Sounds Swedish.

I originally intended to show a Star Trek episode followed by a Star Trek movie each day during our Star Trek Marathon.  For Monday February 3's Night of the Borg I was going to show a Next Generation episode which featured the Borg, the human synthetic hybrids, (who I think were some of the best villain's Star Trek ever came up with) and combine it with the Star Trek movie First Contact.  However the more I thought about it the more I realized it was the television show that made Star Trek such a huge and enduring hit.  The "Best of Both Worlds" a Star Trek Next Generation two part episode where Captain Picard is kidnapped and assimilated into the Borg Collective.  It is considered by many Star Trek Fans to be two of the very best of Star Trek episodes ever so it just seemed natural to put "Q Who?", the episode that introduced the Borg together with the two episodes of the "Best of Both Worlds" all in a single evening.  Q, the omnipotent being who teases and tortures the crew of the Next Generation from time to time is not really my favorite character but he does have my favorite quote from Star Trek: “If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.”  I always thought this quote summed up the spirit of Star Trek.  Come join us for Night of the Borg Monday February 3 starting at 6.  Admission, popcorn, and sodas are free.

All Khan All Weekend

The Rogers Public Library will be having a Star Trek Marathon from February 1 through February 6 beginning with All Khan All Weekend.  I decided to start the Star Trek Marathon with the Original Series Episode "Space Seed" because "Space Seed" is usually considered to be one of the ten best Star Trek television episodes ever.  The Khan character was resurrected for the second Star Trek Movie Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan which is often considered to be the best of the Star Trek movies and Khan was resurrected one more time for Star Trek Into Darkness.  I think this best explains the enduring popularity of Star Trek.  It is a universe with characters we can all relate to.

Star Trek: the Movie had a long and muddled development.  Paramount Pictures, Gene Roddenberry, and most the cast had moved on from Star Trek to other projects but Star Trek fans would not let Star Trek die, it had become a bigger hit in syndication than it had been in prime time but with the success of Star Wars and the growing cult status of Star Trek, Paramount decided to milk the popularity of Star Trek and make a made for television movie but the project grew and mutated until it became Star Trek the Movie.  Star Trek the movie was somewhat of a train wreck but it still made enough money for Paramount to make a Star Trek 2 but this time the writer's directors went back and looked at what made the television so popular and came up with the Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan.  They obviously had a hit and the Star Trek franchise has kept going strong ever since.  Even to the point that they brought back Khan for the reboot.  So come visit the Rogers Public Library for a showing "Space Seed" followed by the Wrath of Khan on February 1 and see what made Star Trek such an enduring American entertainment legacy.  It's free along with free drinks and popcorn.

Musical Part of the Show

We just moved the music CD's to a more visible location and I'm hoping circulation picks up.  I know it's a losing cause because streaming music along with streaming movies will change everything.  For a Librarian that's sad.  I spend a lot of time looking for the right music.  I'm proud of the collection I built.  I don't have room for everything so I try to pick the best but with streaming you just get to pick what the vendor provides you.  With movies for example not all titles are available are available all the time.  They rotate the collection.  For a librarian there's no fun in that.  Couple of months back someone gave us a donation of Jazz CDs and as I was looking through them trying to see if there was anything we could use I discovered several important artists and recordings I'd missed before.  With music it's not just the band or the musician, it might be a particular concert or recording that for some reason the band just ripped it.  "Live in Japan" by the Runaways was such an album.  The Japanese were huge fans of the Runaways and their live Concert in Japan was supposed to have been one of their best performances.  The two "Night at Birdland" CDs are another live album where great artists produced an even greater performance.  Even the great Miles Davis was said to have impressed with the performances of Art Blakey's band.  At the beginning of each year I go through the Billboard charts and try to pick the top CD's.  So here's the list of CDs I purchased for January this year.  The Chart Toppers are heavy in Country because that's the first chart after the top 100 albums and the Country Charts were as far as I got.  Teens already had most of the Hot Albums for the year.
 

1. "Based on a True Story" Blake Shelton.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
2. "Evolution/Revolution. The Early Years 1966-1974"  Richard Pryor.  Because everybody needs a laugh.
3. "Here's to the Good Times" Florida Georgia Line.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
4. "Impressions" John Coltrane.  Maybe his best album EVER and re-mastered.  Coltrane's out there and he's an acquired taste but for jazz lovers he was god.
5. "Is it something I said?"  Richard Pryor.  More laughs.  I think the Library needs comedy.
6. "Live In Japan" The Runaways.  One of the early Girl Rock bands and their best album.
7. "A Love Supreme" John Coltrane.  Often listed as one of the Greatest Jazz Albums of all time.
8. "Night at Birdland Volume1" Art Blakey.  These two Live performances should be a part of anyone's core Jazz Collection.
9. "Night at Birdland Volume2" Art Blakey.  These two live performances should be a part of anyone's core Jazz Collection.
10. "Pioneer" Band Perry.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
11. "Random Access Memories"  Daft Punk.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
12. "Real McCoy"  McCoy Tyner.  One of those albums every Jazz Collection should have.
13. "Spring Break: Here to Party"  Luke Bryan. 2013 Billboard chart topper.
14. "True Believers"  Darius Rucker.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
15. "Truth About Love"  Pink.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
16. "Two Lanes of Freedom"  Tim McGraw.  2013 Billboard chart topper.
17. "World from the Side of the Moon"  Phillips Phillip.   2013 Billboard chart topper.

These are the musing of the AV Librarian.

"These are the musings of the AV Librarian who's five year mission is to boldly buy what no Librarian has bought before."  Okay the Real purpose of this blog is to let people know what movies and music the Library is buying and why.  I get this question fairly often.  Why do we buy what we buy?  This is called a collection development policy and it is always evolving.   Originally I purchased DVDs that were classics and of historical value.  These were movies that were Academy Award winners or which had been deemed by reputable or authoritative sources to be of significant historical or artistic value.  With popular new releases I usually waited two years before I purchased recent releases, partly because the Library didn't want to use tax money to compete with local business, and partly because it was cheaper to wait for the price to come down.  However the DVD market has radically changed in the last couple of years, streaming video "Redbox" and other video delivery services have fundamentally changed the DVD market.



The primary difference in what I do now is that I buy top grossing movies much sooner than I did two years ago.  I can buy a Blu-ray-Digital-DVD combo fairly quickly after the initial release so the higher cost isn't prohibitive since I'm usually buying 3-for-1.  But it also makes what I did before much more important.  The streaming services don't make all movies available all the time.  If you need to see a movie for a class, or if you hear about a famous or significant movie and you can't wait to see it you don't have to wait for it to show up on TCM or for it to rotate through your video service.  You can check it out at the Library and this is what Library's are really for, finding the best and putting them on the shelf for our customers.

So, drum roll please!  This month's Library DVD purchases are!

Call the Midwife: Season One
Call the Midwife: Season Two
The popular BBC production based on the Memoirs by Jennifer Worth.

Conjuring 
A top grossing film of 2013

Galaxy Quest
A really funny movie for Star Trek fans I bought this in Blu-ray just for the Star Trek Marathon

Great Gatsby
A top grossing film of 2013

Guns at Batasi
In this British Classic from 1964 Richard Attenborough's character is supposedly the inspiration for the Higgins character in Magnum PI.

Hucksters
Clark Gable, Deborah Kerr, Ava Gardner, Ralph Menjou, Edward Arnold, Sydney Greenstreet, and Keenan Wynn in this 1947 classic.  (What a fantastic cast!)

Identify Thief
A top grossing film of 2013

In Cold Blood
This is the classic movie based on the Truman Capote book.

Man of Steel
A top grossing film of 2013

Nativity Story
This 2007 film is highly rated and a customer request.  (See I listen)

Now You See Me
A top grossing film of 2013

Star Trek: the Next Generation Season One
Star Trek: the Next Generation Season Two
Star Trek: the Next Generation Season Three
Star Trek: the Next Generation Season Four
Star Trek: the Next Generation Season Five
Blu-rays for the Star Trek Marathon

Wolverine
A top grossing film of 2013

NCIS Season Five
NCIS Season Six
The relentless requests of a super fan wore me down.

1984
This is the 1956 version of the classic Dystopian Classic by George Orwell.