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Stumbled across these short videos the other day... all about paper. You know you're intrigued. Click!
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which makes for blog post fodder on slow days:
***Virginia Woolf wrote all her books standing up.
***Virginia Woolf wrote all her books standing up.
the young Virginia
***Tom Sawyer was the first novel written on a typewriter.
Ad for a Remington Rand typewriter featuring Mark Twain and his daughter
***The Bible has been translated into Klingon.
from Genesis 1:1
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On Monday, we celebrated our favorite man-of-action, Bruce Willis, on his 57th birthday. Today we give a shout-out to a man of more, shall we say, cerebral talents. It would be Johann Sebastian Bach's 327th birthday, if he were still around to make fabulous music. As this blog is called, from the ridiculous to the sublime. (Just kidding, Bruce!)
If Bach had the opportunity to hang with Bruce for awhile, he might look like this...
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Monday, March 19th is Bruce Willis' 57th birthday... and given his status as a kick-ass, get-it-done kind of guy among librarians (sort of a librarian's librarian), we couldn't let it pass without a proper tribute. So here are just a few reasons why we love and emulate Bruce... that excellent bald man with the smirk... followed by a tasty compilation of the man-of-action in action.
The incomparable smirk... then... and now... whether with hair or without... it just reeks: "Shelve this, baby!"
Because a librarian will do what it takes: "Sorry, baby, but I had to crash that Honda...." as Butch Coolidge Pulp Fiction (1994)
Because a librarian always has a back-up plan -- when one resource fails, we always have another: "And this is the best that you c - that the-the government, the U.S. government can come up with? I mean, you-you're NASA for cryin' out loud, you put a man on the moon, you're geniuses! You-you're the guys that think this sh-t up! I'm sure you got a team of men sitting around somewhere right now just thinking sh-t up and somebody backing them up! You're telling me you don't have a backup plan, that these eight boy scouts right here, that is the world's hope, that's what you're telling me?" as Harry Stamper Armageddon (1998)
Because a librarian always has a back-up plan -- when one resource fails, we always have another: "And this is the best that you c - that the-the government, the U.S. government can come up with? I mean, you-you're NASA for cryin' out loud, you put a man on the moon, you're geniuses! You-you're the guys that think this sh-t up! I'm sure you got a team of men sitting around somewhere right now just thinking sh-t up and somebody backing them up! You're telling me you don't have a backup plan, that these eight boy scouts right here, that is the world's hope, that's what you're telling me?" as Harry Stamper Armageddon (1998)
None of you have to go. We can all just sit here on Earth, wait for this big rock to crash into it, kill everything and everybody we know. United States government just asked us to save the world. Anybody wanna say no?
Because librarians always maintain their cool under the most trying circumstances: “Play some rap music” as Joe Hallenbeck (context: Willis is held captive and mocked by bad-guy-in-chief Milo, who threatens him with a knife and chortles about wanting to hear Willis scream. But Bruce just wants to hear some gangsta tracks. BAD ASS with capitals! The Last Boy Scout (1991)
What you lookin' at? Bruce and Damon Wayans
Because, contrary to popular belief, librarians do have a sense of humor: “Now
I have a machine gun, HO HO HO”-- Hans Gruber reading John McClane's joke written in blood across a dead man's chest, Die Hard (1988)
Because librarians do wear sensible shoes (to work, anyway): "Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister." as John McClane Die Hard (1988)
Because librarians answer the same questions, day after day after day, with a smile: "Oh man, I can't f---ing believe this. Another basement, another elevator. How can the same sh--t happen to the same guy twice?" as John McClane Die Hard 2 (1990)
I have a machine gun, HO HO HO”-- Hans Gruber reading John McClane's joke written in blood across a dead man's chest, Die Hard (1988)
Because librarians do wear sensible shoes (to work, anyway): "Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister." as John McClane Die Hard (1988)
Because librarians answer the same questions, day after day after day, with a smile: "Oh man, I can't f---ing believe this. Another basement, another elevator. How can the same sh--t happen to the same guy twice?" as John McClane Die Hard 2 (1990)
"The Whole Ten Yards" / Jimmy Tudeski 2004 - "No. This is how a retired mass murderer acts when people show up uninvited."
Because this is what a librarian says when FBI agents ask for a patron checkout history: “This is the ’90s. You don’t just go around punching people. You have to say something cool first” (and have a subpoena) as Joe Hallenbeck, The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Because librarians understand the pure joy derived from helping our patrons solve problems (whether or nor they involve the use of a machine gun): “Yippee ki-yay mother!@#$%&!r” (If you’re looking for instruction as to how to be a good guy, I suggest John McClane as the ultimate mentor. Basic human kindness and wanton destruction are not necessarily mutually exclusive. By studying him, you come to understand that you can do anything, even run through broken glass without shoes, and that a smart-alek attitude will get you everywhere, especially if you’re dispatching terrorists left and right while cursing like a sailor.) as John McClane, Die Hard (1988)
Because librarians understand the pure joy derived from helping our patrons solve problems (whether or nor they involve the use of a machine gun): “Yippee ki-yay mother!@#$%&!r” (If you’re looking for instruction as to how to be a good guy, I suggest John McClane as the ultimate mentor. Basic human kindness and wanton destruction are not necessarily mutually exclusive. By studying him, you come to understand that you can do anything, even run through broken glass without shoes, and that a smart-alek attitude will get you everywhere, especially if you’re dispatching terrorists left and right while cursing like a sailor.) as John McClane, Die Hard (1988)
In a tight spot... but we know he will find a way out of it... because he thinks like a librarian!
So, happy birthday, Bruce! Feel free to turn in those books late.
Just this once. ;-)
Video runs a bit long -- but hey, it's Bruce!
Just this once. ;-)
Video runs a bit long -- but hey, it's Bruce!
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By the way, I love the fashion-industry misspelling "libarian" that occurs mid-way through the video...
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Depending on your age, when the phrase "the ides of March" is intoned, you may first associate it with:
a) a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. The term "ides" was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god of war Mars and was a perfect excuse for a military parade to display the empire's martial might;
a) a word that was used widely in the Roman calendar indicating the approximate day that was the middle of the month. The term "ides" was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god of war Mars and was a perfect excuse for a military parade to display the empire's martial might;
Engraving of Roman soldiers
b) the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed to death (23 times!) in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus ("et tu?") and Gaius Cassius Longinus;
c) a quote from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, in which Caesar is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March;"
c) a quote from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, in which Caesar is warned by a soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March;"
Bust of Julius Caesar
d) Chicago's own band of favorite sons, The Ides of March, the boys from Berwyn, who scored the chart-topping hit "Vehicle," (I'm your...) in 1970. Singer Jim Peterik went on to lead the band Survivor ("Eye of the Tiger"), but has since reunited with original IOM band members;
Original Ides of March (courtesy of the the band's official website: theidesofmarch.com
e) a film starring Ryan Gosling (the librarian's favorite pin-up) and George Clooney (who needs to be a librarian's favorite pin-up;
Heart-throbs of librarians everywhere...
f) the date Rob Blagojevich (disgraced ex-governor of Illinois, convicted of corruption) went to jail (maybe you have to be from Illinois to appreciate this one).
Pensively contemplating his future in a Colorado prison... "Will they cut my hair?"
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Same DNA, but born this way...
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Happens to the best of us...
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Personally, I am all for cookies in the library...especially freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies...and maybe some nice iced sugar cookies...and why not oatmeal raisin...and snickerdoodles...and peanut butter blossoms?!?!?!?
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From the clever, slightly cracked folks at XKCD:
Here's another one:
Don't expect any leniency on late fees, though.