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Ring Those Phones!

It's Telemiracle Weekend in Saskatchewan.  This is an annual telethon, run by the province's Kinsmen Clubs,  that's been held for the past 31 years in the province and which holds the Guinness World Record for most money raised per capita by a particular province/state/region. 

Since the turn of this century, Saskatchewan's one million people have regularly raised over $3 million dollars for this telethon (or about $3 for every man, woman and child in the province.)  In 31 years, over $68 million has been raised in total. 

The one-year record is $3.5 million but it's looking like they're on pace to beat that this year with $3 million raised so far and just over three hours and to go (also knowing they often hold large bequests to the last minute's of the show for maximum impact.) 

[Edit 2:00pm: They just jumped to $3.3 million and still three hours to go!]
[Edit 2:15pm: Wow – record broken.  They just announced a $500 000 bequest from a Milestone farmer who passed away this year.  That's $3.8 million and still two and three quarter hours to go!  Wow.  $4 million is within reach and would obliterate the old record. Not that it's about the record but wow!  Hmm, and it's not about this either but I wonder what the all-time record for a single donation is?]
[Edit 2:30pm: $3.98 million with two and a half hours to go.  This is actually kind of insane.  I've watched Telemiracle all my life and never seen jumps like this so early in the afternoon.]
[Edit 3:30pm: $4.5 million after a $396 000 bequest, again from another farmer who passed away this year.  And still an hour and a half to go.
[Edit: 4:11pm: $4.9 million]
[Edit: 4:20pm: $5.0 million!  Somebody call Guinness – we need an update!]
[Edit: 4:30pm: Another $200 000 bequest and they're up to $5.37 million!  Half an hour to go…]
[Edit: 4:48pm: $5.481 million with ten minutes to go!  Will they hit $5.5?  I'm guessing yes!
[Edit: 4:58pm – $5.6 million as the final posted total.  “With A Little Help From My Friends” sung by the assembled cast.  This has been unreal!  What a reflection of the optimism, the volunteerism and the caring, cooperative spirit of this province.]

If you're from Saskatchewan, you know that the show is an institution, in some ways a bit hokey and low-rent (I love the frequent typos in the names of common Saskatchewan place names on the crawl at the bottom of the screen) but also providing an immense sense of pride as the one thing people across the province rally around like nothing else (well, loving the Roughriders and hating the weather are up there too! )

I'm sure satellite television has had a big impact as people from across Canada, ex-pats and others, can watch and donate online.  (There's that low-rent thing again though – no streaming video of the show seems like a huge oversight in this day and age.)

Here's a clip from last year's show (including a donation of $88.06 from the John Archer Library at the U of R on the crawl at 1:09.)


Posted 04 March 2007 § Main Page § Saskatchewan § Video ‡ Comments (0) °

FTRW 2007 – Day 7 – An Overview of Canadian Book Challenges in 2006

Here's something that was posted to the Canadian Library Association mailing list this week that's a fitting way to end my week of FTRW posts: the results of the CLA’s Advisory Committee on
Intellectual Freedom’s web survey titled “Tracking Challenged Resources in Canadian Libraries” (PDF) for the year 2006.

This
report doesn’t include every instance of book challenges in Canada last
year but does give a good overview of some of the types of materials
that get challenged, the reasons why and the response of and/or actions
taken by the reporting library.

Thanks to Toni Samek, who is chair of that committee, for giving me permission to post this document.

Posted 04 March 2007 § Censorship § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

"Perhaps You Will Become A Saint For A Child To Meet"

“A sappy woman sent me a letter a few years back. She knew I was sappy, too, which is to say a lifelong northern Democrat in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt mode, a friend of the working stiffs. She was about to have a baby, not mine, and wished to know if it was a bad thing to bring such a sweet and innocent creature into a world as bad as this one is. I replied that what made being alive almost worthwhile for me, besides music, was all the saints I met, who could be anywhere. By saints I meant people who behaved decently in a strikingly indecent society. Perhaps some of you are or will become saints for her child to meet.”
– Knowing What’s Nice – Kurt Vonnegut Jr,

Posted 03 March 2007 § Baby § Main Page § Politics § PopCulture ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged: ,

Job Hunt Update

I've been fairly restrained (at least by my standards) in talking about my job hunt on this blog  because I wanted to keep these details fairly low key for a variety of reasons, not least because I know that more and more employers do web searches for potential employers and you never know what might turn them off or change their mind, especially if you're blabbing every interview question they ask you or talking about them as potential employers.

I'm not hiding
the fact that I have a blog (why would I?) in interviews if it comes up
so I know I've told at couple potential employers about my blog – one I just mentioned it in passing and one I gave the web URL as we were talking about the potential of Web 2.0 technologies like blogs in library settings.  


You never know what might offend them or change their mind as I said but I'm also the guy who just did a post about FTRW which included two of the most offensive words in our society unc*ns*r*d.  But then again, if an honest discussion on a topic like this offends a potential employer, it's probably not a place I want to work anyhow. 

So anyway, enough people have been asking me how it's going that I thought a fairly generalized update wouldn't hurt. 

(Obvious disclaimer: all of these thoughts and observations apply to my own situation.  Yours will very likely be completely different.)

Let's see – things were pretty slow at first, to the point that I went back to my “When Is The Best Time To Start at FIMS?” entry and added something about the time you finish being a factor as well.  “Be aware: if you convocate at Christmas, you might not see a job posting, let alone get an interview for a month or two.” 

It picked up in the last few weeks and I'm now at a point where I'm at various points in the interview process for four different jobs including one firm offer and one informal offer.  I've been upfront with all that I'm interviewing for a few different positions and all have been very understanding about my desire to hear from each one as to whether they're making an offer or not before I make a choice as I want to make the best possible decision I can obviously. 

For a guy who talked non-stop about his desire to work in public libraries for all of last year, it's going to be a much tougher decision than I ever imagined, even though only two of the positions are in public libraries while one is academic and one is government.  In fact, none is a clear front-runner in my mind right now and the thought of which one I would pick literally changes from hour to hour.  (When I got the dreaded “What are your weaknesses?” question in one interview, I could have easily answered that I can be indecisive when faced with hard decisions.)

Each jobs has advantages and disadvantages – some pay more, some have better hours, some have better benefits, some have more holidays, some have parking (seems like a small thing but it's one of those things you have to consider – not having parking is another $50-70/month in the budget.).  Some have more interaction with the public, some are more office based.  Probably another silly thing to factor into the decision but some would give you a real office, some would have you in a cubicle.  Some have a broad scope that would be incredibly challenging.  One would have had me start today if I could, one doesn't start for another couple months.  One is outside Regina.  Some are fairly independent or part of a small workforce, some are working as part of a large team with over a dozen other employees.  Some have supervisory roles.  Some require travel.  Some are very supportive of professional development.  One is an eighteen month contract rather than full-time permanent.  None have a dress code (beyond “dress professionally”) at least that I was told about.  (I didn't ask but this is another issue for me – I've always had an aversion to ties and if pressed, I'll say it's because I'm clautrophobic and will produce a doctor's note to that effect.  )  I think all said they were willing to give me time off around when the baby is born which was great as that will be a major part of my decision. 

So anyhow, it's getting closer and I would expect to have a final decision in a week or two.  Stay tuned…

(Slightly off-topic but what did all of you do with your degrees?  Mine arrived yesterday and it's a non-standard size – 17″x11″ – so I'm thinking I'll probably have to get it custom framed.  Damn UWO – costing me extra money one last time!)

Posted 03 March 2007 § Jobs § Main Page ‡ Comments (6) °

Friday Fun Link – Conservapedia (March 2, 2007)

The son of conservative icon, Phyllis Schlafly, Andrew Schlafly has
set-up a conservative alternative to the “liberal-biased” Wikipedia
called “Conservapedia“.

(via MetaFilter which includes some of the funnier excerpts from the site.)

Posted 03 March 2007 § FridayFunLink § Internet § Main Page § Politics ‡ Comments (4) °

FTRW 2007 – Day 6 – "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

As a bit of a follow-up to yesterday's FTRW post about an attempt to ban “Fahrenheit 451” in Texas last fall, here's an earlier essay by Ray Bradbury, on various attempts to censor his work over the years. 

In other news, my appearance on the “Book Chick” radio show a couple nights ago talking about FTRW was great fun and not just because I managed to say “scrotum” a couple times as well as “nut sack” at least once!   Podcast hopefully to follow in the next few weeks.

Some of our discussion during the show inspired me enough to go back and add a couple more points to my list of “What Freedom to Read Week is not”, especially since she's probably going to have a chat with the manager since I said “nut sack” on the air and, whether you agree or not, there are restrictions on your freedom of expression including what can be said during the daytime hours on a Canadian radio station (neither of us were sure if “nut sack” crossed the line or not.) 

The “Book Chick” radio show is a legacy of an SPG program called “Sask Books Go Public” that the Book Chick started and I took over for a few months in 2005 when she was on maternity leave.  There was some controversy when she started it because the station obviously has their regulations and yet, by booking authors (poets being the worst offenders! ), there's a good chance you'd have the occasional “bad word” slip out during a reading or whatever, especially since the show airs at noon on Wednesdays when many are listening during their lunch break.  In the end, a language disclaimer that played at the start and mid-point of the show seemed like a reasonable compromise on both sides. 

Speaking of, anybody have any thoughts on “bad” words?  What are they?  And more importantly, why are they?

On the radio show,  I talked about the movie “The Aristrocrats” and how the whole point of that documentary is to show various comedians telling the same insider joke with the same set-up and the same punchline with the jazz-like beauty being the improvisations they do in between to make it as foul and offensive as possible, yet while also capturing their own individual styles.  In fact, in some ways, the show reaches a point where the words the people say doesn't even matter as much as how they say it. 

I agree with this commentator (halfway down for their review) that the best versions of the joke are from the comedians who twist the standard set-up/improv/punchline in some unique fashion.  Sarah Silverman's performance, where she blurs reality and fiction by describing herself as part of “The Aristrocrats” act as a child, was called “Oscar-worthy” by some.) 

(Some people have a NSFW – not safe for work – note on links like that last one.  I think I need to invent “NSFMIL” – NotSafeForMotherInLaw.  Joan, if you're reading this, please don't click that link!)

Anyhow, another great twist was one comedian who told the middle part of the joke in a very G-rated, straight-laced fashion then inverted the standard punchline (which is always something like: “Wow, that's quite an act.  What do you call yourselves again?”  The Aristrocrats!)  except this comedian tells it, “Wow, that's quite an act.  What do you call yourselves again?”  The Nigger Cunts!  By using what are often considered the two most offensive words in the English language,  the comedian distills the joke to its essence, subverts it, and shows the incredible power words have over us.  (It is notable that the commentator I linked to earlier admits to enjoying some of the jokes, being offended by much of the movie but was especially outraged by this particular telling.) 

So if I have a point, what is it?  One of the things that you have to keep in mind with Freedom of Expression issues is that if you believe in Freedom of Expression, it is an all or nothing proposition.  You can't draw the line by saying “well, I support Freedom of Expression except when it involves sex scenes (or Neo-Nazi propaganda or blasphemy or violence or whatever.) 

This quote, from Evelyn Beatrice Hall, is appropriate:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

And although that last quote would make a beautiful finale for this post, because of the subject at hand I thought it might be more appropriate to link to the Bob Saget (yes, wholesome father Danny Tanner on “Full House” and the one-time host of the innocuous crotch-shot follies that was and are “America's Funniest Home Videos”) version of the joke, widely regarded as the most obscene of any of them in the documentary. (Again, NSFMIL.)

Posted 03 March 2007 § Censorship § Main Page § Video ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged:

FTRW 2007 – Day 5 – Irony As Big As Texas

Last fall, a parent in Texas demanded the removal of the book,  Fahrenheit 451 from his 15-year old daughter's school library. (The subject matter of that book being so famous that its title has become shorthand for “censorship”.)   And because you couldn't make this stuff up, the challenge happened the week after the American Library Association's “Banned Books Week” (which is in September unlike Canada's which is this week.)

Speaking of FTRW in Canada, here's a story in the UWO student newspaper about the FTRW student reading which I mentioned a few times in the past couple weeks and which was held last Monday featuring readings by various library students and one very cool eight year old.  

Posted 02 March 2007 § Censorship § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged:

FTRW 2007 – Day 4 – Can you Say "Scrotum" on the Radio?

For anybody who misses the sound of my voice pontificating away on all manner of stuff, I'll be on local community radio with the “Book Chick” tomorrow at 6pm Sask time (5pm Alberta time, 7pm Ontario time) talking about Freedom to Read Week and some of the related issues.  You can listen live at: www.cjtr.ca

I'm going to see an eye doctor that afternoon so the drops mean a reading from “Behold The Man” like I did for FTRW last year likely won't happen.  But you don't have to read from a book to tell “The Aristrocrats” joke – tune in tomorrow and see!

(The show will be re-broadcast next Wednesday at noon, Sask time if you miss the broadcast tomorrow.)

Posted 28 February 2007 § Censorship § Main Page ‡ Comments (5) ° Tagged:

The Impossible Quiz

If you like riddles, puzzles, jokes and brain teasers, this is the most addictive and/or infuriating quiz I've ever seen. 

How bad is it?  Through repeated trial and error, I got to question 15 before giving up completely (there are 110 questions).  Then, when I had the answers, I still couldn't finish it!  I'll post them sometime in the next few days.  (Please don't harm yourself before then!)

Note: The game will take a bit of time to load but is worth it.

Posted 28 February 2007 § Main Page § Randomness ‡ Comments (6) °

FTRW 2007 – Day 3 – The Biggest Collection of Banned Books In The World Is Owned By…

Guess who?  I'd have guessed the FBI.  Or the Library of Congress.  Or a private collector with an interest in the area – someone like Larry Flynt.  But nope, the biggest collection of banned books is owned by the Catholic Church.  Their List of Forbidden Books is an index of books that the Church has considered against the faith since 1529.   The index was created as a guide to a semi-secret library that is housed at the Vatican and which helped the Vatican control the flow of information for over 400 years.

[2007-03-11 – correction.  According to Snopes which is an authority on hoaxes of all types, this story is not true.  But then again, they only cite the Vatican librarian as the source for this statement and you might not expect this person to be up front about something like this.  Truth or urban legend?  Either way, it makes a good story.]

Posted 27 February 2007 § Censorship § Main Page § PopCulture ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,