The D'Oliveira affair was a prolonged political and sporting controversy relating to the scheduled 1968–69 tour of South Africa by the England cricket team, who were officially representing the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).  The point of contention was whether or not the England selectors would include Basil D'Oliveira, a mixed-race South African player who had represented England in Test cricket since 1966, having moved there six years earlier.  With South Africa under apartheid, the potential inclusion by England of a non-white South African in their tour party became a political issue.  A Cape Coloured of Indian and Portuguese ancestry, D'Oliveira left South Africa primarily because the era's apartheid legislation seriously restricted his career prospects on racial grounds and barred him from the all-white Test team.  He qualified for Worcestershire County Cricket Club through residency in 1964 and first played for England two years later.  South Africa's Prime Minister B. J. Vorster sought to appease international opinion by publicly indicating that D'Oliveira's inclusion would be acceptable, but secretly did all he could to prevent it.  D'Oliveira was omitted from the England team for most of 1968 amid a slump in his batting form, but he marked his return in late August with a score of 158 runs in England's final test match of the year, against Australia at The Oval.  Days later, the MCC selectors omitted D'Oliveira from the team to tour South Africa; they insisted that this was based entirely on cricketing merit, but many in Britain voiced apprehension and there was a public outcry.  After Tom Cartwright's withdrawal because of injury on 16 September, the MCC chose D'Oliveira as a replacement, prompting accusations from Vorster and other South African politicians that the selection was politically motivated.  Attempts to find a compromise followed, but these led nowhere.  The MCC announced the tour's cancellation on 24 September.  Sporting boycotts of South Africa were already under way by 1968, but the D'Oliveira controversy was the first to make a serious impact on South African cricket.  The South African Cricket Board of Control announced its intention to remove racial barriers in South African cricket in 1969, and formally integrated the sport in 1976. Meanwhile, the boycott movement escalated sharply, leading to South Africa's near-complete isolation from international cricket from 1971, though the country continued to play international rugby into the 1980s, twice allowing mixed-race New Zealand rugby teams into the country during the 1970s.  D'Oliveira played for England until 1972, and for Worcestershire until 1979.  South Africa returned to international cricket in 1991, soon after apartheid began to be dismantled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Oliveira_affair

Cheese Cake adapted from Mountain Top Bakery's recipe

3/4 lb. cream cheese

1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 min.  Cool and refrigerate.  

If desired, add crust and topping of your choice.

7Up was invented in October 1929 by Charles Leiper Grigg, a man who ten years earlier had formulated a carbonated orange-flavored drink ("Whistle").  In 1920, Grigg had produced the orange-flavored soda "Howdy" that was unable to seriously challenge Orange Crush, the leader in the field.  The "uncola" wasn't known as 7Up for the first few years of its existence.  It was originally christened "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda."  In his formulation, Grigg had included lithia, a naturally-occurring substance found in minute quantities in bubbling waters fed by underground springs.  (Lithia is better known as lithium, a drug used to even out mood swings.)  Grigg had the notion that the chemical's presumed healthful aspects would be a selling point with the soda-buying public, hence the "Lithiated" in the name.  As for "Bib-Label," it was Howdy Corporation's intent to use paper labels of the sort that could be dropped over the necks of otherwise unlabeled bottles.   The unwieldy name was soon morphed to "7Up Lithiated Lemon Soda," and in 1936 the soda was officially re-dubbed "7Up."  That same year, the Howdy Corporation became the Seven-Up Company.  As to why "7Up," C.L. Grigg never explained how he came up with the cryptic name.  Several theories exist about its origin, one being that7Up was the product of seven ingredients.  (Which, in a way, was at least true with regard to the classes of ingredients in that original formulation:  sugar, carbonated water, essences of lemon and lime oils, citric acid, sodium citrate, and lithium citrate.)  http://www.snopes.com/business/names/7up.asp

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network, and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.  In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere.  This day was later sanctioned in a Proclamation written by McConnell and signed by Secretary General U Thant at the United Nations.  A month later a separate Earth Day was founded by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in first held on April 22, 1970.  Nelson was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award in recognition of his work.  While this April 22 Earth Day was focused on the United States, an organization launched by Denis Hayes, who was the original national coordinator in 1970, took it international in 1990 and organized events in 141 nations.  Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day

EARSHOT  noun   the range within which one may hear a person's unaided voice  first known use:   1607  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/earshot

EYESHOT  noun   the range of the eye  first known use:  1599  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eyeshot

Celebrate National Library Week 2015, April 12-18, 2015, with the theme "Unlimited possibilities @ your library®."  First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.  Best-selling author David Baldacci will serve as Honorary Chair of National Library Week 2015.  Baldacci’s novels have been translated into more than 45 languages and have been adapted for film and television.  Over 110 million copies of his books are in print worldwide.  In addition, Baldacci is involved with several philanthropic organizations, including his family’s Wish You Well Foundation®, which fosters and promotes the development and expansion of literacy and educational programs.  Celebrations during National Library Week include:   National Bookmobile Day, Wednesday, April 15, 2015, a day to recognize the contributions of our nation's bookmobiles and the dedicated professionals who make quality bookmobile outreach possible in their communities; and Celebrate Teen Literature Day, Thursday, April 16, 2015, aimed at raising awareness among the general public that young adult literature is a vibrant, growing genre with much to offer today's teens.  http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek

Q.  How do you pronounce David Baldacci's last name.  A.  Ball-DAH-chee.   Q.  What authors does David Baldacci admire?  A.  David admires many of the traditional southern scribes:  Flannery O’Connor, Lee Smith, Eudora Welty, Harper Lee, Walker Percy and Truman Capote are among his favorites.  He says, “Since college I have been reading and re-reading works by Anne Tyler and John Irving.  I’ve also been reading Graham Greene and Patricia Highsmith and am a big fan of David McCullough.  And I am never far from a well-read copy of Mark Twain.”  http://davidbaldacci.com/faq/#one

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1284  April 15, 2015  On this date in 1755, Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London.  On this date in 1802, William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy saw a "long belt" of daffodils, inspiring the former to pen I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.  On this date in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth.  On this date in 1912, the British passenger liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg.

Federal administrative law primarily concerns the powers and procedures of federal administering agencies in relation to the public (but usually not in criminal matters).  It is Congress that grants general and specific powers to various federal agencies through enabling legislation as well the general laws for their fair and orderly administration.  These executive powers are often quasi-legislative in nature (via rules and regulations applicable to a class of persons or organizations) or quasi-judicial in nature (via orders, adjudications and decisions involving particular persons or organizations).  The given powers are also subject to judicial review and interpretation.  As industry and technology grew over the past 125 years Congress deemed it appropriate to delegate the details of administering laws to protect the public or enhance fairness to executive departments or independent regulatory agencies.  Unlike the heads of executive departments and agencies the heads of independent regulatory agencies generally do not serve at the pleasure of the President or have their rules and legislative recommendations reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) [see 44 USC 3502(5) and OMB Cir. A-19].  The first independent regulatory agency was the Interstate Commerce Commission established in 1887.  Find links to agencies, laws and resources at http://www.llsdc.org/federal-administrative-law-a-brief-overview

The son of immigrants, poet and novelist Amit Majmudar grew up in the Cleveland area.  He earned a BS at the University of Akron and an MD at Northeast Ohio Medical University, completing his medical residency at the University Hospitals of Cleveland.  In his precise, often formally driven poems, Majmudar explores themes of identity, history, spiritual faith, and mortality.  In an interview with the Kenyon Review, Majmudar stated, “My credo comes from Eliot quoting the Upanishads in his notes to ‘What the Thunder Said’:  Da, dayadhvam, damyata. Give, sympathize, control.  That is both the art of life and the art of poetry.  It seems fitting to me that they should be identical.”  Majmudar is the author of the poetry collections 0˚, 0˚ (2009), which was a finalist for a Poetry Society of America’s Norma Faber First Book Award, and Heaven and Earth (2011), which poet A.E. Stallings chose for a Donald Justice prize.  Majmudar has also published the novels Partitions (2011) and The Abundance (2013).  His poetry has been featured in several anthologies, including Best of the Best American Poetry 1988–2012 (2013, edited by Robert Pinsky) and The Norton Introduction to Literature (2012, 11th edition, edited by Kelly J. Mays).  He has also contributed essays to the Kenyon Review blog, the New York Times, and the New York Review of Books.  Majmudar lives in Dublin, Ohio, and works as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist.  Link to poems and articles at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/amit-majmudar

A cousin of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, "Little Edie" Beale was a socialite and model.  Beale's mother, Edith Bouvier Beale, suffered a series of family and financial problems so the impoverished mother and daughter withdrew to their estate which fell into extreme disrepair.  A 1975 documentary entitled Grey Gardens made the pair into cult figures and fashion icons.  In the fall of 1973, filmmakers David and Albert Maysles started shooting their documentary on Edie Beale and her mother.  The film, which was released in 1975 to wide acclaim, showed a Grey Gardens that had virtually reverted back to its pre-cleanup squalor.  For the next two decades, Edie Beale and her mother became increasingly reclusive, rarely venturing outside their property.  Grey Gardens itself continued to slide downward, too, becoming the domain of stray cats—later estimates would put the count as high as 300—and raccoons, both of which Edie Beale took care to feed on a regular basis.  In one memorable photograph, Edie Beale stands in front of a mound of discarded cat food cans measuring several feet in height.  The exterior of the property changed as well; unkempt trees, shrubs and vines closed in around the house.  In the fall of 1971 County officials, armed with a search warrant, descended on Grey Gardens.  They informed Edie Beale and her mother that their home was "unfit for human habitation" and threatened eviction.  The story, and the close family connection the two women had with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, caught fire with the press.  Eventually, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis stepped in with her checkbook, paying $25,000 to have the place cleaned up—on the condition that her aunt and cousin could remain in their home.  Amid the trash and the cats, Little Edie paraded around in high heels, dancing in front of the camera as she lamented her missed chances at true fame.  Edie Beale and her mother's life together inspired a Broadway musical that earned three 2007 Tony awards, as well as a 2009 HBO production starring Drew Barrymore as Little Edie and Jessica Lange as Big Edie.  In the end, the 1975 documentary, which in 2003 Entertainment Weekly ranked as one of the top 50 cult films of all time, gave Edie Beale and her mother the kind of fame they'd always longed for.  http://www.biography.com/people/edith-bouvier-beale-435518  

See Entertainment Weekly's list of top 50 cult films at http://www.listal.com/list/entertainment-weeklys-top-50

Rangoli is an Indian traditional or folk art, which is generally created on the floor on some festive occasions.  Rangoli is named differently in different Indian states like in South India it is called Kolam, Madana is Rajasthan, Chowkpurna is the name of rangoli in Northern India, Alpana in Bengal, in Bihar it is called Aripana.  Rangoli is a Sanskrit word, signifying a creative expression of art by means of colors.  In ancient times, beautiful rangoli patterns and designs were made on the entrances of Indian homes for beautifying them and welcoming the guests. Besides a creative expression of art, they were also considered a symbol of good-luck.  http://www.diwalifestival.org/the-tradition-of-rangoli.html  

See also http://webneel.com/rangoli-designs

"Runcible" is a nonsense word invented by Edward Lear.  The word appears (as an adjective) several times in his works, most famously as the "runcible spoon" used by the Owl and the Pussycat.   The word "runcible" was apparently one of Lear's favourite inventions, appearing in several of his works in reference to a number of different objects.  In his verse self-portrait, The Self-Portrait of the Laureate of Nonsense, it is noted that "he weareth a runcible hat".  Other poems include mention of a "runcible cat", a "runcible goose" (in the sense of "silly person"), and a "runcible wall".  See a list of the word runcible used in popular culture at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runcible

Grand Central has 34 miles of track going down seven levels below the street.  The seven levels funnel into 26 main rail arteries.  The levels beneath Grand Central are the deepest in Manhattan.  The Long Island Railroad is building a link that will be even deeper--16 stories down, not ready till 2019.   Terminal City, a novel by Linda Fairstein

Each of the four clock faces on the clock over of the information booth  at Grand Central are made from opal, and both Sotheby's and Christie's have estimated the value to be between US$10 million and US$20 million.  Within the marble and brass pagoda lies a "secret" door that conceals a spiral staircase leading to the lower level information booth.  Outside the station, the clock in front of the Grand Central facade facing 42nd Street contains the world's largest example of Tiffany glass and is surrounded by sculptures carved by the John Donnelly Company of Minerva, Hermes and Mercury.  For the terminal building French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan created what was at the time of its unveiling (1914) considered to be the largest sculptural group in the world.  It was 48 feet (14.6 meters) high, the clock in the center having a circumference of 13 feet (4 meters).  See many pictures at http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID031.htm

Grand Central has been featured in many films, including Superman (1978), Hugo, Men in Black, The Fisher King, North by Northwest, and Madagascar.  Find list of over 40 films featuring scenes in Grand Central at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal

Sherman Alexie's prize-winning, autobiographical novel of school life, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ranked No. 1 on the American Library Association's annual list of the 10 books receiving the most complaints from parents, educators and others.  Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis was second followed by the picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin, Peter Parnell's and Justin Richardson's And Tango Makes Three.  Others on the list include Toni Morrison's debut novel, The Bluest Eye; Khaled Hosseini's million-selling novel The Kite Runner and Jaycee Dugard's best-selling memoir about her kidnapping, A Stolen Life.  The remaining books cited by the library association were Robie Harris' It's Perfectly Normal; Saga, by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples; Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Raina Telgemeier's Drama.  http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/library-group-here-10-books-most-complaints-6284397

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1283  April 13, 2015  On this date in 1742, George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah made its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.  

On this date in 1870, the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded.

The four railroads in the Monopoly game are:  Reading Railroad (pronounced RED-ing, not REED-ing), Pennsylvania Railroad, B. & O. Railroad (did not serve Atlantic City), and Short Line (shortened form of Shore Fast Line).  http://monopoly.wikia.com/wiki/Railroads  

A different explanation for Short Line:  The Monopoly game's Short Line isn't named for a real-life railroad.  Although the game's inventor is reputed to have had a small inter-urban tram line in mind when he named the game property, the term short line applies to any independent railroad with track covering a short distance or small region.  While many such railroads have been bought by larger concerns or simply gone out of business, they are far from extinct.  Today the non-profit American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) has over 400 member railroads which together operate 29% of the railroad tracks in America.  http://modeltrains.about.com/od/railroads/tp/monopoly_railroads.htm

Since the early 19th century we have used 'read the riot act' as a figurative phrase to describe attempts to calm groups of rowdies.  Had we been 'reading the riot act' in 1715 we would have noticed capital letters.  At that date there was a real Riot Act and it used to be read in public.  In English law the control of unruly citizens has usually been the responsibility of local magistrates.  Any group of twelve or more that the authorities didn't like the look of could be deemed a 'riotous and tumultuous assembly' and arrested if they didn't disperse within an hour of the Riot Act being read to them by a magistrate.  This seems a little harsh, but in 18th century England the government was fearful of Jacobite mobs who threatened to rise up and overthrow the Hanoverian George I.  The fear was well-founded, as supporters of the deposed Stuarts did actually invade in 1715 and again in 1745.  The 'Riot Act' was passed by the British government in 1714 and came into force in 1715.  http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/read-the-riot-act.html

English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian.  See 25 maps and charts that explain how English got started and evolved into the differently accented languages spoken today at

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521/25-maps-that-explain-english

“Refried” is a misnomer.  Refritos means “well fried”, not “refried”, though you can certainly reheat the beans as you go through a batch.  Before frying them though you’ll need to cook them, in water, to soften them.  Elise Bauer  Find a recipe using pinto beans at http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/refried_beans/

Underneath Grand Central Terminal, there are secret networks of underground tracks, steam-pipe tunnels, and storage areas.  Hidden in these underground depths is a train platform with a secret entrance and an elevator straight up to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt reportedly used this as his private entry into New York City – a way to get from his train to the hotel without being bothered by reporters.  Unfortunately, you can’t currently see this secret passage for yourself.  The door to the secret elevator is welded shut.  The ceiling over the Main Concourse, with its famous mural of the stars, is one of Grand Central Terminal’s most famous features.  However, eagle-eyed visitors will notice that the zodiac on the ceiling is depicted backwards.  Some have speculated that this was a mistake by the artist, Paul Helleu.  The real reason, according to official documents, is that the painter was inspired by a medieval manuscript that showed the heavens as they would have been seen from outside the celestial sphere.  The famous ceiling has another, more recent, secret.  If you look carefully, you will see a patch of dark on the carefully-restored blue of the mural.  This patch shows the color of the ceiling before restoration. It was left as a reminder of how much work was done.  http://manhattan.about.com/od/historyandlandmarks/a/secretgrandcent.htm

The Biltmore Hotel opened as part of Grand Central's Terminal City in 1913.  Architectural firm Warren and Wetmore designed the hotel, which had its own arrival corridor within Grand Central.  There was also a private elevator that went directly to the Presidential Suite.  Italian gardens decorated the rooftop between the north and south towers, and in the winter, the gardens were converted into an ice skating rink.  In the 1980s, its owner gutted and stripped the hotel to its steel skeleton, even though it was landmarked.  It was rebuilt as the bland 28-story 335 Madison Avenue, formerly known as the Bank of America Plaza.  Jessica Dailey  See pictures of the Biltmore and nine other "grandest forgotten"  New York City hotels at http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/06/26/remembering_nycs_grandest_forgotten_hotels_in_photos.php

Mar. 25, 2015  Releasing a first-of-its-kind survey that shows Louisville, Kentucky is losing 54,000 trees a year, Mayor Greg Fischer called for public input to help reverse the trend.  The year-long study shows that the city’s tree canopy has declined from 40 percent to 37 percent in eight years—the result of insect damage, ice storms, trees not being replaced and many other factors.  Fischer said citizen input will be combined with the results of the city’s ongoing Urban Heat Island study, which will help complement the canopy study and provide further data on the tree canopy decline.  That will lead to a citywide tree strategy and a citywide annual tree planting goal that will be announced later this fall -- in time for the peak planting season.  A depleted tree canopy leads to higher energy bills for businesses and homes, and makes the city physically hotter, which exacerbates health issues especially for the sick and elderly.  Fischer said it also makes Louisville less desirable compared to cities with greater canopies – and it affects property values.  The canopy study concludes that trees in Louisville provide $330 million in services each year to our community, including costs avoided by keeping water out of the sewers as well as removing carbon dioxide from the air.  Fischer also announced the creation of a new, non-profit group, Trees Louisville.  The new entity, which is being funded by local philanthropist Henry Heuser, will be dedicated to raising money to plant and maintain trees -- and engaging the public in encouraging tree plantings.  Fischer said there are many things citizens can do today to help, including planting a tree then reporting it on Brightside’s tree tracker count.  He also urged people to organize tree plantings for the annual Give A Day week of service, which is April 18-26.  http://louisvilleky.gov/news/study-shows-city-losing-54000-trees-yearly-mayor-seeks-public-input-reverse-decline

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled a forever stamp honoring famed author Maya Angelou on April 7, 2015.  One problem:  The quote on the stamp, “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song,” though widely attributed to Angelou, is not hers.  The Washington Post reported it actually comes from Joan Walsh Anglund’s book of poems A Cup of Sun.  “Had we known about this issue beforehand, we would have used one of (Angelou’s) many other works.   ... The sentence held great meaning for her and she is publicly identified with its popularity,” Postal Service spokesman Mark Saunders said in statement to the Post.  Jessica Wehrman 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/04/07/misquote-on-stamp-will-be-forever.html  “Yes, that’s my quote,” Anglund said from her Connecticut home.  It appears on page 15 of her book of poems “A Cup of Sun,” published in 1967.  Only the pronouns and punctuation are changed, from “he” in Anglund’s original to “it” on the stamp.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/book-author-joan-walsh-anglund-claims-angelou-quote-on-stamp/2015/04/06/62d31934-dcc8-11e4-acfe-cd057abefa9a_story.html  The Muser plans to borrow Anglund's book of poems from the public library.

Q. from one alligator to another:  Do you think golfers are easy to digest?  A.  They have a whole magazine about it.  Mother Goose and Grim comic strip  April 10, 2015

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1282  April 10, 2015  On this date in 1606, the Virginia Company of London was established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.  On this date in 1710, the Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, came into force in Great Britain.

SIDEWALK POETRY  In 2008, over 2000 poems were submitted in a St. Paul, MN project.  The annual program is called Everyday Poems for Sidewalks.  Northfield, MN started its Sidewalk Poetry Project in 2011.  Appleton, WI started its Sidewalk Poetry Program in 2014.  Robert Macias regularly stencils his writing on sidewalks and walls around Wynwood, FL.  In October 2013, Macias launched his Instagram account as a way to beam his writing to the world.  He pecked chunks of prose from a notebook on an old typewriter picked up from an antique store, then shot pictures and hit the upload button.  But Macias went viral thanks to America's reality TV princesses, the Kardashians.  In 2014, he had about 40,000 followers.  

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/how-did-rm-drakes-sidewalk-poetry-earn-a-million-followers-and-a-best-selling-book-6550058  

Read about the poetry program in Toledo, OH at http://www.toledoblade.com/Art/2015/03/20/Sidewalk-poems-an-unexpected-delight-in-Toledo-s-Old-West-End.html

In 1890 William Waldorf Astor decided to raze the family mansion on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street in Manhattan and commissioned architect Henry J. Hardenbergh (1847-1918) to build the largest, most luxurious hotel in the world.  The 13-story Waldorf Hotel, with 450 rooms, opened in 1893 and was instantly the talk of the town.  Its success inspired John Jacob Astor, William's cousin, who owned the other half of the block, to demolish his house and build an adjacent connected hotel.  The Astoria, also designed by Hardenbergh, was combined with the Waldorf in 1897 to form the Waldorf-Astoria.  Hardenbergh built many of New York's grand hotels and apartment buildings of that era, including the Dakota Apartments (1884) and the Plaza Hotel (1906).  The Waldorf-Astoria was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building.  The hotel's refined Art Deco successor soon rose on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets.  See pictures at http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON017.htm

Old Venice's Greek lemon chicken  http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-old-venices-greek-lemon-chicken/

Roasted chicken with grape sauce http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-roasted-chicken-with-grape-sauce-pollo-arrosto-con-salsa-duva/

Chicken thighs with honey, olives and oregano  http://recipes.latimes.com/recipe-chicken-thighs-with-honey-olives-and-oregano/

The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train on the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967, advertised as "The Most Famous Train in the World".  The train traveled between Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, Illinois along the railroad's "Water Level Route".  Its style was described as "spectacularly understated ... suggesting exclusivity and sophistication".  Passengers walked to the train on a crimson carpet which was rolled out in New York and Chicago and was designed for the 20th Century Limited.  "Getting the red carpet treatment" passed into the language from this memorable practice.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Limited

Catalan vault is a building technique that lays plain bricks lengthwise over the parallel wooden beams or centering to form an arch-shaped ceiling.  To create such a curvy ceiling with bricks and no framework needed, builders have to use a fast setting mortar to allow the brick to hold itself after being tapped into place.  Constructing vaults in brick was mastered by the Romans, who use arched structure to strengthen their buildings and constructions.  This technique was then improved by Catalan people with layers of thinner, lighter bricks to create a ceiling not only light but also very strong.  Up till now the technique has been widely used in buildings all over the region, for which it is named “Volta Catalana”.  Other names for this technique are Catalan arch, Catalan turn or Timbrel vault.  Catalan vaults vary depending on its purpose of use and the design of the whole construction.  The most popular Catalan vault you can see consists of small arches connected to wooden beams, called vigas in Catalan.  They are used on the ceilings of multistory buildings to form a strong structure that can bear heavy weight.  Some modern designs also replace wood with iron to reinforce the ceiling even more.  For a roof that doesn’t need to bear heavy object above, the arch will be larger and number of arch is reduced.  Barcelona’s most famous architect Gaudi frequently used the traditional Catalan vault technique to suit the constructional form of his curvy design style. The most obvious example is The School of the Sagrada Familia.  See many pictures including those of Manhattan Municipal Building, City Hall subway station and Vanderbilt Hotel in New York City, and the National Museum of Natural History's Baird auditorium in Washington, DC at http://suitelife.com/2014/05/19/catalan-vault-introduction-and-examples/

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is probably the most famous Catalan artist.  See pictures of his La Sagrada Familia, Casa Batilo, Palau Guell, Park Guell and Casa Mila at http://suitelife.com/all-about-gaudi-work-in-barcelona/

National Library Week  April 12-18, 2015  

Browse at your public library, maybe pick out a book you know nothing about and borrow it.

Quotes about libraries and reading:  The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.  Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.  (1922-2007)  American author   

Once I found out about reading I was all in favor of it.  Robert Heinlein  (1907-1988)  American novelist and short story writer   

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.  Jorge Luis Borges  (1899-1986)  Argentine poet, essayist, and short-story writer

World Book and Copyright Day  April 23, 2015  "The history of the written word is the history of humanity.  The power of books to advance individual fulfilment and to create social change is unequalled.  Intimate and yet deeply social, books provide far-reaching forms of dialogue between individuals, within communities and across time.  As Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for attending classes, said in her speech at the United Nations:  Let us pick up our books and our pens.  They are our most powerful weapons.  On World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO invites all women and men to rally around books and all those who write and produce books.  This is a day to celebrate books as the embodiment of human creativity and the desire to share ideas and knowledge, to inspire understanding and tolerance."   http://www.unesco.org/new/en/wbcd  NOTE that World Book Day was celebrated on March 5, 2015 in some countries.

April 7, 2015  An Australian court has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to hand over details of customers accused of illegally downloading a US movie.  In a landmark move, the Federal Court told six firms to divulge names and addresses of those who downloaded The Dallas Buyers Club.  The case was lodged by the US company that owns the rights to the 2013 movie.  The court said the data could only be used to secure "compensation for the infringements" of copyright.  In the case, which was heard in February, the applicants said they had identified 4,726 unique IP addresses from which their film was shared online using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network.  They said this had been done without their permission.  Once they received the names of account holders, the company would then have to prove copyright infringement had taken place.  The judgment http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2015/2015fca0317 comes amidst a crackdown by the Australian government on internet piracy.  Australians are among the world's most regular illegal downloaders of digital content.  The delay in release dates for new films and TV shows, and higher prices in Australia for digital content, have prompted many Australians to find surreptitious ways to watch new shows.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-32200681

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1281  April 8, 2015  On this date in 1829, the Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.  On this date in 1913, the 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, became law.

"Book Drum is the perfect companion to the books we love, bringing them to life with immersive pictures, videos, maps and music.  Our unique book profiles include illustrated page-by-page notes, mapped settings, a glossary, a summary, an author biography and a review.”  http://www.bookdrum.com/   Under read a profile, click on browse the whole collection.  Click on a selected title, then click on one of the options such as bookmarks, summary or setting.  Thank you, Muse reader! 

Why should the river that tumbles out of the Ethiopian highlands and joins the White Nile at Khartoum be called the Blue Nile?  It is not particularly blue.  Perhaps it should be called the Summer River, because for most of the year it provides little water compared to the White Nile, but in summer it is very much the dominant tributary.  In the summer, winds from the SE bring moist air from the Indian Ocean.  This is forced to rise over the Ethiopian Plateau, half of which is over 2 km high; the highest point in Ethiopia.  The moist air cools as it rises, and this wrings out the moisture in torrents known as monsoon.  Monsoon rains wash the Ethiopian highlands in summer, filling every dry wash that drains down to the Blue Nile.  Within 30 km of its source at Lake Tana the river enters a canyon which it does not leave for 400 km.  This gorge is a tremendous obstacle for travel and communication from the north half of Ethiopia to the southern half.  The traditional source of the Blue Nile is a spring which feeds the Little Abbai, a stream which flows NE into Lake Tana.  Lake Tana itself lies at an elevation of a little over 1800 m and was formed when a young lava flow blocked t he river, flooding a shallow depression.  The river has cut through this barrier, flowing to the SE.  As the river cuts deeper into its gorge, it slowly turns south, then SW, then W.  Finally, as it leaves the great canyon, it turns to NNW to meet with its sister stream at Khartoum.  The course of the stream thus turns 270 degrees from start to finish.  The Blue Nile is vital to the livelihood of Egypt.  Almost 60% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Blue Nile branch of the great river.  The river is also an important resource for Sudan where dams produce 80% of the country's power as well as irrigation for the Gezira Plain, a project delivering water to over 2 million acres.  https://www.utdallas.edu/geosciences/remsens/Nile/BlueText.html

Written any letters lately?  What letters do you remember?  My husband was in the army and sent me a love letter (actually many letters, each with one word on them).  Unforgettable.  A travel guide who had driven us around wine country in California sent us a beautiful, and much appreciated, two-page letter written on fanciful stationery with florid handwriting about our unusual trip.  See also Handwriting Is on the Wall:  Penmanship skills are being slowly erased in a typing and texting age by Cullen Murphy, a review of Script and Scribble by Kitty Burns Florey at  http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123275735842311981  If the preceding link doesn't work, you may cut and paste the cite in your browser address bar.  Or, you can use keywords--it should come up one way or the other.

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

From:  Doug Peterson  Subject:  Words using only one of the vowels

This week’s theme reminds me of a game we play around the campfire.  We take a traditional nursery rhyme and try to come up with a version that is inspired by the original but is made entirely of words using only one of the vowels.  We call it a Single Vowel Nursery Rhyme.  For example, if the original rhyme is:  Mary had a little lamb, Its fleece was white as snow, And everywhere that Mary went, The lamb was sure to go.  Then the Single Vowel Nursery Rhyme could be:  Jojo owns two bold old dogs, Two dogs of color brown, Both dogs follow Jojo so Two old dogs go to town.

Dutch elm disease (DED) is one of the most destructive urban forest diseases.  This disease affects native American elm species, such as American (Ulmus americana), slippery (red) (U. rubra), winged (U. alata), rock (U. thomasii), September (U. serotina), and cedar (U. crassifolia) elms.  The Asiatic elms, such as Siberian (U. pumila), Japanese (U. japonica), or lacebark (U. parvifolia) elms, are much less susceptible to DED, and the disease is not considered an issue for these species.  Introduced into America near Cleveland in the 1930s, this disease still kills mature elms today.  Dutch elm disease occurs throughout the natural range of American elms, and is found in virtually all the continental United States except the desert Southwest.  Historically speaking, it is known as “Dutch” elm disease because the first extensive research was done by pioneering Dutch women.  American elm trees once dominated our urban landscapes as beautiful shade trees.  Now, due to DED, they are no longer prominent.  In fact, American elms are virtually absent in most communities today, with the exception of lone “survivors.”  Some communities have made extensive attempts to save their elm trees, such as Washington, D.C., and Syracuse, New York, but more often than not the costs of managing DED on a city-wide scale prohibit the development of successful management programs.  In nature both American and slippery elms can still be seen in locales where the environmental conditions are suitable for natural elm regeneration, such as in riparian environments.  Chris Wallis, Dennis J. Lewandowski and Pierluigi (Enrico) Bonello  

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/pdf/3308.pdf

Ke-tchup means “preserved-fish sauce” in the southern Chinese language of Hokkien.  In his new book, The Language of Food:  A Linguist Reads the Menu (W.W. Norton & Company, 2014), Dan Jurafsky takes us on a journey tracing culinary words across cultures.  Jurafsky shows how the history of the world is laid out in the dishes set before us.  We “toast” partly because actual toast was once served in wine and beer; this was known as a “sop,” from which the words supper and soup come.  The English word semolina (course-ground wheat often used for making pasta) derives from the ancient word samidu, which appears in the 3,700-year-old Yale culinary tablets, three small Mesopotamian slabs that contain some of the world’s oldest written recipes.  In German, that same word became semmel and refers to the hard white kaiser rolls still eaten in Wisconsin and other areas of the United States where German immigrants settled.  “Next time you eat a bratwurst on a Sheboygan hard ‘semmel’ roll,” Jurafsky writes, “remember that the name goes all the way back to the Assyrians.”

http://therotarianmagazine.com/recommended-reading-the-language-of-food/

Marshmallow treats called Peeps are owned and made by Just Born Inc., a candy company located in Bethlehem, Pa.  The company is named after Sam Born, a Russian-born founder and confectioner, who started the brand in 1917 after immigrating to the United States.  His candy company grew and eventually acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953.  "They were primarily interested in that company for the jelly bean technology," Matt Pye, the vice president of corporate affairs for Just Born, told USA TODAY Network.  "But while the family was touring the Rodda Candy Company, in the back part of the factory were these women with pastry tubes squirting these marshmallow chicks by hand," Pye said.  Today, Just Born makes about 5.5 million each day in a variety of shapes and colors.  Peeps skyrocketed in popularity in the 1990s, according to Pye.  The company credits that to increased press coverage and the rise of the Internet where people shared their thoughts and even their wacky Peeps experiments online, he said.  In 2004, the first Peeps diorama contest was held by the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota.  Today many other newspapers and organizations across the country host community competitions that award prizes for the best dioramas featuring Peeps.  Lori Grisham  

Find more information and see pictures at http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/03/30/peeps-marshmallow-easter-history-just-born/70553468/

ALA Awards 2015:  Horn Book reviews of the winners  Link to winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and other awards including Sibert, Printz, and Batchelder at http://www.hbook.com/2015/02/news/awards/ala-awards-2015-horn-book-reviews-winners/

Video:  Badgers' Vitto Brown sings National Anthem before NCAA Final Four semifinals  Vitto Brown of Wisconsin along with Duke football player Deion Williams joined Michigan State soccer player Michelle Dear and Kentucky soccer player Kennedy Collier in singing the national anthem April 5, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su65bMz-TOM  3:31  See also Shades of Brown, consisting of Vitto Brown and his family, singing the National Anthem before Wisconsin faced Indiana in 2014.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-3oMx-ydw0  2:33

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1280  April 6, 2015  On this date in 1861, the first performance of Arthur Sullivan's debut success, his suite of incidental music for The Tempest, took place.  On this date in 1869, Celluloid was patented.

Scott Kenemore is the author of four horror novels:  Zombie, Ohio (2011) [a Barnes & Noble Top 20 Zombie Novel of the Decade] Zombie, Illinois (2012) [a Reboot Illinois Noteworthy Book set in Illinois] Zombie, Indiana (2014) [a CWA Book of the Year nominee] The Grand Hotel (2014) and four zombie-themed satires:  The Zen of Zombie (2007) Z.E.O. (2009) The Art of Zombie Warfare (2010) The Code of the Zombie Pirate (2010) and one unclassifiable, found-document, epistolary thing (which Heeb Magazine nonetheless named a Best Book of 2011):  Zombies Vs. Nazis (2011) and \, with Franco Mercado, a war memoir:  Fallujah Heat (2012)  http://scottkenemore.com/about/  Born in New York in 1977 and raised in Indianapolis, Scott Kenemore is a graduate of Kenyon College and Columbia University.  A member of the Zombie Research Society and the Horror Writers Association, Scott lives in Chicago where he is the drummer for the musical band The Blissters.

from the novel Zombie, Indiana by Scott Kenemore

sit rep (situation report)   f-word  (the Feds)   z-word (zombie)

"Mighty Ohio.  Stalwart.  Friendly,  And yet ... it simply could not make up its mind.  What did Ohio want to be, exactly?  It didn't know.  It couldn't tell you."  "Out west--way out west--was Iowa.  'Idiots Out Walking Around' was what that stood for."  "Every time Illinois or Ohio passed another tax increase, billboards went up in Chicago and Cleveland.  They said things like:  'Come on IN:  for lower taxes, business, and housing costs' or 'Illinoyed by high taxes?' and had a big ol' picture of Indiana right below it."  "It was the twenty-first century, and it was going to be the century of the Hoosier."

A buttery-rich scone is nothing more than a glorified biscuit—made even more delicious with sweet and savory twists.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/best-ever-scones  See also http://allrecipes.com/recipe/simple-scones/ and http://www.food.com/recipe/simple-sweet-scones-66409

April 25, 1859  At Port Said, Egypt, ground is broken for the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway intended to stretch 101 miles across the isthmus of Suez and connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas.  Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French diplomat who organized the colossal undertaking, delivered the pickax blow that inaugurated construction.  Artificial canals have been built on the Suez region, which connects the continents of Asia and Africa, since ancient times.  Under the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, a channel connected the Bitter Lakes to the Red Sea, and a canal reached northward from Lake Timsah as far as the Nile River.  These canals fell into disrepair or were intentionally destroyed for military reasons.  As early as the 15th century, Europeans speculated about building a canal across the Suez, which would allow traders to sail from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea, rather than having to sail the great distance around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.  The first serious survey of the isthmus occurred during the French occupation of Egypt at the end of the 18th century, and General Napoleon Bonaparte personally inspected the remains of an ancient canal.  France made further studies for a canal, and in 1854 Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work.  Construction began in April 1859, and at first digging was done by hand with picks and shovels wielded by forced laborers.  Later, European workers with dredgers and steam shovels arrived.  Labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowed construction, and the Suez Canal was not completed until 1869–four years behind schedule.  On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was officially inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony attended by French Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Ferdinand de Lesseps would later attempt, unsuccessfully, to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama.  When it opened, the Suez Canal was only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface.  Consequently, fewer than 500 ships navigated it in its first full year of operation.  Major improvements began in 1876, however, and the canal soon grew into the one of the world’s most heavily traveled shipping lanes.  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ground-broken-for-suez-canal

The public library is the only civic institution in my community that is uncompromisingly successful.  The public library is an indispensable institution that somehow manages to get taken completely for granted.  Small towns can do without movie houses and fancy restaurants and stores that sell 50 kinds of balsamic vinegar.  They can even do without bookstores.  But small towns cannot do without a public library.  Cannot, cannot, cannot.  The public library serves many functions in a community.  It is an adjunct to the public schools, a place where kids can do their homework.  It is a day care center of sorts, where small children gather for story hour.  It is a safe haven where senior citizens can pass the time in the company of others, where the unemployed can look for work.  It is a place where the lonely can be less lonely, the bored less bored, the dejected less dejected, and the ignorant more enlightened.  The public library has features that make it different from any other institution.  It is public, in the true democratic sense of the word, and it is free.  The value of being free cannot be overestimated.  Libraries are both aspirational and inspirational.  I love going into a library and watching little kids do their homework.  I love to watch retirees devouring newspapers and magazines, refusing to recede from life just because they are no longer working.  Anyone can read in the privacy of their own homes, but there is something joyous about watching people reading or studying or researching or exploring in public.  Time spent in a library is time not spent in front of a television.  That in itself makes the public library the most valuable institution a society could possibly imagine.  Joe Queenan   http://therotarianmagazine.com/in-praise-of-libraries/

As the 2015 Major League Baseball season dawns, the lords of baseball are asking for our forgiveness.  They want a second chance, and to get it they are making changes that could shake the game to its foundations.  This isn’t about tinkering with the playoffs to make a few extra dollars from the television networks. The 30 team owners have ordered the new commissioner to modernize baseball and make it appeal to an audience that is increasingly weary of the game’s slow pace.  There will of course be cries of sacrilege from traditionalists about putting the national pastime on a clock.  Many players are resisting, too.  But they are unlikely to slow the transformation.  If all goes as planned, 2015 will become the year baseball finally realized it needed to change fundamentally to survive as a major sport.  What drove these wealthy titans over the edge were moments like these:  David Ortiz at the plate, endlessly rubbing his hands and adjusting his batting gloves; or David Price, the game’s most deliberate hurler, taking his usual 27 seconds between each pitch.  Read extensive article by Matthew Futterman at http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-plan-to-speed-up-baseball-1427996693  If the previous link doesn't work, search using words speed baseball.

April 3, 2015  In a tumultuous week that included Big Business flexing its political muscles, lawmakers in Indiana and Arkansas walked a tightrope seeking balance between two core American values:  religious freedom and protection from discrimination.  The governors of Indiana and Arkansas signed revised versions of their religious freedom laws, hoping to quiet critics who said the measures could allow discrimination.  Is this the first time this type of conflict has taken place?  No.   According to Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU, religion has been invoked during times when discrimination was an issue.  For example, religion was invoked by Christian schools that continued to bar African Americans during the civil rights era, arguing that Scripture called for separation of the races.  Some landlords in the past century used religion to justify not renting apartments to unmarried heterosexuals.  “Pivotal moments of change often see claims involving religious objections,” she said.  So why are religion freedom laws passed?  There do not appear to be any examples of religious persecution that would have been prevented by the laws, attorneys on both sides agree. But proponents of the law argue that no examples are needed because protecting religious rights serves the interest of democracy.  But wasn’t there a federal law signed by President Clinton in 1993?  Yes.  But that law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, doesn’t protect individual rights.  That law is designed to deal with actions by governments, said John Pippa, a professor and former dean at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock law school.  Where are religious freedom laws found?  Including Indiana and Arkansas, there are 21 states with religious freedom laws.  More than 20 states have laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.  ust four states have both.  There are some municipalities that have anti-discrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation.  Michael Muskal  http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-religious-freedom-law-20150402-story.html

On Saturday morning, April 4, 2015, early risers from Asia, Australia and the Americas will wake up to witness a phenomenal, albeit short-lived, even:  a very shy total lunar eclipse that will last no longer than four minutes and 43 seconds.  The moon’s time to shine might be rather short, but its red shade will make for some spectacular images.  Due to the fact that the light shining on the moon passes through Earth’s atmosphere, absorbing almost all the blue light, only the red one reaches the natural satellite’s surface.  The British population, however, will have to resort only to watching the eclipse online, since the phenomenon surprises them in the middle of the day, from 10.16am GMT to 1.45pm GMT.  If they could watch it in real time, they would witness a partial eclipse, with the earth only partly blocking the sun as seen from the moon.  But they have had their share of celestial events, as only two weeks ago, millions of Brits have been witnesses to the nation’s first total solar eclipse since 1999.  They had almost the best “seats in the house”, with up to 98% of the sun blocked out by the moon in northern Scotland; unfortunately, a lot of enthusiast visitors were disappointed by the cloud-blanketed London.  If you miss this lunar eclipse, you’re in luck – September 28 will bring us the second blood-red moon of the year – and you’ll have plenty of time to catch it in its one hour and 20 minutes timeframe.  Justin Mills  http://www.wallstreetotc.com/blink-and-miss-it-april-4th-marks-a-four-minute-total-lunar-eclipse/217163/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1279  April 3, 2015  On this date in 1885, Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design.  On this date in 1895, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Italian-American composer, was born.