Eldorado, originally, the legendary ruler of an Indian town near Bogotá, who was believed to plaster his naked body with gold dust during festivals, then plunge into Lake Guatavita to wash off the dust after the ceremonies; his subjects threw jewels and golden objects into the lake.  Spanish conquistadores heard the tale before 1530, and one of them reported that he had visited Eldorado himself in a city called Omagua.  In 1538 Spaniards from the Caribbean and from Peru and Germans from Venezuela converged on the Bogotá highlands in search of the “gilded man.” No trace of him was found, but the area remained under Spanish rule.  As the search continued into the Orinoco and Amazon valleys, Eldorado came to mean an entire fabulous country of gold, with legendary cities named Manoa and Omagua. In this quest, Gonzalo Pizarro crossed the Andes from Quito (1539), Francisco de Orellana sailed down the Napo and the Amazon (1541–42), and Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada explored eastward from Bogotá (1569–72).   Sir Walter Raleigh searched for Manoa in the Orinoco lowlands (1595), while Spaniards sought Omagua nearby.  In 1603 the Portuguese Pêro Coelho de Sousa explored northward from Pernambuco, and the golden city of Eldorado was shown on maps of Brazil and the Guianas for years thereafter.  Eldorado was only one of the many mythical regions of great riches—Cíbola, Quivira, the City of the Caesars, and Otro Méjico being among the others.  The search for these led to the rapid exploration and conquest of much of the Americas by Spaniards and others.  Since then, Eldorado has come to mean any place where wealth can be quickly and easily gained.  The name was given to towns in Latin America and the United States and to a California county.  The story is often mentioned in literature, as in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Voltaire’s Candide.  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eldorado-legendary-country      

 

Frank Sinatra said of actor Robert Mitchum, "For anyone who's not a professional musician, he knows more about music, from Bach to Brubeck, than any man I've ever known."   Mitchum's voice was often used instead of that of a professional singer when his character sang in his films.  Notable productions featuring Mitchum's own singing voice included Pursued, Rachel and the Stranger, One Minute to Zero, The Night of the Hunter, The Sundowners, and Maria's Lovers.   He sang the title song to Young Billy Young and River of No Return.   Mitchum recorded two albums.  After hearing traditional calypso music and meeting artists such as Mighty Sparrow and Lord Melody while filming Fire Down Below and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison in the Caribbean islands of Tobago, he recorded Calypso–is like so . . . .   On the album, released through Capitol Records in March 1957, he emulated the calypso sound and style, even adopting the style's unique pronunciations and slang.  A year later, he recorded "The Ballad of Thunder Road", a song he had written for the film Thunder Road.  The country-style song became a modest hit for Mitchum, reaching number 62 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in September 1958.   Although Mitchum continued to use his singing voice in his film work, he waited until 1967 to record his follow-up record, That Man, Robert Mitchum, Sings.  The album, released by Nashville-based Monument Records, took him further into country music and featured songs similar to "The Ballad of Thunder Road".   "Little Old Wine Drinker Me", the first single, was a top-10 hit on country radio, reaching number nine there, and crossed over into mainstream radio, where it peaked at number 96.  Its follow-up, "You Deserve Each Other", also charted on the Billboard Country Singles chart.  Mitchum was nominated for an Academy of Country Music Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist in 1968.     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mitchum   

Balderdash  noun 

1590s, of obscure origin despite much 19c. conjecture; in early use "a jumbled mix of liquors" (milk and beer, beer and wine, etc.); by 1670s as "senseless jumble of words."  Perhaps from dash and the first element perhaps cognate with Danish balder "noise, clatter" (see boulder).  "But the word may be merely one of the numerous popular formations of no definite elements, so freely made in the Elizabethan period" [Century Dictionary].   https://www.etymonline.com/word/balderdash     

Historically, the name Royd can be associated with the geographical features of England, particularly in regions where land clearing was common.  It appears in various place names and surnames throughout England, indicating its significance in the context of land ownership and rural life.  Old English: 'red' or 'ruddy'; English: 'royal'.  The name has been documented in historical records since the medieval period, with references found in texts from the 12th century onward. https://parentingpatch.com/baby-names/Royd/  Ravenroyd, a medieval house once lived in by the Muser’s ancestors, is still standing.   

On October 24: 

1590 – John White, the governor of the second Roanoke Colony, returns to England after an unsuccessful search for the "lost" colonists.

1885 – The Russian ship Dmitry ran aground in Whitby, an incident that inspired the arrival of Count Dracula to England in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel (cover pictured).

1929 – On "Black Thursday", the New York Stock Exchange lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading, marking the beginning of the Great Depression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_24    

October 24, 2025