor - also a comic book series written by the aforementioned Harvey Pekar.
Howard the Duck - really just included because of what may be the best library subject heading ever? "Ducks -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Drama"
Major League - for all you Charlie Sheen/Tribe fans out there
Stranger than Paradise - A journey from NYC → Cleveland → Florida, directed by Akronite Jim Jarmusch
Welcome to Collinwood - ensemble crime comedy caper

Television

The Drew Carey Show
Ghoulardi (also known as P.T. Anderson's dad; see Wikipedia entry)
Glee
Hot in Cleveland
WKRP in Cincinnati

Food

Sauerkraut Balls, Cincinnati Chili, Buckeye Candy, "pop."

Travel

Forbes Travel Guide: Southern Great Lakes
Lost Ohio: More Travels into Haunted Landscapes, Ghost Towns, and Forgotten Lives by Randy McNutt
Ohio Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff by Sandra Gurvis
Ohio WPA Guides

Ohio Society of New York, I know you're out there. What else would you add to this list?

Do you enjoy The Ticketless Traveler? You might also like State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America and Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers.

The Ticketless Traveler: Louisville, Kentucky

Corinne Neary, Jefferson Market Library — Tue, 03 May 2011 13:30:18 -0400

The first Saturday of May is approaching, and with it comes derby day in Louisville, Kentucky, the city where I was born. It's a time when celebrities flock to town, the bars stay open all night, and the nation focuses on Louisville for the two minutes the Kentucky Derby takes to run. These books, films, and recording artists will give you a little bit of Kentucky any time of year.

Hunter S. Thompson. Born and raised in Louisville, he penned the 1970 article "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved." Johnny Depp, also a Kentucky native, played Thompson in the film adaptation of his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Daisy Buchanan was a Louisville debutante. When she married Tom Buchanan, he reserved an entire floor of the Seelbach hotel for his guests.

Musicians connected with Louisville

Will Oldham. This Louisville native has been putting out records since 1993, first under the name of Palace Brothers, then as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

Some Louisvillians contend that Guns N' Roses' song "Paradise City" is in fact about Louisville. While there doesn't seem to be any real evidence of this, I choose to believe it.

Slint. A Lousville band from the 1990s. The cover of their album Spiderland is a photo taken by Will Oldham.

Silver Jews. David Berman's project, with Pavement's Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich, among others. In the song "Tennessee" Berman sings "You know Louisville is death; We've got to up and move, cause the dead do not improve."

She's not associated with Louisville, but it would be impossible to publish a Kentucky list without "Butcher Holler" native Loretta Lynn. A Kentucky hero, she has been releasing albums since 1963.

Sissy Spacek earned an Academy Award for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) and Tommy Lee Jones played her husband, Doolittle Lynn. In "Story of my life" on her 2004 album Van Lear Rose (with The White Stripes' Jack White), she sang about the film: "Some big shot from Hollywood thought a movie about my life would be good. It was a big hit, made a big splash, what I wanna know is what happened to the cash."

Movies filmed (though not necessarily set) in Louisville

Stripes. (1981) Bill Murray's memorable taxi scene was filmed on the streets of Louisville, ending with his stopping on the bridge to Indiana and throwing the car's keys into the Ohio river.

Sheba Baby (1975) starring Pam Grier, and directed by William Girdler, a Kentucky native who shot several films in Louisville.

The Insider (1999) directed by Michael Mann, starring Al Pacino and Russell Crowe. A thriller revolving around the tobacco industry.

Elizabethtown (2005) starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. "E-town" is an hour's drive south, but much of this movie was filmed in Louisville.

The Ticketless Traveler: American Road Trip

Marie C. Hansen, Jefferson Market Library — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:14:52 -0400

Sometimes it isn't about the destination. Here's a list of all things that take me on a mental trip across America's highways.

Books:

On The Road by Jack Kerouac: The quintessential American road-trip novel. Read about the adventures of Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise in the standard form or in the form of the original 120 foot long scroll.

You Can't Win by Jack Black: Before cars & motorcycles, people took road-trips the old-fashioned way—hopping freight-trains. Written by a Depression Era hobo and criminal, this book was a major influence on "Old Bull Lee".

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson: Grapefruit, Hawaiian shirts, and psychedelics! Thompson and his lawyer run wild around Las Vegas & the surrounding areas looking for the American Dream.

Movies:

Two-Lane Blacktop: Two gearheads known only to the viewer as "The Driver" (played by a young James Taylor) and "The Mechanic" (played by Beach Boy Dennis Wilson) drag-race their way across the United States in a 1955 Chevy. A brooding, existential film with minimal dialogue.

Easy Rider: Ground-breaking and age-defining, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda play two hippies biking across the U.S. in the late 1960s.

Natural Born Killers: Serial killers, running wild across the country! Ahhh!

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure: A young man's desperate struggle to re-claim his stolen bike. Are you calling me "low-brow" for mentioning this movie? Well, I know you are, but what am I?

Music:

There is nothing like getting in your car and blasting Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild to really get a roadtrip started. Check it out on the Easy Rider soundtrack or on a studio album.

Creedence Clearwater Revival, with John Fogerty's soulful voice singing songs about the Mississippi River and being stuck in backwoods towns, always makes me feel like I'm donning an American-Flag backpatch and carrying a fiddle.

"The Passenger" by Iggy Pop on the Lust for Life album is the audible version of looking out a car window at the city at night. Oh let's ride and ride and ride.

"Another State of Mind" Social Distortion's homage to touring in a punk van can be found in NYPL collections via their live album.

Almost all of Johnny Cash's music makes me think of driving, but for this road trip, check out his America album and travel through the states and 200 years of history. It's School House Rock, Cash-style!

I can't believe I am mentioning this in a public forum but, Meatloaf's second album Bat Out of Hell has some great road-trip songs. Paradise By the Dashboard Light, anyone?

Don't like my taste in music? I'll let you take control of the dial.

Start Traveling with the Help From NYPL’s Periodical Collections!

Raymond Pun, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, General Research Division — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:08:09 -0400

Sick of NYC’s cold weather? Got the traveling bug in you? Why not stop by the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to check out our latest travel magazines for the newest tips, trips, and activities abroad? With over 100 international, regional and local traveling magazines, the DeWitt Wallace Periodicals Division can help you plan your next destinations!

We have magazines from Alaska to Florida; from Seattle to Philadelphia; from Boston to San Diego and everything in between: state and city! If you are planning a trip soon or not sure where or what to do, these magazines also cover current events, leisurely activities and entertainment for the entire family. We also subscribe to periodicals from San Francisco, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Portland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Santa Barbara, New Orleans, New York, Nevada, Cleveland, Vermont, Santa Fe, Oklahoma, Palm Beach, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington D.C.; just to name a few. One can leisurely browse through over fifty of the most popular city magazines from all over the USA (including commonwealth territories). For general travel magazines, we have Travel and Leisure, Outdoor Life, and National Geographic Traveler.

To search for a list of travel magazines, go to our catalog, switch keyword to subject, type in “travel – periodicals” and change “entire collection” to “Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.” You will get several subject headings and the first result will have over 100+ titles.

When searching for relevant titles, be sure to look at the dates and locations of the publication. You can also directly search for magazines under journal title or simply type the name of the state or city under the subject search. (Example: “Nevada – Periodicals”) If you are still finding difficulties locating a magazine from a specific town, please contact us. In addition to the periodicals collection, there are also travel maps, guides and directories available in the Map Division in Room 119.

The Library needs your support! If you can financially contribute to this growing and historical collection of traveling magazines (free and open to the public!) please donate here.

The Ticketless Traveler: Suburbia

Frank Collerius, Jefferson Market Library — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:09:29 -0400

Whether you grew up there or just read about it in books or seen it in the movies, Suburbia is a most definite and unique place. With these books, movies and CDs you can visit without ever having to take the Long Island Railroad! So if you did grow up there—maybe it’s time to go home again. And if you didn’t—scroll through this list and see what you missed!

Movies

Edward Scissorhands Satirical, but loving, view of the 'burbs—a fairy tale too!
American Beauty Angst, recriminations, desire, murder—suburbia!
Nightmare on Elm Street Sometimes the horror is very, very real.
Far From Heaven '50s suburbia retold—with no reading between the lines.
Judy Berlin Starring Edie Falco and filmed on Long Island. The director has a new movie about suburbia out right now—take a look.
Strangers When We Meet Kim Novak and Kirk Douglas, bored in suburbia, find each other.
And finally! some comedy: Fast Times at Ridgemont High '80s teens look for love, fun and meaning in the 'burbs—great early Sean Penn performance.

Books

The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever. The master of ennui, backyards and yearning.
Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara. Early suburbia - life in a 1930s commuter community.
The Rabbit Series by John Updike. Updike once said his style was to give "the mundane its beautiful due."
American Pastoral by Philip Roth. How the '50s became the turbulent '60s through one family's story.
Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham. A family saga as only the great Cunningham can articulate it.

Non-Fiction

American Dreamscape and Suburban Nation lay out how it all happened and what went wrong—and right!
The photographer Gregory Crewdson displays vivid, surreal, poignant images of small town and suburban life.

Books into Movies

The Stepford Wives and the movie: Funny, yes, but ultimately a harrowing evocation of the quest for exterior perfection.
The Ice Storm and the movie: Fave moment: Remember when you had to commit to a TV channel—because changing it meant getting up and turning the dial?
Little Children and the movie: Affairs of the heart, obsession and childcare: all suburban issues.
Revolutionary Road and the movie: The apotheosis of the suburban novel—intense. (More on that in Robert's post.)

Music

Justin Bieber Since Ricky Nelson and David Cassidy, teen idols have been blasting from suburban bedrooms.
American Idiot Green Day's broadway show about the kids in the 'burbs.
Pet Shop Boys Well, they have a song called Suburbia!
Hair Metal: RATT, Motley Crue and Def Leppard. Air guitar in the bedroom while tossing your hair from side to side—rock out suburbia!

The Ticketless Traveler: Outer Space!

Billy Parrott, Mid-Manhattan Library, Art and Picture Collections — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 06:38:15 -0400

Long before Forrest Ackerman coined the term Sci-Fi man has imagined escaping the confines of this planet and exploring the vast unknown regions of outer space.

Space tourism is a burgeoning field but with a cost of about $20 million for a window seat it is a trip that most of us will never make.

My suggestion is to settle on the next best thing: a visit to your local library!

Here is a list of materials to make you feel as if you're traveling through space, or at the very least, on another planet.

So without further ado:

three, two, one,

lift off.

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra - Composed in 1896, this tone poem was inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche 's work of the same name. The book and the composition shared the name for over 70 years until 1968, at which point "Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey" became the commonly used popular title for this iconic piece of music.
That brings us to Arthur C. Clarke. My plan for this list was to avoid the obvious, such as the Star Wars films, Ray Bradbury, Alien, Sunshine, Phillip K. Dick, etc… and just stick to personal favorites that I feel in some way epitomize the feeling of the final frontier. With that said, as for authors, I’ll just say that Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov make up the Big Three of Science Fiction.
Deep Purple: Space Truckin - Some songs transport you peacefully to the quiet solitude of space. Others propel you violently. At light speed. By the seat of your pants. Space Truckin' is a fast and furious rocket ride through the solar system.
Come on. Come on. Come on. Let's go space truckin.
The entire body of work of one Jacob Kurtzberg. Also known as Jack Kirby. He was, and is, the King.
David Bowie: Space Oddity - Which persona do you prefer? Are you in the Thin White Duke camp? Camp Ziggy? Or maybe you prefer Special Agent Phillip Jeffries? Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and released less than a week before the Apollo 11 launch, Space Oddity was David Bowie's first major hit, launching a successful and many-faceted career.
Ground control to Major Tom.
Pink Floyd: Side two of Meddle - When I was about 10 years old The Wall was released. "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2," clocking in at 4 minutes, was radio-friendly and played constantly on the airwaves. I was also familiar with classics from Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here from hours upon hours of FM radio.

For Christmas of that year I asked my grandmother for the new Pink Floyd record. I told her the newest one was a double LP, and I must not have known it was called The Wall because my only instructions to her were to buy a double LP which was thicker than a single LP.

At Christmas I ripped open my present to find Meddle. It wasn't the new album. It was also a single album in a gatefold cover which made it appear to be a double album. As far as my grandmother was concerned this successfully met the requirements of my Christmas request.

The record store clerk is to this day probably still telling the story of the time a little old lady came in and asked for the thickest Pink Floyd record he had.

I rushed to my room and listened to the first track, the largely instrumental "One of These Days." I say largely instrumental, because the only words in the song were the distorted and abstruse: "One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces."

I hid in my closet for about an hour before giving side two a try.

I flipped the album over and noticed the lack of the familiar lines that visually separated the tracks. The label at the center of the disc listed only one song: "Echoes" 23:29. I was young, but even at that young age I knew that 23:29 was not a radio-friendly song length. I dropped the needle.

The music of Pink Floyd has been described in many ways: progressive, sonically experimental, psychedelic. "Echoes" is all of these and will certainly give the listener the experience of an other worldly trip.

Rush: 2112 - Like Pink Floyd's Meddle, Rush's fourth album also contains a side-long track: a sci-fi dystopian Ayn Rand inspired epic in 7 parts totaling 20:33 minutes in length.
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control.
Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” - three words: albino. keyboard. madness.
John Cage: 4:33 – Look at your watch, or take out your cell phone and use it as a clock, and listen quietly for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. You’ve just performed the famous piece by composer John Cage! Where you perform the piece will effect the final outcome of your performance. Even in the middle of nowhere, in the darkest of night, it wouldn’t come close to the absence of sound in the vacuum of space. Most sci-fi movies don’t get this aspect of space right. All those loudly exploding planets, blaring rockets, and pinging laser blasts are scientifically inaccurate. Kubrick got it pretty close. So did Ridley Scott. Like the tagline for Alien stated: “In space no one can hear you scream."
Gustav Holst: The Planets, Op. 32 - This is a perfect orchestral journey through our solar system. Holst did not include Pluto, which was discovered four years before his death. He was not interested in composing a movement for the newly discovered planet. In 2006 Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a drawf planet, so it appears Holst had it right all along.
Solaris - I've always loved the work of Andrei Tarkovsky. I heard a story that once at a film festival he was asked why he was wearing a business suit when the majority of the other directors went for a more self-consciously arty look. He replied, “I don’t have to look like an artist, because I am one!”

My favorite film of his has always been The Mirror. Such amazing scenes: the fire, the breeze that flows across the grassy field towards the camera… His film that relates to this post would probably be Stalker, but I’ll suggest Solaris. Watch it and then compare it to the Steven Soderbergh remake with George Clooney.

Juan Garcia Esquivel - You might not know his name, but you have probably heard his music in movies and TV commercials. Ridiculously unpredictable, fearless, quirky, and complex, his recordings had a revival of sorts in the 1990s, kick-starting a craze of space-age lounge music that, though sometimes seeming satirical and far from serious, was ear candy for the masses. His "Whatchamacallit" and "Mucha Muchacha" are classics, but my favorite is his arrangement of "All of Me." It's Frank Sinatra meets The Jestons, in “Living Stereo” set to an everything-including-the-kitchen-sink orchestra with slide guitar and a full chorus of vocal sound effects. Unbridled audio zaniness! Sadly the world lost Esquivel on January 3, 2002 but we still have his music.

The Ticketless Traveler: Los Angeles, California

Frank Collerius, Jefferson Market Library — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 07:33:21 -0500

Ready to get away? Craving some Hollywood glamour? The roiling surf of Malibu? The sunny So-Cal lifestyle? Well, pop in one of these CDs, throw on one of these movies and open up one of these books and you'll be THERE!

Movies

Model Shop A directionless drifter spots a beautiful model on the streets of Los Angeles...

Inventing LA: the Chandlers and their Times The darkness and light of LA's most powerful family.

Sunset Boulevard Hollywood at its most ugly - which is to say its most real.

Mulholland Drive Stop reading this and click on the link and place a hold already! A surreal masterpiece!

Clueless Like, whatevs (circa 1995).

Chinatown "She's my sister AND my daughter!" Corruption and Glamour in 1930s Los Angeles.

Beach Blanket Bingo Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello do the twist on the beach!

Music

Mamas and the Papas The voices of the canyon—dreamin', singin', lovin'...

Beach Boys Well, they don't suggest Poughkeepsie!

The Go-Gos They most certainly do have the beat.

The Doors The Lizard King basks in the sun!

Sheryl Crow vibes that groovy So-Cal Glow!

Novels and the Movies they inspired

Day of the Locust and the movie: A Hollywood riot—literally.

LA Confidential and the movie: A modern day classic

In a Lonely Place and the movie: Bogie and Gloria Grahame fall in love - and spar noirishly.

A Single Man and the movie: Tom Ford's movie includes the most lovingly photographed sweater in the history of the movies:

The Big Sleep and the movie: Bogie and Bacall do Raymond Chandler.

The Grifters and the movie: In the movie, Angelica Huston pronounces it, Loss Angle-ees.

Books

Weetzie Bat A gaggle of teens tool around LA: a punk rock fairy tale.

L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook The place to eat and be seen: Definitely check out the crepes.

Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and the Music of Laurel Canyon "Young girls are coming to the canyon..."

The Star Machine Classic Hollywood stars and how they got that way.

Los Angeles Then and Now Um, basically, pix of LA a really long time ago and pix of LA today!

The Ticketless Traveler: England

Corinne Neary, Jefferson Market Library — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:54:43 -0500

Daydreaming of an English holiday that you just can't afford to take? Keep saving your money, and in the meantime, use your New York Public Library card to take you to your destination. These books, albums, and DVDs will transport you to England without leaving home.

Don’t Look Back, directed by D.A. Pennebaker. A documentary shot during Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England.

The Young Ones. This early 1980s comedy, set in North London, features musical performances from Madness, Motorhead, and Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

Louder than Bombs, The Smiths. A collection of singles and B-sides containing "Is it Really So Strange," "London," and "Half a Person," all songs exploring the move from the north to the south of England.

White Teeth, Zadie Smith. This 2000 novel is essential for readers interested in London working and middle class cultures.

Discography, Pet Shop Boys. Spend some time with the East End Boys and "West End Girls" in this singles collection.

Two Fat Ladies. Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright drive around the English countryside on a motorcycle with sidecar, cooking as they go.

Absolutely Fabulous. Patsy and Edina drink and smoke their way around London in this BBC comedy series.

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries. This little old lady in an English village is quite the sleuth.

The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears. Helen Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth II in this film, set during the aftermath of Princess Diana's death.

Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Ever wonder what it would be like to fall in love with a rich man and go to live on his English country estate? With Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, and Judith Anderson. Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier.

You can also plan your fantasy trip to England with the NYPL's travel guides.