It’s National Boss Day! Unfortunately, the boss here at the Mudd is not at work today. But if he’s reading this, we’re starting out the day with calisthenics, then a quick shelf reading of the entire collection, followed by a rousing version of LU’s alma mater. Then lunch. This afternoon we’re re-arranging the reference books according to height and popularity, fixing the leak up on the 3rd floor and adding a coffee shop. If you don’t notice these changes when you get back, it’s because you were, uh, dropped into a parallel universe. Yeah, that’s it.
Crittercam, Vol. 2
He’s whimpering. He’s anxious. He can’t stay still. You hurry to the door and let him out. What dogs really do when they go outside.
Nietzsche is Pietzsche
Today marks the 163th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher extraordinaire and (who knew?) opera buff. He had definite opinions: Bizet, good; Wagner, bad. Of course, being a philosopher, he was a little more wordy than that. As quoted in his entry in Grove, the music in Carmen “is wicked, cunning, fatalistic: it remains at the same time popular … It is rich. It is precise. It constructs, organizes, finishes.” On the other hand, “Wagner’s art is sick.” Yikes.
If you’ve a hankering for the wicked and cunning, here’s Callas as Carmen. Sick art more your thing? How about a little Walküre with Kirsten Flagstad? Or read something by the man himself.
Surely You Remember Al Sinistra?
Everyone loves craigslist. You can procure just about anything: animal, vegetable, mineral, legal, illegal. We were intrigued by this posting. It’s a whole different world down there in the Southern Hemisphere. Or in Minnesota.
Imagine….John at 67
While not all of the Mudd staff believe that all “good” rock and roll ceased at the end of the ’60s, we would be remiss if we did not point out that today is the birth anniversary of John Lennon (you know, that Beatle guy…) John would have been 67 today.
Sharing today’s birthday is son Sean Ono Lennon, born on John’s 35th birthday, and turning 32 today.
Reading Scientific Papers
This “Quick Tutorial on Reading Scientific Papers” from the Purdue University Libraries is a great introduction to the how and why of scientific papers. Its avowed goal: “To make reading scientific papers as painless as possible.” What’s not to like about that?
2007 Ig Noble Prizes
” The 17th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony announced and introduced the ten new Ig Nobel Prize winners. The winners are traveling to the ceremony, at their own expense, from several continents. The Prizes will be handed to them by a group of genuine, genuinely bemused Nobel Laureates, all before a standing-room only audience of 1200 people.” This years prizes include:
Linguistics
A University of Barcelona team for showing that rats are unable to tell the difference between a person speaking Japanese backwards and somebody speaking Dutch backwards.
Economics
Kuo Cheng Hsieh of Taiwan for patenting a device that can catch bank robbers by dropping a net over them.
SCOWA-bunga!
Next week an important conference is taking place for people who stick cameras on wild animals. We think it’s called SCOWA. Scientists currently have a mania for seeing what wild animals REALLY do when we’re not looking: crows using tools, coyotes playing poker, that sort of thing. National Geographic has gotten into it with its Crittercam. NPR has a feature on the crows who, honest to gosh, use tools. As cameras get smaller, look for The Secret Life of Bacteria.
She Took a Little Piece of Our Hearts
On October 4, 1970, Janis Joplin committed her final act of self-destruction. At a time when women in popular music were folk singers (Mary Travers, Joan Baez,) flower children (Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips,) tightly coiffed and choreographed girl groups (The Supremes, Martha & the Vandellas) or singer-song writers (Carole King and Carly Simon,) a white, female blues singer was a stand-out. A year earlier on the “The Tonight Show” Johnny Carson asked her if she was going to her high school reunion. She smiled and said “Yeah. I’m goin’.” We hope she made it.
Watch her in action at Woodstock.
TV For Old People
Return with us again to the 1950’s and a most momentous day: on this day in 1955 both Captain Kangaroo AND The Mickey Mouse Club premiered on TV, the first on CBS, the second on ABC. This must have presented quite a problem for children with no DVR or TiVo®.
Those of you of a certain age will certainly remember:
Monday – Fun With Music Day
Tuesday – Guest Star Day
Wednesday – Anything Can Happen Day
Thursday – Circus Day
Friday – Talent Round-Up Day
And we must revisit SCTV for “Captain Combat”
Also premiering on Oct. 3:
“Father Knows Best” (1954, CBS)
“The Andy Griffith Show” (1960, CBS)
“The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961, CBS)