Thunder Road
You have an unlimited budget and space is not a problem. What piece of Hollywood memorabilia would you want hanging around in your batcave? Via Cool and Collected
Had to ponder this one for a while. The normal answers popped into mind – The Batmobile, ECTO-1, an X-Wing, the Enterprise, the TARDIS, but…I want something that no other collector would have in their batcave.
Then I remembered what I wanted to build as a kid in my backyard! That is, if I had a backyard…
The Thunder Road! Yep, the heap of junk spaceship from the movie Explorers
I loved that little red ship built from scrap! Sure, it can’t fire photon torpedoes or travel through time, but it gave a kid like me hopes that I could launch into space and meet pop-referencing aliens just by welding together scrap metal and a garbage can. And I can’t forget the NASA logo in the back, just to make it all legitimate!
It’s the Final Countdown…
What movie is, or was, your “go to” Saturday matinee — the comfort movie you always popped into the VCR on a rainy Saturday afternoon, the movie you watched over and over again, driving your parents crazy while you recited the lines along with the characters on the screen? Via Cool and Collected
For me, my “go to” movie as a kid was The Final Countdown. No, not the Europe song. It’s a little-known movie, starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen, about a US aircraft carrier entering a freak storm, and somehow ending up back in time. December 6, 1941 to be precise. So, do they perform their sworn duty and defend Pearl Harbor from the impending attack and alter the course of history? Historic time travel and ethical issues aside, as a kid the only important part of the movie was…a dogfight between Japanese Zeroes and two F-14 Tomcats, complete with epic orchestral score!
I recorded it from HBO one night (sorry MPAA!) and wore the tape out. I had to check out our TV Guide weekly to see when they were going to air it again so I can re-record it. I remember searching eBay when it first started to see if I could find a copy. Used rental store copies were selling for an arm and a leg. Fast forward a few years later and someone managed to copy a VHS onto DVD – and sell it for your other arm and leg. Blue Underground, which specializes in cult classics, finally released a crisp DVD version for a normal price, which I promptly watched over and over again. Now it’s streaming instantly on Netflix. Kids these days will never know what it’s like to hunt down your favorite film.
Interlibrary loan
A student walked up to the reference desk asking for a book on interlibrary loan. I referred her to the front desk to pick up any materials on interlibrary loan. She then clarified herself by telling me she wanted books about interlibrary loan. Which later led me to wonder what the discussion at the front desk would be like if I were to request a book on interlibrary loan via interlibrary loan.
mind
Today on the bus I observed a man, calmly reading some celebrity gossip magazine. I watched him flip the pages, and then suddenly, yet calmly, started tearing the pages out. He’d rip one page out, slowly put the rest of the magazine down, and fold that page in half and placed it in a slot where transit schedules and maps are kept. He’d then pick up the magazine and flipped a few pages, and again would carefully tear out one page, fold it, and place it in the same slot. He continued doing this for another 20 some minutes. Just minding his own business, ripping and folding a handful of glossy pages.
I wonder if he knew what he was doing. I wonder what was going on in his mind. Does he suffer from panic attacks and ripping and folding was his way of coping through a bus ride? Or was he just tired of looking at articles about Jersey Shore and Charlie Sheen’s latest escapades? I wonder if I do weird thing like that, just calmly going about my day, not knowing that it’s extremely peculiar. I often wish I could just witness myself go about my day, and wonder what is going on in my mind.
attention last minute shoppers…
(Originally posted January 9, 2004)
By the numbers:
Number of students in a high school, honors English class: 35
Number of public libraries within close proximity to high school: 2
Number of opened, public libraries not currently undergoing renovations: 1
Number of students from said honors English class here at that library: 35
Number of students from said honors English class looking for poetry criticism: 35
Number of students from said honors English class asking for Emily Dickinson: 15
Number of students from said honors English class asking for Elizabeth Barrett Browning:15
Number of students from said honors English class asking librarian to “pick a female poet”: 5
Number of books currently on the shelf about Emily Dickinson: 0
Number of books currently on the shelf about Elizabeth Barrett Browning: 0
Number of books currently on the shelf about poets that students would be interested in: 0
Number of students who can use a card catalog, encyclopedia, or Gale’s Poetry Criticism: 1
Number of students asking that one student who can use a card catalog, encyclopedia, or Gale’s Poetry Criticism for help: 34
Number (total) of found materials that can be taken out: 0
Number of photocopy machines utilized by 35 students: 2
Number of students who has change to use said machines: 0
Number of minutes library is about to close: 5
Number of Excedrin this reference library assistant had to take after library closed: 2
Number of days students has to research and write a term paper: 60
Number of days students has left to finish said term paper: 1
Number of pages term paper has to be (minimum):6 (not including cover, outline and works cited)
Number of pages written by average student thus far:1/2 (including cover page)
Of course, I didn’t really complain through that whole ordeal. It actually amused me, because around 10 years ago I was doing the exact same thing. Feels strange to be on the other side of the reference desk this time.
in through the out door…
(Originally posted August 27, 2003)
I just observed a man spending a good two minutes trying to open the door.
You see, he was trying to enter the building through the exit door. The automatic exit door. Keeping in mind that automatic exit doors usually swing out, he used up a great deal of energy pushing the door. Like a freakin’ madman. After realizing that he needed to pull, which is rather difficult considering this is an automatic exit door, he managed to pull the door slightly open and slipped in. Fortunately he didn’t get pinned by the door. Though I’d love to read the incident report for that.
The aggravated look on his face was classic. I bet he was wondering how everyone else got into the building with no problem.
wiring…
(Originally posted October 19, 2004)
A patron came in asking for books on electrical wiring and such, to which I told him the call number 621′s. I turned around to show him which area he could find it, only to find one of our own electricians fixing some wiring right in front of that section.
So, I guess he could check out a few books and asks for some tips at the same time.
Welcome back. Again.
Hey there.
Don’t know how you stumbled upon this blog, but here you are. I once ran a blog years ago, but I neglected it for a few days, which turned into a few weeks, and before you knew it almost a whole decade past by. I felt the urge to write again, so I started a new one. I’m also going to repost older favorite entries just for nostalgia. Hope you enjoy your brief stay.
