Hey kids! May 1st is RSS Awareness Day!
What’s RSS, you ask? Check out this Lawrence University page about it and subscribe to Lawrence University RSS feeds. You’ll especially want to subscribe to the feed for this blog, of course…
Category: Fun
It’s Not Just For Academics Anymore
Appleton. England. Not the same. This was proven by a little item in Monday’s New York Times. The main reading room of the British Library, formerly a stodgy bastion of serious researchers, relaxed its admission policy in 1998 when it moved into a new building. Now the tweedy, suede-patched-elbows set must rub shoulders with “anyone who has a relevant research need,” which includes college undergraduates. Here, we LOVE college undergraduates.
One regular user complained of the raucous behavior he witnessed:
“The worst is that they actually answer their phones…The phone vibrates and they go, ‘Hold on a minute, Nigel,’ and then they run out of the reading room and take the call.”
For the record:
1. Setting you phone to vibrate is a lovely and wondrous thing
2. Answering it and saying only “hold on” will endear you to us forever
3. And finally, walking outside to carry on a conversation makes our hearts go pitter-patter with delight
The Mudd: We’re Not the British Library
What’s In a Name?
Everyone knows and loves Click & Clack, who are, thankfully, alive and well. But one of those who may have been an inspiration for their names is no longer with us. It was announced today that Werner Groebli, “Frick” of the comedy ice-skating team, Frick & Frack passed away on April 14 at the age of 92. The original Frack died in 1979, so the current Frack made the announcement.
The Mudd can help you repair your pre-1974 engine or learn how to figure skate, 1939-style.
LibraryThing!
LibraryThing is “an online service to help people catalog their books easily” and lots of people are using it — including some Lawrentians! If you’re a LibraryThing user, join the Lawrentians LibraryThing group and catalog your Freshman Studies books, your favorite 19th-century poets, or your entire library…
Neither Shaken Nor Stirred
After surviving a flood that ravaged the 4th floor, the Mudd narrowly escaped being flattened into heaping piles of concrete and fine Corinthian leather bindings by an earthquake that hit the Midwest early this morning . The Mudd’s solid 1974 construction made it impervious to Mother Nature’s puny swaggering, plus the fact that we’re approximately 475 miles from the epicenter may have been a contributing factor.
We can hardly wait until locust season.
Go Out For a Long, Cold One
If it hadn’t been for the guy born 110 years ago today, the town 25 miles to our northeast would be a port, a paper making hub and a gateway to Door County. But because Curly Lambeau and his friend George Calhoun casually struck up a conversation about football one day, Green Bay is a lot more. Thank him, thank the Indian Packing Company, and thank the citizens of Green Bay (the team owners) for sticking with the team through the tough years. Here’s to a new era.
We’ve got all kinds of books about the Packers in the Mudd.
Back the Tanker Up To the Burger King® – No One Will Notice
Today’s quiz: How many ways can you think of to legally transport edible grease? You can get take-out from KFC®. You can fail to wipe your hands before leaving a rib place. You can load yourself up with popcorn at a movie. But illegally transporting inedible grease takes some doing.
NPR reported this morning that a man in California was apprehended after being caught siphoning used cooking grease from in back of a Burger King®. He was charged with illegal transport of inedible grease, in violation of California Food and Agricultural Code, Section 19310-19317.
It’s a Gas
The CGA (Compressed Gas Association) Hydrogen Seminar is being held today at the Sacramento (CA) Convention Center. Try not to blurt out the obvious completion of this presentation topic as stated in the form of a question: “Hydrogen in your pocket.”
You won’t be surprised to learn Philip Glass composed a work with hydrogen in the title.
Crawl, Fly, Gallop Along – Nothing To See Here
We always knew those wacky British were animal-crazy, but we had no idea that passion extended to traffic control. On April 2, 1962, the “panda crossing,” a new style of pedestrian crossing was introduced in London, replacing the “zebra crossing.” It was quite simple, really:
“The panda crossing is activated when the pedestrian presses a button that lights up a “wait” sign. This results in a flashing amber light warning drivers to stop. After five seconds a pulsating red light tells the driver to stop and a ‘cross’ sign is illuminated indicating to the pedestrian that it is safe to cross the road. Eight seconds later the red light is replaced by a flashing amber light. At the same time the ‘cross’ sign begins to flash, at first slowly and then faster to warn the pedestrian that his time to cross the road is running out. After 17 seconds both lights are extinguished and the driver is free to drive on.”
The pandas were abandoned in 1969 in favor of the pelican crossing. But finally the high-tech puffin crossing was settled on. Stayed tuned. It is unlikely they will run out of black and white animals any time soon.
You know the Mudd has a book about crossing the street.
Marian the Librarian
Who is more multi-faceted than singer/actress Shirley Jones? She went from Academy Award-winner, playing a prostitute in Elmer Gantry, to the most wholesome of TV mothers on The Partridge Family. In between she portrayed Rodgers and Hammerstein heroines, solidified every stereotype of librarians in The Music Man and married both the suave Jack Cassidy and the goofy Marty Ingles. Had she stayed in Western Pennsylvania where she was born 74 years ago today, she might have ended up working in the family business, the Jones Brewery.
We’ve got her on video in Carousel, The Music Man and Oklahoma!