Thing 9-23 Isn't Gonna Happen

In Memorium:

Ferd Berfel

July 4, 1940 - April 1, 2009

image #1

This is Lyle Berfel, Ferd's nephew. It's been quite a month. Uncle Ferd unfortunately passed away on Wednesday, April 1st, after Antionette's dance recital. He won't be blogging anymore. Antionette is my eldest daughter and the light of my life. She does tap, jazz and ballet. (Second from right in the photo below.)

image #2

Her teacher, Miss Martha, says she's the most gifted child she's seen in decades. After the recital, we all went to KFC for a celebratory dinner. Ferd was supposed to be picking up the tab. Anyway, thing were going well. Everyone was happy with their selections. Suddenly, Uncle Ferd clutches his neck and starts to turn blue. We thought he was just messing around like he does sometimes. But according to the paramedics, who took at least 20 minutes to get there, this was no joke.

Ferd choked and died on a chicken bone, extra crispy. A wishbone, no less. And I always thought he preferred dark meat. Anyway, needless to say, the family was devastated.

Ferd had become quite excited about his blog and 23 Things and Web 2.0. He used to say that even though no one was following his blog and he felt like he was talking into thin air, he always held out hope that someday somebody would stumble upon it and read it and realize what a special person he was. I had my doubts, but Uncle Ferd, perhaps sensing that a tragedy might befall him, asked me to post his final blog in his memory if anything were to happen to him.

So here it is.

Credits: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1024509/President-Sarkozy-wife-Carla-lead-mourners-funeral-Pied-Piper-fashion-Yves-Saint-Laurent.html

http://www.stamfordperformingarts.com/alisonlittles.jpg

Too Much Information?

My 10-year-old Great Nephew, Nils (Lyle's oldest), is part of the Children's Professional Wrestling Association (CPWA) here in the city and I went to see him in a match last Friday night. He's usually on the losing end of the competition, costumed as a household pest, "Cockroach Boy," or something similar, but Derek Battaglio, who's usually the "Crimson Falcon" had shingles and he and Nils are roughly the same costume size, so Nils got his big break.


I was amazed at the athleticism of these young kids. Nils, in particular, really did his family proud. He smashed, bashed, poked, and pummeled! The skill with which he could fake a punch to the groin and "recover" to slam his opponent to the ropes was a sight to behold. Lyle was almost in tears he was so excited and his wife, Blanda, was a screaming, hysterical mess. What a terrific event for the entire Berfel family.


The only negative part of the evening was the argument and slight scuffle that ensued between Lyle and me afterwards when he claimed he didn't owe me subway fare home. Lyle's so like my dead brother, Biff, it's not even funny.

Your friend ferd.

Nils

www.kidsturncentral.com/.../costumes/hcost2v.htm

I wanted to be social

from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVbJ66_kB36ed9g7Ik0BQarpJQNyDsC7SONQXu567f2BCk5uc95CaCaWLDzTduMMQ9WHV1_alUigSYz0f983SZGm5mXzwGAlscvzHwWwr7x8XgpETLlqS6aYDPmL376zSj4iXQfG2RfA/s400/070228AL711040237.jpg

My nephew, Lyle, just emailed me. (We were supposed to meet last night, but he stood me up.) Anyway, he was all excited. Seems he had just finished NOTteRing (Network of Three Running), with a couple of his friends, Steffan and Leslee. He's says they did at least 12 miles. I'm skeptical, but he might be telling me the truth for a change. If you've not seen NOTteRing it's quite something.

NOTteRing is the practice of running three abreast, hands tightly held, with the tallest member (not necessarily the heaviest member), in the center. Lyle tells me Steffan picked this up when he was in Sweden where "everyone is doing it." Anyway, at some point in the run, the combined energy of the three results in some, well, frankly unbelievable moves. If I hadn't seen this recently with my own eyes I certainly wouldn't be blogging it. The synergy created by running as a triad apparently enables the participants to run longer, faster, and with less exertion than would be required if running singly or doubly.

Scaling: Another amazing thing is the ability of those NOTteRing to scale otherwise insurmountable obstacles. I observed Steffan, Leslee, and a third runner (not Lyle), scale the back side of a park bench recently. They didn't hurdle the obstacle, but scaled it; literally walking up the back side and down the seat as if slightly airborne. And in perfect unison. It was quite unbelievable.

Another practice in NOTteRing that I've observed is called "Debbing," (short for Debiting, I think). When the triad obtains a certain speed, it is no longer necessary for all three to actually run in the customary sense. One or more of the trio can actually run on just one leg and be held and propelled by the group with no loss of speed. Thus the group can further conserve energy and run even further. The photo above illustrates what I'm describing, but is not an actual photo of a NOTteRing session. I'll try to get a photo of this phenomenon for the blog soon, as I can understand your skepticism.

Your friend ferd.

Thing 8 - Communicating Web 2.0 Style

I use email all the time at work. Sometimes it seems like I don't do much else all day except read and respond to email. I don't travel much (see below), but when I return to work from being off for a week (often with an intestinal upset -- the details of which I will not describe), I spend at least the first half of the day dealing with my inbox. I don't know how we managed to do our jobs before email, when we had to get up out of our chairs and go to talk to a person, but I know I was much slimmer then. (You should have seen me before TV remotes were invented.)

Sometimes someone at work will email something rather inflamatory to a group and the various group members will shoot off several emails back and forth, ccing and bccing, and before you know it the Systems people will be telling us that we've exceeded the allowable size of our mailboxes. I always get a chuckle out of that. When it gets really bad, my supervisor will send an email to everyone telling them to stop emailing and he'll call a meeting instead. I always hate that. It means getting up from my desk and walking somewhere.

While I email alot, I'm not an active text (or instant) messager. I have conducted Ask-A-Librarian sessions before moving to a job "off desk." This was a forced move. (More to follow.) I just finished chatting with NEFLIN who was very friendly and upbeat. Thanks NEFLIN.

I've attended several webinars - both one-way and two-way - in the course of my job. It's nice not to have to travel to attend these. As part of this assignment I went to the Opal archives and listened to part of "Finding Travel Information and Make Reservations Online" presented by Tom Peters. You might think it's ironic that I chose a webinar on travel when I don't really like to travel. I do too.

The webinar was written in 11/05 and presented in 1/06 and was somewhat dated. For example, Tom didn't mention such travel search engines as kayak.com, which is a great site for travel information. I like travel information, I just don't like to travel.

Your friend ferd.

Thing 7 Online Image Generators

This "motivational poster" was created using an image generator at Big Huge Labs - http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/motivator.php

Working on 23 Things is alot like climbing Half Dome. Especially when you get ready to publish your post and realize you didn't save the most recent version, but a version you had been working on several days before and have to start all over. Except Half Dome isn't really like that because you'd never forget where you were on the rock unless you slipped off and got a concussion that left you with partial amnesia. But most likely if you slipped off you'd be dead and wouldn't care about 23 Things. So I guess the two really have nothing in common. But I liked the photo. I found it at http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/photos/dhb-half-dome.jpg It might be a photo of me.

Your friend ferd.

Thing 6 - Flickr Mashups

I checked out Clockr, Spell with Flickr, and tried FlickrColrPickr - Graffiti in Blue
















TOP writing's on the wall by damclean http://www.flickr.com/photos/53493629@N00/3009406/in/pool-49503134345@N01/
RIGHT graf12 by missjenm http://www.flickr.com/photos/19989461@N00/3967130/in/pool-49503134345@N01/
BOTTOM 5 ptz graff by deepspace9mm http://www.flickr.com/photos/41687544@N00/1058675/in/pool-49503134345@N01/

The purpose of FlickrColrPickr, says its creator, Jim Bumgardner, "...is simply to provide wonder and delight. Nothing more, nothing less. Isn't that enough?"

It is enough. It is enough.

I could see our library using this site to grab like-hued photos for eye-catching displays.
Your friend ferd

Thing 5 - Flickr

Ever since the fire in '59 I've been a little camera shy.


So I don't know about creating my own Flickr account. I'll think about it.

But in the meantime, I did the required reading and exploring and found some amazing images.
Phil Nesmith http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualadventure/
This is what I'm talking about!

Sexecutioner's photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/sexecutioner/

jim_moore's photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/filtre/

[Fruit bat claws - Sri Lanka]

While blogs might not have helped me learn more about the care and feeding of bats, Flickr has certainly kept me entertained. Obsessed, almost.

How might I use Flickr in my library?

Sometimes I come across some disturbing stains in the library. I know I'm not the only one bothered. Other staff are. I see them wrinkle their noses as they descend the stairs to the Circ. desk before opening. They've spotted the mark just to the left of the landing. It's been there for some time now. But it still disturbs.

A member of the Board of Trustees just the other night commented on a dark, slippery area in the alcove. We put up a safety cone.

And the spot in front of the PlayAway display - - it never dries.

I think we could use Flickr to document these stains. We could post them on the staff Intranet to alert other, less observant staff.

Or, because the young adults who visit us often seem to be looking for something to do, perhaps we could create a Stain Scavenger Hunt.

Teams of Youth Flickr Groups, wielding digital cameras, would be formed to search out various areas of the library that have been violated. As the group came upon a spot described on the list, they would snap a picture. At a predetermined time all teams would meet in front of the Reference desk to upload their photos to their Flickr accounts and share them amongst the teams. The team with the most stains correctly documented would win. Pizza and Coke would then be served.

Boy, this 23 Things has certainly gotten me thinking outside the box.
Your friend ferd