Did you know…about the end of the world?

December 21st, 2012!

We’ve probably all heard about the doomsday prophecies, but what does it mean really?

On the  Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, some times refered to as the Mayan Calendar, the date is the end of a 5125 year cycle. According to professional Mayanist scholars, the idea that the calendar actually ends on that date is a misrepresentation. The calendar, which employs a combination of Base 20 and Base 18 numerical systems counts the passage of time as follows:

1 k’in – 1 Day (represented as 0.0.0.0.1)

1 winal – 20 Days (20 k’in, represented as 0.0.0.1.0)

1 tun – 360 Days (18 winal, represented as 0.0.1.0.0)

1 k’atun – 7 200 days (20 tun, represented as 0.1.0.0.0)

1 b’ak’tun – 144 000 days (20 k’atun, represented as 1.0.0.0.0)

On December 21st this year we will reach the end of the 13th b’ak’tun.
So what does this have to do with the end of the world?

Well, in the Mayan creation account recorded in the  Popol Vuh, we currently live in ‘the Fourth World’. The preceding Third World ended with the close of the 13th b’ak’tun, giving rise the belief that the Fourth World will also end at that point.

Why not check out some of the books and films on the subject? You might also like to jump over to the Library’s Facebook page and cast your vote on what you think might happen on 21/12/2012.

Did you know…about catchphrases?

“The name is Bond, James Bond.”

Bond is back, uttering his famous catchphrase in the film Skyfall, but did you know that many of the character catchphrases we think we know are actually completely wrong?

Sherlock Holmes never once said “Elementary, my dear Watson” in the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The closest he ever came was to say “Elementary” when explaining a deduction in “The Adventure of the Crooked Man”.

Other so-called ‘catchphrases’ incorrectly attributed to literary and film characters include:

 “Beam me up, Scotty” – Star Trek’s Captain Kirk would say “Beam me up”, “Energize” and (once, in Star Trek IV) “Scotty, beam me up”.

“Play it again, Sam” – The actual lines from Casablanca are “Play it once, Sam, for old times’ sake, play ‘As Time Goes By’.” And “You played it for her, you can play it for me. … If she can stand to listen to it, I can. Play it.”

“Luke, I am Your Father” – Vader actually says “No, I am your Father!” in The Empire Strikes Back.

“Do you feel lucky, punk?” – Dirty Harry actually says  “Did he fire six shots, or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a 44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well do ya, PUNK!”

And that’s only a few of them! Click the links to look up these titles in our catalogue.

Did you know about…Bones?

The final episode for the current season of Bones screened on Wednesday night this week.

The show stars Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who assists the FBI in the solving of murders alongside Special Agent Seeley Booth, played by David Boreanaz. The character was created  by real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs for her novels, but did you know that the TV Series is not based on those books?

If you watch the opening credits of the show carefully you will see that the show is based on “the life of forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs”.

That’s right, the show is based on the author, using the character names from her books!

Why not check out some of Reich’s novels, enjoy some episodes of the show, or even learn some more about forensic anthropology?

Did you know…About the Avengers?

Avengers #1, September 1963

“And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat…foes no single superhero could withstand… Avengers Assemble!”

The Avengers are Marvel Comics’ premier superhero team and answer to DC’s Justice League. The original team-up occurred in Avengers #1, written by Stan Lee with art by Jack Kirby and released in September 1963. The original members of the team were Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and his partner Wasp (who came up with the name), who teamed up to do battle with Loki, the Norse god of mischief.

April 25^th will see the very first big screen outing on the Avengers team, something Marvel Studios (the cinematic arm of Marvel Comics) have been building to since the release of Iron Man in 2007.

 Check out the lead-in films (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America), some of the amazing Avengers graphic novels or the Avengers Animated Series, all available at the Library.

Did You Know…About Graphic Novels?

A selection of the latest Graphic Novels added to the collection.

The Tea Tree Gully Public Library boasts a collection of more than 2400 graphic novels. The collection is very popular, but to many people the term ‘Graphic Novel’ is something of a mystery. Just what are Graphic Novels? Are they a new phenomena? Where did they come from?

Graphic Novels have been around for quite a long time, with so called ‘prototype’ graphic novels appearing as early as the 1920s! Launched in the 1940s, the magazine Classic Illustrated contained public domain novels re-produced in comic book form. The book ‘Blackmark’, published in 1970 by Gil Kane and Archie Goodwin is considered to be the first true Graphic Novel, though that term would not appear until 1976. The story ran 119 pages and was told using art and word balloons, making the book a novel but told in a graphical format.

Since that time both DC and Marvel now make a habit of collecting their larger story arcs and classic issues into what used to be called ‘Trade Paperbacks’. These days, graphic adaptions of films and computer games are fairly standard as part of the larger promotional efforts as are graphic adaptions of popular print novels.

Why are they so popular? I think that it may be a case of people being more aware of their existence, not just through public library collections, but through regular bookshops and department stores as well.  The influx of Japanese animation (Anime) and it’s accompanying print form (Manga) may also have contributed. At Tea Tree Gully, approximately half of our graphic novel collection is Manga format.

Why not check some out for yourself? If you are a big fan, check out our new Facebook page Talking Graphic Novels, Manga and Anime at TTG Library!

Did you know…About Pancake Day?

Did you know that Pancake day or Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the season of  Lent and has been celebrated since at least 1000AD?

The word shrove is the past-tense of the verb to shrive which means to obtain absolution for sins.

Pancakes are consumed as a way to use up the so-called rich food stuffs such as eggs, milk and sugar before the fast of Lent, during which plainer foods were traditionally consumed.

The period of Lent lasts for 40 days and culminates with the Easter celebration.

Check out our range of baking books for your special pancake recipe.

Did you know…About Richard Castle?

Richard 'Rick' Castle (Nathan Fillion)

Did you know that the fictional author, Richard Castle (played by Nathan Fillion in the TV show Castle) has actually released three books in real life?
The novels Heat Wave, Naked Heat and Heat Rises have been released under the name Richard Castle as part of the promotion for the TV Show.  In addition, a graphic novel entitled Deadly Storm,  based on one of Castle’s earlier works was released by Marvel Comics in 2011.

Heat Wave made the New York Times Bestseller list, peaking at #6 in it’s fourth week of publication, while Naked Heat debuted at #7. Not bad for an author who doesn’t exist!

The  Library has copies of Heat Wave, Naked Heat , Heat Rises and the Deadly Storm graphic novel as well as DVDs of the Castle TV series available for loan. Why not check them out?

Did You Know…About Professor Moriarty?

Professor James Moriarty as illustration by Sidney Paget which accompanied the original publication of "The Final Problem".

The forthcoming film Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will see the great detective face off against the evil Professor James Moriarty, but did you know that although he is often presented as Sherlock Holmes arch-nemesis, Moriarty and Holmes only ever encountered one another in a single short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Entitled The Final Problem, the story has Holmes revealing that the professor (whom Holmes admits is his intellectual equal) sits at the centre of London’s underworld, like a spider in a vast web. Holmes considers the eventual capture of Moriarty and dismantling of his network to be the single greatest moment of his career. The two finally face off in a duel to the death atop Reichenbach Falls.

Moriarty did go on to appear in one other story, The Valley of Fear which although written after The Final Problem, actually takes place before it. However, the Professor and Holmes do not meet during the story.

Holmes does make reference to Moriarty in five other stories: The Empty House (the immediate sequel to The Final Problem), The Norwood Builder, The Missing Three-Quarter, The Illustrious Client, and His Last Bow, but they only ever encountered one another directly the one time.

With the adaption of the Holmes stories to feature film and television, many writer/director/producers have chosen to use Moriarty as the ongoing villain or a threat working in the shadows behind the main mystery, much as the early James Bond films made use of SPECTRE and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld as ongoing villians, even though the character and organization only appear in three and four books respectively.

The library has the complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes as well as DVDs and a new novel featuring Moriarty and his right hand man, Colonel Sebastian Moran as the main characters.

Did You Know…About New Years?

Did you know that not all cultures and countries celebrate the New Year as beginning on January 1? In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the civil New Year falls on 14 January on the modern Gregorian calendar,  which is January 1 on the older Julian calendar.

Chinese New Year occurs on the new moon of the first lunar month, which could fall anywhere between January 21 and February 21 on the Gregorian calendar. Iranian New Year (called Nowruz) is the day of the vernal or spring equinox, typically 20-21 March.

The Ancient Babylonians celebrated the first new moon following the spring equinox as the beginning of the new year. Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish holiday occurring in July on the Gregorian calendar, commemorating the culmination of the seven days of Creation, and marking God’s yearly renewal of His world.

There are many, many more…

Did you know…About Christmas Trees?

The CTTG Library Christmas Tree

Did you know the first accounts of decorating an evergreen tree for Christmas were recorded in Germany, during the 16^th Century?

In Denmark, the first recorded Christmas tree was lit in 1808 by Countess Wilhemine of Holsteinborg. Many years later, the elderly countess told the story of the first Danish Christmas tree to the writer Hans Christian Andersen. He had already published a fairy-tale called The Fir-Tree in 1844, recounting the fate of a fir-tree being used as a Christmas tree.

Lights have long been part of the tradition with candles and lanterns, both in holders and glued with melted wax directly to the tree. The electric Christmas tree light is attributed to Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison, and was first displayed on December 22, 1882. US President, Grover Cleveland sponsored the first electrically lit tree in the White House in 1895. Electrically lit trees would gain popularity during the first decades of the 20th Centrury, but due to their expense, remained beyond the reach of the average person until the 1930s.

Check out some of these books on the history and traditions of Christmas …