All posts by Claire

About Claire

Claire is an Information Assistant at Vaughan Public Libraries. Avid cooker, concertgoer, coffee drinker, TV and movie watcher, washi tape enthusiast, and unabashed fan of romance in all its varieties (even Hallmark movies).  |  Meet the team

The Anti-Oscars

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Welp, it’s that season again. No, I don’t mean the lingering frigid temperatures and precipitation of February. I mean award season. Is it just me or do The Oscars nominees seem particularly far removed and uninteresting in comparison to what us plebs are actually watching? I’m intrigued by The Brutalist, now being heralded as Adrien Brody’s greatest work since The Pianist, but I have a feeling my interest in architecture won’t be enough to keep me in my seat for over three and a half hours. Do you ever get the feeling that the teams behind these often bloated, slow-moving marathon pieces are in some kind of secret competition to make the longest movie possible? Whenever a film exceeds two and a half hours, I generally wish the editor had stepped in with their metaphorical (and anachronistic) scissors to cut large swaths of unnecessary film from the picture. If you’re like me, and you look for award competitions that honour plucky, underdog ventures, look no further. I found some awards that have applauded what I’ve actually been watching and what I hope you’ve been watching too! In the tradition of anti-proms, I hereby dub this the Anti-Oscars. Last year around this time, I introduced you dear readers to the Dorian Awards — a competition run by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. Read more about the Dorians here, but suffice it to say, there are traditional award categories like Film of the Year, and there are also ones you don’t see everyday, like LGBTQ Film of the Year and Visually Striking Film of the Year. This time around, more than one of the nominations for Unsung Film of the Year are movies I’ve seen and very much enjoyed. Let me tell you a bit about them.

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A Miscellany of Black History in Canada

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Black History Month is upon us once more. I thought it would be fitting to explore the origins of the annual celebration of Black achievement, as well as the original reason for its creation. It started as Negro History Week in 1926 with Carter G. Woodson — an American historian and creator of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History — at the helm. Woodson saw how important it was to promote all the amazing things Black folks have accomplished throughout history, becoming an early leader for the celebratory cause. What started as a week grew into a month, but of course a month isn’t really enough time to devote to the topic. Woodson’s decision to choose February for the original week-long affair is an interesting one. There are two monumental birthdays he wanted to encompass with the choice — Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. While the latter is a name most people recognize instantly, the former’s contribution to the abolishment of slavery was significant. These birthdays (although Douglass was born into slavery so the day of his birth isn’t certain) were already occasions for many communities of Black people in the US, which increased the odds that his idea would catch on. Once it did, he imagined that the festivities devoted to these two men could be extended to the race as a whole, and thus, the concept of Black History Month (BHM) was born. Of course, the fight for equality and equity was the context for Woodson’s endeavour. Myself, I certainly appreciate the opportunity to create reader’s advisory content for BHM. Discovering figures and historical snippets from Canada’s past is incredibly valuable. I think it’s important to spread awareness of Canada’s dark past, including slavery and other civil rights violations that have been obscured by its associations with ‘The Promised Land’ and freedom. However, it’s also important to celebrate the contributions and successes Black people have had throughout our history. What follows is a hodgepodge of writings on various figures who have had a real impact on our world, from the days of the Underground Railroad up to contemporary times.

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One Library Gal’s Obsession with Jeopardy

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It’s hard to say exactly when I became a die-hard fan of Jeopardy. Growing up, I dabbled here and there. Catching an episode with my parents, flexing my general knowledge skills for the family (there’s a reason why my specialty here at VPL is general services). It turns out there are some benefits to a liberal arts degree after all. In all seriousness, I love the approach the show takes to trivia, which mirrors the general trivia ethos, if you will. The questions can be about almost anything, covering wide swathes of subjects, time periods, historical movements, cultures, and geographies. The value is in knowing a bit about many things, versus doing a deep dive into one limited area. Somewhere along the way (and I think COVID had something to do with this), we started recording every single episode. Now, there is a cache of riches just waiting for us in our PVR all the time. The goal is to watch an episode every day, but sometimes things get in the way: illness, vacations, plans, etc. Most days, I like to turn it on just as we’re sitting down to supper. It’s a lovely accompaniment to a nice piece of salmon or a tofu stir fry. During the lockdown, we watched daily. I remember tracing the trajectory of Alex Trebek’s illness. From the moment he disclosed his diagnosis and the fact that he would be undergoing aggressive treatment, to the minuscule changes in his appearance that would appear from one episode to the next. It was heartbreaking, of course, but there he was hosting the show nonetheless. Such an impressive individual in so many ways. My dream is to be on the show as a contestant. That would be everything to me, but who knows? There’s a test you have to take online called the “Anytime test.” One of these days, I’ll get that call from the Jeopardy producers, and they’ll fly me to New York or some place glamorous for the final interview. I will wow them with my dazzling intellect, and the rest will be history. It turns out, we have a fair number of items related to Jeopardy in our catalogue. A couple of autobiographies from key figures, a non-fiction book about Jeopardy history, and of course trivia for you to brush up before the big test. I hope there’s something here that tickles your Jeopardy fancy!

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