Our top 5 most popular posts of all time

This is it. This is the end of the road, ladies and jellybeans. Three years, two girls, and a blog. (And plenty of opinions and feels about books, libraries, people, and life). It has been - forever and always - my pleasure to have entertained you (and, let's face it, myself) for the last three years, and eight months. I hope you've enjoyed our offerings as much as we've enjoyed rambling on. I'm off to figure out what one does when one leaves libraries, starting with picking up an old hobby I used to be good at. I leave you with our top 5 most popular posts of all time.

Happy New Year. Be well. Be safe. Be awesome.

1. Top 5 NZ reggae bands by Tosca, May 2010 - 5132 hits

"My music will go on forever. Maybe it's a fool say that, but when me know facts me can say facts. My music will go on forever."

- Bob Marley

[New Zealand has some great reggae bands and this list serves as nothing more than my pick of groups who have gone some way toward reaffirming or recapturing my love of reggae on a wider scale, and my love of Bob Marley in particular...]

2. Your top 5 most downloaded Freegal Music tracks by Tosca, May 2012 - 1174 hits

"Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole."

- Dean as played by Jensen Ackles in Supernatural

[I don't know about anybody else but Dean's saying above (which I like to use with my sisters but gets me absolutely nowhere) is totally the case in our household. Whichever person is driving is the one who gets to decide what music the rest of us listen to. My sisters and I took a road trip a couple of years ago to visit my grandfather's home town in the far north; I was banned from driving the car during our vacation. My love of country music, classic rock and the 80s will get me relegated to the backseat every time. It probably doesn't help that I have this unfortunate habit of driving like whatever music happens to be playing at the time. And it's made worse, I would think, by the fact that I adore angry girl music. The louder the better, as far as I'm concerned...]

3. 5 geeky Star Trek-related Etsy links by Tosca, April 2013 - 985 hits

“Five card stud, nothing wild. And the sky’s the limit."

- Captain Jean Luc Picard, uttering the last line of the series, Star Trek: The Next Generation “All Good Things…”

[...I'm waiting - rather impatiently, I might add - for the Star Trek film to come out. Every few days or so I pop into Etsy and look up Star Trek related THINGS and STUFF. Weirdly(?), not to buy anything. I like to look at the items. Some of them are totally LOL-worthy. Others are a major case of WTF-ery. And just as many are ones I want to make myself (only I never do), or buy (yet another thing I never do). That means, folks, that today's list has absolutely nothing to do with our collections or libraries, and everything to do with indulging my forever fangirlness/geekiness. I'm wholly unrepentant about that. If this isn't your thing, feel free to skip this post. If it is, YAY. And if you need more Star Trek-related Etsy goodness, check out this link for ALL OF THE THINGS. Live long and prosper, people! (Sorry, couldn't resist - I'll be honest, I really didn't try to).]

4. Top 5 highest-grossing Bollywood films by Tosca, July 2011 - 981 hits

[I adore Bollywood movies. They're so full of life, colour, drama, music, romance, action, emotion and, let's face it, sometimes cheesey humour. The women are always beautiful and graceful and the men extremely goodlooking. My first tentative foray into Bollywood films wasn't a success at all, though. I had no clue about anything. I didn't know what actors or actresses I liked, I wasn't too sure if I would prefer the comedies over the dramas and I was totally unaware that some of the films are about three hours long. Three hours! I have the attention span of a goldfish so I felt my heart sink right then and there. It was about that time that a colleague at Manurewa Library, Sunita, decided to step in and help. Brilliant for me, probably not so much for her :) Thanks to Sunita I was hooked from her very first recommendation - Baghban starring Amitabh Bachchan - and have never looked back...]

5. My top 5 recipes from Alison & Simon Holst's "The New Zealand Bread Book" by Annie, December 2011 - 634 hits

"A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou."

- Omar Khayyam

[I grew up in a house where my mum made bread. And, because I was a kid and most kids’ mums didn’t make bread, sometimes this was embarrassing. But I do have fond memories of a group of my classmates around our house, all making bread with my mum.

Because I’m a fan of Alison Holst’s recipes, the bread book caught my eye. I’m getting into baking in a big way – so seeing it for sale really cheaply persuaded me to give it a go.

Now, a year on, I can offer my fav go-to recipes out of this book. In another year, I’ll probably have some more! Where available, I’ve added my notes from my copy of the book. I’m so addicted, my family bought me a food mixer for my 40th, one with a sturdy dough hook.

If you’re looking for something a little bit different to contribute to those ‘bring-a-plate’ functions this season, try these out.

~ Annie, Central]

5 (mostly) NZ reggae albums to make summer better

Thanks to the parental unit, my siblings and I associate long, hot summer days with roadtrips around the North Island visiting family and friends. Each roadtrip was accompanied by a mix of music, everything from Buffalo Springfield to The Doors, from Yvonne Elliman to Bob Marley and the Wailers and back again. I went through a phase in 1979/1980 where I loved (times a thousand) the Muppets, and would listen to their tape over and over and over. My parents would obligingly play the tape when we were in the car. Actually, they didn't just play it, they would sing along with it, too. I suspect they played it as much for themselves as they did for me. Looking back, that was no small thing, I mean back then, dad had an afro and a handlebar moustache (complete with beard, for crying out loud), and drove a bright orange Chrysler Regal Valiant. We very probably didn't look - or sound - like your average Maori family because here was this scary looking man and his hippie partner and kids singing along to Rainbow Connection while driving around the countryside. Good times. (That's not sarcasm). My parents were quite politically conscious, so something as simple as listening to music oftentimes involved discussions about the artist's political beliefs. Not surprisingly, that meant I heard a lot of folk and reggae growing up. Folk never quite stuck, but the reggae did. And summer, for me, still means impromptu roadtrips with the siblings, with carefully chosen playlists - with a lot of reggae thrown in - that capture the romance of long ago family trips, earlier times that were all about freedom, spontaneity, and adventure. I heart NZ reggae, and every summer means a new opportunity to discover never-before-heard bands, or check out new albums from bands I've been following for a while. Today's list is a quick round-up of what I'm listening to at the moment that are really worth a listen. And yes, before you ask, my siblings and I are planning a roadtrip north sometime in the next couple of weeks or so. Happy summer, everyone!

1. Harmony [compact disc] / House of Shem
Reggae music written and performed by the House of Shem with acc. musicians. HARMONY was recorded in a variety of studios across New Zealand throughout 2013 and mixed at Bob Marley's own Tuff Gong studio in Jamaica with the legendary Errol Brown (Bob Marley & The Wailers, Damian Marley, Julian Marley and Lauryn Hill) at the production and engineering helm.

1. Take You There 2. Fighting For Freedom 3. She's Mine 4. Hard Road feat Big Mountain 5. Harmony 6. For You and For Me 7. Jah Know 8. Crazy 9. Be Prepared 10. Let It Be 11. Stay Blessed 12. Calling

Photo credit: JBHiFi


2. Universal love [compact disc] / Sons of Zion
Good love -- Try again -- Superman -- Weekend -- Tell her -- Universal love -- Ignite -- Life -- Be my lady -- Feel -- Off my mind -- Home.

Photo credit: JBHiFi

3. Pacific reggae [compact disc] / Various artists
Featuring a collection of the hottest Pacific Reggae tracks released in the last two years - including hits from artists such as J Boog, Swiss, SpawnBreezie, Fiji, Three Houses Down and Brownhill - the new compilation hopes to further expose the groundbreaking Pacific Reggae Movement worldwide. To help bring this dream to reality, VP Records have included the biggest hits from the Jamaican Dancehall, Soca and Reggae scenes, including Busy Signals 'Come On Over', Tarrus Riley 'SuperMan', Gyptian 'Hold You' and Jamaican songstress Etana's hit 'Reggae'.

CD1: Pretty lady / Brownhill -- Let's do it again / J Boog -- Down by the river / Morgan Heritage -- Slow wind / Swiss -- Come over / Busy Signal -- Kanikapila / Three Houses Down -- Hold you / Gyptian -- Blue bayou / Swiss -- Superman / Rarrus Riley -- Love / Nesian N.I.N.E feat. Fiji -- Reggae / Etana -- Don't let go / Spawnbrezzie -- First love / Brownhill feat. Fiji -- Blessing / Etana feat. Alborosie -- Sweet & Irie / Sweet & Irie -- Sweet to the belly / Vybz Kartel -- Take it away / Tomorrow People -- Groovy little thing / Tarrus Riley -- All I need / Siaosi -- Feels like magic / Horsemen Family feat. Sweet & Irie.

CD2: Salute the crown / Lion Fiyah -- She's mine / Swiss -- The girl is mine / Morgan Heritage -- She's all / Brownhill -- Wrong address / Etana -- At the altar / Finn the Groovah -- Wine slow / Gyptian -- Sweet love / House of Shem -- She's royal / Tarrus Riley -- Good love / Sons of Zion -- Tempted to touch / Busy Signal -- Ganja farmer / J Boog -- She's my woman / Three Houses Down feat. Spawnbreezie -- Pure as the Nile / I Wayne -- Slow it down / Deach feat. Jae O -- Da style deh / Busy Signal -- Better place / Tomorrow People -- This is love / Monsta feat. J Boog -- I feel good / Beres Hammond -- Smoking bomb bud / J Boog & Fiji.

Photo credit: JBHiFi


4. One [compact disc] / Tomorrow People
One more time -- Feel alright (feat. Kolohe Kai) -- Let me be (the on you want) -- Take it away -- Sundown girl -- You give me something -- Irie music -- Jammin -- Souljah feeling (feat. Chad Chambers) -- Tonight -- Tell me -- Little story -- Better place.

Photo credit: JBHiFi


5. Irie inspiration [compact disc] / Sweet & Irie
Psalms of Bob Marley -- The love that comes from you -- Sunshine reggae -- Take me back to the islands -- Down by the river -- I'm sorry -- A new tomorrow -- Aotearoa -- On the road again -- Feels like magic (Raro remix feat. Brother Love).

Photo credit: JBHiFi


Also try:

• Give thanks by Foundation
• Nothing to hide by Rebel Souljahz
• Moon & back by Three Houses Down

Top 5 hip hop/rap albums (as selected by iTunes editors)

Photo Credit: Bourguiboeuf via Compfight cc

I'm always on the lookout for music recommendations, and as someone who came up through libraries knowing how to recommend books LIKE A BOSS, I'm really crap at the music side of it. It had always been something I wanted to work on, you know? I wanted to be so good at it that when someone came up to the counter to ask for someone else whose music was like *insert artist name here* , I'd kick butt at it. Never happened. (Probably never will now because I no longer work in a place where I can push myself to work at developing a skill like that). I like what I like and I'm mostly unapologetic about that, and it rarely occurs to me to want to do the "who else sings like...?" or "who else writes lyrics like...?" thing and go from there. Because I am such a lazy cowface, these days I rely heavily on iTunes to tell me who I should try, and this month I thought I'd try something a little different and check out the iTunes editors top 5 picks for best hip-hop/rap albums. This should be interesting. Hip-hop/rap isn't my thing and never has been, really. My siblings are all heavily into it, but for some reason it skipped me by. I'd be the first to admit that angry music is more my thing #notevenkidding. (Yes, I did just put a hashtag in a blog post). So, here's to trying new things. And hopefully, some of it might be stuff you want to check out yourself.

1. Nothing was the same [compact disc] / Drake
Tiscan leather -- Furthest thing -- Started from the bottom -- Wu-Tang forever -- Own it -- Worst behavior -- From time -- Hold on, we're going home -- Connect -- Language -- 305 to my city -- Too much -- Pound cake/Paris Morton music 2 -- Come thru -- All me -- Motion.

Photo credit: JBHifi


2. Yeezus [compact disc] / Kanye West
On sight -- Black skinhead -- I am a God -- New slaves -- Hold my liquor -- I'm in it -- Blood on the leaves -- Guilt trip -- Send it up -- Bound.

Photo credit: JBHifi

Comment: This is me making absolutely no comment about Kanye naming his baby North West.


3. Long.Live.A$AP [compact disc] / A$AP Rocky
Long live A$ap -- Goldie -- PMW (all I really needed) feat. Schoolboy Q) -- LVL -- Hell (feat. Santigold) -- Pain (feat. Overdoz) -- F**kin' problems (feat. 2 Chainz, & Kendrick Lamar) -- Wild for the night (feat. Skrillex) -- 1 train (feat. Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, Big K.R.I.T.) -- Fashion Killa -- Phoenix -- Suddenly -- Jodye -- Ghetto symphony (feat. Gunplay & A$ap Ferg) -- Angels -- I come apart feat. Florence Welch.

Photo credit: JBHiFi


4. Girl Songs [compact disc] / @Peace
 Bar stool balancing act -- Days like this -- Cats like fish -- Midnight (featuring Wes) -- Cake -- Anaesthetised -- 2 die 4 -- Flowers -- Wandering -- My Dad.

Photo credit: JBHiFi


5.  Falling into place [compact disc] / David Dallas
Wire -- Transmitting Live -- Runnin' -- Gotta Know -- How Long -- My Mentality -- Local Celeb -- Southside -- Follow -- Right There -- One More -- Gate.

Photo credit: JBHifi

5 CDs to take on a girlie summer road trip

"House rules, Sammy. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cake hole."
- Dean Winchester (as played by Jensen Ackles and I had my photo taken with him la la la la) in Supernatural, season 1, episode 1

Summer is here! And I'm a melted popsicle. Seriously, this heat? *keels over* It's only two days worth of it and I'm already voting we adopt the custom of siesta like the Spanish have. Is it so terrible that I was making up a to-do list that would involve sitting in the car just so I could have cool air? I see you silently judging me. If this were twitter, my hashtag for this moment would be #unrepentant. My sibling and I have planned a road trip home to the Far North for Christmas. Think lazy days exploring Ninety Mile Beach or driving up to the Cape for spiritual feels. I'm not allowed to drive her car. For a number of good reasons, all of which begin and end with my terrible taste in angry girl music that then leads to my driving like, well, an angry girl. That doesn't stop me from enjoying the drive, though, because everybody knows that the best part of any girlie road trip is, of course, the music. And I'm prepared! I so am. Two of the five CDs I'm taking are all about the nostalgia - they remind me of long, hot summers in Wellington visiting family or being at the beach. (After all, what is Wellington but a series of never ending beaches? You win, Wellington! You really do). Two CDs are by women whose music I've only kinda discovered this year, and I'm really appreciating their retro feel. And the other CD is just because I can. Roll on girlie road trip because I WILL BE IN YOU!

What music is necessary road trip music for you?

Top 5 shades of Fifty Shades

"So," I asked, "Do you like the feel of a feather on your naked skin?"
"I'm not sure," she said "Maybe if you took it off the pigeon first?"
- From Fifty sheds of grey by C. T. Grey

Art thou fed up to the back teeth of Fifty Shades of Grey? Have your eyeballs been singed by the spiciness of the dialogue and the raciness of the character shenanigans? (What DOES Anastasia do with that pancake flip? Why WILL you never look at a toothbrush the same way again? In fact, you may even chuck yours out). Yes? Well, that's just too darn bad BECAUSE BECAUSE BECAUSE I haz five shades of Fifty Shades!

"What does that EVEN MEAN?" you ask.

Simple: It means I took some time out of my day to look up any and all Fifty Shades parodies and/or Fifty Shades-related THINGS and STUFFS to make up this post. Beck had two turntables and a microphone. I have four Fifty Shades parodies, two sex books, a compact disc, and a pukeko in a ponga tree. (I lied about the ponga tree). (The pukeko is real, though). (Ok, no it's not, I lied about that, too). (I am a lying liar who tells lies). While you read this post, imagine me with no words whatsoever, because it would be the truth. Sexytimes parodies? Speechless. (Enjoy it while it lasts because I am never silent long). And yes, I've requested them all. It is my duty to take one for the team *said with hand solemnly on heart* Plus, I need the giggles. You're welcome, et voilà!

There is also:

Fifty shades of ecstasy : fifty secret sex positions for mind-blowing orgasms / Marisa Bennett

Fifty shades of pleasure : a bedside companion : sex secrets that hurt so good / Marisa Bennett