My Favorite Dance Movies

Two upcoming movie releases, the DVD release of Dance Flick (Oct. 6) and the theatrical release of an updated Fame (Sept. 25), got me thinking about my favorite dance movies. 
In the category of “good” dance films (those that actually have good storylines and good acting) I’ll start with All That Jazz (1979). This movie, based on [...]

To Be of Use: Stories of Labor and Identity in Southwestern PA

This coming Sunday, August 30th, is a special Labor Day installment of the Sunday Poetry & Reading Series.  Influenced by the work of Studs Terkel, local researcher and writer Chuck Lanigan created the Working Pittsburgh Project, which he has presented recently in several locations around the city, and will bring to CLP this Sunday.  The presentation’s title, To Be [...]

Join the club

Book clubs have been quite the rage for a number of years—I’m sure that Oprah’s Book Club made no small contribution to this craze.  People of all ages and backgrounds are recognizing the social and intellectual benefits of discussing fine literature and popular nonfiction books.  I recently became a part of a book club collaboration [...]

Unlikely Rare Books: Sailor Moon

Back when I started college and got my first credit card, I built a pretty impressive manga collection. But when I finished college and had to pay that credit card bill, I sold most of my books and only kept the sets that I thought were particularly nifty.
One of the things that I kept was [...]

Notes From an Intern

Today’s guest post is from Tanya, one of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Minority Interns for 2009. The CLP Minority Summer Intern program is a grant-funded internship program–courtesy of the Heinz Endowments designed to encourage minority participation in the field of library/information science. The internship offers students of varying backgrounds the opportunity to learn about and [...]

Fictional Reference Books for Most Library Collections

Ever wish you could add fictional reference books to your library’s reference collection? If I could, this is what I would add:
The Encyclopedia Galactica — What self-respecting librarian wouldn’t want access to Isaac Asimov’s immense encyclopedia containing all the knowledge of futuristic civilizations?
Handbook for the Recently Deceased — Libraries shouldn’t discriminate against the deceased, so [...]

Gamer Fiction Update

Regular readers of Eleventh Stack know I am a fan of gamer fiction. In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Inquisition stands between mankind and those forces that would destroy it. In a galaxy where humanity’s continued existence rests on a knife edge, they are an organization that is both terrible and necessary.
Fans of Dan Abnett’s [...]

Pop star or author?

“Dan Brown didn’t get his start as a writer. Oh, no. Before he penned thrillers like The Da Vinci Code, Brown worked as a pop singer and songwriter. His second solo album, Angels & Demons, even shared its title with one of his literary juggernauts.”  – From Mental_Floss, Surprising Facts About 15 Bestselling Authors by [...]

Ink, Inc.

Because the budget crisis doesn’t take holidays, library workers from all departments and locations have been brainstorming fundraising ideas on our staff wiki.  Depending on your point of view, you will either be relieved or disappointed that we will NOT be producing a calendar like The Tattooed Ladies of the TLA. Although library world is [...]

Dumb Luck

Like most Pittsburghers, I’ve been following the news about the recent opening of the Rivers Casino on the North Side.  If the first day profits are any indication, many of you went on opening day too– $14 million was wagered on the first day, with a gross profit of $1.29 million!  For a lot of [...]