Haunted Library on the TeeVee

The paranormal experts on the SyFy Channel’s “Ghost Hunters” believe the Rundel Library in Rochester is haunted. On Wednesday night’s episode, “Due Date with Death,” the members of the The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) found that the library is probably haunted, although they were not able to figure out by which spirit or spirits.

There was this comedian, I forget who, who stated that if ghosts were real, they would not be proven as fact at midnight on a cable show.  That news would be broadcast probably broken in the middle of an episode of "Amercian Idol" by Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric screaming "Ghosts are fucking real and here's the proof!"

But here's the truth:  Ghosts are not real.  If they were, a lot more people without tin foil hats would believe in them.  Am I sure that the residents of the Rundel Library believe they have ghosts?  Sure.  Because just like the ghost hunters, they want to believe that.  They are like the second half of Myth Busters, the good part after the actual science is done where things get blowed up.  They want to make it true, so they do, but that don't make it so.

Library Expects More Visitors After "Ghost Hunters" Episode

Brooklyn Libraries Struggling to Rebuild

"Five Brooklyn libraries severely damaged by Sandy are still shuttered nearly a month after the storm - and will cost unprecedented millions to get back up and running."

Normally, I would say something snarky about now, but the pictures in the article below horrified me.  They remind me of a time not too long ago when my own state was devastated by a hurricane and hundreds of libraries were effected along the Gulf Coast, some of which never recovered.  Only through the altruism of our fellow man and librarian did those libraries rebuild, and so it is here.  I am sure there is a local effort to help these libraries get back on their feet, and I hope the lawmakers involved can look past the $10 million dollar price tag and see the investment that money can be.

Also, one of the captions in the article reads "Not a pulp fiction!"  Seriously, dude?  Not the time.  Too-sunami.

Five Brooklyn libraries hit hard by Sandy still closed - and will cost $10 ... - New York Daily News:

New York Daily News

Five Brooklyn libraries hit hard by Sandy still closed - and will cost $10 ... New York Daily News Five Brooklyn libraries severely damaged by Sandy are still shuttered nearly a month after the storm - and will cost unprecedented millions to get back up and running. “We were hurt,” said Brooklyn Public Library VP of strategic planning Jeanette Moy ... and more »

AskMen Going Into the eBook Biz

"AskMen.com, one of the top men-focused lifestyle sites on the Web with 20 million monthly unique visitors, is ramping-up its nascent ebook publishing program.
The site has published five ebooks so far, starting this past June, and has sold them on Amazon and other retailers for prices ranging from $0.99 to $9.99. The content has been mostly re-purposed but upcoming titles will be original content. The company plans on publishing around 20 ebooks next year."

We have no more need to look for proof that ebooks and ebook publishing are an unjustified medium than this story right here.  The context of the story is that AskMen is publishing ebooks, but they are not.  What they are doing is extending their brand to cover books that anyone can write and anyone can publish in a format that anyone can publish in.  This is not a "new thing."  Coca-Cola, if they had the inclination, could do the same thing.  Hell, I could do the same thing.  Just send me your ebook, I'll sign up for the account, format your book, sell the thing and give you the minuscule profits that come with selling books through Amazon's ebook market.  

The only way this has really become a legit enterprise is through sites like Pottermore, and that's only because Harry Potter fans are a little bit nuts.  And rightly so.  If Oprah decided she was going to extend her brand, she could dominate the ebook market by reaching out to small authors and give them an audience.  Then she could devour their souls, sucking out their chewy center.  But, if people are reading, more power to them.  I just hope the quality AskMen.com devotes to their articles continues into their ebooks.

AskMen.com Ramping-up Ebook Program - Digital Book World:

AskMen.com Ramping-up Ebook Program Digital Book World AskMen.com, one of the top men-focused lifestyle sites on the Web with 20 million monthly unique visitors, is ramping-up its nascent ebook publishing program. The site has published five ebooks so far, starting this past June, and has sold them on ...

Library of Congress Civil War Letters Show How Much Modern Americans Suck At Writing

"Letters and diaries from those who lived through the Civil War offer a new glimpse at the arguments that split the nation 150 years ago and some of the festering debates that survive today.
The Library of Congress, which holds the largest collection of Civil War documents, pulled 200 items from its holdings to reveal both private and public thoughts from dozens of famous and ordinary citizens who lived in the North and the South. Many are being shown for the first time."

Once again, the LoC breaks out its toy chest and shows how inadequate we are as 21st century Americans.  Yes, many of these Civil War letters/diaries were penned by people that were wrestling with and ultimately made poor life decisions, but have you seen the penmanship on these things?  I am not even sure I can write a cursive "Q" and these guys are doing calligraphy while having deep and engaging thoughts.  

Also, the deep and engaging thoughts part.  In one hundred and fifty years, will the LoC break out twitter feeds from now?  What would that say?  "From American twitter user @homiefarts: I cnt Blive I cnt watch the return of LiLo in #Liz&Dick cause of #Frankenstorm aftermath."  Imagine that the next time you tweet about your breakfast.

US library pulls diaries, letters from Civil War - The Associated Press:

US library pulls diaries, letters from Civil War The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Letters and diaries saved for 150 years from those who lived through the Civil War are offering a new glimpse of the arguments that split the nation. The Library of Congress holds the largest collection of Civil War documents.

Apple Bans Back Nudity on Erotic Arabic Novel

"Last week, Europa Editions, a publisher of world literature in translation, wrote on their Facebook page that one of their novels, The Proof of the Honey by Salwa Al Neimi, has been removed from the iTunes bookstore due to the image on its cover.
The erotic novel discusses the role of sex in modern Arabic society, and its cover features the backside of a reclining, naked woman. This may seem worthy of removal, but, as Europa Editions points out, "classical nudes by Ingres, Renoir, and Botticelli, not to mention photography by Man Ray," are not deemed inappropriate by Apple, nor are modern books with similar covers."

Apple, Apple, Apple... Come on, dudes...  It's 2012.  You are fucking Apple.  You have your consumer market.  You are in the pocket and backpack of... hell, half the planet.  The point where you could offend people with products you offer and lose consumers is way, way past.  And where did this puritanical ideology come from?  Who at Apple looked at a product the first time out and said, "Nope, not here.  Apple's a family company."  Was it Steve Jobs?  Huh?  Like Sam Walton at Wal-Mart before him, did he take a stand for the non-controversial?  Cause, and I mean this with all due respect, when Walton kicked it, Wal-Mart started carrying the same unedited smut as everyone else.  Your audience, the latest generation, has grown up with the most unprecedented access to pornography the world has ever seen.  They made 50 Shades of Grey a big moneymaker.  They can take a woman's back and the word "vagina." 

Apple Bans 'Erotic' Book Cover From iTunes - Huffington Post

Librarian Tattoo Calendar

"The Youth Services Section of the Massachusetts Library Association has a new fundraiser: the Tattooed Youth Librarian Calendar. Sixteen models from libraries all over Massachusetts participated in the photo shoot on September 16, 2012. A local photographer volunteered his time and talent for this great cause."

Hell yeah, let's get those tattooed librarians off of Tumblr and into your home on a paper calendar!  Oh, yeah, I can't wait to read quotes and see book covers come to life on the skin of my fellow book pushers! 
Only one problem: There's twelve months in a year.  Not sixteen.  I guess I can see some Voltron librarians out there that got matching tattoos that link together and create mystical energy like some kind of twin versions of that scene in the Constantine movie with the Keanu Reeves to banish evil patrons, but I doubt it.  More than likely there's a couple crazy kids out there with a couple of Harry Potter fanfic tats, but there you go.
Librarians Ink: Massachusetts Librarians Reveal Tattoos in New Calendar - Patch.com

Nirvana Lives On In eBook

Sub Pop founder He Who Shall Be Named In An Article Linked Below is releasing an ebook that will include rare pictures of the members of the band Nirvana.  Allow me to now speculate what the pictures will be of:

Guys dressed in grunge clothes and big sunglasses standing around. 

Coming soon, proto-punk hipsters.  Nice to see my generation is finally being marketed to.  You can laugh now.

Sub Pop Founder Releases Rare Nirvana Pictures in New eBook - Paste Magazine

John Fogerty Gets A Book Deal

Former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty gets a book deal.

Another rock star enters the world of ghost writing!  Yay!  Seriously, how many ghostwriters out there just got really excited to talk to an aging dude telling random stories where he can't remember most of what happened with random concert guy X while they were both fueled by cocaine and Jack Daniels.  Call me, though, John.  We can talk.

Former Creedence frontman Fogerty gets book deal - NBCNews.com

Jeopardy! Librarian Contestant Used Brain, Wikipedia

Chicago Tribune

Librarian's episode on Jeapordy to air Dec. 31 Chicago Tribune Ana Peso, a librarian at Glenbrook North High School, has become a celebrity of sorts after her appearance on the game show "Jeopardy" – even though she can't say how she did until it airs on Dec. 31. "It was like fulfilling a dream I've had," Peso said.

Let's take a moment to congratulate Ana Peso on appearing on Jeopardy! and doing however she did.  Not many people in the history of the world have done this great achievement (seriously, look it up, it's like billions to six or something).

But while cruising through the article linked above, we noticed something funny with the way she prepared for this tournament of intellectual giants.  We have selected and put in "bold" the areas of the article we were most concerned about because we just learned what that giant "B" is for in the "Edit" menu:

With a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in library science and educational psychology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, she reads novels from Agatha Christy to historical fiction and frequently reads Wikipedia and clicks on their links.

....

"I reviewed history in Wikipedia. I tried to read geography, too and brush up on all my capitols, lakes and rivers," she said.

So, here we are on a national stage, a librarian representative showing the world the power of the written word... And Wikipedia gets not one but two shout outs?  I could see saying, "I used Wikipedia to find better articles on the internet," or simply "I used Internet resources," but a children's librarian basically saying she prepped for what is known in most circles as "that smart show" by using a poor, hobbled together study guide...  Examples, examples, please be examples of good researching, librarians.

Also, the article did not get Agatha Christie's name correct, which just... Holy crap, Chicago Tribune, even my spell check got that right.  Unless they knew some famous trivia novelist named Agatha Christy who wrote bathroom readers or something.  Then, okay, you got me.

Library Recieves Power Company Tweets, Why You Should Vote

"Jersey Central Power & Light customers have been sending messages on Twitter to @JCPL seeking information. Only problem is the account isn't for JCP&L.
The Twitter accounts for Jefferson County Public Library in Colorado and JCP&L are one character off from each other. The library is at @JCPL while JCP&L is at @JCP_L."

How do you handle this?  Here's how we did it:

At one point in our lovely little college town of Bannville, there rose a bar.  Seeking to interest the students and get their waitresses into school girl uniforms, they named the bar The Library.  Yep.  That happened.

We found out about it when the owner came in and cleaned out our book sale one day, taking all the old paperbacks and National Geographic's to pepper on the walls and the bar to lend to the atmosphere.  Then the calls started to come in.

Every night for the first two weeks we got calls asking what band was playing or what the drink specials were.  After the hype of the new place had calmed, the calls slowed to the weekend.  One Friday night just before closing, an intoxicated young man called six times insisting to speak to "Mandy" or he was going to come down and kick our asses.  We invited him to do just that.

Eventually, the bar closed and the calls slowed and stopped all together.  So what did we do, you ask?  Nothing but be the normal accommodating library staff that we always were.  That is all you can do, be nice and give the problem time to heal itself.  

You see, emergencies and bars come and go.  The public library will always be there to help.  

Unless the bastards in power take away all our funding before we can vote them out of office.  Then, we may be screwed.  Do not forget to vote on Tuesday.

Mistaken Twitter identity: Colorado library getting JCP&L's Hurricane Sandy tweets - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com:

The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Mistaken Twitter identity: Colorado library getting JCP&L's Hurricane Sandy tweets The Star-Ledger - NJ.com "It didn't take long at all for us to figure it out because we had a similar thing happen last fall when New Jersey was hit with that major snow storm," said Bethany Frisbie, promotions & marketing manager at the Jefferson County Public Library. "That ... and more »

White House Pets: The Book Thing

""WE AGREE NOT TO FEED RANGER. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM BISCUITS. WE WILL NOT GIVE HIM FOOD OF ANY KIND," the pledge read.
George H. W. Bush ends his memo saying, "I will, of course, report on Ranger's fight against obesity. Right now he looks like a blimp, a nice friendly appealing blimp, but a blimp."
That memo, along with countless anecdotes and more than 200 pictures are featured in Dallas author Jennifer Boswell Pickens' new book, "Pets at the White House," which gives readers a glimpse of what life is like at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for pets, and what those pets have meant to their famous owners."

I cannot lie, I'm really curious about this book.  See, most people know the numerous dogs and cats throughout the White House's career (like Socks and Buddy, the Clinton's animals), but I wonder if this book is going to cover the more interesting animals.

See, the White House has seen some crazy critters in its day.  According to this article from Mental Floss, Coolidge had a hippo, Hoover had alligators, Harrison had possums, and Abigail Adams had a dog named Satan.  Then there is the menagerie that Teddy Roosevelt brought around, including a frickin badger.  That's just scratching the surface and not even mentioning the farm animals.

I want to know how the staff handled these animals.  I do not know about you, but if this book does not have a chapter devoted to that badger... Let's just say that's like covering Kennedy and not mentioning how he left office.

New book features White House pets - Detroit Free Press:

New book features White House pets Detroit Free Press That memo, along with countless anecdotes and more than 200 pictures are featured in Dallas author Jennifer Boswell Pickens' new book, "Pets at the White House," which gives readers a glimpse of what life is like at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for pets, and ... and more »

Stephenie Meyer Gives Hope To TwiHards

While Meyer didn't confirm that she would write more Twilight books, she didn't rule out the idea, either. She said she's even got the plots of "a couple more books" in her head. Those books would apparently pick up where Breaking Dawn left off and focus more on Jake, the hunky werewolf, and Renesmee, the half-vampire daughter of Bella and Edward. "There are other characters who I think would have a lot of voice in those coming stories," she said.

Just when I think I am out, they pull me back in.  The new movie, Breaking Dawn: Part Deux, is almost out and I was thinking about dropping all my open dislike for this franchise and letting it be.  Then, Ms. Meyer decides to take the gloves off and say, "You think you can write more awesome Harry Potter, Rowling?  Well, I got a crap load more shitty vampire tales left in me!"

Here we go again.  More chaste non-love between immortal beings that hate themselves and the audience.  What can we compare Jake and Renesesame's love to this time, Meyer?  Surly not Romeo and Juliet, that was Bella and Edward's thing to crap on the idea of forbidden and unhealthy love.  How about Wuthering Heights?  Let's throw some shit at the moors and see what frothy vampire/werewolf hell gets dumped out?  It would not be a staggering leap to drop Heathcliff into the werewolf camp, Native American him up and then crap all over that story, too.  Food for thought.

More 'Twilight' Books? Stephenie Meyer Says 'Maybe' - Gather.com:

WorstPreviews.com

More 'Twilight' Books? Stephenie Meyer Says 'Maybe' Gather.com So, after a roller coaster ride filled with vampires, werewolves, and interspecies romance through a blockbuster series of books and movies, it all comes down to this: the long-awaited release of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2. That's all ... Stephenie Meyer says more 'Twilight' books a possibility, but not todayEntertainment Weekly (blog) Stephenie Meyer May Write More "Twilight" BooksWorstPreviews.com 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' Countdown Begins Today, New Clip of Newlyweds Bella ...Books & Review all 320 news articles »