Erica undergoing a brief moment of Muppetface

Last week I spoke at OSCON Ignite, the evening entertainment bit of the O’Reilly Open Source Conference and the Google Awards.

Talks took the traditional Ignite format of five minutes, 20 slides. Slides auto-advance after 15 seconds, ready or not.

Speakers were encouraged to address their personal brand of geekery. I chose to talk about the Librarian Avengers Film Rating System, which addresses some movie metadata I’d like to see. Things like “This film contains a Creepy child Singing” and “Warning! Sylvester Stallone!”

OSCON Ignite is online at blip.tv here

My bit starts around (44:45), but stick around for the whole thing. Make sure to check out Kirrily’s talk on Geeky Things you can Do with Textiles, and Liz Henry talking about the barriers to wheelchair hacking.

The format kept everyone pithy, and although I had to speak before the amazing Damian Conway, I didn’t throw up from stage fright once!

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I went to see Children of Men today, which was fantastic, disturbing, hopeful, and cautionary. I cried a bit, but left not resenting the movie for making me sad.

Beforehand, we saw four trailers which ALL fell into the new Librarian Avengers Film Rating System. There was a Creepy Child Singing, Two Overly Patriotics, and a Jim
Carrey.

Beware.

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Movie ratings suck. “Rated R” doesn’t tell me anything I need to know.
I need to know if a movie contains cannibalism, synthesizers, or Jim Carrey.

I need a rating system that reflects the diversity of obstacles lurking in today’s cinema. Introducing…

	Rated A for Animal Gets Hurt
	Rated B for British Accent Faked by American
	Rated C for Creepy Child Singing
	Rated D for Dialog Written by Committee
	Rated E for Escape-in-front-of-a-fireball
	Rated F for Fun-filled Frolic for the Family
	Rated G for Grab-my-hand!
	Rated H for Heads chopped off/Hearts pulled out
	Rated I for Italian Stallion
	Rated J for Jim Carrey
	Rated K for Keyboard hacks Pentagon in two clicks
	Rated L for Lead Actors involved in Real-Life Romance rendering film unwatchable
	Rated M for Motiveless Villain
	Rated N for Natives
	Rated O for Overly Patriotic
	Rated P for Pacino Yelling
	Rated R for Remake of a Better Film
	Rated S for Scientific Content ≠ Reality
	Rated T for T&A
	Rated U for Un-ironic 80′s Soundtrack
	Rated V for Vehicle
	Rated W for Woody Allen as Romantic Lead
	Rated X for Xenu-Sponsored Script
	Rated Z for Zombies

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FOUR JOBS YOU’VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE
Historical Reenactor (1800s)
Historical Reenactor (Renaissance)
Waitress/Bartender (Dublin)
Designed a website for a group of Butterfly Researchers

FOUR MOVIES YOU WATCH OVER AND OVER
The Quiet Man
A Room With a View
The Commitments
Standing in the Shadows of Motown

FOUR CITIES YOU’VE LIVED IN
Flint, MI
East Lansing, MI
Dublin, Ireland
Ithaca, NY

FOUR TV-SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
The I.T. Crowd
Veronica Mars
Father Ted
Colbert Report

FOUR PLACES YOU’VE BEEN ON VACATION
Budapest, Hungary
Ada, Oklahoma
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Shepherdstown, West Virginia

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT OFTEN
Popgadget
Mimi Smartypants
Lifehacker
Cute Overload

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS
Fried wontons from the Cantonese Gourmet in Flint, MI
Anything from the Earthen Jar in Ann Arbor, MI
Obnoxious cheese
Beer

FOUR PLACES YOU’D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
Frank’s in Ann Arbor for Sunday breakfast, the newspaper, and friends
Sailboat in Georgian Bay, Ontario, getting sunburned and listening to the radio
In bed with the cat on my chest
In a canoe on Town Lake in Austin, TX with water moccasins

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You guys rule. Thanks for the comments and updates. I’m still sick. Here’s some replies to the kind souls who wrote yesterday…

Carisse: Hook ‘em horns! From what I hear, the philosophy department had one heck of a softball team.

Catrina: I totally agree. I’ve beendrinking pints of DeTox and Breathe Easy, with a side of Echinacia and Chamomile mint. Stupid Ralph left for the day, but his friend Vertiginous Vinnie stopped by this morning. Which means I’m typing this with my eyes closed as the keyboard spins rather disturbingly otherwise.

Cute Overload is the best. I refreshmonkey their feed regularly. Bunnies cure all.

Steve: Thanks! This flu is like a writing exercise. My lit professors always said that constraints catalyze creativity. I’d like to add that vomit volumizes verbosity.

Has your son experienced a traumatic event? His DVD behavior sounds like a cry for help. But then, I’m a girl. It could just be a call for boxing gloves and a little brother.

Meg: Eggs? Org. Perhaps I should rethink my question.

Seriously though, the new kitty nurses. Like, he sucks on things. Schlurp schlurp schlurp. He’s a big snoring baby with hairballs. Schlurp.

Also, hooray to your librarian destiny! Mine got beat up by my better-pay-as-a-user-advocate destiny. But librarianship is an identity, it’s larger than a single profession.

Linda: I have no idea what movie this is. The only thing I really miss by not having cable is the movie previews. Sometimes I remember to check the apple site, but mostly I just rely on word of mouth and Salon.com. This was good? I should watch it? Better than Ang Lee’s finest? Will I require insulin? Will they even play it here in the cinematic desert of Ithaca, NY?

All: My friend Kara has put up some of our photos from NYC and Paris on flickr if you wish to travel vicariously.

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Amid the body pain, sore throat, fever, and seal coughs, I’ve managed to keep myself entertained. Here’s how to beat a week-long flu using only a laptop, broadband, and some good over-the-counter drugs.

Web

• South Park character maker Version Two. Yes, I said version two. With even more hairstyles, weird hats, and weapons. Waste your holiday break the new-fashioned way!
• Download obscure mp3s from emusic.com, a DRM-free site that gives away 50 free downloads to get you hooked. Quite successfully, I might add. They have the entire Alternative Tentacles catalog, so you no longer have to fill out the little form in the back of your Dead Kennedys cassette tape.
• Facebook – Stalky stalky!
• Shoe sale at Amazon.com. Ann Klein boots are 65% off. I’m powerless against low-priced yet stylish footware.
• E-tarot cards. It’s so much more meaningful when you shuffle them with your mouse.
• My dad’s blog (caution: ham radio geekery)

Print

• New Universal – The latest comic by transmetropolitan genius Warren Ellis. The premise? In a slightly alternate world where Paul was killed instead of John and China owns the moon, individuals begin to spontaneously develop superpowers. Often with unhappy results.
• White Oleander – I grabbed this from the library book sale because it was well-reviewed, and I enjoyed it despite my friend Kara’s warnings. She has a point, the characters can be less than sympathetic. Still, I enjoyed the book’s authentic voice, and the author’s willingness to describe a young woman’s reaction to desperation and loneliness.
• Bitch Magazine – I’ve got a subscription. You should too. Give this to smart female patrons who haven’t yet tapped into the vibrant young feminist culture out there.

Video

• Invader Zim – Find and watch this. Kill if you must.
• The Tick – Mighty! I love Bi-Polar Bear.
• Battlestar Galactica – There is good acting and directing here, if you don’t mind the occasional robot army and Deus ex machina. Here’s a 44 minute recap to get caught up on the plot.
• Thank you for Smoking – I haven’t watched this yet, but I’ve got the Netflix envelope sitting on the coffee table. I’ll letcha know.
• Creature Comforts – Not sure if you know this or not but, the Wallace & Grommet folks have a show on the BBC called Creature Comforts. They interview people in Britain about random topics, and overlay their voices onto claymation animals. It’s rather wonderful.
• Loose Change – an independently-produced video exploring many of the unanswered questions about the events of 9/11. An interesting topic, and less frothing than most. (warning: do not watch while taking cold medicine, as you will be especially vulnerable to sad footage and will probably need to stop the film several times to blow your nose and cry)

Realia

• Cats – Preferably in a large pile, nesting around your head. Include one that doesn’t mind being used as a pillow.



• French cold medicine. Seriously? This stuff is fun. I can see my house from here.

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Good design can make anything wonderful. Even something as dreary as surge protectors. I came across these in my e-travels.

Belkin Clamp-On Surge Protector
I do grow so weary of crawling under my desk every day and messing up my chic outfit. No, I’m not reenacting scenes from Secretary. I work in a digital library. Gordian knots of power cables are part of my life.

But checkitout: this surge protector has a clamp on it so you can attach it to your desk, or another convenient surface. Finally, I can unplug the router with dignity.

The Power Squid is my friend. He is a squid-shaped surge protector. Instead of forcing you into unaccommodating rows, his noodely appendages absorb plugs of all shapes and sizes.

I plan on getting three of him: one for each office, and one for that damned outlet by the kitchen that only half-works, yet is so conveniently placed.

The Power Strip Liberator will save you from huge annoying black bricks that take over your power strip. Instead of letting those monsters take over three entire outlets, plug them into this doohickey and let ‘em loom menacingly somewhere else.

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Did you know that Katherine Hepburn and Spenser Tracey were in a Librarian movie together? Did you even know there were librarian movies? It’s called Desk Set, and we’re about halfway through watching it.

Desk Set somewhat unintentionally gives an interesting window into professional life for women in the late 1950′s. Apparently it involved lots of sexual harassment, patronization, and powerlessness. Oh, and trivia questions. Which is pretty cool.

We spend about ten minutes listening to Katherine Hepburn show off her black belt in historical and literary fact before her boyfriend (also her boss) lovingly tells her how stupid she is. In spite of the anachronisms, Hepburn’s character exudes competence, and it’s wonderful to watch a woman on film being unabashedly smart.

Like most pre-1980′s movies, it’s long and kind of slow. We got a bit bored, and will probably finish it later tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing the IBM “electronic brain” that is supposed to replace the reference department. I suspect it will involve lots of reel-to-reel tapes, blinking lights, and miraculous natural language processors.

Stay tuned.

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It’s sweeps week here at librarian enterprises, so here’s some links about anthropodermic bindings.

For those of you who were asleep during The History of Books and Printing, that’s books bound in human skin. Because if you intellectualize it, it’s not icky. (from boing boing)

Speaking of books bound in human skin, have you seen Peter Greenway’s film The Pillow Book? It’s one of my favorites. It’s about a woman’s obsession with writing on the human body, and understandably also, her obsession with Ewan McGregor’s schlong. Don’t watch during dinner, in spite of or perhaps because of Ewan McGregor’s schlong. Special collections librarians: Play this movie at your next SLA meeting!

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This movie, with its fantastic effects, original cinematography, and great directing has convinced me to forgive the franchise completely for all of those spiders in the second film.

Ok, I can’t restrain myself to one sentence. Believe it or not, I liked the latest Harry Potter movie even more than the book. For me, these days, the sign of a good action-adventure film is one with absolutely no Grab-my-hand scene, and very little Escape-in-front-of-the-fireball. There was one minor Escape-in-front-of-the-fireball incident, but since Harry’s butt caught fire in an amusing way, I choose to overlook it. There was lots of great, original stuff in this movie, and very little of the cliched crud that littered up the last few films.

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