The goodness of Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is something of a treasure to libraries, and not just because of the incredible books he writes. He is a strong advocate for fiction and reading which is very evident in his recent lecture 'Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming' 
It is no wonder with quotes like "Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one" that Mr Gaiman is beloved by librarians the world over :)  

The following are my top 5 Neil Gaiman recommendations. This was a pretty difficult list to narrow down, but these are my personal favourites - I'd love to hear which are yours!

Number 5
I'm going to cheat a little and link both The Sandman comic series and the various Death comic mini-series together, as they are after all connected. The Sandman comics were amongst the first I read when I was getting back into the whole comic scene in the mid 90's, and it is easy to see why they are considered classics in the genre.
The series centres around Morpheus, also known as Dream from The Endless, and he and his siblings Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Delirum and Despair take us on a series of unbelievable exploits. The series has a very mythological feel to it, as do many of Mr Gaiman's works. I'll always have a soft spot for Death, who is always so much fun to cosplay, and the deluxe edition of her tales are well worth checking out.

Number 4
Mr Gaiman is a very diverse author and writes for ALL ages. He has many titles for kids under his belt, from the super cute Chu series of picture books to the rather spooky Coraline (I still look at buttons and shudder). But my favourite of these is the wonderful Fortunately, the milk.
Mum is away and Dad is in charge, and he's forgotten the milk for breakfast! Luckily he has some rather marvellous adventures getting it. Such a fun story to share with the littles (or not so littlies) in your life.

Number 3
From the very creepy beginning of The graveyard book where a small toddler manages to survive his entire family being murdered by a mysterious assassin, I was hooked. Bod (Nobody) Owens ends up being raised by the spooks at the nearby graveyard, a crazy assortment of characters. This was one book that stayed with me long after I finished it, in the very best way possible. I'm not sure how you can be creepy but heart-warming at the same time, but this book somehow manages it.

Number 2
Unbeknownst to me, I already owned a Neil Gaiman book long before I was even a fan. Another of my all time favourite authors is Terry Pratchett, and I own many of his books, including Good Omens: the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a witch, which a little later down the track I realised was a collaboration with that same comic guy I really liked :)
In this fantasy comedy about the impending end of the world, Aziraphale the angel, and Crowley the demon are on a mission to find the (rather nice) 11 year old Antichrist and avert Armageddon.

And in my top spot - Number 1
Stardust is probably the only book I own in any format I can get it. I have the exact hard copy as pictured above. I have the stunning 4 part graphic novel set, beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess. I have the DVD of the movie adaptation (the book is better, lets face it, it usually is - but the movie is pretty lovely). To me this has the same magical timeless quality of The Princess Bride.
Tristran Thorn sees a falling star, and sets out to retrieve it in order to win the heart of his supposed one true love. He is not the only one questing to retrieve the star, and a fantastical adventure ensues. This book makes it not only on my top five Gaiman list, but also on my overall top five book list!

So those are my personal favourites, and I have missed so many wonderful titles I also loved off this list - the novels American gods (hopefully soon to be a TV series) The ocean at the end of the lane and Neverwhere, the stunningly beautiful The sleeper and the spindle (he retells the classics like no one else), his recent short story collection Trigger warning: short fictions and disturbances....I could seriously go on! Thanks Mr Gaiman for letting us share in your daydreams, they are indeed a magical (and sometimes very spooky) place :)

Don’t Forget the Motor City

A lot of the movie Only Lovers Left Alive, takes place in Detroit. And I had never realised a city in ruin could look so beautiful. Some of my favourite scenes involve the two central characters, long-term lover vampires Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve, (Tilda Swinton) driving around Detroit’s empty streets at night. Past vacant lots of long grass, two story homes where families haven’t lived in for years and magnificent buildings in ruins.

At a New York Film Festival press conference, the movie’s director Jim Jarmusch, talked about how he was drawn to Detroit’s “post-industrial visual feeling” and described what had happened to Detroit as “sad” and ‘tragic”.  Detroit made and lost a fortune with the auto industry and was weakened by racial conflict and crime. The city is now bankrupt and near abandoned.

But Detroit was once known as “the Paris of the West” and the grand buildings stand as testament to Detroit’s moneyed past. During one of Adam’s and Eve’s night time drives they visit the Michigan Theatre. Adam shows Eve around and tells her (and us the audience) about the theatre’s past. It was built in the 1920s for “huge sums of money”. And “built ironically on the exact same site Henry Ford built his very first prototype.” The huge theatre seated 4000 people and hosted concerts and “even movies”. Now, further irony, the theatre has become a carpark. Nobody seems to know what to do with such a vast space. While Adam is talking, the camera slowly moves across the ornately decorated ceiling, crumbling but still beautiful. The scene ends with the two actors standing back to back looking up at the ceiling, dwarfed by the sheer size of the place.

For me, this is the best Detroit-by-night scenes. It’s striking, atmospheric and I think it sums up Detroit’s past and present.

Crossing off my Reading Challenge! Part One (and a half)

As everyone might remember, in April I posted my Reading Challenge for ya'll to see. I've since made progress (as one should hope, seeing as we're halfway through the year now - scary!) and here it is - Update One-and-a-Half (having already shown my undying love for cat warriors in my 'first' update).

Alright! What have I read so far?

A book published this year - First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen (Published January 20th, 2015)

As we already know from a previous post before I thought to make my challenge public, First Frost is by my very favourite adult fiction author, Sarah Addison Allen.
The Waverly family is plodding along nicely, until suddenly everyone loses spirit. The first frost is coming, and everyone is uneasy. Claire doesn't know if her magic is working - or if she even had any to start with, and Bay, her niece, is trying to make her way through high school after her powers make a huge mess of her reputation with the one person who matters.

I cannot possibly explain how much I love her books, but just take my word for it. Apparently, they're similar in style to Diana Wynne Jones (says a well-read friend) which I haven't read (yet) so if you're a fan of hers, these books might be for you. When I finally could get my mitts on this latest one from SAA, I read it in one go - not hard, as this ones quite a bit shorter than her others - and loved it, as I expected.

A book with a number in the title - Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why is about a teenage girl who, before committing suicide, records 13 'reasons' of why she came to the conclusion to do so, and then sends them to the people 'responsible' for her death. The main character, Clay, receives them one morning in the mail, and slowly listens to why the girl he thought he was possibly in love with killed herself.

It's a morbid read that does well in showing how suicide and depression is still taboo and 'ignored' - despite how common it is and sheds some light on why that can't happen anymore. In that way, I respect it. I just didn't think it was for me - not because of content/themes, but because the main guy, Clay, got on my nerves a little.

A book with non-human characters - Black Wings by Christina Henry

Maddy is an Agent - someone who leads the dead to the after-life. She's also broke and in need of a flat-mate to help pay her rent. Enter Gabriel, a hunky guy who just happens to know about her past and her mother's death, and who inadvertently brings a whole bunch of demons knocking on Maddy's door. She has to fight or die, and with Gabe's help, she finds she is much more than just an Agent.

A paranormal/fantasy romance. Angels, demons, 'Agents', titan-like beings that like to mess stuff up. A fun read that was easy to get through, but not for if you're wanting some serious thinking to go on - so it's like most of the books I read, haha.

Matariki - shine bright you beautiful stars

I chose to blog about Matariki as I knew very little about what it actually meant and the history behind it. Which is totally embarrassing as I have been living in New Zealand for over 10 years.

All the information I talk about in this post was found by researching on different sites I found through Google. It was a good learning experience for me and Matariki is such an interesting topic.

So, for those who are like me, here is a quick low down on what Matariki is all about.

Matariki is the Maori name for small cluster of stars called the Pleiades in the Taurus constellation that rise during the New Zealand winter. For early Maori Matariki was strongly connected to the seasons and was an indicator of the forthcoming year.

The Maori New Year signals a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to the land, sea and sky. It's also a time for the community to farewell those departed and acknowledge the year gone by, and to turn to the future and celebrate new beginnings.

As Matariki is all about getting involved, how about checking out the events that will be happening across Auckland Libraries? We have some really neat children's events planned. Click here for the Auckland Libraries Matariki events page.

Also, how about checking out this page on how to find Matariki, click here to take a peek. If you do happen to find it, please share your photo's with us, we would love to see them.

And lastly, you have to check out Dayne Laird's photos of Matariki from 2014, they are absolutely amazing. Check out his beautiful photos by clicking here.

Your Favourite Media, second edition

As promised, here is the next exciting installment of Your Favourite Media, in which I interview someone who is not me.

Hello Tim and welcome to popculturAL! Tell me, what is your favourite kind of media?

Hi! I love vinyl records and music in general. I like to have music around as much as possible so mp3 is a good portable option. Vinyl at home is the best place to listen to music though. I enjoy movies, TV and books as well.

Where do you get your records from?

Real Groovy, Trade Me, plus sometimes Discogs and Ebay. I haven’t been to a record fair for a while but they’re great fun and you always find something there. I buy from op shops too but less often, it’s harder to find good stuff there but a good dig can be rewarded if you’re lucky.

How do you get ideas of what to buy/listen to next?

Tangents. Someone played with someone on some record… The internet.

What kind of music do you mostly listen to?

I'm a rock and blues fan. Mostly guitar-based music, but not exclusively. I like twangy guitar and I’m into great country artists like Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. A friend gave me a Mickey Newbury record recently so I’ve been listening to a lot of him lately. I’ve been thrashing the song “If You Ever Get to Houston (Look Me Down)” for the last couple of weeks. Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Multi Love is on high rotation at home at the moment too. I’d love it if all the Mutton Birds albums got released on vinyl.

I totally agree! Did you ever buy a record that you ended up not liking?

Yes, a Patsy Cline record with 80’s overdubs. I love Patsy Cline, she’s one of my all time favourite singers, but those overdubs really suck.

What do you use the library for?

Books and DVD’s mostly. It’s a great place to rent DVD’s from and books are good to have around the house. My missus gets out a lot of design books which I like to look at too. Our five year old daughter is asking a lot of questions about 'the olden days' right now so we’ve got some history books with photos out at the moment.

What is your favourite record?

That changes constantly, earlier this year it was Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk then their self titled album from 1975. It’s also been Sentimental Hygiene by Warren Zevon and Aldous Harding’s LP recently. Right now it’s Lovers by Mickey Newbury and the new Unknown Mortal Orchestra album (pink vinyl with a photo print and embroidered patch). The Clean’s Boodle Boodle Boodle (with the comic book) and Neil Young’s Eldorado are a couple of my more valuable favourites. I have more Neil Young records than any other artist (about 46).

How many records do you own?

About 1200 LP’s and 12 inches and around 200 45’s.

Wow. Do you keep track of all your records?

Yes, but I’m a bit behind. In more recent years I started including additional information on my list like label, year, country, catalogue number, condition.

What upcoming music events are you looking forward to?

Next week my missus and I are going to Sam Hunt with David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights at the Kings Arms. Then Fleetwood Mac in November. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing Haruki Murakami at the Writers Festival recently too.

I hear Murakami is also a serious record collector. Would you like to share anything else about your music habits?

I’m a bit addicted. I really love acquiring more music, especially the hold-in-your-hand format of vinyl. It’s really hard to not buy vinyl.

We all have our addictions! It's all fine as long as no one gets hurt, right?

Right!

Tim, thanks so much for sharing your love of vinyl records here at popculturAL. Stay tuned, readers, for the next exciting installment of Your Favourite Media in which I interview someone about something that they love and are possibly addicted to, but in a totally healthy and reasonable way.