Friday, February 23, 2018


ghost sign is an old hand-painted advertising sign that has been preserved on a building for an extended period of time.  The sign may be kept for its nostalgic appeal, or simply indifference by the owner.  Ghost signs are found across the world with the United States, the United KingdomFrance and Canada having many surviving examples.  Ghost signs are also called fading ads and brickads.  The painters of the signs were called "wall dogs".  In the city of Detroit, well-preserved ghost signs have been uncovered when an adjoining building is demolished as part of the city's blight-fighting efforts.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_sign

Ghost signs in joints  Neuropathic arthropathy in the diabetic foot is often difficult to differentiate from osteomyelitis.  Neuropathic arthropathy, a progressive, degenerative process of the foot and ankle, presents with similar symptoms to osteomyelitis including erythema, tenderness, and edema.  MRI may show similar subchondral bone marrow signal abnormalities, and soft tissue changes with periosteal reaction are seen in both disorders.  The acute stage of neuroarthropathy may be difficult to differentiate from osteomyelitis.  This is because bone marrow edema and joint effusions are prominent findings of both conditions.  With chronic progression of the neuropathic foot, deformity is a significant aspect and may aid in the differentiation of neuroarthropathy from infection.  Occasionally, but not frequently, osteomyelitis may be superimposed on neuropathic disease.  The “ghost sign” has been used to establish whether or not infection is present.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/neuropathic-arthropathy

February 6, 2018  A previously unknown language has been found in the Malay Peninsula by linguists from Lund University in Sweden.  The language has been given the name Jedek.  "Jedek is not a language spoken by an unknown tribe in the jungle, as you would perhaps imagine, but in a village previously studied by anthropologists.  As linguists, we had a different set of questions and found something that the anthropologists missed," says Niclas Burenhult, Associate Professor of General Linguistics at Lund University, who collected the first linguistic material from Jedek speakers.  The language is an Aslian variety within the Austroasiatic language family and is spoken by 280 people who are settled hunter-gatherers in northern Peninsular Malaysia.  The researchers discovered the language during a language documentation project, Tongues of the Semang, in which they visited several villages to collect language data from different groups who speak Aslian languages.  The discovery of Jedek was made while they were studying the Jahai language in the same area.  "We realised that a large part of the village spoke a different language.  They used words, phonemes and grammatical structures that are not used in Jahai  Some of these words suggested a link with other Aslian languages spoken far away in other parts of the Malay Peninsula," says Joanne Yager.  The community in which Jedek is spoken is more gender-equal than Western societies, there is almost no interpersonal violence, they consciously encourage their children not to compete, and there are no laws or courts.  There are no professions either, rather everyone has the skills that are required in a hunter-gatherer community.  This way of life is reflected in the language.  There are no indigenous words for occupations or for courts of law, and no indigenous verbs to denote ownership such as borrow, steal, buy or sell, but there is a rich vocabulary of words to describe exchanging and sharing.  "There are so many ways to be human, but all too often our own modern and mainly urban societies are used as the yardstick for what is universally human.  We have so much to learn, not least about ourselves, from the largely undocumented and endangered linguistic and cultural riches that are out there," states Niclas Burenhult.  An estimated 6,000 languages are currently spoken in the world.  About 80 per cent of the world's population speak one of the major world languages, while approximately 20 per cent speak one of the 3 600 smaller languages.  Researchers believe that about half of the world's languages will be extinct 100 years from now.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180206100349.htm

"Eggs get broken, the omelet gets made, and if it turns out tasty, then all is forgiven."  "My country, right or wrong.  Which means nothing, unless you admit your country is wrong sometimes.  Loving a country that was right all the time would be common sense, not patriotism.”  Night School, #21 in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child 

The late Ursula K. Le Guin was among the recipients of literary honours presented February 20, 2018 in New York by PEN America.  The science fiction/fantasy author's No Time to Spare won a $10,000 US prize for best essay writing.  Le Guin died last month at age 88.  Poet Layli Long Soldier's debut collection Whereas won a $75,000 award for the year's best book.  Jenny Zhang's story collection Sour Heart received a $25,000 prize for best debut fiction and Alexis Okeowo's A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa won a $5,000 award given to outstanding works by "authors of colour."  http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/pen-awards-ceremony-1.4544569  See full list of PEN Literary Awards for 2018 at https://pen.org/2018-winners/

What Does Fricassee Mean?  by Danilo Alfaro   The feature that distinguishes a fricassee dish from stews is that the meat is prepared differently from the usual technique for braising meats—the meat isn't browned before the braising liquid is added.  Instead, the meat is cooked in oil or fat at a very low temperature, so it remains white.  As a result, most fricassee dishes are white stews.  While chicken fricassee is the most common, some fricassee recipes are made with veal instead of chicken.  The classic veal fricassee with peppers is made with cubes of veal shoulder meat that are salted and then very lightly and gently sautéed in butter and oil, but not enough to brown the meat.  The meat is removed, and garlic, onion, and celery are added to the pan and sautéed, along with spices and seasonings.  Then the veal goes back into the pan, along with a sprinkling of flour, which forms a roux.  After the pan is deglazed with white wine, the mixture reduces for a while and then veal stock is added.  The veal is braised for about an hour before the addition of sautéed bell peppers and mushrooms that are prepared separately.  The mixture simmers briefly and then is served with a garnish of fresh herbs such as parsley and basil.  Steamed rice, buttered noodles, creamy mashed potatoes or steamed baby potatoes are all good accompaniments to chicken or veal fricassee, along with whole-grain bread.  Because fricassee is a cooking method, not a recipe, it can be applied to other types of meats, including lamb, rabbit and frog legs, as well as fish, shellfish and even mushrooms or other vegetables alone.  https://www.thespruce.com/all-about-fricassee-995685

State Library Victoria is the central library of the state of VictoriaAustralia, located in Melbourne.  The library holds over 2 million books and 16,000 serials, including the diaries of the city's founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and the folios of Captain James Cook.  It also houses some of the original armour of Ned Kelly.   In 1853, the decision to build a combined library, museum and gallery was made at the instigation of Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe and Mr Justice Redmond BarryQ.C. (Sir Redmond from 1860).  A competition was held, won by the recently arrived architect Joseph Reed, whose firm and its successors went on to design most of the later extensions, as well as numerous 19th century landmarks such as the Melbourne Town Hall, and the Royal Exhibition Building.  On 3 July 1854, the recently inaugurated Governor Sir Charles Hotham laid the foundation stone of both the new library complex and the University of Melbourne.  The library was the first stage opened in 1856, with a collection of 3,800 books chosen by Mr Justice Barry, the President of TrusteesAugustus H. Tulk, the first librarian, was appointed three months after the opening.  The Melbourne Public Library as it was then known was one of the first free public libraries in the world, open to anyone over 14 years of age, so long as they had clean hands. 

Read about the new entrance to Australia’s oldest and busiest state library at  https://vision2020.slv.vic.gov.au/news/new-russell-street-entrance-open-spring-2018/  Thank you, Muse reader and World Sojourner!

February 22, 2018  Tens of thousands of years ago, the first artists painted images on the walls of caves.  They collected, painted and ground holes in shells, presumably to wear.  Some of that cave art may have been created by Neanderthals.  At least, that's what a team of scientists is now claiming.  The painted caves were discovered in Spain.  The walls were the canvasses, and the paintings are bold and clearly not some kind of smeary accident.  The paint used was red ochre, from soil mixed with water.  The results are published this week in the journals Science and Science Advances.  Whether the scientific community will give Neanderthals final credit depends on whether the latest dating technique holds up to scrutiny.  Christopher Joyce  Read more and see pictures at https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/02/22/587662842/cave-art-may-have-been-handiwork-of-neanderthals
                                     
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1847  February 23, 2018  On this date in 2005, American composer Daniel Robert (Danny) Elfman (best known for writing the opening theme of "The Simpsons" animated TV series and for scoring movies), heard some of his music played live at Carnegie Hall.  The American Composers Orchestra gave the premiere performance of “Serenada Schizophrana,” his first symphonic concert work.  Elfman retroactively re-purposed some of his “Serenada Schizophrana” as the soundtrack for 2006 IMAX film entitled “Deep Sea 3D.”   Composers Datebook  A Cure for Pokeritis, released February 23, 1912 is a short silent film starring John Bunny and Flora Finch.  After Bunny's death in 1915, a re-release was announced with the alternative title A Sure Cure for Pokeritis.  It was one of many similar shorts produced by Vitagraph Studios—one-reel comedies starring Bunny and Finch in a domestic setting, known popularly as "Bunnygraphs" or "Bunnyfinches"—whose popularity made Bunny and Finch early film stars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cure_for_Pokeritis