In the early days of boating, before ships had rudders on their centerlines, boats were controlled using a steering oar.  Most sailors were right handed, so the steering oar was placed over or through the right side of the stern.  Sailors began calling the right side the steering side, which soon became "starboard" by combining two Old English words:  stéor (meaning "steer") and bord (meaning "the side of a boat").  As the size of boats grew, so did the steering oar, making it much easier to tie a boat up to a dock on the side opposite the oar.  This side became known as larboard, or "the loading side."  Over time, larboard—too easily confused with starboard—was replaced with port.  After all, this was the side that faced the port, allowing supplies to be ported aboard by porters.  https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/port-starboard.html 

 “Jink” first appeared in Scots dialect in the 18th century as a verb meaning “to move with a sudden quick motion,” specifically “to wheel or fling about while dancing.”  The origin of “jink” is thought to be onomatopoeic or “echoic,” meaning that the sound of the word itself is evocative of the quick, sharp action of “jinking.”  Today “jink” as a verb is used to mean “to make a quick evasive move; to dodge a pursuer,” and is used primarily in sports (particularly rugby) and aeronautics, where a fighter pilot may “jink” (turn suddenly) to throw off a pursuing aircraft.  The “jinks” in “high jinks,” meaning “playful, rowdy activity” or “disruptive pranks or unruly behavior” comes from a slightly different Scots dialect sense of “jink” as a noun meaning “game” or “prank.”  Apparently “high jinks” in the 16th century was a drinking game (at the time also known as “high pranks”) in which the loser in a throw of dice had to perform a silly task (or drink a certain quantity of alcohol).  By the mid-19th century, “high jinks” in standard English had come to mean “lively merrymaking” and “boisterous pranks” in general.  After tracing that convoluted evolutionary path of “jinks,” it’s a relief to report that “jinx,” meaning “curse or spell,” is a completely unrelated word with no connection to “jink.”  As a matter of fact, “jinx,” which first appeared in American English in 1911, is actually a misspelling of the much older word “jynx,” which dates back to the 1600s (and is rooted in the Greek “iynx”).  This older form “jynx” was another name for a kind of European woodpecker also known as a “wryneck” for its habit of twisting its head around when disturbed.  http://www.word-detective.com/2009/01/jinks-jinx/ 

12 Christmas Dishes in Traditional Russian Cuisine  https://www.topuniversities.com/where-to-study/europe/russia/12-christmas-dishes-traditional-russian-cuisine 

Milk pudding (Muhallabiyeh)  http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/milk-pudding-muhallabiyeh-2/ 

A longevity peach is a steamed Chinese dessert bun.  Made of soft white dough and filled with lotus seed paste or custard, it is often served at birthday celebrations, especially for the elderly, as a blessing for a long life.  Longevity peaches are shaped and colored like peaches with a creased line and a pink-red wash.  Since real peaches are not always in season, peach buns are a way of serving up a meaningful birthday wish any month of the year.  The link between peaches and longevity comes from The Queen Mother of the West, a Chinese goddess in the Taoist tradition.  Also known as Xiwangmu, she grows the peaches of immortality in her garden on the mythical Kunlun mountain.  Every three thousand years, she gathers together immortals to eat the ripe peaches so that they will become young again.  The peach appears often in art and sculpture in China and nearby countries.  Longevity peaches are usually quite small, but occasionally large birthday cakes can be shaped like peaches.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/longevity-peach-bun 

THE COMPUTER’S FIRST CHRISTMAS CARD  Edwin Morgan wrote this concrete poem.  He got to record it years later--not a straight reading but augmented by glitches and bleeps by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop--and re-titled it The Computer’s First Christmas Carol.  https://howdoesthatonegoagain.tumblr.com/post/14661140171/edwin-morgan-the-computers-first-christmas-card/amp 

It's odd to see a Best New Restaurants in America list for 2020, as many restaurants have been struggling and continue to struggle through an incredibly difficult time due to COVID-19 and changing restrictions.  It seems like we should cheer on any restaurant that's been able to survive a global pandemic, not just focusing on which ones are "the best."  But on the other hand, the hard work and creativity that these restaurants have put in to be outstanding does deserve recognition.  Esquire published its list of 23 Best New Restaurants in America November 17, 2020.  At the top of Esquire's list, coming in at No. 1, is a Southern Thai restaurant in Philadelphia that's also garnered praise and recognition from other publications this year.  Kalaya, from Chef Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon, opened in the spring of 2019 at 764 S. Ninth St. and quickly became a local favorite.  Sinead Cummings  https://www.phillyvoice.com/kalaya-philly-best-new-restaurant-2020-list-esquire/  Find Esquire’s 2020 best new restaurants list at https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a34648683/best-new-restaurants-in-america-2020/ 

November 21, 2020  Jose Feliciano is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his bilingual Christmas classic ‘Feliz Navidad’ by releasing a new version featuring Jason Mraz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shaggy and more.  Pop balladeer Michael Bolton, Latin boy band CNCO, country duo Big & Rich, and Mexican singer and actress Patricia Manterola are among the 30 acts who teamed up remotely for the reimagined track, which is being released by Amazon Music.  The collaboration of artists from different backgrounds and musical genres reflects Feliciano’s original goals for the song.  “The idea of ‘Feliz Navidad’ was to try and unite the people,” the nine-time Grammy winner said.  “My thought when I wrote the song was that it didn’t matter what language you were singing in, the feeling of Christmas is privy to all of us.”  The 75-year-old Puerto Rican singer-songwriter says that back in 1970, he never imagined the song’s catchy but minimalist lyrics—just six words in Spanish, 14 in English—would become a holiday standard.  The tune has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 repeatedly over the years, and become one of the most played and recorded Christmas songs around the world.  It was part of Feliciano’s 1970 self-titled holiday album, later renamed ‘Feliz Navidad.’  He says ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘The First Noel’ served as inspirations.  https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/music/jose-feliciano-celebrates-50-years-of-hit-christmas-song-feliz-navidad-1.75410701 

Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad  December 23, 2006   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMtuVP8Mj4o  3:11

José Feliciano - Feliz Navidad with Daryl Hall (Live From Daryl's House)  October 29, 2012  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwbBkGasQg  5:09 

Oh,Uh . . . It’s a shelf on an elf.  (Bookcase falls on top of elf.)  Mother Goose & Grimm 12/20/20 comic strip

Jack Frost  A personification of frosty weather or winter.  From Jack (“placeholder or conventional name for any man”) + frost.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Jack_Frost#English  In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on December 21, 2020 according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2300  December 21, 2020