Friday, June 1, 2018

Jackpot  noun  also jack-pot, "big prize," 1944, from slot machine sense (1932), from now-obsolete poker sense (1881) in reference to antes that begin when no player has a pair of jacks or better; from jack in the card-playing sense + pot.  Earlier, in criminal slang, it meant "trouble," especially "an arrest" (1902).  The regular Draw-Poker  game is usually varied by occasional Jack-Pots, which are played once in so many deals, or when all have refused to play, or when the player deals who holds the buck, a marker placed in the pool with every jack-pot.  In a jack-pot each player puts up an equal stake and receives a hand.  The pot must then be opened by a player holding a hand of the value of a pair of knaves (jacks) or better.  If no player holds so valuable a hand the deal passes and each player adds a small sum to the pot or pool.  When the pot is opened the opener does so by putting up any sum he chooses, within the limit, and his companions must pay in the same amount or "drop."  They also possess the right to raise the opener.  The new cards called for are then dealt and the opener starts the betting, the play proceeding as in the regular game.  ["Encyclopaedia Britannica," 11th ed., 1911, "Poker."  The article notes "Jack-Pots were introduced about 1870."]  To hit the jackpot "be very successful" is from 1938.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/jackpot

In Greek mythology, the nine Muses are goddesses of the various arts such as music, dance, and poetry and are blessed not only with wonderful artistic talents themselves but also with great beauty, grace, and allure.  Their gifts of song, dance, and joy helped the gods and mankind to forget their troubles and inspired musicians and writers to reach ever greater artistic and intellectual heights.  The Muses were believed to live on Mt. Olympus where they entertained their father and the other Olympian gods with their great artistry, but later tradition also placed them on Mt. Helicon in Boeotia where there was a major cult centre to the goddesses, or on Mt. Parnassus where the Castalian spring was a favourite destination for poets and artists.  In ancient Greece, music, and by association the Muses, were held in great esteem and music was played in homes, in theatres, during religious ceremonies, to accompany athletics, provided rhythm during military training, accompanied agricultural activities such as harvesting, and was an important element in the education of children.  For example, Themistocles, the great Athenian politician and general, considered his education incomplete because he could not play the khitara.  Throughout the ancient Greek world musical festivals and competitions were held in honour of the Muses and philosophical schools bore their name:  the Mouseia.  In art, the Muses are depicted as beautiful young women, often with wings.  The Muses often appear on 5th and 4th century BCE red- and black-figure pottery, in particular in scenes with Apollo playing his kithara or representations of the Marsyas and Thamyres myths.  Many statues of the Muses have been found on Delos, an important cult centre to Apollo.  Music and, therefore, also the Muses, frequently appear as a subject on lekythoi, the elegant funerary vases, which were placed in graves so that loved ones might have the pleasure of music on their journey into the next life.  A celebrated representation of the Muses as a group is the three marble reliefs from a statue base, dating to c. 325-300 BCE and now housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.  Mark Cartwright  https://www.ancient.eu/muse/  See also https://owlcation.com/humanities/Muses-Nine-Goddesses-of-Greek-Mythology

18 CARIBBEAN FRUITS TO KNOW AND LOVE  Known as Jamaica's national fruit, ackee looks like a cross between a brain and scrambled eggs, and doesn't taste too far off:  it's buttery, nutty, and even scrambles with saltfish, just like you would eggs, for a traditional breakfast dish.  Bite into a crispy fried piece of breadfruit and you may mistake it for a potato.  This starchy fruit is often boiled or fried, served simply with just salt and pepper, and is a filling staple food around the islands.  A member of the squash family, chayote has a mild flavor with a texture somewhere between a potato and a cucumber.  With a texture between that of a mushy pear and a sugar apple and a taste between pineapple and bananas, cherimoyas are regarded as one of the best tropical fruits.  Read about other Caribbean fruits and see pictures at https://www.saveur.com/caribbean-produce-guide

Richard Adams’s 1972 book, “Watership Down,” is an epic about rabbits and the various threats to their way of life.  I stand on the long, golden grass of Watership Down, wind rushing around me, tears in my eyes.  When I was told I could visit any place I had read about but never physically visited, I first thought of Earthsea, of Narnia — landscapes that cannot be reached by car or boat or airplane.  Watership Down can be reached more easily.  It is in Hampshire, 60 miles from London, near the village of Kingsclere.  It’s difficult to read “Watership Down” without thinking:  “I wish I had friends like these!”  One reason to return to the real place where fictional characters dwelt is to revisit one’s own history — to travel to other times and to the emotions, the people and places, the weather that comprise those times.  To visit our younger selves  For the words in a book remain the same, but our experience of these words does not.  To reread a book we love is to have a conversation with our earlier selves.  Richard Adams made up the story of the rabbits as he drove his two young daughters, Rosamond and Juliet, to Stratford-upon-Avon.  It was these daughters, who’d listened to his voice moving in the air inside their car, who convinced him to write it down.  Peter Rock  Read more and see a picture of the real Watership Down at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/t-magazine/watership-down-hampshire-england.html

The Nordic diet consists of foods traditionally sourced in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.  Similar to the Mediterranean, the Nordic has been linked to decreased risk for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.  Other research suggests that the Nordic diet may be beneficial for weight loss.  Staples of the Nordic diet are based on the Baltic Sea diet pyramid at https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Baltic-Sea-Diet-Pyramid-created-by-the-Finnish-Heart-Association-the-Finnish_fig1_258202738 created by the Finnish Heart Association, the Finnish Diabetes Association and the University of Eastern Finland.  They include berries and fruits; fatty fish (such as herring, mackerel and salmon); lean fish (such as cod, haddock and halibut); legumes; vegetables, including cabbage and root vegetables; and whole-grain cereals including barley, oats and rye.  Though the Mediterranean and Nordic diets include similar foods, a major difference is in the fats that are used:  The Mediterranean region is known for its olive oil production, and that is why olive oil predominates in this region, whereas the Nordic diet promotes canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil).  Canola oil and olive oil are both rich in monounsaturated fats, which promote heart health by raising HDL, the "good" cholesterol, and lowering LDL, the "bad" cholesterol; however, "canola oil doesn't have the antioxidants that olive oil does."  https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/23/health/nordic-diet-food-drayer/index.html

The Toledo-Lucas County Public Library is kicking its Summer Reading Challenge with a party and you're invited!  Bring a blanket and join us on the lawn for a concert at noon with Wilson Lake and the Rock Bass.  Sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge, meet the Mud Hens mascot and more.  Libraries Rock!  Monday, June 4 | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.  Main Library, north lawn  And while your here, don't forget to sign up for the Summer Reading Challenge!  READ BOOKS YOU LOVE--WIN PRIZES YOU WANT!  The Summer Reading Challenge runs June 4 to August 4, 2018   https://mailchi.mp/d21598fef1c4/toledo-library-kicks-off-summer-reading-challenge-june-4-with-a-party-899533?e=a637205ce8

May 31, 2018  Illinois lawmakers have voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, affirming equal rights for women and putting the legislation just one state away from potentially being adopted by the U.S. Constitution.  The passage comes 36 years after the original deadline for ratification set by Congress.  Opponents of the amendment said that voting on it now was merely a symbolic gesture; some also said the protections it outlined in 1972 already apply to women today.  But supporters said it's important—now more than ever—for the government to state clearly that women and men have equal rights under the law.  Despite the lapse in deadline for ratification, the ERA's supporters say Congress can revive the amendment.  Until last year, no U.S. state had voted to ratify the amendment in 40 years.  But that changed when Nevada ratified the ERA in March 2017.  The constitutional amendment was initially put forth by Alice Paul, an economist and organizer who helped to found the National Woman's Party—and who marched for the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote in 1920.  Paul worked with another prominent suffragist, Crystal Eastman, on the ERA language.  Bill Chappell  https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/31/615832255/one-more-to-go-illinois-ratifies-equal-rights-amendment

The Muser's three wishes: #1  Let the Equal Rights Amendment pass.  'Section 1. Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.  Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.  'Section 2. Congress and the several States shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.  'Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.'  http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/congress.htm  #2  Have people communicate in civil ways without mockery, insults and incitement to violence.  #3  Have people answer questions without changing the subject to deflect the discussion. 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1896  June 1, 2018  

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