October 30, 2015  High in the skies over Kazakhstan, space-age technology has revealed an ancient mystery on the ground.  Satellite pictures of a remote and treeless northern steppe reveal colossal earthworks—geometric figures of squares, crosses, lines and rings the size of several football fields, recognizable only from the air and the oldest estimated at 8,000 years old.  The largest, near a Neolithic settlement, is a giant square of 101 raised mounds, its opposite corners connected by a diagonal cross, covering more terrain than the Great Pyramid of Cheops.  Another is a kind of three-limbed swastika, its arms ending in zigzags bent counterclockwise.  Described last year at an archaeology conference in Istanbul as unique and previously unstudied, the earthworks, in the Turgai region of northern Kazakhstan, now number at least 260—mounds, trenches and ramparts—arrayed in five basic shapes.  Spotted on Google Earth in 2007 by a Kazakh economist and archaeology enthusiast, Dmitriy Dey, the so-called Steppe Geoglyphs remain deeply puzzling and largely unknown to the outside world.  Two weeks ago, in the biggest sign so far of official interest in investigating the sites, NASA released clear satellite photographs of some of the figures from about 430 miles up, showing details as small as 30 centimeters by 30 centimeters.  “You can see the lines which connect the dots,” Mr. Dey said.  In the Cretaceous Period 100 million years ago, Turgai was bisected by a strait from what is now the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean.  The rich lands of the steppe were a destination for Stone Age tribes seeking hunting grounds, and Mr. Dey’s research suggests that the Mahandzhar culture, which flourished there from 7,000 B.C. to 5,000 B.C., could be linked to the older figures.  But scientists marvel that a nomadic population would have stayed in place for the time required to lay ramparts and dig out lake bed sediments to construct the huge mounds, originally 6 to 10 feet high and now 3 feet high and nearly 40 feet across.  Ralph Blumenthal   Read more and see pictures at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/science/nasa-adds-to-evidence-of-mysterious-ancient-earthworks.html

October 30, 2015  Newsmaker:  Pharrell Williams   The global pop star takes a break from his European tour to discuss the importance of libraries and literacy by  Sanhita SinhaRoy.   Grammy Award–winning singer, songwriter, and producer Pharrell Williams—best known for his 2014 global hit “Happy”—can now add “author” to his long list of accomplishments.  His recent picture book Happy! (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2015) features photos of children around the world celebrating life’s joys.  A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Williams credits his mother, who is a librarian and teacher, for being the biggest influence in his life.  Williams is featured in a new READ poster, available at the ALA Store.  Read his responses to questions from American Libraries while on tour in Europe.  http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2015/10/30/newsmaker-pharrell-williams/

EGGS  The domestication of fowl greatly increased the availability of eggs to ancient peoples.  This is thought by some to have begun in China in 6,000 BC.  Culinary evidence confirms breads and cakes using eggs were made by Ancient Egyptian and Roman peoples.  The reason most often sited was the recognition that eggs worked as binding (thickening) agents.  The origin of deviled eggs can't be attributed to one specific person, company, date or town.  The concept of deviled eggs begins with Ancient Rome.  Spicy stuffed eggs were known in 13th century Andalusia.  The name is an 18th century invention.  Not long after the Ancient Greeks and Romans domesticated fowl, egg dishes of all kinds figured prominently in cookery texts.  Eggs were eaten on their own (omelets, scrambled) and employed as congealing agents (custard, flan, souffles).  The ancestor of deviled eggs?  The first recipes for stuffed, hard-boiled were printed in medieval European texts.  These cooks stuffed their eggs with raisins, cheese and sweet spices.  Find a food timeline and recipes at http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodeggs.html

Have you ever tried deviled eggs with guacamole?  So simple, yet brilliant.  The “deviled” part comes from the chile in the guacamole.  Avocados are naturally creamy so you don’t need mayonnaise.  Find recipe and links to other recipes for deviled eggs at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/guacamole_deviled_eggs/  Serve with ham and have a Dr. Seuss party if you like.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts.  He published his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, under the name of Dr. Seuss in 1937.  Next came a string of best sellers, including The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham.  His rhymes and characters are beloved by generations.  At age 18, Geisel left home to attend Dartmouth College, where he became the editor in chief of its humor magazine, Jack-O-Lantern.  When Geisel and his friends were caught drinking in his dorm room one night, in violation of Prohibition law, he was kicked off the magazine staff, but continued to contribute to it using the pseudonym "Seuss."  http://www.biography.com/people/dr-seuss-9479638  See also

Dr. Seuss quotes  https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/61105.Dr_Seuss

In most English-speaking countries, Nimrod is used to denote a hunter or warrior, because the biblical Nimrod is described as "a mighty hunter".  In American English, however, the term assumed a derogatory meaning, probably because of Bugs Bunny's references to Elmer Fudd as a "poor little Nimrod".  While this was most likely using the term's "hunter" sense, it contributed to the development of a sense "one who was easily confounded".  An alternative explanation of this sense is that it derives from the John Steinbeck memoir Travels with Charley: In Search of America, in which Steinbeck used the term sarcastically while describing an inquest that was held after a hunter accidentally shot his partner:  "The coroner questioning this nimrod . . . "   The Oxford English Dictionary, in turn, cites a 1933 writing as the first usage of nimrod to refer to a fool, predating Bugs Bunny by at least five years and Steinbeck by nearly thirty:  in Hecht and Fowler's Great Magoo, someone remarks "He's in love with her.  That makes about the tenth.  The same old Nimrod.  Won't let her alone for a second."  However, this could still have been used in the sense of a hunter (i.e. someone pursuing a love interest).  Another possible source of the sense is the play "The Lion of the West" by James Paulding.  First performed in 1831, it features a comedic characterization of Davy Crockett named Col. Nimrod Wildfire who attempts to woo a young French woman.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nimrod

When lightning flashes it is seen instantly.  But the sound it creates—thunder—travels much slower.  When lightning strikes close, thunder is heard as a loud bang.  But, farther away from the strike, sound from the nearest part of the flash is heard first, followed in a continuous, rolling manner by sound from other parts of the flash.  Lightning experts talk about "cold" and "hot" lightning, but they aren't referring to the temperature.  The temperature of any lightning stroke ranges from around 15,000 to 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  The terms "hot" and "cold" lightning refer to how long the current flows.   Electricity has positive and negative charges.  Lightning scientists have found that most lightning "lowers negative charge to the ground."  In other words, during a lightning stroke some of the excess negative charge in a cloud zips to the ground.  They have also found that some lightning discharges bring positive charge to the ground.  In general, positive lighting has a stronger current and does more damage.  Flashes of lightning that hit towers and high buildings such as the Empire State Building are positive.  The term "heat lightning" is actually a misnomer.  It refers to lightning that occurs so far away—usually 10 miles or more—that the observer cannot hear any thunder.  The term likely originates from the fact that the lightning is seen during the type of thunderstorms that develop during the late afternoon or evening of hot summer days.  Florida is the lightning capital of the USA and, in particular, the west-central area of Florida, which includes Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando, has the highest frequency of lightning.  Cloud-to-ground lightning strikes there an average of 90 days a year, with each square mile in the region hit about 10 times annually.  According to lightning expert Martin Uman of the University of Florida's Lightning Resarch Group, the average lightning bolt is about an inch wide and five miles long.  However, there have been much longer bolts.  The longest bolt ever recorded crossed an electrifying 118 miles in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Lightning can soar to temperatures of approximately 50,000°, five times hotter than the surface of the sun, and can contain as much as 200 million volts of electricity.  Lightning can travel quite far from a storm.  A "bolt from the blue" refers to a lightning strike that comes out of the back of a storm cloud and hits where it isn't raining, sometimes up to 25 miles away.  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/archives-lighting-science.htm  See also  http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/science/science_continuing%20current.htm

P.F. Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein in 1945) a folk-rock musician of the 1960s whose two best-known songs—“Eve of Destruction” and “Secret Agent Man”—became major hits for other performers, died November 15, 2015 at the age of  70.  In a long but spotty career, Mr. Sloan was a songwriter, record producer and member in the 1960s of a Los Angeles recording-session coterie known as the Wrecking Crew.  The Turtles, Herman’s Hermits, the Searchers and other groups recorded his compositions.  With frequent songwriting partner Steve Barri, he recorded surf music as the Fantastic Baggys.  Mr. Sloan’s guitar work graced several recordings by the Mamas and the Papas including the introduction to “California Dreamin’ ” (1965).  Inspired by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and other events, he wrote “Eve of Destruction.”  Folk rockers the Byrds had already rejected the song when Barry McGuire, a former member of the folk group the New Christy Minstrels, recorded it.  McGuire’s label, Dunhill, had so little faith in it that they released it as a B side.  However, the 1965 recording beat Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” for the No.1 spot on the Billboard pop charts.  Conservatives objected to the lyrics, even as many liberals considered it a cheap attempt to capi­tal­ize on the anti-war movement.  In England, the BBC banned it, as did several U.S. radio stations.  And a group named the Spokesmen immediately recorded a conservative rebuttal, “The Dawn of Correction.”  “Secret Agent Man,” which Mr. Sloan and Barri co-wrote for singer Johnny Rivers, became the theme to the English spy show “Secret Agent” starring Patrick McGoohan (the program was originally called “Danger Man” in England).  Mr. Sloan’s simple guitar hook on Rivers’s 1966 recording made it a standard for fledgling garage bands.  At 12, Mr. Sloan said, he was inspired to pursue a music career after getting an impromptu guitar lesson from Elvis Presley on “Love Me Tender” when he met the entertainer at a Hollywood music store.  Terence McCardle  Read more at https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/pf-sloan-folk-rock-songwriter-and-musician-dies-at-70/2015/11/17/5ebdabc4-8d36-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1379  November 18, 2015  On this date in 1865, Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was published in the New York Saturday Press.  On this date in 1883, American and Canadian railroads instituted five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.  On this date in 1903, the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.