I’ve got Legal Issues for Librarians coming out of every orifice sideways. Mild discomfort, to be sure. I’m so very much looking forward to the next six weeks when I won’t have a bloody thing to do but blog and write and go to the pool. It will finally be summer for me. Just one more day to go…
I just got back form a post-Independence Day cookout where I had an interesting conversation with Neil, a fellow from Ireland visiting as a student. He had something to say about the way we handle immigration and visas post 9/11, all them valid (like the fact that he feared that he was going to be deported any minute if he didn’t fill out the Byzantine forms correctly and state precisely the exact amount of change in his pockets). He also told me something interesting, a bit of information you can only get from a non American.
Apparently, over in Europe, Fox News is a joke. The way he put it was that, “It’s what you turn on when you’ve had a bad day because the things they make up are just funny.” That it’s just common knowledge in Europe that Fox News is Bullshit and that people only watch it for the humor value. He was surprised when I informed him that here in the US, there are actually people who believe the things Fox News says. I had to explain to him that most Americans don’t follow the BBC and since we don’t have a scrupulous American equivalent, they’ve forgotten what actual journalism sounds like. They think that if someone wears a tie and sits behind a desk and tells them fact-like things, that they must be telling the truth.
Different cultures, and all that.
Well, I’m off to See Spiderman 2. I’ll have a full review tomorrow, or maybe wednesday. Finals and all that.
The Anacreontic Society, a popular gentlemen’s club in London in the late 1700’s, was named after Anacreon, a fifth Century B.C. poet known as the “convivial bard of Greece.” The society’s membership was dedicated to wit, harmony, and the god of wine. The members of this society collaborated on a drinking song, popular int he United States in the early 1800’s where it was heard by Francis Scott Key. He must have really liked the tune as he wrote new lyrics for it, commemorating the battle of Fort mcHenry.
These days, the theme of this national anthem seems somehow misplaced. War is not what our country is about. At least, it’s not what it should be about. So, I propose we restore the original lyrics and change our national anthem from a hymn to war, to a hymn to wine, women and song. The only things that really matter in life.
To Anacreon in Heaven
(sung to the tune of The Star-Spangled Banner)To Anacreon in Heaven, where he sat in full glee, A few sons of Harmony sent a petition,
That He their Inspirer and Patron would be; When this answer arrived from the Jolly Old Grecian “Voice, Fiddle, and Flute,
“no longer be mute,
“I’ll lend you my Name and inspire you to boot, “And, besides, I’ll instruct you like me to entwine “The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus’s Vine.The news through OLYMPUS immediately flew; When OLD THUNDER pretended to give himself Airs “If these mortals are suffer’d their Scheme to perfue, “The Devil a Goddess will stay above the Stairs. “Hark, already they cry,
“In transports of Joy,
“Away to the Sons of ANACREON we’ll fly,
“And there, with good Fellows, we’ll learn to entwine “The Myrtle of VENUS with BUCCUS’S Vine.“The YELLOW-HAIRED GOD and his nine fusty Maids “From Helicon’s Banks will incontinent flee, “IDALIA will boast but of tenantless Shades, “And the bi-forked Hill a mere Desert will be “My Thunder, no fear won’t,
“Shall soon do it’s Errand,
” and, dam’me! I’ll swinge the Ringleaders, I warrant, “I’ll trim the young Dogs, for thus daring to twine “The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.APOLLO rose up; and said, “Pr’ythee ne’er quarrel, “Good King of the Gods, with my Vot’ries below: “Your Thunder is useless.” - then, shewing his Laurel, Cry’d, “Sic evitabile fulmen, you know!
“then over each Head
“My Laurels I’ll spread;
“So my Sons from your Crackers no Mischief shall dread, “Whilst snug in their Club-Room, they jovially twine “The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.Next MOMUS got up, with his risible Phiz, And swore with APOLLO he’d cheerfully join “The full Tide of Harmony still shall be his, “But the Song, and the Catch, & the Laugh shall be mine “Then, JOVE, be not jealous
Of these honest Fellows.
Cry’d JOVE, “We relent, since the Truth you now tell us; “And swear, by OLD STYX, that they long shall entwine “The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.Ye sons of ANACREON, then, join Hand in Hand; Preserve Unanimity, Friendship, and Love! ‘Tis your’s to support what’s so happily plann’d; You’ve the Sanction of Gods, and the FIAT of Jove. While thus we agree
Our Toast let it be.
May our club flourish happy, united and free! And long may the Sons of ANACREON intwine The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.
I realize that the content here at the Library has been a little spare of late and no one is more disappointed about this than I. That’s the problem, though, with Grad School. You spend all your time and energy on things of little consequence (in the long run) but seem so important at the time. I mean, we’ve all gotten our heads turned around by the intricacies of the Child Internet Protection Act and it’s ramifications on Public Library Filter Policies, I’m sure. Especially at the expense of what really matters, like the fact that the Mayor of Mexico City is also a Comic Book Superhero:
Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appears as a heaven-bound figure besieged by snakes, sharks and dark-hooded politicians in a new comic book distributed by his administration: The Dark Forces Against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
The 16-page book is the administration’s most recent attempt to fight off what Lopez Obrador has described as “a plot” by federal officials and other prominent figures to undermine him ahead of the 2006 presidential election.
This is a fabulous idea. I predict that in the future, comic books will become the main tool for Mayoral races. I think the Marion Barry campaign should consider it. Though they’d have to sell it in a brown paper bag.
Lucy is unhappy that I have to spend all day writing a paper about the Supreme Court’s rulings on Internet Filtering Policies. And so am I.
Looks like it’s that time again: the summer doldrums, where it’s just a long sweaty haul towards the real political meat of the Fall. Now that the Supreme Court is pretty much finished for the season, the only thing left on the horizon, for the politibloggers (besides the steadily mounting outrage over whatever it is Bush will say or do next) is the presidential debates. Even this will be lean, in my opinion, as most of the country has pretty much already chosen sides. The liberals and most sane lefties have sided with Kerry while the Beltway Fascists, in a display of religious party devotion, are sticking to Bush. This means Kerry will be trying to wrestle the Naderites over to his side while Bush will be putting on a song and dance for the Moderate Republicans, trying to convince them he isn’t really an incompetent, spoiled baby, daydreaming of the ease of Dictatorship.
For the rest of the summer, this will remain my position. Unless something truly outrageous happens (always a possibility with these chuckleheads in office) there will be no more political commentary from me until the election. Kevin may chime in from time to time but from what he’s told me, he has a series of archive-activist oriented posts lined up. As for me, I’m steering this ship back towards its original course and will blogging about books, writing and library issues. Not to worry though, there will be plenty of pictures of Lucy, the occasional movie review (Spider Man 2 is open now and King Arthur’s coming up next weekend!), so I’m only on hiatus from wonkery, not the things that really matter.
For your daily dose of political outrage, there’s always my fellow members of the Liberal Coalition.
