Weed

Well that title grabbed your attention, didn't it?

Sorry, wrong kind of weed.

My context here is the weeding of a library collection. Libraries are buildings with finite space. And to make room for the new, we need to weed out the old.

Each library has it's own set of weeding criteria defined by the library collection, mandate and user group. But one thing most libraries (in theory) agree on is that obsolete material must go.

(OK, I'm over simplifying things here, but I'm hardly writing a policy and procedure manual. If you want the details on weeding policy, get a diploma, or a degree.)

Weeding the collection isn't always easy, and it's also very time consuming. So this chore sometimes get pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. The end result is that we often have material on our shelves that really shouldn't be there.

From this collection of crap archive material sprung forth Awful Library Books. A wonderful witty site dedicated to user submitted books lurking in library collections.

And it's gone Hollywood.

The proprietors of this great site, Mary and Holly, appeared recently on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Share and enjoy:



Here are the specific posts of the books discussed in the show:

• What's Wrong with my Snake


• Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps


• Do-It-Yourself Coffins: For Pets and People


• Dee Snider’s Teenage Survival Guide


• Knitting with Dog Hair


• Gary Coleman: Medical Miracle


• A Passion for Donkeys

Full disclosure: I checked the Vancouver Public Library catalogue for each of these items.

Alas, we have two:

• Do-It-Yourself Coffins: For Pets and People


• Knitting with Dog Hair

29% failure rate. That's not too bad, is it?

It's Been a Thrill(er)

[DianesDigitals's Photos]

Michael Crichton - 1942 - 2008

My first Michael Crichton experience was watching the movie Andromeda Strain on TV around 1973 or so. It scared the shit out of me. Especially the scene where a dead guy gets his wrist cut open, and only powdered blood comes out. Ewwwwwwwh!

[The Andromeda Strain (1971) TRAILER]


Fun fact: Crichton has a brief cameo as a doctor in the original. The director made him sit down because his height (6'9") was too distracting.

(IMHO the remake sucked several different types of suckiness.)
Since that first viewing I've enjoyed most of Crichton's books. I first read the book Andromeda Strain when I was about 13 and loved it.

Yes I know he didn't write serious literature, and he got criticized for some of the science. But he knew how to write a engrossing thriller.

Your fans will miss your work Michael.

Arthur C. Clarke...

...dies at age 90 in Sri Lanka.

Farewell

and thanks for all the books.

What I'm Reading This Week

Here are the two books I've been enjoying this week.

Why I Hate Canadians



I originally read this in it's first release 10 year ago, just after the Quebec referendum. It's now been re-released and updated for its 10th anniversary. I find all of Will Ferguson's writing very funny. But this one goes beyond that. It explains Canadians better than any book I've ever read on the subject. And it doesn't so much explain it to Americans, or Europeans, or Asians, as it does to other Canadians. We are a country of people that have a hard time identifying ourselves. The best most of us can do is to say: "well, we're not Americans". Read this book and have a wonderful laugh at your own expense.

Michael Tolliver Lives



This is the "not a sequel" to the Tales of the City series.

Tales of the City was a wonderful series of 6 books written by Armistead Maupin in the 1970's and '80's. It started as a regular newspaper column in the San Francisco Chronicle about a group of young people in San Francisco in the 1970's. Some were gay, some straight, some male, some female, all a little outrageous... and very fun. The column was eventually published in book form and Mr. Maupin went on to write a few sequels.

Michael Tolliver Lives is a follow up book of sorts. It works as a stand-alone novel, but contains many of the loved characters from the original columns / books. If you don't know this series, Start with the first: Tales of the City and work your way forward. I can't rave about them enough. Or the miniseries that came from the first 3 books - but that's another blog.

So That's Why He Walks Funny

Favourite quote so far from the book I'm currently enjoying:

"I will knock you so far into next week, it will take a surgeon to remove Wednesday from your ass."

The book is:



For info look at book's page on Amazon

Old Technology / New Technology

First the old

What to do if your book isn't working for you



And then the new

A great video that simply explains what web 2.0 is all about

Don't Call Me, I'll Be Busy...

Guess what I'll be up to on July 21?