Credit cards and debit cards typically look almost identical, with 16-digit card numbers, expiration dates, magnetic strips, and EMV chips.  Both can make it easy and convenient to make purchases in stores or online, with one key difference.  Debit cards allow you to spend money by drawing on funds you have deposited at the bank.  Credit cards allow you to borrow money from the card issuer up to a certain limit to purchase items or withdraw cash.  https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050214/credit-vs-debit-cards-which-better.asp   

In 1912, two young Cincinnati electrical engineers, Daniel O'Conor and Herbert Faber, discovered that high-pressure plastic resins could replace the mineral mica in insulation material for electrical parts.  How did the name “Formica” come to be?  O'Conor and Faber needed a substitute "for" mica, so they swapped in the plastic resins, which led to the company name–you guessed it–Formica.  The material was patented in 1913, and they started their own business.  In 2013, Formica celebrated its 100th birthday and a new tagline:  Formica^®.  For Real.  https://www.formica.com/en-us/articles/inspiration/history-of-the-formica-brand    

An obi (帯) is a belt of varying size and shape worn with both traditional Japanese clothing and uniforms for Japanese martial arts styles.  Originating as a simple thin belt in Heian period Japan, the obi developed over time into a belt with a number of different varieties, with a number of different sizes and proportions, lengths, and methods of tying.  The obi, which once did not differ significantly in appearance between men and women, also developed into a greater variety of styles for women than for men.  Despite the kimono having been at one point and continuing to appear to be held shut by the obi, many modern obi are too wide and stiff to function in this way, with a series of ties known as koshihimo, worn underneath the obi, used to keep the kimono closed instead.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obi_(sash)   

shale  noun   a type of soft, gray rock, usually formed from clay that has become hard, that breaks easily into thin layers   https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/shale    

Zelig is a 1983 American satirical mockumentary comedy film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen as Leonard Zelig, a nondescript enigma, who, apparently out of his desire to fit in and be liked, unwittingly takes on the characteristics of strong personalities around him.  The film, presented as a documentary, recounts his period of intense celebrity during the 1920s, including analyses by contemporary intellectuals.  The film received critical acclaim and was nominated for numerous awards, including the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Costume Design.  Zelig was photographed and narrated in the style of 1920s black-and-white newsreels, which are interwoven with archival footage from the era and re-enactments of real historical events.  Color segments from the present day include interviews of real cultural figures, such as Saul Bellow and Susan Sontag, and fictional ones.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelig   

The film Zelig premiered in the United States on 15 July 1983.    

Brood XIII 17-year cicadas emerged in summer 2024 in Wisconsin for the first time since 2007.  Areas across the state, such as Lake Geneva and the Driftless area, were overtaken by hundreds of chirping insects.  While Brood XIII cicadas spend most of their lives underground, once every 17 years, the species emerges as adults to breed.  The species' adult life only lasts about four to six weeks.  The bobbleheads are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum's online store at https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/2024/06/21/cicada-bobblehead-celebrates-the-brood-xii-cicadas-in-wisconsin/74138441007/   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2839  July 19, 2024