23 Things Assignment #8

Janis Joplin performed in Toronto in 1970, just a few months before she died at age 27, after her very successful but very short career (1963-1970).

I simply had to share "Wake up cat" ! I found out it was done by an English animator, Simon Tofield, who works for an animation company and is obviously a cat owner (if, indeed, they are "owned" by anybody...). His original title was "Cat Man Do".

This was a fun and easy assignment and I am sure library could (and should) use YouTube to promote its services/programs to young and "hip" audiences, taking advantage of its enormous popularity.

23 Things Assignment #7

I added three podcasts to my Bloglines account, through Podcast Alley;

Art+ on KDRT (art)
Eclectic Mix (music)
Motivation to Move (exercise)

I didn't spend too much time on finding podcasts on the Internet through Google, but in my short experience it didn't always work well. For instance, I'd find something of interest, but it turned out I couldn't subscribe to it (no RSS feed) - ? I guess I need to explore it a lot more.
Otherwise, it was good to find out more about podcasts and I may be able to find more use for them in the future (the more you know about something, the more use it could potentially be for you, right?).

23 Things Assignment #6

It was interesting to see how it works, although at the moment I don't have an immediate use for it. It was also interesting to see what sites others suggested.

23 Things Assignment #5

I bookmarked a number of art, yoga and cat related sites and it was interesting to see how many other people saved them too, as well as following some tags to see where it goes...I like the fact that I can access my bookmarks on any computer.

For the "cat poll" participants, the majority of you think that cats should be indoor only. Toronto Cat Rescue organization agrees with you. You can check them out at www.torontocatrescue.ca (one of my bookmarked sites). They are great all-volunteer organization and helped me find a home for a kitten found on Danforth a few years ago. As for my own opinion, I have become firmly convinced that cats should be indoor only and can/should go out only under the owner's supervision...I had the unfortunate experience of my cat being hit by a car in the past.

23 Things Assignment #4

This assignment was way too much fun...I had to make myself stop, as I was in danger of quitting pretty much everything else, in order to play some more with all the fun "toys".

I wonder if anybody else stumbled upon Big Huge Lab (with no "s"), before realizing an "s" is of utmost importance here. These other guys just wouldn't leave, threathening to take over my computer and possibly my entire life, unless I order something on-line. I managed to escape, after a big struggle, but then found myself in danger of becoming an addict...

As for the generator, this is what I found out:

• my blues name is "Red" Maudie Williamson
• my art slogan is: You Can Really Taste The Art (?)
• my random cat names are: Roo, Boots, Road Kill...
• my Japanese name is Gorudena (funny, that one - joins my collection of many interesting spellings of my name that actually occur in real life).

My favourite generator was Text Collage, very interesting visually and quite artistic!

I am sure I'll want to come back and explore all of these tools, some fun, some very silly, but some definitelly useful and/or inspiring (and not become a chronic insomniac in the process).

23 Things Assignment #3

I got stuck initially, as I didn't realize right away that not all feeds are updated hourly, daily or even weekly! While it may seem obvious to the ones in the know, for some of us it was something to figure out...

Not sure how I feel about the whole thing...I can see how it can be useful, but I need more time to decide how useful it is for me. For now it looks more like too much information and one more thing to keep track of, but I keep a positive outlook.

Other than Library Journal, I have chosen ArtDeadlines List, CBC/Arts News and Eyebeam reBlog. The first one seems most useful for me, the second too much info and the third pretty interesting and OK to check just from time to time.

For those who took part in the poll: yes, it's Polanski who wasn't born in Lodz. His birthplace is Paris, France (1933). His connection to Lodz is that he attended famous Lodz Film School. By the way, did you know that he declined the opportunity to direct "Schindler's List", but made "The Pianist" afterwards?

23 Things Assignment #2

Walk of Fame on the popular Piotrkowska Street, the longest pedestrian street in Europe and a place not to be missed when you are in town!



You can always join Julian Tuwim, well known Polish poet, on his bench.



Arthur Rubinstein was born in Lodz. Here he is, in front of the house where he was born. You can sit by his side and listen to some of his music, which is part of the installation.