James Randi (1928-2020) hated tricking people.  As The Amazing Randi,  inspired by his hero, Harry Houdini, he pulled off amazing escape acts and sleight of hand maneuvers faster than you could see—but it was all in service of proving that he wasn't magical in any sense of the word.  He hated tricking people so much he made a career out of debunking so-called psychics, faith healers, and fortune tellers of all sorts.  "I can't do real magic," said Randi in a 1987 Fresh Air interview.  "I think there's more magic in the opening of a morning glory than anything I or any charlatans in history has ever done, is doing, or will ever do."  ANDREW LIMBONG   https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/926717787/amazing-escape-artist-magician-and-skeptic-james-randi-dead-at-92 

Sodas, Sundaes and Smiles since 1900   Zaharakos is an enchanting place with an enticing menu, magnificent music and memories to be made!  When three brothers from Greece opened Zaharakos (Zuh-HARE-uh-koes) as a candy store in Columbus, Indiana, they opened what has become one of the finest ice cream parlors in America.  Step back in time to the elegant icons of years gone by—music from the 1908 Welte orchestrion; a Tiffany-style lamp/carbonated water dispenser; a spectacular 50-foot backbar of mahogany, stained glass and mirrors; the largest collection of pre-1900 soda fountains on public display; and so much more.  The restoration in 2009 added a Museum Room, Soda Fountain Library, Mechanical Music Library, Green River Banquet Room, and the Crystal Parlor—a late 1800s Victorian-style suite.  Thank you, Muse reader!  https://www.zaharakos.com/   

GUIDE TO THE ARCHITECTURE OF COLUMBUS, INDIANA  This page contains photos and background information on the architecture–there are over seventy sites in this guide, in a small city of only 46,000!  You’ll find some of the world’s most notable architects and some of their very best work, incredibly, in Columbus, Indiana.  Thank you, Muse reader!  https://columbus.in.us/guide-to-the-architecture/ 

Very little is known about Rick Barton (1928–1992), who, between 1958 and 1962, created hundreds of drawings of striking originality.  His subjects range from the intimacy of his room to the architecture of Mexican cathedrals, and from the gathering places of Beat-era San Francisco to the sinuous contours of plants.  Drawing almost exclusively in pen or brush and ink, he captured his subjects in a web of line that was sometimes simple and economical, but more often complex and kaleidoscopic.  With the exception of small displays in cafés and bookshops in the 1950s and ‘60s, this exhibition of sixty drawings, two accordion-fold sketchbooks, and five printed works, is the first time Barton’s art is being seen by the public through September 11, 2022 at the Morgan Library.  Find location and hours at  https://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/rick-barton#:~:text=Very%20little%20is%20known%20about,the%20sinuous%20contours%20of%20plants.   

August 31, 2022   LAFAYETTE, La. — The culture war inside America's libraries is playing out in the monthly meetings of the Lafayette Library Board of Control.  Conservative activists are demanding the removal of controversial books, librarians are being falsely accused of pushing porn, and free speech defenders are crying censorship.  Lafayette Parish is by no means unique.  Across America, fractious debates over free speech in public and school libraries have turned these hushed realms into combat zones.  Cops are regularly called to remove rowdy protestors.  Texas leads the country in book bans.  In the towns of Katy and Granbury, uniformed peace officers came into school libraries to investigate books with sexual content after criminal complaints from citizens.  And the school district in Keller, Texas, pulled 41 challenged books off its shelves, including a graphic adaptation of "Anne Frank's Diary," "Gender Queer:  A Memoir," and the Bible.  Last month, a middle-school librarian named Amanda Jones stood up and spoke out against censorship at a meeting of the library board where she lives and works in Livingston Parish, near Baton Rouge.  "The citizens of our parish consist of taxpayers who are white, black, brown, gay, straight, Christian, non-Christian—people from all backgrounds and walks of life," she said in prepared remarks.  "No one portion of the community should dictate what the rest of the citizens have access to."  She concluded, "Hate and fear disguised as moral outrage have no place in Livingston Parish."  Last week, Amanda Jones sued Michael Lunsford, Citizens for a New Louisiana and a local individual she says is trolling her.  The lawsuit asks for a state district court judge to issue a temporary restraining order to stop what it calls the harassment and defamation.  Meanwhile, with their successes in Lafayette, Lunsford's group plans to expand its campaign to purge library books and programs that it finds offensive in Louisiana's other 62 parishes.  JOHN BURNETT  https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1119752817/local-libraries-have-become-a-major-political-and-cultural-battleground   

Crime writer extraordinaire Val McDermid, the current living “Queen of Crime,” has been warned off the title by the estate of Agatha Christie which, according to The Independent, has been busy writing letters.  Despite having had positive interactions with the Christie estate, [McDermid’s] publishers reportedly received a letter from the late writer’s representatives due to the “Queen of Crime” moniker being used in reference to McDermid, instead of Christie.  And, per McDermid, who was speaking at a recent panel at the Edinburgh International Book Festival:  “They said ‘you must cease and desist referring to Val McDermid as the Queen of Crime.  We have trademarked this expression.  If you call Val McDermid as the Queen of Crime, you will be in breach of copyright and this trademark.’”  https://lithub.com/who-is-the-real-queen-of-crime-agatha-christies-estate-sends-a-stern-letter-to-val-mcdermid   

tar with the same brush  verb  (third-person singular simple present tars with the same brush, present participle tarring with the same brush, simple past and past participle tarred with the same brush) (transitive, figuratively) To characterize (someone or something) using the same undesirable attribute, especially unjustly. quotations ▼synonyms ▲  Synonyms:  paint with the same brush, (dated) tar with the same stick  

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  2559  September 2, 2022