The Mountaineer Reading Room » Information

Anachronism 2.0

rhslibrary — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:45:01 +0000

Another useful citation tool

rhslibrary — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:23:02 +0000

Here’s a little video describing WorldCat’s nice citation tool. You’ll need to set up a free account with them, but it’s worth the effort. Visit the RHS Library Citations page for more help.

Out of hit points

rhslibrary — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:58:56 +0000

I became cool in the summer of 1984. At least, that’s what I thought. I had an excellent 1981 Chevy Citation to drive around, a pair of vans and an enviable mullet (historical note: the word “mullet” did not exist for another 15 years or so–at the time the haircut was known as “the haircut every guy had”). If only I had known then what I know now: in reality, I was much cooler a couple of years earlier when I spent my summers in my room designing elaborate Dungeons and Dragons adventures. So, I when I heard that the creator of D & D, Gary Gygax, died on March 4 I felt a certain amount of warm nostalgia–and wished I hadn’t tossed all those manuals and little painstakingly painted figurines.

It’s just a good thing I didn’t have an Xbox. I’m not sure I would have completed Middle School.

The Man Who Invented the Internet

rhslibrary — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:39:39 +0000

At last, the recognition he really deserves.

Jorge Luis Borges is a difficult writer to classify, which, of course, makes him all the more interesting. How best to describe him? Perhaps as an “Anglo-Argentine classicist-inspired fantasy writer with magical realist and science fiction tendencies.” Now Noam Cohen adds cyberpunk and Web 2.0 visionary to the list in this article in the New York Times. You’ll find the collection of short stories mentioned in the article, Labyrinths, in the RHS collection.

Additionally, Borges is the author of my favorite poem, Juan Lopez y John Ward. Here’s my English translation:

Luckily, it was a strange time.

The planet had been divided into different countries,
Each one with its loyalties, dear memories,
An undoubtedly heroic past,
Ancient or recent traditions, rights,
Serious offenses, a peculiar mythology, heroes of bronze,
Anniversaries, demagogues and symbols.

This arbitrary division was favorable to wars.

Lopez was born in the city beside the immobile river;
Ward, in the outskirts of the city through which walked Father Brown.
He had studied Spanish in order to read Quixote.

The other professed a love for Conrad, which had been discovered
In a classroom on Viamonte Street.

They should have been friends, but they saw each other only once face to face,
On some unnecessarily famous islands, and each one of the two
Was Cain, and each one, Abel.

They were buried together. The snow and corruption know them.
The event I refer to happened in a time that we can’t understand.

For some background, read about the Falklands War of 1982, a conflict which Borges famously compared to “two bald men fighting over a comb.”

Reading for fun will improve your test scores

rhslibrary — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:32:24 +0000

According to a recent article in the New York Times , a new report released by the National Endowment for the Arts finds that students who read for fun nearly every day performed better on tests than those who reported reading never or hardly at all. Check out the summary of the report or, if you feel like bringing up your scores immediately, read the full report.

The Future of Reading?

rhslibrary — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:29:40 +0000

Check out this week’s cover story in Newsweek Magazine. Can the Amazon Kindle–and other devices like it–replace the printed book? Are people ready to upgrade from a familiar 500-year-old technology that has served civilization well?

I’m looking forward to trying it out.

Blog neglected–for now

rhslibrary — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 05:44:55 +0000

Things are busy getting the new Rainier School District Web sites up and running, and until I get that under control I’m afraid I won’t be posting too much here.

In the meantime, check out the new RHS Library site, and please notify me of any spelling errors!