Internet sites of interest

DEBBIE JACOB

THE LIBRARIAN in me can’t resist searching for and passing on interesting internet links. Explore some of the best sites to learn about film, food, literature, history, exercise and more by checking out the links below.

1. Script Sleuth – Why Casablanca is the greatest film of all times – If you’re a budding screenwriter, a movie buff who wants to analyse movies on another level or if you just want to understand why certain movies appeal to you, watch this YouTube link that discusses scenes from Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The link presents information about cinematic structure, dialogue, lighting and how to frame shots. Casablanca is nowhere near a perfect movie so what made it so successful? Search Sleuth Script + Casablanca, or follow the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvVMlidSQpI&ab_channel=ScriptSleuth

2. Tom Wolfe on Stephen Crane – In this speech, journalist/fiction writer Wolfe discusses why Crane belongs to the Golden Age of American literature, spanning the period 1893-1939. Zora Neal Hurston, Edith Wharton, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck all belong to this period. Wolfe says, “There’s never been anything like (this period) and it looks like there will never be anything like it again.” Calling Crane’s Red Badge of Courage “the greatest betrayal of a soldier in battle,” Wolfe argues Crane’s importance in literature about war.

This 14-minute video is a good, visual example of how to construct an argumentative essay. Also, check out Paul Auster’s Burning Boy, the Life and Times of Stephen Crane, a recent biography of Crane that represents an exceptional blend of biography and literary analysis. Crane produced a stunning amount of important journalism and fiction before he died of tuberculosis at only 28 years old. Search for Tom Wolfe talks about Stephen Crane or follow the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mogiKSrN45g&t=13s&ab_channel=LibraryofAmerica

3. The Poynter Institute, a US-based nonprofit media centre well known for its fact-checking, media literary and journalism, offers an invaluable lesson in filmmaking with a YouTube video entitled What the Budweiser “Puppy Love” Super Bowl Ad Teaches about Video Storytelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_O978TVXaQ&ab_channel=altompkins

4. Many children and adults enjoy epistolary novels like Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney or Dracula by Bram Stoker. Books written in letter or diary form make readers feel like they are privy to characters’ most personal feelings. Slidesayer.com offers an interesting link to popular epistolary novels for you to explore.

https://slideplayer.com/slide/12750203/

5. A site called bookriot.com presents some of the most popular free classics available at Project Gutenberg. These books are in the public domain and do not violate copyright laws.

https://bookriot.com/free-classics-on-project-gutenberg/

6. On yet another bookriot.com site discover the American classics that have become part of the public domain in 2021. These include The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf and In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway. You can now read these books free online without violating US copyright laws. It is important for readers to respect intellectual property. Check out:

https://bookriot.com/public-domain-books-2021/

7. For international news, most of us check out British or American sources, but it’s always good to explore credible, alternative sources. Al Jazeera, based in Qatar, is an excellent source of international news, particularly news from Africa and the Middle East.

https://www.aljazeera.com/

8. Take a free trip around the world by visiting some of UNESCO’s top world heritage sites. Simply type UNESCO world heritage sites or go to this link:
https://www.planetware.com/world/top-world-heritage-sites-per-1-2.htm

9. Prevention, a popular magazine that focuses on physical and mental health, now offers a list of some of the best health-related podcasts. Each recommended podcast has a link for you to sample.

https://www.prevention.com/life/g25458803/best-health-podcasts/

10. Food blogs are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to old-fashioned cook books. I have been sampling many food sites and found Pinch of Yum has one of the best layouts for a food blog. You can search several of the site’s menus including quick and easy, vegetarian, healthy, instant pot, vegan and more. Mouthwatering pictures of the food make this blog pop. It’s an easy, fun site to navigate.

https://pinchofyum.com/

11. Many people turned to online fitness classes during the pandemic. There’s nothing like a qualified trainer for strength exercising, but with money being tight, online classes can be perfect for supplementing person-to person training. The site below offers suggestions for online training with just about every type of exercise you can think of.

https://www.verywellfit.com/best-online-exercise-classes-4163381

The internet is an invaluable resource that can provide entertainment and enhance your knowledge – once you search for credible sites – so check out some of these sites.