Between 2010 and 2019, Cauli Le Chat (2006?-2020), feline roving reporter for Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana), reported all things interesting to cats (and humans) happening at the library. Related stories from across the state (and beyond) were also included.
Scowl-Face just wrote one of his blog postings for the Library's centennial celebration, and he accidentally posted it to my blog. But I fixed that, straight away. It's now posted on the Indiana Room "Treasure Trove" blog, where it belongs. You might find it interesting. Anything's possible.
Try to pay attention to your Blogger logins, Scowl-Face.
My Blog is My Blog,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Blogging News Beat
Sammy the Toucan and I have new Geek the Library posters on display at my Library. Check 'em out! Well, I mean look at them; it's not like checking-out books or movies or other stuff with your Evergreen Indiana library card. Click to bigify the images below.
These posters are great examples of marketing libraries with resident (or, in my case, roving) animals, about which Beatrix Butterfly and I presented a workshop at last November's Indiana Library Federation (ILF) state conference in Fort Wayne (the Lady With the Red Hair and Scowl-Face helped a little). Sammy is becoming quite the famous figure from our Library, thanks to Wild Thang and Sammy's early literacy blog and videos. Patrons routinely comment about moi when they see Scowl-Face wearing a button with my blog photo on it. Plus Sammy and yours truly are headliners on the Library's outdoor flashy sign. So our marketing methods must be paying some dividends, at least for our loyal and adoring fans.
Sammy also has another Geek poster that says he geeks Wild Thang. That's on display in the MPL Youth Services Department. The button is a great touch.
Our patrons love library critters like us. Especially moi. True statement, as Sammy would say.
Stardom Has Its Perks,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Library Critter Marketing News Beat
P.S. Speaking of marketing and sales brings to mind "Sweet Magnolia and the Travelling Salesman," by the late, great Dan Fogelberg. The song appeared on his album Windows and Walls (1984). It's a tribute to his first wife. He's the "travelling salesman" (i.e., a traveling musician performing his tunes in public venues). If I could sing, compose, and perform music the way Fogelberg did, I'd hit the road before you could say Jack Robinson. I once heard him interviewed on some nationally syndicated radio program. He was the nicest guy you could possibly imagine.
Sammy the Toucan has gotten a "signing bonus," too. His image (and name, along with Wild Thang's) are up-in-lights on the Library's outdoor flashy sign.
Sammy the Toucan in Triplicate
Each of Sammy's three images appears one-after-the-other, in a sequential row. You really have to see it to appreciate it.
MPL Outdoor Sign Advertising
Explore to Learn: Early Literacy Fun Blogs & Videos
For Friday Features, the whole top ten current viewing list thing is getting old. It works great for something like American Top 40, in which the music countdown changes completely every few weeks or months, and there are always several newcomers to the list. For our YouTube Channel viewings, however, the top ten is fairly stable. There's not a lot of change, even on a daily basis. We've already featured the videos that remain primarily in our current top ten list.
So let's try something completely different. Instead of a top ten list, let's feature our YouTube Channel playlists. That sounds like a few weeks of fun, at any rate.
Our Fantasy Book Trailers Playlist appears below. I'm not certain how this works exactly. Click on the play button, and it apparently plays each of the 19 book trailers in this playlist sequentially. Try it and see what happens. Not my fault if it doesn't work--that's why I have minions to blame. We felines know how to pass responsibility onto our humans.
If you'd rather pick-and-choose from among the 19 videos in this playlist (or any of our other playlists), you can find it (or them) by clicking here (or here, for all playlists).
Next Friday, We'll Feature Another Playlist,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Friday Features News Beat
P.S. Thinking about our fantasy book trailer playlist reminded moi of the classical CD Fantasies & Delusions: Music for Solo Piano (2001), composed by Billy Joel and performed by Richard Joo. "Invention in C Minor, Op. 6" is the fourth track on the album. For a musician whose fame accrued through a blend of pop, rock, and blues, this album was quite a departure. Great musicians can compose wonderful works, as my Library knows well. After all, we have our own composer.
Teenage chicks. or chickteens (as I just decided to call them), returned from fostering yesterday, and while they were still at the Library, we shot some video in the temporary brooder boxes. It's not the sharpest video--those plastic containers are kinda cloudy--but you can see the chicks strutting around, acting quite like teenaged poultry. Better call in Savvy to round them up and keep them in line.
We had a real live volcanic eruption! Inside the Library! It was just too amazing. But that's the kind of excitement we have when we talk early literacy at MPL. Wild Thang and Sammy the Toucan covered the letter Vv in yesterday's video, and you know what that letter stands for. Vases. Well, it's true! Also volcanoes.
The Letter V v, by Miss Jaymi & Sammy the Toucan
(Explore to Learn: Early Literacy Fun Blog Video)
Watch Wild Thang as she makes the volcano erupt. That is so cool! The lava looked quite real and frankly could have been a little scary. Fortunately, it wasn't really lava. Knowing that Wild Thang and Sammy were there to handle things, I was certain that everybody was plenty safe.
Eventually, Scowl-Face is going to learn how to move and zoom the camera without it looking like we're having an earthquake. But that's actually appropriate for our erupting volcano experiment. Way to luck out, Scowlly.
The end of the alphabet is fast approaching. What will Wild Thang and Sammy talk about after the letter Z z? Happily, early literacy is a boundless adventure. We look forward to lots more great videos from our dynamic duo. Perhaps for the remainder of the alphabet, they will have a herd of wildebeest stampede through the Library's Great Hall. Playing xylophones with their front hooves. Oh, and they'd run out into the MPL Court Yard. Chased by zebras.
Now that, my friends, would be some wild way to wind-up the alphabet. Wild Thang, take note.
P.S. What better musical closer for a blog about volcanoes than the instrumental "Eruption," by Van Halen, from the group's self-titled debut album (1978).
Cauli Le Poussin has returned from fostering, all grown into teenagerhood. While he was here at the Library, Sammy the Toucan took the opportunity to interview him. We have the video exclusively!
It's a rather short interview, despite Sammy's best efforts. I must say, Cauli Le Poussin is much quieter than I. Or Scowl-Face. But who isn't?
Walking Tall There, Cauli Le Poussin
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Hatching Chicks News Beat
P.S. Since Sammy did such a nice job as a video interviewer, our musical closer will be "The Toucan Song," from the Big Green Rabbit public television show.
Thanks to the Decorinator, the Library is decked out with some of our springtime realia. Morgan the Library Bunny would approve, I'd venture. Click the images below to bigify.
People-Sized Bunny!
Bunny by the Library's Business Card Rack
Cute Bunny Ears, Slobberdog
CircMaster Enjoys Pretty Tulips
Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Lawson
Hank is Dressed to Go Calling
Willie Must Be Going Calling, Too
Playing Hide-and-Seek With the Easter Eggs
Floppsey Looks Cute
Ready For April Showers
Cute Little Stores
"Stretch" Bunny Just Hanging Out
Hope Morgan Likes Our Decorations,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Decorations News Beat
P.S. Watch Floppsey in this bunny jumping exercise (competition?). Way to go, Floppsey!
IT'S UP AND RUNNING! I'm headlining the marquee on the Library's outdoor flashy sign.
MPL Headliner, For Sure
Click Images to Bigify
My Blog Photo is the Icon
That has to be the coolest thing ever in the history of feline-featured library flashy signs. Should boost my readership statistics, I'm hoping.
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Library Sign News Beat
P.S. My tagline refers to "Signs" (1971), by the Five Man Electrical Band, which we featured as a musical closer to a previous blog posting. So let's go with "The Sign," by Ace of Base, from the album by the same title (in the U.S.) (1993). Most of the tracks on this album were included on the re-release of the album Happy Nation (1993).
We felines don't have much call for nougats. As a rule, we don't eat candy bars. But people do, and so we pass along that today (March 26) is National Nougat Day.
Candy Bar Nougat
For starters, let's define our terms. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines nougat as "a confection of nuts or fruit pieces in a sugar paste." That goes beyond candy bars, I'll admit. Here's a web site that has a few nougat recipes. Food Network.com also has some recipes.
Nougat Limar
This stuff all looks way too chewy for moi. But my human readers may like it. If so, tuck in! (as my British friends would say). Don't break a tooth, though.
What's a Nutter-Butter-Peanut-Butter-Sandwich-Cookie? Just Asking,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Food News Beat
P.S. We already did many of the candy songs in another blog posting. But we didn't include George Harrison's classic Beatles tune, "Savoy Truffle," from the "white album" (1968). Now we have.
Looks like I'm receiving a signing bonus at MPL. Beginning sometime around the middle of this week, say, Wednesday (March 28) or thereabouts, the big flashy sign outside my Library should be featuring moi in its slide rotation. My blog photo (the one with the cool press hat) should be included, if Scowl-Face worked the software correctly (big if, let moi tell you).
My Name Up in Lights (Soon, Baby, Soon)
MPL Flashy Sign at the Intersection of
West Main & South Monroe Streets
What will this new stardom mean for moi? Well, I'm thinking some TV spots for canned tuna-in-oil advertisements. Sorry, Charlie. Then a leading movie role. My people will talk with Spielberg's people. How about a prime-time television series? Hey, it worked for Salem Saberhagen. I'm more real than Salem was.
Will fame and fortune go to my head? Hardly. Could any feline be more modest than moi? Just ask my legions of fans and minions.
This is not the first time I've suggested putting my photo up in lights. Remember my suggestion about the flashy billboard? Well, that was Photoshop. This time, it's the real deal.
So if you see my beautiful self up in lights as you drive by the Library next week (and thereafter), be sure not to run off the road. I know how dazzling my image can be.
Pay Raise? Just Saying, Boss Lady,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Library Sign News Beat
P.S. "A Sign of the Times" (1966), by Petula Clark, peaked at #11 on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles charts. She introduced the song on The Ed Sullivan Show (February 27, 1966 broadcast).
Page Appreciation Day at my Library is Monday, March 26, 2012. It's not the paper kind of pages, although we appreciate those, too. We're talking about our Staff Pages who put stuff back on the shelves.
Being a Library Page is an important and often daunting occupation. Patrons could find nothing in the Library if it were not for Pages, who meticulously reshelve materials in proper Dewey Decimal order so you (and other staff) may find them quickly and easily.
At my Library, Pages are always teenage students. There are presently two on the payroll:
Rachel B., Youth Services Page; and
Luke J., Adult Services Page.
You have probably seen them working in the stacks, returning books, media, computer games, magazines, newspapers, and what-not to their proper shelving locations. But our Pages do much more than that. Here are a couple of examples of their bonus work:
Rachel B., MPL Youth Services Page, serves as
videographer for Wild Thang & Sammy the Toucan
(Early Literacy Blog videos)
MPL Adult Services Page Luke J.'s book trailer for
The Phantom Tollbooth
Our Pages are willing and able to assume additional tasks as assigned, and their versatility and diligence are greatly appreciated by staff and patrons. Hey, even I appreciate their hard work, which means a lot. I don't hand-out accolades lightly.
What are we planning to do to show our appreciation? Actually, I'm not sure. That's Broadway Gal's department. I'm certain whatever she decides will be way-cool. It always is.
If you're visiting the Library next Monday, be sure to say hello to, and profusely thank, our Pages. No tipping allowed, however. We pay them a decent wage.
No Smoochies, Either (Health Code Thing); a Simple Thank-You Will Be Fine,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Staff Appreciation News Beat
P.S. Canned Heat covered "Let's Work Together" (1970), written by Wilbert Harrison. The tune was originally titled "Let's Stick Together" (1962), but Harrison reworked the lyrics and title (work instead of stick, plus a few other modifications) in his re-release of the song (1969).
Today's Friday Features takes on a local flavor as two Mooresville-related videos are in the current top ten viewing list from the MPL YouTube Channel.
Click to Bigify
"Old Settlers" (Mooresville, Indiana Folk Song)
(MPL Treasure Trove Video #5)
Imperceptible, by the Class of 2012,
Mooresville (Indiana) High School
(MPL Book Trailer #83)
I blogged about Old Settlers earlier this week, which could explain the sudden appearance of our related video in the current top ten. Imperceptible is a collection of memories and experiences from residents of Mooresville, Indiana, and so it is a personal exploration of our local history. Copies are available for sale at my Library (in the Friends of the Library Book Sale Room, which is near the front entrance). Proceeds fund the MPL Indiana Room collection. (Well, I call it the Roving Reporter Room. I have my reasons.)
As Always, Thanks For Watching Our YouTube Videos,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Video Viewing News Beat
P.S. "Imperceptible Shift," by Casey Stratton, was featured on the CD Castaways: Volume One (2011). I couldn't find a share-alike music video, but you may listen to the entire song free by visiting the Casey Stratton website. If you like his stuff, please support by purchasing his works. We need to support musicians, whoever we may like.
The MPL centennial celebration continues with a couple of historical blog postings about periods of significant growth and innovation during the Library's formative years.
MPL expands patronage and services during the "Roaring Twenties" and Great Depression (click here for more);
You might be surprised to learn that our small-town library has been on the cutting edge of many creative and innovative practices that today are taken for granted in the library profession. More surprises are in store as we explore the middle period of the Library's 100 years of public service. Read about it here or go directly to our "treasure trove" blog.
Our Best Innovation Has Been Having a Roving Reporter, I'd Venture,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
MPL Centennial News Beat
P.S. The "Roaring Twenties" planted this tune in my head. This recording of "Yes! We Have No Bananas" (1923) features the Sam Lanin Orchestra; Irving Kaufman, vocalist.
Today (March 22) is International Goof-Off Day. Like I have time for that. Minions, you can goof-off on your own time. Meanwhile, get back to work. The library doesn't run itself.
I suspect what "goofing off" is intended to accomplish is a change in perspective. We should learn to relax and enjoy whatever we're doing, at work or at play. "Goofing off" gives you a moment to pause and reflect upon larger universal truths, like supper on time and in-between meal treats, comfortable napping accommodations, and sun patches. "Don't take yourselves so seriously" is today's message.
Even so, MPL staff do not--repeat, not--have a free hall pass for today's workload. If you don't do it now, it won't get done. Simple as that. So do it.
I can boss everybody around because, like Tober the Library Cat (at Thorntown [Indiana] Public Library), I'm Top Cat around my Library, and Boss Lady is conveniently away at an important conference. So, minions, make it so. And then get moi an afternoon snack.
Felines Don't "Goof-Off"; We Ponder the Unfathomables,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Goofy Holidays News Beat
P.S. There are two great rock songs about goofing off. "Daydream," by the Lovin' Spoonful, was a hit single, and, in terms of albums, it first appeared on the group's LP by the same title (1966).
P.P.S. The other great "goofing-off" tune is "Takin' Care of Business," by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, which appeared on the album Bachman-Turner Overdrive II (1973). Randy Bachman originally developed the concept for this song when he was still a member of the group The Guess Who.
Alphabet is almost done, Wild Thang! What's for afters on your early literacy blog?
Just Asking,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Early Literacy News Beat
P.S. When Wild Thang mentioned umbrellas in the video, I immediately thought of "Bus Stop" (1966), by the Hollies, which was a top ten hit single in both the U.K. and the U.S.
The Old Settlers Picnic, Parade, and Festival at Pioneer Park in Mooresville, Indiana, is scheduled this year for Sunday through Tuesday, August 5-6-7, 2012. It's only just the first few days of Spring in March, but it feels hot enough for Old Settlers in August. (Here in Indiana we've been having record-setting high temperatures in the 80-plus degrees Fahrenheit for about a week.) So I might as well announce the dates for Old Settlers, since we're talking about it, and folks like to plan ahead for this, my hometown's biggest of all annual bigbashes.
New to Old Settlers? We have a video for that.
Actually, we have two videos. Guess I should have warned you sooner.
Actually, I think it's way cool that the Library's Composer wrote the music to "Old Settlers," the unofficial town song of Mooresville, Indiana. The Lyrics were written by the Lady With the Red Hair and Scowl-Face. There are, like, five verses--plus as many refrains--which extoll the virtues of our fair community and its storied past. Want to read them? You know where to click.
Although I won't be at the Library's booth at Old Settlers (crowds spook moi, and, anyway, I'll be doing the roving reporter thing), you will definitely want to drop by for our free Library Centennial Celebratory Stuff. We always have bags full of neat giveaway doodads.
Hope It's Cooler in August Than It Is Now,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Old Settlers News Beat
P.S. Scowl-Face was inspired to write "Old Settlers" from the refrain of "Two Good Men," by Woody Guthrie, which was recorded during the famous Asch Sessions (1944). Canadian folk/country legend Gordon Lightfoot once observed that "Woody is everywhere, in every [folk singer's] work." If you're going to be inspired by folk music, why not the best?
The MPL Friends of the Library (FOL) is having its annual book sale in the Library Community Room on Saturday, April 14, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Yes, I know the slide above says until 4 p.m., but the Library closes on Saturdays at 4 p.m., so it has to end prior to that time. Scowl-Face screwed-up the slide for our "Town Crier" PowerPoint slideshow that runs continuously at the Circulation Desk. Par for the course, I'm afraid.
You will definitely want to attend this book sale. There are some new prices for bags of books, and you are assured of some sweet deals.
Bag a Few Books For Moi, If You Please,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
FOL News Beat
P.S. Thinking of songs with the word book in the title, "Everyday I Write the Book," by Elvis Costello and the Attractions, comes to mind. The song was released on the LP Punch the Clock (1983).
Now that baby chicks have left MPL Youth Services for fostering, it sure has been quiet in there. Well, we still have squealing youngster humans stampeding all around the place, but we felines get used to that, eventually. The chicks were rather vocal, and the absence of their chirping and cheeping makes for a deafening silence.
Today's Jan Brett Email Newsletter
Fortunately, world-famous children's author and illustrator Jan Brett has our backs. In today's email newsletter from Ms. Brett, we can learn how to draw (wait for it . . .) baby chicks! How timely is that? We can just hear Sammy the Toucan going bonkers about it.
Drawing chicksoons is fairly easy. All you have to do is draw an egg. But it becomes much more challenging once the chicksoons are OOEE (out-of-egg-experiencers). Then you need to know some true artistic moves. Enter Jan Brett, who knows exactly what you should do.
We recently posted a blog review (and book trailer) of The Mitten, a children's classic by Jan Brett, so everything is coming together quite nicely here.
P.S. Sorry, Junior of Junior's Farm. Once again, I've taken over your news beat. Have a tin of shrimpers on moi.
P.P.S. Japanese songs describing how to draw animals or characters are called Ekaki Uta. Here is a short example for the character Doraemon, a 22nd-century robotic feline (manga series created by Fujiko Fujio [actually, a manga artistic duo] in 1969). I have no idea what the vocalist is saying, so I'm trusting it's about drawing this figure.
These gals obviously stole MY blog title! The evidence is crystal-clear.
The Cat's Eye View, written by Susan Davis and Debra Keller, and illustrated by Lisa Parett (Ariel Books, 2004), is a compact little hardcover pocketbook that has a felt-wire tail attached to the spine, and the cover kitty has googly eyes. That makes it rather unique for an adult publication. It is a humorous "guide book" for novice cat cohabitants to learn, via several quizzes, with which type of feline the reading humans are sharing their households. Feline body language is defined, and cats' sensory capacities are closely examined. Various kitty behaviors are scrutinized to determine subtle undertones and hidden messages. All of this is couched among clever illustrations.
My only gripe about this book is that The Cat's Eye View OBVIOUSLY is a title that belongs to moi. Now, some of you smarty-pants, lawyer-wannabes out there will undoubtedly be quick to point out that (1) this book was published in 2004, and my blog began in December, 2010; and (2) there's no state or federal trademark registration in my name for this title. That is an oversight for which Scowl-Face is squarely to blame. He, of all people, knows better.
Anyway, legal rights are not that important to us felines. What matters much more is feline territoriality. That's MY blog title, and if I have to mark it as my territory (I think we all know where this is going), I am more than prepared to do so. "Going" is, after all, the operative word in territorial disputes between cats. Well, actually, "spraying" is more accurate.
I don't like to resort to such tactics, but, hey, it's important for foreign felines to know when to back off my turf. So, Ariel Books, you've been fairly warned. I'm drinking extra water, just in case.
Seriously, you should read this book. It hits the mark pretty accurately for kitty behavior. People who know anything about cats will laugh out loud. Cats will purr knowingly and approvingly.
The best humorous cat books on the market are written by Sparkle the Designer Cat. Just saying. Other writers' works are welcome reads, but if you want the best, then Sparkle's your author-of-choice. Click here to read my review of one of Sparkle's books.
Those Googly Eyes Are Kinda Creepy,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Readers' Advisory News Beat
P.S. The Rooftop Singers, a folk group from the early 1960s, recorded "Tom Cat" (1963), which was a follow-up single to the group's chart-topping hit, "Walk Right In" (1963).
If you enjoy murder mysteries, and obviously you like cats, then you should thoroughly enjoy File M For Murder, by Miranda James. This latest in the Cat in the Stacks Mystery series, which was just published at the end of January, 2012, has all the ingredients we have come to expect and enjoy from our favorite librarian/mystery author. Naturally, we have a book trailer that tells you all about it.
File M For Murder, by Miranda James
(MPL Book Trailer #151)
We know that Diesel and his human, Charlie Harris, will catch the real killer. Charlie's daughter, Laura, has to be innocent, but that doesn't prevent the long-arm-of-the-law from collaring prime suspects. Can Diesel and Charlie track down the clues in time? I'll never tell, but you can find out by checking out this exciting book from our Evergreen Indiana online catalog. Your E.I. library card is your ticket to ride.
Watch Your Back, Diesel; Those Killers Are Bad Dudes,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Mystery Novel News Beat
P.S. The Velvet Underground released "The Murder Mystery" on the group's self-titled LP (1969), which was its third album release. It represented a softer sound than TVU's previous recordings. The rapid-fire spoken lyrics reminded moi of the Music Man's "Dictionary Music" (2009), which appeared as the soundtrack to two of our book trailers (below).
The New Doublespeak, by William Lutz
(MPL Book Trailer #53)
Conversations Beyond the Light, by Dr. Pat Kubis & Mark Macy
The Music Man has composed another quintet of flute quartet compositions called The Mysterious Forest (2012). Click the images below to bigify.
The liner notes will set the stage better than I can.
The five movements are relatively short--just under ten minutes--so the music carries the listener quickly through the different stages of his or her imagination. This haste is deliberate. The mysteries that the forest musically reveals are intended to be swift and sure. Like fairies flittering in the forest, if you look away for a second, they disappear. The sunlight shifts its streamers rapidly and unexpectedly as you journey through the woods, casting surprising shadows that counterpoint the light. The fog rolls in with surprising rapidity. The emotional rush builds as the listener discovers that the mysterious forest is a green maze through which s/he must navigate.
But that's just where the music takes moi. Where it takes you depends upon your imagination.
The Music Man is offering my loyal readers (and library patrons) a special listening treat. I've created a "music video" that includes the entire CD. The images are simply place-holders for the music. This is meant to be an auditory adventure. The visuals are unimportant, but they were necessary for iMovie to arrange the instrumentals.
I recommend listening with headphones or earbuds. Just click the embedded player below.
Enjoy,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Library Music News Beat
