Daedalus was a craftsman and artist in Greek mythology, who had two sons, Icarus and Iapyx.  He is best known as the creator of the Labyrinth, a huge maze located under the court of King Minos of Crete, where the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature dwelt.  Later, Daedalus was kept imprisoned in a tower in Crete, so that the secret of the Labyrinth would not be spread to the public.  In order to escape, Daedalus created two sets of wings for himself and his young son Icarus, by using feathers and glueing them together with wax.  He gave one of the sets to Icarus and taught him how to fly.  However, he warned him not to fly too high as the sun would melt the wax, nor too low as the sea water would soak the feathers.  They left the tower jumping off the window and started flying towards freedom. Unfortunately, Icarus, forgetting his father's advice, started flying higher and higher, thus causing the wax on his wings to melt; he fell into the sea and drowned, while a nearby island took the name Icaria after him.  https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Daedalus/daedalus.html

In 1926, Constantin Brancusi created a sculpture of Bird in Space (now in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum) and sent it from Paris to New York City for an exhibition of his work at the Brummer Gallery.  Although the law permitted artworks, including sculpture, to enter the U.S. free from import taxes, when Bird arrived, officials refused to let it enter as art.  To qualify as “sculpture,” works had to be “reproductions by carving or casting, imitations of natural objects, chiefly the human form” (source:  Rowell).  Because Bird in Space did not look much like a bird at all, officials classified it as a utilitarian object (under “Kitchen Utensils and Hospital Supplies”) and levied against it 40% of the work’s value (source:  McClean).  Bewildered and exasperated by this assessment, Brancusi launched a complaint in court.  The initial question before the court was whether Brancusi’s work adequately resembled that which it was supposed to “imitate,” as indicated by its title.  Passing that test would make it a sculpture (and therefore art) and exempt it from customs duties.  The task of the trial became, however, how to define “sculpture”—and, for that matter, “art.”  Ultimately, the court was persuaded that its definition of what constituted art was out of date.  The decision of Judge J. Waite read, “In the meanwhile there has been developing a so-called new school of art, whose exponents attempt to portray abstract ideas rather than imitate natural objects.  Whether or not we are in sympathy with these newer ideas and the schools which represent them, we think the facts of their existence and their influence upon the art worlds as recognized by the courts must be considered” (Rowell).  Read more and see graphics at  https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2014/07/24/but-is-it-art-constantin-brancusi-vs-the-united-states/

There is no consensus on the difference between disc and disk, and in many contexts the two are used interchangeably.  Disk is the standard spelling for computer-related terms such as hard disk and floppy disk.  Disc is the standard spelling for phonograph records, albums (in the figurative sense—a group of songs presented in sequence), and components of plows and brake systems.  But both spellings are commonly used for (1) CDs, DVDs, and other compact optical disks; (2) flat, plate-like bones; (3) flat, circular objects, and (4) disk-shaped celestial bodies.  http://grammarist.com/spelling/disc-disk/

Gray and grey are different spellings of the same word, and both are used throughout the English-speaking world.  But gray is more common in American English, while grey is more common in all the other main varieties of English.  In the U.K., for instance, grey appears about twenty times for every instance of gray.  In the U.S. the ratio is reversed.  Both spellings, which have origins in the Old English grǽg, have existed hundreds of years.  http://grammarist.com/spelling/gray-grey/

Over the course of three days in April, the Toledo Lucas County Public Library will celebrate 300 years of collective service to the community with three Centennial anniversary celebrations.  Help us celebrate these beloved branches and the neighborhoods they serve. 
Monday, April 9  Mott Branch  1085 Door Street  10 a.m. – Welcome, presentations and ceremonial groundbreaking at the construction site.  10:45 – 11:30 a.m. – Reception with cookies, punch and family-friendly activities at the original branch site.

Tuesday, April 10  Maumee Branch  501 River Road  10 a.m. – Welcome and presentations.
10:30 a.m. - Special performance by the Maumee High School Select Choir.  10:45 – 11:30 a.m. – Reception with cookies, punch and family-friendly activities.
Thursday, April 12  South Branch  1736 Broad Street  10 a.m. – Welcome and presentations.  10:45 – 11:30 a.m. – Reception with cookies, punch and family-friendly activities. 
The week of April 4 is also National Library Week with a theme of “Libraries Lead.”  Libraries hold a special place throughout all of our neighborhoods, making this an especially fitting time to celebrate our leadership and service to the community.

"I'm always in favor of learnin' new ideas, 'long as they don't interfere with the way I already view things"  Border Music, a novel by Robert James Waller

           

Robert James Waller, whose best-selling, bittersweet 1992 romance novel The Bridges of Madison County was turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood and later into a soaring Broadway musical, died in 2017 at the age of 77.  In Bridges, which Waller famously wrote in 11 days, the roving National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid spends four days romancing Francesca Johnson, a war bride from Italy married to a no-nonsense Iowa farmer.  Waller’s novel reached No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list and stayed on it for over three years, longer than any work of fiction since The Robe.  The Eastwood-directed 1995 movie grossed $182 million worldwide.  Weller grew up in Rockford, Iowa, and he was educated at the University of Northern Iowa and Indiana University, where he received his doctorate.  He taught management, economics, and applied mathematics at the University of Northern Iowa from 1968 to 1991.  Waller’s seven books include Slow Waltz in Cedar Bend, which unseated Bridges on the best-seller list, Border Music, Puerto Vallarta Squeeze and A Thousand County Roads:  An Epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County.  The last, a sequel to his monster hit, was prompted by thousands of letters from people who wanted to know more about the characters.  “Finally, I got curious and decided I’d find out—I wrote the book,” he told the AP in 2002.  A musical was made of The Bridges of Madison County in 2014 starring Kelli O’Hara and Steven Pasquale with a score by Jason Robert Brown, but it closed after just 137 performances on Broadway.  A national tour starring Elizabeth Stanley kicked off in 2015.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2017/03/10/bridges-of-madison-county-author-robert-james-waller-dies-at-77/99009448/

           

Useful, but seldom used, four-letter words

mien (MEAN)  noun  look, attitude

whit (WIT)  noun  very small part or amount

mete (MEAT)  verb  dispense or allot justice

 “The 21st of March is the beginning of the new year,” said Mohcen Shahbaz, an Iranian doctoral candidate in electrical engineering at the University of Toledo.  That particular date will usher in Nowruz [noh-ROOZ], commonly known as the Persian new year, which literally translates to “new day.”  It is a celebration of beginnings and of spring and has roots in Zoroastrianism dating back more than 2,000 years while also having been adopted in modern times by the Baha’i faith, which was founded in Iran in 1863.  The date and time at which the 13-day holiday begins varies.  “Every year, we have a new time for changing the year,” said Mr. Shahbaz.  And the official beginning occurs “sometimes in the day and sometimes in the night,” he said, dependent upon the precise moment of the vernal equinox.  “Everybody celebrates,” Mr. Shahbaz said.  All religions join in this joyful occasion, because “it’s about the customs” rather than theology or nationality.  Millions of people throughout the former Persian Empire — Iran, Iraq, and surrounding countries in western Asia among them, along with expatriates around the world—will take part in the festivities.  Mary Bilyeu  Find recipes for Nowruz at http://www.toledoblade.com/Food/2018/03/19/Nowruz-Persian-new-year.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1860  March 20, 2018