The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh is the largest museum in the North America dedicated to a single artist.  The Andy Warhol Museum is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and is a collaborative project of the Carnegie Institute, the Dia Art Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts (AWFVA).  The museum is located in an 88,000-square-foot (8,200 m²) facility on seven floors.  Containing 17 galleries, the museum features 900 paintings, close to 2,000 works on paper, over 1,000 published unique prints, 77 sculptures, 4,000 photographs, and over 4,350 Warhol films and videotaped works.  In addition to its Pittsburgh location the museum has sponsored 56 traveling exhibits that have attracted close to 9 million visitors in 153 venues worldwide since 1996.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andy_Warhol_Museum  Andy Warhol was born Andrew Warhola August 6, 1928 in Pittsburgh to Andrej and Julia Warhola, Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants.  His first published commission was in the September 1949 issue of Glamour magazine.  His work was steady because he was quick and was willing to make changes as requested.  Warhol died February 22, 1987 from complications following gallbladder surgery.

Speculative fiction is a fiction genre speculating about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways.  In these contexts, it generally overlaps one or more of the following:  science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history.  It is often used as an umbrella term for science fiction and fantasy considered as a single genre.  https://www.goodreads.com/genres/speculative-fiction

August 28, 2017  Thirty years ago, almost no one used the Internet for anything.  Today, just about everybody uses it for everything.  Even as the Web has grown, however, it has narrowed.  Google now controls nearly ninety per cent of search advertising, Facebook almost eighty per cent of mobile social traffic, and Amazon about seventy-five per cent of e-book sales.  Such dominance, Jonathan Taplin argues, in “Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google, and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy” (Little, Brown), is essentially monopolistic.  In his account, the new monopolies are even more powerful than the old ones, which tended to be limited to a single product or service.  “The Internet was supposed to be a boon for artists,” Taplin observes.  “It was supposed to eliminate the ‘gatekeepers’—the big studios and record companies that decide which movies and music get widespread distribution.”  Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple—Europeans refer to the group simply as gafa—didn’t eliminate the gatekeepers; they took their place.  Instead of becoming more egalitarian, the country has become less so:  the gap between America’s rich and poor grows ever wider.  Elizabeth Kolbert  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/28/who-owns-the-internet

Lullaby and goodnight, With roses bedight, With lilies o'er spread Is baby's wee bed.  Lay thee down now and rest, May thy slumber be blessed.  Brahms Lullaby, traditional words to the original of which was Johannes Brahms' "Wiegenlied:  Guten Abend, gute Nacht" ("Good evening, good night"), Op. 49, No. 4.  The lullaby was first performed in public on 22 December 1869 in Vienna by Louise Dustmann (singer) and Clara Schumann (piano).   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahms%27_Lullaby  bedight  verb  decorate  synonyms:  bedeck, deck  https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/bedight  See a "wheel" of related words at http://lexipedia.com/english/bedight

Giotto’s Campanile is the bell tower belonging to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.  It has a square base and is 84.70 meters tall.  In 1334, Giotto di Bondone (Vicchio 1267–Florence 1337), an Italian painter and architect, was made chief architect for the building of the complex of Santa Maria del Fiore.  He was a very popular, well-known artist during his time.  Vasari tells how Giotto was able to draw a perfect circle without a compass, the famous “O by Giotto”.  One of the most famous works of this artist are the frescos in the Basilica of Assisi, which depict the Stories of St. Francis.  This masterpiece astonished Giotto’s contemporaries for its modernity and beauty.  However, according to legend, Giotto devoted himself particularly to the construction of the majestic bell tower in Florence, overlooking the building of the cathedral.  At the time of Giotto’s death in 1337, only the first blocks at the bottom had been laid​​, already displaying some of the tower’s structural weaknesses.  The anonymous fourteenth century author of a Commentary on the Divine Comedy recounts the legend that Giotto died of grief for having given the bell tower “a too small bed for your feet.”  In reality, the base of the tower is more narrow than it should be, perhaps to give the effect of greater vertical momentum.  Numerous structural problems emerged during its construction, and the Black Death that plagued Florence slowed down work until its eventual completion in 1359.  This bell tower is now considered the most beautiful tower in Italy, due to its architectural structure and decorations.  Read more and see many pictures at https://www.florenceinferno.com/giotto-bell-tower/

Stetson University is a private, nonprofit university with four colleges and schools located across the I-4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus located in DeLand.  In the 2017 U.S. News and World Report's guide to America's Best Colleges, Stetson ranks as the 5th best regional university in the South, 5th best for veterans among regional universities in the South and 6th best value school among regional universities in the South.  The Stetson University College of Law, located in Gulfport, Florida, was ranked 1st nationally in trial advocacy by U.S. News & World Report in 2017.  Stetson University was founded in 1883 by Henry Addison DeLand, a New York philanthropist, as DeLand Academy.  In 1887, the Florida Legislature enacted the Charter of DeLand University as an independent institution of higher learning.  DeLand University's name was changed in 1889 to honor hat manufacturer John B. Stetson, a benefactor of the university, who served with town founder, Henry A. DeLand, and others as a founding trustee of the university.  Stetson also provided substantial assistance to the university after DeLand, on account of financial reverses, was no longer able to do so.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stetson_University

John Batterson Stetson (1830–1906) was an American hatter, hat manufacturer, and, in the 1860s, the inventor of the cowboy hat.  He founded the John B. Stetson Company as a manufacturer of headwear; the company's hats are now commonly referred to simply as Stetsons.  Under Stetson's direction, The John B. Stetson Company became one of the largest hat firms in the world.  Stetson hats won numerous awards, but as his company grew, he "faced the challenge of developing a reliable labor force."   Reportedly, "people working in the hat trade at that time tended to drift from employer to employer" and "absenteeism was rampant."   Unlike most other employers, Stetson decided to offer benefits to entice workers to stay.  Stetson also made sure his employees had a clean, safe place to work, including building a hospital, a park and houses for his 5,000 employees.  Stetson's unusual moves helped him build a factory in Philadelphia that grew to 25 buildings on 9 acres (36,000 m²).  By 1915, nine years after Stetson's death, 5,400 employees were turning out 3.3 million hats.  While Stetson profited from his business, he also wanted to give back to his community.  Near the end of his life, Stetson began donating almost all of his money to charitable organizations.  He built grammar and high schools and helped build colleges, including Temple and Stetson Universities.  He also helped establish the YMCA in Philadelphia.  Stetson donated generously to the DeLand Academy (in DeLand, Fla.), which was renamed (1889) John B. Stetson University.  In 1900, Stetson University founded the first law school in Florida: Stetson University Law School.  Stetson co-founded Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter and soup kitchen, in 1878.  Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission has since expanded to provide more services and is still in use for the homeless population of Philadelphia.  Stetson owned a mansion in DeLand where he died in 1906.  The John B. Stetson House is a mixture of Gothic, Tudor, and Moorish styles, and is open to the public for tours.  The actor Alan Young, known for his role in the sitcom, Mr. Ed, played Stetson in the 1962 episode "The Hat That Won the West" of the syndicated television series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Batterson_Stetson

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1772  September 20, 2017  On this date in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe.  On this date in 1893, Charles Duryea and his brother road-tested  the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_20  Thought of the Day  “Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.” - Sophia Loren (born September 20, 1934)  Word of the Day  moonsickle  (poetic)  A thin crescent of the moon.