Devendra Banhart and the Grogs made a stop at the TLA last night and he brought along the virtually unknown Luke Rathborne. It was a one time thing for Rathborne and you could tell he truly appreciated the opportunity and he took it in stride. He said the last time he opened for someone it was Lynyrd Skynyrd and that opening for Devendra Banhart was much more exciting. Rathborne just finished recording his debut album which will be out in the near future. So keep an eye out for that.

Devendra Barnhart played a nearly two hour set with his backing band, The Grogs. His set was very hit or miss. The first third started his set off right with a bunch of upbeat songs. The second part of his set lagged quite a bit with his acoustic songs that brought the atmosphere of venue down. The people at the bar were quite rude and loud through this part of the show. The closing third of the show was fantastic though. He had the entire crowd dancing and moving the the music. Thankfully he ended the set the he way did, otherwise the entire show would have been a bore. Photos below.

Luke Rathborne

Devendra Banhart and the Grogs

View Larger Map

This map is something I’m going to update constantly as the Philly establishments rise and fall but for now it has a lot of great information on the most popular venues to visit. I’ve also linked to a few great restaurants and bars around the venues located in more happening areas. Take a look and enjoy! Let me know if there are any places you think I should visit and add to the map. As time goes on I’ll be adding photos and more stories so keep checking back!

Also ich hab ja in letzter Zeit viel ebensolche mit dem Beheben von Bugs^Wzufällig entstandenen Zusatzfunktionen verbracht. Bei dieser Tätigkeit kommt man immer wieder an Stellen bei denen man denkt “WTF? Wie hab ich das übersehen können?” oder sonst irgendwie spontan den Wunsch entwickelt mit dem Kopf eine Wand aus dem Weg zu räumen.
Da draußen, im großen, bunten Intarweb gibts aber Schilderungen von Problemen die alles in den Schatten stellen was mir so tagtäglich vor das Keyboard läuft. Ein paar besonders schöne Exemplare will ich euch heute mal zeigen…

Die ersten beiden stammen aus dem Android-Umfeld:

• datumsabhängige Qualität der Autofocus-Funktion
• Nach einem Neustart wird jedes eingegebene Wort, im Hintergrund, unbemerkt, mit root-Rechten als Befehl interpretiert

Einen weiteren, besonders schönen hat Chronodd entdeckt:
IE-Lookahead-Bug
um die Funktionalität mal zusammenzufassen:

The incorrect behavior occurs if your page contains a JavaScript URL which spans exactly the 4096th byte of the HTTP response. If such a URL is present, under certain timing conditions the lookahead downloader will attempt to download a malformed URL consisting of the part of the URL preceding the 4096th byte combined with whatever text follows the 8192nd byte, up to the next quotation mark. Web developers encountering this problem will find that their logs contain requests for bogus URLs with long strings of URLEncoded HTML at the end.

Zum Abschluss noch eine alternative Variante wie man seine Funktionen benennen kann.. erinnert mich ziemlich stark an unsere Idee während des Studiums doch alle Funktionen nur noch TLA/XTLA/SXTLA oder ähnliches zu nennen. Die Idee dann aber in Produktivcode durchzuziehen hat schon eigentlich wieder einen balls-of-steel-award verdient.

Bei solchen Aktionen finde ich den Begriff “Quählkot” doch ziemlich treffend…

via email

Cultivating Loyal Library Customers
by Delivering Meaningful and Memorable Service!
December 7, 2009                   2pm to 3pm Central Time

This introductory customer service class is recommended for any staff member who interacts with customers (patrons) on a regular basis. The webinar deals specifically with attitudes and actions for cultivating customer loyalty with both internal and external customers at the library. The presenter will offer specific tools and techniques to help cultivate loyal library customers, and make the patron experience meaningful and memorable.

Presenter Steve Wishnack is the founder and President of Think & Do, providing consultation, seminars and workshops that help organizations cultivate customer relationships. www.thinkanddo.us. Steve has written articles on Customer Service for The Massachusetts Municipal Association, and authored the chapter on Customer Service in Clinical Trials, for A Guide to Patient Recruitment and Retention, published by Thomson, in April, 2004. In addition to speaking at numerous organizational conferences and client events, Steve has been a guest speaker for The International Customer Service Association (ICSA) and for several libraries in Texas.

Steve holds both BA and MS degrees in Education from Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY.  He now resides in Andover, Massachusetts.

Registration: $45 for TLA members, $55 for non-members.
Special Group Rate! $35 per person for groups of 5 or more – contact CE Specialist Ted Wanner for details (tedw@txla.org)

Instructions for logging into the webinar will be sent to all registrants prior to the event. CE credit will be available.

Register at this link: CE WEBINAR REGISTRATION (or visit www.txla.org/ce)

Ted Wanner, CE Specialist, Texas Library Association – tedw@txla.org or 800-580-2852

As you may know myself and two dj friends have formed together to make the Audio Creeps. ‘The Hands’ featuring remixes by the likes of Subfractal, Tim Patrick & Codar, Matt Gracie, TLA, myself plus a little single by the Bass Pirates and myself named ‘Knuckles’ is now out on Beatport on Don’t Look Productions.

You can preview and pick up a copy of The Hands EP over at Beatport.

Hope you enjoy our first release with some amazing remixers

Cheers,

Luis ‘Elusive’ Sastre

P.S. We’re throwing a little release party November 14th at Li’ly Lounge with swag giveaways. Make it down

I have fallen madly in love. Now, before you start penning an open letter of warning to The Bee telling him what a scandalous harlot I am for my betrayal, let me tell you that he is well aware. As a matter of fact, he’s known from the start and he was there to witness it all, when this past Friday night my small scale crush turned into full-time infatuation with a group of 5 men. And a dog. Maybe I need to explain…

Back in July, we bought two 2-day passes to see Dr. Dog, live in Philly (their home base, and our home away from home), elated because the show would be the weekend following my birthday and what better way to celebrate?! I say this because 1. I am a compulsive show-goer, where some people like to have a nice meal out at a swanky joint, or use outlet shopping as therapy, I buy tickets to shows (making it to most) and 2. because for the better part of this year, Dr. Dog’s album “Fate” has been playing on a constant loop during just about everything we do. Driving to work, AT work, while on vacation, doing the dishes, to drown out the sound of my chattering mind, WHENEVER. “Fate” has become the soundtrack for our lives, we pimp the album to anyone who will give us the time to listen because, well, it’s really REALLY good. It’s not just the album, either, they have 4 other LPs and an EP, all of which have become a part of our daily listening practice. When there is a question about what to put on while driving together or hanging out at home, Dr. Dog on shuffle always works to suit both our fancies. Until this past weekend, I had no idea just how much Dr. Dog I really needed in my life.

Having never seen Dr. Dog before, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, just that I had heard they have an amazing live show. It’s kind of shameful, as a girl who has spent a good deal of time in the city of Philadelphia, from living there, attending school and working in the city, I had never seen this local band perform before. I had heard of the band, but had obviously never been so inclined to go the extra mile and put image to sound. I have conceded to kicking myself for such foolish ways.

Upon entering the TLA, I was immediately taken with the stage. It was unbelievably vibrant, the backdrop was a multi-colored basket weave of ribbons criss-crossed over their signature “3 dots” logo.  Three giant chinese lanterns (in “3 dots” formation, yet again) hovered over a stage literally covered with flowers, wrapped around mic stands, pouring onto the stage and interspersed with large carnival sized white lion heads. The sets theme provided a fresh and joyous vibe that spread from band to audience within moments of their arrival on stage. From the opening of the first song, the crowd was completely engaged, bopping and rocking about ferociously, an almost mirror image of the physicality expressed by the band onstage. In an age where most concert-goers seem too hip or jaded to do much moving about, this crowd had obviously never read the memo. It was wickedly refreshing to see a group of people so genuinely happy to see these amazing artists in peak form. And were they ever. Oh yeah, and co-lead man Scott McMicken even brought his dog out onstage during the set. Gotta love a group who loves their dog.

As if Friday night wasn’t enough of a treat, we returned again on Saturday, this time amongst our friends and a complete and total downpour of rain to see if history could repeat itself. The set list from the first night had been so perfect, that both Me and The Bee agreed if they played it exactly the same from start to finish we wouldn’t be disappointed. They had played a great mix of songs from most of their albums, focusing most heavily on their newest release “Fate” and Saturday night played out much the same, save for a few swapped songs and a change of order. The band returned to the stage in their uniforms from the night before, white suits adorned with a multi-colored mesh to match the backdrop perfectly. These guys worked their theme to the max and it really payed off. In my eye, they have solidified their place as potential successors to a Sgt. Pepper styled band without being labeled as solely derivative.

As the set wrapped up, Scott borrowed the cell phone of a crowd member, ordering a pizza “better make that an extra-large” because there are a lot of hungry people here. Moments later, as the band continued to play, assistants bearing pizza boxes stepped out from behind the stage, presenting the treats to the audience. Cries of “PIIIIIIIIIIIIZZA?!” could be heard throughout the venue. Pizza boxes began to infiltrate the crowd all the while, the band played on as more and more boxes emerged from behind the scenes. Sitting in the bar, we figured we would be overlooked but no sooner than we called defeat, a piping hot slice was being thrust toward me and don’t you know it, I look in all directions, and EVERYONE has a slice! Dr. Dog bought their entire audience pizza. PI-ZZA!!! I wasn’t even hungry, but lord knows I ate that slice with relish. Best pizza EVER.

classy lady

This brings me back to the title of this post. As I said earlier, the album “Fate” has been one that Me and The Bee have found such a profound love for that we decided the song “Army of Ancients” would be our wedding song. Wedding talk has been on the forefront for almost a year now, though we are no closer to deciding what we’re actually going to do about it other than picking a date and sticking to it (just a little over a year now!) but strangely (or not so, depending how you look at it) Dr. Dog has always been a predetermined part of the function. I figured when the time came, I would DJ the event myself, or at the very least, prepare a mix of our favorite songs to play on the dance floor, with “Army of Ancients” as ours to share.

Now, I have a very vivid imagination and no sooner had our Dr. Dog weekend commenced than I had visions of the band playing our wedding. Yeah, and who do I think I am exactly? Still, a girl can dream and I told The Bee that my conviction was so strong that I was willing to forgo typical wedding fare, such as a dress and flowers (not really saying much since I’ve been pushing for a shotgun wedding from day one) to fund a Dr. Dog wedding extravaganza.  A friend suggested that we simply get married AT a Dr. Dog show, an idea which caused my ears to prick up as well. So, call me crazy, I really must be, but we LOVE this band. They put on the best live show I have ever SEEN 2 nights in a row and damn, I’ve seen a lot of shows, but what they did on that stage was truly magical, making a rainy weekend in the city one of the best of my life. Isn’t that what everyone wants for their wedding day?

Check out this footage from Friday night (10.23) of the Dog performing one of my favorites, The Ark.

You can view the rest of the set that we captured here.

What a week! We have just finished an amazing week with the team working so hard to give the Special youth of addis an amazing time. 3 schools have come together to bring smiles, laughter and, in the end as we said goodbye, lots of tears.

Today we have been to the Market, had tea with the ambassador and tommorow it’s off to an old volcano lake and big swimming pool for our final day. It’s been a very moving time as yet again a generation of Uk based young people have given of themselves to hang out with people living In the toughest situations. I have seen great hope in the people I have had the priviledge of working with. Love it with a big love!

Alec Ounsworth, a Philly native better known for his work with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, has been working on a few side projects in the last year or so. One of them being Flashy Python and the other his solo record, Mo Beauty. He will help launch the record tomorrow in New York City at a few CMJ Festival shows as well as play a shows in Philly on Saturday night. He’ll open for Dr. Dog at the TLA, playing tunes from all three of his musical projects. Earlier today, I had the opportunity to talk to about the recording process of Mo Beauty in New Orleans, his thoughts on the Philly music scene and what the future holds for CYHSY!.

Colin: So from what I understand with your new record, Mo Beauty, it was recorded in New Orleans. How did that come to be?

Alec: Well, I met Steve down there. Steve Berlin, who produced the record and he suggested to me that we make a record together in New Orleans. And I said, “OK”. (laughs) It’s pretty much as easy as that.

Colin: Did you play all the instruments on the record?

Alec: Oh, no, no. I played a little less on this record than I did on any other. George Porter, Jr played bass, Stan Moore played drums, Robert Walter played keyboards, and my friend Matt Sutton. There was a bunch of people actually. That was kind of the core group and there are a bunch of guests. Steve played saxophone. I played some synthesizer, sang, played acoustic guitar mainly for percussion and I wanted to be as far removed from this and not have to do as much on this as I could. Just cause I finished another record shortly before that where I did play most of the instruments.

Colin: Did recording in New Orleans influence your music at all? Cause I assume it’s different than Philadelphia..

Alec: Uh, kind of. To me, not so much. To me, New Orleans has similar ethical quality about New Orleans that was reminiscent of Philadelphia, to me. I mean I don’t think it directly influenced, at least the construction of the songs, which was done up here in Pennsylvania. I think that obviously the musicians who are from New Orleans. Sometimes some of the guys who played who are just stellar  are Mark Mullins, Greg Hicks, and Craig Klein, who are the three trombone players. I asked them to do on a couple songs something that was like typically New Orleans, I guess.  Actually, on one song. Some sort of Preservation Hall, King Oliver Creole Jazz Band type of thing. Generally, I didn’t give that sort of direction. It was more like, ‘You guys are great musicians and I’m not gonna say you are only New Orleans musicians because it always goes further than that.

Colin:Right, very true. For Saturday night, it’s listed as Dr. Dog and Flashy Python. I understand Flashy Python is your other side project. Are you going to be playing a solo set and then with Flashy Python or will it be like a mix?

Alec: No, no. Basically, the guys in Flashy Python, Flashy Python is going to kind of encompass everything. I mean Flashy Python’s gonna be songs we did on this New Orleans record, the songs from Flashy Python and Clap Your Hands(Say Yeah). I think when we start to go out it’s gonna be.. we’re going to do everything.  I mean we could play probably for like four hours but we won’t (laughs). We’ll probably lean on the Flashy Python album maybe a little bit but maybe not. I don’t know. It’ll depend on the night. On Saturday, seeing that we’re opening for Dr. Dog, it’ll probably be about half the New Orleans record and half Flashy Python.

Colin:Cool. Will it be your first time playing the solo stuff?

Alec: No, we played one kind of practice show at Johnny Brendas a little while back.

Colin: I always have a hard time getting in there. I’m only 20. I have to bargain with them to get in.

Alec: Oh, I see. Is the show on Saturday an all ages?

Colin: Yeah,  it’s at the TLA so I’ll have no problem.

Alec: Ok, cool. Yeah, it should be fun. Do you remember that the band The Teeth? They’re from Philadelphia.

Colin: I’ve heard of the name but I’m not very familiar with their music.

Alec: They broke up about a year ago, I think, and 3 of the 4 guys from The Teeth are playing. I mean The Teeth was great, that was a great band and these guys are excellent musicians. The other guy who is playing is on the Flashy Python record and the New Orleans record. He’s the guy who plays baritone guitar and pedal steel and that sort of thing. It should be cool. As always, Dr. Dog will put on a good show, I’m sure.

Colin: Last time I saw them, they played a free in Rittenhouse Square a few summers ago. That was a cool show.

Alec: Oh yeah, I missed that show unfortunately. They’re great. They just keep getting better live too. We’ll have our work cut out for us. We’re planning on pulling the rug out from under them.

(Both laugh)

Colin: When you’re writing songs, do you think like, ‘This will be for the New Orleans record and then this will be for Flashy Python and this..’

Alec: ‘…this will be for Clap Your Hands’ . I used to think that way. And now I don’t think I do anymore. I think it’s starting to all blur a little bit. I think the Flashy Python record could have been a Clap Your Hands record, the New Orleans record very well could have been the Flashy Python record, you know what I mean? I used to say, ‘I don’t want to do this with Clap Your Hands and I do want to do this with Clap Your Hands. But at this point, I don’t know. There are a lot of pretty versatile musicians that I am being introduced to and the songs are taking such a shape that I could.. Depending on the album, I can reshape a song in such a way that it makes sense in that context. So I have a feeling that a little bit down the line, I probably won’t separate it into these three categories, you know?

Colin: Yeah, definitely. What are your thoughts on the Philly music scene? Brooklyn has a lot of great bands coming up, do you think Philly will ever get recognition like them?

Alec: There’s a lot of great stuff in Philly. I don’t know much about the New York one, honestly. I know a lot more about Philadelphia and a lot of my friends who are on the Flashy Python record are kind of involved in that. A couple of the guys from Dr. Dog, my friend Quinn is in it who has a band that used to be called Nazareth but not anymore. A bunch of The Walkmen guys are down here now.

Colin: I saw them like two weeks ago. They were awesome.

Alec: They’re great. Matt (Barrick) plays on the Flashy Python record and Billy Dufala plays a little bit of sax on Flashy Python, he’s in Man Man. And Buffalo Stance, I don’t know if you know Jamey (Robinson’s) project Buffalo Stance, which is really cool. I could rattle off a long list but in Philly there’s a lot of interesting stuff happening down here. I think people might be coming around to understanding that now or maybe we’ll just remain forever a little bit undercover, which is fine with me (laughs).

Colin: I feel like we’re coming up a little bit. I’ve noticed as of late that music is starting to build so much. I’m really excited to see where it goes.

Alec: It’s a small enough music community that everybody kind of knows everybody else to a degree. I think everybody is starting to get a little more recognition than in the past, perhaps. It’s always been a pretty amazing community. With New York, I don’t even really know. I’ve never got into it because I never lived up there. Like Clap Your Hands is as much from Brooklyn as like… the solo record I just did, I might as well be from New Orleans, or something like that. You know what I mean?

Colin: (aughs) Yeah, good call.

Alec: It’s kind of confusing to me. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it just so happens a lot of cool stuff is shooting up in Philly.

Colin: Definitely. What are your plans for the rest of the year after you get done these few shows? Are taking the record out on the road?

Alec: Yeah, we’re going to be.. I mean we’ve been practicing a lot for live stuff and we’re going to be playing some scattered shows. Probably like Baltimore, DC, Philly, type of thing in November-December. Then we’re going to do a bit of a tour in late January through probably early March. I think I’m going to call it Flashy Python but I don’t really know yet. I might call it be my own name. I don’t really know. I’m trying to figure out which one would be the most efficient (laughs).

Colin: (laughs) I see. Anything new from Clap Your Hands in the near future?

Alec: Uh, not that I’m aware of. I mean some of the other guys are working on their own stuff and that’s all well and good.  You know, not that I know of, I haven’t really been keeping up too much on everybody.

Colin: You seem busy with your other endeavors…

Alec: Yeah, that’s the thing. I think the last time I practiced with Clap Your Hands we kind determined that, you know, I have two records coming out and I want to try and run around with that. Sort of start fresh and see where that takes me.

Ra Ra Riot soundcheck at the TLA in Philadelphia, PA 01/25/2009

I miss TLA video in Philadelphia probably everyday of my life here.

That said, this weekend was filled with some pretty good movies. Kirikou et la sorciére, Broken English, Red Dawn.
The music, animation, etc in Kirikou was very very nice.

Broken English, while a chick flick, was also a criticism of chick flicks: that idea that life is meaningless (especially, it seems, for American women) with out (romantic) love. I was wondering how tongue-in-cheek it was meant to be that she runs off with a totally romantic, dream boat French man.

Chick flicks confuse me in that way. Always about chasing after true love, in the process realizing your value independent of love, and then finding that love anyway. I guess this movie ended in “The Graduate” kind of way, were the future of the characters happiness isn’t garenteed, however I still “felt good” after it was over, waiting for my dashing European gentlemen to whisk me away on an existential es(ice-)capade.

Chick flicks, etc…what are your opinions?

p.s. The movie had almost nothing to do with language issues, really. Why was it called broken English?

Well I started on Tuesday 1st September in my new role as Chaplain of the Littlehampton Academy. This is my first entry to my blog as I keep snippets of thoughs and experances of the jouney we are on together. please see attached photo of the chapel space we have created wich has gone down well. Lots of excitment about Monday when the students turn up in new uniform etc.

this new job is a blank canvass and I cannot wait to start painting!!

blogg you later

Librarians reveal their ink!

The Texas Library Association has published an 18 month calendar as a fundraising effort for the TLA Library Disaster Relief Fund. The money in this fund goes to assist libraries affected by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region, as well as giving support to evacuees.

This calendar features librarians who volunteered to show off their tattoos for the benefit of this fundraiser. So if  you’re in the market for a new calendar, and want to support your Texas Libraries, why not get one of these? These tattooed librarians just might make your day!

It’s about time.  Mr. Vincent Frank, better known to the world as Frankmusik is finally headed to the States as part of the Perez Hilton package tour which will also include Ida Maria,  NY’s own Semi-Precious Weapons and one of my faves, Ladyhawke! Here are the dates! Yeah!

12/09/2009 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
13/09/2009 Theatre of The Living, Philadelphia, PA
14/09/2009 House of Blues, Boston, MA
16/09/2009 The Fillmore, New York, NY

Mat Kearney

When you record the type of smart, catchy songs Mat Kearney cut for his 2006 album Nothing Left to Lose, you end up spending a lot of time on the road. And after that album’s title track throttled up the charts, that’s exactly what Kearney did. Three years later, he returns with City of Black & White, an album informed by the traveling, performing and adventuring the Oregon-born, Nashville-based singer did while supporting his breakthrough album. An open-hearted album of self-discovery, City of Black & White is a chronicle of the people he met and missed during that journey. Musically, it’s an upping of the ante, laced with hooks and rhythms that are meant to sneak up on you quietly and quickly, en route to winning your love.

Watch a Video by Mat Kearney

As we were putting the finishing touches on our Tattooed Lady book, all kinds pop culture references to tattooed ladies started popping up!

First we found out that the popular TV series, Heroes is introducing a new character this fall- The Tattooed Lady! Then, in line with the fact that author Amelia Klem Osterud is a tattooed librarian herself, we were tickled to find out the Texas Library Association (TLA)had put out a Tattooed Ladies of TLA calendar for the TLA Library Disaster Relief Fund.

"18 months of well-read and well-illustrated women of the Texas library community"

To consolidate or acquire new competences implies both formal and informal learning. These are more efficient if facilitated by trainers able to construct knowledge in a collaborative manner… The Turin Learning Approach defines parameters to guide trainers in their role as facilitators.  In this video, trainers talk about their learning experience in becoming familiar with it: have a look at it and take a glance of the TLA!

Hi Oscar,

today is more of a little rant. Rather than a little story.

I’ve been meaning to write to you about the complexities of nappies / diapers, the confusing choices about them, and about what your dad, you and I are doing with respect to them. I’ll get to that. But for today, I’m going to keep it brief (you’re not sleeping well – just seems to be 15 minute cat-naps at the most, so my writing time is limited) and just complain about how hard it is to actually read about, research, get opinions on, and generally make a decision about nappies / diapers!

Why! Because of all the goddam three letter acronyms (TLAs) that are just peppered through discussions on cloth nappies / diapers. “OMG WTH is it with TLAs and MCNs????”

OMG * Oh my God
WTH * What the Hell
TLA * Three Letter Acronym
MCN * Modern Cloth Nappy
MCD * Modern Cloth Diaper

My background in IT and telecoms is actually paying off: notorious for TLAs and undecipherable jargon, the part of my brain that deals with such palaver is getting a right royal workout. However nappy / diaper research is worse than the TLAs in the telecoms industry – not only do you have to have TLAs for every bit and bob to do with a nappy / diaper, when you converse on forums and the like it seems you also need TLAs for each and every family member. I was going ok while I was pregnant – I seemed to be able to navigate the forums I looked at by some guesswork (which I occasionally got wrong, but the general idea was ok)…. To give the uninitiated an idea of what kind of crap TLAs are used, check out the acronyms listed on a baby forum here in Australia. A few examples:

• DH – Dear Husband
• DF – Dear Fiance
• DS – Dear Son
• DD – Dear Daughter

Getting the idea? Those in your family are Dear… Except for the following people:

• MIL – Mother in Law
• FIL – Father in Law
• SO – significant Other (apparently for if you’re just dating someone, obviously they haven’t quite made the “Dear” grade yet)

Mmmm.. I see a slight bias or bent to these TLAs already.

Anyway, those ones aren’t too hard to guess at, though why the hell anyone would want to continually refer to their partner as DH or whatever, it beats me. I can think of lots of others that could have been used instead given the content of what some of the people were writing about their partners: LAMF*** being one of them. Or perhaps just SGRPP****. Ok, I admit, now I’m just starting to make them up. And I’m getting sidetracked by a rant about the mundane nature of and painfully horrific posts that you find on lots of baby and mum and pregnancy sites (though some of it is great, its just the full spectrum of the population and their problems – better than Dr Phil any day – you can write back!).

So, on top of the already long list of acronyms needed to get through the posts on the mummy/mommy and baby general forums, the nappy / diaper forums take it to a whole new level! And the sites of the nappy / diaper makers seem to go there too – really using the acronyms all over the shop (so to speak) making it almost impossible for a NRAIM (nappy-related-acronym-illiterate-mum) like myself to even attempt to PURCHASE anything in the right size shape or colour. My advice to all nappy / diaper sites: KISS*****. Yeah, they teach that one in my MBA****** course.

Again for the uninitiated, you can read a list of the commonly used nappy-related (diaper-related) terms on an Australian nappy-centric forum (yes, that is if you can pull yourself off the floor and believe that there really is that much to discuss about nappies / diapers- if you see this forum, you’ll see that for some people, it really is endless, though I shouldn’t be surprised, the internet is full of little nooks and crannies with all sorts of people talking in minute detail about all sorts of topics)… Some more examples:

• MCN – Modern Cloth Nappy; progressing to
• AI1 – All-in-One
• AI2 – All-in-Two (is this a misnomer??)
• BV – Bamboo Velour (mmm! This sounds like something you’d find in a nightclub, could be fun)
• … the list goes on…

And perhaps my favourite from this bunch in the discussion:

• AF – “Aunt Flo”

WTF*******?? Even after reading the words behind this acronym I’m lost. Are you wondering like me why people are suddenly referring to Aunt Flo? Is it some kind of Australian-Queensland related thing where people have taken the term to refer to a stereotypical pumpkin-scone baking aunt based on the infamously corrupt Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen’s wife Flo – famous for her pumpkin scones? That was my first thought on reading the translation . But no, get further and you’ll find that it is in fact a euphemism for the menstrual period. Hence the “flow”. See – it really does go too far, an acronym for a euphemism that is pretty out-there in the first place. My suspicions that people just post on the forums using the acronyms without really knowing what they mean at all were confirmed on reading further into the thread:

“I also use AF all the time and often wondered what it meant. Thanks”

Remind me not to start posting on these forums about my nappies / diapers and using terms and abbreviations that I really don’t know what they mean. Otherwise I might end up saying something I regret.

IMHO I could just spend all day LMAPO about the things other SAHM/SAHDs have written on the fourms IYKWIM. Alas, my DS, you take up too much time munching on my BBs and IME it just takes too much time to work out all the ETLAs in order to decode WTF they are on about most of the time. YABA YABA YABA is all you get.

TTFN Mum ********

P.S. My new task is to memorise at least one of the general abbreviations every day.

*** Lazy Ass Mother Fucker

****Sexist, gender-role-pandering pansie

***** Keep it Simple Stupid

****** Masters of Business Administraion

******* What the Fuck?

******** In my honest opinion I could just spend all day laughing my ass off about the things other stay-at-home-mums / stay-at-home-dads have written on the forums if you know what I mean. Alas, my Dear Son, you take up too much time munching on my boobies and in my experience it just takes too much time to work out all the extended three letter acronyms. Yet another bloody acronynm, yet another bloody acronym, yet another bloody acronym (Translation: Ra Ra Ra or or Yada yada yada) is all you get!

Tata for now. Mum

Bagaimana sih cara promosi blog untuk jualan link di ask2link? Sebenarnya ini rada-rada susah, dan tergantung kalau kamu ingin dapat lebih dari 10 dolar perbulan sih turunkan saja Alexa rank sampai dibawah satu juta, terus Pagerank paling tidak harus 3, link di halaman utama jangan terlalu banyak bro, tulis postingan bermutu itu penting, Ask2link itu kalau untuk newbie (kayak saya) lebih mudah daripada Text-link-ads loh, tapi bayaran TLA kayaknya lebih gedhe daripada Ask2link.

Sebenarnya saya bukan ahli SEO, dan bahkan blog saya belum ada yang punya Alexa rank dibawah 700ribu, blog saya di blogspot dulu pernah mentok sampai 7xxribu hehe , itu saja sudah lumayan loh daripada fotogaul dot com yang cuman stuck di sejutaan, eh sekarang malah diatas 1.200.000 benar-benar sial deh gue, soalnya saya juga belum download Alexa toolbar untuk Firefox sih, ternyata toolbar juga sangat berpengaruh, dan ternyata kualitas hostingan juga berpengaruh sama Alexa rank.