Riba Rambles:
Musings of a Mental Magpie

Posted by Lis Riba at 11:10 PM

This started out with just a couple thoughts regarding some entertainments I've recently seen. However, as I was writing, it just grew...

Last night Ian and I watched Bringing up Baby, a zany comedy starring Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and a leopard. In his journal, Ian quoted one of his favorite exchanges of dialog. But last night, he made a brilliant observation that, despite my repeated exhortations, he didn't blog: Katherine Hepburn isn't just an heiress, she's Eris! Her sheer destructiveness and ability to confound those around her are akin to a force of nature. Very funny, painfully so at times. I recommend it. [According to one site, Bringing up Baby was the first film to use "gay" as a euphemism for homosexual.]

Anyway, today I've been listening to the soundtrack to the Producers as I've been doing my work. I was fortunate enough to see it on Broadway with the original cast, and it was amazing. There's a Yiddish word "ungepatsch" which means over-the-top. Mel Brooks is the master of ungepatsch comedy. He piles on so heavily, so overdone, that just when you think he's reached the limits of... good taste, what can be staged, whatever... he throws one more thing into the mix. And instead of collapsing like a house of cards, it's just that much funnier. It's hard to think of a group that escapes mockery in the course of the play. [Well, no Asian jokes, but no Asian characters.]

The second thing that occurred to me, while listening to Max's lament, "Unhappy/I Wanna be a producer" is how similar Max Bialystock's backstory is to Arthur of the Tick. Nebbishy accountants droning in near-sweatshop conditions for unsympathetic bosses who secretly dream of greater things. I can almost picture the Tick exhorting Arthur "You can do it!" Maybe someday I'll filk that for a skit...

While looking for some photos from the production numbers to illustrate this post, I came across the Nathan Lane page which led me to discover a Sondheim musical of Aristophanes The Frogs which Nathan Lane may bring back to Broadway. I even found some brief song-clips on Amazon. Sounds very funny and like something to keep an eye out for.

Earlier today, while listening to the Playground, a local radio program of children's music which Ian and I regularly listen to, I was talking about how the recent muppet movies have been in a rut, remaking classics (Muppet Treasure Island, Muppet Christmas Carol) and how adventurous Jim Henson really was (Dark Crystal, Labyrinth). I often wonder what direction Henson would've taken his companies were he still alive, but we both agreed that Farscape was definitely his kinda thing. Anyway, these thoughts of Aristophanes' Frogs just made me imagine a version starring Kermit, which made me smile.

I haven't been following the news too much lately. I'm seeing too many missed opportunities already, and it just keeps making me wince. When I heard this morning about the looting and destruction of the museum of Bagdhad, it felt like a kick in the gut. This is the cradle of civilization, and irreplaceable artifacts that could shed light on our human heritage has just been lost. We assigned extra troops to guard the oil fields, but none for the antiquities?
Before the war, I intended to blog about this Philadelphia Inquirer article seen on Rittenhouse, in which [A]rchaeologists petitioned the Pentagon earlier this year to try to spare [Iraq]'s temples, mosques, and archaeological sites. ... The military was watching 150 sites, said Gibson, so he pointed out 4,000 more. "And that's a tiny percentage," he said.
The more disturbing thought is that our government might've looked the other way during this looting. A recent Guardian article says "Apparent lobbying by American art dealers to dismantle Iraq's strict export laws has heightened fears about the looting of the country's antiquities as order breaks down in the last stages of the war." In other words, once again advance warnings were ignored, to the advantage of profiteers and the detriment of the world...

Arg. That's getting too depressing to deal with.

How 'bout I close with some of the humorous things I've seen in the blogosphere. Teresa Nielsen Hayden's squirrel story is amusing, but the comments to the post are even better (what was I saying about ungepatsch?). Peter David's latest, about his daughter's stage mishap, has inspired similar recountings of other theatrical fiascos of the funny variety. Neil Gaiman's journal is always quite entertaining.

Finally, I mentioned the ALA site redesign at the end of my USA PATRIOT Act post. I've been looking around for more comments from librarians, and not only haven't I found anyone who likes it, it seems to be universally loathed. Ex Libris provides a detailed criticism. While it may be useful to think of the site in strictly hierarchical terms, and even possibly use that as one possible navigation scheme, you shouldn't spell it out on every link. That's how you end up with 200+ character links. [It caused me problems editing that blog entry because the link fouled up wordwrap and the posting controls are on the right side of the screen.] Among the latest foulups Librarian.net pointed out is the Search page -- quick! can you find the search button!? And time for yourself how long it takes the Site Map to load...
I think this redesign is going to be a textbook example of what NOT to do. Librarianship is all about the organization of information. That's what makes this so egregious. As The Laughing Librarian wrote, ALA information minister Melvil Saeed al-Sahaf announced, "The pages load very quickly. The URLs are all short and easy to memorize, and there are no bad links within the site."

And, on that note, I bid you good night.

Posted by Lis Riba at 3:00 PM

Ian and I went out to lunch at a local all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. My fortune cookie read: "Not everything must be voiced." I also realized that it's been 350 days since I left my previous job. Superstition urges me to say no more at the present time.

Posted by Lis Riba at 7:20 PM

First of all, I love my husband. If you haven't been reading the funny things he's been writing in his journal, you really ought to. After a friend posted her favorite naan recipe, he decided to make some this afternoon. A little flat (our aged yeastie-beasties have finally died) but still yummy.

I'm starting to get a bit antsy about school. Graduation is less than 40 days away, and I find that exciting. On the other hand, the due date for my big final project is even sooner, which has me scared. And for those of you who've been following my personal soap opera since the beginning of this journal, I may have some good news to report soon. I can't say any more at present (what I've said before about "loose lips"), but things may finally be happening.

I've given up news blogging for now. Too much going on and it takes too long for me to write it up. [I think I spent just under two hours on my USA PATRIOT review.] And I just don't have the time or energy to do that on a more regular basis. I'm continuing to update my Links page so you can follow the same sites as I do. If people ask, I can make more detailed recommendations for smaller lists for quick checking.

Posted by Lis Riba at 2:30 PM

So, last night I attended the panel discussion on the USA PATRIOT Act. Good timing too, as today's Times reports that Republicans are trying to eliminate the sunset clauses on those provisions that would otherwise expire in a few years.

Having written an academic paper on the topic, I already knew much of the information about the Act itself, but the panel was worthwhile updating me on new developments since I wrote it late last July. The basic advice for libraries and librarians remains the same: the government can't obtain records you're not keeping. At any rate, here's what's new:

The Bad:

• Attorney General Ashcroft and the Justice Department refuse to provide straight answers answer to questions about how this law has been used. They won't answer Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) questions from citizens and organizations, they won't answer Senators...
  Who watches the watchmen? [Which brings up the whole issue of FISA Courts, which is an even thornier issue.]
• Since 1974, Federal law protected the privacy of student educational records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Apparently, the USA PATRIOT Act has amended (read reduced) that protection. Syracuse University sent out a letter to all students explaining these changes.
• Even though the gag order prevents libraries from telling anybody about FBI investigations, ALA and other organizations do recommend keeping detailed internal records. You see, these provisions have a sunset clause -- they expire! Which means that unless Congress extends the deadlines, the ALA could then ask member libraries what happened during that period. We may not be able to get accurate numbers now, but after it's all over we can hopefully find out the actual cost.
• Although the ACLU and others are aching to challenge the USA PATRIOT Act in court, so far there haven't been any legal challenges because they haven't been able to find a plaintiff. They don't know whether that's due to victims of the gag order, fear of the chilling effects, or (wishful thinking) because nobody's been affected yet.
• And, as mentioned above, Republicans are trying to eliminate the sunset clauses.

The Good:

• Many libraries are finding creative ways around the gag order (which forbids libraries from anyone if the FBI has come a'calling). A while back, Jessamyn West of librarian.net (an excellent blog for library news) posted Five Technically Legal Signs for Your Library. Several libraries have adapted/adopted similar signs and methods. For example, some library directors now report regularly to their boards that the FBI hasn't visited -- with everybody listening out for the week that statement isn't made.
• Libraries are also posting their policies publically so patrons know about the potential threats to their privacy. One of the speakers passed around the Paulding County Carnegie Library Policy as a particularly good example. I'm particularly tickled by the signs posted by the Santa Cruz public libraries which conclude "Questions about this policy should be directed to Attorney General John Ashcroft"
• Front-line library staff may have some reason for relief. It is important that libraries have policies instructing checkout clerks and the like to refer law enforcement queries to upper management. However, (publically at least) the FBI has said that they'd rather deal with library directors and prefer to conduct business in person, rather than over the telephone. They say they're not going to harrass/browbeat/trick lower-level workers for such information, but prefer to go right to the top. [Be sure to get identification from anyone claiming to be law enforcement so you're not hoaxed.]
• The issue of keeping minimal records on patrons is becoming increasingly important in library software decisions. If the program doesn't keep records in the first place, libraries won't have anything to destroy. A big brouhaha is brewing among some local libraries (names withheld on purpose) about to make a major purchase. They just discovered that books are permanently linked to the last borrower, even after the material has been returned. While this may be useful if a book is damaged, it's also another potentially subpoenable record of who is reading questionable texts.
• Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders has introduced the Freedom to Read Protection Act, H.R. 1157, which exempts libraries and booksellers from those provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act. So far, the bill has 68 cosponsors, although I don't know of any equivalent in the Senate yet.
• Many municipalities are taking stands by passing resolutions promoting civil liberties and opposing the USA PATRIOT Act. The Bill of Rights Defense Committee is a nationwide group with information and advice on how you can pass such a resolution in your community.

The Odd (other issues from last night that I don't have time to delve into here):

• Homeland security departments are removing information about hazardous materials in the communities. Wanna know what chemicals the factory in town might be spewing? You can't any more. No more cases like Erin Brockovich or "A Civil Action."
• The USA PATRIOT Act forbids providing material support or resources to groups the U.S. government defines as terrorist organizations. UC San Diego decided that computing resources are included, so ordered student groups to remove hyperlinks from informational websites!
• What happened to PTech? a.k.a. How the goverment destroyed an innocent and growing tech company.
• The SEVIS tracking system for foreign students needs to be looked at. "A student in Washington, D.C., was arrested last month by immigration officials after SEVIS incorrectly showed that she had dropped out." (Mercury News)Another "six Colorado students were arrested by the INS because they were not signed up for enough courses." (CNN)
• The story of the FISA courts is definitely worth paying attention to, but requires more time and attention than I can devote at present.
• The American Libraries Association passed a resolution in January opposing the USA PATRIOT Act.

The Ugly (as if the rest of that weren't enough to put a chill in your cappuccino):

• Assistant Attorney General Daniel J. Bryant wrote "Any right of privacy possessed by library and bookstore patrons ... is necessarily and inherently limited." This completely contradicts the policies and codes of ethics of libraries and booksellers.

I'll close by sharing two quotes from last night's talk:

Robert Hughes:
     "There is only one place to find out; one place that will give us some clue, some understanding of our present terrors. It's the library, stupid. And may there be a special curse on those who have the hubris and indecency to pervert it from a repository of knowledge into a spying platform."

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas:
     "As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air?however slight?lest we become unwitting victims of darkness."

PostScript: A big raspberry and thumbs down to the ALA for reorganizing their website so that (a) none of the old links work, (b) broken links provide 404 errors instead of mapping to the new pages, (c) URLs are much longer and less intuitive, (d) it's much slower, (e) I could go on, but librarian.net and Resource Shelf have already done so.

Posted by Lis Riba at 1:25 PM

The Beeb has such interesting history programs. I've found an interesting show called the Long View which looks for historic parallels to current events. For example, Was Francis Drake a terrorist? looks at the parallels between his attacks on Santo Domingo and 9/11.

From there, I found other neat shows, including Making History, which answers listeners questions, and What If? which looks at different results of major turning points. Yup, a program devoted to exploring alternate histories. The episodes themselves only look moderately interesting, but fascinating things are percolating on their discussion boards.

And this brings me back to the question that I've been noodling with since the weekend: What if, during Mary's infancy, the Catholic party did NOT regain dominance over Scottish politics? Mary was betrothed to Edward VI and would've been raised Protestant.

I've been making a table of the actual timeline and how it might've branched, with several possible outcomes, but that's too long to post here. Instead, those who are interested in the history can read my extrapolations here. Comments and suggestions (ranging from compliments to book recommendations to suggestions I just give up now) are definitely welcome!

Posted by Lis Riba at 12:15 PM

I know it's rather late notice, but for anybody in the Boston area who's interested in the library aspect of the USA PATRIOT Act, there's going to be an event tonight discussing the issues:

If you can't attend but are interested in the topic, by all means read the paper I wrote. I'll definitely be there to see what's new and changed over the intervening months. Should be interesting. Hope to see (some of) you there.