The Secret Book/Movie of Walter Mitty

Did you notice my last Book Blurt talks about movies as well? Now this could be because of the fantastic proliferation of book to movie adaptations that we are currently enjoying. It could also be because I watch a lot of movies (and many of them are based on books right now). But, it might also be because I'm reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and even though I'm loving it, it's taking me awhile to get through it. 

But enough back story (except for my next few sentences which are also introductory, and happened in the past). I watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (directed by and starring Ben Stiller), with my peeps at the Hayden Discount Cinema a couple months ago, and I loved the film. I then preceded to purchase the movie when it hit Blu-Ray, and have shown it to many of my other friends and family. As you may or may not know, I get easily excited about things anyways, but I really, really like this flick, so I've shared it with quite a few people. 

The movie centers around Walter Mitty, a Negatives Asset Manager (handles all the film picture negatives) at Life Magazine (which actually closed in 1972 if you can believe it), who randomly zones out to imagine a much more interesting life for himself. This whiplash from reality to fantasy made for a fascinating trailer, and sets up a movie with an interesting premise. What would happen to someone who daydreams too much, if their life actually became interesting? Answer; a really awesome movie about courage, grabbing life by the horns, and heading into the unknown (which also includes the fantabulous song by David Bowie, Major Tom). 

Now how does that factor into anything to do with a book? As it turns out, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was actually made into a movie starring Danny Kaye back in 1947, and before that, it began its life in 1939 as a short story by James Thurber. Instead of a film negative guru, or a daydreamer caught in a conspiracy (Kaye's version), Thurber's very short story features an ordinary man taking his wife on a shopping trip. 

Between buying overshoes and paying the parking attendant, Mitty is a naval captain, an airplane pilot, a sought after surgeon, and possibly the most interesting man in the world. While the most recent version of Mitty doesn't have anything to do with the book (except the shared title), I don't fault the movie in any way. The movie takes Thurber's concept of a man who dreams on his feet, and turns it into a comedic, fantastical modern adventure. 

If I wasn't so busy as a plucky space cowboy, I would suggest that you read the short story, watch Danny Kaye make a lovable fool of himself (which I still need to do), and then round off your Mitty experience with Stiller's newest adaptation that I've enjoyed watching again and again and again and again and...

YPULSE: Youth and Millennial Marketing

Originally posted on Special Project Library Action Team's blog, but I figured I'd share my thoughts here as well =D

I’m all about stealing other people’s great ideas (which is why Creative Commons is such a great idea for me hehe). Now my boss (the awesome Karen Yother) likes to refer to it as “not reinventing the wheel,” and others comment, “that everyone remixes used ideas.” Either way, this week’s post is thanks to (the also awesome) Nick Grove, who mentioned YPULSE to me at our last quarterly SPLAT meeting.

YPULSE offers a wide range of resources aimed at understanding the trends and attitudes of tweens, teens, and young adults. Through a Youth Advisory Board, an online research panel, and a mobile social Q&A network, YPULSE offers content, data, and insight on the next generation of consumers. Now this kind of market research doesn’t come cheap, which is why the silver and gold subscriptions will cost you a pretty penny per month. But, they also have a bronze subscription (which only costs you an email subscription) that gets you a couple of features worth mentioning.

One such feature is the Daily Email Newsletter, that sums up the latest youth marketing news. The YPULSE infographics, articles, and detailed data are kept hidden for silver and gold members. But, there are many articles that reference third party sources you can check out at your convenience, and a small synopsis of each of the YPULSE features are still included to give you an idea. The Email Update also shows the results of a daily poll featuring questions on social media, music, and movies, and you can even ask one question of your own per month.

Now I’ve only been getting the YPULSE newsletter for a couple weeks now, but there have already been a few tidbits I’ve found interesting. Did you know that Sup is a new app wanting to duke it out with Snapchat, Push for Pizza is an app that will order you a pizza with one push on your screen, and that a writer for Vulture thinks Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes itself too seriously? Obviously these things aren’t library breaking revelations. But offering events and services for this age group is integral to continued library success and if someone is offering some free tidbits, my question is where do I sign up (and if you have any ideas worth stealing, which I know you do, feel free to send them my way!).

Flipster: When You Need a Free Magazine

I recently joined the modern era by getting myself a smart phone. *Gasp* "Nick, don't you know that those have been a necessity for, like, several years now?" Very true, and now that I have one, I'm never going back to a "dumb" phone hehe. I bring this up because there were a whole bunch of pre-loaded apps that came on my device, and I'm nervous to try many of them because I figure they are just previews of services that will very quickly want my credit card information.

Its a bummer, because some of them might actually offer some free content, but I don't want to risk it. But, I have some good news for those of you who are like me. The Community Library Network has just subscribed to an e-magazine service that comes at absolutely no cost to you now, or later. 

The service is called Flipster, and I just put the latest issue of Consumer Report onto our office's iPad with very little effort, and at no cost. "Now, Nick, didn't the library have a subscription to a service called Zinio that did the exact same thing? In fact, didn't you do a blog post about it?" Very true again. Our network has replaced our Zinio subscription with Flipster. But, many of the same titles are available on the Flipster platform, and the ease of use on Flipster is fantastic from what I've seen. 

Flipster lets you view current and past issues of magazines on your internet-connected computer or mobile device. Its as easy as having your library card and going to CommunityLibrary.Net/eStuff. If you have an iOS device (Android as well at the end of the summer), you can download the free app and download full magazines onto the app for offline viewing. 

So if those pre-loaded apps are looking a little spooky, but you'd still like some free content, try out your library's free e-magazine service and let me know what you think.