Everybody beware! It's Friday the 13th!

Something I saw in a local Chinese restaurant:

Sake:
(for one) $3.50
(for town) $8.00

===================

I'm sure they meant to write 'two' instead of 'town' but I had a good laugh anyway...

That money talks, I can't deny.
I heard it once. It said 'goodbye'!
- Richard Armour

I was walking down the street the other day and saw a DC vanity license plate spelling out "Bacchus."

Just perfect.

Symi's in DC-- Yaaaaay!!

Fitting.

Three slime mold beetles now bear the names of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

Sometimes I wonder what some parents were thinking when they name their children certain things.

Most of you know my feelings about people who call their children 'Chastity' but there are some people whose names must make their lives a living hell just because of their resemblance to other people or fictional characters.

Of course, there is the character in the movie Office Space named Michael Bolton but I have talked to a lot of other people with bizarre connections:

There is a Toni Braxton working at the National Park Service.

I had to get a guy named Jim Crow to send me some info from Atlanta a few months ago in order to finish a project I was working on...

I went to high school with a Benjamin Franklin and have since met another one.

One of the people I competed against in Academic Decathlon was named Travis Tritt.

And many, many others...

There are also a few people whose names just conjure up unpleasant references:

A really good British professor of mine decided to change his name after moving to the US because his family name happened to be 'Barff.'

I can also go to what looks to be an interesting lecture on Operations Research, Military Consulting and the Growth of Tyson's Corner, Virginia: 1945-1970 given by Paul Virus, Curator of Aerospace Electronics & Computing, Division of Space History at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.

I just feel sorry for them...

NEWS FLASH

MOLVANIA DISQUALIFIED FROM EUROVISION!

The tiny Eastern European republic of Molvania was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

Zladko “Zlad” Vladcik was to perform his very popular techno-ballad, “Elektronik – Supersonik” - described as “a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric”. [ Click here to see the music video]

However, the 23-year-old singer was arrested at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport and immediately deported. While Eurovision does not normally test for recreational drugs, unfortunately for Vladcik, Turkish Customs do.

On his return, “Zlad” apologised to everyone in Molvania for letting them down, especially his family, his friends and his dealer.

“ZLAD” – A SHORT HISTORY

Zladko “Zlad” Vladcik rose to prominence in 2002 when he won Molvanian Idol in controversial circumstances - the other finalist, Ob Kuklop, pulled out due to a serious throat condition after one of the judges tried to strangle him.

“Zlad” immediately released the megahit, “Juust Az I Amm” – hailed by Rolling Stone as the most incorrectly spelt song of all time.

After barely 2 days on the Molvanian “Rhythm & Polka” charts, the track went platinum – remarkable considering it was only available on cassingle.

Then, in an exciting move, “Zlad” formed supergroup Wow! But while on their very first tour, he decided to go solo again, citing the fact that the rest of the band was “moving in a different direction” (Romania).

For more information on Molvania, visit the Jet Lag Travel Guide website and this NPR Interview.

Had a great time in NYC last weekend with Symi-- she's back in the US for a week to do research in the Columbia University libraries. Anyone out there have insight into antisemitism in France?

The cherry blossoms in New York were in full bloom and we had some phenomenal weather. And at night- a phenomenal time hearing Dee Dee Bridgewater sing the heck out of Les Chansons Francaises.

Looking forward to going back up for this coming weekend for Pesach.

This will be held only across the street from home in Indio-- looks like really good time. Some really impressive acts!

As many of you know, Penguin in the City (Tricia) has just celebrated a year after her harrowing bout with brain cancer. I encourage you all to read the following message and help however you can!

Justin

Please help me in the fight against brain tumors

Hello everyone!

On May 1st, the Brain Tumor Society will be hosting the 8th annual 2005 Race for Hope 5K to benefit brain tumor research. Last year, the Brain Tumor Society gave 1.3 million dollars to brain tumor research. This year it hopes to give even more.

I will be running/walking because, as many of you know, I'm a brain tumor survivor. (If you're able to come to the race, you'll definitely see me in the survivor's tent in a Lance-Armstrong inspired yellow T-Shirt!) I walk in honor and in memory of still a few other people. I hope that you will consider walking with me or supporting me and raise money and awareness to fight this horrible disease. Here are the various ways you can participate:

1. Sign up to walk/run on May 1st by visiting www.curebraintumors.org. When registering, you will have the option of making an additional donation on top of the $25 registration fee. All donations are tax deductible.

2. If you want to support me but cannot attend the race on May 1st, please go here to make your pledge and to be added to the honor roll list.

3. Help spread the word. Please send this email to your friends and family and invite them to join us on May 1st by participating in the Race for Hope or by making a donation.

4. For me, a big cheering section is also greatly appreciated! :)

Thank you so much for your efforts. We hope you will join us as we collectively bring strength and hope to all families who are battling this terrible disease. Please contact me if you have questions or need clarification on how you can help.

NOTE: Online Registrations close April 26th...

Sincerely,
Tricia Southard
email: plsouthard@alumni.furman.edu
phone: 202-412-6968
IM: ask via email

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Brain Tumor Society

******************************************************************************
Some email systems do not support the use of links and therefore this link may not appear to work. If so, copy and paste the following into your browser:
http://raceforhope.kintera.org/2005/flyingpenguin?faf=1&e=275191906
******************************************************************************

Patricia Southard

Amazon.com just came out with a fascinating new feature-- "Statistically Improbable Phrases."

Amazon.com's Statistically Improbable Phrases, or "SIPs", show you the interesting, distinctive, or unlikely phrases that occur in the text of books in Search Inside the Book. Our computers scan the text of all books in the Search Inside program. If they find a phrase that occurs a large number of times in a particular book relative to how many times it occurs across all Search Inside books, that phrase is a SIP in that book.

I'm really fascinated by this kind of 'smart searching' as one might call it-- seeing patterns or hiccups in data would be extremely useful in my work and raises a lot of intellectual questions with me too.

Anyone know of similar projects and/or research elsewhere? I'd be curious to hear about them!

Wow-- I just came across an address for a person in Bayonet Point, FL.

What a terrible name!! I'm not sure I would ever want to live in a town named that, just on principle!

Very interesting....

And a breath of fresh air since it seems the clout of the big consulting and financial companies that was so stifling when I was at Dartmouth has been broken. More power to my fellow alums who have broken out of the corporate mold-- though I am surprised that 11% of this year's class went into a single program, however worthy.

Teach for America Attracts Record Number of Graduates
NPR Morning Edition, April 12, 2005
(transcript)

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

More college seniors than ever before are applying to Teach for America. That program is a little like the Peace Corps. For the past 15 years it has recruited top college graduates to teach for two years in low-income rural and urban schools. NPR's Anthony Brooks visited Dartmouth College to find out why applications to the program are up.

(Soundbite of voices)

ANTHONY BROOKS reporting:

This past week it was warm and sunny as the long New England winter finally released its grip on Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Students in T-shirts and flip-flops played Frisbee on the campus green while a campus tour guide made the most of this spring day.

Unidentified Woman: Yeah, welcome to Dartmouth. This is clearly an amazing day to see the school.

BROOKS: As the guide welcomes this group of prospective students, another class of Dartmouth seniors is preparing to leave.

Mr. ALEX DOMINGUEZ (Student): I'm from Brooklyn, New York. My focus is international economics and international relations.

BROOKS: But Alex Dominguez says what excited him most about the last four years was volunteering as a mentor for an underprivileged boy from a nearby town, so he applied to Teach for America, was accepted, and for the next two years he'll be a special ed teacher in a Newark, New Jersey, elementary school.

Mr. DOMINGUEZ: A lot of my friends necessarily didn't go to as good a college or even go to college, and I felt that I owed it to society, you know, to give back a little bit.

BROOKS: That's a common theme here. Senior Julia Hildreth wants to go on to law school, but first she'll spend the next two years teaching urban schoolkids. Hildreth, who comes from New Hampshire, says she's committed to Teach for America because of the inequities she's seen between rich and poor schools.

Ms. JULIA HILDRETH (Student): It just seems so unjust for those children in the lower-income schools, and that's a driving force behind my excitement about the program and my reasons for wanting to do it.

BROOKS: More than a hundred Dartmouth seniors have applied to Teach for America. That's 11 percent of the senior class. Surprising, perhaps, given the many lucrative career opportunities available to these Ivy League grads.

Ms. CHELSEA NILSSON (Student): There's a desire to make an impact, there's no question.

BROOKS: Chelsea Nilsson is a senior from Pennsylvania who applied to Teach for America. If accepted, she wants to teach English in an urban high school. It's hard work for relatively little pay, but she says it offers immediate responsibilities that most first jobs don't.

Ms. NILSSON: So many recent graduates feel that you have to commit this obligatory time to being someone's photocopying assistant or someone's coffee runner. I want to find a way to make an immediate impact.

BROOKS: This year, Teach for America has attracted some 17,000 applicants to fill just 2,000 openings, a jump of almost 40 percent over last year. The numbers are up at many schools, from Dartmouth to Yale to the University of Michigan. Elissa Clapp, who heads recruitment at Teach for America, says she's not surprised.

Ms. ELISSA CLAPP (Teach for America): I do think that this generation of leaders is outraged by what they're seeing, and the gap in educational outcomes that continues to persist along racial and economic lines. And at the same time we have ramped up our effort to reach the top graduating seniors on campuses.

BROOKS: A survey by The Brookings Institution two years ago found that more than a third of college seniors were interested in public service work, though many didn't know how to find it. Dan Kessler of Idealist.org, an online clearing house for the non- profit sector, says Teach for America has successfully tapped into that interest in public service. He says the program is highly visible on campuses and employs young recruiters who compete aggressively with the private sector to attract the best and the brightest.

Mr. DAN KESSLER (Idealist.org): It's prestigious and it's intensely competitive, so one of the things that they've done incredibly well in addition to the program itself is simply have absolutely brilliant marketing.

BROOKS: As one professor put it, Teach for America is cool. Senior Alex Dominguez agrees with that and says he looks forward to a new challenge, even if he'll be sad to say goodbye to Dartmouth.

Mr. DOMINGUEZ: I think it's time that, you know, I go and venture out into the world and, you know, start to make my place out there.

BROOKS: Next fall, Dominguez will take his place in a classroom in Newark, New Jersey.

Anthony Brooks, NPR News.

MONTAGNE: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

My apologies-- I misread the dates for my previous post. This year's American Library Week is actually this week (April 10-16)-- Sorry Tricia...

Next week (April 18-24) is National Library Week, according to the American Library Association.

Must..... resist..... using.... 'check out'.... pun.........(gasp)

Here's a story Symi sent me:

In Steinbeck's Birthplace, A Fight to Keep the Libraries Open
New York Times
by Carolyn Marshall
April 4, 2005

An absolute travesty!!

A bit of a laugh for all of you who are part of fantasy sports leagues.... (Washington Post 040305) 

Bleagh! The 'n' & 'delete' keys have died o my home keyboard. Likely the
begi i g of the e d for the whole keyboard-- the same thi g happe ed to my previous keyboard.

Tha kfully, I thi k it is still u der warra ty.

(btw-- if you have a problem with how I typed the letter I was missi g above, realize that I copied it from a other page & pasted it here.)

For those of you interested in a deeper look at current issues, I highly recommend PBS' program Frontline.

I have just finished watching one of their reports on the issue of prescription drugs in the US, entitled The Other Drug War. There's a wealth of background information on the site, in addition to a full video copy of the program, divided into six parts for easy loading.

Other topics I think they do exceptionally well are as follows:

Beyond Baghdad

In the summer of 2003, as violence against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq spiked alarmingly, the top U.S. administrator there, L. Paul Bremer, told FRONTLINE producer Martin Smith that the press was doing a terrible job of covering the story. He said they needed to get out of Baghdad to see the kind of progress that was being made.

Accepting Bremer's challenge, in November FRONTLINE went back to Iraq to see how the U.S. plan to turn the country into a showcase for democracy in the Middle East was faring.

The Secret History of the Credit Card

In "Secret History of the Credit Card," FRONTLINE® and The New York Times join forces to investigate an industry few Americans fully understand. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt.