"Flat" Cauli IV Reports From Lithuania

by "Flat" Cauli IV

Flat Feline Foreign Correspondent

As Cauli Le Chat previously reported, last month I was mailed to Lukšiai, Lithuania to join Shay Laws' English class at Vincas Grybas Gymnasium. I have arrived amid considerable fanfare!

My gracious hosts made my first day a whirlwind of wonderful new experiences.  Let me share some of them with my eager readers.

"Flat" Cauli IV reading student letters from Miss Shay's English Class

Shortly after my arrival, Miss Shay introduced moi to her students.  They wrote letters of introduction revealing many important facts about Lithuania and themselves.  Here are some interesting facts from their letters, as kindly summarized by Miss Shay:

• Lithuanians speak Lithuanian. You can say "hello" in Lithuanian by saying "Labas!"

• The most popular sport in Lithuania is basketball.  People also like to dance here.  There are traditional Lithuanian dances, but many people really like to dance the Tango and the Samba.

• There are a number of traditional Lithuanian dishes, but the most popular (according to the students) are

• Kugelis (also bulvių plokštainis, the lexically correct non-foreign name, literally "flat potato dish" or banda - this usage predominates in the Dzūkija region) - potato pudding made with grated potatoes and eggs. It is usually served with sour cream and/or spirgai.

• Cepelinai (zeppelins) - potato dumplings stuffed with meat, mushrooms, or cheese, often garnished with spirgai, fried minced onion and/or sour cream.

• The major cities in Lithuania are Vilnius (the capital), Kaunas (the 2nd largest city and the one that is the closest to Luksiai), and Klapedia (on the Baltic Sea).

As you can see, Miss Shay's students write English quite well and with impeccable neatness.    I wish my pawwriting were that good!  Click each of the images to enlarge (or "biggify," as my pal Tober the Library Cat says)--that way you can read what the letters say.

As my first day drew to a close, I was anxiously awaiting an adventurous tour around the school with my new Lithuanian friends.  Look for exciting photos in tomorrow's blog posting.

Your Flat Feline Foreign Correspondent on the Go,

"Flat" Cauli IV

Reporting For Cauli Le Chat

P.S.  Since Miss Shay's class mentioned that Lithuanians enjoy dancing the samba and tango, I wondered if there were any videos available.  Here Sarge and Elizabeth, of DeSarge Danceworld of Naperville, Illinois, perform during a samba dancing exhibition at the Lithuanian World Center, in Lemont, Illinois.

Memories From the Mitten State

by "Flat" Cauli I

MPL Flat Feline Roving Reporter

When Scowl-Face was a little boy, he learned the different names of the 50 American states.  It was an exciting time, because, not too long before, there had only been 48 states when Scowl-Face was born.  Fifty seemed like a really large number to remember, so his kindergarden teacher told him to try distinguishing the states by shape.  "Remember that certain states look like things," she suggested.  So Scowl-Face gave it a try.  Most of the states looked like boxes to him, so that didn't really help much. Still, there were the distinctive shapes of Michigan, New York, Florida, and Texas.  As best as he can remember, here are the things Scowl-Face associated with these states' shapes.

• Michigan looked like a mitten.  (Well, the bottom part, anyway.)  The top part looked like the paper hats the cooks wore at the Frisch's Restaurant to which his parents occasionally took his brother and him to eat, about eight blocks from his house.  (The "Big Boy" sandwich is still his favorite hamburger, ever.)

• Florida looked like a pirate's peg leg.  Specifically, Long John Silver's, in the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, which Scowl-Face read much later in elementary school, and for which my Library has made a book trailer.

• New York looked like a pork chop.  Ooooo-kay.

• Texas looked like a T-Bone in a T-Bone steak.  (Looks like somebody spent a lot of his childhood thinking about food.)

Whatever he may have thought the other states looked like is lost to history.

Map of Michigan

This Michigan memory thing was pretty straightforward.  Definitely, the lower peninsula looks like a mitten.  Left or right hand?  Doesn't it depend upon which way the hand is facing (front or back)?  Anyway, the mitten memory trick worked, because he always got Michigan correct when he had to do geography worksheets in First Grade.

I remembered all this when the Crumbacher family, who participate in my Library's Homeschool Group, took moi along on their trip to Michigan.  Four Great Lakes touch Michigan--Lake Michigan, of course, is on the mitten's westerly side, while Lake Superior is north of the upper peninsula (Frisch's cook's hat), with Lakes Huron and Erie touching the mitten's easterly borders--but the beautiful lakes and forests inside the state are often stronger attractions for tourists looking for a peaceful weekend destination.  There is much to enjoy there, so I was quite excited about our trip.

My favorite part of the journey, however, was swimming at the hotel pool where we were staying.  (The Lady With the Red Hair says that her children always enjoyed the hotel pools more than anything else on their vacations.  Ask Scowl-Face what he remembers about his family's vacation to Colorado when he was six years old, and he will tell you swimming in a motel pool someplace in Kansas.)

Swimming is super-fun and wonderful exercise, and I got to use these amazingly cool goggles.  I could see underwater without getting my eyes wet!  It was just like being a fish (or, as Cauli would say, a "swimming dinner").  My Crumbacher special correspondents and their cousins (remember, we omit first names to preserve family privacy) helped moi put-on the goggles.

My Crumbacher Special Correspondents

Put On the Goggles For Moi

"Flat" Cauli I, Deep Sea Diver

 My Hat Always Stays On

Ready to Swim Some Laps

Another highlight of the trip was the hot tub.  This was sooooooo relaxing!  The water was wonderfully warm, and it swirled around, which loosened our muscles while it simultaneously invigorated us.  It was perfect after swimming in the pool.

We all had a terrific time!  Many thanks to the Crumbacher family for taking moi along on their Michigan adventure.

Reporting for Cauli Le Chat,

"Flat" Cauli I

MPL Flat Feline Roving Reporter

Homeschool News Beat

P.S.  I really wanted to include "Michigan Blackhawk," composed by Michael Nesmith, but I can't find a share-alike, royalty-free copy of the song on the Internet.  So we'll go with another nice Michigan tune from the the Monkees "rarity" CD Missing Links, Volume Two (1990), "If I Ever Get to Saginaw Again," with Nesmith singing lead.

P.P.S.  Wait, I found one!  This video (above) says it's the Monkees "Michigan Blackhawk."  Let's give a listen.

P.P.P.S.  "Down the Highway," composed by Carole King and Toni Stern and produced by Michael Nesmith, was recorded on June 5, 1969 but never made it onto a Monkees LP until Missing Links, Volume Two (1990), on which Rhino Records mislabeled it as "Michigan Blackhawk," a completely different song written by Michael Nesmith (and recorded on June 10, 1969).  For the definitive discussion of this song title confusion, see pp. 238-240 of Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees:  the Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation (London:  Backbeat Books, 1st edition, 2005).

P.P.P.P.S.  Want to watch my Library's book trailer for Treasure Island?  Sure you do.

Anime-Manga Gal Gets a New Nickname

Since Savvy has been hired as my Library's Young Adult Librarian, she will be assuming all things teen-oriented, which leaves Anime-Manga Gal without any anime manga-ing to do.  Furthermore, since Anime-Manga Gal recently was promoted, she needs a new "Cauli" name.

I've given this considerable thought.  The best suggestion came from The Lady With the Red Hair, who, like Anime-Manga Gal, is a Technical Services Librarian and Guru Supreme of All Things Cataloging.  (Both are managers of technical services departments, but not at the same libraries.)  T.L.W.T.R.H. offered the nickname Technigal, which is close in spelling to technical (as in library technical services).  That, for my money, is the best fit for Anime-Manga Gal.

Minions, make with the legalese:

"Be it remembered that, on the 22nd day of January, 2012, pursuant to authority promulgated by law, custom, or convenience, the official 'Cauli' designation of Anime-Manga Gal, Technical Services Manager, shall be and is hereby changed to Technigal, with all appurtenant rights and privileges conferred unto the designee under the auspices of Mooresville Public Library, in the Town of Mooresville, County of Morgan, State of Indiana.

Decreed the day and date first written above,

[Illegible Signature]

Cauli Le Chat

Chief Moniker Designation Officer

Mooresville Public Library"

Sounds more official when you have an actual lawyer writing it.  Believe moi, he could spew that stuff all day long.  Don't ask.  Just don't.  'Nuff said.

Why Don't Lawyers Write in Plain English?  Just Asking,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Nickname News Beat

P.S.  As our musical closer, I'd include "Lawyers, Guns, and Money," by Warren Zevon, from his LP Excitable Boy (1978), but he uses a naughty word in one of the refrains.  So instead we'll run with a song that has a girl's name in its title.  In particular, it has Technigal's actual first name.  How about "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate," or, simply, "Sister Kate," a jazz number composed by Clarence Williams and Armand Piron (1915).  The song was purportedly based on a bawdy tune by Louis Armstrong, but since he was born in 1901, he would have had to have written it at age 14 or younger in order for Williams and Piron to have adapted it for their 1915 composition.  That makes it unlikely, but not impossible, I suppose.  Here's a clip from the motion picture Wabash Avenue (1950), starring Betty Grable, whose character sings "Sister Kate" in the film.  Weren't her legs insured for a million dollars during World War II?  Check here to see.

Noodling Around With Numbers

Wild Thang (Miss Jaymi) and Sammy the Toucan apparently never sleep, because they have already created another early literacy video and blog for the Letter N n.  Not that I'm surprised.  Nowhere will you find anyone who works harder than those two.  Now we should stop using words beginning with N and move along to the video.  Next, you should click the graphic below to play the video.  "Need more help?" I naturally offer.  "Not necessary," you reply.  Okay, enough of that.  No more, please.  'Nuff said.

With all that noodling around with numbers (in the video), I'm naturally hungry.  Minions, make with the din-dins, now, if you please.  Don't forget the napkins.

Nicely Done Video, Wild Thang and Sammy,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Early Literacy News Beat

A Moustache For Moi, If You Please

Wild Thang (Miss Jaymi) and Sammy the Toucan have made another award-winning early literacy video.  This time they're featuring the Letter M m.  It's hilarious!  But I'd like a moustache, too.  Then I can talk in my French Dude voice.  Trust moi, you just can't imagine what it sounds like.  ("Nor would you want to," quips The Lady With the Red Hair.  Quiet back there in the cheap seats, minions.)

Visit the Library's Explore to Learn: Early Literacy Fun blog and accompanying The Miss Jaymi YouTube Channel for more cool, funny, and informative literacy videos.

Moustaches Are Way Cool, Except on Scowl-Face,

Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Early Literacy News Beat