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.
Today (February 28) is National Public Sleeping Day. For felines, that's a hundred-times-a-daily thing. We also found a good use for slobberdogs when we're snoozing out-and-about.
Click Images to Bigify
Apparently, humans, too, like to fall asleep in public places. Some are quite practical and clever.
Asleep in Class Haircut
(Both Functional and Creepy)
Even Imperial Stormtroopers Have to Sleep Somewhere
The Food There Must Be REALLY Bad
Frankly, I don't know what all the fuss is about. Public sleeping seems as natural to moi as sleeping at home. The key is being personally comfortable. That's the ticket.
This week's episode of Miss Michelle @ MPL: Early Literacy Fun at the Library is full of cute caps, Dr. Seuss, fun program crafts, and wonderful reading for young children and their caregivers.
Miss Michelle @ MPL: Early Literacy Fun at the Library
(Week of February 24-March 2, 2013)
by Crafty Gal & Aggie McPooch
Be sure to drop by the Library this Saturday (March 2) to enjoy creating great Seuss-related crafts. You could win free Seuss swag! Well worth a visit, I'd wager.
Savvy is a tough act to follow, but we're looking for that special someone to be our next teen librarian.
It could be you. Stranger things have happened at my Library. Scowl-Face works here, after all. Or did I pink slip him earlier this week? It's tough to keep track of all the boss-things I do.
Being a library teen wrangler is a challenging job. It requires a myriad of social skills focused upon an age-specific demographic. To put it simply: You must enjoy working with young adults. Of course, you also need a librarian's master's education, experience, and similar sorts of credentials. It's all too boring for moi to recite, so visit our website for full details.
What's it like working here, applicants might wonder? Savvy and Programma Mama are presently working on a music parody video, which would ideally illustrate the fun we are having. Since it's not finished yet, we'll reprise our favorite music parody video, Librarians Do Taio Cruz, by Broadway Gal.
Librarians Do Taio Cruz (2010)
by Broadway Gal and a Cast of Dozen(s)
Think you can handle that much fun? There's plenty more where that came from.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "Teenage Lobotomy," by the Ramones, opened side two of the LP Rocket to Russia (1977). The origins of punk, maybe? Could be. I'm no musical historian.
There simply isn't sufficient space here to celebrate Savvy's many wonderful achievements at MPL. So we'll give her our version of an Oscar.
MEG-A-RAE #27: A Very Special Oscars Episode
(Watch Savvy's "Acceptance Speech" at the 8:43-9:12 Marks)
Farewell, Savvy, on your new career adventure in a warmer, sunnier climate. Southerly is the operative word. Since her destination is surrounded by lakes, she will need one of these there. Just a heads-up, Savvy.
P.S. Savvy will need to know what's happening in her new community so she can have some fun when she's not working (which is not to say that work isn't fun, too). This is what they had going in January, 2013.
Cat secrets are in danger of unauthorized disclosure in the children's picture book, Cat Secrets, by Jef Czekaj (New York: Balzer & Bray, 2011). If you have an Evergreen Indiana library card, you may place a hold on it using our online catalog. Then you simply drop by the library to check it out!
Click Images to Bigify
The official book trailer tells the tale (or tail?).
Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj -- Official Book Trailer
The primary spokeskitty in the book looks a bit like Tucker, whose human, Jef Czekaj, wrote this delightful little book. The early literacy crowd will adore the opportunity to prove their felininity (not a real word, but oughtta be). Okay, readers must prove they're really cats, and this leads to some interactive cuteness. How many books speak directly to the readers?
Tucker the Cat (to whom, in part, the book is dedicated)
and his human author, Jef Czekaj
(Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe)
You may contact Tucker directly via email through Jef Czekaj's website. If you're concerned about feline secrets being leaked through the Internet, then you must act now. Well, curl up and take a nap first. Action is always more effective after a good cat nap.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. Here's a book trailer for Oink-a-Doodle-Moo, another children's picture book by Jef Czekaj (New York: Balzer & Bray, 2012). Pass it on!
In this week's episode of MEG-A-RAE, our readers' advisory video blog (vlog), Programma Mama and Savvy get Oscar fever while talking about all the great books that were adapted as Academy Award-winning movies this year.
MEG-A-RAE #27
A Very Special Oscars Episode,
by Savvy & Programma Mama
Savvy and Programma Mama may not have won Oscars, but they certainly deserve Crows. That statuette is Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000, which created the art of movie riffing. If you haven't seen the TV series, you should buy bunches of DVDs from your favorite online vendor. There are show snippets available on YouTube, too, like so:
Excerpts From Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K)
(Season 10, Episode 4, 1998)
Movie Riffed: Werewolf (1996)
What's with the ever-changing hairstyles of this actor in the movie Werewolf? MST3K made bad movies hilarious to watch.
Thanks to MST3K and Best Brains, Inc. for making the Crow T. Robot figure that we used in this episode of MEG-A-RAE.
Saturday, March 2 is Dr. Seuss' birthday. Human parents, bring your kiddies to the Library to make fun Seuss-themed crafts. We will be celebrating all day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
March 2
The Cat in the Hat is one of my personal favorite Dr. Seuss stories. It will be read by people and kitties alike for millennia to come. Visit Seussville on the Internet for lots of fun stuff about the good doctor.
Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel, March 2, 1904-Sept. 24, 1991) would probably be a bit embarrassed by all this hoopla directed toward him, but I bet he'd be pleased, too, deep down.
Last Friday (February 22) was Cauli Le Chat Appreciation Day at my Library. So where were the party treats for moi? Party favors for the patrons? Celebratory food in general? I saw NOTHING SPECIAL around here. What's up with that?
I am SO UTTERLY bummed out about this. I'm going to sulk in my favorite bushes outside (in the Kinder Garden area).
I'm Not Saying Which One I'm Sulking Under
Minions, you can't make this up to moi now. Too late by a long shot, I'll venture. The pink slips will be flying later this week. Look for yours in your mailboxes.
Expect Your Name on One of These, Minions
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "Forgotten," by Avril Lavigne, is a sad song, like I'm feeling right now because I, too, was forgotten on my special day. The song appeared on her album, Under My Skin (2004).
Crafty Gal and Aggie McPooch reviewed a couple classic early literacy titles in this week's episode of Miss Michelle @ MPL: Early Literacy Fun at the Library. As for Chicken Little, a few words of feline advice: It's just an acorn. Deal with it.
Miss Michelle @ MPL: Early Literacy Fun at the Library
(Week of February 17-23, 2013)
Hey, three bears. Let Cauli suggest a solution to your intruder problem. Two words: Eat Goldilocks. Just saying.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "The Sky is NOT Falling," by Chicken Little (the "Tennessee half-pint folk-punk" musical group, not the fictional character), appeared on the album No One, Never, Nothing (2010). Here we have a fan's music video. For a dollar, you may buy the digital song here, where lyrics are also given. The digital album is available for sale here. Help out new artists by making a solid purchase of some fine music.
Queenie the Cow was a special guest star on this week's episode of MEG-A-RAE, my Library's readers' advisory video blog (vlog). Savvy and Programma Mama have their hands full, I can see.
MEG-A-RAE #26:
A Very Special Real Life Episode,
Starring Savvy & Programma Mama
(Queenie the Cow, Special Guest Star)
It's good to feature experts in their fields (or somebody else's fields, if the grass is greener) on library videos, and Queenie the Cow is definitely a bovine authority.
Did you notice that gold seal on the cover of Going Bovine? That means its an award winner. The novel won the 2010 Printz Award, 2010 Best Books for Young Adults Award, and the 2009 Booklist Editors' Choice Books for Youth Award. Must be a good read. They don't give those things out to just anybody.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. Talking about real life reminded moi of "Real," by James Wesley. It was released as the second single from his album, Real (2010).
The Library will be closed all day on Monday, February 18, 2013, for staff in-service training. Although I am the official MPL feline roving reporter, I don't have to be there. Being a cat has its privileges.
The late Will Vinton (1947-2018) and the late Bob Gardiner (1951-2005) knew what it's like to be closed Mondays.
I wonder if any strange things will happen at the Library when we're closed next Monday. I suppose it's a question of degree, really.
The Library will re-open Tuesday, February 19, 2013, at its regularly scheduled time (9:00 a.m.).
Your Roving Reporter On
The Go,
Cauli Le
Chat
P.S. A television commercial featuring the California Raisin Advisory Board's animated R & B musical group The California Raisins was probably Will Vinton's most famous Claymation production (1986).
While dumpster-diving in downtown Mooresville today (yes, I still keep my paw in it), I saw a rather startling sight on the northwest corner of the intersection between Indiana and Harrison Streets. My minions snapped a few quick photos.
The "Old" Mooresville, Indiana Fire Station
Constructed in 1970
Demolished in February, 2013
(Click Images to Bigify)
According to historian James R. Bruner, the firehouse was built in 1970 by volunteers at a cost of $36,000. That was an amazing bargain, thanks to the volunteer labor. What did the building look like before this week?
Mooresville Fire Station (2008)
(Photo by Chris Allen)
That was just five years ago! Where has the time gone? More to the point, where has the dalmatian (shown in the far right side of the photo above) gone? Up close, it looked sort of like this, but it was stone, not real.
Your Basic Dalmatian Slobberdog
My feline family has some history associated with our local fire department. According to family legend passed along purr-to-ear, Quilbur (yes, that's how it was spelled--like Wilbur with a Qu), one of my male ancestors, dropped by the Mooresville police and fire departments to beg receive regular allocations of entitled consumables. Forrest "Pake" Rusie, who served on both the local police and fire departments for decades, used to bring canned sardines for his meal break, which he naturally shared with Quilbur. I'm pretty certain that "Pake" didn't even like sardines. He just brought them for Quilbur (and his feline friends who tagged along). That's the legend, anyway.
In the August 1966 Old Settlers Parade (see above photo), Claire Sellars drove members of the 1933 Mooresville Fire Department (Forrest Rusie, Elza “Buck” Perry, Todd Squires, and Clyde Ferguson) in a 1919 Ford truck towing a 1905 (or older) horse-drawn hose cart.
Officers standing outside the Mooresville Police Department (1959)
(Names below from back of photo)
In the background, you can see the previous location of Gray Brothers Restaurant (1944-1969), which since that time has operated at its current domicile at the corner of South Indiana Street and State Road 67.
Old Style Mooresville, Indiana
Fire Department Patch
It's a shame to see a town landmark go by way of the wrecking ball, but sometimes it's necessary to make room for new growth. I'm thinking it would be the perfect place for a seafood restaurant, with a dumpster reserved in my name at the back.
Your Roving Reporter On The Go,
Cauli Le Chat
P.S. "The Fireman," by George Strait, appeared on the album Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind (1984).
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