Tuesday Morning Links

A Double Dose of Fun from Bookslut
The ten greatest fictional travelers. I do like their putting Dora the Explorer in the Top 10; however, Phileas Fogg was robbed.

Also...
Cormac McCarthy has won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (Scotland's most lucrative lit award--it's worth $20,000) for The Road.

So the Scots AND Oprah love it. Damn, that sounds like a depressing book.

And a Double Dose from Mental Floss
First, Ugly Jugs. Yeah, they're ugly.

Did you know you could get a fried latte at the Texas State Fair? Believe it or not, this is a follow-up to the smash hit Fried Coke.

For kicks, two from McSweeney's
Brett Ratner's notes on doing a film version of The Road.

Revisiting advice given to a starlet.

Runoff Election

Runoff elections are tomorrow in Mississippi. I voted in the Democratic primary on the 7th and will, of course, vote Democratic again tomorrow.

My not-so-secret ballot:

Auditor -- Mike Sumrall

"I just don't see how you can trust someone as state auditor if he can't file a campaign finance report." Well said.

Public Service Commissioner -- Lynn Posey

I forgot to mention this race last time. I voted for Posey then, and I will vote for him again tomorrow.

Hinds County District Attorney -- Faye Peterson

As previously mentioned, a rule of thumb when voting for local candidates this go-around: If Frank Melton shows an inclination of being against a certain candidate, then that's the one I vote for.

Tax Assessor -- Charles Stokes

I voted for Carl Monte Reeves in the primary. I'll be voting for Stokes this time.

Quiet Weekend

I arrived at the college a little after 1 p.m. I spent the weekend in Hattiesburg.

I saw my old high school play Friday night. Before the game, I thought they would lose, but when I saw the teams practice I thought my alma mater had a good chance to win. And they did-- winning 21-14.¹

I saw some of my old classmates at the game. I'd not seen one in several years. I might have seen her maybe only one other time since graduation back in 1985. We chatted briefly.

After the game, I drove to my mother's house. Including a stop at the local Cold Stone Creamery, I arrived about an hour after the game ended.

I watched her shop Saturday. It was pretty quiet because it rained pretty hard and consistently. I got the chance to read two books.² Sunday was also quiet.
_________
¹I expected a Heidelberg loss since Simpson is traditionally very good in MPSA Class AA competition, winning titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. I saw that Heidelberg (a Class A school) had more players on its roster than Simpson, and that the Cougars (that's Simpson) only had a 20-man (maybe 21 players) roster, I figured that the Rebels (that's Heidelberg) had a decent chance of wearing out the Cougars late in the game, and that's exactly what happened.

²In at the Death and Hard Row.

President Bush Invokes Graham Greene

President Bush referenced The Quiet American in a recent speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Here are reactions to the speech in Time and The Spectator. The tip o' the hat goes to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Friday Morning Links

He Killed Popcorn!
A boy tells a man that he hates snakes and kills the man's albino burmese python. Marshall Ramsey deserves the tip o' the hat for this one.

Perhaps the boy heard about what happened at Colorado State University...
A bull snake slithered into a classroom and bites a student in the leg.

Google Health Screenshots
Here's something more related to my profession. Looks interesting. Thanks go to Librarian in Black.

Bored with exfoliating? Try flesh-eating fish.
Apparently, it's quite the thing in China, and according to Mental Floss are used in many other countries.

I might have to check out Salon.com the next two Sundays...
The Opus strips for August 26 and September 2 have been withheld from publication by a large number of client newspapers across the country, including Opus' host paper The Washington Post. Thanks go to Instapundit. Since I normally read Opus online, I wouldn't have noticed.

First Week Craziness

It's been busy. We've got orientation tours, bibliographic instruction sessions, and all sorts of things going on here at the library.

Monday, I continued work on the aftermath of one of my summer projects. I've also been moving files from my personal folder in the college's network to the library's folder. We've been given notice that we can use only so much space on the network. Fortunately I wasn't too much over the limit.

Tuesday wasn't too bad. After work, Pezgirl, her boyfriend, and I played Pub Quiz at Hal & Mal's. We finished in first place largely because Pezgirl's boyfriend is a Coreyologist; he knows his Corey Feldman and Corey Haim movies. We got all the questions correct in that category and supersized it.

Yesterday was a tiring day. I did some library work and also found time to clean my office. I was a bit exhausted yesterday afternoon. I should have been wired with all the coffee I drank; however, I wasn't.

As soon as I arrived at work today, I've been doing all sorts of things-- booking a bibliographic instruction session, working on interlibrary loan requests, helping a student find some information about a particular topic, more work related to a summer project. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Search Engine Answer Guy #3

More actual search phrases from actual visitors to this blog.

1. tuff luvs

Great band. I've seen them perform many times. Here's their myspace page.

2. jerrell powe i love mom

Even if she didn't help his case when she was quoted as saying in court papers: "Jerrell is a really good child but he just can't read."

3. what is a yellow orb

I used to wonder that myself. Then August happened.

4. kimberly campbell mississippi district 72

She's who I voted for.

5. carl monte reeves tax collector

Well, I voted for him, and now what people are wondering is if August 28 will be re-selection day.

Monday Evening Links

From the I blogged about this a month ago department:
Here's an AP article concerning the American Institute of Architects ten favorite structures in Mississippi, a topic I blogged about on July 24.

Somewhere in Morgantown a couch burns.
West Virginia University was named the #1 Party School by The Princeton Review. Ole Miss is #2.

The Death of a College
An interesting post regarding the closing of Antioch College.

And Marshall Ramsey thought he had it rough...
He's a father of 78 and wants to have 100 children in eight years. Yikes!

The Price is... Underrated.
The top ten most memorable movie cameos by non-actors. Bob Barker should have been ranked higher.

Yesterday's Opus by Berkeley Breathed
Heh.

A New Semester

The fall semester started today at the college. I arrived at work about an hour ago from my mother's house in Hattiesburg. I'm here until 9 p.m.

I hope it'll be a good semester. Although I've taken some time off this summer so that I can be ready for the semester, I think I need time away.

At least I'm taking some time off during the Labor Day weekend. Hopefully my Indiana visit will be nice.

Friday Afternoon Links

Thank God for Arkansas???
From the Associated Press: A law passed this year allows Arkansans of any age — even infants — to marry if their parents agree, and the governor may have to call a special session to fix the mistake, lawmakers said Friday.

The George Wallace for Governor Comic Book
I remember reading something about this several years ago, but had forgotten about it until TD sent an email link to this a couple days ago. It was the topic of a Mental Floss blog entry yesterday.

McSweeney's takes on Playstation
There are several McSweeney's entries that have been good this week. Lorelei has already pointed out one she likes.

Top five fictional mayors
Personally, I think Mayor McCheese should have been ranked higher.

I'd like to visit the Beaglehole Room someday...
...and I'm not just saying that because New Zealand would be a nice place to visit. The hat-tip goes to Sally. If you want to know more about him, click here.

Midweek Notes

The second day of registration at the college was today. I worked registration Wednesday afternoon. It wasn't too bad. I just had to tell students where to go except for the one person who needed a notary. Fortunately, another person working registration knew the answer to that question.

I did go to the book signing. I talked to the author in question for a little while. One of my co-workers was also there and was talking to him as well. I bought a copy of the book for my mother.

I also went to the Rollergirls to-do last night. I didn't stay too long though. I was tired.

I made it to the library in time to open it. The person who normally would open the library had to work registration this morning. I manned the circulation desk and worked on some projects.

Chip Pickering, Mississippi's Third District Congressman, announced today that he would not be seeking re-election. I've been acquainted with Chip for several years. He used to be my congressman, and as previously mentioned, my family has known his for many, many years. All of a sudden, the 2008 congressional elections have gotten much more interesting.

I went to Walgreens to get a couple photos taken so I can renew my passport. As previously noted, I had been thinking about visiting friends in Ireland, but now I need to have it in time to attend a wedding in the Virgin Islands in a few months.

I'm heading to Hattiesburg after work tomorrow afternoon, but will likely be back Saturday evening. I want to visit friends and family before the start of the fall semester.

Pub Quiz, Extreme Registration, etc.

Last night, I went to Hal & Mal's for Pub Quiz. I played with Pezgirl and her boyfriend.

We finished in the money-- third place. One interesting thing, Shannon announced last night that by request my old team's rule was going back into effect, which kind of made me wonder if there's a team with aspirations of dominance.¹

I went to Martin's briefly after Pub Quiz and visited briefly with friends. It's kind of weird not having WCDon's open.²

When I got back to the house, I went online and noticed that Oliver was recaptured. That's good.

I worked out some this morning before arriving at the library, and I'm working registration this afternoon at the college. As promised, I'm wearing shorts and have sunscreen and sunglasses. Hopefully, it won't be too bad this afternoon.

I know someone who has a book signing and reading this afternoon at Lemuria. If I'm not too tired from working registration, I'll attend.

I'm also considering going to this event. However, that depends on how I feel after this afternoon.

_________
¹The rule in question: Winning teams get five points deducted from their score the following week. Teams in second place get three points deducted. The old pub quiz team had a three-month stretch of pub quiz dominance before the rule was enacted. The team won first place a few times even when accounting for point deductions.

²For what it's worth, here's a Jackson Free Press article on Don's.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

I have a few moments before I have to attend a meeting. Here are some links to some things of interest:

Oliver escapes. Again.
And he has a myspace page.

Dachshunds in decline in Deutschland
No, it's not Kobayashi or Joey Chestnut's fault. The birthrate of weiner dogs has declined by some 35 percent in Germany.

These people were college roommates.
Actually, I knew most of them were college roommates. I thought the Erich Segal Love Story thing was an urban legend though.

But he would only be the second coolest president if Chuck Norris were elected...
Why Teddy Roosevelt is the coolest president the United States has ever had.

Lolcat as Satirical Ethicist
I'm In Ur Family, Judjin Ur Value. Thanks go to Lorelei Leigh for the heads-up.

Library Guy of Mississippi

Dryden: Lawrence, only two kinds of creature get fun in the desert: Bedouins and gods, and you're neither. Take it from me, for ordinary men, it's a burning, fiery furnace.
Lawrence: No, Dryden, it's going to be fun.
Dryden: It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun.

As expected, I'll be working at my usual spot during registration. Wednesday afternoon. 1 to 4 p.m. Expected high on Wednesday: 102 degrees. Joy.

I will be wearing shorts. I suppose I'll break out the sunglasses and sunscreen as well. I'll allegedly be stationed inside the building, but in order to help people I've got to be outside the building pretty often. Again. Joy.

Oh yeah, water. I think I might need some of that as well.

Convocation is tomorrow. There are a couple of things I'm expected to do tomorrow morning.

The library will have a display. We're promoting a couple of services, and convocation is a good time to promote them to the faculty and staff.

In addition to that, I'll be delivering interlibrary loan requests to at least one person, maybe two, and receiving an interlibrary loan book from another member of the faculty.

Hot August Weekend

I'm at my mother's house at Canebrake. I'll head back to the college early tomorrow morning, and that means my drive will be caffeine-fueled.

Blues Bash was nice. I wish I had seen more people I knew though. I saw a few people I knew from Heidelberg. I ran into Buck Satan's kin.

Not as many Laurelites I knew were there as there usually are normally though. The weather might have played a role. People were expecting hot temperatures and then serious thunderstorms. There was rain, but it didn't last long, but it still dropped the temperature some fifteen degrees.

I watched my mother's shop some yesterday. It being 100 degrees plus outside, it was slow. Later that night, I saw Stardust. It's a great movie. It's been compared to The Princess Bride, and while there aren't any lines like "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die" in the script, it's outstanding.

It's going to be really hot this coming week, and I have a feeling I'll be involved in my regular registration gig. Outside. Joy. I guess that means I'll be wearing the shorts again.

A Question for My Readers

My mother's been going out with this guy who's a little older than she is. She's told me it's not serious.

However.

Last weekend, she didn't have doggy doors at her house, and for a very good reason, since she has no dog. He has two dogs and a doggy door for them at his house, or so I've been told.

This morning I come downstairs to eat breakfast, and there is a doggy door. It's serious now, ain't it?

Filipino Inmates Do Thriller?

Yes, I am frightened and confused.

Very Casual Friday

I'm at the library, and I'm wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt with shorts. Normally, I wouldn't wear shorts to work, but I am.

As previously mentioned, I'm heading off to Laurel for Blues Bash immediately after work. School isn't in session yet. And the temperature is supposed to reach 100 degrees again, so I'd rather be comfortable. Or at least less unpleasant.

Blues Bash

After work tomorrow, I'm heading over to Laurel for the Blues Bash at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art. I'll get to see a lot of friends from my neck of the woods.

It's going to be weird in a way though. Two close friends of mine-- K & T-- a married couple, are getting divorced. I'll see T tomorrow, and I expect people to ask me if I've talked to and/or have seen K recently. Maybe it won't be too awkward.

It'll be around 100 degrees, and I plan on wearing shorts, which is something I rarely do. And there will be beer and barbecue. I'll be in Hattiesburg the rest of the weekend.

Thursday Linkage

Giant Lego Man Rescued

Okay...

Secrets to Overcoming Shyness Revealed

Hmmm... Seems like it's right up there with Germans bomb Pearl Harbor...

Sexually Confused Panda Gives Birth to Twins

If this story doesn't win an Academy Award for Best Documentary in a few years, I'll be disappointed.

Crocodile Plunges 12 Stories from Russian Apartment and Survives

I don't know what's more amazing: That this happened at a Russian apartment block or that this is the third time the crocodile has made the plunge.

Jaded

Some friends have made suggestions to me in the past few days. I've gotten encouragement to either talk to women more often than I usually do or to wade back in to the online dating pool.

I'm not though. I still have a low opinion of the online dating sites, and it's not a good idea for me to be more sociable. In other words, past experiences still shape have reinforced my previous conclusions.

I've been called picky when it comes to dating, and there is some truth in that accusation. As far as I'm concerned though, a more accurate description is that I'm jaded.

Search Engine Answer Guy #2

It's been two weeks since the first installment of Answer Guy. Again, here are actual search phrases from actual people that led them to this blog.

1. greek quote at the beginning of at swim two birds

All things pass and give way to one another. What's cool about this is that a person in Spain was looking this up and found the answer in a blog based in Mississippi. The tip of the hat though goes to Dylan in Seattle.

2. the lonely sommelier

Hey. I'm number 5 on the google search list. You'd be better off finding it at McSweeney's.

3. scott albert johnson harvard

I had forgotten he attended Harvard. I was blogging about a friend of mine who went on Harvard Law School after he graduated from MSU some 20 years ago.

4. "the library guy"

Hmmm... I'm surprised this blog is #4 in Google Search. It's #5 with my nom de blog not in quotes and considering that's out of some 52,000,000 pages, I think that's cool. It'll be difficult to get the #1 spot since a guy in front of me has libraryguy.com.

5. dolemite dolomite

Ah. A Rudy Ray Moore fan! As I mentioned before, The Mountains are big, but no match for the King of Party Records.

Tuesday Afternoon Linkage

Oliver the Monkey Captured
Here's the Daily Journal article.

Baby Einsteins They Ain't
Here's a Time.com piece on the harmful effects of videos and DVDs on babies.

I Didn't Realize It Was An Actual Person's Name
That was my reaction when I saw the name of a prostitute mentioned in this Freakonomics blog entry largely made up of an interview of the writer of this book.

Jerrell Powe to the University of Miami?
Here's a Clarion-Ledger article. I remember seeing him play for Wayne County. He's wanted to play for Ole Miss, but it looks as if that might not happen.

I Voted

Okay, I voted today in the Democratic primary, and here's my not-so-secret ballot:

Governor -- John Arthur Eaves Jr.

I actually kind of like Louis Fondren, but I tend to vote for the candidate who I think will do the best in the general election. That Democratic candidate is Eaves.

Secretary of State -- John Windsor

Rob Smith has the local name recognition, but Windsor has impressed me.

Auditor -- Jacob Ray

He's gotten endorsements. Maybe he'll do a good job.

Insurance Commissioner -- Gary Anderson

I went back and forth on this one. I originally intended to vote for Jim Raspberry since he's from the part of the state where I grew up, and I knew people who had worked on his campaign; however, Raspberry withdrew. My usual rule of thumb when I can't decide is who will do better in the general election, and I couldn't decide. I thought about not voting, but decided in the end to vote for Anderson.

State Senate District 26 -- John Horhn

And gladly. I like Horhn a lot.

State Representative District 72 -- Kimberly Campbell

I like her politics, and she gets bonus points because of her stance regarding Frank Melton. See the Jackson Free Press endorsements for more detail.

Hinds County Sheriff -- Malcolm McMillin

One rule of thumb when voting for local candidates this go-around: If Frank Melton shows an inclination of being against a certain candidate, then that's the one I vote for. Sheriff McMillin is one of several candidates I voted thanks to this rule.

Hinds County District Attorney -- Faye Peterson

Peterson's another.

Circuit Clerk -- Barbara Dunn

Tax Assessor -- Carl Monte Reeves

As is Reeves.

Justice Court Judge District 4 -- Did Not Vote

I've not heard anything about Bruce Burton and John Rush, the candidates running on the Democratic side, and didn't feel comfortable voting for either one. The candidate who I feel most comfortable voting for is running as a Republican.

Guybrarian, Part II

A month ago, I blogged about hip librarians. As I mentioned, the portmanteau guybrarian was used to describe male librarians, and I've been called a guybrarian.

This evening, I was checking out Jessamyn West's site, and noticed her guybrarian entry. She also had a couple links to web comics concerning male librarians. Here are Shelf Check and Penny Arcade.

More Farewells

It's three a.m. I'm in Clinton.

I just made it back from a couple of farewell shindigs-- FP's and WCDon's. The Tuff Luvs played the final show at WCDon's. It was cool.

As I told Otherjay Jaysus, all I care about when I go out is the people. To me, the people determine what a bar is like.

I'm disappointed that Don's is closed, but what disappoints me more is that there really isn't a local small bar where people go to socialize. Someplace that's not home, that's not work, and that's not church. Someplace like the bar J.R. Moehringer describes, and from what I've been told, Martin's used to be.¹

It was good to see FP, TD, LA, and SS at Last Call. I was a bit surprised not to see Satsuma. It was good to socialize with them. I'd not been to Last Call before. Not a bad place.

I was glad I was able to make it. I had left Canebrake at 8 p.m., and I didn't know if I was going to leave.

I wanted to, but I had a headache. I took some aspirin and slept for about an hour. My mother woke me up shortly before 8 p.m. I left 10 minutes later.

I did have fun in Hattiesburg. I met up with a friend and her fiance. I got an invitation to their wedding in a few months at the Virgin Islands.

...zzz...

Okay, I fell asleep. I needed to sleep.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the wedding invitation. I plan on going. That means that I really need to renew my passport.

The planned wedding schedule is doable and very surprisingly affordable. Since my job is classified as a college administration post, it's much easier for me to get away than it would be, say, for a member of the college faculty. I hate going to weddings stag though.

While I've mentioned to friends many times that I don't expect that I'll ever be married, I don't like being alone. I was sad when Coppertop left earlier this summer, and FP's upcoming departure also makes me sad. When friends move, I can't help but think that my life has become emptier.²

Now, I think I'm going to go to the gym. I need to work out a little bit. Then, I'm going to go get some dinner, or to be more precise, breakfast since I've not yet eaten today.

_________
¹Fenian's is probably the closest to such a bar in Jackson, but I don't know if the place would really qualify since it's as much as a place for people to enjoy Celtic music and culture as it is a neighborhood bar. While I like Celtic music and arts, I know people who aren't interested.

²Yes, I am a half-empty as opposed to a half-full kind of guy.

Friday Afternoon Linkage

Peanuts by Charles Bukowski

I was reading Neil Gaiman's Journal last night and noticed the link. He wrote:

I love Charles Bukowski, and tend to buy his books in Scandinavia. Also I love classic Peanuts. I was doubtful that I'd love this reimagining of Peanuts as written by Bukowski, but I'm happy to say that I did.

It is a good reimagining. It ain't your normal Peanuts though. I wouldn't advise viewing this while at work.

New Oklahoma License Plate

Okay...

God's Inbox

A friend mentioned that this was in Time several months ago. I love the detail.

Lucky Jim

Repeating what I posted on the book club blog, we met to discuss Lucky Jim last night. Well, TC and I discussed since we were the only ones present who read the entire book. Everyone else listened and with good reason. It's near the end of the summer and people have things going on. FP's move comes immediately to mind.

I thought the book was great. The one thing that caused people some trouble was that the book starts in the middle of a conversation and it takes you a moment to get accustomed. You're not really introduced to the characters.

Once you get used to it, the book flows. I like the character of Jim. I know that the book is obstensibly an academic novel, but to me it's a novel of conflict. Yes, it's a comedy, but there's conflict between department chair and department peon and between Jim and Bertrand over Christine.

TC has the next pick, and she's chosen The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy.

A Farewell to Don's

I could write about many other things, and I know I'll devote some time tomorrow to them, but tonight I bid farewell to WCDon's.

Change, as we all know, happens. Sometimes I welcome change especially when it's a welcome change in my life. Sometimes I fear change, and it becomes more and more common the older I get.

I'm one of the older if not the oldest person in a pack largely made up of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings. I'm perhaps more settled in my ways though, but then I go to WCDon's with friends, so perhaps I'm more unsettled than I think.

WCDon's looks to be closing. I was under the impression tonight would be the last night, but instead it may the weekend. I don't know if I'll return though.

I went with friends there tonight. The place was quite bare. A cardboard box was our table as we socialized.

I couldn't stay too long though. I need to be at work tomorrow morning at eight, and I'm thinking about heading to Hattiesburg for at least part of the weekend.

I need to be out of the Jackson area for at least a little while. I would like to see some friends in Hattiesburg sometime this weekend-- maybe Friday night.

I'm playing it by ear though, and considering my partial deafness, the weekend could be good, bad, or mediocre. I hope it's good and maybe even better than that. We'll see.

Brownout and Politics

My college had a brownout this afternoon. The power didn't come back on until just a few minutes before I left work. It's too bad that the power went out. I was having such a productive day.

I've thought about doing a blog entry on next week's elections and who I favored, but the Jackson Free Press already did it for me. I'm pretty much in agreement with most of their decisions.

My quibbles are that I'm not familiar with the auditor candidates and also wish that Phil Bryant had talked with them. I think he'd be a good lieutenant governor. However, I'm not voting in the Republican primary.