Need Laser Disc?

Yeah, we got that...Or, at least we got access to that.

That's right.  Yet ANOTHER perk of being part of the second largest library in the country (second only to those Hah-vud Bunnies): We have access to glorious laser discs.

(And, it's the CRITERION COLLECTION, y'all!!!!)

A student group is doing a project on 2001: A Space Odyssey.  They are reading the book by Arthur C. Clarke, and they want to view Kubrick's movie as well.  The student in charge of getting the movie accidentally requested the LASER DISC instead of the DVD.  Well, that meant I got to do a little joyous happy dance this morning when I got in.

I instantly had flashbacks to watching films on laser disc at my friend's house when I was in high school...and having to wait while her dad flipped the disc over to the other side.  Her dad is somewhat of an amateur movie nut, and he also belonged to the Columbia VHS/Record/CD club.  She would always have the latest and greatest movies at her house before anyone else.  (And, her CD collection was outta this world thanks to those Buy 7, Get One for a Penny deals). 

Anyway...I digress.  The point is: Libraries are awesome.  We are curators of artifacts both timely and historical.  I know not many people use VHS or laser disc anymore, but it's cool to think if one really  needs either of these items they can turn to their library for help in gaining access to them.  This is why I fear libraries becoming totally virtual.  Until it can be proven everyone is out of their VCR's or laser disc players or cassette players, maybe, juuuuuuuuuuust maybe, libraries should still be responsible for helping out the members of their community who still want access to these seemingly outdated technologies.  

Archival Wonder

As I've mentioned before, I am the grad assistant in the largest high school library in the country.  (Yeah, yeah, I know: awesome sauce for me, and I should stop going on about it!)  Because we are a smaller part of a very large university library, archival work is done here.  Specifically, archival work of Uni objects: lots of newpaper clippings, old photos, items written/produced by Uni alums, etc.  One item that was found a couple of weeks ago is dreamy...super...and tasty.  It's an old cookbook.

Not just ANY old cookbook.  One of THESE old cookbooks:

Yup, that's right, folks.  One of the old style community cookbooks.  I love them.  I love, love, LOVE them.  They tell a story of a time through food.  And the story this old Uni cookbook has is interesting, layered, and well, I'll just say it again: TASTY.

I think the thing I'm most intrigued by is the amount of "ethnic" recipes in the book.  This is testament to the fact that even in the 1960s, when appreciating other cultures was still new to some in this country, Uni was a safe place, an inviting place, for celebrating different heritages and sharing them with others.  In this instance through a school-wide cookbook.

 (Did anyone even know what tofu and lychees were in 1968?)

I think my two favorite recipes have to be "Percolated Coffee" and "Hobo Chocolate."

I also love the descriptions that include "nutritious" and "filling."  These usually pertain to items with a lot of canned goods, which are full of sodium, and using some good ole fashioned ground beef.  Oh, 1968.  I love ya!

One final point: You bet your sweet bippy I'm gonna try some of these out!  Maybe I'll start with this one for cheesecake: