Part 1:  The Paris of Appalachia:  Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century   "The Paris of Appalachia:  Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century" is a book by Brian O'Neill that gives a hopeful and heartfelt account of why Pittsburgh was able to hold steady during a financial crisis.  Less than a year later after its release, "The Paris of Appalachia" became the fastest-selling book in the 35-year history of Carnegie Mellon University Press.  In this video Brian talks about his book and its main character, the city of Pittsburgh.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ampAFmwP_E  7:59  The video shows a map of Appalachia. 

Part 2:  The Paris of Appalachia:  Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl3HLdvjS7g   8:43

Part 3:  The Paris of Appalachia:  Pittsburgh in the Twenty-first Century

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzMRoVUjAJE   6:33

Speaking Pittsburghese:  The Story of a Dialect traces the history of Pittsburgh's language as it is imagined and used by Pittsburghers.  Book by Carnegie Mellon University's Barbara Johnstone uncovers that there is much more to "Pittsburghese" than how native western Pennsylvanians speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX4kxkV5kxQ  4:01

List of nicknames for Pittsburgh  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_for_Pittsburgh

In the 1950s, Quakers from the US made Costa Rica their home.  The reason?  They were conscientious objectors to the Korean War and were forced to move so as to avoid being drafted into the army.  They chose this lush little slice of Central America as their home because in 1949 it had abolished its army, preferring to focus on peaceful dialogue instead of war.  A key reason, perhaps, why both the United Nations University for Peace and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights are based in San José.  The Quaker community still exists today.  They set up home in Monteverde, where hundreds of varieties of orchids bloom within cloud forests, where hilltop plantations produce some of the world’s best coffee and where they started dairy farms and began producing the country’s most famous cheese.  You will hear the phrase “pura vida” used as a greeting, a farewell and a response to asking how they are.  It directly translates as “pure life”, but its meaning runs much deeper than that.  It is a way of expressing contentment and being happy with what you’ve got.  This is, after all, a country that boasts five per cent of the world’s biodiversity, packed into a landmass measuring just 31,750 square miles.  The dedication of “Ticos” (the name for Costa Ricans) to their awe-inspiring surroundings doesn’t stop there:  90 per cent of the country’s energy already comes from renewable sources, and the aim is to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2021.  With such a focus on peace, their environment and appreciating what you have, it is perhaps not surprising to know that Costa Rica is consistently listed as one of the happiest countries in the world by both Gallup and the Happy Planet Index.  Natalie Livingstone  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/costa-rica-attractions/pura-vida/  Monteverde Cheese Factory in 2008 made 14 million dollars in sales, employs over 350 people and buys milk from 250 farms in the zone.  The cheese factory affects every resident and visitor to the area in many ways which go unnoticed.   However, the cheese factory was bought out by an international company around 2014.  The cheese factory no longer does tours but you can still visit and look through the glass windows and see how the cheese is being made and go to the factory store where you can buy cheese and wonderful milkshakes and ice-cream!  https://monteverdetours.com/monteverde-cheese-factory.html  See also Latin American Cheese: Queso Blanco by Jamie Ditaranto | November 25, 2014  Queso fresco (fresh cheese) and queso blanco (white cheese) are both fresh white cheeses.  While the names are often used interchangeably, there is a slight difference between the two terms.  Queso fresco is made with rennet and queso blanco is made from milk that has been curdled with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar.  Read more, see pictures, and link to recipes at https://culturecheesemag.com/blog/latin-american-cheese-queso-blanco  

Tamarind is a hardwood tree known scientifically as Tamarindus indica.  It's native to Africa but also grows in India, Pakistan and many other tropical regions.  The tree produces bean-like pods filled with seeds surrounded by a fibrous pulp.  The pulp of the young fruit is green and sour.  As it ripens, the juicy pulp becomes paste-like and more sweet-sour.  Interestingly, tamarind is sometimes referred to as the "date of India."  Tamarind pulp is widely used for cooking in South and Southeast Asia, Mexico, the Middle East and the Caribbean.  The seeds and leaves are also edible.  It is used in sauces, marinades, chutneys, drinks and desserts.  It's one of the ingredients of Worcestershire sauce.  Pure tamarind comes in three main forms:  raw pods, pressed blocks and concentrate.  It's available as candy and syrup.  It also has medicinal properties and can be used as a tarnish remover.  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/tamarind

Feedback to A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

From:  Martin Frampton  Subject:  Cockney rhyming slang  To hold the label “Cockney” one had to be born within the sound of Bow Bells, the church at Bow, London, and know about Pearly Kings and Queens.  Raspberry tart was one of disapproval, but raspberries were often in short supply so rhubarb was used.  Rhubarb on its own indicates total disparagement of a view or statement.  A ball of chalk was a walk.
From:  Jill Sidders  Subject:  Rhyming slang  When I visited Norwegian friends living just outside Oslo, they were intrigued by the various English accents (“Do a Cockney accent, Jill!  Do a Newcastle accent!”) and once I’d explained the concept of rhyming slang, they absolutely loved it and adopted it into their everyday conversations.  “Helge, there’s someone on the dog for you.”

From:  Nicholas Shillidy D Skinner  Subject:  hickory ⇨ clock   How about my father’s asking the taxi driver “What’s on the ‘ickory, pal?”

From:  Denis Toll   Subject:  scooby  Sartre - To do is to be  Socrates - To be is to do  Sinatra - Do be do be do   The last one, from Strangers in the Night (2 min.) is, according to Wiki, the inspiration for Scooby-Doo’s name.

The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals.  UW Press publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and poetry under its imprint, Terrace Books; and serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and the Great Lakes region.  UW Press annually awards the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, and The Four Lakes Prize in Poetry.  The Press was founded in 1936 in Madison and is one of more than 120 member presses in the Association of American University Presses.  The Journals Division was established in 1965.  The Press produces 40 to 60 new books a year, and publishes 11 journals.  It also distributes books and some annual journals for selected smaller publishers.  The Press is a unit of the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and serves the university's overall mission of research, instruction, and outreach beyond the university.  Since its first book appeared in 1937, the Press has published and distributed more than 3,000 titles.  The Press has more than 1,400 titles currently in print.  In 2003, the Press acquired the publishing company Popular Press, which specialized in works on popular culture.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Wisconsin_Press

From the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library  Vote for America's Favorite Books  PBS is setting out to identify America's most beloved novel!  Vote for your favorite book on the Great American Read list now through October 17, and then join us at the grand finale with WGTE, where we will announce which book ruled them all!  Great American Read Grand Finale  (T) Oct. 23 | 7 p.m. | Sylvania  The Great American Read is an eight-part series that explores and celebrates the power of reading as told through America’s top 100 novels (as chosen in a national survey).  It investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience.  VOTE  The Muser has narrowed her choices for favorite book from seven to four, and will try to get it down to one by Wednesday, the 17th of October, 2018.

insultant  noun  A consultant who makes disparaging remarks about the client, or who recommends unpopular changes.  Etymology  insult + consultant  Example  Martin should be content.  He will be paid a great deal of money for acting as Steinbrenner’s chief consultant, instead of chief insultant, for the next three years.  —“Billy’s Exile Tastes Great—To Hear Him Tell It,” The Miami Herald, January 11, 1984  https://wordspy.com/index.php?word=insultant  Example  Dogbert the business insultant at http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-10-10

President Donald Trump signed the Music Modernization Act on October 11, 2018  passing into law landmark copyright reform that Nashville songwriters have battled to pass for many years.  The Music Modernization Act has three main tenets:  (1)  It creates a new organization which will be in charge of the digital mechanical licensing of a song.  The new organization, run by publishers and songwriters, will be in charge of identifying copyright owners and paying them their royalties for when songs are played on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon or other streaming services.  (2)  The new law creates a new standard for setting digital royalty rates for songwriters and publishers, implementing the more favorable free market value standard, which advocates say will increase digital royalty payouts to working songwriters.  (3)  The legislation closes the loophole which allowed digital radio companies to not pay artists and record labels royalties for songs recorded prior to 1972.  Nate Rau https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2018/10/11/trump-alongside-kid-rock-signs-music-modernization-streaming-act-into-law/1599350002/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1968  October 12, 2018