News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

The cosmodome, a portable planetarium for showing the night sky, has been so popular that all sessions for today,  its final day at Central Library, have been booked out very quickly.  We have been thrilled with the response from the public over the last five days.

More events for the International Year of Astronomy are planned, watch this blog for details as they come to hand.

The NightVisionz Cosmodome has been a big hit this week with over 2000 school children scheduled to visit it over a four day period.  But the dome’s not just for school groups – everyone gets their chance to visit in the late afternoon and evening.  There are two days left (4pm until 8pm Friday and 10am until 4pm on Saturday) so come along and explore the night sky (gold coin donation).  Astronomer Ron Fisher will take you on a journey of constellations including Matariki – you’ll find there’s something for everyone.

If you want more encouragement, the Dominion Post visited on Tuesday: read their article “Portable igloo gives a galactic experience” for their report of the experience.

Claire Harman’s study of Jane Austen is entitled In Jane’s fame : how Jane Austen conquered the world. Considering that Wellington City Libraries has 104 titles by Jane Austen in over ten formats including a number of languages, this seems a reasonable statement. The book covers her early life, her struggle to become published and her determination to succeed. The latest Jane Austen incarnation, “Pride and prejudice and zombies : the classic Regency romance – now with ultraviolet zombie mayhem“ has been published recently. What would Jane think of it? – with amusement hopefully .

Leaving formal education with an E in history hasn’t stopped Karl Pilkington giving his unique take on museums, galleries and other places of cultural interest. Karlologoy : what I’ve learnt so far is the result.

More than 250 women writers are introduced by author Elaine Showalter in her book  A jury of her peers : American women writers from Anne Bradstreet to Annie Proulx. It spans 400 years and includes household names and those less well recognised. Enjoy learning more about your favourite authors and introduce yourself to new ones.

Read these books and others including the lives of Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson and Seamus Heaphy via this months Recent Literature Picks.

Author and knitting designer Kirsten Griffin-Grimes has compiled a book of patterns with a floaty and feminine feel. French girl knits are inspired and influenced by French vintage fashion and makes use of historical techniques with a modern twist. These garments will not keep out the winter chill but start now so they are ready for the warmer weather to come.

Crafts have become very popular recently. In her book The crafter culture handbook author Amy Spencer looks at the reasons for this trend, stating that crafters “create” as a political protest. Read the book and decide for yourself while making some of the projects she includes.

Jennie Atkinson, author of Beads, buttons & lace encourages the addition of these items to dresses, tops, cushions, bags or anything that needs a lift. Instructions, technique information and ideas will help with inspiration.

This has to be the best title of the month! The big-ass book of crafts by Mark Montano - worth a look.

Find out more about these craft projects and others featuring patchwork, quilting, ribbons and trims via this month’s Recent Craft Picks.

Ninety people or so piled in through the door to attend a New Zealand-themed ukulele story-time recently during NZ Music Month.  Marg, Odette, Ellie and Monty performed, read and improvised their way through 30 minutes of great fun!

If you suffer from vertigo, do not watch the documentary Man on wire that is available this month at our libraries. Other items in our DVD selection include the story of a forbidden love, and that of a poet torn between two loves. If period dramas are not your thing, you might like comedies like Choke, My name is Bruce, and Yes man. We also have a selection of edgier movies like He loves me, he loves me not, Frost/Nixon, Glittering prizes, and Let the right one in. And if you like TV series, we also have something to please in this month’s DVD Recent Picks.

Actor David Carradine died on the 3rd of June in Bangkok, Thailand, aged 72 years.

Carradine was the eldest son of legendary character actor John Carradine. He was born in Hollywood and educated at San Francisco State College, where he studied music theory and composition. It was while writing music for the Drama Department’s annual revues that he discovered his own passion for the stage, joining a Shakespearean repertory company and learning his craft on his feet.

His first break came when he was cast opposite Barbara Hershey in ‘Boxcar Bertha‘, but he would go on to become best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine (’Grasshopper’), a Shaolin priest travelling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series “Kung Fu,” which aired in 1972-75.  His subsequent career included more than 100 feature films, including the cult movie ‘Death Race 2000‘ as well as a return to TV, playing the grandson of his original character in ‘Kung Fu: The Legend Continues’ (1993-1997).

Carradine received the Best Actor Award from the National Board of Film Review as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie in ‘Bound for Glory‘ (1976)  and won critical acclaim for his work as Cole Younger in ‘The Long Riders‘ (1980), and a second Golden Globe nomination for his supporting role in ‘North & South‘ (1985).

While Carradine spent the majority of the 80’s & 90’s in low budget B movies Quentin Tarantino resurrected his career in 2003, casting him as the title character in ‘Kill Bill, Vol. 1‘, & ‘Kill Bill, Vol. 2‘, where his portrayal of ‘Bill’ the sinister sword wielding head of a team of crack assassins, gained him a new cult following & his fourth Golden Globe nomination.

Check out our new computing books’ selection this month! Learn how to protect Windows XP and Vista against viruses, and get all the help you can with Windows Vista. If you are a Senior, computers won’t have any secrets for you with Computing for the older and wiser. Other areas of interest are covered with a usability manual, a guide on how to make it on YouTube, and a book about Joomla! If you want to know about How to cheat in Photoshop CS4, SQL, Mobile internet for dummies and ASP.NET 3.5, go to this month’s Computing Recent Picks‘ page.

The Cosmodome will be at Central Library very soon – Rebecca in this video shows what it will look like and gives further information about the event:

Science Fantasy writer David Eddings has died aged 77. Born in Spokane, Washington State in 1931 he studied Middle English at University. After a short time in the army he spent a period working on missile development. His first novel, a contemporary adventure titled High hunt, was published in 1973. He changed to science fantasy after seeing the continual reprintings of Lord of the Rings, then in its 73rd reprint. He became one of the most popular writers of his chosen genre, with each new book reaching the top ten best seller lists. Nearly all his work was in series form, which allowed a deeper character and story line development. These series began with the Belgariad series, with the first book, Pawn of Phrophecy published in 1982. This series was followed by the Malloreon, the Elenium, the Tamuli and the Dreamers series. The Younger Gods was his last novel in the Dreamers series published in 2006. The only stand alone science fantasy novel by David Eddings was The Redemption of Athalus published in 2000.