May 200330 May 2003
It's a sick joke. A horrible joke. We're ashamed we
thought of it:
Q: How can you avoid dying of SARS at the ALA
conference? Jokin' at the Juice: Iraqi
National Library to Waive Overdue Book Fines.
We seem to have missed this list
of librarian light-bulb jokes (plus the chicken joke) before. Now
it's in Laugh'n'Links.
These Jedi
Mind Tricks worked on us. Fun with psychology. Added
to Lib.Sigs.:
"Beware the lustful fires that burn in a librarian's heart.
They can rage beyond all control." The Onion ("Fire
Safety and Prevention Tips," 28 May 2003) 22 May 2003
Please grab our RSS feed at LISFeeds.com
now, instead of at VoidStar.
Speaking of money, over at the librarism.com
store we've added baseball jerseys, women's t-shirts, and a few
other products. Think of how great you'll look at that annual meeting
wearing a Zen Librarian baseball cap or Nether Regional Pubic Library
shirt.
What's your level of Hell? Take the Dante's Inferno
Test.
There's a new play called Sebastian and the Tattooed Love
Librarian.
Added to Lib.Sigs.:
"With my eyes closed, I would touch a familiar book and
draw its fragrance deep inside me. This was enough to make me
happy." Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood. Vintage,
2000, p. 30) 20 May 2003
Some of the anti-dance
literature in LC's American Memory reminds us a lot of
anti-pornography, pro-filtering stuff we've read. And not just because
of titles like The Nature and Tendency of Balls.
Be
Kind to Books Club -- Speaking of American Memory, another WPA
poster.
Print and color a picture of Hello
Kitty reading a book. Badtz
Maru reads, too (about himself, apparently), but his picture is
already in color.
Dammit, this is serious research! eBay
Sellers' Opinions about "Librarian" Clothes: Frumpy or Bumpy?
Don't miss the slide-show presentation.
Dammit, this is art! Library
Books, a photocollage. 16 May 2003 At
least two of today's entries have been added to Laugh'n'Links: A
recent Kurt
Vonnegut speech about Twain, Lincoln, the Iraq war, and other stuff. Speaking
of the war: Encyclopedia
Brown and the Case of the Missing WMD's. Play
the Book
Title Association Game! Also see Books
That Never Were. Both in Readerville
forums. The PBS Reading Rockets
series has some cute
e-cards. wallstreetpoet.com
-- "Where John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley meet Alan Greenspan
and Abby Cohen." 13 May 2003 Citizens
United for a Decent Internet (CUDI) looks, at first glance, like
the site for a genuine-but-wacky pro-filtering group. But some of its
statements are a bit too wacky -- e.g., looking at the models in Cosmo
leads to a taste for snuff films. Plus, no legit (to the extent that
spreading lies and misinformation can legitimately be called
"legit") pro-filter organization seems to link to CUDI. Plus,
that jump-page group photo is just too perfect. We concur with others
that it's a skillfully executed prank or art project. Also
added to Laugh'n'Links:
The 12 Dumbest
Covers of American Comic Books We Could Find. It's big, it's heavy,
it's wood. We know that if you give an infinite number of
monkeys an infinite number of typewriters and all the time in the
world, they'll eventually write Shakespeare. But what happens when you
give six monkeys one computer for a month? Answer: Shit happens!
Literally! Read a news
report and look at selected research
documentation (don't miss the technical diagram!). 12 May 2003
Punk rock song about DDC and sex: The new MP3 addition
to BibDitties
is "Do We?", by the anAACRonisms. Libraryman
has us listed in his blogroll, and a few of his recent entries indicate
that he's actually been browsing our site. He also has quite the collection
of Pez dispensers. Speaking of collecting plastic objects, we've been
reliving our youth by acquiring some dinosaurs made by Marx
and MPC. So we're glad we discovered the Realm
of Rubber Dinosaurs. Added to Laugh'n'Links:
Stupid
Duhrector Tricks. Added to Lib.Sigs.:
"I think the reality is that preventing dissemination on
the Web is like exterminating cockroaches. We could put centuries of
effort into the problem, but hackers will still scurry out from under
the cookie jar." Sheldon Pacotti (Are
We Doomed Yet?, Salon, 31 March 2003) 2 May 2003
We made the mistake of looking at this
page of eBay feedback (mentioned on Boing Boing recently) while on
ref desk and couldn't stop laughing. Don't read this stuff while
drinking milk, either. You can buy a customized
version of Romeo & Juliet, starring yourself and someone you
love. Add a happy ending if you like! (We'd opt for the
"irreverent" happy ending.) Added to Lib.Sigs.:
"Well, I'm off to the library to do some recreational
reading ." (Meatwad, Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
|
We
hear a lot about libraries seeking partnerships with business as a
source of alternative funding. Instead of begging local retailers to
support the library, 
Copyright 2003 Brian Smith. Non-commercial distribution of material from The Laughing Librarian is permitted only if the original URL and this copyright notice is included. All commercial distribution is prohibited without written consent of and large cash payments to the author. Some images are from a commercial clipart package and may not be redistributed.