Librarian's Rant

Woman called today asking what was primarily used to wrap store-bought bread before plastic wrappers came into common use. Specifically she wanted to know what was used in the 50's.

Waxed paper wrappers, in case you were interested. The 'tipping point' seems to have been around 1966, according to several sources, though plastic bags for sandwiches arrived in the 50's.

This is why I love my job. Something new every day.

So I'm noodling around del.icio.us trying to get an answer to a technical question and I run across the following:

For the record, I'm pissed that Stargate is being cancelled just as they add both Ben Browder and Claudia Black full time. They rock my world. But that's a geek rant for another time.

Seems the postage rates are going up AGAIN - 41 cents for a standard first-class letter. Effective May 14, 2007. It's been less than 18 months since the last increase! I know cuz I still have 37 cent stamps I bought for Xmas cards in '05, which I ended up not having time to send. I had to buy a ton of those 2 cent upgrades. Now I'll need to get even more, cuz I also bought a bunch of 39 cent stamps recently (I really like those superhero stamps!). Bah!

I got an email from my friend Laura with a query:

[My 13yo daughter] and I have been trying to find a magazine she feels like reading. She gets the kids' version of National Geographic (for the animals, mostly), but hasn't been able to find anything with actual articles aimed at girls her age. Apparently, girls under the age of 10 are supposed to be encouraged to have brains and to read (and write) and think. Once they turn 10, they are not supposed to read anything else until they hit puberty, at which point they are to read only about boys, sex, hair, clothes, makeup, and pop stars and are not supposed to write or think about anything substantial again until they are well into their late twenties. At that point, intelligent thoughts are permitted to occur as long as they are kept under the guise of boys/men, sex, hair, clothes, makeup, (older) pop stars, children, etc. [emphasis mine]

I couldn't agree more about the sad state of young women's periodicals. We did come up with a few suggestions - New Moon for the younger set, Teen Ink for budding writers - but the field is paltry, especially considering the huge array for adults. My friend Katie and I agree that what they need is Bust for teens. In fact, I plan to get Laura a subscription to Bust in hopes that she'll cut out the teen-appropriate articles (there are some) and give them to her daughter to read. This kid is way too smart and funny and curious to be stuffed in some publishing niche market.

It got me thinking about when I was thirteen. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in boys, it was that I was interested in them as people, not just weird sticky, stinky Ken dolls. It wasn't so much "ooh! boys! tee hee!" as "oh, boys, yeah, they're my friends. And I like to kiss them. Narf!*" And there was literally NO magazine that even came close to talking like that. No books, either, except some Paula Danziger. Clearly that hasn't changed much in the periodical market.

[*I'm not sure I actually used the term "narf", as Pinky and the Brain had not yet arrived, but I did watch Dangermouse, so it's possible I said something like "Crumbs, chief!" But I digress...often.]

Seems the Attorney General may be next on Bush's chopping block. He's terribly loyal...until you make him look bad. Then you're outta there! Unless you're Cheney. But he knows where the bodies are buried, presumably.

You just know it: Viacom Sues YouTube Over Copyright

Thanks to Rita on the LU list for the link.

Divorcing man saws house in half

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chainsawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.

Police in the eastern town of Sonneberg said on Friday the trained mason measured the single-storey summer house -- which was some 8 meters (26 feet) long and 6 meters wide -- before chainsawing through the wooden roof and walls.

"The man said he was just taking his due," said a police spokesman. "But I don't think his wife was too pleased."

After finishing the job, the man picked up his half with the forklift truck and drove to his brother's house where he has since been staying.

Thanks to AmyM for the, er, POV.

I've been asking this for YEARS, but still don't have an answer. Discover magazine provides something like one: Dude, Where's My Jetpack?

Thanks to Katie for the link.

From Library Journal online:

Sports Illustrated Withholds Swimsuit Issue from Libraries, Schools

In an unannounced policy change that already has librarians fuming, Sports Illustrated (SI) decided this year to withhold copies of its risque annual swimsuit issue from classrooms and libraries. SI spokesman Rick McCabe acknowledged to LJ that publisher TIME, Inc., neither offered to let libraries opt out of receiving the issue nor announced it beforehand. Though reader mail doesn't indicate that the issue is any racier than before, McCabe gave this explanation: "Over the course of time, we've received feedback from some of those institutions saying it wouldn't be an acceptable thing for them to have or to share with their constituents, and the decision was made that this was one way to hopefully alleviate that issue."

Nor was the publisher able to differentiate among academic libraries, public libraries, and school libraries. "It's done as a block," McCabe said. Those institutions that didn't receive an issue can request it either through a toll-free customer-service number or the web site, he said; already some have done so through their serials vendor. While libraries of all types have suffered from the "Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue disappearance syndrome" and thus kept the issue behind the desk, that doesn't mean librarians wanted SI to stop sending it. Writing on the SERIALST electronic discussion list, Lynne Weaver of Randolph-Macon Woman's College reported that her customer service representative told her that the publisher decided it was inappropriate to send to "institutions." She observed, "It seems to me that if one has a subscription to a title, all issues for that subscription period should be sent. It is up to the recipient to decide what to do with the issue once it is received."

I guess my first question (well, second question, but the first is rude) is: will they be refunding libraries for whatever percent of their subscription cost the swimsuit issue comprises? If not, could they be in violation of the agreement assumed when we purchase a subscription (e.g. we are paying X dollars for X number of issues in X time)?

UPDATE: I gather SI is extending affected subscriptions by one issue, but...all of their advertising says "Purchase Sports Illustrated for one year, including our famous swimsuit issue". My question remains - is this what we paid for?

The fact that over the counter sales of the swimsuit issue basically pay for the rest of the year is irrelevant.

An amusing anecdote: about 5 years ago I had a young woman ask, the day after the swimsuit issue came out, if we had it. Without blinking an eye I said we should be receiving it, yes. She then offered (I didn't ask, I swear!) the information that she wanted it...because she was writing a thesis on the objectification of women, and the swimsuit issue was a focus of her theme. Talk about your legitimate educational uses!

Me? I just like to play the "guess the airbrushed bits" game.

My buddy Michael just got a new job, moved to a new state, got a new place, etc. So I got him a gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond. He got hisself a wicked cool new coffeemaker. Very sexy!

When I access my Yahoo! Mail, it shows current headlines. This one caught my eye and had me chortling:

Swiss accidentally invade Liechtenstein

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

The Glenlivet Society will donate money to charity if you display the tartan and show your knees on Wear a Kilt To Work Day, April 5th. Men only, I'm afraid.