Aumnicat Weblog

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-16T19:34:45Z

The AUM Library wishes you a very Happy Thanksgiving as we pause to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new year and all that it holds for us. Here are some interesting facts about Thanksgiving that each of us should know: The first Thanksgiving celebration can be traced back to the Plymouth Pilgrims in the fall of 1621. The first Thanksgiving feast was held to thank the Lord for sparing the lives of the survivors of the Mayflower, who landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. The survivors included four adult women and almost forty percent children. The Wampanoag chief Massasoit and ninety of his tribesmen were also invited to the first thanksgiving feast. Governor William Bradford invited them for helping the Pilgrims surviving and teaching them the skills of cultivating the land. The celebration in 1621 lasted for three days and included games and food. The president to proclaim the first 'National Day of Thanksgiving' in 1789 was George Washington. Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, campaigned to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1827 and succeeded. Abraham Lincoln announced Thanksgiving to be national holiday in his proclamation on October 3, 1863. The 'wishbone' of the turkey is used in a good luck ritual on Thanksgiving Day. Puritans of the Mayflower used to drink Beer. Source: http://primtalkradio.com/0ct31.pdf How the Turkey Got Its Name There are a number of explanations for the origin of the name of Thanksgiving's favorite dinner guest. Some believe Christopher Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India, and believed the bird he discovered (the turkey) was a type of peacock. He therefore called it 'tuka,' which is 'peacock' in Tamil, an Indian language. Though the turkey is actually a type of pheasant, one can't blame the explorer for trying. The Native American name for turkey is 'firkee'; some say this is how turkeys got their name. Simple facts, however, sometimes produce the best answers—when a turkey is scared, it makes a "turk, turk, turk" noise. At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward". Source: http://www.factmonster.com/spot/tgturkeyfacts.html

In Honor of our Veterans

2009-11-09T20:10:44Z

This week, the AUM Library is proud to salute our nation's veterans from all branches of the military, and from all wars and conflicts. Check out these titles and more this week at the Library, and take a moment to remember those who have fallen to protect our freedom. American Women in World War I: They Also Served By Lettie Gavin Gavin draws from the full range of possible sources for this excellent volume. The number of American women who served in World War I ran into the tens of thousands, with 11,000 "Yeomanettes" in the navy alone (they were the first U.S. women to officially don uniforms). Others included army nurses, doctors who volunteered as "contract employees," the "Hello Girls" who supplied the Signal Corps' telephone system with English-speaking operators (and were not recognized as deserving of pensions and other benefits until long after most had died), physical therapists, and the volunteers of the Red Cross and Salvation Army. One and all, they overcame sexism, racism, bureaucratic inertia, shells, gas, the Spanish influenza, long hours, short rations, and poor quarters to accomplish a prodigious amount of work. And they did all that without benefit of any "gender studies" concepts or jargon, from which Gavin's readable, highly recommendable volume is also blessedly free. Source: http://www.amazon.com/American-Women-World-War-Served/dp/087081432X Band of Brothers (DVD) Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brothers chronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Band-Brothers-Damien-Lewis/dp/B00006CXSS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1251809920&sr=1-1 The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War By David Halberstam Pulitzer-winning historian Halberstam first decided to write this book more than thirty years ago and it took him nearly ten years. It stands as a lasting testament to its author, and to the fighting men whose heroism it chronicles. Halberstam gives us a full narrative of the political decisions and miscalculations on both sides, charting the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu, and that caught Douglas MacArthur and his soldiers by surprise. He provides vivid portraits of all the major figures--Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, and Mao, and Generals MacArthur, Almond, and Ridgway. He also provides us with his trademark narrative journalism, chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order. At the heart of the book are the stories of the soldiers on the front lines who were left to deal with the consequences of the dangerous misjudgments and competing agendas of powerful men. Source: http://aum.worldcat.org/oclc/137324872&referer=brief_results A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam, 1965-1972 By James R Ebert Ebert combines interviews and printed primary sources in this brilliant reconstruction of the infantryman's experience during the Vietnam War. Though accounting for less than 10% of the American troops in Vietnam, the infantry suffered more than 80% of the losses. Ebert, a secondary school teacher in Wisconsin, tells their story chronologically, from the grunts' induction and training, through their arrival in Vietnam, their first encounters with battle and their final rendezvous with the airplane that would carry them home--the "freedom bird," one of the numerous military terms, abbreviations and Vietnamese words defined in the glossary. The infantrymen confronted environments from rice paddies to jungles, from densely populated cities to virtually empty countryside. They fought in patrol skirmishes and in division-scale battles. They learned to kill, but few understood a war with no clear objectives. They survived, but most paid a price for their survival. The book belongs in every collection on America's longest and most controversial war.Source: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Year-American-Infantryman-1965-1972/dp/0891415394

The Boys of Summer

2009-11-03T18:53:58Z

This week we're focusing on America's favorite pastime, baseball! While the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies are slugging it out for the title of World Series Champion, you can brush up on your baseball history with these featured titles: Baseball: An Illustrated History By Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns (Located on the 4th floor: GV863.A1 W37 1994) A magnificent, exhaustively researched chronicle in words and pictures of our nation's pastime, and how it came to be what it is. In their analysis and celebration of baseball's evolution over 150 years from a game played on vacant city lots in front of a few lookers-on to present-day contests in domed stadia with television audiences approaching one billion, Ward and Burns divide the sport's history into nine sections (or innings), each with accompanying essays by such notable writers as Gerald Early, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and George Will. Perhaps most noteworthy is this volume's ability to examine the game while remaining blessedly free from the over analysis and intellectualization that are common to such comprehensive studies. To wit: Babe Ruth is seen not so much as a lens through which a historical era can be studied, but as a great player whose accomplishments helped alter millions of fans' connection to the game. Also worthy of high praise is the straightforward depiction of black players' exclusion, stemming from an unwritten agreement among team owners, during the period spanning from the late 1800s until 1947. Burns’ assertion in the preface that baseball is a ``powerful metaphor...for all Americans'' might be dismissed by some as just a tad ingenuous. However, the true genius of this work is in demonstrating how the baseball diamond does provide a common ground for a nation comprised of disparate elements, overcoming cultural, ethnic, and regional barriers better than nearly any other institution. This companion volume to an upcoming PBS series also stands on its own as a literary achievement. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Illustrated-Geoffrey-C-Ward/dp/0679404597 Clemente : The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero By David Maraniss (Located on the 4th floor: GV865 .C45 M355 2006) On New Year's Eve, 1972, following eighteen magnificent seasons in the major leagues, Roberto Clemente died a hero's death, killed in a plane crash as he attempted to deliver supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake. Journalist Maraniss now brings the great baseball player back to life. Anyone who saw Clemente play will never forget him--he was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. But Clemente was that rare athlete who rose above sports to become a symbol of larger themes. Born in rural Puerto Rico, at a time when there were no blacks or Puerto Ricans playing organized ball in the United States, Clemente went on to become the greatest Latino player in the major leagues, a ballplayer of determination, grace, and dignity who paved the way and set the highest standard for waves of Latino players who followed in later generations. Source: http://aum.worldcat.org/oclc/63179088&referer=brief_results Baseball In America & America In Baseball By Donald G. Kyle and Robert B. Fairbanks (Located on the 4th floor: GV863 .A1 B387 2008) Presenting views from a variety of sport and history experts, Baseball in America and America in Baseball captures the breadth and unsuspected variety of our national fascination and identification with America's Game. Chapters cover such well-known figures as Ty Cobb and lesser-known topics like the "invisible" baseball played by Japanese Americans during the 1930s and 1940s. A study of baseball in rural California from the Gold Rush to the turn of the twentieth century provides an interesting glimpse at how the game evolved from its earliest beginnings to something most modern observers would find familiar. Chapters on the Negro League's Baltimore Black Sox, financial profits of major league teams from 1900 to 1956, and American aspirations to a baseball-led cultural hegemony during the first half of the twentieth century round out this superb collection of sport history scholarship. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-America-Prescott-Memorial-Lectures/dp/1603440232/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257021141&sr=1-1 Yogi Berra : Eternal Yankee By Allen Barra (Located on the 4th floor: GV865 .B4 B37 2009) In the introduction to his latest effort, Barra (The Last Coach: A Life of Paul Bear Bryant) says that one of his goals was to create the first comprehensive work written about Yogi Berra, the greatest ballplayer never to have had a serious biography. The result is not only comprehensive but also incredibly engaging, as Barra narrates the life of one of the most eccentric ballplayers of the 20th century. Starting with his modest Italian upbringing in St. Louis, Mo., Berra quickly took a liking to what his father called a bum's game. And after a short career in the navy, he parlayed his talents into one of the most decorated athletic careers in history, leading the New York Yankees to 10 World Series championships and winning three MVPs. Each of Berra's baseball highlights is meticulously described, as are his stints as a manager for both the Yankees and cross-town Mets, his relationships with men like Casey Stengel, Mickey Mantle and George Steinbrenner, and his ability to create some of the most famous catchphrases of our time, Yogiisms, as they're called. Barra's love of the catcher with the similar name is evident throughout this deserving biography of Yogi. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Yogi-Berra-Eternal-Allen-Barra/dp/0393062333

Shriek Week at the Library

2009-10-26T17:43:00Z

It's Shriek Week at AUM, so the focus this week is on authors who make you scream! Check out some of these horrifying titles by some of the spookiest writers around. Anne Rice: Queen of the Undead In the now-classic novel Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice refreshed the archetypal vampire myth for a late-20th-century audience. The story is ostensibly a simple one: having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac descends into an alcoholic stupor. At his emotional nadir, he is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire who chooses Louis to be his fledgling. The two prey on innocents, give their "dark gift" to a young girl, and seek out others of their kind (notably the ancient vampire Armand) in Paris. But a summary of this story bypasses the central attractions of the novel. First and foremost, the method Rice chose to tell her tale--with Louis' first-person confession to a skeptical boy--transformed the vampire from a hideous predator into a highly sympathetic, seductive, and all-too-human figure. Second, by entering the experience of an immortal character, one raised with a deep Catholic faith, Rice was able to explore profound philosophical concerns--the nature of evil, the reality of death, and the limits of human perception--in ways not possible from the perspective of a more finite narrator. While Rice has continued to investigate history, faith, and philosophy in subsequent Vampire novels (including The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, and The Vampire Armand), Interview remains a treasured masterpiece. It is that rare work that blends a childlike fascination for the supernatural with a profound vision of the human condition. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Interview-Vampire-Anne-Rice/dp/0345409647/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245088876&sr=1-6 Tess Gerritsen: Queen of Suspense Tess's first medical thriller, Harvest, was released in hardcover in 1996, and it marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Her suspense novels since then have been: Life Support (1997), Bloodstream (1998), Gravity (1999), The Surgeon (2001), The Apprentice (2002), The Sinner (2003), Body Double (2004), Vanish (2005), The Mephisto Club (2006), The Bone Garden (2007), and The Keepsake (2008). Her books have been translated into 33 languages, and more than 20 million copies have been sold around the world. Her books have been top-5 bestsellers in both the United States and abroad. She has won both the Nero Wolfe Award (for Vanish) and the Rita Award (for The Surgeon.) Critics around the world have praised her novels as "Pulse-pounding fun" (Philadelphia Inquirer), "Scary and brilliant" (Toronto Globe and Mail), and "Polished, riveting prose" (Chicago Tribune). Publisher Weekly has dubbed her the "medical suspense queen". Source: http://www.tessgerritsen.com/biography.html Edgar Allan Poe: King of Fright Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was orphaned at the age of three and adopted by a wealthy Virginia family with whom he had a troubled relationship. He excelled in his studies of language and literature at school, and self-published his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827. In 1830, Poe embarked on a career as a writer and began contributing reviews and essays to popular periodicals. He also wrote sketches and short fiction, and in 1833 published his only completed novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. Over the next five years he established himself as a master of the short story form through the publication of "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Masque of the Red Death," "The Tell-tale Heart," and other well-known works. In 1841, he wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," generally considered the first modern detective story. The publication of The Raven and Other Poems in 1845 brought him additional fame as a poet. Edgar Allan Poe is credited with having pioneered the short story, having perfected the tale of psychological horror, and having revolutionized modern poetics. The entirety of Poe's body of imaginative work encompasses detective tales, satires, fables, fantasies, science fiction, verse dramas, and some of the most evocative poetry in the English language. Source: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Complete-Tales-and-Poems-of-Edgar-Allan-Poe/Edgar-Allan-Poe/e/9781435106345/ Stephen King: Master of Horror Walk into the dark with bestselling author Stephen King, who has terrified readers with his classic novels over the past three decades. Here are some short descriptions of some of King's most successful books. Pet Sematary - "Sometimes, death is better." Those are the ominous words spoken by Jud Crandall, an elderly resident of Ludlow, Maine to newcomer Louis Creed. Dr. Creed and his family have just moved in to a house across the road from Crandall, who warns them to approach the intersecting highway with caution since many large trucks frequently pass by. One day Jud takes them for a walk into the forest and shows them a burial ground for dead pets, many of which were run over on the highway. Later, the two men travel further, over a difficult barrier of thick foliage to another cemetery once used by the Micmac Indians. It is here that the dead can come back to life, but when they do, they aren't quite the same. When Gage, their youngest son, is killed by a speeding truck and then buried in the Native American graveyard, there are horrific consequences for the rest of the Creed family. It - In the town of Derry something evil is living below the ground in the sewers and storm drains. It likes to kill children, and then hibernate for twenty-seven years before awakening once again to satisfy it's appetite for human flesh. A group of young kids fight this monster in 1958, and must do so again as adults in 1985 after they find out "It" has come back, and is hungry. They must come to grips with their repressed memories of that fateful encounter long ago, as well as destroy the creature once and for all. Source: http://horror-fiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_books_of_stephen_king

Vampires in the Library!!

2009-10-19T14:10:21Z

Almost every culture in the world has its own vampire legend, and some date back thousands of years. Today, we are most familiar with Count Dracula and other folklore from Eastern Europe. Do you want to learn more? Here is a wealth of juicy trivia to sink your fangs into this Halloween season. 1.Was the first vampire a woman? The oldest known vampire legends come from Babylonian and Sumerian mythology. Female demons called the Lilu were said to hunt women and children at night, and drink their blood. 2. Vlad III Tepes, also known as Vlad Dracul, was known for his incredible cruelty; he was alleged to have killed up to 30,000 people at one time! His bloodthirsty reputation inspired Bram Stoker's Dracula. 3. The National Retail Federation listed "Vampire" as the second most popular adult Halloween costume in 2005. Vampires were the sixteenth most popular children's costume for the same year. 4. While modern pop culture usually portrays vampires as sensual and romantic, other countries don't see them that way: the Ghanan Asasabonsam vampire has iron teeth and hooks for feet - which they drop from treetops onto unsuspecting victims. 5. Some believe that Cain was the first vampire, cursed by God for slaying his brother, Abel. This theory is frequently found in popular films and games. 6. In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula" movie won seven awards, including three Oscars. 7. Stakes, fire and sunlight aren't the only ways to kill a vampire. Other cultures recommend beheading a vampire, boiling it in vinegar, pounding a nail through its navel, or scattering birdseed on its tomb. 8. In Latin American folklore, El Chupacabras is a supernatural creature that drinks the blood of animals - usually chickens and goats. 9. According to popular tradition, vampires can shape-shift into wolves, bats, or clouds of mist. 10. In March 2007, self-proclaimed vampire hunters entered the tomb of Slobodan Milosevic and staked his body through the heart.
Source:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/361065/halloween_monster_trivia_13_facts_about.html?cat=37

Books with a Bite!

2009-10-12T18:59:00Z

All Hallow's Eve is almost upon us, and the AUM Library is getting into the 'spirit' by featuring books with a bite! Check out these tasty treats and more at the Library this month. That is if you aren't afraid of things that go bump in the night... Interview with the Vampire By Anne Rice In the now-classic novel Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice refreshed the archetypal vampire myth for a late-20th-century audience. The story is ostensibly a simple one: having suffered a tremendous personal loss, an 18th-century Louisiana plantation owner named Louis Pointe du Lac descends into an alcoholic stupor. At his emotional nadir, he is confronted by Lestat, a charismatic and powerful vampire who chooses Louis to be his fledgling. The two prey on innocents, give their "dark gift" to a young girl, and seek out others of their kind (notably the ancient vampire Armand) in Paris. But a summary of this story bypasses the central attractions of the novel. First and foremost, the method Rice chose to tell her tale--with Louis' first-person confession to a skeptical boy--transformed the vampire from a hideous predator into a highly sympathetic, seductive, and all-too-human figure. Second, by entering the experience of an immortal character, one raised with a deep Catholic faith, Rice was able to explore profound philosophical concerns--the nature of evil, the reality of death, and the limits of human perception--in ways not possible from the perspective of a more finite narrator. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Interview-Vampire-Anne-Rice/dp/0345337662 Located on the 2nd floor in the Browsing Collection Dracula: The Connoisseur’s Guide By Leonard Wolf In the 100 years since its publication, Bram Stoker's Dracula has never been out of print. Once introduced to the world by the silent film classic Nosferatu in 1921, Dracula became an enduring icon of fear, forever immortalized as a frightful embodiment of evil and forbidden sexuality.Now, in this fascinating and entertaining account, Wolf examines the various interpretations of the immortal vampire in print, film, television, theater, and literature, including an extensive outline of Bram Stoker's life and his literary masterpiece, Dracula. Wolf explains how the story of a sexually sadistic undead creature/man who feeds on blood worked its way into mainstream society and how it is now used as a ubiquitous marketing tool for products from hair tonic to children's breakfast cereal. Source: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/w/leonard-wolf/dracula.htm Located on the 5th floor PN56 .V3 W65 1997 30 Days of Night By Steve Niles, Ben Templesmith In a sleepy, secluded Alaska town called Barrow, the sun sets and doesn't rise for over thirty consecutive days and nights. From the darkness, across the frozen wasteland, an evil will come that will bring the residents of Barrow to their knees. The only hope for the town is the Sheriff and Deputy, husband and wife who are torn between their own survival and saving the town they love. Source: http://www.amazon.com/30-Days-Night-Steve-Niles/dp/0971977550 Located on the 5th floor PN6727 .N55 A15 2007 The Hammer Horror Series Collection of classic horror films Hammer Films, one of the most celebrated horror studios in the history of cinema, presents 8 classic horror films in one collection. From Dracula to Frankenstein, werewolves to phantoms, the Hammer Horror Series showcases some of the most terrifying monsters in the history of cinema and features legendary performances by Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed and Janette Scott. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Werewolf-Paranoiac-Nightmare-Creatures-Frankenstein/dp/B0009X770O Located on the 2nd floor in the Media Collection PN1995.9.H6 H255 2005

AUM Archival Nuggets

2009-10-05T13:26:19Z

October is National Archives Month, to celebrate we're focusing on the holdings of the Library's Archives & Special Collections Department. The Archives & Special Collections dept. was created in 1986 and is home to official university records, rare and unique books, manuscript collections and photos. Stop by and check us out! We're located on the 8th floor in the Library Tower. The AUM Archives & Special Collections Department is home to the following collections: Wayne Greenhaw: Greenhaw has published fifteen books of fiction and nonfiction. He has worked on prize-winning TV productions, and two plays he wrote have been produced. He has worked as editor and has taught journalism and creative writing. He was also the 2006 recipient of the Harper Lee Award for Alabama’s Distinguished Writer, given annually by the Alabama Writers’ Forum and Alabama Southern Community College at Monroeville’s Alabama Writers’ Symposium. http://www.waynegreenhaw.com/index.php?page_id=236 & http://www.southernscribe.com/contact/contributors.htm Capri Theatre: The Capri Community Film Society was organized in 1983 to save Montgomery’s only remaining neighborhood theater as an operating movie house. Constructed in 1941 in an Art Deco style, the Clover Theater served as the neighborhood theater for the Cloverdale area. As a non-profit agency, the Society is unique in that it is the only non-profit film society outside of New York that operates its own theater. http://aumnicat.aum.edu/departments/archives/capri.pd U.S. Congressman William Dickinson: 2nd District Representative from 1964-1992. In 1964, Dickinson was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives for the Second District of Alabama; he served on the Armed Services Committee until he left office in 1992. http://aumnicat.aum.edu/departments/archives/dickinson.html Lella Warren: Her national, and even international, reputation is based primarily on the success of a single book, Foundation Stone, a historical novel about a family that settled in Alabama in the frontier period of the 1820s. Favorably compared with Gone with the Wind, Foundation Stone was a huge popular success. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2348

Welcome to Moe's!

2009-09-30T23:44:42Z

Go to Moe's Southwest Grill the first Thursday of every month and show your support for AUM! Moe's has generously agreed to donate 20% of your total receipt to AUM Athletics, and Athletics has agreed to donate 25% of the total to the AUM Friends of the Library! Just stop by the Athletics Department or the Library to pick up a flyer and take it to any of the three local Moe's locations. Thank you for your support!!

Football Frenzy Continues!

2009-09-28T19:32:03Z

Football frenzy continues this week with the following selections from our regular collection and the browsing collection: Playing for Pizza by John Grisham; College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy by John Sayle Watterson; The Real All Americans: The Team that Changed a Game, a People, a Nation by Sally Jenkins; Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers from the NFL to the Ivory Tower by Dawn Knight
Here are some fun college football facts Georgia: Before the Bulldog became Georgia’s now famous mascot, their first unofficial mascot was a goat. That’s right—when Georgia played its first intercollegiate game against Auburn in 1892, they introduced the ferocious goat as their lucky charm. Florida: Steve Spurrier, former legendary coach and Heisman trophy winner for the Gators, is known for his clever quips. An obscure one he once said: "Wuerffel is a New Testament guy. You slap him upside the helmet, and he'll turn the other cheek and say, ‘Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.' I'm a little more Old Testament. If you spear our guy in the earhole, I think we're supposed to be able to spear your guy in the earhole." LSU: Before Gatorade was created on the campus of Florida to help replenish fluids for their football players, Bengal Punch was a sports drink first concocted in 1958 for the LSU team. It was created by Dr. Martin Broussard, the long-time LSU athletic trainer, and is believed to be the first sports drink ever created, pre-dating Gatorade by seven years. Clemson: Clemson shares its mascot with Auburn. Coincidence? The "Father of Clemson Football," Walter Merritt Riggs, brought the game with him from Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama (now Auburn University). Riggs let his players pick the team mascot, and even though he may have influenced their decision, the players chose Tigers because Princeton University had just won the national championship. Auburn: Auburn’s first bowl game was against Villanova in the Bacardi Bowl, held in Havana, Cuba. The game was played in a revolutionary atmosphere. Fulgencio Batista, the dictator who would be overthrown by Fidel Castro 22 years later, had just assumed power. The game was almost canceled because Batista’s picture was not in the game program. A quick trip to the printer saved the Bacardi Bowl and allowed Auburn’s bowl history to get off to a significant and historical beginning. Alabama: The "Crimson Tide" nickname originated from a muddy game Prior to becoming the Alabama Crimson Tide, people commonly referred to Alabama's football squad, as the "Crimson White" (named after the school colors) or "Thin Red Line." Then in 1907, Alabama played its arch rival, Auburn. Alabama was a huge underdog, and the teams played in a "sea" of red mud. However, Alabama battled Auburn to a 6-6 tie. Later, a sports editor named Zipp Newman popularized the nickname "Crimson Tide." Tennessee: Smokey, Tennessee’s mascot, has had its share of trials and tribulations over the years. Smokey II was stolen by Kentucky students in 1955 and was involved in an incident with the Baylor Bear's mascot Judge at the 1957 Sugar Bowl. Not to be outdone, Smokey VI was the first dog to make the Volunteer injury report after suffering heat exhaustion in the 1991 UCLA game.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/46610-strange-but-true-things-you-may-not-know-about-college-footballs-top-25/show_full

Browsing Books

2009-09-23T16:35:16Z

New in the Browsing Collection: 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown Sheer Folly by Carola Dunn Shooting Stars by LeBron James & Buzz Bissinger Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander If you find that a book you want to read is already checked out, you can request a Hold on that book so that as soon as it comes back to the Library YOU will be the next in line for it! Ask at the Circulation or Reference Desks and we can place the Hold for you, or you can do it yourself by logging into your Patron account in the AUM Catalog. Happy Reading!

Football, Football, Football!!

2009-09-21T13:51:50Z

It's finally here! Football season is underway and the Library has some great titles to help get you in the football spirit! Check out the books below and get caught up in the excitment!!
The Missing Ring : How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide were Denied College Football’s Most Elusive Prize By Keith Dunnavant
During the turbulent battles over issues such as civil rights and Vietnam in the mid-1960s, the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team, led by legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, had its own cause becoming the first team in modern college history to win the national championship for three straight years. In this solid if somewhat overlong study of the Tide's quest, Dunnavant expands upon his earlier Bryant biography, Coach, to explore how national politics and collegiate sports inevitably collided. While the bulk of the book delivers insightful profiles of the team's working-class players and fast-paced looks at the team's unbeaten season, it also convincingly argues that Alabama's image as reflecting "establishment America" was skewed by "the poisonous climate" of Gov. George Wallace's segregationist policies.
Source: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Missing-Ring/Keith-Dunnavant/e/9780312374327
Notre Dame and the Game that Changed Football: How Jesse Harper Made the Forward Pass a Weapon and Knute Rockne a Legend By Frank P. Maggio
It's hard for modern fans to imagine football without passing. And, frankly, without the invention of the forward pass early in the twentieth century, it's unlikely the game would have survived. At least 325 deaths were recorded in college football between 1880 and 1905. The pass was effectively introduced to open the game up and reduce the number of calamitous hits, but it wasn't until Jesse Harper, head coach at Notre Dame in 1913, developed an efficient throwing technique that it became a viable offensive weapon. Assisting him were two star players, Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais. The trio worked together in 1913, and later, when the Fighting Irish upset highly favored Army 35-13, the pass—and Notre Dame—secured their places in football history. Maggio researched his subject carefully, uncovering heretofore unseen correspondence between Harper and Rockne. The result is a compellingly readable and informative examination of a seldom discussed cornerstone of football history.
Source: http://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Game-Changed-Football/dp/078672014X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253537200&sr=1-1
A Tiger Walk Through History : the Complete Story of Auburn Football from 1892 to the Tuberville Era By Paul Hemphill
In this lively and fascinating book, noted writer and Auburn alum Paul Hemphill tells the story of the progress of Auburn from that first game - coached by Auburn legend George Petrie - through the team's growth and development into the national force it is today. Hemphill records the many highs and occasional lows, and the heartbreak and jubilation each caused, noting the standouts great and small on the way."A Tiger Walk through History" contains 172 photographs, many of them rare and surprising. The text and photos capture the many great players and coaches in the Auburn football experience: Auburn's first bowl appearance in 1936; coaching eras of innovative football genius John Heisman, after whom the Heisman trophy is named; 'Iron Mike' Donahue; Ralph 'Shug' Jordan, who brought Auburn its first national championship; Pat Dye, Terry Bowden, and coach Tommy Tuberville; Auburn's two Heisman trophy winners Pat Sullivan and Bo Jackson; and victories over rivals Alabama and Georgia.
Source: http://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Walk-through-History-Tuberville/dp/0817315454
Quiet Strength : A Memoir By Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy's words and example have intrigued millions of people, particularly following his victory in Super Bowl XLI, the first for an African American coach. How is it possible for a coach--especially a football coach--to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible for anyone to be successful without compromising faith and family? In this inspiring and reflective memoir, Coach Dungy tells the story of a life lived for God and family--and challenges us all to redefine our ideas of what it means to succeed.
Source: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Quiet-Strength/Tony-Dungy/e/9781414318011

Forces of Nature!

2009-09-14T18:08:58Z

This week we continue to focus on forces of nature, such as hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes and earthquakes. Below, you'll find links to a variety of websites that focus on natural disasters. Be sure to check out the many titles in our collection on the forces of nature that shape our world. Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America By Ted Steinberg Call Number: GB5007 .S74 2006 (4th floor) Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies By Angus Gunn Call Number: GB5014 .G86 2008 (2nd floor Reference) Earth Shock: Hurricances, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tornados and other Forces of Nature By Andrew Robinson Call Number:GB5014 .R62 1993 (4th floor) Encyclopedia of Hurricanes, Typhoons, and Cyclones By David Longshore Call Number: QC944 .L66 2008 (2nd floor Reference) Experience the Forces of Nature for yourself: Watch a preview of the giant-screen film, find out where to see it, get wallpapers, view lesson plans, contribute to our Forces of Nature grant fund, and more. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/forcesofnature/ National Weather Service: National Hurricane Center http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ Towering 1,200ft above the tropical stillness of the Sunda Strait in Indonesia, one of the most terrifying volcanoes the world has ever known has begun to stir once more. Almost 126 years to the day since Krakatoa first showed signs of an imminent eruption, stunning pictures released this week prove that the remnant of this once-enormous volcano is bubbling, boiling and brimming over. http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/ Earthquakes also occur within plates, although plate-boundary earthquakes are much more common. Less than 10 percent of all earthquakes occur within plate interiors. As plates continue to move and plate boundaries change over geologic time, weakened boundary regions become part of the interiors of the plates. These zones of weakness within the continents can cause earthquakes in response to stresses that originate at the edges of the plate or in the deeper crust. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, these destructive forces of nature are found most frequently in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains during the spring and summer months. In an average year, 800 tornadoes are reported nationwide, resulting in 80 deaths and over 1,500 injuries. http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/safety/tornadoguide.html

Alabama Virtual Library

2009-09-11T16:13:24Z
A world of information available at your finger tips! Ask us about the AVL!

Hurricanes!

2009-09-08T14:23:50Z
Did you know that September is typically the busiest month of hurricane season? Read on for more interesting facts and be sure to check out some of the books and DVDs the library has on hurricanes. And as always, be prepared and stay safe!!
Enter the season prepared. Know all evacuation routes if you live close to the coast. Make sure your home meets building codes for withstanding hurricanes, and they have storm shutters. Have proper tools, supplies, and a first aid kit. Have plenty of batteries and flashlights Always have plenty of non-perishable foods on hand. When the Levees Broke Directed by Spike Lee One year after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, director Spike Lee presents a four-hour, four-part chronicle recounting, through words and images, one of our country’s most profound natural disasters. In addition to revisiting the hours leading up to the arrival of Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane before it hit the coast of Louisiana, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts tells the personal stories of those who lived to tell about it, at the same time exploring the underbelly of a nation where the divide along race and class lines has never been more pronounced. Source: http://www.amazon.com/When-Levees-Broke-Requiem-Documentary/dp/B000J10F14 Category 5: The Story of Camille By Ernest Zebrowski & Judith Howard Camille, which swept through coastal Mississippi and Louisiana in August 1969, was the storm that inspired the five-level scale currently used to predict the damage inflicted by hurricanes, and remains the only Category 5 storm—the strongest—to make landfall in modern American history. Zebrowski and Howard ground the storm's story in personal narratives, opening with the tale of a couple who fear their son has been killed when the storm hits the Mississippi coast. They interview other survivors in the region and up in Virginia, where Camille collided with another storm system, tracking the destruction and the confused response of local authorities. Zebrowski, a physicist, and Howard, a political columnist for a northern Louisiana newspaper, also focus on the role of Southern racial politics in shaping the civic response, particularly in one remote Louisiana parish. It's a serviceable recounting, with a thin layer of analysis discussing how Camille influenced the eventual creation of FEMA. Brief reference is made to Hurricane Katrina, but at this early stage, the authors can't say more than that authorities appear not to have learned from the earlier storm's effects. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Category-Camille-Unlearned-Americas-Hurricane/dp/0472032402/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252415471&sr=1-2 Dark Wind: A Survivor's Tale of Love and Loss Dark Wind is the true story of a whirlwind, midlife romance and two lovers' pursuit of a life of adventure on the high seas. In this brave and searing testament, Gordon Chaplin tells the tale of a catastrophic sailing journey he and his partner, Susan Atkinson, undertook across the Pacific Ocean. Having separately navigated broken first marriages and two decades of child-rearing, they had rediscovered passion and a thrilling new life together. But an idyllic sailing escapade through the Marshall Islands ends in tragedy when they decide to ride out a typhoon on their sailboat, Lord Jim, rather than abandon ship for the safety of the shore. By the time it is clear that the storm has altered its course toward them, it is too late to act, and they are trapped in the path of a furious tropical storm. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Wind-Survivors-Tale-Love/dp/0871137437

This Week in History

2009-09-01T14:42:40Z
70 years ago today, Germany invaded Poland which marked the beginning of World War II. Come to the Library and check out some of our books and DVDs that tell the story of WWII. Below, you'll find a sampling of what we have to offer. Flags of our Fathers Directed by Clint Eastwood February 1945. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. The inspiring photo capturing that moment became a symbol of victory to a nation that had grown weary of war and made instant heroes of the six American soldiers at the base of the flag, some of whom would die soon after, never knowing that they had been immortalized. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Flags-Our-Fathers-Full-Screen/dp/B000M4RG4C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1251809495&sr=1-3 Letters from Iwo Jima Directed by Clint Eastwood Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima tells the untold story of the Japanese soldiers who defended their homeland against invading American forces during World War II. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima itself, the unprecedented tactics of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai) and his men transform what was predicted to be a swift defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat. Their sacrifices, struggles, courage and compassion live on in the taut, gripping film Rolling Stone calls "unique and unforgettable." It is the powerful companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers Source: http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Iwo-Jima-Two-Disc-Special/dp/B00005JPKE Band of Brothers Based on the book by Stephen Ambrose Based on the bestseller by Stephen E. Ambrose, the epic 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Drawn from interviews with survivors of Easy Company, as well as soldiers' journals and letters, Band of Brotherschronicles the experiences of these men who knew extraordinary bravery and extraordinary fear. They were an elite rifle company parachuting into France early on D-Day morning, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and capturing Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were also a unit that suffered 150 percent casualties, and whose lives became legend. Source: http://www.amazon.com/Band-Brothers-Damien-Lewis/dp/B00006CXSS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1251809920&sr=1-1 Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl By Anne Frank Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic—a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short. Source: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Diary-of-a-Young-Girl/Anne-Frank/e/9780553296983/?itm=1&usri=1