Friday, November 30, 2012

ARIA Award Winners: Free Music



The ARIA awards are over for another year but the music lives on.  The list below contains winners from the awards and are in our CD collection here at Hurstville Library.  All the titles below are available for loan, for free if your are a member of the library. 
*Free downloads for all your favourite Sony artist's are available from Freegal via the library website, click on eLibrary catalogue.  You must be a member of Hurstville City Library to take advantage of this fabulous collection.

The One That Started It All



If you liked  Fifty Shades of Grey why not read the book that started it all.

In 2003 Nikki Gemmell created waves when, writing under the tag 'Anonymous', The Bride Stripped Bare became a literary sensation, with its raw and unflinching depiction of female sexuality.

Eight years later Nikki Gemmell followed it up with another little gem called With My Body. This novel  addresses the questions of what is intimacy and whether it is ever truly possible to know another person.

Both titles are available at the Hurstville City Library and they make for interesting holiday reading.


Monday, November 26, 2012

Google street view gets off road

Google has just launched Street View access to Taronga Zoo and Luna Park.  Google started filming from the Taronga Zoo walkways back in 2010 using a multi-lens camera secured ontop of a trike. They plan to capture other famous Australian places where there is no road vehicle access, like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Imagine studying your overseas destinations before you arrive! Now, how do I get back that hotel...



https://maps.google.com.au/

rach.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Free Music - ARIA Award Nominees

The 26th ARIA Awards are happening Thursday 29 November at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.  Hurstville Library have an extensive list of nominated artists in our CD collection as well as our free download music collection.  Have a look at the following list.

Nominees:
360 - Falling & Flying:  Album of the Year; Best Male Artist; Breakthrough Artist; Best Urban Album; Best Australian Live Act; Best Cover Art
Making Mirrors - Goyte: Album of the Year; Best Male Artist; Best Pop Release; Best Australian Live Act
The Ol' Razzle Dazzle - Missy Higgins: Album of the Year; Best Female Artist; Best Adult Contemporary     Album
Prisoner - The Jezabels: Album of the Year; Best Group; Best Independent Release; Best Australian Live Act; Best Cover Art
Temper Trap - The Temper Trap: Album of the Year; Best Group; Best Rock Album
Broken Brights - Angus Stone: Best Male Artist; Best Blues & Roots Album
Vows - Kimbra: Best Female Artist; Best Pop release
To The Horses - Lanie Lane: Best Female Artist; Breakthrough Artist; Best Blues & Roots
Insomnia - Washington: Best Female Artist
Drinking From The Sun - Hilltop Hoods: Best Group; Best Urban album- "I Love It" featuring Sia: ARIA Song of the Year
Big Man (Moonfire album) - Boy & Bear: Best Group
No Plans - Cold Chisel: Best Group; Best Rock Album: Best Live Australian Act
Do It Like That (Fear & Freedom album) - Ricki-Lee: ARIA Song of the Year

Nominees (available from our free download collection)
Battle Scars - Guy Sebastian: Best Male Artist: Best Pop Release
Don't Worry Be Happy - Guy Sebastian: ARIA Song of the Year
Gotcha - Jessica Mauboy: Best Female Artist; Best Pop Release
Galaxy - Jessica Mauboy & Stan Walker: ARIA Song of the Year
Sitting On Top of the World - Delta Goodrem: ARIA Song of the Year
Good Night - Reece Mastin: ARIA Song of the Year
Set It Off - Timomatic: ARIA Song of the Year
Boom Boom - Justice Crew: ARIA Song of the Year
Songs & Pictures - Beccy Cole: Best Country Album
Hoodoo Gurus: Best Live Australian Act
Kate Miller-Heidke: Best Live Australian Act

All titles are free to borrow or download from the library. For more information see one of our friendly staff at the service desk.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

St George Art Awards 2012 - Public Programs



Join in the fun of the St George Art Awards 2012 with our range of public programs and classes for young people and adults. All events are held at Hurstville Museum & Gallery - 14 MacMahon St, Hurstville.

Upcoming events include:

Highlights Tours

Join Museum & Gallery staff and trained volunteers for a guided tour of our current exhibitions, the St George Art Awards 2012 and Living on the Water’s Edge: Stories of St George.

Date: Saturday 10 November repeated Saturday 8 December
Time: 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Cost: Free event, bookings recommended

Art Awards Storytime – Storytime Goes to the Museum

Come to the Museum & Gallery for a special art themed storytime. A selection of Junior Art Literacy resources will also be on display.

Preschool storytime

Date: Thursday 22 November
Time: 10.00am – 10.45am
Ages: 3 – 5 years (families with older or younger siblings are welcome provided the children are adequately supervised)
Cost: Free event, bookings not required

Primary School Storytime

Date: Thursday 29 November
Time: 4.00pm – 4.45pm
Ages: For primary school children (families with older or younger siblings are welcome provided the children are adequately supervised)
Cost: Free event, bookings not required

Coffee and Art Appreciation

Calling all art lovers! Join us for a viewing of the St George Art Awards 2012 Exhibition, followed by coffee and informal discussion. Parents with bubs welcome.

Date: Thursday 29 November
Time: 10.30am – 11.30am
Cost: Free event, bookings not required

Guest Speaker

Join us for an illustrated talk on contemporary art in Australia. The speaker, Dr Oliver Watts, is an artist and art historian. He lectures at Sydney College of the Arts in contemporary art. Dr Watts is also a director of Chalk Horse Gallery in Surry Hills.

Date: Sunday 2 December
Time: 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Cost: Free event, bookings essential

School Education Programs

Guided tours and education programs are available for Primary and Secondary school groups. Please contact us for further details and bookings.

Booking information:

For all programs that require booking, please call 9330 6444 or email
For programs with a cost, payment is required within 7 days of booking.
No refunds for cancellations or missed bookings.
Payments can be made by cash, cheque (cheques payable to Hurstville City Council) or credit card. Credit card surcharges apply.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

St George Art Awards 2012 – Winners Announced!

We are excited to announce the winners of the St George Art Awards 2012.

Winner of the St George Art Prize 2012
Glenn Locklee for Nightcrawling - urban awakening.

Winner of the St George 3D Art Prize
Dianne Yensch for Carbon Collectors.

Winner of the St George Local Youth Prize (Secondary/Tertiary)
Oliver Xu for A touch of serenity.

Winner of the St George Local Youth Prize (Primary)
Sylvia Liang for The famous art gallery.

Images of all winning and highly commended works are available on the St George Art Awards website. The People’s Choice winner will be announced on 13 December.

For more information, visit our our What's On page.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Winner for October decided

Every so often people submit photos with a bit of cheek. Sometimes the risk taking pays off, other times it doesn't. This time it has. The theme for October was "explore", and, according to the judges, the winner could not have captured it any better. The photo submitted by psychopyko literally defined what it means to explore. The judges could not deny that the photo matched the theme, but what they really appreciated was the simple yet effective technique applied. They noted how the rule of thirds was easily identified through the spine of the book and the change in sharp and soft focus. Well done psychopyko.

explore by psychopyko, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License  by  psychopyko 

The judges wanted to share these two photos with everyone, as they were a close second and third.

The Potala Palace at night Oct-Explore by Oasis1213, on Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License  by  Oasis1213 
The judges thought the photo of the Tibetan palace was something they would like to explore and the angle of the photo represented the magnificent architecture of an ancient time.

The other photo the judges thought was worth mentioning, was the exploring children watching the sun set after a big day out. The photographer's ability to capture the vibrant colours of a dwindling day, produced an amazing photo. Well done Max.

On to November with the theme "Cry". The tag for the theme is "lmg_cry". Below is a slide show of all photos submitted for October (a staggering 78: competition record).

Harvest Festival 2012



The Harvest Festival is happening this coming Saturday 17 November at Parramatta Park and it is looking like an incredible day out. There is a fantastic variety of music, vintage markets; sideshows and much more. Hopefully it will be topped off with a perfect Spring day.  The festival is described as "the best run festival in Australia", and "a perfect weekend of music."

If you are going to the festival or not maybe you would like to borrow a couple of CDs and listen to some of the artists appearing at the festival? All CDs in our collection are free to borrow as long as you are a member of Hurstville City Library.

The list below are some of the bands featured at the festival and are in our CD collection:
Beck - Modern Guilt; Guero; Odelay
Beirut -The Rip Tide
Sigur Ros - Valtari
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Mike Patton - Mondo Cane
Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe
Cake - Showroom of Compassion
The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols Best of Capitol Years 1995-2007
Dexys - One Day I'm Going To Soar
Chromatics - Kill For Love
Crazy P - When We On
Liars - WIXIW=Wish You
Dark, Dark, Dark - The Snow Magic

We also have free online music in our collection.  You are entitled to 3 free music downloads per week.  For more information please see one of our friendly staff at the Service Desk.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Author Talks: Robin de Crespigny

Join Sydney film-maker, producer, director and writer Robin de Crespigny at Hurstville Library when she introduces her prize winning book, "The People Smuggler". Winner of the 2012 Queensland Literary Award for nonfiction, "The People Smuggler" is the true story of Iraqi refugee Ali Al Jenabi who became a people smuggler to save his family, and who ultimately came to be seen not as a heinous criminal but as the "Oskar Schindler of Asia". This is an epic tale that leaves it up to the reader to ask themselves what they would do in the same situation.
"The People Smuggler" was the highest selling Australian book at the Sydney Writers Festival, the Sydney Morning Herald's Pick of the Week, and has recently been hovering at the top of bestseller lists in bookshops around the country.


Robin de Crespigny
During the evening Robin will talk about the story, how, when and why she came to the project, her writing process and how she worked with Ali despite their cultural differences all interspersed with readings. The evening will then be opened up for a Q &A session which promises a vigorous discussion on this topical subject.

“An engrossing account of a figure seen by some as saviour and others as criminal. A significant book”, Thomas Keneally

Friday 9 November @ 7pm
Hurstville Library
cnr Queens Rd & Dora St, Hurstville
Bookings: 9330 6142
Copies of book available for sale and signing.






Passions, interests and hobbies

                         

Millions of people in the world have a passion for many types of interests and hobbies. Having something you really enjoy and share with other people, regardless of age, can offer many benefits that are not often articulated.  This month Hurstville City Library is hosting a series of talks by passionate people about their particular hobby. The four separate talks represent very different interests that these enthusiasts are happy to share with others. 
Sometimes a passion can be useful in assisting others, such as family history research, or sharing a passion for the Dr Who TV series phenomena, which has been watched and enjoyed by generations all over the world. Have you ever wanted to work on a community radio station or go travelling on a Harley Davidson? 
Whatever your passion, come along to one of our Passionate People: Hobbies and Interests talks and share our passion or ignite your own.







Monday, November 05, 2012

Top Ten Free Downloads for Hurstville Library

  1. Die Young - Ke$ha
  2. Wish You Were Here - Delta Goodrem
  3. Gangnam Style - Gangnam Style
  4. Battle Scars - Guy Sebastian
  5. Girl On Fire - Alicia Keys featuring Nicki Minaj
  6. Live While We're Young - One Direction
  7. Some Nights - What Do I Stand For
  8. Try - Pink
  9. Americano/Dance Again - Glee Cast
  10. Blow Me (One Last Kiss) - Pink
Check out Freegal which is our free online music collection. If you are a member of Hurstville Library you are entitled to 3 free downloads per week.  Freegal can be found via the library website.  All you need is your library card number and your pin number to check out all your favourite Sony artists online.

There is a huge variety of genres:  Rock, Pop, Classical, Country, Indie, Alternative, Big Band and many more.

For more information ask one of our friendly staff at the service desk.