National LIbrary Week Vids

Here are a couple of videos from ALA celebrating National Library Week. For more videos, click here.

Another Accurate Unshelved Strip

Since most of the class attendees I teach are seniors, this Unshelved is very true.

Wireless up and running

To celebrate my recent purchase of a three-year old laptop and my refitting of my home for wireless, I decided to celebrate by riding a roller-coaster. My brother-in-law has professed a desire to travel to King's Island, Ohio. Also, it has been twenty-nine years since I last rode "The Beast" at KI. So, to both celebrate my technology gain and to whet both the brother-in-law's and my appetite for roller-coasters, here is a POV video of "The Beast."

Caught in the fever of KU's Championship

I finally bought my KU Championship memorabilia this past Saturday morning. I drove down to Johnson County and shopped at Kansas Sampler, a store that specializes in local college mementos and clothing. As expected, Sampler ran out of the Championship inventory within days of KU's win. So when I got to the store, the clerks were opening new boxes of memorabilia as I was walking in the store. I bought a sweatshirt, a crew shirt, and T-shirt commemorating KU's victory.
Later in the day, I felt it was too blustery to do any yard work. So, after doing chores, I made a couple of collages with clippings of pictures taken from the Internet showing various action shots of KU's journey through the tournament. I took the collages to be framed at Michael's and will hang them somewhere in my basement.
Finally, I got home late Saturday night but managed to watch the second half of the replay of the national championship game from Monday night. Our local television station decided to rebroadcast the game.

A search engine's take on the KU-Mizzou Rivalry

Thanks to Ultraspark for sending me this. It appears that whoever created the Google search engine is more biased to KU Hoops than MU Hoops. Whether on purpose or not, Google keeps the embers of the rivalry burning.

Visions of another Phi Slamma Jamma collapse

Ok, I admit it. I've never sat through an entire Memphis Tigers basketball game. However, I also have to admit that I was very, very impressed with Memphis, watching highlights on ESPN. They were merciless on the basket soaring in for slam dunks and impressing with their fast break game. And their dismantling of UCLA was, I was thinking at the time, something special.
But Monday night, they changed personalities. Instead of a fast break team in the game's final ten minutes, we got a team that played half court basketball. They went into protection mode. They no longer attacked the basket.
And basically, you have to give KU credit for this. KU has the best basketball defense in the country--hands down, no contest, no discussion allowed. I am guessing that if you bring up Memphis' shot chart, you'll see most of their makes were jump shots, not layups as fast-break basketball dictates. Memphis simply encountered a team that was faster than them in the transition game.
So with this in mind and Memphis possessing a nine point lead with roughly two minutes left in the game, KU could now challenge Memphis to make free throws to salt the game away. Memphis failed miserably under pressure and that's what opened the door for a frenzy of KU offense that included makes by Darrell Arthur, a 3 by Sherron Collins, and the three by Mario Chalmers which will no doubt go down as the biggest made shot in KU's legendary basketball history.
And as I was watching this collapse by Memphis, a memory from twenty-five years ago came to mind. The University of Houston Cougars of 1983 was a team similar to 2008's Memphis Tigers. The Cougars, aka Phi Slamma Jamma, were known for attacking the basketball, using slam dunks and fast break basketball as their mode to victory. And for some reason only clearly known to Houston coach Guy Lewis, the Cougars started playing slowdown basketball in their championship game against North Carolina State. They played a half court game trying to milk the clock. And, of course, NC State started fouling and, like Memphis, they didn't make all their free throws. The result: Houston loses due to a miraculous dunk by North Carolina State.
But I also need to add that Memphis didn't lose this game simply because they didn't make free throws. I would be in error if I didn't mention KU's ability to score in the paint, especially in the first half. I was happy to see CBS' shot chart showing KU's made field goals from the first half and that all but one or two were made within the paint. KU's inside presence destroyed Memphis and caused their big man to foul out of the came and perhaps caused Memphis to second-guess their plan of attack during the final two minutes of regulation.
On a personal note, I was charged and energized with KU's victory (like any true-blue KU should be) and I didn't get much sleep last night.

Rock Chalk!
Jayhawk!
Go KU!

April Fools Reader's Advisory

A couple of library employees got into the spirit of April Fool's Day and decided to display some books on this holiday that would otherwise NOT be displayed. To see a slide show of the "Fools" books click on the picture above or click here.

Oh, those critters

For about a month and a half I have been hearing what I've suspected to be squirrels in the attic of my house. I was not too concerned. But last week, I began hearing deliberate scratching above the ceiling in my Train Room-the guest bedroom in my house. I thought to myself: "Squirrels cannot make that loud of a scratching sound." So I called "Catch It" pest control and the service guy did a thorough inspection of the attic as well as the exterior of the house. His conclusion: a raccoon has made its way inside the attic. Raccoon droppings were found in the attic.
The service rep is setting traps as I write this and I'm supposed to call "Catch It" when I make the determination that the traps have ensnared the suspect critter or critters.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.