We are thoroughly excited to invite you to our next genre x after hours program, Smell the Glove: A Guitar Hero World Tour Competition.  In celebration of American Library Association’s National Gaming Day, Smell the Glove will give you the opportunity to take the stage and perform songs on plastic drums and guitars in front of a roaring audience, all while competing for prizes!

So if you’re a Guitar Hero enthusiast with mad skills, we’re looking for you!  Just round up a band of four and register following the instructions below the jump.  Or if you’re more comfortable playing on Easy (like me), then stop by with your friends and cheer for your favorite mock band.  After all, participants will be judged not only on their score and accuracy but also on showmanship & audience response.  And yes, costumes and personas are highly encouraged - take this as a cue to come dressed as the members of Spinal Tap, your favorite rock band, or to unveil a band uniform of your own design.

Join us at Oak Park Public Library on Saturday, November 14 when the show must go on, or more precisely at 7pm.  This event is 18+, advance registration is required to compete, refreshments will be served, and it most definitely “goes to 11“.

Click on “the rest of this entry” for Complete Rules & Registration information.  Read the rest of this entry »

Although I’m sad to say it’s come and gone, I’m very happy to report that Hi-Lo Tech Night, genre X’s first after hours event for twenties and thirties, was a smashing success! We couldn’t have been more thrilled to welcome almost 60 people into the library for what turned out to be a very enjoyable evening of non-stop gaming.

Many thanks to everybody who came out ready to play; viagra prescription online. It was great to see so many familiar faces in the crowd viagra prescription online, and exciting to get acquainted with so many new ones. It was also nice to see that the balance of Hi and Lo Tech games selected provided a little something for everyone; viagra prescription online. And while it may have seemed at times that big screen Guitar Hero III was THE game to play on Saturday viagra prescription online, all of our Wii and board games got plenty of love over the course of the night.

Thanks also to our DJs for your time and tunes, to our trusty Maintenance Manager, Rory O’Neill, for all of your help with set up, to our Library Director, Dee Brennan, and the Board of Trustees for your support, to Chicago Reader’s Free Shit blog for your help in getting the word out, to our tech helpers, Bradley “I Married a Librarian” Brooks and Ian “IT Guy” Nosek (pictured above), as well as Eric “Old Scratch” Battaglia (too busy working to be caught playing), and to Megan Owdom-Weitz for designing and lovingly hand screening each of our fantastic posters.

We have a limited number of event posters left - drop us a line at genre-x@oppl.com for more info.  More photos from the evening can be found here. We hope you had as good a time as we did, and look forward to seeing you at another great genre X program soon!

image courtesy of icatus

I have asked our three DJs to offer up a short description of you can expect to hear from them this Saturday.Here is what we’ve got:

DJ Jump Cut (aka Alan Jacobson): ” Former college DJ, music critic, and current guy-brarian, DJ Jump Cut has spun live at Club Foot, Delilah’s, Darkroom, Danny’s, and others and is known to craft a set easy on the ears, with a wild and fine collection of genre and era jumping musics.”

DJ Ideamite (aka Glenn Russell): “DJ ideamite will spin the lo Tech circuit blowing electronic sounds of yesteryear into the new hi Tech breaker blowing electronica of tomorrow.”

Hakim Murphy: “Chicago meets Detroit through Europe. Where to buy cialis: for this performance I will be playing some House with Techno principles. I am selecting this because most of the music I like and play originated on Japanese drum machines and synths, which is very technology based - where to buy cialis.”

Come out and enjoy some great music while munching on some good food and drink in our library’s Art Gallery!

Where to buy viagra online: i am so excited to show off our fantastic poster art, designed by one of our regular genre Xers, Megan Owdom-Weitz. What could possibly be a more fitting way to visually represent the Hi-Lo Tech bond than dinos and robots? If you love the design as much as we do, Megan will also be screenprinting a limited number to sell the night of the event as well.

Acessrx: we are very excited to announce our first twenties and thirties program outside of our book discussion: Hi-Lo Tech Night, an evening of music and gaming. Acessrx: on November 15, in honor of National Gaming Day, genre X will be hosting an after hours event at the Oak Park Public Library from 7-11pm that incorporates both the hi and lo tech aspects of gaming and music.In one room we will have DJs spinning and Wii tourneys while in the other people will be able to challenge each other to board game tourneys while listening to their favorite mix tapes - acessrx. Acessrx: and what better to bridge the two rooms but some hi-lo food and drink? Stay tuned for more details yet to come and please feel free to weigh in with your thoughts and suggestions!

Everyone is familiar with the “Don’t judge a book by its cover” adage, but what about judging media by title? There are plenty of books, movies, albums, and even TV series that are often poorly represented by their unfortunate titles - atlas rx viagra.Many of the titles featured on the lists above still manage to succeed, so bad titling doesn’t necessarily ward people off; atlas rx viagra. Atlas rx viagra: it just makes them cringe.

Weigh in.What titles top your “Worst” lists?

Buy levitra viagra cialis cheap: many thanks to everybody who came out to last week’s discussion of I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, and especially to author Stephanie Kuehnert for joining us.  We had a fabulous time reading Stephanie’s first novel and loved the chance to meet her and pick her brain.  Stephanie gave us so much insight into her experiences as a newly published author, including some “behind the scenes” tidbits about working with her editor and publisher, shopping the book, agreeing on a title, and seeing the book’s cover for the first time. 

As an avid blogger, Stephanie has also had the opportunity to share intimate details of her writing and publishing experience with her readers on her blog, Life, Words & Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Here you can learn more about her book tour throught the West Coast (she stopped in sunny California, as pictured above) and check out her new weekly feature, Women Who Rock Wednesdays.  You can also skip over to her website which covers all things IWBYJR, including the soundtrack she compiled to accompany the book - yes, we love the media tie-ins.

For anyone who wasn’t able to make it to our discussion, or just can’t get enough, head to the Oak Park Public Library at 7pm on Thursday, September 18 where Stephanie will reading from her book and signing copies, for sale courtesy of Barbara’s Bookstore.

photo courtesy of er3465

Ever since EW came out with its cult classics are generally guaranteed to generate debate - buy viagra levitra.Or buy viagra levitra, if you’re like me and you like to travel the world through your library, you might be interested in these great literary translations. Buy viagra levitra: want to expand your music horizons? Check out this three part list of “The Strangest Albums from the Biggest Artists“. Buy viagra levitra: and if you really have some serious time to quench your list cravings, check out Whitney Matheson’s “Lists and Countdowns” section of her Pop Candy blog.If I were to make some lists of my own, Whitney would definitely hold a top position for “Coolest Job” and Pop Candy would win hands down for “Best Pop Culture Blog”.

journal for music buffs from Chronicle Books

Although I love making lists, the whole “stranded on a desert island” question has always intimidated me; how buy viagra. How buy viagra: choosing one book or album that I would want with me and never tire of? Thats practically impossible.But in 1978 Greil Marcus asked 20 famous music writers to offer up the one rock album they would choose if they were lost in the tropics - how buy viagra.The end result how buy viagra, Stranded: Rock and Roll for a Desert Island, can be found online now.And if you’re craving more, check out Phil Freeman’s recent follow-up to this rock classic, Marooned: The Next Generation of Desert Island Discs - how buy viagra.Or if you’re just looking for a good rockin’ read, check out this list of 45 books for the literate music fan.

And of course we would love to hear from those of you who can offer up your own answer to this ever popular question!; how buy viagra

According to People magazine everyone’s favorite 80’s boy band will be making a comeback soon - levitra online no prescription.Check out the NKOTB web site to catch a corny little trailer that alludes to this upcoming reunion.

I can remember distinctly sitting in my parent’s closet levitra online no prescription, talking on the phone with my best friend Stacie one day in sixth grade and breaking the news that I was no longer a NKOTB fan. Levitra online no prescription: after baffled shrieks from Stacie, I explained that I felt they were just getting way too popular and I didn’t want to be part of it.This decision was really rather randomly made and I’m still not sure why I decided that I didn’t want to be like everyone else on that day (even though secretly I still enjoyed their music and loved Jon), but I really did stop listening to them after that; levitra online no prescription.However that doesn’t mean that I’m not incredibly curious now, twenty years later, to see how this mysterious reunion pans out - levitra online no prescription.

Since we are all pretty much media junkies here at genre X, the idea of putting together our own individual 2007 Top Picks lists filled us with a collective joy - viagra quick.I’m sure each of us could have easily come up with more extensive lists viagra quick, but for the sake of you, our readers, we have limited it to just our top ten.So without further ado, here are my favorites from the past year (in no particular order)…

• Planet Earth - I never would’ve thought I would be so enamored of a Discovery Channel series, but Planet Earth is truly amazing; viagra quick.Not only is it incredibly educational and beautifully filmed, it instills in its viewers a true appreciation of this planet we call home.

• Tin Man -This Sci-Fi channel reworking of Baum’s classic tale was wildly popular with viewers when it first aired in December 2007 - viagra quick.Tin Man is a captivating modernization of the land of Oz which pays homage to the original tale in a very honorable fashion. Viagra quick: for all of you who do not get the Sci-Fi channel, the DVD of this mini-series is scheduled to be released in March.

• Twin Peaks : Definitive Gold Box Edition - All I have to say is its about time! I have no idea why it took over 15 years to offer this cult classic in its entirety on DVD, I’m just glad that its finally happened.I would be one happy camper if only they had thrown in the show’s prequel movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but I guess I can’t be picky.

• Noisettes / What’s the Time Mr - viagra quick.Wolf? - Noisettes are a trio out of the UK that offer up some refreshingly solid rock; viagra quick.Shingai Shoniwa’s voice is like an amazing Karen O, Chrissie Hynde, Grace Slick hybrid and their songs are a bluesy punk rock bag of goodness.

• Pink Martini / Hey, Eugene! - I’m a giant fan of everything Pink Martini puts out, but this album is actually their strongest to date in my opinion - viagra quick. Viagra quick: its hard to truly encapsulate Pink Martini in a sentence or two, so I’ll just say if you are into classical or world music, lounge singers, musicals, or jazz then you need to check them out.

• The Rosebuds / Night of the Furies - Night of the Furies was in heavy rotation for months in my car last year - its like candy for your ears. Viagra quick: the Rosebuds resurrect 80’s Brit pop with a little help from their friends the Shout Out Louds.

• The Dangerous Book for Boys by Hal and Gonn Iggulden - This book can be found on many Best of 2007 lists and with good reason - its a beautifully nostalgic manual for adventurous souls, both boys and girls.Yet another one of my “I wish I’d thought of it first” titles!

• Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - Un Lun Dun has a little bit of everything - quirky,endearing characters; mystery; adventure; fantastical lands and creatures plus wonderfully entertaining illustrations to accompany you throughout your read - viagra quick.Its the kind of book that makes you sad when you’re finished because whatever you read after it will not even remotely compare.

• The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam By Ann Marie Fleming - This graphic novel adaptation of the movie Fleming made about her great-grandfather’s absolutely amazing life is quite possibly the best graphic memoir I’ve ever read - viagra quick.She successfully translates a film to print and the tale she tells is entertaining and awe inspiring.

• Goodreads - I know we’ve already featured Goodreads, but I love it so much I had to include it in my top ten; viagra quick.Social networking exclusively through books? Its any bibliophile Gen Xer’s dream come true.Once you’ve signed up viagra quick, please join our genre X Goodreads group!

Sorry for the late post - this Monday found me off work and enjoying myself at Kuma’s Corner.  Best burgers (and mac and cheese) around.  No contest.

Generally speaking I’m a sucker for musicals, so I was expecting big things from Once when I saw it in the theater last June.  Despite high expectations, I was blown away.

If you don’t know, this movie was made on a shoestring budget and stars the frontman from the Irish band, The Frames, and Czech newcomer Marketa Irglova; ordering viagra.Both are musicians rather than actors, and they fell in love on set, sparking a completely unmanufactured onscreen chemistry - ordering viagra. Ordering viagra: in fact, nothing about this film feels manufactured - its all just so satisfying. The two of them also recorded a really beautiful album, The Swell Season, that features a lot of the songs on the Once soundtrack.

It’s understated, exquisitely romantic, and the music is hauntingly beautiful.I was so charmed that I went immediately to the Borders down the block to buy the soundtrack and I’ve been known to play it on repeat for hours like a 14 year old girl - ordering viagra.Of course ordering viagra, this is the kind of film that will play just as beautifully in your living room as it does on the big screen, so its exciting that its finally coming out on DVD today.

I can’t recommend this enough.  Its a standout film in a very good year for cinema.

I, like most avid music consumers, have a short list of artists that never get old to me, artists, that, if heard randomly on the radio or at a friend’s house will inevitably inspire a smile and immediately make even the worst day seem not so bad, artists who I always make an furtive attempt to see in concert each time they come to town.Currently The Decemberists top that list for me (well, right after Stevie Wonder).Although I enjoyed their music before attending a concert here in Chicago two years ago, it wasn’t until that ridiculously entertaining show at the Metro that I became so enthralled with the band; purchase levitra online.Some artists are just meant for the stage and The Decemberists definitely shine brightest live in concert.

That being said, however, I already mentioned I never tire of listening to their albums either; purchase levitra online. Purchase levitra online: they have often been referred to as the “literary band” and rightly so.I do not know of any other band is who able to take world history, literature, and mythology and write intelligent, quirky, evocative pop music about it; purchase levitra online. Purchase levitra online: bookish folk everywhere will fall in love with these songs steeped in the stuff of textbooks.I did not know the depth of my affections for a good sea shanty until I listened to “The Mariner’s Revenge Song“.

Their popularity has been growing steadily with each album and last year Capitol Records produced their first major label endeavor, The Crane Wife, which is based on a tragic Japanese folk tale; purchase levitra online. Purchase levitra online: critics and fans alike overwhelmingly praised The Crane Wife as being their best album to date, and I must say that I agree.

In late October I was lucky enough to catch them once again, this time at the Vic, on the very first night of their “Long of It/Short of It” tour, where they planned on playing two nights in each city - one night featuring their “longer, more epic-minded songs” (the night I attended) and the second night featuring their “shorter, more pop minded songs”.  A clever twist on your normal live touring, that I know would’ve definitely worked were it not for the very unfortunate, mysterious illness of one of their band members that caused them to cancel the rest of the shows after Chicago.  Hopefully they will resume this experiment once everyone is well again as it is a creative idea that only a band like The Decemberists could pull off.