Posted by Ms. Kathy on May 30, 2008
I don’t have full-strength cable at home, just a diluted el cheapo version that costs about $10.00 a month. I get good reception of the basic local channels, which I want, plus some junky shopping channels, that I block out. I read alot and watch videos so I really don’t need more TV channels to tempt me.
Yesterday, while pulling an all-nighter with my successfully post-operative parental unit at the hospital, I encountered
Book TV, a
C-Span 2 channel that broadcasts nonfiction book authors giving talks about their works. Thought it was pretty interesting stuff, well, interesting to me, anyway. Tom Wolfe was talking about trophy wives and corporate culture at Enron and Silicon Valley and so forth. Apparently there is a related show called “
Booknotes” that has been on C-SPAN since 1989. Who knew?
I plan to take a closer look at Booknotes and the online version of Book TV. I am going to check out Book TV again, too, the next time I have “real” cable access.
Posted in Adult, literacy, media review, website review | Tagged: fiction, internet, nonfiction, reader's advisory, television | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ms. Kathy on February 5, 2008
I like documentaries. Some of my all time favorites are by British archaeologist and world class hand-talker, Michael Wood. He hooked me from the start in In Search of the Trojan War. I really loved In Search of Shakespeare but Legacy is still my all time favorite. The scene where he is quoting Gilgamesh in the commentary while the film of him sharing a fireside meal amid the ruins of Uruk with the Iraqi caretaker and his family is especially poignant.
Here is a list of some “classic” and/or award-winning documentaries and documentary makers as well as some of my personal favorites.
The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski - Culture, History
Civilization by Sir Kenneth Clark – Art, History
Michael Moore, documentary maker of Sicko, Bowling for Columbine, etc
Ken Burns, documentary maker of The Civil War, Jazz, etc
Jared Diamond‘s Guns, Germs, and Steel – Anthropology
Tupperware! – History, Business
Jesus Camp – Culture, Religion
Slavery and the Making of America – Culture, History
Who Killed the Electric Car? – Business, Environmental
Occupation, Dreamland – Culture, Military
Maxed Out - Culture, Business
Super Size Me – Culture, Health
Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Price – Culture, Business
Posted in Adult, library catalog, media review, nonfiction | Tagged: media review, nonfiction | 1 Comment »
