"You cannot wield it, it has no other master!"

This is freaking amazing.

INTERACTIVE MAP OF MIDDLE EARTH.

Essentially a Google map of Middle Earth. Wow, this is incredible. You can even look at the labels in Elvish. This is a great compliment to what is easily one of the greatest stories ever told. Truth be told, this is a little nerdy or geeky or whatever, but still it's cool. Look at the background page; looks like an old, unrolled scroll. Who's up for watching the trilogy?

-Jon

Jon AKA web designer.

How sweet is this? I have created my own web page.

Take a peek.

For my Computing Foundations class, we get to use the library science program's online web server to upload things like websites. Our first assignment was to learn a bit about HTML by reading a textbook and writing a website in HTML. It's pretty cool, programming in HTML isn't really "designing" a website, but rather taking the template for a website and telling it what to do. So this is website is very basic but I'm still pretty happy with it. Obviously it could use some work and I will hopefully be updating it as I come up with new stuff; any suggestions?

-Jon

Thoughts over coffee.

I'm in the 4th floor of the University of Iowa's Main Library. Tucked far away in a corner of the Graduate Reading Room. The only other thing in this room are stacks and carpet dryers left by the overnight cleaners. In the last week, I keep thinking of things I should write about, but they are always just germs of ideas and it would be so much easier to "tweet" these things rather than blog about them. Luckily, I don't have Twitter and am forced to think through what I want to write about.

For example, I am back in school again. It's a little different this time around, as I am a full-fledged graduate student. This brings with it many perks, such as a key to the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) Department ($200 lost key fee) and the entitlement to look down on younger students I pass on the street. But there are still lots of reminders of what undergrad looks like in this city. I pass by Mayflower, my first dorm, every time I drive into the city for class. Kids are always outside waiting for the bus to come pick them up and drive them into campus. I remember the year I spent out on those steps with my first generation iPod shuffle. Last Friday night I went to a CAB sponsored event at the Union, the stand-up comedy of David Koechner. The show itself was terrible, he's never been funny in any movie or show he's ever been in, why would his stand-up be any different? But I was more struck by the crowd which attended. It was almost entirely the freshman class of this school. I saw one older couple, probably fans of Koechner from his early SNL days, but everybody else was young and wearing Iowa apparel. Groups consisted of four nerdy-ish looking guy friends all enjoying their first week of college. Young, young looking couples fresh out of high school. Girls whose outfits were just a bit too paltry for their own good. I remember being those kids and seeing them all just brings back all those feelings of being on this campus by myself, scared, lonely, not really knowing what I was doing and feeling in over my head all the time.

But then I remember I have an expensive key that opens a whole wing of the library that they can't get into, and I snap out of it. Niiiice. You know else I've been reminded about? SLOW WALKERS. Gracious there are some slow walkers on this campus. If you must walk slow, just do your best to be spatially aware and move out of the way of walkers with a purpose. Gosh is it annoying.

And classes have started for me now; I'm a full week in. It's going to be a lot of work, a heck of a lot of reading but really interesting. Once I really get into the readings I can start to share interesting articles/books/whatever I come across related to the field.

Finally, September is just around the corner, which means BRING IT ON MUSIC MONTH. Can't wait. Plus Coll's and my bird-day month. Plus the start of fall weather. Hi-oh.

-Jon

P.S. The Daily Show writing team wins the Emmy over The Tonight Show with Conan Brien's writing team? There is no justice in this world.

Do you remembah the twenty-first night of Septembah?

September is shaping up to be the best month in months. More related to music than anything else, but some other things as well. Get a load of how many albums are coming out in just a few weeks time. Because of the uncertainty of release dates, I'll list them alphabetically by album:

Clapton - Eric Clapton

Not much to say, other than this is probably going to be a pretty standard, run-of-the-mill Clapton album. That is to say, another awesome album of killer blues/pop tunes layered with the most melodic guitar playing you can hear in today's music scene. Most people say John Mayer is the next real bluesman/guitar player of our generation; it's because he essentially copies everything Clapton does musically. Smart move, because Clapton rocks. He can write great hooks and then throw a solo in that melts your face. Or heart. Depends what kind of mood you're in. Either way, this is going to be a great album, no question.

Kaleidoscope Heart - Sara Bareilles

A few years back, Sara Bareilles hurtled onto the pop scene with her single Love Song and her debut album Little Voice. Holy cow does this woman have some pipes. Seriously, this whole album was full of hook after hook. Her voice sounded real. And bold, and unique. I think it was different because she had a powerful voice, and it was good, and there wasn't a hint of disingenuousness* in it. I have heard the first single off this new album and I liked it, but I'm hoping that the deeper cuts will yield even better results. That's how it was on her first one. Love Song was a great song, but holy cow there were loads of even greater songs on it. This will be an awesome album.

Lonely Avenue - Ben Folds & Nick Hornby

Any music by Ben Folds is a guaranteed winner**. Lyrics contributed by Nick Hornby, author of novels like About A Boy and High Fidelity. How could this thing be bad?

Nothing - N.E.R.D.

OK, this one I'm a little iffy on. Their last album was a pretty big let-down for me, mainly because the album before it was absolutely awesome. I won't be buying this one on Day 1, but I'll give it a listen and see if it has the potential to grow on me. I can't give up on Pharrell yet.

Record Collection - Mark Ronson

Another one I'm unsure of at this point. I've only heard the first single, and it was a little synth-heavy for my taste. Ronson's last solo album was really fun, he had horns going all over that thing and some great guest spots. This one, fewer guest spots, and possibly a more electro bent to it. Which isn't bad, if it's done well. I trust him to do it well.

Untitled - Adele

This one is the album whose release date could be pushed back as no real definitive release date has been set as of yet. It would be hard for me to not like this one though, or at least be more open-minded with this one than any of the others. Adele's first album took forever to grow on me, but oh my did it ever grow on me. Her voice just enchants me, and musically her debut was really different for a pop album. Nothing cookie-cutter. And on this next album, she's getting producing from Rick Rubin, flavored with a country-twinge, and she's got some heavy hitters playing sessions with her, namely Pino Palladino (John Mayer Trio, D'Angelo, Clapton, anybody ever who wanted a good bass session player) and James Poyser (executive produced Al Green's 2008 effort Lay It Down and worked on D'Angelo's Voodoo, 'nuff said). It's going to be awesome, even if it takes awhile to get into my system. Super, super excited about this one.

Wake Up Everybody - John Legend & The Roots

This is going to be another really fun album. I love soul music, especially when it's redone to sound awesome by awesome musicians of our generation. Almost this whole album will be covers of old soul tunes from the '70s. Awesome. I've started collecting the albums from which the covers are taken, and they are all really good. All of this music revamped by the one and only ?uestlove will just be fun. And it will be great to listen to John Legend and enjoy it again.

So considering that through the month of September, I will almost double the number of albums I have released in 2010, it's safe to say that it will be the best music month of the year. Unless Kanye actually does release his new rap album in November. Here's to hoping.

-Jon

* this is almost not a real word.

** see: the spoken word album Has Been by William Shatner. Sounds like a recipe for disaster doesn't it? Thanks to the incredible producing touch of Ben Folds, it's an awesome listen.

A brief history lesson.

A very cool article from the LA Times about the beginning of the Disney Archives:

click

The very first ticket to Disneyland ever sold. To Walt Disney's older brother Roy, for only $1. This is awesome for a few reasons. Preservation is such an important part of our life. Librarian Smith was able to join a company that wasn't holding its own history in such high regard and turned it around so they wouldn't lose sight of where they came from. What a huge accomplishment, and especially for a company as enduring as Disney. Disney is truly one of the most established brands in this country's history. I would argue no other company's name has as much clout behind it. "Disney" evokes such an enduring legacy of pure entertainment infused with heart and meaning and love and goodness. True, they've produced their fair share of crap material in the last twenty years*, but no other brand name has as much good quality entertainment under it's belt as Disney does. And they've done so well by keeping sight of their past. They've let their past successes inform their current endeavors. You've got to keep sight of where you came from to know where you're at and where you're headed. That's why the Disney Archives are so important and awesome.

It's also another reason for me to get excited about library school. I have no idea what I want to do once I'm actually there, but heading into the program is exciting because I know my core desires have to do with what the field is all about. Information, preservation, organization, communication. Lots of -tion words that are important in life. It's cool to me that in hopefully three years, I will get a job in an institution where information is highly regarded and I will get paid to organize and communicate that information to others. Awesome.

Also, Lost was/is the most incredible television experience I've ever had. Hopefully more on that later.

-Jon

* Why they chose to work with Roseanne, I'll never understand. Moo.

Garfield minus Garfield.

This is a hilarious to me. I read the newspaper comics quite often as a kid, and there were a few that held a special place in my heart. Calvin & Hobbes, Foxtrot, The Far Side. These were all very funny comics strips. Then there were the others. Family Circus. Beetle Bailey. Marmaduke. But then there was Garfield. I think there was probably a time when I legitimately thought it was funny, but that passed quickly. When I got a bit older I realized it was just a stupid comic about a cat who thought things and a lonely, middle-aged guy who was the most pathetic character. Possibly ever.

This blog illustrates that perfectly. Imagine if Jon Arbuckle couldn't understand Garfield's thoughts, that Garfield was just his cat who was fat. The things Jon says would be horribly pathetic, wouldn't they? This blog brilliantly has taken Garfield out of the Garfield comic strip and you're left with just Jon Arbuckle and his pure, unadulterated loneliness. Far funnier than the actual comic strip.

Enjoy.

-Jon

I love Michael McDonald's voice.

One thing that's great about my wife is that she loves Time Life Records Classic Music collections. Especially their infomercials. The other night as we were flipping TV stations, we stumbled across the Classic Soft Rock collection. Now all their collections truly are really good, whether it's the Classic Soul Ballads, Classic Rhythm & Blues, Midnight Soul, Flower Power, etc. But we started watching the Classic Soft Rock infomercial, because each infomercial has clips of the artists performing their hits while a clip of the song is played. One of the clips was The Doobie Brothers playing "What A Fool Believes." Colleen says, "Oh I love this song!" and I reply, "Hm. Never heard it." She responded with such incredulity that I immediately felt a little embarrassed but determined to get a hold of the whole song. I grabbed my computer, loaded up Youtube and away we went. This is what I found:

Holy crap. What a great tune. This is why Colleen is great. While I know lots and lots and lots of music, there is a lot of music from the last 50 years that most people know that is just absolutely awesome, like this song, but that I never heard or was ever exposed to because my parents listened to a lot of Michael Card while I was growing up. No old Chicago or 5th Dimension or Doobie Brothers or Paul Simon or Stevie Wonder or anything. So I missed tons of this good stuff. Music that I would absolutely love if only I knew about it. Thankfully, Colleen does. And she is educating me, little by little. So enjoy this tune if you haven't heard it in a while. It's incredible.

-Jon