puzumaki

Lately I am listening to a lot of popular music, but a lot of international music as well. Some of these artists have made it into the mainstream, but others… well, you may not have heard of them yet. Here are a few I have really enjoyed. (If anything, check out The Baseballs!)

Katzenjammer (Norway)

Blaring horns and catchy beat, A Bar in Amsterdam is a very energetic song. The animations are fun too. I ran into this while on Imeem, now just a sub site of Myspace.

Movits (Sweden)

Herr actually heard of this group first, I think while listening to NPR or something. I can’t recall exactly, but their Fel Del Av Garden is a great pseudo rap/big band/swing song, and their album title song Appelknyckarjazz is very entertaining as well.

The Baseballs (Germany)

I just found out about this group today. If you loved the sound of the 50s, look no farther! The Baseballs take modern lyrics and transform them into Elvis hip-swinging slicked-back grease-haired 50s rock. Very amusing if you are familiar with the popular songs they cover.

Emiliana Torrini (Iceland)

While I was flying back to the States for work, I heard this on their international music segment. Jungle Drum is cute and perky, although a tad weird… but hey, quirky is in, right?

Zee Avi (Malasia)

A ukelele is the main instrument with a fun but slower beat. I cannot recall how exactly I stumbled across Zee Avi, but it is good stuff nonetheless.

Little Boots (United Kingdom)

Found this artist on a 2010 upcoming artists to watch for list. The music itself is simplistic but really catchy, but as far as dance electronica music goes, that is par for the course. I have played Remedy several times, sometimes in a row, and it lifts the spirits a bit.

Xavier Naidoo (Germany)

I was in a hotel somewhere a few months ago when I saw this and really liked the message and beat. He has a great voice too. Plus, I liked how the video came together. I found out afterwards that he is a neighbor of one of my friends here. How cool, eh?

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

We spent five days in Switzerland around the New Year as a last minute get away to relieve stress. I have been incredibly stressed at work, without breaks and mountains of work to do as others took vacation or were on the road to meet a tight deadline. Regardless, I was past breaking point. Our original plan was to go to Iceland and stay at the spa, hang out in the Blue Lagoon, but airfare is horrendous. That canceled, we were going to stay home; then we decided a getaway was necessary.

30 December 2009

After picking up the Ford Fiesta, we ran the dogs over to the kennel (it was so sad!), then south we went. We stopped just inside the Swiss border at the town of Basel for lunch at the train station, which is when we found out how expensive it was to eat. The Swiss Franc is only a little stronger than the U.S. dollar, which is at least better than the euro.

We took a circuitous route farther into the countryside, tunneling through mountains, crisscrossing up them, and eventually driving up and along a narrow serpentine cliff-like road (with no guard rails!) before reaching our destination: the Emmantal dairy farm. Switzerland is known for its cheese and chocolate (and watches), and Emmantaler is one of the four main cheeses. It also happens to have an open floor plan for visitors to watch the cheese action live. It was worth seeing.

Afterward, we left for Zurich. We were upgraded to business room at the hotel, then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. I really like pumpkin risotto. A little after dinner, we had massages at the wellness center on the top floor, where the pool and exercise rooms are also located. All the rooms had a great view of the city, but I highly recommend NOT getting massages. They were okay, but the cost two or three times more than a normal spa. It was ridiculous; just go to Baden Baden.

31 December 2009

We spent most of New Years Eve in Lucerne. The city is gorgeous, with the Alps hemming it and a huge lake. There’s also a great shopping district we wandered through after checking out the infamous water bridge (it burned back in 1993 after standing for 500 years) and water tower. It felt great to be walking along the water front, and the birds were amusing to watch.

We got a quick bite at a pizza place (trying to stay in a budget with food is not easy), then headed around the lake to a small town with an aerial tram that met up with a rack railway train to take us up to the top of Rigi. The views on the way up were spectacular, but definitely not for the faint of heart (or heights). It was getting dark when we finally made it to the top, so we watched the sunset above the clouds and the city spring to lights (ha ha) down below. The moon was also much bigger from a peak in the Alps.

The only problem with our itinerary was the running around we did on the peak made me dizzy and lightheaded, so when we returned to Zurich, I had no energy to go out to the New Year celebrations going on downtown. I wish we could have, from what we heard it was quite a party along the lake with live music and fireworks. As it was, we watched fireworks go off in different cities around the world in the comfort of the hotel room. I know, sad, but lesson learned; do not run around the peaks of the Alps (at least if you want to do something later).

I haven’t said much about work, but I can guarantee that it isn’t from a lack of things to talk about! Quite overwhelming most of the time, but I am doing what I can. Just to sum up, here are the current “in-progress” projects:

• Web site redesign (about 30-35 people)
•    project management (lead)
•    primary content editor
•    developer and designer
•    usability test designer
•    IT head for acquiring necessary software
• Web catalog enhancements (just me)
•    improve current functionality (”My Account”, holds, search, efficiency…)
•    research software enhancements
• Intranet development (just me)
•    development
•    content editor
• federated search

Well, those are the big ones off the top of my head at least. Needless to say, I am fairly busy. Not sure 50 or 60 hour work weeks would help.

I am very excited to get some of the projects done and have that feeling of accomplishment. Most of my current projects I hope to have most of the work done in two or three months. Just need to keep on truckin’.

So, I went to check my work mail and saw FedTech and Computers in Libraries. On the cover of CiL is “The Secret to Patron-Centered Web Design.” At this a scoffed and said “like a librarian can tell me how to do Web design better than me.” Okay, not quite like that, but I thought I would take a look at it for giggles. Lo and behold, in big letters, is my former boss!! I was like “no way!” Yes way… it is an article all about the usability and design of the JoCoLibrary Web site!! Now I have to read it. I did not see my name mentioned *sigh* but my awesome colleague has a picture!

So, a front page feature and seven page article in CiL. Freakin’ awesome!! And right now on the Library’s home page is a picture I took too! Sweeeet… (feel free to leave guesses to what one it is )I just wish I could get the Web site here up and running, it’s just taking so long! Anyhow, congratulations to my fabulous colleagues at the Johnson County Library! I miss them!!