Coffee Klatch

It has been officially announced: Pierce Brosnan will no longer be playing the role of James Bond. After four 007 movies (GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day), he will not be doing a fifth. Pardon the pun on Bond’ s drinking.

Brosnan is 54 years old now and quickly felt peace and a sense of liberation after receiving the phone call. Now he feels like he can pursue anything he wants, since he’s not tied down to Bond any more. In an interview, he did say that he always hated all the one-liners that Bond was so often scripted to say. He said they made him feel fake.

Casino Royale is in pre-production, and Q & M are supposed to be the same, but the word on the web is that Daniel Craig will be the next James Bond. There still seems to be some debate on various websites, but the word will come out before too long. After all, they ARE trying to get ready to start filming.

I don’t often write about actual work experiences on this blog, but I thought this worth sharing.

One of the responsibilities that all the librarians have here at Butler is to be a liaison for one or more academic departments. Liaisonship (is that a word?) consists not only of being the primary contact for faculty or students in those programs, but also ordering materials, evaluating and weeding the collection, learning the research interests of the faculty, staying up to date on the authors and topics involved in current scholarship and publishing, learning the curriculum, and actively incorporating library instruction into the appropriate classes (those that actually involve doing research).

Yes, that’s an awful lot, but I’m incredibly proud of how involved our librarians are with the teachers in their areas! We have got to have one of the more active and involved liaison programs out there. I would hold it up as a model for the way that librarians and faculty should interact.

Anyway, I finally have gotten my own liaison subjects. A couple of weeks ago I was given Modern Languages, Literatures, & Cultures as my subject area. Isn’t that awesome? For those who know me, you know that’s right up my alley. If I were given my choice of any subjects to work with, that would be it, apart from maybe Music. And just yesterday I officially got Classical Languages as well. So now I’m basically the Foreign Languages guy in the library! And, NO! I don’t want English!!

Yesterday I also got to meet one of the more active faculty members in the Modern Languages Dept., who teaches the advanced German classes. He invited me to their first faculty meeting of the year, which was at 11 this morning, so I could be introduced to the other faculty members (there are about 15). After the brief meeting was lunch, for which I was invited to stay. I was able to talk to many of them, both to get to know them and to communicate more about what the library could do for them. It was a great time and I really enjoyed myself. What a terrific and fun and interesting bunch of people! I’m already seeing that it’s going to be a JOY to work with them.

Oh, and I’m also taking a couple of classes this fall. As soon as my transcripts come through so I can be admitted so I can register for the classes which start a week from tomorrow. And I was already planning on taking foreign language courses before I got the liaison assignment. I’ll be taking a third-year German course on literature of the Romantic period. (Which is really nice considering I haven’t taken formal German classes since high school, many years ago.) And since I’m allowed to take two classes, I decided to take Italian 101. Might as well get started learning another language, right? After all, this is what I’ve wanted the time and opportunity to do for years! And it will also help my job, since the more I understand of all these languages, the better I can select materials, evaluate our collection, and even teach research skills. Should be most enjoyable! I can’t wait!

Current music: Structures from Silence, by Steve Roach

While I’ve never gotten Poison Ivy myself, I’ve heard about how bad it is. Plus, there are plenty of movies or TV show episodes that use it for the humor value.

Well, I heard a new thing recently. A co-worker of mine has a daughter who is so sensitive to poison ivy that she reacts just from the airborne spores!! I’ve never heard of that before! To think that you could get poison ivy reactions on your face and neck without ever going near it! [Shudder!]

That’s just not right!

Current music: Panorama: The Best of Craig Chaquico

There are two primary types of games that people play related to NFL Football: Fantasy Football and some form of “Pick’em” game. I’ve already written about the latter, so here’s an invitation for you to join my Pick’em game.

This one’s much simpler than fantasy sports. You just pick the teams you think will win each week. I’ve been running some form of this game for 8 years now, starting with a handful of people who emailed me their picks which I posted on my office door. For the last few years, I’ve used Yahoo! and have been thoroughly satisified with how they run it and with how much work they save me.
There are only two things to do when playing this Pick’Em game. You are given a list of the games for the week and you pick the teams you think will win. Then you assign a confidence level to them. If there are 16 games that week, you rank them from 1 to 16. The game you’re most sure of gets a 16, and on down to 1. If you get the pick right, you get that many points. Pretty simple.

If you want to play, there’s TONS of room for people to join. Just visit Yahoo! and join the group #5852 with password library. It’s a lot of fun, gets you involved in following the teams a little bit, and doesn’t require much knowledge about them. Much lower-key than fantasy football, but just as fun. Come join us!

Current music: Winter Light, by Yanni

It just occurred to me that there is such a thing as passive prayer.

It started a couple weeks ago, when, during a church service where they were taking prayer requests, I asked for prayer about selling our house. I ended with saying something like “pray that it sells quickly.” I was thinking about the double-mortgage/rent that we’re paying each month until it sells. But the lay minister who was asking for them responded with a chuckle and, “Let’s just pray for God’s will to be done.”

Since when is it wrong to pray for action? There’s nothing wrong with praying that something happen quickly. The Bible is full of examples of people praying for immediate needs, with the full expectation that God would meet those needs quickly. I’ve read about the same thing in other books and heard people talk about it.

I think many Christians have become passive pray-ers. It’s easy to feel pious and just ask that “God’s will be done” and think you’ve prayed the best you can. God WANTS us to place our concerns before Him, and sometimes He’s just waiting for us to ask. Many (I’d almost hazard a “most” here) things in life do not fall into a “perfect will of God” situation. I’m convinced that we have many options in life and are free to choose what best pleases us, so long as we are living in a way that is striving to please God in all things. In the same way, we don’t have to just turn things over to God and say “Your will be done.” We can and SHOULD ask specifically for our hearts’ desires, even to the point of asking for a quick sale of a house. “God, please help our house to sell sometime whenever it pleases You” just doesn’t cut it.

That method of praying is very close to the hyper-Calvinist approach to missions, which says that God is going to save whomever He pleases, so we don’t have to work to bring souls to Him, which frankly goes against the Bible’s explicit teachings and Christ’s command to “Go” and make disciples.

Current music: Suite No. 2 in F for Military Band, by Gustav Holst

This afternoon I found the most excellent website for help in using MS Excel. This particular page is just about working with dates. The main page is an archive from the Mr. Excel message board, and the contents are displayed like a discussion board, with questions and responses.

I had something I was trying to do with dates in Excel and I was able to find specific steps to take to make it work. A very helpful resource. If you use Excel and ever wonder how to do something that seems less than obvious, check out the Mr. Excel archives for tons of tips! Finding this site was worth hours of trying to figure something out on my own. Be sure to bookmark this one!

Current music: Soundtrack from First Knight, by Jerry Goldsmith

Why do we have rules? Rules are created to help facilitate peaceful coexistence with others in the community? Yes? Whether playing Candyland or leaving your neighbor’s property alone, we have rules so we can all get along, safely and peaceably.

But rules are nothing if they are not enforced. They are LESS than nothing, they are detrimental, because some choose to abide by them and others do not. And when that happens, people are taken advantage of, whether in a children’s game or in social relations.

Which is it just burns my cookies to see speed limits of 35 mph on a street while practically EVERYONE drives 50+. If you’re going 45 mph on that street and you’re being passed by everyone, I’d say that nobody’s following the rules. And when the police don’t enforce the rules, that just perpetuates the problem and ends up creating an unsafe environment.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not bellyaching about being passed or about everyone driving faster than I. I’m complaining about rules that are not enforced. I don’t have a problem with driving 50 or 55 along with everyone else, SO LONG AS THE LAW ALLOWS IT! If the law is going to be “drive 35 mph unless it’s during rush hour and then it’s okay to drive 50 mph,” that’s great. Somebody should just POST it. That’s all.

And even worse is Stoplight Enforcement! Maybe it’s a big-city thing, but I see running red lights as a ubiquitous problem in Indianapolis. You know it’s a serious problem if you go through when it’s already yellow (I know, technically it’s amber, but who really calls it that?) and THREE cars follow you through! I see that happening all the time in Indy. And I’d say that’s MUCH more dangerous than just speeding on city streets.

You know, that’s why I became an R.A. in college and remained one for three years. I figured, if you don’t like the rules, get yourself into a place where you can change them. Until then, abide by them. So that’s what I did.

Current music: Paint the Sky with Stars: The Best of Enya

Another news story from this week is that the census in Texas shows that it has become the fourth state (not counting Washington, D.C.) to have “minorities” become more than 50% of the population. The overall U.S. population consists of 32.6% non-whites, since there are another nine states with 35%-50% minorities.

So what does it take to be considered a minority, speaking strictly of race and percentages?

Is it just anything less than half the population? Or, in our increasingly diverse American society, is it maybe less than 1/3? Would it be safe to say that if a particular race is more than a third of the population that you’re a “major” component and not really a “minority” any more?

If that’s the case, then there are over a dozen states where minorities aren’t as much the minority any more. Granted, that’s ALL minorities grouped together making up those percentages, but in many of those there’s one particular race that makes up most of the minority grouping in that state, whether black, hispanic, native american or asian.

It’s interesting to watch the changes and shifts in U.S. culture, and it makes me curious as to how long it will be before whites are less than 50% of the total U.S. population. That would really be something, indicating that we truly have become a diverse nation.

Yahoo has another story that has lots of information and links in it on this topic.

Current music: San Juan Suite (Vol. 1), by Michael Gettel

Yup, it’s that time of year again! NFL teams have begun preseason games. Fans are gearing up for the games, buying tickets and gear, and cheering/booing players. And thousands are getting into Fantasy Football. Including yours truly! I’ve been playing a variety of NFL-related games for 8 years now, and playing Fantasy Football for 3 or 4. Yahoo! offers one of the best free fantasy football systems out there. I’ve got one set up that still has some openings. If you’re interested in playing fantasy football this year, or even trying it out if you’ve never done it before, I’ve got a good group of people together who have fun without being overly competitive or talking smack too much. Just let me know if you want to join and I’ll give you the free signup information.

In the news, Brett Favre is looking as good as ever. He actually spent time in the off season with a strength-and-conditioning coach for the first time. He’s getting older, but he’s hanging tough (as always) and is still increasing his consecutive games started record, which is an amazing 189 games! (208 if you count playoff games) Plus, just last year he had over 4,000 passing yards and has had 30+ touchdown passes each season the last two years. He sure isn’t slowing down as he gets older! And he’s still representative of the life-blood of football for the entire state of Wisconsin.

On the opposite side of the fence is Terrell Owens. He’s good, no doubt, but I don’t think he’s good for a team, even if it is the Eagles. In and out of training camp, and more because of attitude than injury, with the capstone being sent home from the training camp this week for arguing with the coach. Plus he didn’t show up with his teammates to sign autographs this week “because of his injury” (which was to his GROIN! — THAT will certainly making signing your name difficult!). He’s gotten so full of himself that the good of the team comes second to his own good, as he perceives it. He just signed a deal last year when he moved to Philadelphia for about $49 million for 7 years. So he gets picked up by a really good team, gets to go to the Super Bowl, shows long term potential for contributing to the team’s success, and gets $7 million a year…. But that’s not good enough for T-O! He’s got to try to renegotiate his contract after one year there. Talk about ungrateful and unsportsmanlike!

A good site for NFL Sports News is Yahoo!’s NFL Site. Lots of great info, articles, schedules, stats, and help for fantasy players.
Current music: Fahrenheit, by Toto

This is the year that Butler University turns 150 years old! The sesquicentennial is being celebrated throughout the year in a variety of ways. Here’s the schedule so far, straight from Dr. Fong, the president of the university.

This year marks Butler’s 150th anniversary. Throughout 2005-06 we will celebrate with a series of celebratory events.

A highlight will be visits from The Honorable William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the U.S., on Sunday, Nov. 6, and The Honorable George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the U.S., on Thursday, March 2.

On Aug. 26, we’ll officially kick off the celebration with a community birthday party. We’ll have a carnival, complete with free food and a birthday cake large enough to feed 1,500 people. The party begins at 5 p.m. and will conclude at dusk with fireworks.

During the weekend of Oct. 13-16, we will welcome alumni and the Indianapolis community to campus for Homecoming with several major events. On Thursday, Oct. 13, columnist George Will and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley will share the stage at Clowes Memorial Hall for a discussion of politics.

On Friday, Oct. 14, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Anna Quindlen and David Halberstam will speak together at Clowes in a dialogue that’s likely to cover everything from politics to popular culture to baseball. Following Quindlen and Halberstam, singer Ben Folds will take the Clowes stage at 9:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello will perform a special solo concert at Clowes. On Sunday, Oct. 16, the Butler Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert at Clowes.

Many events will take place in Hinkle Fieldhouse during Founder’s Month, February 2006. On Thursday, Feb. 2, 2006, a documentary on the legendary fieldhouse will premiere on ESPN Classic. Fans can watch the premiere following a 6:30 p.m. men’s basketball game against UW-Green Bay. Other events that weekend include a Teams of the Sesquicentennial Banquet, a Nostalgic Men’s Basketball Game and a sock hop on the floor of the fieldhouse.

On Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson will lecture on astronomy and the history of the universe. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. His lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in Clowes Memorial Hall.

As you can see, the sesquicentennial celebration will be truly historic. It offers an unprecedented opportunity for us to honor our traditions and embrace our future. I look forward to sharing the events of this momentous year with you.

This is only a snapshot of a much broader array of activities. I encourage you to visit the sesquicentennial Web site www.butler.edu/150 regularly for updates.

Pretty cool stuff, eh? Lots of great opportunities associated with the big 1-5-0! Not to mention all the other activities and artists that will be on campus throughout the year.

Current music: Autumn, by George Winston