News from the Mudd

Today Ringo Starr is 68. Yes, 68. Those of you mature enough to know his real name will be feeling extremely ancient and those who have never heard of him will be asking, "Whose grandpappy is that?"
In a dastardly bit of birthday irony, it was reported yesterday that his birthplace is certain to be demolished after English Heritage decided not to list it on its register. But Pete Best's home will be preserved only because it was the location of the original Cavern Club, and..., oh, just read the article.
Do what Richard requests today: "...everyone, everywhere, wherever they are, at noon on July 7 make the peace sign and say 'Peace & Love.'" And listen to some tunes.

If ever the Apocalypse was in sight, it's now. That most scholarly of encyclopedias, The Encyclopedia Britannica, is going wiki. But the editors have taken a lot of the fun and adventure out of the wiki experience by only allowing readers to suggest revisions, not make them themselves. So you merry pranksters may not change Winston Churchill's middle name to Bassingbourne or make Inigo Jones the love-child of Elizabeth I and the Sir Walter Raleigh.
If you're in the Mudd you can search the Encyclopedia Britannica and even suggest changes.
Listen to the report on NPR.

Once again it's Sir Paul McCartney's birthday. He's been in this music business for over 50 years, and he's still touring. His latest stop was in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine where he gave a concert sponsored by Victor Pinchuk, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist. Pinchuk said, "One could not imagine this 30 years ago. Nobody could even dare to hope for this 20 years ago. One could only dream about it 10 years ago. 5 years ago we could only envy our neighbors for whom this became a reality. And finally the day has come. For the first time we have the opportunity to hear the songs that changed the world and created a new culture." We couldn't agree more.
Sure, we have the Beatles recordings and even one McCartney solo disc. But the library's McCartney collection includes Lennon-McCartney tunes interpreted by vocalists Kiri Te Kanawa, Cathy Berberian and Cristina Zavalloni, double bassists, and a brass quintet. Very versatile.

June IS busting out all over. You may think June is noteworthy only because it is the month of Paul McCartney's birthday (June 18,) but it's also Lane Courtesy Month. Will you be compelled to purchase large women's clothing? Be polite to Superman's girlfriend? Continuously sing "Mule Train?" No, no, it's the month to yield the left lane to faster drivers. This applies to motorists only. And for those for whom "courtesy" is an alien concept, this site also has links to Fight Your Ticket and Find an Attorney.
Get yourself lane-ready with the Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook and Study Guide.

Today the Mudd and physical plant staff said a fond farewell to Connie Bruner, the Mudd's 1st and 2nd floor custodian for the last several years. We wish her well on the next part of her adventure. Happy travels Connie!

Today would have been Don Martin's 77th birthday. And he was not a lounge singer, half of a comedy duo, or a manufacturer of British luxury cars. No, children, Don Martin was a brilliant cartoonist, best known for his work in Mad magazine back when it was funny. His comic strips, according to Wikipedia, "featured outrageous events and sometimes outright violations of the laws of space-time." Who else would picture a man who, after inserting a dollar bill into a change machine, was changed into a woman?

One cannot think of Don Martin without remembering his great use of onomatopoeia. In his honor, and in the hopes that our gentle readers will make appropriate use of it, we give you The Don Martin Dictionary, an alphabetical archive of all his sound effects.

On May 14, 1881 Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the high cost of gas. If this family had waited just over a year and moved to Appleton, they could have had the benefit of lighting their home with hydroelectric power.
Read all about the world's first hydroelectric power station.

Hey kids! May 1st is RSS Awareness Day!

What's RSS, you ask? Check out this Lawrence University page about it and subscribe to Lawrence University RSS feeds. You'll especially want to subscribe to the feed for this blog, of course...

Appleton. England. Not the same. This was proven by a little item in Monday's New York Times. The main reading room of the British Library, formerly a stodgy bastion of serious researchers, relaxed its admission policy in 1998 when it moved into a new building. Now the tweedy, suede-patched-elbows set must rub shoulders with "anyone who has a relevant research need," which includes college undergraduates. Here, we LOVE college undergraduates.

One regular user complained of the raucous behavior he witnessed:
"The worst is that they actually answer their phones...The phone vibrates and they go, 'Hold on a minute, Nigel,' and then they run out of the reading room and take the call."

For the record:
1. Setting you phone to vibrate is a lovely and wondrous thing
2. Answering it and saying only "hold on" will endear you to us forever
3. And finally, walking outside to carry on a conversation makes our hearts go pitter-patter with delight

The Mudd: We're Not the British Library

Everyone knows and loves Click & Clack, who are, thankfully, alive and well. But one of those who may have been an inspiration for their names is no longer with us. It was announced today that Werner Groebli, "Frick" of the comedy ice-skating team, Frick & Frack passed away on April 14 at the age of 92. The original Frack died in 1979, so the current Frack made the announcement.

The Mudd can help you repair your pre-1974 engine or learn how to figure skate, 1939-style.

LibraryThing is "an online service to help people catalog their books easily" and lots of people are using it -- including some Lawrentians! If you're a LibraryThing user, join the Lawrentians LibraryThing group and catalog your Freshman Studies books, your favorite 19th-century poets, or your entire library...

After surviving a flood that ravaged the 4th floor, the Mudd narrowly escaped being flattened into heaping piles of concrete and fine Corinthian leather bindings by an earthquake that hit the Midwest early this morning . The Mudd's solid 1974 construction made it impervious to Mother Nature's puny swaggering, plus the fact that we're approximately 475 miles from the epicenter may have been a contributing factor.
We can hardly wait until locust season.

If it hadn't been for the guy born 110 years ago today, the town 25 miles to our northeast would be a port, a paper making hub and a gateway to Door County. But because Curly Lambeau and his friend George Calhoun casually struck up a conversation about football one day, Green Bay is a lot more. Thank him, thank the Indian Packing Company, and thank the citizens of Green Bay (the team owners) for sticking with the team through the tough years. Here's to a new era.
We've got all kinds of books about the Packers in the Mudd.

Today's quiz: How many ways can you think of to legally transport edible grease? You can get take-out from KFC®. You can fail to wipe your hands before leaving a rib place. You can load yourself up with popcorn at a movie. But illegally transporting inedible grease takes some doing.
NPR reported this morning that a man in California was apprehended after being caught siphoning used cooking grease from in back of a Burger King®. He was charged with illegal transport of inedible grease, in violation of California Food and Agricultural Code, Section 19310-19317.
Sing from, listen to, or view Grease in the Mudd.

The CGA (Compressed Gas Association) Hydrogen Seminar is being held today at the Sacramento (CA) Convention Center. Try not to blurt out the obvious completion of this presentation topic as stated in the form of a question: "Hydrogen in your pocket."
You won't be surprised to learn Philip Glass composed a work with hydrogen in the title.

We always knew those wacky British were animal-crazy, but we had no idea that passion extended to traffic control. On April 2, 1962, the "panda crossing," a new style of pedestrian crossing was introduced in London, replacing the "zebra crossing." It was quite simple, really:

"The panda crossing is activated when the pedestrian presses a button that lights up a "wait" sign. This results in a flashing amber light warning drivers to stop. After five seconds a pulsating red light tells the driver to stop and a 'cross' sign is illuminated indicating to the pedestrian that it is safe to cross the road. Eight seconds later the red light is replaced by a flashing amber light. At the same time the 'cross' sign begins to flash, at first slowly and then faster to warn the pedestrian that his time to cross the road is running out. After 17 seconds both lights are extinguished and the driver is free to drive on."

Who is more multi-faceted than singer/actress Shirley Jones? She went from Academy Award-winner, playing a prostitute in Elmer Gantry, to the most wholesome of TV mothers on The Partridge Family. In between she portrayed Rodgers and Hammerstein heroines, solidified every stereotype of librarians in The Music Man and married both the suave Jack Cassidy and the goofy Marty Ingles. Had she stayed in Western Pennsylvania where she was born 74 years ago today, she might have ended up working in the family business, the Jones Brewery.
We've got her on video in Carousel, The Music Man and Oklahoma!

March 19 is Act Happy Day. The week of March 17-22 is Act Happy Week. If you are an exceptionally good actor you can act like spring will really be here on Thursday.
In case you need to boost your acting skills, the Mudd has books on acting for just about anybody.

It was a dark and stormy night. The lightning was flashing, the thunder rolling. The roof of the library continued to be flat. Snow embraced each square corner and enveloped each drain. The reference librarian on duty made the rounds searching in all the usual spots for leaks. But a certain location, once renowned for drips but dry for eons, escaped this librarian's scrutiny. Then the alert came: a student reported some water. Water. Not a leak, not a drip, but a cascade. Water pouring from the ceiling. Ceiling tiles in smithereens on the floor. The books were removed, the plastic draped, receptacles gathered.
See how our enterprising maintenance and security people saved the Mudd.

The Big Mac® is a handy punching bag, nutrition-wise. It's made of meat, it's fatty and it's often the default bad guy in calorie comparisons. But did you know that a typical MacDonald's meal (Big Mac®, fries and coffee) "contains at least 19 plant species from 12 families" which "originate in all of the eight global centers of cultivated plant diversity?" The current issue of the journal BioScience has an article detailing these attributes, Serban P, Wilson JRU, Vamosi JC, Richardson DM (2008) Plant Diversity in the Human Diet: Weak Phylogenetic Signal Indicates Breadth. BioScience: Vol. 58, No. 2 pp. 151-159, which you can read if you're an LU person. The authors call the Big Mac® a "symbol of globalization." So, please, a little more R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

You're lucky. Your space solutions most likely involve a few wicker baskets and a double-rod hanging system. But when NASA gets involved it's a whole-nother kettle of fish.
The International Space University symposium, Space Solutions to Earth's Global Challenges, begins today in Strasbourg, France. Here we're talking SPACE space, as in outer. Some topics are a little out-there ("Why We Need an Elevator to Space!") and some are downright bone-chilling ("The Intersection of Air Law and Space Law.") And who knew there was an International Space University?
Listen to some Strauss while you ponder your future on the final frontier.

It has been said that copious amounts of snow cause a person to, well, not think clearly. See pibloktoq.
Now municipalities in Wisconsin are mixing beet juice in with salt water to de-ice streets. The only catch is, people who wish to have their streets de-iced must run outside and shout, "Beet juice! Beet juice! Beet juice!"
Read about thawing in the Mudd.

Appleton is justly famous for being the childhood home of Houdini and the place where Rocky Bleier honed his gridiron skills. But it is a little known fact that Appleton is a hotbed of confectionaries. In today's New York Times read about Appleton's meccas to cream and butter and follow the Candyland trail throughout northeastern Wisconsin.
Wisconsin: It's Not Just Beer and Bratwurst.

We're announcing this a day early so you can still catch a last minute super-saver over there. East Anglia Potato Day is tomorrow. Here you can buy your Yorkshire rhubarb crowns (we have no idea,) taste some chips, swap some seeds and hear a talk on "The Commonwealth Potato Collection." Might this include common-taters? See November 8, 2007.
FYI: The Library of Congress Subject Heading for potatoes is "potatoes."

We're all in favor of world-domination by robots, particularly benevolent, Japanese robots. Get a glimpse of the future at Robotopia Rising beginning today at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. Eleven days of robots and robot-related souvenirs await you. There will also be "robot lectures," which may be lectures by robots or about robots. We aren't sure. But this is our favorite: a robot "with artificial lips that move with the same finesse as human ones, enabling it to play the trumpet."

If we've been asked this question once, we been asked it a thousand times: where can I find sheet music for tunes commonly played in British pubs? We usually answer this query with the reference librarian's shrug. But now a new source has appeared: A Traditional Music Library. This web site out of the U.K. is a "large traditional and folk music library of songbooks, tune-books, sheet-music, lyrics, midis, tablature, plus music theory, chord diagrams, scales and other music educational & academic reference materials." It has handy full-text searching capability, too. Impress/bore/frighten your friends at your next gathering with rugby songs, sea chanties and banjo ballads.

Sometimes the planets align in such a way that in the space of a couple of short weeks National Pie Day and the release of an online pirate role-playing game come together in perfect fusion:

Used with the kind permission of the artist, Dan Piraro
www.bizarro.com
http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com

On this day in 1987 Liberace went to that great diamond-studded, fur lined Cadillac in the sky. You young folk may not hear the word "flamboyant" much these days, but this gentleman was the textbook definition. Wisconsin claims him as its own since he was born in West Allis and, as you can see, he also did a few years in Sheboygan

On January 16, 1940 the Milwaukee Journal reported on his debut with the Chicago Symphony at Milwaukee's Pabst Theater. It appears that it took a while to develop his signature style:

"Walter Liberace, a member of the excellent group of young Milwaukee pianists ... was heard Monday night at the Pabst as soloist with the Chicago Symphony orchestra. . . .
"Mr. Liberace, a strikingly good looking young man with a most engaging personality, had won the honor of an appearance with the orchestra in a local competition . . . The young artist was at no time in difficulty, but it was apparent that he was proceeding with infinite care, and the swaggering approach that goes so well with Liszt (Liberace had chosen to play Liszt's Second Concerto in A) was somewhat missed."

Ordinarily we wouldn't mention the S-Bowl, since we are still very sad about the outcome of last week's NFC Championship game. But the Hass Avocado Board has come out with a stupefying statistic: they predict a record 53.5 million pounds of avocado will be consumed this Sunday. That's enough avocados to cover a football field waist-deep. We have to say it: Holy guacamole!

Here at the Mudd we're all about pirates. Today's New York Times has an article of great interest to all Mudd swabbies: an online pirate role-playing game. Pirates of the Burning Sea takes you back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, namely 1720 in the Caribbean. It's just like being there, except without the slavery and disease. The website promises "blistering naval combat" and "savage swashbuckling." You can choose your own "hair, faces, footwear, hands, coats, hats, belts, jewelry...eyepatches, hook hands, and peg legs..." You can be English, French or Spanish. This game was six years in development and, according to the Times, it's just right. If you've a hankering to pillage and plunder, but aren't crazy about the real-life consequences, figuratively weigh anchor for the virtual briny deep.

This just in: In a cruel ironic twist, today is the day for a world-wide webcast on global warming solutions. At 8 p.m. Eastern time, Focus the Nation will stream this discussion on Earth Day TV. And tomorrow is "Focus the Nation" day here at LU and elsewhere. Thaw yourselves out and attend your local event.
Our new Wisconsin state motto: "We've Got Your Solution to Global Warming Right Here."

Sure, it's -15 with 30 mph winds, but it could be worse. Visit the U. S. Geological Survey's web site, Today in Earthquake History and see if your area experienced an earthquake on this date.
The USGS also has information on Wisconsin earthquake history. It's a one-pager.

Dateline, Appleton, Wis., January 28, 1908.

A "daily news special" reported out of Milwaukee stated that "at the close of the present semester this week" Lawrence University students "will have to sign an agreement not to frequent billiard or pool rooms or they will not be allowed to re-enter."

President Plantz got the names of a number of boys "who for some time have visited local billiard rooms." These boys received letters "advising them to desist from the practice or take expulsion from the college as a penalty." He then went on to say any student who refused to abide by this rule and wished to attend a college with less stringent rules would receive a letter of recommendation from him. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

You can find out a lot more about LU and Samuel Plantz in the University Archives.

Today is National Pie Day, not to be confused with National Pi Day which is celebrated in March. Or January 25 which is the day "National Velvet" was released in 1945.
The American Pie Council counsels us to use pies only for the most wholesome purposes today. Give your sweetie or your co-workers a pie. Make a pie with your kids. Buy a pie and give it to the person behind you in the grocery check-out line. Hand out slices to strangers and encourage them to do the same, sort of "pie it forward."

While we're at it, don't even think of using any other pie crust recipe than this one:

1 1/3 c. sifted all purpose flour (sift before measuring)
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 t. salt

Put all ingredients into a metal bowl. Put the bowl and your pastry blender into the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Cut shortening into flour until the mixture is uniformly crumbly looking. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of very cold water (unflavored, unsweetened sparkling water works best) over the dough and lightly toss with a fork. Add another tablespoon, toss. Add one more tablespoon and toss. If the dough still looks very dry, add small amounts of water and toss until the dough slightly clumps together as you toss it.

Use you hands to very gently form the dough into a loose ball. Pat it so it just holds together. Place on a floured surface and roll out to the desired size and thickness. Makes a single pie crust.

Here are more fine pastry-related activities: number 1, number 2, and number 3.

They're the ships of the desert. They make lovely suit coats. They entice children to smoke. They're camels! And today and tomorrow they have their own festival in Bikaner, India. The Bikaner Camel Festival is a tribute paid to these animals upon whom the people of Bikaner depend for their existence. This region even formed an "elite camel corps," active during the first and second World Wars.

The Mudd has a book about, you guessed it, camels in the U.S. army.

Got some travel funds left over? How about suggesting a little trip for your boss/supervisor/overlord? The World Congress on Neck Pain is going on today and tomorrow in Los Angeles. For light entertainment read some of the program topics and substitute "a pain in the neck" for "neck pain." Example: "The Burden and Determinants of Neck Pain in the General Population."
We are stunned to report that we have books on neck pain in the Mudd.

This item appeared in the New York Times on January 14, 1908.

Because turnabout is fair play, we give you "Bei mir bist du schön" with a Latin beat.

It was only a matter of time before someone thought of this: Carmen Miranda's saucy tropical hit, "Mama Yo Quiero" sung in Yiddish and Portuguese.
If you are itching for some more, the Mudd does have one Carmen Miranda recording.

On January 9, 1793, the first manned flight in America took place in Philadelphia, with President George Washington in attendance. Here is a first-person account written the day after, as recorded in The Principles, History & Use of Air-Balloons, which the Mudd has access to.

Mr. Blanchard, the bold aeronaut, agreeably to his advertisement, at five minutes past ten o'clock yesterday morning, rose with a balloon from the Prison Court in this city, in presence of an immense concourse of spectators there assembled on the occasion. The process of inflating the balloon commenced about nine o'clock. Several cannon were fired from the dawn of day until the moment of elevation. A band of music played during the time of inflating; and, when it began to rise, the majestical sight was truly awful and interesting. The slow movement of the band added solemnity to the scene. Indeed the attention of the multitude was so absorbed, that it was a considerable time ere silence was broke by the acclamations which succeeded.
          As soon as the clock had struck ten, every thing being practically ready, Mr. Blanchard took a respectful leave of all the spectators, and received from the hands of the President a paper; at the same time the President spoke a few words to this bold adventurer, who was immediately leaped into his boat, which was painted blue and spangled. The balloon was of a yellowish colored silk, highly varnished, over which there was a strong net-work. Mr. Blanchard was dressed in a plain blue suit, a cocked hat, and white feathers. As soon as he was in the boat, he threw out some ballast, and the balloon began to ascend slowly and perpendicularly. After a few minutes, the wind blowing from the northward and westward, the balloon rose to an immense height, and then shaped its course towards the southward and eastward. Several gentlemen galloped down the point road, but soon left sight of it, for it moved at the rate of 20 miles an hour.
          Great numbers, who had neglected to purchase tickets, were afflicted with considerable regret at not having been immediately present in the Prison Court to see the preparations, and to witness the undaunted countenance of the man who thus sublimely dared to soar through the regions of the air. Anxiety for the safety of the aeronaut was painted on every face from the time citizens lost sight of him, and various were the conjectures as to the place where he would descend.
          About half after six o'clock last evening we were happy to meet Mr. Blanchard again in this city, going to pay his respects to the President of the United States. He informed us that his aerial voyage lasted 46 minutes, in which time he ran over a space of more than 15 miles. And the descended a little to the eastward of Woodbury in the states of New Jersey, where he took a carriage and returned to Cooper's Ferry, and was at the President's at half past six o'clock last evening.

Oi, it seemed like the winter break would never end. Now back to business.
Today begins the IARP/EURON Workshop on Robotics for Risky Interventions and Environmental Surveillance. On this site you will find terms like "suitable modularised mechanised structure" (possibly the right size robot?,) "suspected or real disaster" and "swarm of robots." This site was last modified "on 06/01/2008" so there's some time travel involved, too.
The Mudd has much on robotics. Robots. Is there anything can't they do?

On December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley met President Richard M. Nixon in the White House. Elvis just showed up at the White House that morning and asked to see the President by presenting a letter to a security guard. A meeting was set up for 12:30 that day. The National Archives and Records Administration of the United States has an entire web site marking this event. "Wha...?" you say? This iconic photo from that meeting is said to be the most requested image from the National Archives. Look through the images on NARA website very quickly and you'll get a nice flip-chart effect. It's almost like being there. The Wikimedia Commons entry on this event includes this photo with the helpful description: "Elvis is on the right."

We always love it when Cheryl, our former ILL person, drops by. It's great to see her. We so look forward to the time we can spend with her. She's a welcome visitor any time. Come back again soon, Cheryl!

Holy Hanna, we forgot to commemorate the anniversary of Beethoven's baptism, Dec. 17, 1770. Here's Dudley Moore playing a little fake (but perfectly executed) Beethoven.

We're smack in the middle of the National Soybean Rust Symposium, which began Dec. 12 and runs through tomorrow, Dec. 14 in Louisville, KY. Seems soybean crops are plagued by a ruddy fungus which, we have to say, would make an excellent name for a rock group.
You can read proceedings from last year's symposium. You can also view related websites, such as "Soybean Rust Advisory Program (SoyRAP)" (SoyRAP, there's another excellent name) on the Plant Management Network website.

Frank Sinatra would have been 92 today. That's all (which is a great song and the Mudd has it.) Enjoy some Sinatra, too.

On December 11, 1792, Louis XVI was brought before the French Convention Nationale, the assembly that governed France after the overthrow of the monarchy. Not long afterward the Convention Nationale released a statement that went something like this:

If you had been a nicer king
we wouldn't do a thing,
but you were bad, you must admit.
We're gonna take you and the queen
down to the guillotine
and shorten you a little bit.

The Mudd has some contemporary reports of this event, including a transcript of the trial, which may or may not contain the above text.

Discover is the greatest periodical. Naturally the Mudd subscribes to it. The latest issue (January, 2008) has "20 Things You Didn't Know About Snow." We'll let you read about the other 19, but this one is a doozy: Too much snow can drive a person crazy. It seems pibloktoq, a little understood hysteria, can "cause senseless repetition of overheard words and running around naked in the snow." Since our area is getting another 2 or 3 inches today (on top of what we already have,) this caught our eye. Since our area is getting another 2 or 3 inches today (on top of what we already have,) this caught our eye. Since our area is getting another 2 or 3 inches today (on top of what we already have,) this caught our eye.

A bunch of marauders-come-lately have invented a day to celebrate today: Annual Day of the Ninja. While we are all in favor of the quite legitimate holiday "Talk Like a Pirate Day," we are not at all convinced that this ninja thing will catch on. Their suggestion to "wear a ninja mask to work" will most likely result in a call to the local constable. Wearing an eye patch to work, however, will evoke great admiration at your new-found coolness. Pirate versus ninja is like Mac Guy vs. PC Guy on the TV: one oozes self-confidence and the other tries a little too hard.

Who has to win the award for the hippest minister ever? Why Little Richard, of course, whose birthday is celebrated today.

Listen to a few versions of Tutti Frutti, including one by Pat Boone (ask you granddad.) For the real thing, watch the master at work on Long Tall Sally, and then compare the version by a very fine cover band. This recording we've got.
Rolling Stone has an item about the bizarre rivalry between Pat Boone and Little Richard.

Here are some alliterative topics for discussion: travel, time and twins.
There's time travel: the great soprano Nellie Melba died in Australia on Feb. 23, 1931, but her death was reported in some New York newspapers on the 22nd.
There's twin travel: Bulgarian composer Pantcho Vladigerov was born in Switzerland but his twin brother had arrived the day before in Bulgaria. Their mother did not care for the Bulgarian medical system so she hopped a train with one twin and hours later de-trained in Switzerland to give birth to the second.
And now...Twin Time Travel! Earlier this month a woman in North Carolina gave birth to a boy at 1:32 a.m. Thirty-four minutes later his twin sister arrived. But wait! Daylight Saving Time ended at 2:00 a.m. The second twin was actually born at 1:06 a.m. which makes her older. Or does it? In the famous last words of the mother, "We'll let them work that out between themselves."

On this day in 1942 possibly the most famous interpreter of the United States national anthem was born. Listen to the greatest left-handed guitar version performed outside a stadium or arena.
The Mudd has several recordings of riffs on Jimi Hendrix.

You young 'ns have probably only seen the word "phonograph" in history books. Conventional wisdom has it that on this date in 1877 Thomas Alva Edison publicly introduced the cylinder phonograph. It is not known the precise date Mr. Edison spoke the first verse of "Mary had a little lamb" into the contraption, but the American Memory Project at the Library of Congress puts the date somewhere August 12th and December 24th. We'll go with the flow and say it's today.
The New York Times ran a commentary on November 28 of that year stating that with the invention of the telegraph, telephone and now the phonograph "electricians had lost all self-restraint." On the horizon was the wireless telegraph, the use of which could have dire consequences: "A mother, sitting in the nursery with her baby in her arms, may be struck by a violent speech by Wendell Phillips, and sustain a fatal injury." "The aerial electrical current will be constantly full of Congressional speeches...which will be liable at any moment to...penetrate our houses." Sounds very familiar.

We don't often wish we were in Los Angeles, but we do now. The Hammer Museum at UCLA is hosting Extraodrinary Exhibitions: Broadsides from the Collections of Ricky Jay from now until November 25. The exhibit features "80 examples of 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century ephemeral advertising sheets known as broadsides...with an emphasis on remarkable entertainers and visual deceptions." Today's New York Times has an interview with Mr. Jay along with some amazing examples and descriptions from the exhibit.
The Mudd subscribes to Early American Imprints, 1801-1819 which includes the subject category "Curiosities and wonders." Here you can find your "Great anaconda or the terrific serpent of Java," a little tamer fare than Mr. Jay's singing mouse, enormous head, or living skeleton.

Glass harmonica? How about a water-organ? A Croatian architect has created a giant water-powered organ that is played by waves from the Adriatic Sea lapping onto steps. Now visitors don't need to be bored by those dull sounds of nature.

Today you can't escape "Abet and Aid Punsters Day." Be a groan-up and paste a smile on your face when you hear one of these (and you will):

Walter Cronkite and Virginia Potato (yes, a real potato) were in love. But her father objected: "I'm not going let any daughter of mine marry a commentator."

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

Did you hear about the fire at the circus? The heat was in tents.

A toothless termite walked into a tavern and said, "Is the bar tender here?"

The orchestra was performing Beethoven's Symphony no. 9, a piece in which the bass section doesn't play for a long stretch toward the end. The section decided to leave the stage and grab a few beers across the street. Two players passed out and rest got back late. The conductor was furious. It was the bottom of the ninth, there were two men out and the basses were loaded.

This just in: yesterday a 600 lb. cow fell 200 feet off a cliff near Manson, Washington and crushed the hood of a mini van. The occupants escaped unharmed. The cow was not as fortunate. We'll stay here where there are plenty of cows but no cliffs.

It's Saxophone Day! It's a woodwind made of metal! It's named after a real guy whose birthday is today! It comes in all different sizes! And what could be cooler than a saxophone, or for that matter, a saxophone player? Once you get past the shades and the slouching demeanor, you'll find a hug-able human being. So go hug one.
The Mudd has a boat load of recordings, scores and videos featuring the saxophone. Of course there's Coltrane. But we also feature a composer who writes for saxophone(s) and ghettoblaster. For the less adventurous, how about some saxophone quartets?

The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a bunch of conspirators in England tried to blow stuff up, occurred on this day. It's celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night, Bonfire Night, Fireworks Night, Cracker Night or Plot Night. In any case, explosions and fire are the order the day.
Today's New York Times has a pretty sad photo of a rugby club viewing a film of a bonfire last year on Guy Fawkes Night. It's a sorry state of affairs when the mayhem-loving British must discard their customs. But one rogue town will not be moved: "...the Slough Borough Council...decided not to have a bonfire this year. (It will have fireworks, though, along with an Asian Elvis impersonator.)"
Read all about him (Guy Fawkes, not Elvis) in the Mudd.