Wednesday, February 20, 2013


Sometimes called the "Master of Menace," actor Vincent Price was born on May 27, 1911, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.  His father served as the president of a candy company, and he had a cultured upbringing.  Price was educated in private schools, and toured Europe at the age of 16. At Yale University, Price studied art history and English. He then traveled to England to pursue the fine arts at University of London.  In 1935, Price landed his first major stage role, playing Prince Albert in a London production of Victoria Regina.  The play moved to Broadway, with Helen Hayes as Price's co-star, and it became a big hit.  Before long, Price made his way to the silver screen.  Price enjoyed success in many arenas outside of cinema; he made numerous television appearances, ranging from The Brady Bunch to the TV series Batman.  In the 1980s, he hosted the PBS series Mystery.  He also added an ominous air to the Michael Jackson's 1983 "Thriller" video, by delivering an opening monologue.  Price also worked with rocker Alice Cooper. 

The Associated Press has been breaking news since it was created in 1846.  That year, five New York City newspapers got together to fund a pony express route through Alabama in order to bring news of the Mexican War north more quickly than the U.S. Post Office could deliver it.  In the decades since, AP has been first to tell the world of many of history’s most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.  When it was founded, words were the only medium of communication.  The first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale, AP delivered news by pigeon, pony express, railroad, steamship, telegraph and teletype in the early years.  In 1935, AP began sending photographs by wire.  A radio network was formed in 1973, and an international video division was added in 1994.  In 2005, a digital database was created to hold all AP content, which has allowed the agency to deliver news instantly and in every format to the ever expanding online world.  Often called the “Marine Corps of journalism”—always first in and last out—AP reports history in urgent installments, always on deadline.  AP staff in 300 locations in more than 100 countries deliver breaking news that is seen or read by half the world’s population on any given day.  It remains a not-for-profit cooperative, owned by 1,500 U.S. newspapers, which are both its customers and its members.  http://www.ap.org/company/history/ap-history

The playing field for North American football is marked with solid, parallel lines that form a grid.  These lines appear every 5 yards (about 4.6 m) for the entire length of the field, which is 100 yards (91.44 m) in American football and 110 yards (about 100.6 m) in Canadian football.  Sidelines mark the edges of the field, and at each end is an end zone.  There also are hash marks that appear at 1-yard (about 0.9-m) intervals near the center of the field and near the sidelines.  The solid lines and hash marks on the field are collectively called yard lines, and they are used to mark the location of the ball.  The team that is in possession of the ball, the offense, must advance 10 yards (9.14 m) within a certain number of plays to maintain possession of the ball. This is why the exact location of the ball is important . In addition, the cost of committing a penalty usually includes having the ball moved a certain number of yards either forward or backward, depending on which team committed the penalty.  The yard lines also aid in the keeping of various statistics, such as the number of yards that a player or team gains by running or passing the ball.  North American football is derived from the sport of rugby and originally had no lines on the field other than those that marked the boundaries.  In 1882, a football coach named Walter Camp instituted a rule requiring the offense to gain at least 5 yards (4.57 m) within three plays; this was later changed to 10 yards (9.14 m) within four plays for American football and within three plays for Canadian football.  To facilitate the enforcement of this rule, yard lines were added to the field at 5-yard (4.57-m) intervals.  The lined field's resemblance to a cooking gridiron was quickly noted, and the use of the term to refer to the field became common.  http://www.wisegeek.com/in-football-what-is-the-gridiron.htm

Room to Read is an award-winning non-profit organization for improving literacy and gender equality in education in the developing world.  Headquartered in San Francisco, California and founded on the belief that World Change Starts With Educated Children, the organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments.  Room to Read develops literacy skills and the habit of reading among primary school children, and supports girls in completing secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.  Room to Read is currently serving communities in ten countries in Asia and Africa: South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  John Wood, founder and board co-chair, launched Room to Read in 1999 after a trek through Nepal where he visited several local schools.  He was amazed by the warmth and enthusiasm of the students and teachers, but also saddened by the shocking lack of resources.  Driven to help, John quit his senior executive position with Microsoft and built a global team to work with rural villages to build sustainable solutions to their educational challenges.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_to_Read  See also:  http://www.roomtoread.org/AboutUs 

Why do we keep books, spend money on books, and keep looking after them in libraries?  Venessa Harris comments on the value of books at:  http://scarlettlibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/what-is-it-about-books-that-matters/ 

Peter Blauner (1959- ) is the author of six novels, including Slow Motion Riot, which won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was named an International Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement.  His novel The Intruder was a New York Times bestseller and a bestseller in England as well.  His early literary influences ranged from writers like Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, and Philip Roth to film directors like Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Werner Herzog.  He studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and won the Paul Horgan prize for best short fiction by a student.  He started in journalism as an assistant to writer Pete Hamill before reporting for the Newark Star-Ledger in New Jersey and the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut.  He reported on crime for New York magazine but found inspiration for his first novel at the New York Department of Probation saying that it was a "virtual social microcosm."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Blauner  See also:  http://www.peterblauner.com/biography.php

Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, 100 in February 2013, has an opal-faced clock (a century old and valued at more than $10 million), flawless marble staircases (modeled on those in the Paris Opera House), gleaming chandeliers (fitted with 35,000 custom-designed, low-energy light bulbs) and the deepest basement in new York City--200 feet.  Read its fascinating history at:  http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/travel/grand-central-terminal-100-year-anniversary

From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor.  Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.  Through the years, this gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres mostly by landfill obtained from ship ballast and possibly excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system.  Before being designated as the site of the first Federal immigration station by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890, Ellis Island had a varied history.  The local Indian tribes had called it "Kioshk" or Gull Island.  Due to its rich and abundant oyster beds and plentiful and profitable shad runs, it was known as Oyster Island for many generations during the Dutch and English colonial periods.  By the time Samuel Ellis became the island's private owner in the 1770's, the island had been called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson's Island.  In this way, Ellis Island developed from a sandy island that barely rose above the high tide mark, into a hanging site for pirates, a harbor fort, ammunition and ordinance depot named Fort Gibson, and finally into an immigration station.  From 1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a mostly uneventful but still important military role in United States history.  When the British occupied New York City during the duration of the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was able to sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor.  Therefore, it was deemed critical by the United States Government that a series of coastal fortifications in New York Harbor be constructed just prior to the War of 1812.  After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808.  http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp

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