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Amazing Numbers (Clocks, Marks, Fines)

Got this from Jillian “Cenobyte” Bell. 


Think about this …




On Wednesday of this week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.




That won't ever happen again.




Thank you…You may now return to your (normal?) life.

She wrote
that she thought I was probably the only person she knew who would
appreciate this piece of trivia.  Knowing the geeks & gamers
she hangs out with (many of them being my friends as well) this
surprises me but there you go. 

I can't remember but perhaps her and I had the “Favourite Time on the
Clock” discussion once?  I've long held that my favourite time of
day is 11:11pm.  Don't know why but it is.  Shea's is 12:12am
which is cool too.  What's yours, cyberworld? 

Speaking of Jill, she posted a comment in the thread on my essay on
user fees in Alberta saying “I consider my overdue fines as my user
fees” and that's a great way to put it.  I'm similar – I don't
mind paying the odd fine because I know I can afford it and also that
even for the retail cost of one hardcover book I read, I won't pay that
much in overdue fines in a year. 

I've heard stories of people who don't pay their overdue fines and I
just don't agree with that at all.  I mean, it's one thing if it's
$0.50 but some people let them get up to tens, even hundreds of
dollars.  It'd be interesting to do a study of librarians to see
if they're the worst offenders?  I (unintentionally) ended up
paying a $10 fine for 20 overdue books at Wheldon the other day. 
(I'd misread the date due slip and how good of a librarian will I be if
I can't even do that right?)  (Tangent: Gives new meaning to the
phrase “Do the due”.  Rimshot!)  But anyhow, as soon as I
knew I had an overdue fine, I immediately returned the books and paid
the fine.  I couldn't stand the feeling of guilt if I had an
unpaid fine, especially for that much money. 

Yeah, so what else is new in numbers?  Got an 86% on my “Tits of
the Buffalo” (er, I think I called it something else but that's close
enough) essay and I've had higher marks in this program but I'm pretty
proud of that one because it's something I care passionately about and
I put a hell of a lot of work into the paper (even as I also agree with
people like Quinn & Sabina who point out that it didn't have a lot
of critical analysis.  But as Sam said in his comments “An
excellent piece of historical research” and that's good enough for
me!)  The funniest part is that when Sam handed it to me upside
down, I read “68%” and was like “oh crap, he wasn't kidding about that
title – he really hated it!”  He still suggests I change the title
if I ever submit it anywhere else but coming from the guy who gave us a
reading entitled “I Want To Find Out How To Freebase Cocaine”, I don't
know quite what he's saying. 

Er, welcome to anyone from 501 who's reading this blog for the first
time.  I gave it a plug when I got up the present the paper as a
good place to read the whole thing (scroll down a bit if that's why
you're here.) 

Classmate of the Day: Gotta give this one to Mike, Emilie and Derek.  I wish I'd shared the Skittles with you but maybe next time. 

Posted 05 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged:

Long Day…

Had a long day
today – discussed an assignment with my 503 instructor (“discussed”
might not be the best word to use but I'm trying to be polite), met
with the Acting Associate Dean to discuss an upcoming speaker in our
speaker series and also to get approval to do an Individual Study
project as one of my summer courses (yay me!), rehearsed our 503
presentation with my group members a couple times, trudged up to the
Business Library to get some books for the show & tell portion of
our presentation (we presented on “Business & Current Events
Sources” – exciting stuff!), did the presentation which went fairly
well I think. 

The group before us were the first group to go without the crutch of a
Powerpoint presentation and I can't tell you how awesome that is in my
opinion.  This whole program, hell 99% of University programs and
workplaces teach us to rely on PowerPoint way
too much in my opinion.  I'm still looking for an opportunity to
do a PowerPoint presentation on “Why PowerPoint Sucks”.  Maybe in
506 – Management next semester.  Our group did use PowerPoint (I
briefly tried to convince them not to but not too hard – I like it as a
crutch too!  Where else can you put stupid caveman graphics and
get a cheap laugh?  Or dazzling swirling effects on your
text?  Or the luminous colour combination of yellow text on white
background?) and our presentation went fairly well. 

Our group activity – a  Jeopardy game at the end – was a hit and
the instructor even gave us permission to go long even though she's
usually pretty strict about keeping groups to their 30 minute time
limit.  Took the books back to the Business Library, go for a beer
(and a great visit) with one of my presentation teammates who I don't
know really well.  Walk home, try to nap but can't fall
asleep.  Go back to school to drop off some overdue books (Jill, I
agree with your comment that “I consider my library fines as a
voluntary kind of user fees”) then go downtown to pick up some LPL
holds.  Go for supper at the infamous Poacher's Arms (it's the
first place I really went drinking with David, Mike and Melissa in I
think week two of the program on a Sunday afternoon immediately after
we'd gone for brunch!) then bus home and now am just trying to catch
up, as always, with the non-stop barrage of e-mail I get every day (I
bring a lot of it on myself – firing off missives all over the place to
everybody I know.) 

Speaking of e-mail, David Jackson gets the ripe honour of being Classmate of the Day
(I need a term for when I give it to people who aren't actually my
classmates but are in the program with me.  Actually who cares, if
you read this and know someone's not a direct classmate, you'll know
what I mean.  And if not, it doesn't matter anyhow.)  So
yeah, Dave gets it for being the only person I know who regularly reads
this blog so far (Jill, you still checking in or did I bore you
yet?  Jenn?  Mom???), who regularly posts comments as well as
for the hilarious but deadly earnest e-mail he sent me at 9am this
morning, written to the tune of “Looking For Love In All The Wrong
Places”.

(By the way David, I saw Greg at the Poacher's Arms tonight as we were
leaving and Shea had to physically restrain me from turning around and
going back in!) 

Next time…

Posted 04 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

The Yearbook Entry

One of the first
things our class did when we started was set-up a Yahoo! listserv
so all us first termer's would have a way to easily communicate with
each other without having to use official class lists (which aren't
necessarily meant for that purpose anyhow.)  So far the listserv
has facilitated discussion of assignments, parties, missing classmates, ride shares, class gatherings,
games nights and so much more. 

One of the first messages sent was a “Roll Call” list of questions
which was a way to get to know each other.  I'm going off about
the lack of technology focus in an “Information” faculty again but why
wouldn't our “Stalker Pages” (ie. the class pages that list our
names, UWO e-mail addresses, a mailbox number in the grad lounge, and
our photos) not have this type of info for everyone (with the option
for how much or how little people wanted to list of course.)

Here are my answers for Roll Call I:
Name: Jason Hammond

Birthplace: Indian Head, Saskatchewan

Birthday: July 18, 1973

Age: 32

Most Recent Home (Before London): Regina, SK

Other Places You've Lived For Extended Periods of Time: Calgary, York, England

Address In London: #804-1231 Richmond St.

Phone Number: 435-1948 

Other Degree(s): BA - English (U of Regina - 1996)

Previous Jobs: Program Officer, Sask Publishers Group; 
Program Officer, Writers Guild of Alberta

Why Library School? (short version):  I love books, libraries and the role that public libraries play in the community.

Favourite Book: Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Last Book Read (Be honest!): Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out (a Christmas present from my wife)

Three Things You Suspect You Know More About (or Can Do) Better Than Anyone In Our Class: 
1. The Beatles 
2. Prairie Publishers & Writers 
3. How To Hold A Table In A Bar for Four Hours (I've done it more than once already if you can believe it.  Actually, maybe that's not so hard to believe.)

One Thing That Would Surprise Your Classmates If They Knew It About You:
I've been married three times...to the same woman.

We recently had "Roll Call II" to bookend (getit?) the semester.  Here's my answers for it:

Type of Library You'd Like To Work In:  Public 

Any Specific Areas of Interest In Libraries:  Technology, 
Corporatization, Social Issues & Libraries

Favourite Library You've Ever Visited:  The new Crowfoot Crossing Branch in Calgary - beautiful.  See: 
http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/library/crowfoot_library.htm

Your Favourite Class:  501

Your Least Favourite Class: 503 (thought it would be one of my favourites coming in which makes it extra disappointing.)  But there's always gotta be one, right?

Your Hardest Class: 504 

Classes You're Planning To Take Next Semester:  Management, Managing Internet Information, Collection Development, Children's Lit and one yet to be decided
(all subject to change of course)

One Important Thing You've Learned (School-Related):  Cataloguing doesn't have to be boring and/or You can be productive in a class even if you're not paying attention to the lecture.

One Important Thing You've Learned (Not School-Related):  You can learn more in two hours at the Grad Club than in two months in library school.

Your Most Memorable Moment From The Semester:  Mike's "haircut"

If You Could Change One Thing About the MLIS Program:   I guess my biggest personal bugaboo is 505 (computers) and how out-of-date it seems to me.
Posted 03 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page § Meme ‡ Comments (0) °

Profound Statement of the Day (if you squint really hard)

Talking to someone about the Spirit of Librarianship nomination and they observed:

“You are the only person stupid enough to actually want to 
work in a public library that is smart enough to know what that 
means.”

Posted 02 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (1) °

As Useless As Tits On A Bull: Library User Fees in Alberta

Hello to any
visitors from the Alberta library and writing communities.  Thanks
to all of you who took the time to respond to my e-mail queries
regarding user fees in Alberta libraries.  All comments, on both
sides of the issue, were very useful. 

I've put my paper online
(141 kb PDF) and I think it's pretty obvious right from the title where
I stand on the issue.   (My professor was looking through the
stack of papers and blurted out “Oh, Jason…” when he saw mine. 
That's probably not a good thing.  But to me, the title was a
homage to my western roots.  Yeah, that's what it was.) 

Anyhow, I would love any feedback from
anyone on the paper as it stands now, no matter where you may be on the
issue.  I haven't gotten the paper back yet but will post and
updated version at that point.  

Posted 01 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (4) °

Why I Hate George Bush (And Love Analogies)

TEN REASONS I HATE GEORGE W. BUSH

1. He thinks he is right all the time and will not admit to errors, even when he is proven wrong over and over again. 

2. He only sees one way of doing things, only one right answer. 

3. He mangles the language constantly, often using bad metaphors and analogies. 

4. He is ignorant and does not appear to know the most common things
that his job as leader of the Union would require him to know.

5. He is evasive, refusing to answer the questions of reporters (who he
should be beholden to) in a straight-forward, unambiguous manner. 
He spends barely any time in the office. 

6. His speaking style is uncharismatic and often cringe-inducing.

7.  He puts pressure on others to do things against their will. 

8. He may have been a fun party guy in his youth but now he's a strict, by-the-book, tightass. 

9.  A majority of the population dislike him immensely and his
approval rate is one of the lowest in the history of polling.

10.  He is like a walking satire of himself, ripe for impressions
by comedians who mock his robotic speech patterns and movements. 

But I'm not an American so I'm in no position to help fire his ass, right?  Too bad…

Posted 01 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Vote For Pedro II: Electric Boogalo

The official list
of nominees for the Spirit of Librarianship Award was released the
other day.  It's too bad they don't give you a little blurb on who
people are and why they were nominated as I think that would help
people make up their minds, especially if you don't know some (any) of
the people on the list. 

Here's the list:

Whymark J. Austen

Laura Banfield
Melissa Fraser
Jason Hammond
Mythili Kaneshalingam
Daniella Liebregts
Jay Peters
Melanie Sellar
Roxanne Sutton

Here's the details:

Please send your vote to:
Claire Argyropoulos: cargyrop@uwo.ca


All votes must be from a UWO email address (sorry mom!)

You can vote until Sunday, April 9, 2006.
The winner will be announced at the Destressor on Monday April 10, 2006 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Grad Club.
The winner will also have their name engraved on a plaque in the GRC.

(I have promised people that if I win, I will give an acceptance speech
that makes my attempt to tell The Aristocrats joke at the Freedom to
Read Week event in February look like Disney's The Aristocats.)  So vote for Pedro!

Classmate of the Day: Chantale Boileau
is a second term student who showed up at the Grad Club with a huge
number of Swiss Chalet dinners for all the drunks there this
evening.  She had to use up her meal card apparently.  How
frickin' cool is that?   I professed my love for her numerous
times.  Then I choked on a chicken bone.  There was blood
everywhere.  

Posted 01 April 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Finally A Friday Post! (Plus The First Link To One of My Assignments)

Just finished my 504 research proposal
that's due in, oh, six hours and a bit.  This isn't really a case
of “last-minute-itis” though.  (I've been working pretty hard on
it for the last two weeks.)  Instead, it's another problem I've
discovered here that I never had an undergrad.  Namely, I can't
let things go.  I did the same thing with my 501 paper on User
Fees in Public Libraries in Alberta – I was still finding/reading
articles right up to a few hours before it was due (and receiving
e-mails for a day after it was already handed in.)  All of it was
great information that was potentially useful to my paper and it was
tough when I finally decided to say “okay, print!” 

Now, it's the same thing with my 504 Research Proposal.  The class
is set it up so you start with a 2-page exploratory paper early in the
term, revise it significantly at mid-term and then end the term by
expanding it to what is, in theory, a research project that you could
pursue. 

As with most of my work here, mine is probably a bit simplistic (“Is
Wikipedia A Good Starting Point For Reference Librarians?”) But it's an
interesting topic and there's so much information out there that it
felt impossible to get to it all.  I had people sending me links
and articles and now I feel an obligation to still try to wade through
them, even though the thing will be out of my hands in a few
hours. 

I asked Shea to proof it a couple hours ago and she usually doesn't
like to read my stuff since she's got more of a science
background.  But just having that second set of eyes is always a
help – if not for a full line-edit then just to check for flow and
obvious mistakes and stuff.  Her editing comments also cracked me
up and helped me relax a bit – I was using “we” instead of “I” and she
writes “Who are you – the Queen?”  Then I had a (fictional) budget
outlining how I'd be willing to spend my own money for photocopying and
she writes “Oh, no you don't!  How can I afford new shoes?” 
In another part of the budget where I outline (again, fictional) prizes
I'd offer to encourage students to participate, she writes “You just
want to keep the I-Pod for yourself.”  She also suggests that
“beer and popcorn” would be a cheaper option to encourage student
participation. 

Funny stuff.  Okay, time to go find something else to do. 

Posted 31 March 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

Overheard at Western's Grad Club Patio

“I get most of my calories and all of my self-esteem from beer.” 

“Do I know you?”
“I'm in your class.”
“Oh, I only have time to meet the alcoholics in that class.”

“I think we need a pellet gun.  Or we could just throw empty glasses.”

“Bugs Bunny had some pretty racist early cartoons.  But if you look at them now, they're quite subversive.”

“If you're going to fake an injury to get out of class, you need to have a midget on a bicycle.”

Guy One: “The drunkest I ever was on stage was when I punched my bass player.”
Guy Two: “The drunkest I ever was on stage was when I had to be held up by two guitarists on either side of me.”
Guy Three (thinks to himself): Does how drunk I was for my high school graduation count as being on stage?

Posted 30 March 2006 § LibrarySchool § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °

And I Thought It Was Bad When A Guy From Montana Didn't Know Where Saskatchewan Was…

I love the Overhead at Western
blog  Shea and I have taken to walking around campus saying the
stupidest things we can think of in the hopes of making it on the page
ourselves.  But how can we compete with brilliance like this?

Wait. There's really a Saskatchewan?!

Girl: There is totally like, no Regina in Saskatchewan.

Guy: Yes, there is. Regina is in Saskatchewan.

Girl: I live in B.C. I know there is no Regina in Saskatchewan!



— Einstein's, overheard by Andrea

Posted 30 March 2006 § Main Page ‡ Comments (0) °