"Spring Strings" Music Series - Part 3

Welcome to part 3 of our "Spring Strings" music series, now on YouTube!

Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZRK6jtBHbk



The Blackstone Public Library would like to thank Kathryn Boisvert for providing the music used in this video.

Regarding her musical background Kathryn writes:

"Hello my name is Kathryn Boisvert. I am going on 30 years as a resident in Blackstone, MA. I have been married almost 37 years. I have two grown daughters, one son-in-law, and three granddaughters.

I am a musician, an avid 'book worm', a passionate cook, and I also enjoy crocheting in my free time. I sing and minister to the elderly in nursing homes, both at the bedside and in groups on the dementia units.

As a child, I grew up with three sisters and my mother - five of us in the family, all of whom were very musical. As an 8th grader, I took my guitar with me, accompanying my two sisters where we were a part of an Outreach program sponsored by the Berkshire Atheneum. We went into the nursing homes to sing for the elderly, which was very well received.

In more recent years, I became a caregiver for four years total to a wonderful elderly woman in her late 80s. I would entertain her in her home, singing and playing my guitar. Eventually, the family had to place her in a nursing home where I was asked if I wanted to be hired to sing for everyone there. My dear friend passed away several years ago and I have been singing in nursing homes ever since."

Poetry contest submissions due May 16

Only one month left to submit your poem!

Please email your submissions to Lisa by May 16, 2020.

You may submit one piece of original poetry per person. Include the title of your poem, your name, address, telephone number, and age category. Previously published works of poetry are not allowed.

Age categories are:

• Grades K-2
• Grades 3-5
• Grades 6-8
• Grades 9-12
• Adult

We look forward to reading your work! 

"Spring Strings" Music Series - Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of our "Spring Strings" music series, now on YouTube!

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0m0Wx13lSc



The Blackstone Public Library would like to thank Kathryn Boisvert for providing the music used in this video.

Regarding her musical background Kathryn writes:

"Hello my name is Kathryn Boisvert. I am going on 30 years as a resident in Blackstone, MA. I have been married almost 37 years. I have two grown daughters, one son-in-law, and three granddaughters.

I am a musician, an avid 'book worm', a passionate cook, and I also enjoy crocheting in my free time. I sing and minister to the elderly in nursing homes, both at the bedside and in groups on the dementia units.

As a child, I grew up with three sisters and my mother - five of us in the family, all of whom were very musical. As an 8th grader, I took my guitar with me, accompanying my two sisters where we were a part of an Outreach program sponsored by the Berkshire Atheneum. We went into the nursing homes to sing for the elderly, which was very well received.

In more recent years, I became a caregiver for four years total to a wonderful elderly woman in her late 80s. I would entertain her in her home, singing and playing my guitar. Eventually, the family had to place her in a nursing home where I was asked if I wanted to be hired to sing for everyone there. My dear friend passed away several years ago and I have been singing in nursing homes ever since."

New! Pop Up Library!

Introducing the Pop Up Library! 
Access eBooks from the library's parking lot without using a library card.

1. Access the WiFi connections on your phone or tablet
2. Select Pop Up LIbrary
2. Select Pop Up Library at PopUpLib.com and tap Go to start reading.Access eBooks from the library's parking lot without using a library card.

Magical Monday

Hello again, and welcome to Magical Mondays!

If you’re just tuning in for the first time, this series will be posting every Monday on all things magical! This includes Magic: the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and anything else in the realm of magic.

Magic: the Gathering was the first topic of these posts. If you want a quick run down on its history and how to play, I would go back to that post from April 6^th.

If you’re a veteran, keep reading because I’m so excited to talk about this free and easy program to play called Magic: the Gathering Arena! Here’s the link: https://tinyurl.com/sqgdmyk to download.

First things first, if you’re a YA, always ask a parent before downloading anything onto your computer or using any of the pay to play features.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

As a player for the past year and a half, I’ve only ever played Commander. MTG Arena teaches Standard, a format I’ve heard of but never tried. This made this first video a bit of a challenge for me, but I was really excited to be learning a new format. 

The Standard format only uses the most recent card sets released in Magic. The main rules to creating a Standard deck can be found at https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/standard-formats-magic-gathering but I’ve also included them here:

Sets used for Standard as of 4/13/2020.

Note: some are not released, yet. 

• Your deck must be at least 60 cards.
• Up to 15 cards may be included in your sideboard, if you use one.
• Include no more than 4 copies of any individual card in your main deck and sideboard combined (except basic lands).
• There's no maximum deck size, as long as you can shuffle your deck in your hands unassisted.
• Though there is no deck size, most Standard players play with a 60 card deck and a 15 card sideboard.

Some other things to know are that this format is usually one vs. one, with each player starting with a total of 20 life.

MTG Arena does this all of this work for you, so don’t worry if you’ve never created a deck before!

After creating your account, you move through the tutorial where you have five different computer opponents that each teach you a different mechanic or combo of the game. For instance, they teach you when to best use an Instant card, or when to hold back from blocking against attackers. 

After that, you still play with computer opponents until you unlock the ability to play with other online users. I still haven’t unlocked this yet, and it might take me awhile to do so (you’ll see why in the video). You also unlock different cards to build your own deck instead of playing their premade ones.

There are pay to play features, but everyone I know who uses this program has never needed to pay for anything to get the most out of the game. That’s what makes MTG Arena really great, especially when Magic can become a really expensive hobby in its paper form.

So, if you’re looking for people to play Magic with or want to learn something new, MTG Arena is definitely the way to go. It’s great for beginners and veterans alike (everyone in my in-person playgroup, who I consider way better at Magic than me, have it downloaded). 

Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more magical content every Monday!

Email me with questions, suggestions, to talk about Magic, or just to say hello at alandry@cwmars.org.

"Spring Strings" Music Series

Welcome to our "Spring Strings" music series, now on YouTube!

Part 1: https://youtu.be/l4zoaWWSqr4





The Blackstone Public Library would like to thank Kathryn Boisvert for providing the music used in this video.

Regarding her musical background Kathryn writes:

"Hello my name is Kathryn Boisvert. I am going on 30 years as a resident in Blackstone, MA. I have been married almost 37 years. I have two grown daughters, one son-in-law, and three granddaughters.

I am a musician, an avid 'book worm', a passionate cook, and I also enjoy crocheting in my free time. I sing and minister to the elderly in nursing homes, both at the bedside and in groups on the dementia units.

As a child, I grew up with three sisters and my mother - five of us in the family, all of whom were very musical. As an 8th grader, I took my guitar with me, accompanying my two sisters where we were a part of an Outreach program sponsored by the Berkshire Atheneum. We went into the nursing homes to sing for the elderly, which was very well received.

In more recent years, I became a caregiver for four years total to a wonderful elderly woman in her late 80s. I would entertain her in her home, singing and playing my guitar. Eventually, the family had to place her in a nursing home where I was asked if I wanted to be hired to sing for everyone there. My dear friend passed away several years ago and I have been singing in nursing homes ever since."

Welcome to Magical Mondays

Introducing Magical Mondays!

Calling all Young Adults (and YAs at heart)! Are you a fan of trading card games (TCG), like Magic: the Gathering? Ever wanted to learn, but didn’t have the money to start or anybody to teach you? Did you play in the 90s, and want to try it out again?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this is the place for you!

I’m Amanda, I will bring videos of gameplay performed by none other than me, and some basic knowledge that I have about Magic, D&D, and other cool magical things to you every Monday.

Since my inspiration for these posts is Magic: the Gathering, I’m going to start there, with some history and how to play.

https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/18583/how-should-i-set-up-a-draft-from-multiple-old-sets

This is what happens to most TCG cards, where they’re sold for change at yard sales. This can be a huge mistake.

TCGs have only increased in popularity since their inception in 1993 with Magic: the Gathering. Games like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, and countless other collectable card games have surfaced after Magic gained traction in the gaming community. Not only a game, these cards have trading and collectable value. Cards with a limited number of prints (like the ones printed in the very first sets called Alpha and Beta) can be worth thousands of dollars when kept in mint condition. To see prices by set visit https://shop.tcgplayer.com/price-guide/magic/alpha-edition.

Sounds pretty risky to play with $1,000 cards, right? It definitely is, so most people don’t play with those cards. Actually, most of those cards are on a banned or restricted list. This means they can only be played in a particular format of Magic, or not at all. Even with relatively inexpensive cards, players cover their cards with sleeves to protect them since the values of the cards fluctuate so much.

This leads me to mention, what is this game really all about? 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magic_the_Gathering_-_Commander.jpg#/media/File:Magic_the_Gathering_-_Commander.jpg

First, let me clarify. When I talk about formats, I mean different ways of playing Magic. All the basic rules stay the same, but deck construction, amount of life, and number of players can change. Different formats are called Vintage, Modern, Commander, and Standard, just to name a few. You can visit https://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/formats for more on this.

Ultimately, each player is a planeswalker (kind of like a wizard). Each player has a deck of cards that have creatures and spells with varying different abilities and mana costs. These cards, depending on their type, allow for players to interact with their opponent or their own cards. You play creatures to defend yourself and attack your opponents for life, and you play spells to buff up your creatures or stop other spells from being played. The last player alive wins! 

If you want to watch some gameplay, one of my favorite streams is MTGGoldfish: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZAZTSd0xnor7hJFmINIBIw/playlists

I swept past a new word: mana. Each card is associated with one-five colors – white, green, blue, black, and red – and can be paid with their associated colors of mana given by land cards – plains, forests, islands, swamps, and mountains, respectively. These colors are known for specific abilities. An example: black cards are best at getting cards from your graveyard (cards defeated by your opponents or spells that are only cast once). Having to pay a mana cost limits how much a player can do on their turn, keeping the game fair.

Here’s an awesome picture to sum up the parts of a card 

https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Parts_of_a_card

I know this sounds like a lot, and yeah, it can definitely get complicated. But there is a deck for everyone!

And I’ll tell you a secret…there’s a program that can teach you how to play!

Yup, that’s right. It’s called Magic: the Gathering Arena, and it’s an easy and free way to play the first and, I unabashedly say, the best TCG (yes, even above Pokémon). If you’re a YA, always ask a parent before downloading anything onto your computer or using any of the pay to play features

Next week, I’ll be playing MTG Arena!

So stay tuned for more Magic: the Gathering and other magical content every Monday!

~

Email me with questions, suggestions, to talk about Magic, or just to say hello at alandry@cwmars.org.