Reader remarks on Biltmore at Asheville: The "grounds" (100,000+ acres) were planned by Frederick Law Olmstead, the famous landscape architect (Central Park, NYC). Among other features a river was rerouted. The woodlands spawned the first forestry school in the US and most of the acreage became a national park.

Opposites
benison, malison*
benign, malign
benediction, malediction
benevolent, malevolent
* archaic

The word malapropos is an adjective or adverb meaning "inappropriate" or "inappropriately", derived from the French phrase mal à propos (literally "ill-suited"). The earliest English usage of the word cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1630. Malaprop used in the linguistic sense was first used by Lord Byron in 1814 according to the OED. The terms malapropism and the earlier variant malaprop come from Richard Brinsley Sheridan's 1775 play The Rivals, and in particular the character Mrs. Malaprop. Sheridan presumably named his character Mrs. Malaprop, who frequently misspoke (to great comic effect), in joking reference to the word malapropos. The alternative term "Dogberryism" comes from the 1598 Shakespearean play Much Ado About Nothing, in which the character Dogberry produces many malapropisms with humorous effect. See examples, including malapropisms in fiction and by real people at:
http://www.enotes.com/topic/Malapropism

In the last year, low gas prices have caused ethanol to lose its cost advantage, pushing down demand for the fuel. The U.S. ethanol industry also has been hurt by high corn prices and the credit crunch. Major producers such as South Dakota-based VeraSun Energy Corp. went bankrupt. But experts predict ethanol use will increase once the economic downturn ends and gas prices rise. U.S. automakers also have pledged to make half their vehicles flex-fuel-capable by 2012 if enough fueling stations sell E85. There are already more than eight million flex-fuel vehicles on the road. -- Dee-Ann Durbin, AP, Detroit. Correction: Keith Houdeshell of Arlington notes that actor Harry Morgan played a detective in a remake of television's "Dragnet," and not in the original series as erroneously reported last Monday. http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2010/Jul/JU/ar_JU_072610.asp?d=072610,2010,Jul,26&c=c_13

A boat made from thousands of plastic bottles has sailed into Sydney Harbour, completing a four-month voyage that began in San Francisco. The Plastiki left the US city of San Francisco in March, crossing the Pacific and then travelling via Western Samoa and New Caledonia before arriving in Australia. It sailed via the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a sea of waste about five times the size of the UK that sits just below the surface between California and Hawaii. The vessel is a catamaran, with the thousands of plastic bottles attached with organic glue to two pontoons. Other parts of the boat such as the sails and the mast are made from recycled materials. Mr de Rothschild said he and his crew had wanted to raise awareness of the damage caused to the ocean by the disposal of plastic waste. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10759623

Cottage cheese first made its début by accident, when heat turned curdled ordinary milk into soft, moist lumps that tasted good. Farmers in Europe during the middle ages made the cheese in their cottages. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_cottage_cheese_get_its_name
"Proper English Cottage Pie is a delicious, very traditional mince pie (beef) topped with mashed potato. Serve with garden peas." http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/proper-english-cottage-pie/Detail.aspx
Vegetarian Sheperd's Pie (video) http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Vegetarian-Shepherds-Pie-Video/Detail.aspx

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From: Susan Frank Subject: verbing a noun
The hostess at a Denny's informed us, "The waitress will be with you in a minute. She's beveraging the other table." A friend informed us that his boat developed a leak and they were "bucketing the boat".

Clay vessels have been used by humans to cook food for many thousands of years. Clay cooking pots have been found in every part of the world and some of the earliest dated by Archaeologists to be over 3000 years old have been found in China. It is believed that in these circular clay cooking vessels are the origins of the modern Kamado albeit the clay finally being superseded by ceramic materials. All over the globe this elementary cooking vessel has evolved in many different ways, the tandoor for example in India and in Japan, the mushikamado; a device designed to steam rice and used by Japanese families for ceremonial occasions. The mushikamado was a round clay pot with a removable domed clay lid and was typically found in Southern Japan. Innovations at this time included a damper and draft door for better heat control and it was found to be fuelled by charcoal rather than wood. The mushikamado first came to the attention of the Americans after the Second World War. The name "kamado" is, in fact, the Japanese word for “stove” or “cooking range." Modern Kamado style cookers are made from a variety of materials including high fire ceramics (Big Green Egg, Kamado Joe, California Kamado, Primo, Grill Dome,Dragon Fire King), refractory materials (Komodo Kamado), traditional terra cotta (Imperial Kamado) and a mix of Portland cement and crushed lava rock (Kamado). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamado