Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label twitter. Show all posts

Sunday, January 29, 2012

5 Dresden Dolls library ninja gig tweets by YOU

List by Tosca

"All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls!"
- Thomas Carlyle

Friday. Wow. Friday. I can't thank Auckland people enough for Friday. Most certainly I cannot thank Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione enough, either. Friday afternoon's library ninja gig at Central City Library was everything I wanted it to be and then some. (I often tell people that my idea of customer service is built on that idea - you give customers what they want, and then you give them something they didn't know they wanted, and the ninja gig was a lot like that). I get such a buzz out of live music. You hear a song, or a group and you listen to them enough that you know every single lyric by heart. You know where to pause, which words to put emphasis on, how to vocally (and emotionally, too) build the song up to this moment of great intensity...and then let it fade away. And start it all over again. Know what I mean? It's a beautiful thing but, let's be honest, it's nothing compared to hearing it live and in your face and, for a little bit there when Amanda Palmer crowdsurfed a seated audience, literally over your head, too. And right then you're shocked out of your musical complacency and you remember why you adore the drama and the theatricality of a group such as the Dresden Dolls, and the words of their songs combined with the outright fun-ness of it all make it that much more real and special. Gah *flails*

I could go on and on about how fantastic it all was (you know I could), but I'm not going to. Instead I've rounded up some tweets that floated across our stream that capture the mood and the feeling of the library gig so much better than I could on any given day. You know that moment when everything comes together and you have the right band, the right crowd and life is good-fantastic-I'm-gonna-be-smiling-for-days? That. So much that. THANK YOU, Auckland, for sharing all of that with us. And, just quietly, thanks Corin (Manager Digital Services, Auckland Libraries) for arranging the library ninja gig. Tres cool, boss man, tres cool :P And thank you to those who allowed me to highlight their tweets :)

Made it to the Auckland Library with a bit of time to spare - cigarette then the NINJA GIG TO END ALL NINJA GIGS. 21 hours ago via txt · powered by @socialditto



This tweet? This tweet right here? THAT is what I was hoping everyone else was wanting, too, the NINJA GIG TO END ALL NINJA GIGS. Thank you, @x_chemicalism_x, for putting it in words.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

5 books our followers thought were disturbing, entertaining and powerful

List by followers on our Auckland Libraries tweetstream

"Twitter lets me hear from a lot of people in a very short period of time."
- Robert Scoble

On Tuesday of Christmas weekend I read a bunch of books. Two in particular stayed with me long after for a few very simple reasons: They were disturbing, complicated, moving, exceptionally well-written, entertaining and powerful beyond words. One was Margo Lanagan's Tender morsels (teen, fantasy fiction), and the other was What I did (adult, general fiction). My most recent post on the Rodney blog covers the top 5 reasons why 'What I did' by Christopher Wakling is the most disturbing book I've read all year. I struggled with writing the post. Not out of disinterest, but out of a fear that I wouldn't be able to do it justice, or that I would miss something out altogether or, even worse again, that it would run away from me and that people would liken this UK story to section 59 of our Crimes Act (what NZers call the 'anti-smacking' bill) when that was not my intent. I didn't want it to find any way to become about that. Not for this post. I guess, in short, I didn't want THIS BOOK to become about THAT ISSUE. The last time I had this exact same challenge was when I wrote 5 books or films you may not have known were banned or challenged in New Zealand, June 2011. What I did made me ponder, out loud on our tweetstream, "Ever read a book that disturbed, entertained and was full of such power at one and the same time?" We received a few answers, all of which make up this post: 5 books our followers thought were disturbing, entertaining and powerful. Feel free to share your own suggestion.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

5 book-related tweets you may have missed on our tweetstream

List by Tosca

"Using Twitter for literate communication is about as likely as firing up a CB radio and hearing some guy recite ‘The Iliad.’"
- Bruce Sterling, science fiction writer and journalist

What we're #reading: Danielle is reading Jasper Jones, which is said to be 'an Australian To Kill a Mockingbird' http://t.co/LJjnLc2l 7 days ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto



Whenever I'm asked to explain why I find Twitter so appealing, I find that it makes me sound more manic and demented than ever. Possibly because the very busy-ness of it that puts most people off, is where I feel like I'm in my element. The visual cacophany of so much information and opinions and links and ideas (from the inane to the profound, from the absolutely useless to life changing beyond words) passing from person to person and at such a fast and furious rate is exciting. I made that comment to a friend recently, and I thought for sure he would laugh himself off his chair and onto the floor. His response was, 'Tosca, Twitter is the talkback radio of the internet.' I suppose, for some of us, that's a true statement. And just like talkback radio I can change the station (or website), or turn the radio (computer) off altogether and do something offline, instead. Our work tweetstream is not only about everything we're doing in Auckland Libraries because that would be too much like spam. I'm interested in my family, books, friends, movies, work, music, being inspired, literacy, inspiring others...the list is very possibly endless. I suspect that if my interests are quite eclectic, then perhaps yours are, too, which is why I keep it varied. If something we've tweeted strikes a chord, and people can use it in some way, then I consider it a win all around. Kind of like an online version of 'pay it forward.' Our list today is just a very small sample of what we tweet on a daily basis, in this instance: 5 book-related tweets you may have missed on our tweetstream. Should you ever find yourself on Twitter, feel free to follow us. I hope that you enjoy the links.

Honourable mention:

If you're looking for possible graphic novel reads, http://t.co/lBh1F6nc has some suggestions http://t.co/knOOLL4g 2 days ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto



My first time visiting @nybooks website and, so far, am in LIKE! How had I not heard of this? http://t.co/GRfyfDpz 6 days ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto



@nytimes Editors & critics pick their fav books of 2011 http://t.co/MjlcxW8X 9 days ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto