Winnie

Poor old gal...

Inclusive Holiday Greeting Card

Trying to tweak a greeting card concept:
All the people(s) of the world unite...
To celebrate (rejoice in?) the return of the light.

We did something like this years ago--will try to find the images. Obviously Demetrius is my go-to guy for graphics, but I'd appreciate any help with the wording.

UPDATE

Ages ago, our ancestors, cold and fearful for their very survival, watched the winter skies for signs of the sun's return.

Each winter, we are still reminded that even in dark times, hope is waiting to be reborn inside each of us.

And just as the flame of one candle ignites another, so does hope become stronger and more brilliant as it spreads from one heart to another...until a better world is not a distant hope but a reality we have the power to create together.

Inter-species territory dispute

Winnie: Uh, excuse me. This is MY crate. Also, maybe you're not aware of this, but around here, I'm what's known as the "alpha".

Maddie: Yes, but you're the alpha DOG. As a cat, I'm not actually under your jurisdiction. I looked it up.

Winnie: Oh. I didn't realize. Well, I'm too tired to argue anyway. I guess we can share.

Happy Discount Chocolate Day

Friendly reminder for folks who eat candy--especially chocolate don't forget to go out and buy discount chocolate:

 It may be hard to find that section in the store among all the Christmas stuff. But I suspect "Halloween" candy does not suddenly expire and become inedible on November 1...

Madonna or Madeline?

After calling this kitty Maddie, Madness, and Mad (right after her flea treatment), yesterday morning I was calling her and "Madeline" just kind of slipped out. So...

Thinking about changing my 1 year old cat's name to Madeline. (Bit of a refresher/background--I adopted her as an 11 week old kitten in January and she CAME with the name Madonna. The name always felt a tad awkward, but I didn't have any better ideas at the time.) Can still call her Maddie or whatever else springs from my lips at a given moment. LITERALLY no other human in the household cares, or even calls her by name. So, no help here, and I am REALLY undecided. Input please.

Addendum: For some reason I resisted calling her "Maddie" for a long time, and it still doesn't quite trip off the tongue. If Daughter had been a second son instead, I liked the name Matthew, but not Matt. Also, I did enjoy the Madeline books...

Operant Conditioning Lecture

Wow--this took an unbelievable number of attempts before I finally got it to work. Can you say "technical difficulties"?

Link to Rat Basketball Tutorial
Link to "How to Toilet Train Your Cat

Classical Conditioning Lecture (Take 1)

Although I am not currently teaching psychology in an official (paid) context, I did devote a sizable chunk of my adult life to both learning and teaching this subject. I am loathe to let all of that learning go to waste, and also would hate to see my skills and knowledge base in this area erode.

So, I decided to create some video presentations. Maybe they will end up being helpful as "supplementary resources" for psychology students and instructors. This first attempt did not turn out as "clean" and "polished" as I really would have liked, but just finishing the presentation and converting it into video format proved much more daunting than I ever imagined. Mainly because my laptop kept crashing without warning while the PowerPoint was being converted into a video. I'm sure this will become easier, and the process with go more smoothly with practice.

May it please the court...

So, I'm on a nursery rhyme/kiddie lit kick lately. I blame this phenomenon on the impending 18th birthday of my younger child.

One thing I notice about nursery rhymes is that many of them tend to be of counting-down genre similar to "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall"...Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, three little angels all dressed in white...  But shorter, for the shorter attention span of little children. And minus the alcohol. Still, looking at these songs today, I think that maybe teachers of preschool and kindergarten were desperate to find ways to kill time.

Anyway, about those angels "trying to get to heaven on the end of a kite". Why were angels forced to resort to such crude methods in an ultimately vain attempt to get into heaven? Had they been cast out of heaven? And if so, why?

There are serious theological questions here.

I have learned this week that in the version of "5 Little Monkeys" that many people learned, the physician Mama consulted never actually uttered the words "That's what you get for jumping on the bed!"

If you've never heard that version and think I'm making this up, all you have to do is enter that quote into Google.  Such a version exists. According to one source, the doctor says "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" after the first four monkeys have incurred traumatic head injuries, and only says "That's what you get for jumping on the bed!" after the final monkey has fallen.

Dramatic music sting.

However, when I went to kindergarten, it was "that's what you get" for the first four monkey casualties, and concluded with "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" only after the last one. Pretty much stating the obvious.

By the way, as it happens, when I was two years old, I sustained a head injury from jumping on the bed, falling off, and hitting my head on the wall. I needed stitches.  I guess what I am saying here is that I have personal reasons for thinking that the doctor who said "that's what you get..." was a jackass who should have lost his license.

But I come before you today to discuss the case of the Three Little Kittens. I find their mother's parenting strategies troubling. To wit:

Three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
“Oh, mother dear,
We greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled.”
“What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens!”

May it please the court...surely Mama Cat, aka "mother dear", as the responsible adult in the household, should have seen the flaw in her plan to require her children to wear mittens while eating pie. Especially if that pie was, say, blueberry. She is in no position to call them naughty, as she has clearly set them up to fail.

According to the nursery rhyme, the mother seems prone to mood swings and is unfamiliar with the concept of unconditional love. Couple that with her seemingly arbitrary rules regarding pie-eating etiquette, and it's hard to foresee a future for these kittens that does NOT involve intensive therapy.

Spot's Curse

Okay, I'll be honest. I uploaded pictures over a week ago for a post I planned to entitle "The Least of These". The tone was, in retrospect, shamefully self-congratulatory--focusing on the effort I was putting into providing as much comfort as possible to this rat dude in his last days. This rat, who, let's be honest, never liked me. Or any human. He did quite like his brother, Stripe, who passed away over two months ago. 

Initially, these two boys had lived in my daughter's room, and I didn't really have much access to them in their formative months. Once we brought the cage down into the living room--my guess is that they were about a year old at the time--I made persistent efforts to present myself to them as friend rather than foe. Or at least as "mostly harmless". Food bringer. I made significantly more progress on that front with Stripe, but Spot never stopped flinching when he saw me approach. Mind you, as soon as he spotted a morsel in my hand, he would eagerly grab it and scarf it down.

Spot is the one on the left.

Over the course of the past month, Spot has still flinched at my approach, but was happily accepting my increasingly creative offers of sustenance. In addition to putting his food on the cage floor so he wouldn't have to reach into the food dish, I started offering grape halves, bits of canned peach, dabs of yogurt---basically anything that would help get some additional liquid into him.

He was pathetic to look at, an the human residents of this household looked at him as little as possible. But he did still seem to be enjoying life to some extent, thanks in part to my efforts. A week or so ago, I noted that fresh cooked broccoli was apparently the most awesome stuff on earth. Anyway, I took a certain amount of pleasure in these little daily acts of kindness (mitzvas?) I was performing for what was objectively the least lovable creature I had ever intentionally lived with.

The end is near for Spot. We've been saying/thinking that for weeks now, but yesterday he started refusing food and drink. I suspect he is unconscious most of the time. Anyway, we keep checking on him. Yep, still breathing. Later on...still breathing. Seriously, boy, do you have something to prove? 

Please indulge me as I turn to a bit of dark humor here. This is not fun, so sometimes you've just got to try to find a way to laugh at a predicament, you know?

A while ago, I jokingly speculated

Spot the rat genuinely seems to be slowing down now. He's over 2 1/2 years old, so he's definitely led a long life for his species. I was starting to wonder if he'd made the rookie mistake of asking the gods for eternal life without clarifying that he wanted that to come with a side order of eternal youth and heath.

I've revised my fanciful hypothesis since then. I now propose that Spot actually angered one of the Greek gods. My money is on Hera. Hear me out. You know how Zeus had a reputation for not being able to "keep it in his pants" (robe?) And also, when looking for some action among the mortals, I seem to recall that he didn't strictly just go for the females. 

So, here's how I think it went down. Spot (Spotocles?) was caught by Hera in flagrante delicto with Zeus. Spotocles' punishment was to be turned into a lowly rat, and, just for spite, Hera threw in the part about living (practically) forever, but without the eternal youth and health that would make such a fate more bearable.

Zeus' punishment, in my estimation, was remaining married to Hera. Forever.

Fred Rogers: Jedi

(Image via Huffington Post)

I get a lot of songs stuck in my head. This is one of the better ones...

Sometimes people are good 

And they do just what they should. 

But the very same people who are good sometimes

Are the very same people who are bad sometimes.

 It's funny, but it's true. It's the same, isn't it for me...  

Isn't it the same for you? 

 Wherever Fred Rogers is right now (hopefully someplace cool), I hope he doesn't take offense...but that man was a frickin' JEDI!

New shoes, yo!

I thought of adding "motherf**kers" or "b*tches" in the post title, but that might be just a bit TOO out of character for me. Still, I freaking HATE shopping for anything, so this is kind of out of character in the first place. 

Next outing, I need to find some clothes. Give me strength...

Fizzix not so hard?

The following is a Facebook comment that got to long to be just a Facebook comment (says me)...

I didn't actually take physics. I went to an all girls' Catholic high school, and went as far as chemistry. Physics had this intimidating "aura" about it--you had to go to the "brother school" next door, where you were taught by an actual Brother somebody-or-other, and he addressed all students as Mr. and Miss. Now, I don't want to make a big deal of being "intimidated" out of taking this class--I had a full enough schedule of honors and AP classes without it. The reason I bring it up is this--years later, I found myself scoring proficiency tests in a variety of subjects, including science. At some point I was a scoring team leader on a test that included physics items--this was for, I don't know, maybe 6th grade. But I'd never heard of "Newtons" before as a unit of measurement. (Just the commercials, telling me that Fig Newtons are not cookies, but fruit and cake. But I digress.)

Anyway, talking with co-workers, I learned that it is popular now to teach physics in elementary school, because it lends itself to so many great "hands-on" experiments. Isn't this kind of amazing--based on the educational philosophy of the decade or so you were going to school, a subject can have a completely different, um, mojo? Image?

And to really publicly confirm my status as a middle-aged person, I remember checking out high schools (going to a parochial school, there were three to choose from, as opposed to one option for public school--another thing that is very different today). My dad consistently asked of the people giving the tours, "Do you offer computer classes?" I recall one of the answers being something to the effect of, "Yes, but only for the really advanced students who have already taken all of the other math courses." One would assume that included the scary demon known as calculus. But really, doesn't that exchange, both the question and the answer, sound totally bizarre today, when children grow up with computers as part of the landscape?

Dogs in the yard

Now that Demetrius has raised the height of the fence all the way around the back yard, both dogs can be off leash in the yard again. I still feel like I need to supervise them, until I know for sure whether Perkins is a more ambitious jumper than we expected.

Maddie and Perkins

Maddie. Been trying it out for a couple days. Don't know if it's going to take. But Madonna seems unwieldy--it's the name she came with and I frankly didn't have any better ideas. Mostly we call her "the kitten", but now that her size is beginning to rival Stevie's, that is starting to seem less like a workable solution for the long term...

One point in favor of the name is that the girl does seem to have a touch of the madness. Case in point, now that Perkins has made it fairly clear that he has no plans to eat her, she's gotten downright bold. I'm still feeling tentative about the degree to which I can trust a dog with a strong prey drive to be gentle with a small animal. But Maddie has decided it's perfectly okay to bat at his tail as if it were a toy. She is, at least, smart enough to wait until I've clipped a leash to Perkins' collar before pulling this move. Still it gets me thinking "What exactly is the difference between doing something "bold" and doing something "stupid". I guess the answer to that question, at least in part, is, do you live to tell the tale?

\

Really wish I could have caught a picture of these two that looked a little less like Perkins was tasting Madonna (okay, I will most likely go back and forth with the names). But the interactions tend to be brief, and the other two pics I got were much blurrier. So you'll have to take my word for it that there have been downright sweet moments in which Perkins licks the cat on the nose, or she affectionately rubs the top of her head against his face. I am still careful not to leave them unsupervised in a room together, but it does appear that these two are sorta kinda working out something like a friendship.

Perkins workin' the bling

You may recall that a few days ago, Perkins' collar broke loose, and Perkins took the opportunity to go on a merry romp through the neighborhood. The experience was NOT so merry for me, who still had geriatric Winnie in tow, and was dealing with a twisted ankle. But there was no way I could go back home for reinforcements, or I would have lost sight of where Perkins had gone off to.

Anyway, Demetrius has come up with a solution to the problem, which is to use a second chain (originally used as a choke chain) to attach Perkins' prong collar to his harness. This way, if the prong collar becomes unlatched again, at least SOMETHING is still attached to Perkins. Now my boy is sporting quite a bit of metal (the prong collar is somewhat hidden in his fur, so you can't see it all that well.

But it's making me think that I should go all out and get some big honkin' medallions to hang from his collar while we're at it.

Stevie and Madonna chillin'

Kind of a bummer it's hard to get good still shots. I know I've posted pictures of Stevie and Madonna together in the same space, but this is the first time I've seen them together in this chair. In the living room, rather than hiding in the basement from the dogs. Most of the picture I attempted to take were a bit blurry due to the fact that Stevie was busy grooming the heck out of Madonna's head.

Beware Renee under delusions of cleverness

Here's the scoop. I twisted my ankle--YES, again, a couple days ago. Walking down to the basement and missed the final step. Thought I was actually on the mend fairly quickly, but guess I overdid it with a few little errands over the past couple days. Son REALLY has zero tolerance for the dogs, and even though Perkins is being AWESOME with respect to showing restraint around the cats, it still seems to make sense to crate Perkins when I'm going go be away from the house and can't supervise (or witness the circumstances as they REALLY unfolded). So Perkins was in his crate at I went to church and ran the odd errand. 

A while back, my mom gifted me with a prong-type collar for Perkins. One does not need to exert a lot of force to make once's presence known. Winnie doesn't need a whole lot in terms of control, but she DOES get wicked jealous if Perkins goes out on leash an she doesn't. So, the clever bit was that, given the extra influence of the prong collar, and Winnie's advancing years, I probably COULD manage to take both dogs out for a brief "pee walk" at the same time. Worked just fine the first few times I tried it, and I was, I think, justifiably pleased with myself. 

Sadly, the prong collar came apart today and fell to the ground, Perkins escaped, and I had to go get him, with Winnie in tow.

He's home safely, but I don't feel so good. Going to rest for a bit. And, Perkins is probably not grounded FOREVER, given that he at least DID is on command once I finally had him more or less cornered in a yard.

I has a house

This is Winnie's crate. Well, was. She doesn't care to sleep in it any more. So recently, Madonna has claimed it. She finds it nice and cozy.

Spot the geriatric rat

Dango (his awesomeness) survived to about 2 years, 9 months. Once he was 2 and still going strong, I felt sorry for him--he seemed lonely and bored and had no one to groom him or curl up with. So we got Spot and Stripe. Actually, Daughter named them Elemenope (sp?) and Doctor Shemp. Once Dango shuffled off this mortal coil, and Daughter really had no interest in these two (who, in all fairness, I was the one who insisted that we get them, because I had such a soft spot in my heart for Dango. 

Anyway, there's no way on earth I was going to manage to remember those names and use them on a regular basis, so I renamed them Spot and Stripe, after the markings on their foreheads. Stripe, the one with whom I had a MODICUM of success in socializing, died a month ago. Spot is still with us.

As I noted on Facebook, back on July 6...

Spot the rat genuinely seems to be slowing down now. He's over 2 1/2 years old, so he's definitely led a long life for his species. I was starting to wonder if he'd made the rookie mistake of asking the gods for eternal life without clarifying that he wanted that to come with a side order of eternal youth and heath.

Spot today.

I keep trying to give him minimally invasive sponge-baths, what with his living in his own filth. In my mind, it seems the kind thing to do. Spot would seem to disagree.

Doggie scuffle time

Madonna less than graceful

Taken with my Blackberry device. Stinkin' iPhone 3 does not shoot video...

Consumer Reports on Abilify Ad

I had read about some side effects associated with this drug--which, brace yourself, medical community, THIS potential consumer already KNEW was classified as an antipsychotic drug. But today I thought I'd take a look at some of the videos and found this one by Consumer Reports AdWatch. Thought it was worth sharing. 

Art Therapy

Wasn't quite sure what to do with the watercolors and paintbrushes, given the options. So I picked the drawing of the Mona Lisa and decided she should have a more punk look. And, a bit more color (like she'd been out in the sun, ever.

Madonna is getting big!

Madonna still ACTS like a kitten, but I don't currently have a working video camera. So I took a picture to show how big she is getting. She is still playful and an absolute delight. And frankly, it's an absolute miracle that I was able to get her to sit still--and pose SO nicely--so that I could take this picture of her yesterday.

Gentlest alarm clock EVER

Perkins has been an absolute doll baby this weekend!

OMG--popcorn!

To understand how excited I was to discover this when I opened the microwave at the hotel suite my Mom booked for me the other night, you need to know the scene I was met with the last time I stayed at a hotel away from home. It was in Virginia Beach, which sounds much more lovely than it actually was. The whole (beachfront hotel) room seemed to be permeated with a "stank". The first time I opened the microwave, I was so horrified at the sight and smell, that I swore I would never attempt to cook any food in it, ever. 

So, imagine my surprise when I opened THIS microwave and was greeted with this scene.

Win!!

Madonna looking for breakfast

Okay, I've missed Madonna something awful. She's been staying in Chicago with my brother, Paul since around the time I got back from the hospital. Hoping to reintroduce her to Perkins while keeping his prey drive in check. He is a good boy, but there are some "triggers" that he can't seem to resist. Like anything darting past him. Or humans with wheels on their feet. That's just WRONG. It's an abomination before Dog.

Now tell me something I didn't know...

Trying to make sure Perkins is up to date on his shots. Looked up the vet I've taken him to, and the reviews are right on the money. Dr. J.E. Trego is a wonderful, caring vet, and very affordable if you are taking your pet in for routine vaccines and annual exams--keeping rabies tags up to date and that sort of thing.

But nothing I've looked at so far has indicated what hours he is open--for example, is he open at ALL on the weekend. Here's a typical review:

Very good service! Dr.Trego is very gentle and informative. The price for service is unbeatable. I have reccomended him to many friends. Impossible sometimes to get a hold of!

Tell me about it! But he IS a great vet and a nice person, and doesn't try to "sell you up"--for example, he didn't try to talk me into having a geriatric golden retriever mix sedated (potentially risky at any age, in my opinion) just so that she could have her teeth cleaned. 

Update: Finally found a page that listed his hours. Not open on Saturday or Sunday. Kind of a bummer, but at least I can take that item off my to-do list for the day! 

I honestly think that in this day and age, every business should have at least a basic web page. But I might be biased--Demetrius and I design web pages (when we can get the business and the person or organization doesn't need too many "bells and whistles".)

Code Monkey Save World

I think THIS could be full of win!

 More here and here.

Madonna being a kitten

Hopefully this link works.

Facebook promised me that it would, but Facebook has lied to me before...

Some thoughts from my time in the hospital

Granted, it's no Letter from a Birmingham Jail, but a few people thought this was worth sharing...

April 30, 2013

My name is Renee L and I am currently in the hospital. I hope to be out as soon as possible, and am doing my level best to play the role of a "good, compliant patient" to the hilt.

But, know this--and I say the following without a trace of hubris or "primadonna" attitude...

I really AM smarter than the average patient.  But, you know what? So is EVERYONE I have met here. NO ONE is able to be their best, most competent self under these conditions.  But EVERYONE is more than a label or a diagnosis. Everyone has some God-given gifts/talents/abilities that they are ACHING to share with the world. 

We are ALL better than our limits, our illnesses, our disabilities or (in my case, especially) our innate "klutziness".

And, given half a chance, and a little help, we are MORE than willing to prove this to the rest of the world.

Given the nature of the human body--it DOES wear out eventually, no matter how much we try to deny this reality, or stave off the inevitable. But, even when we reach that point, we still have SOMETHING to give, as long as you let us. You might need to be still, and look and listen carefully in order to discern just what that something is. But I promise you, it's always there, right up until we take our last breath.

And maybe even after that. (I'm looking at you, Grandma Z.)
-------------------
Someone I met in the hospital read this, loved it, and told me I should write a book. According to "official sources", she was a "crazy person", or "mentally ill" depending on how nice you want to be about it. 

But I still might write that book one day...

My happy list

Okay, how about a happy list. I currently am fond of:

1. Demetrius, who is out putting gas in the car so that I can use it tomorrow morning. I still need to get new tags for the dogs (Winnie and Perkins). I'd hate it if the cops pulled them over for being a dog without proper documentation.

2. Perkins and Winnie (dogs). Winnie is 13, which is pretty high up there in golden retriever years. So, if she wants a ride in the "Adventure Box", you can bet I'm going to do my best to oblige.

Actually, the dogs are currently asking for trouble, as they are chasing each other around out tiny living room, and I have a headache. 
 
3. Stevie (cat), who has emerged from hiding just recently, and I got to pet him and brush him a bit.

4. Madonna (kitten). Dang, I miss her!

5. WATER AEROBICS. Gonna go do some tomorrow morning. Hope I can find my waterproof mp3 player before then.

My sh*t list (at the moment)

This is my idea of therapeutic--inanimate objects that p*ss me off are going on my List. No actual humans are going on the list. I just won't bother with people who appear to have written me off. Life is just too short for that.

1. JavaScript updates: I am in the middle of doing actual WORK, when JS nags me to update. I obediently follow through, only to be told, "Hey, your JavaScript is up to date." Thanks for nothing, JavaScript. I have actual work to do. You know--the kind that pays MONEY.

2. My laptop. It keeps disconnecting from the network (at HOME) for no apparent reason. I would give up on it, and just use my Son's computer, but there is still stuff I *need* on that laptop. That said, I *do* have to do some minimal training for an online scoring project (high school writing, Arizona). Training completion expected by 12:59 Central Time, on May 5. It's PAID work, so, you know, I can't let this be "the one that got away".

3. Blogger, which is currently refusing to let me save my posts, or do much of anything with them. Hopefully they don't disappear completely before I get this figured out... 

4. Our cockatoo, Zoe, who needs a frikkin' MUTE BUTTON! 

In which I sheepishly admit...

(...no, not really sheepishly) to being a "person of faith". Because, I am also rather liberal politically. And I have a Master's Degree. ALMOST a doctorate. But I've heard that "almost" only counts in horse shoes--or something like that. If it weren't for that pesky dissertation, I would have a Ph.D.

But, if you are in any way religious, that makes you "superstitious", right? Yes, I'm aware that in the United States, atheists (especially a vocal ones)  are on the receiving end of a great deal of prejudice. Especially if, for example, you aspire to any political office. Because there are some knuckleheads out there who believe that being an atheist automatically means that you lack any sort of moral center.

In my mind, that is bollocks. (Been watching a lot of British TV lately.) And I think that attitude is very wrong. But in the circles in which I travel, being a believer of any kind automatically means that you are not very bright. Or that you are looking for "easy answers". That perception, in my mind, is also bollocks.

The reason I feel compelled to bring this up at all is because Pope Benedict XVI resigned, necessitating the conclave to select a new pope. And it seems, at least among many of my Facebook friends, to mean "this is a good time to start piling on the Catholic church--again." Note: I no longer consider myself Catholic, but I was raised in that faith, and I bear no ill will toward Catholicism. Like any organization comprised of human beings, the Church is imperfect. But there are plenty of good (and intelligent, and thoughtful) Catholics.

Easter is now approaching, and, as many in my family attest, Easter is irrevocably connected in many of our minds with Grandma (my Mom's mom). To explain why this is the case would take much more time than I can afford at the moment.  She's the one on the far right.

I know the following statement does not pass muster as a "rational" argument, but these are nonetheless among the truest words I've ever spoken. Any religion that was good enough for this beautiful human being, by definition, can't be all bad.

One year ago today...

My friend Brady left for doggie heaven. I hope that human heaven is within walking distance...

Not-so-tempting red apple

Evil queen is getting lazy. This was at the bottom of our driveway. And it doesn't even look all *that* delicious.

Douglas Adams' daughter Polly

I just learned via today's Google Doodle that today would have been Douglas Adams' 61st birthday.

Thinking about Douglas and his untimely death made me well up just a bit. But not as much as I teared up at the sight of the video he made of his 6 year old daughter, Polly, who is now 18.

Quick kitty video

Madonna doesn't seem to sit still long enough to be photographed--at least when using the absurdly slow camera on my phone. So here's a quick video:

Musicians Sir Mix-A-Lot and John Roderick talk new media, JoCo, and Glee on NPR in Seattle

**************************

Important update --to buy Jonathan Coulton's version

iTunes: Baby Got Back (In the Style of Glee)
GooglePlay: Baby Got Back (In the Style of Glee)
AmazonMP3: Baby Got Back (In the Style of Glee)

*********************************

Here's a link to the NPR Seattle radio show that addressed the recently unfolding story about Fox TV's program Glee and its attribution-free use (aka plagiarism) of Jonathan Coulton's cover of Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot. Don't get me started on how much time I sank into trying to find a way to listen to the specific part of the show that I wanted to access, such that I could properly transcribe it. Starting at about 48 minutes in. (Hat tip to John Hodgman for making me aware of this interview.

Sir Mix-A-Lot:...but I mean that when you actually interact with your fans and understand what they want and give it to them, that's an art in itself. 

KUOW: Do you both feel that it's basically up to you? Because you have so many platforms by which you can reach an audience?

John Roderick: Well, yeah, but as Mix says, you have to have a social media--you have to have a savvy and a strategy, man, not to turn this back around to Mix's, but this situation that's happening with Glee right now, where they covered Mick's tune that was done by--they did a version of a cover that had been done by another artist, Jonathan Coulton, a friend of mine. And Glee kind of was, uh, they made the arrangement with Mix but they didn't--they copied Jonathan's version. And they thought that Jonathan was just going to roll over and it would disappear. But Jonathan is a guy with an incredible social media dexterity and he--his version is now in the top 100 in the iTunes charts, and the Glee version is somewhere down in the low 200s.

KUOW: What is happening? This is again about ownership and--well I guess it's about ownership.and who controls the product. Who controls the art?

John Roderick:Well, it's about two things. I mean, the song is by Mix-a-Lot, he controls--he has the ownership of the tune in that sense, but Glee made an arrangement with him that was very old media, right? It was like contracts between two big companies. Jonathan is an internet artist, and a Facebook and Twitter artist, and his rendition of it, people--it's different music. But Jonathan was able to marshal his social media people in a way that I don't think Fox anticipated.

KUOW: So how you do you--I know there's legal issues here--how do you look at this larger question that you started by looking at the power of Macklemore and their ability to speak to many people?"

Sir Mix-A-Lot: Well, you know, in watching this--first of all let me say the reason I can't comment on certain aspects of it is that my managers asked me not to, because we kind of have deals with both the Glee side and Jonathan's side. But something--I don't know what it is with some of these larger companies, but do NOT underestimate a cat like Jonathan with a million followers. He will wax that ass! (Laughter.) I mean, really, you can't underestimate that kind of power, and the best thing to do is to get them on your side. And you know, the industry as we knew it is over. I mean, these kids are not intimidated by any large corporation. Those days are gone.

Update: Check out this article at The Mary Sue, and then please tell Stephen Colbert that the Fox execs in question would make great Alpha Dogs of the Week.