Librari[d]an

Being anonymous is one of the pleasures of city life, and I’ve been rediscovering it Downtown, in the Strip, on the NorthSide, and increasingly in Lawrenceville of late. It’s one of those Pittsburgh neighborhoods in which the people, at large and who I know, are wholly unconnected with libraries, the University, and most of my day to day concerns. It’s an escape from habit; my routine has been giving me the blues.

The garish yet strangely charming Coca Café. They have an interesting, if not particularly vegetarian or vegan friendly, brunch menu. Be sure to get a tall glass of their delicious, pulpy, fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Piccolo Forno’s exterior. The food and ambiance are acceptable. However, their summation is certainly not enough to offset the pricey menu, brusque waitstaff, and loud-as-hell open kitchen.

There’s something about Lawrenceville that really speaks to me, and I don’t think it’s that the neighborhood is on the upswing thanks to that Main Street Project. It’s the river - the Allegheny - being in such close proximity to industrial and residential spaces. Empty, decrepit places. Structures forgotten by time, ruined, passed over by most house-flippers. Whether on foot or by bicycle, I can’t haunt these back streets enough.

Oh. I planted some daylilies today in my front yard. We’ll see if they take.

In the new Indiana Jones movie, the titular hero tells his students to “get out of the library”. A humbug on you, Dr. Jones! I looked you up in Scopus and nobody cites your work. I cross-referenced the journals you’ve published in in Ulrich’s and none of them are peer reviewed… or indexed! I’ve pulled up their impact factors in Web of Science and their scores are the pits!

Sarah Jessica Parker’s library-related advice to Sex and the City/Carrie Bradshaw devotees? It’s quite a bit more practical. Find it in this video at 2:44:

Sage words, madame; I salute you. Special thanks to Siobhan and Jeff for the heads-up.

:: Bibliography ::

Ryzik, Melena. UrbanEye: Sex and the City. New York Times. http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=1a94f19eaf6d603d17278a602a1e53103ef45184 (31 May 2008).

Others have tried - and failed - to recreate Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo: In 1976 Brian de Palma created the interesting, if poorly executed, Obsession–a thinly veiled Vertigo knock-off. Sixteen years later, Paul Verhoeven would emulate the film’s visuals to a surprising degree in Basic Instinct. (A visual comparison of Basic Instinct and Vertigo can be found here.) Attempts to recreate key scenes from the film have occurred as recently as 2005. Now, it’s time to add another to the list; Vanity Fair’s March 2008 issue will feature a photographic homage to Hitchcock’s films, including Renée Zellweger as Judy / Madeleine in the final tower scene from Vertigo! (Roy)

I never would have expected Vanity Fair to pick Renée Zellweger to fill Kim Novak’s shoes. Although I admit that she’s a talented actress, Zellweger has never been in a role that required the vulnerability, complexity, and emotional scope that Novak had to bring to her character. And of all the scenes to choose! You’d think they’d pick an easy “grey suit” episode, but instead they chose the climactic dénouement in the tower. It is perhaps the movie’s most emotionally charged scene. However, as you can see in the video of the shoot (also below), Zellweger has pretty much nailed it.

Zellweger’s performance at the shoot - described by Vanity Fair itself as “especially notable” - was both intense and impressive. (Windolf) This praise is pretty amazing, considering that there were five other Oscar winners and a huge amount of A-listers being photographed for Hitchcock’s other films. (Check out the article, cited below, for the full list and scans.) As you can see in the photo and video, everything in terms of the mise en scène was perfect: the coiffure, cosmetics, dress, earrings, tower interior… even Carlotta’s pendant.

At the shoot, Zellweger “was watching the scene over and over while getting her hair and makeup done, and when she came on set she started breathing really hard, almost hyperventilating. [...] She just absolutely exploded on the set and truly became that character like I’ve never seen before. We were in awe.” (Windolf) This method acting may explain why Zellweger’s performance lacked the subtle artistry that Novak brought to Judy’s character in both this and other scenes. (And in all fairness, it was just a photo shoot.) In addition to amplifying the emotions for a traditional camera, Zellweger herself may have been having an emotional reaction to Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak’s performances.

Revisiting Vertigo is something of an obsession for fans of the film. (Unfortunately, this Vertigo fanatic will not be close enough to visit San Fransisco when he goes to Anaheim, California this summer for the annual ALA conference.) Watch a YouTube video of the locations featured in the film here. Check out a stunning visual comparison of scenes from the film and contemporary photographs at Vertigo… Then and Now.

Special thanks to Joel Gunz, Hitchcock Geek for bringing Vanity Fair’s photo shoot to my attention and Deeda Blair for scanning and posting the article.

:: Bibliography ::

Roy, Norman J., photographer. “The 2008 Hollywood Portfolio.” Vanity Fair (March 2008): 370-71. Accessed 8 February 2008. http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/20148385.html.

Windolf, Jim. It’s the Hitch in Hitchcock. March 2008. CondéNet. Accessed 6 February 2008. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/behindthescenes200803.

I like to recycle; I like recycling to be easy. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be, correct? Mine is the richest nation in the world. So why is it like pulling teeth to make sure that the recyclables I discard are actually recycled? (The problem across the board seems to be that practitioners of the janitorial arts find it easier to pitch the recycling. I’ve had to deal with this in both the public and University waste-management systems.) When we have programs in place specifically designed to facilitate recycling, I shouldn’t have to be a watchdog or whistle-blower.

In December of 2007 I observed that one of our departmental libraries has (almost exclusively) recycle bins at their circulation desk. Because the vast majority of the waste circulation creates is paper-based, there was a need for only one general waste bin. Inspired, I did a bit of research and learned that the University at which I work and study invites staff to recycle (in theory, as we shall see): “if you know of a good spot which needs one [a recycling container], or if you need a container for your work area, let us know by contacting us at recycle@fm.pitt.edu or at 412-624-952.” Feeling young, smitten with the environment, and encouraged, I sent them this concise and cordial e-mail on 21 December 2007.

Hello!
My name is [X] and I work at the [X] Library. I was reading our recycling website and noticed that we can request recycling bins for our workstations.
May I request two small, paper-only recycling bins to be kept behind the circulation desk at the [X] Library?

Thank you,
[Signature and standard contact info]

They never responded. Now, after a bit of proselytizing, I have converted someone with clout to my mission. I shouldn’t have had to, but sometimes one’s objectives must be achieved through proxies.

Also, by laying these cards on the table I realize that I’m opening myself up to being more easily identified by keyword searching. I figured this would happen eventually. Ah well. =\

:: Bibliography ::

Facilities Management. Facilities Management Recycling at the University of Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh. Last updated 7 January 2008. Accessed 4 February 2008. <http://www.facmgmt.pitt.edu/recycle.htm>.

I read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle last summer and enjoyed it immensely despite reports from Japanese speaking friends that the translation was shoddy. After a glut of library-related non-fiction, I decided I needed another story about a plucky, slightly damaged person overcoming that oh-so-Murakami black, nameless, ancient Evil.

I intended to read After Dark, but it was out of the library. I placed a recall on it - shameless I know - and took out Kafka on the Shore.

Kafka on the Shore surprised me. It started off amazingly well with pseudo-historic military documents chronicling a strange event (the “rice bowl” incident) in a remote Japanese village during World War II. However, it soon veered into melodrama. (Truth be told, I’m not sure it ever navigated back out.) A story about a bodybuilding, fifteen year-old runaway? No thank you. Although still turning the pages, the story didn’t really engage me again - save for a confessional-esque return to the “rice bowl” - until Miss Saeki showed up with her enigmatic song, elegant mien, and nebulous back story. In retrospect, I think Kafka on the Shore was a pretty good novel; occasionally heavy-handed, it was not as compelling or finely crafted as Wind-Up Bird, but not too far off.

After Dark, in comparison, blew my socks off. The power of this book comes from it’s very brevity. Murakami can be verbose; after the fifth or sixth time he has his characters talking about how this-or-that is like a metaphor you may imprecate carpal tunnel on the man. In After Dark the time constraint (approx midnight to seven p.m.) forces him to cut away the dead wood and forge only the most interesting, adamantine bonds between his motifs: The invariably male embodiment of the id/Evil, the hero(ine) striving to regain an interpersonal rapport thought severed forever, the fear that H/historical damage may be irreparable, etc.

The invariable question: Is After Dark better than Wind-Up Bird? I don’t know. I think it might be. However, it does lack the magnificent historic scope we found in the latter work. In short, the jury’s still out on that one.

Today a professor comes into my library and asks for a binder of documents we keep behind the desk. My coworker - henceforth we shall call her “The Vindicator”, because her rule enforcing prowess is unmatched - obliges; moments later the prof books it out the front door. The security alarm goes off - thank you, tattletape! - and my coworker calls him back, asking if he has removed anything from the library. At this point I am slightly nonplussed, having been occupied with other matters. I see right away, however, that The Vindicator suspects him of a most heinous crime… lifting a copy of The Value Line Investment Survey!

Whatever sense of entitlement that permitted this man to steal the goddamn Value Line also compelled him to deliver an anti-library tirade. Enraged, his return to the circulation desk was marked by a vociferous, preemptive denunciation of the library, it’s staff, and it’s service. I wouldn’t say I was afraid of the man at that moment, but being verbally abused is not exactly how I enjoy spending my Monday mornings. The professor’s harangue was augmented by a series of circuitous justifications and crazed accusations. In summary: The library is intentionally wasting this faculty member’s time to undermine the teaching of his class.

Apparently, not allowing people to take the five finger discount is “a step back”. Come now. The library provides the materials he needs, the department provides the money to photocopy Value Line for his class, and the University provides TAs to do it for him. What insolence! What self righteousness!

After xeroxing it, the tenured professor further expressed his dissatisfaction to me specifically. I put on my poker face, looked him right in the eye, and replied with something between “Ah” and a non-committal grunt.

To my utter surprise and adulation, The Vindicator walked up to him and delivered the most crisp, canned, backhanded apology I have ever seen! It walked the perfect line between affront and verisimilitude. Remind me never to cross that brazen lass; she’s got one sharp tongue and is not afraid to use it… for Evil!

Many Christmas carols are maligned. This may occur for any number of reasons: songs may be instrumental, depressing, non-nostalgic, contemporary, or too religious/too secular in nature. I think the most likely reason of all, however, is that these orphaned songs aren’t drilled into the collective unconscious by television ads, chain store playlists, radio, and film. Let’s revisit them, moving from awesome to slightly less awesome to “not exactly awesome but he needed ten.”

1. “Christmas is Coming” by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

“Christmas is Coming”, from Guaraldi’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, is consistently overshadowed by “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating”. However, this infectious, jazzy little number perfectly personifies the anticipation leading up to everyone’s favorite birthing. Whether it’s the pert little rest at 0:37 or the meandering interlude at 1:05, “Christmas is Coming” is more vivacious and musically interesting than anything else on the album.

2. The entirety of Nat King Cole’s Christmas-themed works.

Yes, his Christmas album is wildly popular. Yes, he butchers the German language in “O Tannenbaum”. But it’s the best ever, so people aren’t listening to it enough. (Epicure friend Lisa says there is a Nat King Cole children’s Christmas album. Must acquire!)

3. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” translated from the Latin by John Mason Neale.

More poetry than carol, this magnificent Advent song is of unknown pedigree and seems to be rarely used even in Church services by Roman Catholics. Sober and solemn, I have seen people moved to tears by it. Not exactly holly jolly fare, but I’m sorta down with that. (Interestingly, the version I learned of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” has variant stanzas. For example: “O come thou wisdom from on high / Who ordered all thing mightly / To us the path of knowledge show / And teach us in her way to go” etc. Check out more variants here.)

4. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Judy Garland.

Sweet Jesus Christ, the melancholy! Old blue eyes’ cover of this song - the one you know and love - is nothing like Hugh Martin’s original and can be safely called a bastardization. The carol, already once revised because of its brooding nature, first appeared in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis and was marked by its bittersweet tone and Garland’s pained vocal delivery. Haunting, perhaps the very embodiment of sehnsucht, this song is a staple for those of us who’d like a taste of our soul being crushed by profound emotion. For a bit more history, check out this article.

5. “Final Waltz and Apotheosis” from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

While the average Christmas enthusiast will immediately recognize the Valse des fleurs or any of the Divertissements from Tchaikovsky’s 71st opus, it is much less likely that they will be able to identify the Final Waltz and Apotheosis. Sweepingly Romantic and alive with a sense of triumph and accord, it perfectly exemplifies the elegance with which the work as a whole has come to be associated. I am particularly fond of Peter Wohlert and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of the Valse finale et apothéose; it is slightly faster and more expertly conducted than most other recordings.

6. “Here We Come A-Wassailing”.

A traditional New Years drinking song that has become associated with yuletide, this little number is a blast to belt out on a snowy doorstep. Nowadays you’ll usually hear a version with drastically sanitized lyrics, about caroling and Christmas rather than drink and cash. Wassailing, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (Oh no, L’amour de l’étymologie!?!), means to toast to one’s health, and has connotations of “carousing”–their word, not mine! I strongly encourage people everywhere to reclaim the original version of this song by acting out the lyrics as frequently as possible.

7. “I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus” by Brenda Lee.

Miss Lee is best known for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. In “Lasso” she employs an even more bizarre-cutsey voice to relate a child’s conviction to truss, shoot (with a water pistol), torture (tickle…), and finally steal the presents of Saint Nick. The reason for this glut of deviancy? To supply poor kids with presents, Communist style! This isn’t the only socially conscious, underrated Christmas carol; check out James Brown’s “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” for a more saccharine song about impoverished, gift-hungry brats.

8. “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses.

A Christmas carol that begins with “Bah! Humbug!”? Yes please! These deadpan ’80s ladies explore the delight an isolated cynic finds in rediscovering the pleasure that is the Christmas season. “Christmas Wrapping” is consistently recognized as a new classic by music-savvy hipsters, but is relatively unknown to the Christmas-celebrating population at large. It has been covered quite a great deal, on and off retail albums; however, alternate versions are odious and should be avoided like the plague.

9. “Once Upon a December” by Deana Carter.

Yeah, I’m man enough to admit that I like it. For the uninitiated, “Once Upon…” is a song from the animated film Anastasia. It occupies a precarious place in this list, as it is popular in the mainstream - with little girls and big fat women that never stopped being little girls - and not really a Christmas song. The in, of course, is the fact that it’s generally despised by anyone whose musical sensibilities command respect. Now all you smack-talkers take notice: Hear those sinister chimes in the intro? The rather interesting (for a children’s movie) imagery in the lyrics? The shamelessly hilarious backup singer that starts bellowing at 1:03? All pretty damn good reasons to give it another shot, to my mind.

10. “Good King Wenceslas” by John Mason Neale.

Another traditional carol to round out the top ten; I really just love this song because I can shout “Bring me meat and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither!” at the top of my voice with impunity. Eighteenth Century British scholar John Mason Neale, translator of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, composed the lyrics to accompany the 13th Century spring carol “It is Time for Flowering” (”Tempus Adest Floridum” in Latin). Methinks I’m going to have to look into this bloke for a future post; seems he has a monopoly on carols from antiquity.

And we’re done! Go out into the world and get these songs from your local library, illegally from the internet, or make them yourself by playing your nose and singing aloud. (If that last one really occurs, please post to YouTube for reasons that need not be verbalized.) Also, look forward to my next Christmas post, which will be about the “Top ten Christmas horror films of ultimate depravity”!