I'm going on vacation, so I won't be posting anything for about two weeks.
See you in October!
9-22-03: searching for "johnny cash library"
My search for "johnny cash library" (I'm not looking for a Johnny Cash Library—don't get me wrong, that would be a wonderful thing, and if there is such a thing, I would like to be the Johnny Cash Librarian—it's just a search phrase) yields some more interesting results:
Numero uno: A very funny post entitled Shiver me %#!@@*&!! timbers, bee-yatch from Aaron is not Amused. Relevant quote (warning: some strong language):
But guess what? We live in a world where people send their pets to psychiatrists. A world where our elected representatives hold debates on what to call sliced, fried potatoes. A world whose fifth-largest economy will soon be run by Arnold Schwartzenegger. A world where Johnny Cash dies, but Kenny Rogers is allowed to continue living. A world whose most powerful citizen has the I.Q. of a fucking sock puppet.
Numero dos: MP3's of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan live, courtesy of Ethel the Blog, found via BookNotes (hence the library connection).
Numero tres: A post about Johnny Cash's passing on Adam Curry's Weblog. Yes, that Adam Curry. I have a certain nostalgia for the good ol' days when MTV played music videos and had VJ's with personalities (like Adam and his feathered hair), so I was pleased to stumble across this blog. And it has a great tagline: "There are no Secrets, Only information you don't yet have."
Numero cuatro, etc.: Too many LiveJournal entries from kids sitting in their school libraries to mention. I have this wonderful image of all these hipster teenagers sitting in their school libraries mourning Johnny Cash. Weird.
9-21-03: speaking of David Bowie...
VH1 found a new way to offend me by talking about the androgynous wonder of "Iggy Stardust" during its 50 greatest album covers show. If you don't know what's so wrong about that, look here and here. Both albums should have been on VH1's list, but I guess there wasn't room after including Christina Aguilera, N*Sync, and DMX.
The Young Librarian is looking for submissions from young librarians, defined as "LIS professionals who are young (typically under 35) and/or new to the field (in school/working for 5 years or less)." Hey! That makes me qualified! But I can't submit right now because I'm rocking out to an imaginary song called "Young Librarians" by David Bowie.
Punk 77! Punk Rock In The UK 1976-1979:
If you are some moron looking for naked punk girls then my advice is to f**k off ! And to those simpletons who think having a site on the internet first on the subject means no one else can do one, grow up you sad losers and make your own site better!
Good advice on both counts.
The Guardian has Johnny Cash's final interview. Also from The Guardian, Nick Cave talks about Johnny Cash. Louisa Young and Johnny Cash talk Steinbeck ("Know that book?" he says. "I was that book."), also courtesy of The Guardian.
The New York Times has a comic about copyright and the RIAA.
From the Devil's Dictionary Version 2.0: copyright, noun, The notion that you can protect from the future what you stole from the past.
There is a very nice entry about Johnny Cash on Hit & Run. I'm searching around for a few others so I can post a list somewhere on this site.
9-15-03: diy digital preservation
Rogue Librarian writes:
Many of the important collections in research libraries like New York Public were started by individuals and then turned over to trusted repositories. The work of individuals like Arents is one of the things that preserves our historical record.
Some librarians and archivists wonder if the same mechanism might preserve our digital legacy. It may be some time before libraries and museums can collect and preserve digital material on a scale that mirrors print collections. In the interim, it may be the digital pack rat who save the good stuff for us.
This parallels some discussion W. and I have had about archival collections in areas that have not previously been institutionally collected or studied--for example, professional wrestling and comic books. (The beginnings are there in both cases, although much more so for comic books.) It makes sense that the initial enthusiasm--the time and energy--for preserving something would come from those who have personal attachments and then later transfer to insititutions.
Comicsgirl writes:
Personally, I was always amazed at the sex that would be in young adult novels that I'd find at the library. I think because Mysti is visual, people are more likely to attack it. It's easier. But I doubt it's much different than the content found in a lot of other books aimed at 11- to 15-year-olds.
Exactly. Young adults (in library terms, this means pre-teens and young teenagers, not 18-24-year-olds) are just discovering their own sexuality, so of course they are interested in sex. And of course adults want to protect them. And of course it's so much easier to spot sexual content when it's depicted graphically than when you actually have to (gasp!) read the book to find it, so graphic novels and comics are easy targets. But that hasn't stopped people from going after Judy Blume books, either...
9-13-03: Johnny Cash lures Generation X to the library
I went to Feedster and searched for "johnny cash library" (don't ask why) and found this, from Jenn X:
Small snag. I have no money. Nada. Bummer. Even Powell's and Everyday Music with their cheaper used goods wouldn't be able to help me. Then I remembered! There's an interesting institution that lends people things for a period of time for free! And so it came to be that I popped round to the Beaverton Library at lunchtime. It's a pretty nice library, all brand new and stuff. They even had a Johnny Cash compilation CD, which I snagged.
Johnny Cash died this morning. That's why diy librarian is dressed in black today. I hope he meets June on the far side banks of Jordan.
9-11-03: it's not like you have to take an exam to get a library card
Judith Siess writes a letter to Adelphia Communications addressing their advertising statement: "The Internet is the must-have research tool for students of all ages. No Library Card Required." Read her letter in Library Juice. Go to your library, get a library card, talk to a librarian. Perhaps take advantage of the library's Internet access. I fail to understand how obtaining a library card would be such an incredible hassle, as compared to paying a monthly Adelphia Internet bill. Similarly, I fail to understand how paying $6 for a self-destructing DVD is better than paying $4 to rent one, or getting a library card and borrowing DVDs for free.
9-10-03: New York City is a brand
The mayor has long insisted that New York City is not just an important megalopolis but a powerful brand name with strong revenue potential. And Joseph M. Perello, the chief marketing officer, said the Snapple deal was just the beginning. ("New York Picks Its Beverage, for $166 Million", New York Times, 9/10/03)
Snapple is now the "official iced tea and water" of New York City. Is nothing safe from becoming a brand? First they ban smoking in bars, then they decide to become "The Big Snapple", and I'm wondering if I should get rid of my "I love NY" t-shirt.
The New York Times discovers "Comic book Wednesday" ("Wednesday is Secret Identity Day", New York Times, 9/7/03). Unfortunately, they depict comics fans as male, hopelessly geeky, and devoted to "superhero soap operas".
Disney is going to start making DVDs that self-destruct 48 hours after being opened (CNN).
Although the disposable DVD format does not make it harder for digital pirates to make illegal copies, Blaustein said by making DVDs cheaper the effort would also undercut the incentive to make such bootleg copies.
Sorry, but I don't understand how paying $6 for a DVD that will self-destruct in 48 hours is cheaper than going to the video store and paying $4 to rent a DVD for 5 days. Or how about going to the library and checking one out for free?
"This was a nice deal: life," says Warren Zevon (as quoted in the New York Times obituary).
Tomorrow morning, I'm off to Bethesda, Maryland for SPX 2003! Yay! Expect lots of writing about all the cool new comics I'll be bringing home next week.
9-3-03: comics for kids...and teens...and everybody
Read This or Die! Sequential Tart highlights some must-read comics for kids. One of the recommendations is Clan Apis by Jay Hosler--I'd also recommend his Sandwalk Adventures, which is now available in a trade paperback collection. It's Darwin, from the point of view of a follicle mite living in his left eyebrow. You just have to read it. Plus, I met Jay Hosler at a convention, and he was really nice and drew some little mites and bees in the books I bought.
Oh, and Read or Die, the anime referenced in Sequential Tart's article? I can't wait to see it! Who could resist a plot synopsis like this?
A sinister plot is afoot and only one young school teacher with an overdeveloped affinity for literature can stop it - Ms. Yomiko Readman ... better know to her colleagues in Section A of Library Special Operations as "Agent Paper."
9-3-03: NPR feature on libraries
I won't go into detail about the librarian action figure (that's been debated enough already), but I was happy to see that NPR's All Things Considered paid tribute to librarians on Labor Day:
On this Labor Day, we pay tribute to the librarian. Librarians feed our hunger for knowledge, they steer us down the proper research path, they find us sources and citations, and dig out obscure facts.
The truth of it is that she would have been packed away and grown moldy if I hadn't set her free. (Jenny Everywhere creator Steven Wintle)
Jenny Everywhere, aka The Shifter, is an open source superhero. She was created by Steven Wintle, but creators are urged to use her as they please in their own stories (as long as they don't claim ownership of her). There's a story about Jenny Everywhere in Exclaim (8/29/03) and she has her own web site, www.jennyeverywhere.com.
All content on this website, unless otherwise noted, was created by Tara Murray and is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
