SIDEWALK POETRY In 2008, over 2000 poems were submitted in a
St. Paul, MN project. The annual program
is called Everyday Poems for Sidewalks.
Northfield, MN started its Sidewalk Poetry Project in 2011. Appleton, WI started its Sidewalk Poetry Program
in 2014. Robert Macias regularly stencils his writing on sidewalks and walls around
Wynwood, FL. In October
2013, Macias launched his Instagram account as a way to beam his writing to the
world. He pecked chunks of prose from a
notebook on an old typewriter picked up from an antique store, then shot
pictures and hit the upload button. But
Macias went viral thanks to America's reality TV princesses, the Kardashians. In 2014, he had about 40,000 followers.
Read about the poetry program in Toledo, OH
at http://www.toledoblade.com/Art/2015/03/20/Sidewalk-poems-an-unexpected-delight-in-Toledo-s-Old-West-End.html
In 1890 William Waldorf Astor decided to raze the family mansion on the corner of
Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street in Manhattan and commissioned architect Henry J.
Hardenbergh (1847-1918) to build
the largest, most luxurious hotel in the world.
The 13-story Waldorf Hotel, with 450 rooms, opened in 1893 and was
instantly the talk of the town. Its
success inspired John Jacob Astor, William's cousin, who owned the other half
of the block, to demolish his house and build an adjacent connected hotel. The Astoria, also designed by Hardenbergh, was
combined with the Waldorf in 1897 to form the Waldorf-Astoria. Hardenbergh built many of New York's grand
hotels and apartment buildings of that era, including the Dakota Apartments
(1884) and the Plaza Hotel (1906). The
Waldorf-Astoria was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the
Empire State Building. The hotel's
refined Art Deco successor soon rose on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th
Streets. See pictures at http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON017.htm
Old Venice's Greek lemon chicken http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-old-venices-greek-lemon-chicken/
Roasted chicken with grape sauce http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-roasted-chicken-with-grape-sauce-pollo-arrosto-con-salsa-duva/
Chicken thighs with honey, olives and oregano http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-chicken-thighs-with-honey-olives-and-oregano/
The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger
train on the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, advertised as
"The Most Famous Train in the World".
The train traveled between Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in New
York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago,
Illinois along the railroad's
"Water Level Route". Its style
was described as "spectacularly understated ... suggesting exclusivity and
sophistication". Passengers walked
to the train on a crimson carpet which was rolled out in New York and Chicago and
was designed for the 20th
Century Limited. "Getting the
red carpet treatment" passed into the language from this memorable
practice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Limited
Catalan vault is a building technique that lays plain bricks
lengthwise over the parallel wooden beams or centering to form an arch-shaped
ceiling. To create such a curvy ceiling
with bricks and no framework needed, builders have to use a fast setting mortar
to allow the brick to hold itself after being tapped into place. Constructing vaults in brick was mastered by
the Romans, who use arched structure to strengthen their buildings and
constructions. This technique was then
improved by Catalan people with layers of thinner, lighter bricks to create a
ceiling not only light but also very strong.
Up till now the technique has been widely used in buildings all over the
region, for which it is named “Volta Catalana”. Other names for this technique are Catalan
arch, Catalan turn or Timbrel vault.
Catalan vaults vary depending on its purpose of use and the design of
the whole construction. The most popular
Catalan vault you can see consists of small arches connected to wooden beams,
called vigas in Catalan.
They are used on the ceilings of multistory buildings to form a strong
structure that can bear heavy weight.
Some modern designs also replace wood with iron to reinforce the ceiling
even more. For a roof that doesn’t need
to bear heavy object above, the arch will be larger and number of arch is
reduced. Barcelona’s most famous
architect Gaudi frequently used the traditional Catalan
vault technique to suit the constructional form of his curvy design style.
The most obvious example is The School of the Sagrada Familia. See many pictures including those of
Manhattan Municipal Building, City
Hall subway station and Vanderbilt Hotel in New York City, and the National
Museum of Natural History's Baird auditorium in Washington, DC at http://suitelife.com/2014/05/19/catalan-vault-introduction-and-examples/
Antoni Gaudi
(1852-1926) is probably the most famous Catalan artist. See pictures of his La Sagrada Familia, Casa
Batilo, Palau Guell, Park Guell and Casa Mila at http://suitelife.com/all-about-gaudi-work-in-barcelona/
National Library Week
April 12-18, 2015
Browse at your public library, maybe pick out
a book you know nothing about and borrow it.
Quotes about libraries and
reading: The America I love still exists
at the front desks of our public libraries.
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
(1922-2007) American author
Once I
found out about reading I was all in favor of it. Robert Heinlein (1907-1988)
American novelist and short story writer
I have always imagined
that Paradise will be a kind of library. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)
Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer
World Book and Copyright Day April 23, 2015
"The
history of the written word is the history of humanity. The power of books to advance individual
fulfilment and to create social change is unequalled. Intimate and yet deeply social, books provide
far-reaching forms of dialogue between individuals, within communities and
across time. As Malala Yousafzai, the
Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes, said in
her speech at the United Nations: Let
us pick up our books and our pens. They
are our most powerful weapons. On World Book and Copyright Day,
UNESCO invites all women and men to rally around books and all those who write
and produce books. This is a day to
celebrate books as the embodiment of human creativity and the desire to share
ideas and knowledge, to inspire understanding and tolerance." http://www.unesco.org/new/en/wbcd NOTE that World Book Day was celebrated on
March 5, 2015 in some countries.
April
7, 2015 An Australian court has
ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over details of customers
accused of illegally downloading a US movie.
In a landmark move, the Federal
Court told six firms to divulge names and addresses of those who downloaded The
Dallas Buyers Club. The case was lodged
by the US company that owns the rights to the 2013 movie. The court said the data could only be used to
secure "compensation for the infringements" of copyright. In the case, which was heard in February, the
applicants said they had identified 4,726 unique IP addresses from which their
film was shared online using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network. They said this had been done without their
permission. Once they received the names
of account holders, the company would then have to prove copyright infringement
had taken place. The judgment http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2015/2015fca0317
comes amidst a crackdown by the Australian government on internet piracy. Australians are among the world's most
regular illegal downloaders of digital content. The delay in release dates for new films and
TV shows, and higher prices in Australia for digital content, have prompted
many Australians to find surreptitious ways to watch new shows.
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 1281
April 8, 2015 On this date in 1829,
the Venus
de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos. On this date in 1913, the 17th Amendment to the
United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, became law.
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