Summer 2004 21 August 2004 We've been enjoying our summer vacation (haven't even been reading the blogs much), and now it's time to ease back into maintaining this puppy. Just read the new Thursday Next book, Something Rotten. A snippet of the conversation Thursday has with Spike as they're looking for a gateway to the underworld: "So ... when did you and Cindy tie the knot?" "About eighteen months ago. Have you ever visited the realm of the dead?" "Orpheus told me about the Greek version of it over coffee once -- but only the highlights. Does she ... er ... have a job?" "She's a librarian," replied Spike, "part-time. I've been there a couple of times; it's not half as creepy as you'd have thought." "The library?" "The abode of the dead. Orpheus would have paid the ferryman, but, you know, that's just a scam." (p. 241) Added a bunch of librarians to the parade over at librarism.com. Some are blogs that haven't been updated in a couple months, but, like, we ones to talk. We'll probably get around to dropping the dead or semidead sites off the list around the end of the year. A few quotes for Lib.Sigs.: "Mention of 'a quiet corner in a library' was a code for sexual ecstasy." (Ian McEwan, Atonement) "I don't like libraries and I don't like dealing with librarians. They say they want change, but what they want is what they had in the past." (Frank Gehry) "They say that reading is dead, but it isn't. It's just ... uh ... pathologically crippled." (Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, 14 July 2004) "A.J. is a genius. You'll never be able to out-library him." (Wanda, Fairly OddParents) 10 June 2004 It's nowhere near being a teenage riot ... it's just Sonic Youth Services, the latest song added to BibDitties. We sent our mammoth trail photo to Thursday Next creator Jasper Fforde, and he kindly added it to his truly fantastic website. We debased ourself this past week by going to Toys R Us when we couldn't find an absolutely necessary birthday gift anywhere else. While there, we noticed they have a librarian Barbie (of sorts). Another Conan the Librarian cartoon popped up last week. To thank our friend Doug for sending it our way, libraries might consider buying his book. (Other than knowing us since high school, he has absolutely no affiliation with this website.) 3 June 2004 Our local forest preserve district recently opened a new recreational trail for Thursday Next fans. We biked the entire length this morning, but didn't see a single mammoth. Probably just too late in the season for the migration. There were many songbirds (including a crowing rooster), some wildflowers, and a few butterflies along the trail, though. We caught this line on Conan O'Brien last week, in a bit where he pulled a lever to show random clips from Walker: Texas Ranger: "I'll do it if you all remain silent. Shhhhh! I've become a librarian. Conan the Librarian. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Sorry about that." Daniel Radcliffe was a guest later in the show. He said he wants a huge red Cadillac, because Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is his favorite movie and book. So, if the kiddies are lining up at the YS desk asking for Hunter Thompson, now you know why. Timid librarian tries Faking It as a Coyote Ugly barmaid on TLC this coming Sunday. Will someone please tell these people that the only way to improve Coca-Cola is to add Jack Daniel's! According to the fall HarperCollins catalog blurb for The O'Reilly Factor for Kids, "Bill O'Reilly talks straight to kids about such hot button topics as bullies ... ." So, what, is he gonna tell kids how to be bullies?  "Shut up!" The catalog also quotes O'Reilly as saying:  "We've got moral relativism in the public schools, hooligan entertainers as role models, and parents trying to be friends with their kids. As Alice Cooper might say, 'Welcome to the Nightmare.'"  Or, as Guns N' Roses might say, "Welcome to My Jungle."

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