willywaldo

[willywaldo]

Happy #filmfriday! My latest review for film-forward.com Director Victor Kossakovsky has created an austere spectacle of sight and sound that must be viewed on the biggest screen with the finest sound system.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/books/man-died-book-list-thousands.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Zk8.p-dJ.jvmH6klvUFbK&smid=url-share

He Read (at Least) 3,599 Books in His Lifetime. Now Anyone Can See His List.

After Dan Pelzer died this month at 92, his children uploaded the handwritten reading list to what-dan-read.com, hoping to inspire readers everywhere.

The only constant was that most of the books came from the public library — more specifically, the Whitehall Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

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Happy #filmfriday! My latest review for Film-Forward.com. Embeth Davidtz's adaptation of Alexandra Fuller's 2001 memoir about growing up in White-ruled Rhodesia marks an impressive directorial debut and features a powerhouse performance by eight-year-old Lexi Venter.

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Happy #FilmFriday! My latest reiew for Film-Foward.com. Celine Song's sophomore effort takes a witty, gimlet-eyed view on modern romance and dating.

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I hate this fucking administration even more. Carla Hayden has been a transformative library leader since she became the first female and Black Librarian of Congress in 2016. I assume Little Marco Rubio, who is already acting Archivist will assume her role.

Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, said Dr. Hayden was widely admired by members of Congress. “Her dismissal is not just an affront to her historic service but a direct attack on the independence of one of our most revered institutions,” Ms. DeLauro said in a statement.

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It is incomprehensible to me, the fear that can affect men in political offices. It is shocking the way they submit to forces they know are wrong and fail to stand up for what they believe. Can their jobs be so important to them, their prestige, their power, their privileges so important that they will cooperate in the degradation of our society just to hang onto those jobs?--Shirley Chisolm, Unbought and Unbossed

Fifty years after Chisolm's memoir was published, nothing has changed.

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Published April 10, 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel still resonates a century later. One of my favorite books.

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Men always underestimate women. They underestimated me, and they underestimate women like me.--Shirley Chisolm, Unbought and Unbossed

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https://film-forward.com/book-adaptation/the-penguin-lessons

Happy #filmfriday . Here is my latest review of The Penguin Lessons for Film-Forward. "Director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and screenwriter Jeff Pope (Philomena) have loosely adapted and transformed Michell’s heartwarming i[memoir] into a middling and predictable tale of personal redemption and political awakening during a brutal period in Argentine history.

[willywaldo]

"Travel is never a mistake. Even if the trip is not fabulous, it will give you a new perspective."

Karen Dukess, Welcome to Murder Week (Simon & Schuster, June 2025)

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More vile stupidity from the Trump administration.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. It was built deliberately to straddle the frontier between the two countries – a symbol of cooperation and friendship between Canada and the US. The library’s entrance is on the Vermont side. Previously, Canadian visitors were able to enter using the sidewalk and entrance on the American side but were encouraged to bring documentation, according to the library’s website. Inside, a line of electrical tape demarcates the international boundary. About 60% of the building, including the books, is located in Canada. Upstairs, in the opera house, the audience sits in the US while the performers are in Canada. Under the new rules, Canadians will need to go through a formal border crossing before entering the library.

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Dark times in library land. Call your local congresspeople and urge them to protect an institution fundamental to American democracy.

Without the federal funding provided by IMLS, the valuable programs and services that libraries deliver to their communities are at risk. As for current IMLS staff, the future is uncertain. The Executive Order directs the agency to “reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”

ALA President Cindy Hohl weighed in shortly after the EO was ordered with ALA’s call to action. “This is a time for unity. As a community of library and information professionals, we must face these threats by showing up together—library workers, friends, trustees and public supporters—to advocate for our patrons, our profession, and our core values. The existential threats we’re facing now call us to draw on our greatest power: library stories that touch hearts and change minds, especially for decisionmakers. We ask you to call members of Congress to tell those powerful stories that show the true importance of our libraries.”

[willywaldo]

Dark times in library land. I just donated. Please share with your library friends.

Support Fairhope Public Library

From the fundlibraries.org page:

Months of targeted attacks, stacking the APLS board, and conspiring with ALGOP chair John Wahl finally paid off for Moms for Liberty and Clean Up Alabama.  Under Chairman Wahl's leadership, state funding has been stripped from the Fairhope library for shelving age-appropriate sex education materials in the young adult section.

State funding is critical for the library to continue providing vital resources. Let's do what the APLS chair refuses to do, and protect the First Amendment rights of the Fairhope community from anti-library extremists and fill in the gap for funding.

The library needs to raise $40,000 to meet its budget shortfall. Donate here: https://www.fundlibraries.org/campaign/243/support-fairhope-public-library

[willywaldo]

Chocolate Valentine for your favorite pulmonologist! Spotted this beauty a few years ago at Phily's Reading Terminal Market.

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Happy Friday. My latest review for firstCLUE is up; "December 16, 2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, and what better way to celebrate than with this delightful reimagining of Elizabeth Bennet’s antagonist from Pride and Prejudice. "

[willywaldo]

That's our hard-earned $$ they are stealing. I hate those DOGE fuckers.

DOGE has zero accounting experience. The 'didn't earn it' folks are the inept shitheads.

There can be no audit. This is erasure. This is petty hackers creating millions of problems.

Social Security has not missed a payment in over 85 years.

Elon is going to ruin our country. Republicans gave him all the access he needed with none of the oversight. That is premeditated. That is gross negligence.

[willywaldo]

Love Bergdorf Goodman's homage to the New York Public Library in its #holidaywindows. #nyc

This year’s theme, Toast of the Town, is a dazzling ode to the energy and glamour of New York City and a celebration of the 200th anniversary of Fifth Avenue, the legendary thoroughfare that we call home. Here: “The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue” showcases the famous lions bathed in a rich red glow, alongside literary iconography. Photo: @rickyzehav