This week's Cool Beans

Cool beans that, according to this Detroit Free Press story, "Southwest Solutions is working with the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit to create 32 affordable units in the abandoned, 80-year-old apartment building -- a cool city effort that really is cool. The project is certain to attract the so-called millennial generation of under-30s who are critical to any city's economic growth."

Cool beans abound at the Turner Prize exhibit. Here are some good stories about it.

A Goth Raggedy Ann and Andy: goth beans!

Cool beans that Liberal finance critic John McCallum referred to Stephen Harper as "the dark Lord Voldemort, sitting on his throne in the PMO" and that Jim Flaherty responded "as the member opposite knows, I am, at best, a mere elf." It is at times that this that I am fiercly proud to be Canadian.

Cool beans that there's going to be a "dark" new TV comedy in Australia called The Librarians. Says one of the co-stars: "You mention a library and everyone has a giggle," Butler says. "Everyone remembers a time when they had a reason for going there. There's something intrinsically funny about them." Hmm. Yes. Watch a promo clip here.

Cool bean that there are people who troll the web and compile lists like this. "Mashable has put together hundreds of lists—useful lists of links, carefully chosen to make you significantly more productive; so many resources, they’re hard to sort through (unless you’ve been through library school). Marketing guru Seth Godin lists them here." There are some very cool tools and resources in here. It's worth checking out.

Cool beans that profs like Michael Wesch are doing creative, visionary and engaging work with their students. Make sure to watch the video. This one's pretty interesting too.

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This just in: "an extraordinary act of truffle-squishing"

Visitors to Heidi's Cafe will be dismayed to learn that the man known as the "Willy Wonka" of Britain's chocolatiers has resigned after engaging in an "act of truffle-squishing" in a rival store. According to a story from the Telegraph,
Barry Colenso, the master chocolatier at Thorntons, was "watched by baffled staff as he roamed the Hotel Chocolat store in Nottingham, handling various truffles. When they inspected his handiwork after he left, it was discovered that he had mutilated £63.50's worth of chocolates." A statement issued from Hotel Chocolat declares: "This was an extraordinary act of truffle-squishing. We can only guess at what provoked it." Indeed.

Cool beans from Heidi's Cafe

Inspired by Paul who was inspired by his colleague to pull together some of the things he'd been meaning to blog on for the last week or so., I offer you some cool beans that have been in the cafe's in-box for the past few weeks.


--Cool beans that you can make your own ransom note using random letters from Flickr. Perhaps this is something we could use at our bibliotheque.



--Cool beans that there is a band like Zoltan Kodaly School For Girls who do versions of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" and the Kaiser Chief's "I Predict a Riot" on recorders.

--Cool beans that there are sites like this one: "Listen: Making Sense of Sound." It allows us to think about sound in a range of interesting ways. Do check it out.

-- Cool Beans that, inspired by the above site, YouTube lets me watch Spinal Tap's's Listen To the Flower People over and over.


--Cool beans that there are amazing books like Mauve
and An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene's Journey from Prejudice to Privilege.

--Cool beans that there are amazing tools like Google News and Google News Archives. Ever wonder what was happening a hundred years ago? Google News Archives offers a quick and free overview.

--Cool beans that my friend has an 8 year old who acts out various scenes from the BBC version of Brideshead Revisited.

--Cool beans that the cosmic powers that be invented snuggly cats and kittens like Lily and Gracie and that there are places like this one and this one where you can either adopt one of your very own or contribute to their well-being.

--Cool beans that there are people in this world who make and post things like the Gnarls Barkley Crazy Theremin Jam, crocheted Harry Potter characters, and stylish sweaters for bugs.

-- Cool beans that, in case you were thinking about becoming a pirate, 826 Valencia has a pirate supply shop (of which David Byrne says 'Definitely one of the top five pirate stores I've been to recently') and a Gallery of Signs including signs that would befit any workplace (especially those of the biblio persuasion) such as "Goals for the Voyage," "Have you Got Scurvey" "Guidelines for New Shipmates" ("Bring your own citrus) and "Uses for Lard' (Lard fights, salad dressing ['seasonal'], gift wrap).

--Cool beans too that you can also watch lots of funny videos of "Karl the Puffer Fish." Some cafe patrons might find Karl the Puffer Fish more amusing than others.

--Cool beans that some Chicago Cubs fans remind us that "every team can have a bad century."

--Cool beans that there are cupcakes like these.

--Cool beans that Shoppers Drug Mart gave me 10x the usual Optimum points to purchase a Terry's Chocolate Orange.





--Cool beans that there are great sites like iLike which are "happy to be part of the industry of human happiness." Cool beans too that I am blessed with lovely friends like the one who told me about this site.