The Library Does GaGa

Sarah Wachter, a UW-Seattle student in library and information science, has created a small internet sensation with this version of Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance".

Enjoy!

You got a question that is causing you some pain
Typin’ keywords into the search engine again.
Look your naïve searching just ain’t gonna get it done
Cause when it comes to search if it’s not tough it isn’t fun (fun)

Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I’ll blow your mind, show you how to find.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhh, ohh-oh-e-ohh-oh-oh
I’ll blow your mind, show you how to find.

Can use my
Can use my
Yeah you can use my catalog
(Don’t forget the databases)
Can use my
Can use my
Yeah you can use my catalog
(Don’t forget the databases)

Ca-ca-ca-catalog ca-ca-catalog
(Mum mum mum mah)
Ca-ca-ca-catalog ca-ca-catalog
(Mum mum mum mah)

This keyword search it gives you way too many hits
Boolean limits pare things down to just what fits
Use the thesaurus to find subject terms that work
Then in just one minute you’ll be through like Captain Kirk (Kirk)

[Chorus]

We love the Big 6, baby!

Step one define your problem
Pick your sources.
Then go huntin’. We’re not puntin’
On the research. We’re engaging and extracting somethin’
Then you can put it back together
Tell your friends about your awesomeness
It’s synthesis synthesis
Evaluate cause we’re into this.

The MLB Draft

Today is the MLB draft, w/ the 1st and supplemental rounds to be broadcast on the MLB Network. I'll be at work, but I'm DVR'ing it. From 11 pm on I intend to be camped in front of the TV, Baseball America in hand, enjoying the hell out of it. Dorky? Well, yes, in a way. But sexy too, no?

Some Advice

Oy, some advice for characters on Torchwoood & Primeval: I know you save the world every wk. I do feel, however, this would be much easier if a) u were professionals in training or demeanor b) u didn't go into dark buildings alone c) u stopped manufacturing moral quandries where there r none and d) if you used f*ing guns when appropriate. Say what u will, killing monsters is easier if you have a nice .45 at ur side.

Name this Plant

For the last three years these plants have thrived in my backyard, despite my best efforts to get rid of them. I don't have a clue about what they are, not being a gardener by trade or disposition. Lisa thought they were rhubarb but said they don't taste like it, which leaves us right back where we started. So if there's anyone out there that can ID this plant, let me know.

The Day Continues

After dinner we watched the DVD's the boys got at the library, then I packed them off to bed. 90 minutes of chaos later I had to go hard core: I shut off every light on the 2nd flr, pulled up a chair, and sat insidethe bedroom door to stamp out so much as a whisper. I think I may now have the house to myself (well, Lu's up, but she's fine). A Torchwood/Primeval marathon it is!

A Busy Day

Lisa and her crew are en route to Hammond, IN to see a New Kids on the Block concert. Meanwhile, we've extended Smiley's sleepover, and I took the boys to three libraries, a store, and finally to Little Caesar's for dinner. BTW thank heavens for LuLu; her Mommy skills have sure come in handy.

Credit to Stephen Crane

"Sir, I exist!" 

Happy Birthday LuLu!

Today is LuLu's seventh birthday, and while it's a cliche, it feels like only yesterday she entered our lives - the day after Sammy Sosa was caught with a corked bat, IIRC. Another seven years and she'll be entering high school; seven more after that and she can legally drink.

Wow.

God willing they'll be a couple posts about her in the next few days, but before the clock strikes midnight I wanted to stop by and post *something* to mark her day. Here are some pictures of the wonderful cake Lisa made to mark her special day. It was two round strawberry cakes, separated by a layer of icing and fresh cut strawberries, with slices of strawberries along the side and an edible image of ballet shoes on top.




It was gorgeous, and tasted just as good (and I'm not a cake guy).



Happy Birthday LuLu! We're proud to have you as our daughter, and we love you very much!

The Cable Guy

Happy 7th Birrthday LuLu!!! In a concurrent dose of adult life today: the cable guy failed to show this AM, which put my day on hold. When I gave up on him Parker and I got my paycheck, went to the bank, made a few stops, and returned home with crickets for the turtle, some goldfish for Smiley, a Beta for YaYa, and Hannah Montana wrapping paper for Lu's gifts. *allegedly* Time Warner will now be here btwn 3-5.

That . . . isn't a toilet

We own a hollow kids table that has a removable top. During Smiley's sleepover his friend decided to use it - as a urinal.

Daisy Bridging

Back from Lu's Daisy Scout bridging ceremony, and it was actually quite fun. Congrats LuLu!

FYI

BTW - Friday is Lu's bday/Smiley's sleepover, so I won't be attending, but a co-worker is holding a fundraiser at The Borg Ward (823 W. National Ave.) tommorow at 10. She'll l be screening 2 gems of the silent film era: Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dali's surrealist classic "Un Chien Andalou" (1929), AND Fritz Lang's sci-fi masterpiece "Metropolis" (1927) $5 donation suggested.

Buy One

Well damnit, I have a column published in the Journal-Sentinel today and no one told me. Go out and buy a copy, ok?

Savages by Don Winslow

I just finished 'Savages' by Don Winslow. It was very good and deserves a full write-up here; hopefully I'll find the time soon. It's brutal, violent, sexy, and well, savage. Winslow doesn't just use the English language, he manipulates and twists it like play-doh to create the mood and thoughts he wishes to express. I envy his talent.

So True

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

Quote

"Advertising gives beautiful names to ugly things. Pornography gives ugly names to beautiful things" - Don Winslow

Progressive Roadside Assistance

God bless Progressive's roadside assistance program. It may just be the smartest purchase I've made in years. I blew a tire today on the way to work and once again they proved their worth. By my count that'd be three tows + that would have come out of my pocket since the 1st of the year.

TV Night

Gasp - a Tues w/ out AI or Lost. I hope Glee is good. It's gotten a little heavy lately, w/ the wheelchair and long-lost Mom storylines. Plus there's the whole Kurt is gay and angry plotline - WTH is up w/ him? He's got a loving and supportive father, a great teacher, friends that adore him, and plenty of talent. That kid has a better support system than Jayne Mansfield's bossum - quit whining already.

Dave Cullen

Dave Cullen, the author of 'Columbine', left a comment on my blog's review of his book

March 21st and 22nd as told on FB

March 21st:

There are a lot of bennies to being happily married, Lord knows. But - if I was single that David Tennant poster that came w/ last month's Doctor Who Magazine wouldn't just be left to rot in our junk drawer. That's all I'm sayin'.

* Lisa and I just watched the UFC's matchup of Vera vs. Jones. Not our normal viewing habits, but better to watch that shellacking than see our country destroyed at the hands of Obama/Pelosi. [Obamacare was in the midst of a Congressional vote that night]

* [10:10 PM, after the bill passed] Historians will mark this date as the beginning of the end. It may take 50 years, or 100, but it is now a certainty: America will be a shell of what it was/what it could have been. An obese, ever expanding Federal government; the rationing of our resources; the supression of the constiuency's demands. This solution will be the mother of a thousand more problems. Well wishes and happy thoughts do not equal concrete, workable legislation. We will rue this day. What a waste. What a pitiful waste.

* Sure, Time Warner denies me the Military History channel (which suits my wants and needs) but, to be fair, they do allow me to gaze upon MTV Europe and watch lovely videos like this one [MGMT "Kids"]. "Rationing" I think they call their system. Welllll. As long as the idea doesn't spread . . .



March 22nd:

I have several friends on the Left, many of whom are understandably giddy @ Sunday night's travesty. One of the funnier exchanges (well, the ONLY funny one) btwn us was the following. "Thank you Government!" read the status update. To which I replied : Is this the Jeopardy answer to "What are three words Dan will never say in his life?"

* Wife and kids are asleep, school clothes are in the dryer, house is a mess, got a aches where there shouldn't be aches, dreading the week to come. Gonna go put on the new Star Trek movie before bed and hope I can temp. break my FB addiction.

* [re: the new Star Trek movie] I thought it was a fine action movie nearly spoiled by the lame future-Spock storyline. I'm sure it made fandom yell "Whoo-hoo!" but to me it said the producers were unsure a ST movie could stand alone, apart from the series. I thought it would have been a better movie - not nec. a better ST movie, but a better *movie* - without that crud.

* Attorneys general in 11 states warned that lawsuits will be filed to stop the federal government overstepping its constitutional powers and usurping states' sovereignty

* [Tiger Woods apologizes for his extramarital affairs] ""I've done some pretty bad things in my life" Tiger said in the article, then followed up by saying (in Danny's mind) "But you know, what I do with my di** is an issue only to my wife and myself. It's none of your concern. *If* I owe an apology to anyone, I owe my apologies to her and no one else."

* QUOTE from an LA Times article, refering to the killing of an Al-Queda suspect: "Officials had debated trying to take him alive but decided against doing so in part because of uncertainty over where to hold him. . w/out a location outside the U.S. for sending prisoners, the administration must resort to turning the suspects over to foreign governments, bringing them to the U.S. or even killing them."

* The end of a Barney episode was just playing in the background - you know, the "I love you" song - and a chocolate-faced, excited Ginger ran into the office, arms open, yelling "Da-dy, Da-dy". She gave me a hug, said "Uv oo" and ran back to the TV.

* I was very moved by this past weekend's Gospel (John 8: 1-11). Not just for the lesson it taught, but for the Jesus it presented. He was able to cut to the heart of the matter in only a few short words; forgiving and compassionate (but w/out approving of the behavior), and so uber confident he came off like a 1st century Cool Hand Luke. This, THIS would be a man you would be proud to follow even in the here and now.

* Begining at 8 PM Friday (CST) and repeating twice in the four hours after that, NKOTB's Coming Home - the concert and backstage footage of their 2008/09 tour - will be playing on Palladia (channel 1267 in Milwaukee). And yes, Lisa, I've already set the DVR. :)

* Back from work and watching DWTS on the DVR, eager to see Kate Gosselin. The result? Not good. A sad peformance lacking in both technical skill and stage presence. It was hard to watch. Plus, Kate was soooo much hotter w/ short hair, as most women are. Dangit, I was hoping she was in it to win it.

* We're watching Dr. Phil on the DVR, and a woman came on and said she spent $1000 on OTC pregnancy tests last year. Say what?? Listen kookoo bird, hit up the damn dollar store already. I've got four kids and 3 of the 4 pregnancies were discovered via two for a buck Dollar Store contraptions. I'll send you some of our leftovers. Gadzooks people, why spend $15 on a piss stick?

* I met Jessica Simpson more than a decade ago, and I didn't come away a fan. Even so, forget what the critics are saying. Her new show "Jessica Simpson's The Price of Beauty" is entertaining, well-meaning, and might actually do some good in the world. It's worth watching.

I got a column done

I just finished writing and submitting a piece for the Journal on a computer with a mouse that doesn't track and a copy of Word that error'ed out and lost the complete first draft. I'm not even sure the attachment was correct, because that was finicky too. Jeez, except for the fact that I was clean, safe, & sitting on my ass, it was one step up from coal mining.

Two Quick Book Reviews

I'm not sure if I've ever read Jeffery Deaver before, so officially, let's count "The Burning Wire" as my introduction to the author. I wasn't blown away, especially by a silly comic book plot masked by a ton of research material, but it was enjoyable for a summer beach read.


Frankly, a large problem I had with the book was the main character of Lincoln Rhyme. I know he's a genius, I know he's a quadriplegic, I know he's beloved by readers. I also know the guy seems like an insufferable ass, and just about every scene where he held center stage was one I regretted. I don't think I'll return to this series.

Still, to be fair, it was a good read and I won't let my personality clash with the lead character influence my rating: B.

Columbine by Dave Cullen is the non-fiction account of the horrific school shooting in April 1999. The book dispels many of the media-driven myths that arose from the carnage (the idea that they were unpopular, bullied outcasts for one) and devotes much of the text to trying to understand the minds of the killers.

I thought this was a great book, start to finish. If there is one flaw it's a misplaced empathy for the second killer (D.K.)*. Yes, he was a depressive and overly sensitive. Yes, he was a follower and easily influenced. He was certainly not the mastermind of the attack. Cullen, like so many others, seems to think that buys him a small shred of sympathy. To me, the opposite is true; unlike E.H, who seemed programmed to kill, D.K. chose his own path.

At any point he could have stopped the attack, simply by speaking out. He could have told E.H. 'no', he could have . . . he could have done everything differently. He didn't. He made a conscious decision to join the plan, unburdened by the madness that was boiling in E.H's head. For me, he may be more liable, morally, than his partner.

A+

* I've always said that tossing the names of killers around gives them the immortality they so often seek. Screw that; the initials will do here.

The Father Hunt by Rex Stout

I finished "The Father Hunt" by Rex Stout today, a mystery centered around a paternity case. Not the strongest of Stout's plots, but otherwise a typical Nero Wolfe mystery - which is to say, a great read.

Goodbye Billy, We Love You 1994? - 2010

For a cat that brought so much joy into our household, Billy's arrival was marked by anger and tears.

I'd only owned one cat before in my life, an old stray named Lucky, and when we put him down we were eager to replace him. As we toured the Humane Society I came across Billy, asleep in a cage. I was furious. Nevermind that even as it ran through my mind I knew the idea was insane; I was convinced this was Lucky, that we'd been lied to and tricked by the vet.

When I calmed down it was easy to see it wasn't the same cat. Oh, they resembled one another, but Billy was younger (only two or three)and his face rounder - he had, in those early days, features that had an oddly Asian appearance. We spoke to a clerk, filled out the paperwork, and were told we could take him home.

And then, as we were getting ready to leave, we were told we were unsuitable to adopt. Some higher up caught wind of the fact we were moving in a weeks time and denied our application. By the time we were 'suitable' Billy would be long gone. I launched an epic fit, as did Lisa, and for no other reason than to shut us up, they rubber stamped the purchase.



Over the years Billy would move with us many times. From 31st Street to 26th; from there to 56th, then on to 23rd, back to 31st and finally to the home we now occupy. If it 'stressed' him out or lessened the quality of his life, it did so without changing his personality or appearance. Start to finish we was a huge, calm, loving cat.

He was never *the* biggest cat in town (at his heaviest he was 22 pounds) but he carried himself lightly, with a spring in his step that was disconcerting to someone who was confronted with his size for the first time. Petite he was not. For all his size, he wasn't much of a fighter; he killed a mouse once on 23rd St, which forever cemented his place in my heart, but he got along fine with animals and humans alike. He resembled a lion, but his idea of a hunt was a search for a warm lap. This was a cat that would come running when you called his name ("BillyBillyBillyBilly, Billllly!", that would knead your belly until you ached, that purred with a loud, deep rumble that left no doubt when he was pleased.

In all the years we shared together he gave me trouble on only two occasions. The second, when he fled in a snowstorm, was documented here. The first was only months into our time together, when he snuck out the window of our second floor flat and jumped to the neighbor's roof. Two, three in the morning, in the middle of a shady neighborhood (26th and Orchard) and I go and knock on a stranger's door and ask them to shoo my cat back towards home.

Oh, I was ticked.

If I'd known then how patient Billy would be with my children in the years to come, I'd have given him a pass for that night. He was with us four years before YaYa was born, but he never once gave in to jealousy when we became parents. William Sonoma would find his way into the cribs of all of my children, and do nothing more than curl up at their feet and keep them company. As they grew into toddlers he was tolerant of their curiosity, putting up with far more than the old man deserved, but never snapping or growing angry. He was so ingrained in their lives that at one point YaYa's Kindergarten teacher approached us about her 'imaginary brother' - they knew she had no brother at that time, but noted she'd often talk about her 'brother Billy'.








In his final years he had a set routine. He would spend the morning and early afternoon on the 2nd floor, napping with our cat Angelcakes. As the kids came home from school he would vanish into the basement, and after bedtime, when the house was quiet, he would emerge to prowl the first floor - and find a kind lap to explore.

About a month ago we noticed he was missing a patch of fur. We assumed one of the kids had tried giving him a haircut, but it was only the beginning. He would continue to lose hair, weight and energy. By a week ago his routine was gone, and his existence confined to the first floor. Last night he soiled himself, and we could deny it no longer; it was time to put him to rest. He himself seemed to know; before I went to bed he walked up to me, meowed once, weakly, then retired to sleep.

This morning, with tears in my eyes, the family (minus Ginger) took him to the Pahle Clinic. All three kids had cried when we told them of our decision. An hour later YaYa was still weeping, and could not stop; Smiley was too young to grasp the situation; Lulu was sad but controlled.

We were given time alone with him, and we all cried openly. When the vet came back to finish the deed she too was upset, with tears flowing down her cheeks. She'd never met Billy, but said it was obvious how great he was by how much he was loved. She injected him as we held and petted him, and a moment later, his eyes still open, he was gone.

They let us take him home, and we placed him in a pillowcase and buried him in the backyard, laying a concrete stone over his resting place. I wouldn't allow the burial to become a 'production', and turned down the kids' requests to include notes or toys, but I let each kid toss a clump of dirt over his body and say goodbye.

We aren't going to replace him. Someday, yes, of course, but we have Angelcakes, and that's enough for now. Billy was with us for fully a third of my life; friends who returned to our lives after a decade's absence were greeted by his familiar purr. Right now, any replacement would feel like a poor substitute, and that's not fair to Billy, to us, and most importantly to the new cat.




Rest in peace Billy. You are, and always will be, The. Best. Cat. Ever.

We love you.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts today. We didn't cxl any of our plans, hoping to keep the kids minds focused away from Billy. Lisa, Smiley and Junie and YaYa went up north to visit friends; LuLu went skating w/ a friend and to a party; I did some yard work, went grocery shopping, wrote, read, and watched baseball. Still, a shitty day.