This is absolutely fascinating. Project Song from National Public Radio (NPR), is an intimate look at how song writers go about the business of creating words and music in real time. Hosted by Bob Boilen of NPR’s All Songs Considered, Project Song invites musicians to spend two days in the NPR recording studio during which they are asked to write and record a new composition. NPR provides inspiration in the form of words and pictures to stimulate the musicians’ imaginations, and asks them to pick one photo and one phrase as “themes” for the song they will create. Then they get out of the way as they, and we, watch the process unfold.

So far Boilen has worked with three musicians Stephen Merritt of the group Magnetic Fields, Nellie McKay, and the duo of Laura Burhenn and John Davis, who comprise Georgie James, and the results have been both enlightening and, to my ear, very pleasing. The fascinating thing for me is to contemplate the fact that in no other era would it have been possible to observe artists at work in this very personal way.

NPR’s Project Song website has videos of each of the musicians at work, as well as the story of each session as it was presented on public radio’s All Things Considered, and a recording (with video) of the completed song. If you enjoy popular music, this is a don’t miss web experience.

The purpose of The Amphibian Ark Global Campaign: “2008 Year of the Frog”  is to disseminate information about the amphibian extinction crisis.  To learn more about this important issue visit http://www.amphibianark.org/yearofthefrog.htm . Amphibian Ark’s stated purpose “is to generate public awareness and understanding of the amphibian extinction crisis which represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity.”

Love Books and Libraries? If you do, you will enjoy a visit (or two, or more) to Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com). Library Thing is an ingenious website that lets you catalog your own books on the Internet. You can also label them with “tags” that are representative of some aspect of the book, and/or meaningful to you. Once you’ve done that, other users of the website can find books you’ve cataloged based on the “tags” you’ve given them. For example, if you cataloged The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown with the words “art,” “Jesus,” and “Mary,” “conspiracy” and “crime fiction,” anyone searching at Library Thing on any of those words, and especially on all of them, would find the book you had cataloged. In that way, readers can share books they love with other readers with similar interests.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve cataloged a few books, you can then ask Library Thing to show you the collections of other readers with similar tastes on the theory that if you both read a lot of the same books, you will also be interested in other books that person or persons have read that you have not.

Library Thing also lets you rate books on a 1-5 star rating scale, and, if you’re so inclined, write reviews of books you like, or of ones you don’t. And there’s more, but I’ll let you discover the additional features for yourself. Best of all, though, is that you can use all the features of Library Thing, and catalog up to 200 books free. To expand your catalog beyond 200 books will cost you anywhere from $6.00 to $20.00 a year. You decide how much you’re willing to pay. $10.00/per year is the recommended fee, and, of course, they’ll gladly accept more than $20.00/per year if you’re inclined to pay more.

Highly recommended by librarians and book lovers everywhere. Check it out.

Earlier this week , Library Director Catherine Creedon presented “Needle in a Haystack,” an hour-long class on finding what you’re looking for on the Internet (which can be a daunting prospect even for experienced web surfers). This well attended class was a big hit and will be repeated in March. (Check the Library’s online calendar, or JJML newsletter for the exact date. Update: Catherine’s class will be repeated on Wednesday, April 9th, and a new Part II — about using online reference tools, such as JJML’s Virtual Reference Library will be presented on Wednesday, April 30th. Both classes run from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m.

Sometimes, though, you just find something wonderful on the Internet simply through serendipity…I went here, I clicked there, and boom, there it was. Just such a thing happened to me today, and I thought, I’ve just found a needle in a haystack! So in honor of Catherine’s class, and just because I thought you all should have a chance to see it, I’m posting the short film I found on YouTube here. It’s called Love in a Backwards World. Enjoy!

Recently on National Public Radio I heard part of a story about a book called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs By Famous and Obscure Writers by the editors of the on-line magazine, Smith. To introduce the topic, Smith’s editors quoted a possibly apocryphal story about Ernest Hemingway, who, when asked to write a story in six words came back with, “For Sale: baby shoes, never used.”

Several famous and semi-famous people have written their own six-word memoirs on the Smith website including author Joyce Carol Oates who wrote, “revenge is living well without you,” comic author Harvey Pekar, “fight, work, persevere — gain slight noteriety,” and Chef Mario Battali, “brought it to a boil often.” You can click on the links above to read more six-word memoirs or listen to the original NPR broadcast.

We (JJML) have ordered the book, so it will be availble here, but some of us were also inspired to write our own six-word memoirs. Here’s mine: “three great children: my great accomplishment.” Library Director (and author) Catherine Creedon wrote three:

1. Six words?  No: Too many stories.
2. Actually, all the mistakes paid off.
3. Once upon a time…. Happily everafter.

Now we’re throwing this great idea open to you. What’s your six-word memoir? Click on “Comment” and share your six-word biography with other JJML patrons.

www.HealthyToys.org is a project of the Ecology Center which tests children’s toys for toxic chemicals in “over 1,200 toys and children’s products.”  Items are tested for levels of lead, cadmium, chlorine/PVC, arsenic and mercury.   The site includes an excellent FAQ and background on toxic chemicals which are sometimes found in children’s toys.

CSD has been observed worldwide since 1988.  Its aim is to raise awareness of computer related security issues.  Is your computer adequately protected against viruses, spam, spyware, etc. ? To find reviews of computer security software which will  help protect your computer check out : http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1738,4829,00.asp
 

PC Magazine has published a list  of “picks for the top new or under-the-radar  sites of 2007.”  Some are just for fun and others offer valuable information.  The web sites named cover topics on health, reference, entertainment, music, news, reading and more.  To find PC magazines’s list go to http://www.pcmag.com, scroll to RECENT STORIES at the bottom of the page and click on the link for “Top 100 Undiscovered Web sites.”  (One of my favorites :  http://www.verbotomy.com )

If you love books you’ll love this blog.  PAPER CUTS : A BLOG ABOUT BOOKS  is written by Dwight Garner - Senior Editor of the New York Times Book Review.   The blog discusses books and other forms of printed matter.  “Look here for book news and opinion, interviews with writers, regular raids on the Book Review’s archives, and other special features.”   Try it, I think you’ll like it…..http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com .

We’re in the middle of hurricane season again.   According to the American Red Cross “many Long Islanders don’t believe our area is in danger of being hit by a major hurricane. They’re wrong… Long Island’s East End ranks #8 on the list of the top ten most vulnerable mainland U.S. areas to hurricanes.”  Log on to www.liprepares.org to find out how to be prepared if a hurricane should hit our area.