A very entertaining ukulele lesson with many useful tips.

Ukulele is the miracle music instrument . The ukulele sound won’t interrupt the talking of business or the whisper of lovers.

If you softly hold a baby or cat under your arms, usually some people will smile and say “How pretty this baby is! or How cute this cat is!” On the other hand, the ukulele will not make people so excited.

If your family and friends’ faces turn bitter, you don’t have to worry. If you are a poor player, just back up slowly and fade away.

The current episode of the Ken P. D. Snydecast contains a quite entertaining discussion of the menu (and staff) of the Musso and Frank Grill in Los Angeles. And indeed, as discussed, their menu is straight out of the fifties. The actual fifties, not the Happy Days fifties. Chiffonade salad! Imported sardine sandwich! Creamed spinach!

The fine folks at Taquitos have commented on McCormick’s ’07 flavor forecast. That comment is “ew.”

Longtime listener, first time caller Elsa submits historical pictures of Wisconsin library students. For cute! My own library education involved fewer costumes.

Because New Yorkers conspire to taunt me with their wonderful restaurants, here are an assortment of menus to peruse. The Comfort Diner, for example, offers “Herb Crusted Salmon ( Low Crab ).” I think it is terribly considerate of them to offer menu items with a minimum of crab.

In case you need to explain to someone exactly where they are a pain in your ass, a helpful set of diagrams.

The book awards have been announced at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting. The big ceremonies aren’t until the main conference in June or so, but we can start complaining now. I read American Born Chinese, the winner of this year’s Printz award, and it wasn’t even notable enough for me to put it in my monthly reading roundup. Yeah, it’s ok, but it really didn’t strike me as the best of the year. Feh.

In anticipation of the library awards season (middle of this month), here’s my favorite reads from the past year.

Teen:
Peeps
Outbreak: Plagues that Changed History
A Certain Slant of Light
Mummies: the newest, coolest & creepiest from around the world

Adult:
Assassination Vacation (on audio)
Extraordinary exhibitions: the wonderful remains of an enormous head, the whimsiphusicon & death to the savage Unitarians: broadsides from the collection of Ricky Jay
The Areas of My Expertise
Psycho Ex Game
Walking In Circles Before Lying Down
World War Z
Kampung Boy