Late nite music...with real Mexicans!

Moenia - Juegos de Amor




Love Juice? No that's jugo...nevermind...

Ceasar Chavez Day?! A legal Holiday! I can't believe this!

Before every legal holiday, we put up a sign in front of the circulation desk notifying our patrons of the upcoming day off. Being my second year as Bookstamper, I was hoping this year would be different. It hasn't been. I get to hear/see (mostly old White people) in sheer disbelief that Ceasar Chavez (I just call him Julio) have a legal holiday honoring him. So blatant. So pure. If you have hate in your heart, let it out! Today, an elderly White man just couldn't seem to control his emotions over Julio...letting every in the library know of his disgust. Your friendly neighborhood (soon-to-be) ex-Bookstamper simply looked at the man, smiled and said, yes.

Ceasar Chavez Day, which honors the legendary farm worker/civil rights leader, only gained legal holiday status a couple years ago. Every state in the union has legal holidays which are specific to their state. It is the only state holiday observed in California.

Here is an editorial against CC Day from the Bakersfield Californian:

Cut two state holidays

PUBLISHED 4-25-2005

State workers have a ho-ho lot of holidays. And Gov. Schwarzenegger rightly says it’s too many.

With California awash in red ink, the cost-cutting governor suggests state workers give up two of their 14 holidays. The move would save $17.6 million and put state government in line with most other government agencies and businesses.

On average, businesses give workers 11 paid holidays; city and county government employees have 12 days off; and federal employees have 10.

But legislators and agreeable governors have bowed to the wishes of public employee unions, granting an excessive number of state paid holidays. The most recent “gift” was the Cesar Chavez holiday, which leaves farmworkers toiling in the fields, while state workers get to rest.

California’s 200,000 state employees enjoy 13 official holidays and one floating paid personal day off. In addition to salary costs, the state must pay overtime to “essential” employees, such as California Highway Patrol officers, who are required to work on holidays — about $10 million for each holiday.

Which two holidays will be axed will be decided through collective bargaining. About half of the state employees’ contracts have or will expire this year, with the rest expire in 2006.

Now is the time to bring paid state holidays — and their costs — in line.

Since the issue was first debated in the California legislature, such arguments were/continue to be prevalent. This is kinda like adding North Korea in the Axis of Evil...you can't just come out against Julio alone--people would accuse you of all sorts of nefarious things. But you notice how only CC Day was mentioned by name.

Federal employees enjoy 10 legal holidays, here they are (2007):

Monday, January 1 New Year's Day

Monday, January 15 Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, February 19 Washington’s Birthday

Monday, May 28 Memorial Day

Wednesday, July 4 Independence Day

Monday, September 3 Labor Day

Monday, October 8 Columbus Day

Monday, November 12 Veterans Day

Thursday, November 22 Thanksgiving Day

Tuesday, December 25 Christmas Day

California government employees get an extra 2 days, which are:

Monday, March 26th Ceasar Chavez

Friday, November 23 Day after Thanksgiving

So we get our state holiday and the day after Thanksgiving...the day after giving thanks! Who doesn't have that day off?! (Besides retail ;)

So lets break this down. Almost everyone gets 2 weeks off (legal holidays--excluding weekends) + annual vacation (avg. 2 weeks) + weekends (96 days) = 116 days off a year! + paid sick leave. Americans sure are lazy! We get nearly a third (32%) of the year off! (Yes, yes, I know some of you retail/service sector folks work weekends but you still don't work more than 40hrs a week!).

School kids enjoy even more--in addition to the federal legal holidays and extended winter/spring/summer breaks, the Los Angeles Unified School District for example even gives students a day off for a Jewish holiday, not to mention Pupil Free Days and Unassigned Days (whatever those are). Teachers get way too much time off!

Let's not forget those pesky Bankers/Tellers! They get all these holidays off as well!

Congressmen/Senators/other elected officials work like 4 months out of the year!

Yet there continues to be this perception among some folks that government employees above all, get all the perks. That they have it good. This my friends is nonsencicalization to the extreme. The perks, few as they are--simply reflect the fact that government employees by and large get lousy pay--even for jobs that carry tremendous responsibility...oh, like being a city planner. Or a teacher!

I just can't find anything wrong with honoring the most important Latino in the history of the country. And in a state like ours, whose agriculture feeds much of the country...plus we get the day off ;)

They even gave him his own stamp! The horror! And it works in 50 states!

Ceasar Chavez Day
March, 30th 2007

Public Libraries are closed. The branch re-opens @ 12:00 Tuesday. The book drops are always open.

Links:

Wikipedia's Ceasar Chavez
PBS Documentary: The Fight In The Fields
United Farm Workers (UFW)

Wikipedia's list of Public Holidays here.

P.S. I can't wait for Sadie Hawkins Day! Speak to me someone...just speak to me now.

Don't talk a different language 'a', talk our language, so we can listen to you...

Ahh...Spring is in the air...

So I just spent the past 3 hrs of my life on YouTube. Now, since our friends at Viacom (among others) are suing Google for copyright infringement, a lot of my favorite videos are no longer available. So we're left with endless (mostly idiotic) amateur home video/digi cam/cellphone clips.

Searching for Rappin 4 Tay, I came across what could best be described as gang-montages--photographs of homeboys/gang 'lifestyle' edited together using cheesy video creator software that generates a screen saver type clip--complete with background music as the photos fade in-out. It started off with gangs from Northern Cali and ended in this disturbing clip from L.A.--where else? What's even more disturbing is the reaction of the people watching/filming. And the posted comments for these videos are no less sickening--hell, the only place one can find more hateful comments are on right-wing blogs!



The line about using our language so that we can listen...profound.

Arab. Muslim. Country Singer?!

Maybe, just maybe we can avoid a Clash of Civilizations...I discovered (by way of Eteraz.org) this Egyptian-American, Southerner who just so happens to be a country singer. Yes, I'm serious. His name is Kareem Salama. His bio says that he was born/raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma. Now, I don't care much for country music but this sounds pretty damn good to me. Visit his site, it's got an embedded media player that will automatically start playing the tunes. Stand out track is Baby I'm a Soldier. I can honestly say that I've seen/heard it all now.

Say...do you have any Arab, Muslim Country music in your collection?

Late nite music with The Pippetes...

Judy


Your kisses are wasted on me



Caught the tail end of their gig tonight (they opened up for some next big thing band called the Fratellis, whatever ;). First time I heard of them. Good tunes. Eye candy. Polka dots. I like the brunette, Rose. She's special. What more could a Bookstamper ask for?

They are so a Rodney On The Roq band...speaking of which, The Mayor of the Sunset Strip even got his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame this week. Godhead.

Go Spartans! Yea! Or...Modern Orientalist Film Making 101

Mysterious. Fierce. Formidable. Spartans are among the most enigmatic cultures in history. Taught never to retreat, never to surrender, they are the perfect warriors. "The Spartans remain a mystery to everybody," says Frank Miller, who wrote the graphic novel 300 which inspired the film. "They are arguably unique in that they are completely a battle culture, absolutely dedicated to warfare. They have a code of honor on what it means to be Spartan, and out of that arises a heroic class like the world has never seen before." (From the films Production Notes)

Saw 300 tonight with some friends--the film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel about the battle of Thermopylae. Here's what I learned...

Spartans possess superhuman traits/abilities/strengths. A kind of Jedi of antiquity if you will. Spartans are of course White, muscular--with abs that would make Leisa Hart blush. Spartans rarely died--when they did, they died in the most honorable and heroic fashion. Spartans posses only their shields, pikes and an occasional knife/sword of sorts. Spartan savagery/excesses are always justified (we'll gloss over the baby tossing thing..)--because freedom is not free we are told (who writes this stuff?! Is Mr. Frum writing Hollywood screenplays now?!). Spartans fight for truth, justice and the Sparta way. And reason of course. Spartan ideology is a self serving mix of idealism, nationalism, patriotism, militancy, and authoritarianism (rather undemocratic really, with no room for dissent or the state's institutions). For Sparta! (And no place else!)

Persians (barbarians from the East) on the other hand possess no real redeemable traits--culturally or psychically for that matter. Easterners are a hideous, deformed, mutilated, degenerate lot led by a lanky, sexually ambiguous, pierced, megalomaniacal, [peculiarly] African looking fellow! Adorned in heavy jewels and gold, he even had a slight lisp! Sweetie. The antithesis of the hyper masculinity of a Spartan. Persians all die miserably, mercilessly, humiliatingly. Persians use arrows/bombs/spears/monsters. For the Empire!

At one point in the film, we couldn't contain our laughter, I don't even think the scene was meant to be humorous, but for some reason the monolithic Eastern hordes had in their possession a wide array of Jurassic era creatures to be used in their conquests--one after the other managed to fall off a cliff fighting the Spartans. This bizarre sequence where small groups of Easterners would meet their dooms by fighting the Spartans on a narrow cliff. The Easterners even had a Goliath-like monster on their side (chains and shackles removed only for battle!). I rolled my eyes at the depiction of rank stupidity of the Eastern armies and rolled them twice at the rank absurdity of the "speeches" in the film. Hell, at one point I was seriously expecting our intrepid Spartan leader--King Leonidas to yell out Semper Fi! The script seemed like it was written by one of Bush's speech writers. Then we have the blatant biblical imagery--David & Goliath and the Christ-like death pose of the Spartan King covered in the empire's arrows for the final frame of the film. Visually stunning but ultimately quite nauseating. I digress...perhaps we shouldn't read too much into this film and simply take it as good old-fashioned violent, stupid entertainment. Given the current state of the world today however, one cannot easily overlook the overtly political themes/messages in the film.

Clearly, the goal was to identify with the protagonist Sparta, as my fellow moviegoers did--booing, cheering, and hissing on queue. Frightening...perhaps the underlying point of the movie escaped them, which is simply that people do not like to submit to foreign domination...interesting...people will resist the hegemonic/occupying power...people really don't like to be occupied! But we're the Sparta right?

Okay...it's late, I did get to see some bare ass...so I should get off my high camel...

I'll end with this...it's a take on a joke I read on a t-shirt, referencing the events of WWII...

Say what you will about the [Spartans]...they sure killed a lot of [Persians].

Sports Illustrated withholds Swinsuit Issue from libraries...

It's true. And I for one am glad. Who on earth would want to see a magazine featuring bikini clad babes in the library?! Creeps. I'll stick to the erotic photography section thank you (thats in the 720's for you Dewey freaks). Or check in 612's (good stuff there). Plus, I'd rather read about the 100 Ways To Please Your Man in the new Cosmopolitan (near the SI section).

From L.A. Times:

Library patrons can check out books, but they can't check out the models in Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue.

A magazine spokesman confirmed Thursday that the Time Warner Inc. publication withheld shipment of the Feb. 14 issue to libraries and schools after years of taking heat from critics who said the issue had become too risque.

"In the past, we have gotten lots of feedback from parents, teachers and librarians about the content possibly not being appropriate for children," spokesman Rick McCabe said.

Since 1964, Sports Illustrated has departed from its usual diet of athletics to feature women in swimwear that grows increasingly skimpy. This year's version features a cover photo of "Dreamgirls" star Beyonce Knowles.

The magazine informs subscribers they can opt out of the swimsuit issue by contacting the customer service department, and about 1%, or 30,000 readers, do so, McCabe said. Those who didn't receive the issue will have their subscriptions extended by one week, McCabe said.

Lynne Weaver, serials coordinator at Virginia's Randolph-Macon Woman's College library, said "everybody's furious" that the school had no say on whether it could receive the swimsuit issue even though the all-female student body isn't exactly the magazine's target audience. "If for any reason we would choose not to get an issue, that's up to us," she said.

None of the 72 Los Angeles Public Library branches have the issue, which is popular among patrons, spokesman Peter Persic said.

Librarians calling the magazine to ask why they hadn't received the issue heard many explanations, including that someone from their institution had specifically requested not to receive it or that the magazine had run out of copies, said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Assn.'s Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Caldwell-Stone said that denying the issue to all public libraries set a dangerous precedent.

"It doesn't take much to complain that something else is inappropriate for another reason, whether it be politics, morality or another viewpoint," she said. "This is an intellectual freedom issue when we have a corporation deciding what people can read."

Who the heck can parlevouz a cow?

Nora Bayes (1912)
Wikipedia

Only the Bookstamper can go from Mac DRE lyrics to Post WWI pop music.

I discovered this tune recently and can't seem to get it out of my head. Written post WWI by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis with music by Walter Donaldson, published in 1918. It was wildly popular apparently and was performed by an eclectic mix of singers at the time. My favorite version was performed by Nora Bayes, whose voice was...well..special. Also, her lyrics are slightly different from the "official" lyrics as are Harry Fay's who replaces Broadway with Piccadilly. Ms. Bayes: "Who the deuce can parlevouz a cow" is sung as "who the heck can parlevouz a cow". She even adds a "woo!" after one verse. Heck, that's just plain vulgar.

Amazon has a sample of Nora Bayes' version here.

Click here to hear it performed by Harry Fay in 1919. (long sample)

Returning from World War I, after time off in Paris, many soldiers found that raking and plowing back home on the farm was a bit dull. This arrangement comes with authentic sounding barnyard serenades -- but no smells. The movie, For Me and My Gal, with Judy Garland and Gene Kelly, featured this number.

How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm
(After They've Seen Paree)

Reuben, Reuben, I've been thinking
Said his wifey dear
Now that all is peaceful and calm
The boys will soon be back on the farm
Mister Reuben started winking and slowly rubbed his chin
He pulled his chair up close to mother
And he asked her with a grin

Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
They'll never want to see a rake or plow
And who the deuce can parleyvous a cow?
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'

Rueben, Rueben, you're mistaken
Said his wifey dear
Once a farmer, always a jay
And farmers always stick to the hay
Mother Reuben, I'm not fakin
Tho you may think it strange
But wine and women play the mischief
With a boy who's loose with change

Chorus (sung twice after each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa
He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA!
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'?

Late nite poetry from Vallejo, CA

Mac DRE from Young Black Brotha:

To talk bad about suckers, I don't like the fools...

Playin' the game like it's supposed to be played
Makin' much more than the minimum wage
Not a pimp daddy, don't drive a Caddy
I just mack and get all that babby.

Ghost ride the whip. Ghost ride the whip. I wonder if Shakespeare could figure out what ghost riding the whip entails...

Late nite music...modern rock!

Wire Train - Chamber of Hellos (circa 1985)



This is so new wave...remember when they called it Modern Rock?! Wish there was an "official" video of this song...

An actual conversation...or...how I know you still live with your mom

Bookstamper: [phone rings...t-mobile jingle] Bueno!

Fat Friend: Guess who died today?

Bookstamper: [thinking...celebrity, Emmanuel Lewis, musician, Cheney] Um, I don't know, who?

Fat Friend: He died like a punk...

Bookstamper: [thinking...oh no! who could it be, this is serious] Who?!

Fat Friend: The Captain

Bookstamper: The Skipper? The Skipper's been dead for years...

Fat Friend: They killed Captain America today!

Bookstamper: Oh.

Fat Friend: Yea.

Bookstamper: Who the hell still reads Captain America?

Fat Friend: There are two alternate [variant] covers, one cheesy one and one cool one. No one knew he was gonna die. They are going for $50 on eBay already. They are sold out everywhere. I went to three different places.

Bookstamper: Really. How many do you have?

Fat Friend: Three--two cool covers & one cheesy one.

Bookstamper: How did he die?

Fat Friend: Shot in the back of the head. Like a punk. As he left the courthouse--shackled, a sniper shot him.

Bookstamper: People still read Captain America?

Fat Friend: So you wanna go tonight?

Bookstamper: After work...loser.



From Yahoo (AP):

The superhero was spawned when a scrawny arts student named Steve Rogers, ineligible for the army because of his poor health but eager to serve his country, agreed to a "Super Soldier Serum" injection. The substance made him a paragon of physical perfection, armed only with his shield, his strength, his smarts and a command of martial arts.

Police: Man Accused Of Theft, Burglary Caught With How-To Book

Investigators said when they searched his apartment, one piece of evidence stood out. They said they found a book from the Molalla Public Library called “Money For Nothing: Ten Great Ways To Make Money Illegally.”

MacNab claimed the book was just a bad coincidence.

“It was supposed to be a DVD Nicholas Cage movie called ‘Money For Nothing,’” said MacNab. “You can check them out online and reserve them. I reserved the wrong thing.”

Knowledge is power...I like the way this guy thinks--when in doubt, blame Nic Cage.

Largest library closure in U.S. looms

From San Francisco Chronicle:

The 15 libraries serving this rural forest community lost $7 million in federal funding this year -- nearly 80 percent of the system's budget.

Now, not long after all 15 branches were rebuilt or remodeled, every one will be shuttered in what's being called the largest library shutdown in the United States. The crisis in southern Oregon can be traced not only to changing funding priorities on Capitol Hill, but also to crooked railroad deals in the Wild West, a spotted owl and a shrinking timber harvest.

Struggling library systems have come close to extinction in Salinas, Merced County and Niagara Falls, N.Y., but they pulled back from the brink, said Leonard Kniffel, editor of American Libraries magazine.

Nothing, he said, compares to the scope and severity of the pending closure in Jackson County, where about 100 library employees will be laid off....

"I wish we could call FEMA; this feels like a natural disaster to me," said Ted Stark, interim library director for Jackson County.

"Libraries are so much more than just libraries in rural areas. This is where all the town meetings are held, where all the kids come after school, where everything -- everything -- happens," he said. Indeed, today;s libraries have evolved from merely loaning out books to providing Internet access, reading hour for babies, community meeting centers and art galleries.

Dewey Decimal System Helpless To Categorize New Jim Belushi Book

From The Onion:

DUBLIN, OH—Members of the OCLC Online Computer Library Center’s Editorial Policy Committee, which oversees the Dewey Decimal System library classification system, were no closer Monday to assigning a definitive call number to the recently published Jim Belushi book Real Men Don’t Apologize. "With all due respect to the author, we remain unsure how to categorize this particular work," said committee chair Leslie Buncombe, who, despite repeated readings, still wasn’t sure if Real Men was "an actual book." "What is it? Autobiography? Self-help? We can’t even tell if it’s fiction or nonfiction," Added Buncombe: "Too bad it can’t be shelved by its ISBN number. Maybe it’s Fantasy Biography? I don’t even think there’s a code for that." If no decision is reached within the week, librarians may be forced to shelve it in the "phantom zone" between Jenny McCarthy’s book of marriage tips and novels in which a cat helps solve a mystery.

Unlucky Scrotum

Susan Patron, LAPL Librarian & recent winner of the prestigious Newberry Award (for most distinguished book for children 2007), The Higher Power of Lucky, responds to her critics in an LA Times op-ed piece for the use of the word scrotum beginning on the first page of the book.

WHY HAS ONE WORD, "scrotum," generated such controversy and heated debate over my book, "The Higher Power of Lucky"? Lucky, the protagonist, overhears the word on the first page, doesn't know what it means, and wonders — but there's no one she can trust enough to ask about it. The tiny town of Hard Pan, Calif., hasn't many resources for a curious, vulnerable 10-year-old trying to figure out how the world works.

The problem with "scrotum," evidently, is discomfort among adults who do not wish to see references to body parts in children's literature. Also, fear of giggling. What if the teacher or librarian loses control of a class of kids, however briefly, while reading the book aloud? Even the (ludicrous) specter of a lawsuit over sexual harassment has been raised!

I will say one thing after reading Lucky, it did seem much more mature than the recommended age on the inside flap...at least to me anyway. While I don't find it particularly inappropriate, it just seemed odd for a 3rd grader...but what do I know. I would've used the word balls. The Higher Power of Balls. Hey, that's not bad...credit me please if you are going to use it. Thanks. I am obviously biased though...can't really criticize of of our own now can we?

P.S. As mentioned before, we do not have a copy of the book at our branch...I don't make these decisions ;)

Late nite comedy...

You know, there is something really masculine about having some poor immigrant woman cut your toe nails...you really do feel like a man.