Monthly Archives: August 2017

08 29, 2017

MPL Talks: The Life of Josef Stalin

By |2017-08-29T06:00:26-04:00August 29, 2017|

Our Major Leaders of World War II series continued with a program about Josef Stalin, our ally during the war and greatest threat afterward.

Our speaker, John Foster—who, in addition to being a librarian, also has a doctorate degree in history—discussed:

  • Stalin’s rise through the ranks of his party
  • his misdeeds, from armed robbery to mass murder
  • the difference between Stalinism, Leninism, and Marxism
  • how Stalin would “erase” his opponents from history

For those who want a deeper dive into Stalin’s life, Foster recommends Stephen Kotkin’s, Stalin Vol. I: Paradoxes of Power.

If you enjoy history, the next talk in our WWII series will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19, at our Main Branch. The subject will be Winston Churchill.

Other historical talks by Foster can be watched on our YouTube page, including:

08 23, 2017

25 Classic Country Albums on Freegal

By |2017-08-23T06:00:49-04:00August 23, 2017|

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Want to listen to some of the best country music ever recorded without having to spend money on iTunes, Spotify or Tidal?

Some of the greatest country songwriters and singers have their music available on Freegal, which is free to use if you have a Mentor Public Library card.

Freegal is one of the library’s digital services, which lets you download DRM-free mp3s of your favorite songs. Moreover, once you download a song, you can keep the mp3 forever. Put it on your phone, your computer, your iPod–wherever you want. It’s yours. You can download up to five songs a week.

You also get unlimited streaming, if you prefer that.

Here are 25 of our favorite country albums you can start downloading right now from Freegal:

  1. Willie Nelson – God’s Problem Child

Willie Nelson has been doing this for 55 years. It’s ridiculous and reductive to pick an album to single out. Feel free to start with his greatest hits, but don’t ignore his newer material. Unlike a lot of “legacy” acts, Nelson still has plenty of speed on his fastball. His most recent album, God’s Problem Child,  tackles twilight and mortality, including the deaths of Leon Russell and Merle Haggard, with charm, humor, and thoughtfulness. He even addresses all those Internet hoaxes about his own demise with “Still Not Dead.”

  1. Dixie Chicks – Wide Open Spaces

Wide Open Spaces made the Dixie Chicks superstars, but Fly and Home are every bit as essential. Fortunately, all three are available for free on Freegal. Taking the Long Way is worth having too, especially “Not Ready to Make Nice.

  1. Merle Haggard – Snapshot

We’ll be honest. While Freegal’s collection is enormous (and includes most of the Sony collection), it misses some of Haggard’s best albums. And while Snapshot seems insultingly brief—10 songs to summarize half a century of music?—it gives you a solid place to start. No album that includes “Mama Tried,” “Sing Me Back Home,” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here & Drink” can be wrong.

  1. Kenny Chesney – Cosmic Hallelujah

You may have missed it, but Kenny Chesney just released his best album since When the Sun Goes Down. “Trip Around the Sun,” “Some Town Somewhere,” and “Setting the World on Fire” will slot nicely into future Greatest Hits albums.

  1. Gretchen Wilson – One of the Boys

It will be a shame if we only remember Gretchen Wilson for “Redneck Woman.” Her debut may have sold quintuple platinum, but she came into her own as a performer and songwriter on One of the Boys. “Come to Bed,” “Pain Killer,” and “To Tell You the Truth” are the best of a beautiful, broken batch.

  1. Jason Isbell – Southeastern

Jason Isbell is astonishingly consistent. Any of his albums could reasonably be someone’s favorite. We’ll opt for Southeastern with “Cover Me Up” being the difference maker. But his newest, The Nashville Sound, is worth a download or a stream, as well.

  1. Dolly Parton – Jolene

Dolly Parton is somehow both a legend and underrated. Because of her quick wit, self-deprecation, and memorable figure, we often forget that she is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of America. We love Jolene, but you should probably get her greatest hits too.

  1. Brooks & Dunn – The Greatest Hits Collection

If you think picking The Greatest Hits is lazy—and it admittedly is—start with Brand New Man and work forward.

  1. Miranda Lambert – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Miranda Lambert has sharp eyes for songwriting, a sharper wit, and a kerosene soul. Good voice too. “Guilty in Here,” “Gunpowder & Lead,” and the title track are her at her best.

  1. Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison

We’ll spare you another Johnny Cash paean. At Folsom Prison has one of the best at his best. You should listen to it. Repeatedly.

  1. John Denver – Back Home Again

We get it. John Denver is a Super Troopers punchline, a human Muppet (especially compared to the aforementioned Cash.) But there’s room for cheerfulness in music too, and you ain’t too cool for “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.”

  1. Tammy Wynette – Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad

Yes, Stand By Your Man is a classic, but her debut is just as good and has a bit of a bite. “Apartment #9” and the title track were the hits, but it’s all worth a listen.

  1. Brad Paisley – Time Well Wasted

Time Well Wasted is the best showcase for Paisley’s songwriting, humor, and guitar chops. It’s the rare album that wowed traditionalists and casual country fans.

  1. Waylon Jennings – Honky Tonk Heroes

This is the moment when Waylon Jennings (and songwriter Billy Joe Shaver) invented Outlaw Country. “You Asked Me To,” “Black Rose,” and the title track created a genre.

  1. Alabama – My Home’s In Alabama

Alabama always leaned a little heavier on the “rock” side of country-rock. And later albums like Mountain Music almost delved into soft rock, but their debut still had plenty of twang. (By the way, their Christmas album is sneaky great.)

  1. Loretta Lynn – Full Circle

Loretta Lynn’s first new album in 12 years finds her revisiting songs from her childhood and a few of her biggest hits on the way to some new and worthy additions to her catalogue. Full Circle is of a piece with Willie Nelson’s God’s Problem Child. Both find legends mulling their careers and mortality without sinking into the maudlin.

  1. Conway Twitty – Number Ones

Poor, Conway. He racked up more than 50 #1 hits, and then was reduced to a Family Guy cutaway gag. Not all of his 50+ hits are represented here, but you get enough of his best to whet your palate.

  1. Tanya Tucker – 16 Biggest Hits

Tanya Tucker nearly has more Greatest Hits albums than she does hits. Admittedly, none of her compilations are perfect, but this is one of the better ones by virtue of it being more inclusive.

  1. Alan Jackson – A Lot About Livin’ (And A Little ‘Bout Love)

Alan Jackson has a million hits albums too; but, if you’re looking for a deeper dive, try his third album. The opening trio of “Chattahoochee,” “She’s Got the Rhythm (And I’ve Got the Blues,)” and “Tonight I Climbed the Wall” are peak Jackson.

  1. Crystal Gayle/Tom Waits – One From The Heart Soundtrack

Crystal Gayle is too often dismissed as merely “Loretta Lynn’s sister.” But there is at least one time she unquestionably emerged from her sister’s shadow—on the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola’s One from the Heart. Gayle’s “Picking up after You,” “Old Boyfriends,” and her sublime duets with Tom Waits are lovely and affecting. Not even her sister could perform them better.

  1. Buck Owens & His Buckaroos – I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail

Buck Owens had hits before and after Tiger, but this is the album where the Bakersfield sound burst into the mainstream. The title track and “Wham Bam” are masterpieces, and “Cryin’ Time” is so good that Ray Charles needed to borrow it.

  1. LeAnn Rimes – Remnants

LeAnn Rimes’ most recent album is more Carrie Underwood than Brandi Carlile, even if she covers Carlile’s “The Story” here. You may prefer Rimes when she sticks to the roots, but she’s pretty impressive as a diva too.

  1. Tennessee Ernie Ford – Collection 1949-1961

Nowadays, Ernie Ford is probably better known for his guest turn on I Love Lucy than for his singing. That’s a shame since he recorded plenty of worthwhile music over the years. The best is collected here. Start with “Sixteen Tons.”

  1. Vince Gill – The Essential

It’s an exaggeration to refer to this compilation as essential, since it mostly culls his early career and misses plenty of big hits. But it’s a decent collection of Gill’s most worthwhile tunes from his early days.

  1. Carrie Underwood – Some Hearts

If you’re one of the five people who doesn’t already own this album.

Other Freegal playlists:

08 20, 2017

Dinosaurs in Ohio? 5 Facts about Ohio Fossils

By |2017-08-20T06:00:57-04:00August 20, 2017|

Bill Urbanski displays some of his fossil collection during a talk at Mentor Public Library.

Bill Urbanski displays some of his fossil collection during a talk at Mentor Public Library.

Bill Urbanski, a docent from Cleveland Natural Natural History, visited us Monday to talk about some of the fossils found in Ohio.

And, while we couldn’t possibly share everything we learned, here are a few fun facts.

1. No dinosaur fossils have been found in Ohio yet: no bones, no footprints, no coprolites.

There probably isn’t a triceratops skull buried in your backyard or a hadrosaur hiding by the riverbed.

For most of the Mesozoic (the Age of Dinosaurs) and Cenozoic (the Age after the Age of the Dinosaurs), Ohio was above sea level and subject to weathering erosion. That means, instead of things getting buried and preserved, they were washed away.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t cool fossils buried in Ohio. They’re just older—often much older—than the dinosaurs.

2. Ohio—more specifically, the Cincinnati area—is famous for its Ordovician fossils, so famous that part of the Ordovician is called the cincinnatian.

The Ordovician extends from 505 to 438 million years ago. That’s about 200 million years before the dinosaurs.

Back then, our state was a warm shallow sea, similar to the modern Bahamas. (Think about that for a second.) It was a world filled with unfamiliar cephalopods, brachiopods, graptolites, and trilobitesa world so ancient that it predated fish.

Some of their fossils can still be found buried beneath the cul-de-sacs and strip malls of Cincinnati (and nearby Kentucky and Indiana.) However, most of their remains have been compressed into oil and gas and limestone.

3. If the Ordovician offered a Sea Without Fish, the Devonian (408-360 million years ago) was a world dominated by them. And one of the era’s most famous (and terrifying) fish was found in Cleveland.

Dunkleosteus was a monster by any era’s standards: 20 feet long; weighing a ton; with a bony, armored skull and a guillotine for teeth.

Dunk and its ilk, the placoderms (armored fish), are extinct. But it’s still nightmare fuel for those who visit it at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

4. However, the terrifying Dunkleosteur is not Ohio’s state fossil. That honor belongs to Isotelus maximus.

The trilobite could grow as long as 50 cm. And if that doesn’t sound very maximus to you, bear in mind that trilobites typically ranged from three to 10 cm long.

So discovering Isotelus maximus was a lot like finding a 5-foot rat or a 30-foot human.

5. Time has transformed the ancient animals of Ohio into some of our state’s most famous exports. Their carbon became limestone dating back to the Ordovician; natural gas from the Devonian; oil and gas from the Mississippian (360 to 320 million years ago); and coal from the Pennsylvanian and Permian eras (320 to 286 million years ago.)

There’s a reason they’re called fossil fuels.

08 19, 2017

MPL Talks: Civil War to Civil Rights

By |2017-08-19T06:00:29-04:00August 19, 2017|


During the most recent talk in our Civil War series with James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Judge Paul Mitrovich took on the ambitious task of tracking civil rights from slavery to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

During his talk, he highlighted landmark Supreme Court decisions like:

  • the Dred Scott case
  • Plessy v. Ferguson
  • and Brown v. Board.

Those who may have missed Mitrovich’s talk can watch it in its entirety right now.

Obviously, this is an audacious subject and Mitrovich has to speed through some substantial topics. For a deeper dive, you can borrow his book, Justice Delayed, from our collection.

Our Civil War series continues with an overview of political cartoons, humor, and satire during the war at noon on Sept. 13 at our Main Branch. The talk is free and open to all.

Other talks from our Civil War series:

08 5, 2017

Claire McMillan talks Edith Wharton, summer reads & ‘The Necklace’

By |2017-08-05T06:00:23-04:00August 5, 2017|

Claire McMillan, author of The Necklace, visited us last week and discussed:

  • Edith Wharton’s influence on her, as well as what it’s like to write in Wharton’s historic home, The Mount.
  • her summer reads, including Alissa Nutting’s Made for Love, Roxane Gay’s The Hunger, and Courtney Maum’s Touch.
  • the value of 1920s Cleveland of reading society magazines and travel diaries as research for her novel.

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