The opening has made the new library a madhouse for its first day of service. My feet ache like hell, but I'm pleased as all get out that so many people came.
Not much time to post details, but I thought I'd pass this link (via Blah3) along on Bush's Veteran's Day speech yesterday. Good Christ, George, how friggin lazy can you get?!?!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
I am not a statistic! I ... oh, wait a minute, yes I am.
Posts have been sparse because of the upcoming grand opening on Saturday. I'd be lying if I said the library was completely ready, but it's ready enough for (literally) government work. I'll be posting on the opening either late Saturday or sometime Sunday.
In the meantime, the Mosley household is wrapping up a week of an experiment. We were contacted by the Nielsens a month or so back and asked to record in a journal our TV viewing habits for a week. We were happy to comply, and our week started last Thursday and ends tonight. Aside from getting fifteen bucks cash for our troubles, we imparted the following information:
We are among the very few that do not have cable. Yep, we remain content with rabbit ears, thank you very much. I really don't see the point on blowing so much a month for cable or a satellite dish when we're trying to watch less TV than we already do. And aside from the occasional yearning to watch Rescue Me when we read an article about it, we're fairly content.
Four words: Will & Grace reruns!
Of primetime shows, our journal will show six programs we watch regularly: Lost, House, M.D., Gilmore Girls and all three (1, 2, 3) Law & Order's. For me, that's quite enough, and it amounts to only three days a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I even tried to decrease it even further by swearing of L&O, much to my wife's amusement. Needless to say, Detectives Goren, Stabler and Fontana just dragged my weak ass back in. It's an addiction, I tells ya!
Actually, it's really seven programs we watch in primetime. The seventh is the rotating Mystery/Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights. This week was off since they were showing the second part of Kidnapped, of which we missed the first part. We did, however, watch The Murder Room, which we recorded a month ago. This two-part adaptation of the P.D. James novel is one of the best things they have shown so far, and Mrs. Mosley is happy to tell the Nielsens that, dammit, there are folks out there that still watch and appreciate PBS.
And, finally, we do watch our share of stuff on VHS and DVD, which the journal allows us to record. Included during this week was Toy Story 2, a Hercule Poirot mystery on tape and several episodes of, yet again, House M.D. on the DVD set Mrs. Mosley got me for my birthday. Thanks, sweetie.
Overall, the experience was very cool. So if you Nielsen folks want to set us up again with some journals and fifteen more bucks, you go right ahead. We'll be waiting.
In the meantime, the Mosley household is wrapping up a week of an experiment. We were contacted by the Nielsens a month or so back and asked to record in a journal our TV viewing habits for a week. We were happy to comply, and our week started last Thursday and ends tonight. Aside from getting fifteen bucks cash for our troubles, we imparted the following information:
We are among the very few that do not have cable. Yep, we remain content with rabbit ears, thank you very much. I really don't see the point on blowing so much a month for cable or a satellite dish when we're trying to watch less TV than we already do. And aside from the occasional yearning to watch Rescue Me when we read an article about it, we're fairly content.
Four words: Will & Grace reruns!
Of primetime shows, our journal will show six programs we watch regularly: Lost, House, M.D., Gilmore Girls and all three (1, 2, 3) Law & Order's. For me, that's quite enough, and it amounts to only three days a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I even tried to decrease it even further by swearing of L&O, much to my wife's amusement. Needless to say, Detectives Goren, Stabler and Fontana just dragged my weak ass back in. It's an addiction, I tells ya!
Actually, it's really seven programs we watch in primetime. The seventh is the rotating Mystery/Masterpiece Theater on Sunday nights. This week was off since they were showing the second part of Kidnapped, of which we missed the first part. We did, however, watch The Murder Room, which we recorded a month ago. This two-part adaptation of the P.D. James novel is one of the best things they have shown so far, and Mrs. Mosley is happy to tell the Nielsens that, dammit, there are folks out there that still watch and appreciate PBS.
And, finally, we do watch our share of stuff on VHS and DVD, which the journal allows us to record. Included during this week was Toy Story 2, a Hercule Poirot mystery on tape and several episodes of, yet again, House M.D. on the DVD set Mrs. Mosley got me for my birthday. Thanks, sweetie.
Overall, the experience was very cool. So if you Nielsen folks want to set us up again with some journals and fifteen more bucks, you go right ahead. We'll be waiting.
Monday, November 07, 2005
And when he's in NYC, he can't help but look up at all those e-nor-mous skyscrapers!
This is a cheap shot, which is why this is not a "Skippy of the Day" post, but the man really brings it on himself when he goes off script like this (via Think Progress):
At one point, da Silva even exhibited a map of his country, which is larger than the continental United States. "Wow! Brazil is big," Amorim quoted the U.S. president as responding.With quotes like this and a brother named "Jeb", it's a wonder he hasn't yet installed a ce-ment pond at the White House.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
I Ga-ron-tee it!
Here's a little Library 101 for those of you not in the business:
One of the basic tasks of librarians is something called "Weeding". This is the process in which you go through the collection and withdraw items that are damaged, out of date and/or unnecessary duplicates. Libraries are constantly running out of space and have to accommodate new materials by selectively getting rid of the old ones.
Even in this new building we have moved into, weeding is necessary. We're currently doing a thorough run through of the nonfiction books and getting rid of items that fall into one or more of the above mentioned categories. There are a lot of stuff that are easy enough to get rid of. There are also a number of items that you just can't let go.
To the former category was How to get your dream job using the Internet by Shannon Bounds and Arthur Karl. To be sure, we get a lot of use out of our employment section, and this book was still in decent shape. However, the fact that the copyright was 1996 (!) is probably a mark against it. Did I mention it had accompanying software?
To the later was something I found in the cookbook section. Though these are also popular, we always seem to have way more than necessary and it's therefore a tempting weeding target. When I came upon one that was worn, had a plain cover and a copyright of 1982, I was tempted to withdraw it. Then I saw the title: Kosher Creole Cookbook by Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson.
That, my friends, is the kind of material that makes this job so cool.
One of the basic tasks of librarians is something called "Weeding". This is the process in which you go through the collection and withdraw items that are damaged, out of date and/or unnecessary duplicates. Libraries are constantly running out of space and have to accommodate new materials by selectively getting rid of the old ones.
Even in this new building we have moved into, weeding is necessary. We're currently doing a thorough run through of the nonfiction books and getting rid of items that fall into one or more of the above mentioned categories. There are a lot of stuff that are easy enough to get rid of. There are also a number of items that you just can't let go.
To the former category was How to get your dream job using the Internet by Shannon Bounds and Arthur Karl. To be sure, we get a lot of use out of our employment section, and this book was still in decent shape. However, the fact that the copyright was 1996 (!) is probably a mark against it. Did I mention it had accompanying software?
To the later was something I found in the cookbook section. Though these are also popular, we always seem to have way more than necessary and it's therefore a tempting weeding target. When I came upon one that was worn, had a plain cover and a copyright of 1982, I was tempted to withdraw it. Then I saw the title: Kosher Creole Cookbook by Mildred L. Covert and Sylvia P. Gerson.
That, my friends, is the kind of material that makes this job so cool.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
If we can make it there...
Well, it's been two months since our big trip to D.C. and we're already planning our big trip for next year, which we have finally decided will be New York City. Mrs. Mosley is particularly interested in seeing the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Plaza, which means we'd be going around the first or second week of December. Cold as hell? Most likely. But I'll be pleased to possibly see snow for the second time in my life (the locals fondly remember the first time).
As I said, we're already in the planning stage. I'm really big on planning trips. Researching hotels, attractions and the like. One misstep with the D.C. trip was the distance between our B&B and the nearest subway station. This was my fault, as I had heard it was remote, but you never realize how remote until you actually get there and have to walk that distance every friggin day!
For this trip, I'm taking a serious look at a place that a friend of mine recommends from his stay there several years ago: The Pickwick Arms. It's not the fanciest in the world, but it has a great location (a couple blocks from the Waldorf Astoria) and is only $99 bucks a night which, given that this is New York, is a great deal.
As for the subway, I found out that two stations are about two blocks away from the hotel as well, which brings me to Google Maps Mania. As great as Google Maps is, this concept is even greater. This blog keeps track of programs created by people to interact with Google maps and lay out maps for specific items. As I expected when I visited, there is one for the NYC subway (not to mention one for finding Pizza by the slice)!
I ask you: How in the hell did we ever get around before this?!?!
As I said, we're already in the planning stage. I'm really big on planning trips. Researching hotels, attractions and the like. One misstep with the D.C. trip was the distance between our B&B and the nearest subway station. This was my fault, as I had heard it was remote, but you never realize how remote until you actually get there and have to walk that distance every friggin day!
For this trip, I'm taking a serious look at a place that a friend of mine recommends from his stay there several years ago: The Pickwick Arms. It's not the fanciest in the world, but it has a great location (a couple blocks from the Waldorf Astoria) and is only $99 bucks a night which, given that this is New York, is a great deal.
As for the subway, I found out that two stations are about two blocks away from the hotel as well, which brings me to Google Maps Mania. As great as Google Maps is, this concept is even greater. This blog keeps track of programs created by people to interact with Google maps and lay out maps for specific items. As I expected when I visited, there is one for the NYC subway (not to mention one for finding Pizza by the slice)!
I ask you: How in the hell did we ever get around before this?!?!
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Keith David Quote of the Month: November 2005
With the recent passing of Rosa Parks, I thought I'd present this quote from Clockers, in which Keith David plays a character nicknamed Andre the Giant. It's not the most eloquent exchange in the world, and it loses something in the transfer from visual to print, but it still demonstrates how much of a kick-ass character Keith David can play.
Andre The Giant: [beating up Strike] It's motherf**kers like you that mugged Rosa Parks!
Ronald 'Strike' Dunham: Who the f**k is Rosa Parks?
Andre The Giant: Who the f**k is Rosa Parks?
Ronald 'Strike' Dunham: It's hard on brothers out here!
Andre The Giant: Brothers? YOU STUPID IGNORANT MOTHERF**KER! [slams Strike harder]
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