Head Tale
Yet Another Librarian's Blog
Music Monday – “They’re singing deck the halls/But it’s not like Christmas at all/I remember when you were here/All the fun we had last year”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, noted curmudgeonly TV host, David Letterman hates Christmas music.
But each year, he makes an exception for Darlene Love’s version of “It’s Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” which he featured on his talk show with a four piece backing band in his earliest years…
…and which has grown over the years to a full orchestral production. This year’s performance has extra poignancy with Letterman’s impending retirement.
(In Reddit parlance, both of these clips gives me Frisson.)
“It’s Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love
Saturday Snap – She Really Likes Cookies
I wouldn’t recommend letting kids play around the stove normally.
But it was pretty cute when Shea turned the oven light on to show Sasha the baking cookies and Sasha spontaneously kissed the glass!
Defending Corner Gas
An essay explaining how both “Corner Gas” the TV show and now the movie reflect the best of Canada:
In fact the entire movie, about a tiny town going bankrupt, is really about how we, in Canada, react to crisis. It’s about us at our best and worst. The humour is absurdist, never mean-spirited. The look and feel of Corner Gas, the show, the movie, is distinct from U.S. comedy – it feels Canadian, without everyone talking about being in Canada, and there’s genius in that.
Music Monday – “Oh Holy Night” (Ouch!)
Another Christmas classic…
“Oh Holy Night” – Eric Cartman
Why Librarians Defend The Right To Watch Porn at the Library
This is a great article on an important topic but my short answer is this:
“Beyond limits set by the existing laws of the land, no one should have right to tell anyone else what they can read/watch/listen to. Period.”
To expand on this a bit…
I’ve seen patrons watching things that are a lot more offensive than porn (to me anyhow) in public libraries – everything from beheading videos to videos of deer being gutted (more disgusting than offensive) to sexist rap videos.
And I’m rational enough to realise that just as patrons will have various reasons for watching any of those other types of videos, it’s not part of my job to make judgements about their information seeking behaviours. In fact, it’s the opposite – my job is to facilitate access to information – whatever that information might be.
As is pointed out in the article, that lack of judgement at the public library may be the only place a patron finds that – for example, a closeted homosexual teen in a conservative small town.
Anyhow, this is a topic that regularly bubbles up in public libraries and it’s a shame that there seems to be a growing trend of libraries/librarians caving on the subject by installing filters (which often don’t work) or developing poorly worded Internet access policies.