October computer classes

Click on image for schedule.

Fetch! Science Club

for ages 7-12
Saturdays, 10 AM -12 PM
September 27
October 11, 18
November 8, 22
December 6
Shirlington Library and WETA present hands-on science and fun from the PBS KIDS’ TV show Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman. Work together to solve science challenges for points and prizes.
Registration required, please call 703-228-0321.

October Programs at the Shirlington Library

Author Talks:

Wednesday, October 8, 7 PM

Tom Gjelten, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause. 

This dramatic story of one family, its business, and its nation.The Bacardi story is a microcosm of Cuban history. Originating in the years when the island was struggling for its freedom from Spain and continuing through the rise of Fidel Castro a century later, the Bacardi saga parallels and illustrates Cuba’s own development.

Tom Gjelten has wrapped up in one book an enthralling history of Cuba and a moving family story.

Wednesday, October 22, 7 PM
Dagmar Herzog, Sex in Crisis: New Sexual Revolution and the Future of American Politics.

Dagmar Herzog is Professor of History at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is the author of two pioneering books, Intimacy and Exclusion and Sex after Fascism, as well as numerous scholarly articles on the history of human sexuality.

Sunday, October 26, 3 PM

Michael Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote

Republicans and the Black Vote examines the complicated relationship between a political party and a constituency from which it receives little support.  The book relies on interviews and a review of the historical record to explain the GOPs early lock on Black voters, how they lost Black support, how policy positions and political symbolism combine to repel Black voters, and how the party can overcome its current position in the Black community.

Tuesday, October 28, 7 PM

Bobby Austin, Circus Clowns and Carnival Animals: Growing Up in the Ebb and Flow of Rural Black Life.

By turns humorous, raw, and tragic, Bobby Austin illuminates the ebb and flow of rural life during the Civil Rights Movement in his collection of stories: Circus Clowns & Carnival Animals. Rich in the tones of authentic storytelling, a mature undercurrent compels us to look deep inside ourselves. Each simple gem will leave you wanting more.

Page to Stage:

Monday, October 6

Meet actor Karl Miller, two-time nominee for the Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor, as he makes his Signature Theatre debut in Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Documentary Film:

Wednesday, October 15, 7 PM

Uncounted is a controversial feature length film by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt that examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S.

Round-table discussion follows.

Hispanic Heritage Celebration:

Saturday, October 18, 2PM

Café y Caribe - Latin American music performance featuring vocalist Maura Mendoza and musicians playing traditional Latin American music with a contemporary twist.

Monday Night Musicals:

Monday, October 20, 7 PM

Evita (1996)

Rated PG, 133 minutes. Directed by Alan Parker. Featuring: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce.

Shirlington Screens:

Films of Pedro Almodóvar.

Thursday, Oct. 2, 1 PM Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown [Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios](1988) Rated R, 90 minutes.

Almodovar’s first huge international success: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios), Inspired by Hollywood comedies of the 1950s, the film, staged as a faux adaptation of a theatrical work, details a two-day period in the life of Pepa, a professional movie dubber who has been abruptly abandoned by her married lover and who frantically tries to track him down. In the course of her search she discovers some of his secrets, and realizes her true feelings.

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 7 PM The Flower of My Secret[La Flor de mi secreto] (1995) Rated R, 103 minutes.

The Flower of My Secret (La flor de mi secreto). It is an exploration of denial in its various forms, a film in which melodrama is treated more as theme rather than as plot line. The Flower of My Secret is the story of Leo Macias, a successful romance writer who has to confront both a professional and personal crisis. Estranged from her husband, a military officer who has volunteered for an international peacekeeping role in Bosnia and Herzegovina to avoid her, Leo fights to hold on to a past that has already eluded her, not realizing she has already set her future path by her own creativity and by supporting the creative efforts of others.

Thursday, Oct. 9, 1 PM Live Flesh [Carne trémula] (1997) Rated R, 103 minutes.

This was his first–and so far only–script adapted from a book, Ruth Rendell’s novel Live Flesh. All that remains in the film from the book is the plot line of the two male protagonists^[17]: David, a police detective, and Víctor, the man accused of wounding and paralyzing him. Upon his release, Víctor, looking for revenge, is soon entangled in the lives not only of David and his wife, but also of David’s former partner, Sancho, and Sancho’s wife.

Live Flesh explores love, loss, and suffering with a sober restraint only briefly glimpsed in the director’s earlier work. The film tells the story of several characters implicated in each other’s fates in ways that are beyond their control. Live Flesh is historically framed from 1970, when Franco declared a state of emergency, to 1996, when Spain had completely shaken off the restrictions of the Franco regime.

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 7PM All About My Mother [Todo sobre mi madre] (1999) Rated R, 101 minutes.

The film grew out of a brief scene in The Flower of My Secret, telling the story of a mourning mother who, after reading the last entry in her dead son’s journal about how he wishes to meet his father for the first time, decides to travel to Barcelona in search of the boy’s father. She must tell the father that she had their son after she left him many years ago, and that he has now died. Once there, she encounters a number of odd characters – a transvestite prostitute, a pregnant nun, and a lesbian actress – all of whom help her cope with her grief.

All About My Mother received more awards and honors than any other film in the Spanish motion picture industry. ^[19] Its recognition includes an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, a Golden Globe in the same category, Best Director Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Award at Cannes; the French Cesar for Best Foreign Film, the Goya Award as best film of the year, best Actress in a Leading Role for Argentinean actress Cecilia Roth and a twelfth Annual European Film Award.

Thursday, Oct. 23, 1 PM Talk to Her [Hable con ella] (2002) Rated R, 112 minutes.

The film revolves around two men who become friends while taking care of the comatose women they love. Their lives flow in all directions, past, present and future, pulling them towards an unsuspected destiny. Combining elements of modern dance and silent filmmaking with a narrative that embraces coincidence and fate, Almodóvar plots the lives of his characters, thrown together by unimaginably bad luck, towards an unexpected conclusion.

The film was hailed by critics and embraced by arthouse audiences. Almodóvar won numerous honors across the world for his film, including a French César for Best Film and an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Thursday, Oct. 30, 1 PM Volver (2006) Rated R, 121 minutes.

Volver started as a story of la España negra, or ‘black Spain’–the rural, superstitious and conservative part of the country still often associated, the director says, with violence, tragedy, even backwardness: “It looks like they are living a century before. But I tried to demonstrate that the same Spain, in the same local places with the same local characters, could be called ‘white Spain’, because the neighbors are in complete solidarity, all the women join together and create a kind of family. The movie really talks about women who survive, women who fight fiercely.

The storyline of Volver appears as both a novel and movie script in Almodóvar’s earlier film, The Flower of My Secret.

Film synopsis from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kids’ Corner Events:

Oktoberfest Saturday, Oct 4, 10 AM- 4:30 PM

Crafts and Games: Join the Library for family friendly activities during Oktoberfest.

Crafts Tent will feature puppet making, masks and fall crafts.

Family Video Gaming in the Meeting room will feature Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Sports.

Family Movie Matinee:

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2 PM Monsters, INC. (2001)

Rated G, 89 minutes.

Directed by Peter Docter and David Silverman. Voiced by: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Mary Gibbs, Bonnie Hunt, Jennifer Tilly.

Tween & Teen Screens:

Sunday, October 19, 2 PM The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

Rated PG; 97 minutes.

Directed by Mark Waters. Featuring: Freddie Highmore, Seth Rogan, and Sarah Bolger.

On-Going Programs:

Book Discussion Group

Gilead by Marilynn Robinson

Thursday, October 2, 11 AM

Tuesday, October 7, 7:30 PM

Next month’s selection: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

ESL Class

Saturday, October 25, 1PM

English Conversation Group Meeting

Computer Classes

Friday, October 3, 2 PM:

Intro. to the Internet

Monday, October 20 & 27, 2 PM:

Introduction to Excel, two part class

Thursday, October 23, 2 PM:

Intro. to MS Word

Change in program schedule

Program Rescheduled

The Sept. 14, 2 PM  Screening of the Documentary Film: Apocalypse Africa has been canceled due to an unavoidable conflict in the film maker’s schedule.
It has been rescheduled for Wed. Nov. 12 at 7 PM.

We apologize for any inconvenience and hope you will be able to join us for the rescheduled showing of this moving and though provoking film.