November 200324 November 2003 For those folks who find some material on this site offensive, we've always offered a filtered home page as a wholesome alternative. We've just updated that page, giving it a totally new look and content you've never seen before. Oh, just look at those little creatures dance! This installment of the Pearls Before Swine comic strip is set in a bookstore, but it could be a library. We didn't feel up to getting out to see either Guided by Voices (which Liberry Blooze calls the greatest rock band in the world) or the Waco Brothers (another fantastic band to see live) this past weekend, but we are going to a They Might Be Giants kids' show in a couple weeks. At a performance space that used to be a library, even. Speaking of TMBG, They have a kids' book out. Comes with a CD. We're not terribly happy that S&S is having the book printed in China; we've reluctantly accepted that all our shoes and most of our toys are being made overseas, but there's still a printing industry in the U.S., for heaven's sake. Speaking of giants and toys, GIANTmicrobes sells plush playthings modeled on bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Imagine the joyous expression of a child who gets the plague for Christmas!
We've put together a calendar of pro-free-expression quotations from Supreme Court decisions and several presidents, from Adams to Reagan. (Yes, Reagan!) We call it Patriotic Expressions 2004, and we're donating our take ($3) from each one sold through November 30 to the ACLU. 15 November 2003 We've done a little updating of librarism.com. There are now considerably more librarians on parade than before. Really, it's like the Macy's parade. And we advance our theory that Chicago is the center of the librarian webiverse. (Let us know if we've omitted anyone from either list.) Remember, the next time someone slaps your ass with a book ("Whak!"), the proper thing to say is "Ukh!" We finally met Marylaine yesterday, when she gave an excellent presentation on the Invisible Web. We also met another librarian named Brian Smith, and we apologized for any trouble we've caused him. Funny church marquee signs. Well, some of them are, anyway. Also see the church sign generator! 07 November 2003 We try not to start our Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving, but feel free to stimulate the economy and start your holiday buying right now at the librarism.com store. We've added 11x17 calendar posters, greeting cards, and fitted t-shirts. We know you know someone who'd love to get a Nether Regional Pubic Library baseball cap, some Library Ambigram postcards, or a Zen Librarian calendar. The Justice Department quotes the Declaration of Independence grossly out of context at the top of its USA PATRIOT Act propaganda website, which seems to have been written by weasels. We're almost surprised they didn't use the Declaration's line that George has "sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People," and spin that as a good thing. The New Yorker has a longish, but entertaining, piece about endnotes, Microsoft Word, and (mostly) the new edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. We
guess Laura wouldn't buy him the Librarian Action Figure ...
|
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.