Fantasy Playlist Parades Across Friday Features

For Friday Features, the whole top ten current viewing list thing is getting old.  It works great for something like American Top 40, in which the music countdown changes completely every few weeks or months, and there are always several newcomers to the list.  For our YouTube Channel viewings, however, the top ten is fairly stable.  There's not a lot of change, even on a daily basis.  We've already featured the videos that remain primarily in our current top ten list.

So let's try something completely different.  Instead of a top ten list, let's feature our YouTube Channel playlists.  That sounds like a few weeks of fun, at any rate.

Our Fantasy Book Trailers Playlist appears below.  I'm not certain how this works exactly.  Click on the play button, and it apparently plays each of the 19 book trailers in this playlist sequentially.  Try it and see what happens.  Not my fault if it doesn't work--that's why I have minions to blame.  We felines know how to pass responsibility onto our humans.

If you'd rather pick-and-choose from among the 19 videos in this playlist (or any of our other playlists), you can find it (or them) by clicking here (or here, for all playlists).




Next Friday, We'll Feature Another Playlist,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Friday Features News Beat

P.S.  Thinking about our fantasy book trailer playlist reminded moi of the classical CD Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano (2001), composed by Billy Joel and performed by Richard Joo.  "Invention in C Minor, Op. 6" is the fourth track on the album.  For a musician whose fame accrued through a blend of pop, rock, and blues, this album was quite a departure.  Great musicians can compose wonderful works, as my Library knows well.  After all, we have our own composer.

Local Flavors on Friday Features

Today's Friday Features takes on a local flavor as two Mooresville-related videos are in the current top ten viewing list from the MPL YouTube Channel.

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"Old Settlers" (Mooresville, Indiana Folk Song)

(MPL Treasure Trove Video #5)

Imperceptible, by the Class of 2012,

Mooresville (Indiana) High School

(MPL Book Trailer #83)

I blogged about Old Settlers earlier this week, which could explain the sudden appearance of our related video in the current top ten. Imperceptible is a collection of memories and experiences from residents of Mooresville, Indiana, and so it is a personal exploration of our local history.  Copies are available for sale at my Library (in the Friends of the Library Book Sale Room, which is near the front entrance).  Proceeds fund the MPL Indiana Room collection.  (Well, I call it the Roving Reporter Room.  I have my reasons.)

As Always, Thanks For Watching Our YouTube Videos,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Video Viewing News Beat

P.S.  "Imperceptible Shift," by Casey Stratton, was featured on the CD Castaways: Volume One (2011).  I couldn't find a share-alike music video, but you may listen to the entire song free by visiting the Casey Stratton website.  If you like his stuff, please support by purchasing his works.  We need to support musicians, whoever we may like.

Temperature's Rising in Friday Features

Hoosiers are enjoying record warm temperatures this week, and it looks like the temperature is rising on Friday Features as well.

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A couple of old favorites have returned to the current top ten viewing list for the MPL YouTube Channel.

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

(MPL Book Trailer #17)

Lost Horizon, by James Hilton

(MPL Book Trailer #41)

We enjoy creating book trailers because it's fun to give viewers some idea of what a book is about and why it would be fun to read it.  The trick is where to place the "hook"--how to capture, and retain, the audience's attention--which is strongly influenced by another consideration:  namely, how much plot should be revealed?  Our book trailers are decidedly low-tech, because voice-over and multiple, live-action clips require too much time for our staff to devote, given everything else we have to do.  But we have fantastic soundtrack music, thanks to the Library's composer, whom I call the Music Man.  That's the best part of our videos, I think.

If we're lucky, perhaps one (or more) of our book trailers has spurred you to read a book (or books).  That would make all the hard work worthwhile.


Why Say "Cheese" For the Camera; Why Not "Tuna"?  Just Asking,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Video Viewing News Beat

MPL Banned Books Week 2011 Promo Trailer

MPL Banned Books Week 2010 Promo Trailer

P.S.  Thinking of Fahrenheit 451 reminded moi of the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, for which we made a couple of promo trailers.  Both are in our all-time top 20 viewing list.

The Lorax Meets Dewey in a Snake Pit Diving For Pearls With Taio Cruz

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My Library created a new book trailer this week, which has entered into the current top ten viewing list for the MPL YouTube Channel.  Perhaps now we've actually made a book trailer that viewers want to watch.

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss

(MPL Book Trailer #149)

Two other book trailers are staples in the Library's current top ten viewing list.

The Snake Pit, by Mary Jane Ward

(MPL Book Trailer #27)

Dewey the Library Cat, by Vicki Myron (with Bret Witter)

(MPL Book Trailer #56)

I love library cats.  No surprise there.

A newcomer to the present top ten viewing list is a John Steinbeck classic.

The Pearl, by John Steinbeck

(MPL Book Trailer #104)

I feel like Friday Features has been neglecting our other videos.  We have much more than book trailers on the Library's YouTube Channel.  Let's troll for some samples, shall we?


We've not far to look.  My Library's signature promo trailer has returned to the current top ten.

Librarians Do Taio Cruz, by Mooresville Public Library

(written, directed, and edited by Suzanne Walker,
MPL Youth Services Librarian)

Then there's Wild Thang and Sammy the Toucan's latest early literacy video about the letter T t, which also made the Friday Features top ten this week.

The Letter T t, by Miss Jaymi & Sammy the Toucan

(Explore to Learn: Early Literacy Fun)

There's still more!  Try these program trailers on for size, even though they didn't make the top ten list.  We really need to balance all those book trailers.

Downtown Mooresville at the Movies

(MPL Treasure Trove Video #3)

Watercolors With Grace Cole

(MPL Program Trailer #17)

Please check out our playlists for more videos.  Something for everybody, I'd wager.

Love Those Time-Lapse Video Clips,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Friday Features News Beat

P.S.  In this YouTube video, artist Darryn James Rae paints three cats.  Well, not literally painting actual cats; it's a painting of three cats.  Art is quick and easy with time-lapse photography.  (Great soundtrack music by Martin Rae, by the way.)

 

Friday Features Welcomes the Man in the Moon

Friday Features welcomes the Man in the Moon to the top ten videos currently being viewed on the MPL YouTube Channel.

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The Man in the Moon, by William Joyce

(MPL Book Trailer #128)

Besides our book trailer for the children's classic, The Man in the Moon, another newcomer to the top ten list is something to croak about.

Fun Facts About Frogs!, by Carmen Bredeson

(MPL Book Trailer #130)

Ordinarily, I think of hopping dinners as, well, quite bluntly, meals, but this nonfiction book will definitely get the jump on anyone interested in early literacy.

As Always, Thanks For Watching Our Videos,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Library Video Viewership News Beat

P.S.  To Our Children's Children's Children (1969), by the Moody Blues, was a tribute album to humans first landing on the moon that year.  In "Floating," Ray Thomas imagined what it might have been like to have been there with the Apollo XI astronauts.  What if traveling to the moon were as easy as taking a family holiday to any terrestrial vacation spot?  As the song suggests, your inner child would have liked it.

Friday Features Welcomes Evergreen Indiana

On this week's Friday Features, Evergreen Indiana has entered the current top ten video viewing list for the MPL YouTube Channel.

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One of our program, or promo, trailers showcasing the Evergreen Indiana Open-Source Integrated Library System has cracked the current top ten viewership list.  If you're new to E.I., our promo trailer will break the ice.

Evergreen Indiana Open-Source ILS Promo Trailer

(MPL Program Trailer #12)

Another newcomer to the present top ten videos is our book trailer featuring one of humorist James Thurber's funnier collections of stories.

The Thurber Carnival, by James Thurber

(MPL Book Trailer #34)

If you've never read Thurber before, Thurber Carnival is an excellent place to begin.  If you're into the readers' advisory thing, and you have a high tolerance for Scowl-Face's bleatings, then this is the blog posting for you.  (2018 UPDATE:  You're in luck.  Scowl-Face's readers' advisory blog was taken down.  Guess he got tired of it.)

Evergreen Indiana--Both a Library Card and a Consortium,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

YouTube Video Viewing News Beat

P.S.  This Columbia Pictures/United Productions of America (UPA) cartoon (1953) animated James Thurber's characters from "The Unicorn in the Garden," a short story Thurber wrote for The New Yorker magazine (October 31, 1939).  The humorous story was Thurber's most famous "modern fable," and it was included in The Thurber Carnival (1945).

Slobberdogs Stampede into Friday Features

This edition of Friday Features (i.e., what's currently being watched on the MPL YouTube Channel) sees a slobberdog stampede into the current top ten list.  Fortunately, the slobberdog books are well worth reading.

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Our book trailers may give some idea as to what these literary slobberdogs are up to.

If You Give a Dog a Donut, by Laura Numeroff (Felicia Bond, Illustrator)

(MPL Book Trailer #120)

Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home

and Other Unexplained Powers of Animals, by Rupert Sheldrake

(MPL Book Trailer #24)

You may find these books in our Evergreen Indiana online catalog.

Maybe next week we felines will make a comeback into the current top ten viewing list.  I call upon all kitties to watch our book trailers about cats.  Just do this Google search:  MPL youtube book trailer cat, and you should find plenty of feline book trailers by my Library.  You could also browse our playlists on the MPL YouTube Channel or search that channel for cat book trailers.

C'mon, cats!  Let's show those slobberdogs some real viewing numbers!

Next Friday, Cats Will Rule!,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

YouTube Statistics News Beat

P.S.  Slobberdogs can perform useful chores around the homestead.  Consider, for instance, this slobberdog called Monkey, who cleans the house and attends to other domestic chores while his human is away.

Where Are My Stats, YouTube? (Friday Features)

When I checked the MPL YouTube Channel for our current top ten viewed videos, I expected to see some statistics.  Instead, I saw this.

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The abbreviation "n/a" (not available) indicates that YouTube is yet again experiencing viewership counter problems.  This seems to happen A LOT.  At least the current top ten videos are listed, and some shifting is readily apparent.

Miss Jaymi's (Wild Thang's) "Animal Alphabet Song" video is currently atop the current viewership charts, and her "I-P Alphabet Song" video presently ranks #3.  Some newcomers to the top ten list include our book trailers for "Ready Player One," by Ernest Cline; "Zombie Survival Guide," by Max Brooks; and "Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury.

Once the YouTube folks get the counter problem fixed (IF and when--just saying), we'll have some numbers to crunch.  Actually, dry cat food crunches better.

Let's take a look at some of those "newcomer" book trailers, shall we?

MPL Book Trailer #113

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

MPL Book Trailer #11

Zombie Survival Guide, by Max Brooks

MPL Book Trailer #17

Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

Hope We Have Stats Soon,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Library Video Viewership News Beat

P.S.  We continue our musical closers for Friday Features with songs that have numbers in the titles or lyrics.  (Have we actually been doing that?  I can't remember.)  Here is "30 Days in the Hole," by Humble Pie, from the LP Smokin' (1972).

Friday Features No Mystery to Moi

This week's "Friday Features" posting shows our current top 10 viewed videos on the MPL YouTube Channel.  As always, click the graphics below to bigify.

Newcomer to our top 10 is our book trailer for Classified as Murder, by Miranda James.  Actually, it is one of our patron's book trailers that we feature on our patron playlist.  This novel is part of the Cat in the Stacks mystery series that Scowl-Face mentioned in his readers' advisory blog.  Want to see the book trailer?  No mystery there.

Why the sudden increase in viewing for this book trailer?  That, too, is no mystery.  The Lady With the Red Hair, who created this (and other) book trailers for the series to appear on her library's website, received a very pleasant email from the series author, Dean James, whose nom de plume, of course, is Miranda James.  Follow along on the publisher's website to stay abreast of new titles in the series.  Hey, one has just been published!  While I was typing this!  Well, maybe not that fast.  Check it out.

Any cat lover (and who isn't?) will adore the Cat in the Stacks series. These are fun, fast-paced mysteries that will keep you guessing.  Best of all, the author is a real-life librarian.  All the best writers are librarians. Ask anybody I work with, and they will tell you it's true.

Maybe I Need a Book Series About Moi--Just Saying, Technigal,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Video Viewership Statistics News Beat

P.S.  Garrison Keillor sang "Cat, You Better Come on Home," probably from a live broadcast of his radio program, A Prairie Home Companion.  I'm a long-time fan of the show, and this is as good an opportunity as any to include something feline from its archives as a musical closer for my blog.

Friday Features -- Sledding Treasures and Prehistoric Critters

This week's Friday Features shows what's currently hot on the MPL YouTube Channel.  Drum-roll, if you please . . .

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New to the current top ten list is our book trailer for the children's classic Snow Treasure, about which we have previously blogged in my Cauli 4 Kids blog.

Click Image to Play Book Trailer

The Lady With the Red Hair randomly selected #89 (out of our 142 current book trailers) to showcase in today's Friday Feature.  I wonder which video that is?  I only remember the important videos (i.e., those about moi.)

Click Image to Play Book Trailer

My Library blogged about this book trailer, too.  Watch out, though--it's a Scowl-Face snooze-post.

Are these books available in our online Evergreen Indiana catalog?

Thanks For Watching Our YouTube Videos,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

YouTube Video News Beat

P.S.  Our musical closer today is the I-P Alphabet Song video that Wild Thang (Miss Jaymi) created for her early literacy programs, blog, and YouTube channel.  It, too, has climbed this week's top ten hit parade.

Friday Features (What's Hot Today on MPL YouTube Channel)

Here's what folks are currently viewing (well, the top ten videos, anyway) today on the MPL YouTube Channel:

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Animal Alphabet Song, by Miss Jaymi (Wild Thang), MPL Early Literacy Specialist, has been especially active on the survey, climbing aboard our all-time top ten viewings list earlier this week.  Would you like to watch?  Minions, make it so.

Click Graphic to Play Video

All-Time Top Ten Viewed Videos on MPL YouTube Channel

(as of 1/20/2012) (Click to Bigify)

Be sure to check out Wild Thang's early literacy blog (you may click on that hyperlink back yonder, or you may also click Wild Thang's icon at the bottom of my blog).  She also has an accompanying early literacy YouTube channel that you won't want to miss.

Wild Thang and Sammy the Toucan have made some impressive inroads upon YouTube (and Blogger) since they launched their features late last summer.  The statistics tell the tale:  Early literacy is a hot topic among our library patrons with young children.  Since our social media sites (on YouTube, Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, DocStoc, SoundCloud, etc.) make a global footprint, our patrons come from around the globe.  "Spanning the globe," as legendary sports announcer Jim McKay used to say.  (Cue Jim McKay's voice-over from the television program ABC's Wide World of Sports).

Speaking of sports, one of our sports-oriented book trailers is among today's top ten viewed videos.

Do we have this book in our Evergreen Indiana online catalog?  Some questions answer themselves.

Spanning the Globe to Bring Moi Canned Tuna-in-Oil,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Video News Beat

P.S.  Here's an example (complete with commercial sponsors) of an intro to ABC's Wide World of Sports (1983).  Pretty exciting.  The theme music and McKay's voice-over make you want to watch.  The advertising sponsorship, not so much.

Friday Features, Part Deux

In this week's edition of Friday Features on the MPL YouTube Channel, let's see what's currently being watched:

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You may access these (and our other 226) videos by going to our various playlists under the "videos" tab on the Library's YouTube home page.  There's also an option to browse all uploaded videos.

Should we include one of the current top ten?  This book trailer has been particularly active over the past 24 hours.

We sure have fun making these things.  We hope you enjoy watching them.

Where's My Videos in the Top 10 List?  Just Asking,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Video News Beat

P.S.  Talking about our book trailer for The Path of the Pole, by Charles Hapgood, I am reminded of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (1954), first recorded by Big Joe Turner (1911-1985) and composed by Jesse Stone (under the pseudonym Charles E. Calhoun).  This version is the remastered original studio recording.  Turner's career began in blues during the 1920s, and he continued releasing material and performing into the 1980s.  Rock-and-roll as we know it would probably never have happened without his many important contributions.