Who is Bob Dylan?

Who is Bob Dylan?
Who is Bob Dylan?

Bob Dylan (birth name Robert Allen Zimmerman) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist whose 60+ year career has produced more than 600 songs in folk, rock, gospel, and other genres. He won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature and was most recently portrayed by Timothée Chalamet in the critically acclaimed 2024 biopic film called A Complete Unknown. If you are interested in learning more about Bob Dylan, here is a list of titles we have on him in our library catalog: bit.ly/bclib-bob-dylan.

What really happened to John Park?

What really happened to John Park?
What really happened to John Park?

If you mean the semifinalist on American Idol’s 9th season, he’s married, has a baby born in September 2023, and an album just released in Korea called PSST! spoti.fi/42aCDsD. His single, “I’m Always by Your Side” (a soundtrack song from a series called Vincenzo), has 17 million plays on Spotify.

How do I talk to huzz?

How do I talk to huzz?
How do I talk to huzz?

Step 1: recognize that the way you think about other people affects how they react to you. Step 2: start a conversation about literally anything other than dating. Step 3: be gracious about taking no for an answer. You don’t get the harsh put-down if you notice the subtle “I’m not interested”.

Why do people take slang & terms from black or queer communities? ie. “clock that tea”

Why do people take slang & terms from black or queer communities? ie. "clock that tea"
Why do people take slang & terms from black or queer communities? ie. “clock that tea”

They borrow language from groups using in-group language to establish group identity. And people want the cachet of that authenticity. Why don’t they take slang and terms from librarians? They should! IDK why “Check line 520 in the MARC record” doesn’t have cachet.

Slang naturally trickles up over time, in almost all languages it starts with the most marginalized abd moves up until everyone's saying it. It's just kinda how words work naturally
Slang naturally trickles up over time, in almost all languages it starts with the most marginalized abd moves up until everyone’s saying it. It’s just kinda how words work naturally

This is also an interesting theory.

Any good jazz recommendations?

Any good jazz recommendations?
Any good jazz recommendations?

If you are getting into jazz, I recommend you start with a few essential albums like Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, Love Supreme by John Coltrane, Time Out by Dave Brubeck, Moanin’ by Art Blakey, or Saxaphone Collosus by Sonny Rollins. If you are looking for more recent albums, Downbeat Magazine (https://bit.ly/downbeatmag) is a well-established jazz magazine that reviews current releases and publishes a Top 10 Album list each year.

What makes something a representation of other things?

What makes something a representation of other things?
What makes something a representation of other things?

Humans. Humans do that. They use words, signs, and signals, and other humans either understand the representations or not. The key is that people making representations have to agree what represents what. Problems happen when they think they do but they don’t. Which is often.

Is Huckleberry Finn good because of the rascism? I don’t get why I’m reading it

Is Huckleberry Finn good because of the rascism? I don't get why I'm reading it
Is Huckleberry Finn good because of the rascism? I don’t get why I’m reading it

This happens quite a lot when we read things from the past. Ideas or words can reflect a previous time’s understanding and this if often different from our own. It can be very hard to read at times, but can also be important to understand the current moment, the past, and how we got to where we are now. All of this doesn’t make the racism in Huckleberry Finn good. But this question sounds like it might start a good class discussion!