To all students, staff, visitors, readers, users, customers, patrons, colleagues, and friends…
From everyone in Library & Learning Resources at all campuses of the University of Lincoln ~ may we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy 2010.
Cue some festive links:
We look forward to supporting you in the new year!
Please note a change to our Christmas vacation hours next week:
The University will close at 3 o’clock p.m. (15.00) on Tuesday, 22nd December.
Desk services in the GCW University Library will finish at a quarter to three (14.45) – the library building will remain open until 10 o’clock p.m. (22.00).
Services at Riseholme and in Hull will finish at 14.45; the centres will close at 15.00 (there are no library desk services in Holbeach on Tuesday).
“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones I used to know…” You can’t help but notice a warm fuzzy feeling inside when you hear the opening lines of this famous Christmas song. Michael Kurtiz’s classic Christmas film has been viewed by millions every December for the last 55 years. You can’t help but sing along with the songs, tap your feet to the music and shed a little tear when Bob Wallace (Bing Crosby) and Phil Davis (Danny Kaye) save a man’s business and bring his friends together for Christmas.
Wallace and Davis leave the Army after World War II and form a top song-and-dance act. Davis plays matchmaker and introduces Wallace to a pair of beautiful sisters Betty and Judy who also have a song-and-dance act. After helping the sisters out when they get into a sport of bother, Wallace and Davis find themselves on a train travelling to a Vermont lodge where the sisters are booked to perform over Christmas. On their arrival they discover that the owner of the lodge is non other but their former commander, General Waverly (Dean Jagger), and that his business is suffering due to the lack of snow. On hearing his predicament the four performers decide to help the General. What follows is nearly two hours of incredibly well choreographed dances and songs and a heart warming story about comradeship and love, culminating in the performance of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”
White Christmas was the first feature length film to be filmed in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor and also used the new Perspecta directional sound system. However, it was not the film to debut the title song. Holiday Inn, produced 12 years earlier premiered Berlin’s song and was made famous by Crosby, spending 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts in 1942. Crosby, however, never saw his role in the success of the song as important, claiming that anyone could sing it. I’m sure that many listeners and viewers of the film would disagree.
If you’re feeling in a Christmassy mood then you can borrow White Christmas from the University Library, Find it at 791.4372 whi on the ground floor in the off-air DVD collection.
Q1. This famous person is a relative of one of the main stars of White Christmas and shares the same surname. Name the star of White Christmas and their relative.
Q2. Which Saint ensured that the fir tree was used to symbolise Christmas and the Christian faith?
No cheating. No Google. No Wikipedia.
The Hull Campus Learning Resource Centre will be operating revised hours for the Christmas/New Year break between Saturday 19th December and Sunday 3rd January. Opening hours during this period are:
| Saturday 19th Dec | 12noon – 5.00pm |
| Sunday 20th Dec | CLOSED |
| Monday 21st Dec | 9.00am – 5.00pm |
| Tuesday 22nd Dec | 9.00am – 5.00pm* |
| Wednesday 23rd to Sun 3rd Jan | CLOSED |
*Subject to late change – please ring the library on the day if you are planning to visit during the afternoon.
Normal semester opening hours, including evenings until 9.00pm and weekend opening, resume on Monday 4th January. We wish you all a good break!
Our opening hours for the Christmas and New Year vacation, for all four of our centres, are now available online, in PDF format:
GCW University Library (Brayford Pool)
Riseholme Learning Resources Centre (Riseholme Park) Hull Learning Resources Centre Holbeach Learning Resources CentreThese documents cover the whole of the vacation period between Saturday, 19th December, 2009 – Monday, 4th January, 2010. Normal opening hours resume on Monday, 4th January.
Also…
Don’t forget! The GCW University Library will be staying open 24 hours a day on weekdays for the two weeks before the Christmas break…
Forgive me for writing a review about a Christmas film in November but since The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) has become such a cult film and merchandise is sold year-round I think you can let me off.
When Tim Burton wrote The Nightmare Before Christmas little did he know what a hit it would be. It tells the story of Jack Skeleton, the pumpkin king of Halloween who becomes disillusioned with the revelry of Halloween and, whilst out walking, stumbles upon Christmas Town. So enamoured with the festivities and bright lights of Christmas, he decides to take it over and make Christmas his own.
Tim Burton brings the story alive with stop-motion animation at a time when CGI was taking off with the release of Jurassic Park (Spielberg, 1993) and the ballroom scene in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991). It may have failed but it didn’t. The story is cleverly written and the use of catchy, moving songs (thanks to Danny Elfman) brings it to life. Each character is well developed and it’s quite surprising to discover that Jack is actually a kind-hearted man who just wants to enjoy Christmas and make children happy. Sally, the ragdoll; Zero, Jack’s faithful dog along with trick-or-treaters Lock, Shock and Barrell and the dastardly Oogie Boogie bring depth and the storylines surrounding all these characters are packed into a relatively short film (76 minutes).
The great thing about The Nightmare Before Christmas is that it has aged well. Sixteen years after its release it still looks as good as it did in the early nineties and is really quite appealing. In 2006 the film was digitally altered so it could be broadcast in 3D illustrating its timeless qualities.
You can borrow the original 2D version from the University Library. You’ll find it in the DVD collection on the ground floor at 791.4372 nig.
Q. What is Tim Burton’s trademark opener to the beginning credits and name a film that he does this in?
…from all the staff of the University Library & Learning Resources, to all students, staff, associate and visiting readers! We look forward to supporting you and working with you in 2009.
Tuesday next week is the last day that the University as a whole will be open. On that day:
Our opening hours over Christmas / New Year are on the University Portal, and below…
