Dave goes by many names including "Dave the Potter," "Dave the Slave," Dave Drake, and simply Dave.  There is considerable mystery surrounding this Edgefield, South Carolina artist, but thanks to the former slave's unique ability to read and write, we've been left with an amazing autobiography, scrawled on the shoulders and sides of his remaining jugs and vessels.  Dave was born around 1801, presumably to South Carolina plantation-owner Harry Drake.  Dave may have had as many as five owners throughout his life as a slave.  Following the death of Harry Drake in 1832, Dave became the property of Dr. Abner Landrum.  Dr. Landrum owned a small pottery yard inhabited by about 15 slave-families.  Known in early years as Landrumsville, and in later years as Pottersville, the stoneware produced there was of great quality and beauty.  For use in plantation homes, it outshone its predecessor – earthenware pottery – as it was impervious to water and much stronger overall.  In addition to signing his name, Dave often wrote short poems or rhyming couplets on his pieces.  His poetry reflected any number of themes:  the size or use of the vessel, biblical teachings, or questions related to family members who had been bought and sold.  Pots were generally signed on the "shoulder," just below the lip or rim.  Occasionally, they would wind around the pot like a coiled snake.  See pictures and find links to books about Dave at http://www.sciway.net/afam/dave-slave-potter.html  On March 14 and 15, 2014, the University of Delaware presented a suite of dances based on the life and times of Dave the Potter.  The show also featured paintings of Drake’s pottery by Jonathan Green and poetry by P. Gabriel Foreman and Glenis Redmond.   http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2014/mar/dance-minor-031114.html

Michigan put cots in a library and is testing out a high-tech chair designed for napping, while James Madison is adding more bean bags to a nap room in the student center.  The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is the latest school to make headlines for piloting a napping station through fall 2014.  In the walk-up to finals on April 23, 2014, six vinyl cots and disposable pillowcases were placed on the first floor of the University of Michigan's Shapiro Undergraduate Library, which is open 24/7.  First-come, first-serve, with a 30-minute time limit on snoozing, the area was the brainchild of rising senior Adrian Bazbaz, 23, an aerospace engineering major who came up with the idea as a member of U-M Central Student Government after watching countless students fall asleep in front of the library computers.  “They’ll just put their backpacks on the table and lie on them,” he says.  Olivia B. Waxman  http://time.com/3211964/nap-rooms-at-universities/

How Vehicles Are Tested  Fuel economy is measured under controlled conditions in a laboratory using a standardized test procedure specified by federal law.  Manufacturers test their own vehicles—usually pre-production prototypes—and report the results to EPA.  EPA reviews the results and confirms about 10-15 percent of them through their own tests at the National Vehicles and Fuel Emissions Laboratory.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/how_tested.shtml

Fuel economy tests show that, in short-trip city driving, a conventional gasoline car's gas mileage is about 12% lower at 20°F than it would be at 77°F.  It can drop as much as 22% for very short trips (3 to 4 miles).  The effect on hybrids is worse.  Their fuel economy can drop about 31% to 34% under these conditions.  Find out why winter fuel economy is lower at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

The Environmental Protection Agency wants auto makers to road test the mileage claims they submit after a rash of recent inflated fuel-economy claims based on wind tunnel and other laboratory measurements.  The proposal, which would require a public comment period, comes after several high profile cases in which estimates provided by Ford Motor Co. , Hyundai Motor Co.  and Kia Motors Corp. were inflated and triggered complaints to regulators and auto makers.  The EPA has adjusted the test over the years—most recently in 2008—to better match new-car window stickers to actual results  Mike Ramsey  http://online.wsj.com/articles/epa-wants-mpg-claims-road-tested-1405355624

September 5, 2014  Word of Scottish artist Katie Paterson’s Future Library made the rounds this summer when the artist launched her 100-year-long project to build a library literally from the forest floor up.  The first author to contribute a new work to the library will be none other than Man Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood.  In May the artist planted 1,000 new trees in a Norwegian forest gifted to her by the city of Oslo.  In 100 years’ time, these trees will generate the paper for an anthology of books containing the works of 100 authors—many who aren't even born yet—whose words won’t be released or read until their 2114 publication.  Atwood is the first of the hundred authors to sign on to the project—an additional author will be announced each year until Future Library's completion—and it's hard to think of a better inaugural contributor.  The genre-defying Canadian author’s works are often written as a glimpse from the future looking back at the past and she sometimes conflates the novel itself with an artifact or cultural document—as she notably did in A Handmaid’s Tale (1985).  Her more recent MaddAddam trilogy, completed in 2013, presents a pessimistic view of a near and possible future from the perspective of survivors of a man made plague.  Atwood will turn over her manuscript in May 2015 and it will ultimately be entrusted to the new Deichmanske Public Library in Bjørvika, Oslo, where it will remain tantalizingly unread in a sealed box until publication in a century’s time.  Andrea Alessi  http://www.artslant.com/la/articles/show/40728

The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo announced September 8, 2014 that what is believed to be the oldest commercial schooner ever discovered in the Great Lakes has been found in Lake Ontario off Oswego, New York.  The Three Brothers -- which sank in a gale in 1833 while en route from Pultneyville to Oswego with a cargo of apples, cider and 700 bushels of wheat -- was located in July by a team utilizing high-resolution, side-scan sonar equipment.  The ship's captain, two crewmen and a passenger were lost when the vessel, built in 1827, went down.  Only the ship's tiller, a barrel of apples and the captain's hat were found within a few days of the sinking.  The 45-foot-long, 13-foot-wide vessel is also the first fully working dagger-board schooner, which sailed the Great Lakes in the early 1800s, ever found.  The dagger board was a large wood panel that could be extended down through the keel of a shallow-draft ship.  It prevented a vessel from being pushed sideways when sailing windward or with the wind coming from one side (abeam) of the vessel.  The dagger board could be raised when the ship entered shallow harbors.  Brian Albrecht  See graphics at http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/09/oldest_commercial_schooner_eve.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1189  September 10, 2014  On this date in 1846, Elias Howe was granted a patent for the sewing machine.  On this date in 1932, the New York City Subway's third competing subway system, the municipally-owned IND, was opened.

The Avon River rises from springs in the western suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand, winds through the city and north-eastern suburbs, and enters the estuary it shares with the Heathcote River.  Christchurch was built on the first extensive area of dry land up the river.  The Avon’s Māori name was Ōtakaro, but it was later named after an Avon River in Ayrshire, home of the Deans brothers, settler farmers.  The river banks, with neat lawns, gardens and trees, add to the city’s English character.  http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/canterbury-places/page-8

Christchurch's Avon River is getting a makeover, saving it from an almost certain death.  The Government will spend just under $100 million on the central city river, bringing it back to life below and above the water.  "The Avon River is dying and we want to bring it back to life," says aquatic scientist Shelley McMurtrie.  The river has always been the life of the city but has in recent years become choked in sand and silt, even more so after the earthquakes.  "Currently we have removed 400 tonnes of sediment from the Avon River and [are] cleaning the bottom of it," says site manager Brent Cations.  The Avon River Precinct is the first of the Government's major anchor projects since the quakes.  It will include a promenade with more walkways for pedestrians and cycle-ways for cyclists.  A boardwalk will even be created under bridges, bringing people back into the central city.  http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/new-project-aims-to-save-christchurchs-avon-river-2014020417

Anne Perry (born 1938 as Juliet Marion Hulme) is an English author of historical detective fiction.  She was convicted of participating in the murder of her friend's mother in 1954.  She changed her name after serving her sentence.  In June 1954, at the age of 15, Hulme and her best friend Pauline Parker murdered Parker's mother, Honorah Rieper.  Hulme's parents were in the process of separating, and she was supposed to go to South Africa to stay with a relative.  The two teenage girls, who had created a rich fantasy life together populated with famous actors such as James Mason and Orson Welles, did not want to be separated.  On 22 June 1954, the girls and Honora Rieper went for a walk in Victoria Park in their hometown of Christchurch.  On an isolated path Hulme dropped an ornamental stone so that Ms. Rieper would lean over to retrieve it.  Parker had planned to hit her mother with half a brick wrapped in a stocking.  The girls presumed that one blow would kill her but it took more than 20.  Parker and Hulme stood trial in Christchurch in 1954 and were found guilty on August 29 of that year.  As they were too young to be considered for the death penalty under New Zealand law at the time, they were convicted and sentenced to be "detained at Her Majesty's pleasure".  In practice, this sentence meant they were to be detained at the discretion of the Minister of Justice.  They were released separately five years later.  These events formed the basis for the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, in which Melanie Lynskey portrayed a teenage Pauline Parker and Kate Winslet portrayed teenaged Juliet Hulme.  At the time of the film's release, it was not generally known that the well-known mystery author "Anne Perry" was the grown-up Juliet Hulme; her identity was made public some months after the film had been issued.  See her bibliography, including her series Thomas Pitt, William Monk, World War I and Christmas stories at  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Perry

Joseph "Shoeless Joe"  Jefferson Jackson (1888-1951) had a lifetime batting average of .356, third highest in baseball history.  Ted William once said:  "When I was younger, the Red Sox used to stop sometimes in Greenvile, South Carolina--that's Joe Jackson's home.  And he was still alive.  Oh, how I wish I had known that, and could have stopped in to talk hitting with that man."  Read about Shoeless Joe at http://www.shoelessjoejackson.org/joes_story.php and http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7afaa6b2

Shoeless Joe has been depicted in Eight Men Out, a film directed by John Sayles, based on the Eliot Asinof book of the same name, and the Phil Alden Robinson film Field of Dreams by W. P. Kinsella,  Jackson's nickname was worked into the musical play Damn Yankees.  The lead character, baseball phenomenon Joe Hardy, alleged to be from a small town in Missouri, is dubbed by the media as "Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO."  Jackson was also an inspiration, in part, for the character Roy Hobbs in The Natural.  Shoeless Joe is a character in the song "Kenesaw Mountain Landis", by Jonathan Coulton, although the song takes many liberties with the story for comedic effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoeless_Joe_Jackson#Films_and_plays

The nation's first mile of concrete highway was built by the Wayne County Road Commission (Woodward Avenue between 6 and 7 Mile roads in Detroit) in 1909.  See other Michigan firsts from the Michigan Department of Transportation at http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9620_11154-129682--,00.html

M-1, commonly known as Woodward Avenue, is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Metro Detroit area of the US state of Michigan.  The highway, called "Detroit's Main Street", runs from Detroit northwesterly to Pontiac.  The street is one of the five principal avenues of Detroit, which also include Michigan, Grand River, Gratiot and Jefferson avenues.  These streets were platted in 1805 by Judge Augustus B. Woodward, namesake to Woodward Avenue.  Woodward Avenue was created after the Detroit Fire in 1805.  It followed the route of the Saginaw Trail, an Indian trail that linked Detroit with Pontiac, Flint, and Saginaw.  The Saginaw Trail also connected to the Mackinaw Trail, which ran north to the Straits of Mackinac at the tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  In the age of the auto trails, Woodward Avenue was also part of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway that connected Portland, Maine, with Portland, Oregon through Ontario in Canada.  It was also a part of the Dixie Highway, which connected Michigan with Florida.  When Michigan created the State Trunkline Highway System in 1913, the roadway was included, numbered as part of M-10 in 1919.  Later, it was part of US Highway 10 (US 10) following the creation of the United States Numbered Highway System.  Since 1970, it has borne the M-1 designation.  The roadway carried streetcar lines from the 1860s until the 1950s; a new light rail line will be added in the future.  See pictures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-1_(Michigan_highway)  

Read about the Saginaw Trail at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saginaw_Trail

Text of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on July 22, 2014.

H. R. 803  AN ACT to amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to strengthen the United States workforce development system through innovation in, and alignment and improvement of, employment, training, and education programs in the United States, and to promote individual and national economic growth, and for other purposes.  https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr803/text

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) summary of library provisions  http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/advleg/federallegislation/workforce_innovation_opportunity_act_summary.pdf

What was fake on the Internet this week by Caitlin Dewey   

Betty White, Twitter ‘filtering,’ and that photo of Darren Wilson  September 5, 2014  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/09/05/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-week-betty-white-twitter-filtering-and-that-photo-of-darren-wilson/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1188  September 8, 2014  On this date in 1892, the Pledge of Allegiance was first recited.  On this date in 1930, 3M began marketing Scotch transparent tape.

“I thought of my adventure as Off-Road or Extreme Reading,” Phyllis Rose writes in “The Shelf:  From LEQ to LES,” the latest stunt book, in which she reads through a more or less random shelf of library books.  She compares her voyage to Ernest Shackleton’s explorations in the Antarctic.  “However, I like to sleep under a quilt with my head on a goose down pillow,” she writes.  “So I would read my way into the unknown—into the pathless wastes, into thin air, with no reviews, no best-seller lists, no college curricula, no National Book Awards or Pulitzer Prizes, no ads, no publicity, not even word of mouth to guide me.”  Rose first gets the idea for “The Shelf” while browsing the stacks of the New York Society Library.  She is not the first writer to set off on an armchair expedition. A. J. Jacobs, a self-described “human guinea pig,” spent a year reading the encyclopedia for “The Know-It-All:  One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World” (2004).  Ammon Shea read all of the Oxford English Dictionary for his book “Reading the OED:  One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages” (2008).  In “The Whole Five Feet” (2010), Christopher Beha made his way through the Harvard Classics during a year in which he suffered serious illness and had a death in the family.  In “Howard’s End Is on the Landing” (2010), Susan Hill limited herself to reading only the books that she already owned.  Such “extreme reading” requires special personal traits:  grit, stamina, a penchant for self-improvement, and a dash of perversity.  Christine Smallwood  http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/09/ghosts-in-the-stacks

The New York Society Library (NYSL) is the oldest cultural institution in New York City.  It was founded in 1754 by the New York Society as a subscription library.  During the time when New York was the capital of the United States, it was the de facto Library of Congress. Until the establishment of the New York Public Library in 1895, it functioned as the city's library as well.  It has been patronized by a wide variety of literary and political figures, such as George Washington, Herman Melville. Willa Cather,  Henry David Thoreau, John James Audubon and Wendy Wasserstein.  Its special collections include books from the libraries of John Winthrop and Lorenzo Da Ponte.  Since 1937 the library has been housed in the former John S. Rogers Mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the fourth location in its history.  The library's collection of 300,000 volumes includes audio recordings and periodicals as well as books on a broad range of subjects.  It is open for browsing and research by the general public; only members may borrow or use the upper floors.  The library is a non-profit organization supported primarily by its membership fees and endowment.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Society_Library  Find directions, address and hours of operation at http://www.nysoclib.org/

inire:  Latin for to enter, begin  Main forms:  Ineo, Inire, Inii, Initus

http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/verb:inire  

English words drawn from inire:  initial, initiate, initiation

The penny-farthing, also known as the high wheel, high wheeler or ordinary, is a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel.  It was popular after the boneshaker until the development of the safety bicycle in the 1880s.  It was the first machine to be called a "bicycle".  Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines were nearly outdated; the first recorded print reference is from 1891 in Bicycling News.  It comes from the British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other, so that the side view resembles a penny leading a farthing.  For most of their reign, they were simply known as "bicycles".  In the late 1890s, the name "ordinary" began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles, and this term or hi-wheel (and variants) is preferred by many modern enthusiasts.  About 1870, English inventor James Starley, described as the father of the bicycle industry, and others began producing bicycles based on the French boneshaker but with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front wheels, up to 1.5 m (60 in) in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct drive.  In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia bicycle outside of Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America.  Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era.  Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport.  Eugène Meyer of Paris, France is now regarded as the father of the High Bicycle by the International Cycling History Conference in place of James Starley.  Meyer patented a wire-spoke tension wheel with individually adjustable spokes in 1869.  They were called "spider" wheels in Britain when introduced there.  Meyer produced a classic high bicycle design until the 1880s.  James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle named "Ariel."  He is regarded as the father of the British cycling industry.  Ball bearings, solid rubber tires and hollow-section steel frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother. 

See pictures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny-farthing

The Trans-Canada Highway is the world's longest national highway.  The 8030 kilometer (4990 mile) highway runs west and east through all ten provinces.  The endpoints are Victoria, British Columbia and St. John's, Newfoundland.  The highway does not cross the three northern territories of Canada. The highway crosses cities, national parks, rivers, mountains, forests, and prairies.  The construction of the Trans-Canada Highway was approved in 1949 by an act of Canada's Parliament. Construction occurred in the 1950s, and the highway opened in 1962, when John Diefenbaker was Canada's Prime Minister.  http://geography.about.com/od/canadamaps/a/Trans-Canada-Highway1.htm

Arbutus is a genus of at least 14 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, and North America.  The name is borrowed from Latin, where it referred to A. unedo.  North American members of the genus are called madrones, from the Spanish name madroño (strawberry tree) although this nomenclature is not used in Canada.  The European species are also called strawberry trees from the superficial resemblance of the fruit to a strawberry; some species are sometimes referred to simply as "arbutus".  In the United States, the name "madrone" is used south of the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon/northern California and the name "madrona" is used north of the Siskiyou Mountains according to the Sunset Western Garden Book.  In British Columbia, the trees are simply known by the name "arbutus" or "tick tree."  All refer to the same tree, Arbutus menziesii, native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California regions.  It is Canada's only native broadleaved evergreen tree.  Some species in the genera Epigaea, Arctostaphylos and Gaultheria were formerly classified in Arbutus.  As a result of its past classification, Epigaea repens (mayflower) has an alternative common name of "trailing arbutus".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus

The 2014 Library Design Showcase, an annual celebration of new and newly renovated libraries by Phil Morehart  The stories include:  “Study villages” made up of 16 small study rooms grouped along a main path are a highlight of the Main Library at the University of Iowa renovation.  A café, larger group study rooms, open collaborative spaces, and additional quiet areas complement the design--and at the Free library of Philadelphia Parkway Central branch, the renovations included the construction of a demonstration kitchen to provide culinary literacy classes to children, teens, families, and adults.  The facility includes three ovens, a grill top, 16 burners (four of which are on the demo island), a walk-in fridge, seating for 36 at nine tables, three cameras that provide views of the prep space and the burners with feeds to a big flatscreen TV, and an outdoor patio with an new herb garden for class use.  See over a dozen pictures and descriptions of innovative architecture at http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/article/2014-library-design-showcase

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1187  September 5, 2014   On this date in 1735, German composer Johann Christian Bach was born.  On this date in 1750, Scottish poet Robert Fergusson was born.

Robson Square in Vancouver, British Columbia

The courthouse design by architect Arthur Erickson (1924-2009) was commissioned in 1974 to replace the 1906 courthouse on Georgia Street.  During the design process it is rumored to be said:  “This won’t be a corporate monument.  Let’s turn it on its side and let people walk all over it”.  The resulting system of landscaped terraces, pools and waterfalls making up a vast urban landmark stretching for three city blocks, is anchored by the law (the courts) at one end and the arts (the art gallery) at the other end, and embodies a west coast sense of space and relationships.  http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/130222-Robson-Square-draft-with-BC-logo.pdf  

See also article with pictures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robson_Square

A pulse is an edible seed that grows in a pod.  Pulses include all beans, peas and lentils.  Pulses are a great source of protein.  You can add pulses to soups, casseroles and meat sauces to add extra texture and flavour.  This means you can use less meat, which makes the dish lower in fat and cheaper.  Pulses are a good source of iron.  Pulses are also a starchy food and add fibre to your meal.  The fibre found in pulses may help lower blood cholesterol, so they are good for your heart.  http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/pulses.aspx

As a country, Canada has ten provinces and three territories.  The largest subdivision by land area is the territory of Nunavut.  The largest subdivision by water area is the province of Quebec.  The smallest subdivision in terms of both land and water area is the province of Prince Edward Island.  Canada is the second-largest country in the world; however, in terms of dry land area, it ranks fourth.  In terms of freshwater area, Canada is the largest country.  See graphics at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_provinces_and_territories_by_area

Birds are natural aviatiors.  Find about our national aviary located in Pittsburgh at http://www.aviary.org/  An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds.  Unlike cages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flight cages.  Aviaries often contain plants and shrubbery to simulate a natural environment.  Find information and pictures at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviary

The Vancouver Convention Centre is the world’s first LEED Platinum certified convention center and also boasts the largest non-industrial green roof in North America.  Led by Seattle based architecture firm LMN, the most extraordinary addition to the center is the 5-acre living roof that is landscaped with more than 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses, and provides a natural habitat to birds, butterflies, insects, small mammals, and bees.  These bees (about 240,000 of them) live in four hives that produce honey to be used in the center’s kitchen.  The layers of the structure act as an insulator, reducing heat gains in summer and heat losses in winter, as well as contribute to the building’s stormwater utilization.  The underside of the roof is lined with beautiful Douglas Fir slats, a locally harvested material.  Lea Stewart  http://inhabitat.com/leed-platinum-vancouver-convention-center-has-north-americas-largest-green-roof/

MEMORY AID:  FINDS (Nordic countries:  Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden)

Why the Public Library Beats Amazon—for Now by Geoffrey A. Fowler  A growing stack of companies would like you to pay a monthly fee to read e-books, just like you subscribe to Netflix NFLX +1.51% to binge on movies and TV shows.  Don't bother.  Go sign up for a public library card instead.  Really, the public library?  Amazon.com recently launched Kindle Unlimited, a $10-per-month service offering loans of 600,000 e-books.  Startups called Oyster and Scribd offer something similar.  More than 90% of American public libraries have amassed e-book collections you can read on your iPad, and often even on a Kindle.  You don't have to walk into a branch or risk an overdue fine.  And they're totally free.  Though you still have to deal with due dates, hold lists and occasionally clumsy software, libraries, at least for now, have one killer feature that the others don't: e-books you actually want to read.  To compare, I dug up best-seller lists, as well as best-of lists compiled by authors and critics.  Then I searched for those e-books in Kindle Unlimited, Oyster and Scribd alongside my local San Francisco Public Library.  To rule out big-city bias, I also checked the much smaller library where I grew up in Richland County, S.C. Of the Journal's 20 most recent best-selling e-books in fiction and nonfiction, Amazon's Kindle Unlimited has none—no "Fifty Shades of Grey," no "The Fault in Our Stars."  Scribd and Oyster each have a paltry three.  But the San Francisco library has 15, and my South Carolina library has 11.  From Amazon's own top-20 Kindle best-seller lists from 2013, 2012 and 2011, Kindle Unlimited has no more than five titles a year, while the San Francisco library has at least 16.  Read much more at http://online.wsj.com/articles/why-the-public-library-beats-amazonfor-now-1407863714

September 2, 2014  America may be running out of sea captains and librarians.  Those professions, along with occupational therapists, plant operators and scores of others, are likely to report significant deficits of qualified workers over the next 15 years or so, according to a report from the Conference Board.  The corporate-research organization examined the risk of labor shortages in 464 occupations, projecting shortfalls for a majority of them.

Lauren Weber  http://online.wsj.com/articles/help-wanted-librarians-sea-captains-1409631004

"The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest.  Our mission is unique:  To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society.  Founded in 1916, The Conference Board is an objective, independent source of economic and business knowledge with one agenda:  to help our member companies understand and deal with the most critical issues of our time.  We conduct research and convene business leaders in forums large and small, public and private.  The insights captured through our extensive network feed directly back into our research and meeting agendas, ensuring that our activities remain sharply focused on the key issues of the day."

https://www.conference-board.org/about/

New Zealand's basketball team chanted and posed, stomping forward and stamping the court in a traditional haka dance.  The U.S. players paused during their warmups, amused and intrigued.  The scene played out before the September 2, 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup matchup.  U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said his team was aware of the ritual and they lined up to face midcourt as the New Zealand players got into their formation.  After the dance concluded, the United States players clapped, then focused on the ensuing game, winning 98-71.  Link to 1:14 video at http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/zealand-basketball-teams-haka-dance-baffles-team-usa/story?id=25225036

Waters of the United States proposed rule  Open for public comment until October 20, 2014  Link to the rule at http://www2.epa.gov/uswaters

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1186  September 3, 2014  On this date in 301, San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, was founded by Saint Marinus.  On this date in 1802, William Wordsworth composed the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.

On September 17, 1787 the Constitution of the United States of America was finalized and signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation that had proved unsuccessful.  The Articles of Confederation gave the federal government limited powers, leaving the states with a considerable amount of control regarding matters such as finance, defense and trade.  George Washington described the existing government under the Articles of Confederation as “little more than the shadow without substance.”  Without the ability to sufficiently regulate commerce, impose taxes and enforce laws, the federal government was functioning on a depleted treasury.  On February 21, 1787, Congress resolved that delegates appointed from the thirteen states meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.  The delegates believed that creating a nation with a strong central government and enforceable powers was essential.  The delegates agreed to create three separate branches of government:  legislative (to be composed of two houses), judicial, and executive.  Each branch was intended to have the ability to balance the power centralized in the others.  The composition of the two legislative houses garnered much debate between the delegates.  In general, delegates representing larger states argued for proportional representation in the legislature based on the state’s population, whereas representatives from the smaller states wanted equal representation.   After much debate, the “Great Compromise” was reached:  in the House of Representatives, seats would be allocated based on each state’s population, whereas in the Senate, every state would have equal representation with two seats each.  After the Constitution was finalized and signed on September 17, 1787, the ratification process began.  Nine states were required to ratify the Constitution.  The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut.  The Constitution was narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, with several members suggesting that the Constitution be amended.  Several other states followed suit and requested similar amendments.  Most notably among the proposed amendments was the inclusion of a Bill of Rights.  This political pressure helped to initiate the process in which the Bill of Rights was later added to the Constitution.  The Constitution was next ratified by Maryland, South Carolina and New Hampshire, completing the nine state ratification requirement in 1788.  However, New York and Virginia, two powerful and influential states, and North Carolina and Rhode Island remained undecided.  A series of newspaper articles, later collected as The Federalist, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison (who is considered the father of the Constitution) and John Jay under the pseudonym Publius, became influential in New York and Virginia, helping lead to narrow ratifications in those states in 1788.

https://depts.washington.edu/constday/history/  

See the U.S. Constitution with links to its 7 articles and 27 amendments at http://constitution.findlaw.com/

A small red berry called the miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century.  The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.  The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste.  Patrick Farrell and Kassie Bracken    See pictures and read much more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?_r=0  Anyone looking to commercialize miraculin will have to overcome significant regulatory hurdles.  In 1974, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration declared that miraculin was an additive, meaning that the berries cannot be sold as a sugar substitute without further testing.  Health Canada takes a similar stance.  In the 1970s a U.S. company called Miralin was on the verge of introducing the miracle berry into food as a sugar replacement until the FDA's controversial ruling effectively shut it down.  Reversing that decision would require years of testing.  The Globe and Mail  August 13, 2014  p.  L1  http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStoryPrint.html&cf=tgam/common/Generic.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&dateOffset=&hub=rickSalutin&title=Rick_Salutin&cache_key=rickSalutin&current_row=54&start_row=54&num_rows=1

Acclaimed screen writer, children’s and young adult author and poet, Gabrielle Prendergast has been named Vancouver Public Library’s tenth writer in residence.  Prendergast, the author five highly praised novels – Hildegarde (2002); Wicket Season (2012), Audacious (2013), Capricious (2014) and the soon to be released Frail Days (2015), began her residency in August 2014 by sharing her vast experience and inspiring young writers at the VPL’s annual Writing & Book Camp.  During her four-month tenure, Prendergast will spend 25 percent of her time mentoring emerging writers, appearing at library and community events and conducting workshops that encourage participants to explore incorporating more cultural diversity into their stories and writing verse novels for young adults.  Her remaining time will be focused on working on her own projects, including a new novel, The Boy Who Fell to Earth, inspired by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.  http://www.vpl.ca/news/details/news_release_award-winning_author_gabrielle_prendergast_named_vpls_2014_wri 

Read interview by Denise Ryan with Gabrielle Prendergast, Vancouver Public Library’s tenth writer in residence at http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Meet+Vancouver+Public+Library+writer+residence/10122838/story.html

Chihuly Garden and Glass provides a look at the inspiration and influences that inform the career of artist Dale Chihuly.  Located at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass includes an Exhibition Hall, the centerpiece Glasshouse and a lush Garden.  The Exhibition Hall contains eight galleries and three Drawing Walls, offering visitors a comprehensive look at Chihuly’s significant series of work; the Glasshouse presents a suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture; and the Garden is a backdrop for four monumental sculptures and other installations.  See pictures at http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/ and http://www.spaceneedle.com/news/2012/11/chihuly-garden-and-glass/

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

Philadelphia lawyer  ((fil-uh-DEL-fee-uh LOI-yuhr)  noun  A shrewd lawyer, one who is adept at exploiting legal technicalities.  The term is said to have been inspired by Philadelphia-based Andrew Hamilton's successful defense of the New York printer John Peter Zenger from libel charges.  This decision helped establish the idea that truth is a defense in a libel accusation and affirmed the freedom of the press in America.  Though the incident took place in 1735, the earliest documented use unearthed so far is from 1788.

Include is the opposite of exclude, but intend is not the opposite of extend.  Delist is the opposite of list, but devote is not the opposite of vote.  To redo something is to do it again, but to recapitulate is not to capitulate again.
recapitulate  (ree-kuh-PICH-uh-layt)  verb tr., intr.: To recap or to repeat.  From Latin recapitulare (to sum up), re- (again) + capitulare (to draw up under headings), from capitulum (little head, chapter), from caput (head).  Ultimately from the Indo-European root kaput- (head), also the origin of head, captain, chef, chapter, cadet, cattle, chattel, achieve, biceps, mischief, and occiput.  Earliest documented use:  1551.

August 28, 2014  Elmore Leonard, who died almost exactly one year ago, was probably the most cinematic novelist in the English language, known for his unerringly spare prose and ear-pleasing dialogue.  Despite this, his writing suffered notoriously bumpy transitions from the page to the screen.  It wasn’t for lack of trying:  More than two dozen of Leonard’s novels and short stories have been adapted for film or television.  Among the most successful of these adaptations, as I argued in this essay, has been FX’s Justified, which will enter its sixth and final season next year.  To coincide with its publication of Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s, the Library of America sent The Atlantic a video of Timothy Olyphant, the star of Justified, reading a passage from one of those novels, Swag.  Published in 1976, Swag is the story of two men, Frank Ryan and Ernest “Stick” Stickley.  The two meet when Stick boosts a car from the dealership where Frank is working.  Frank initially identifies Stick to the police but later, at trial, changes his mind, enabling Stick to get off.  He does this in part due to the coincidence of their first names.  As he explains, “I started thinking about that old saying about being frank and earnest.  You be frank and I’ll be earnest.”  But the principal reason Frank allows Stick to stay out of jail is that he’s looking for a partner with whom to undertake a series of armed robberies.  Frank has it all thought out, right down to a list of “10 rules for success and happiness” by which the two men should abide in order to make their criminal enterprise a success.  (The initial title of the published novel was Ryan’s Rules.)  It’s no coincidence that these rules bear a notable resemblance to the 10 rules on writing that Leonard later offered to the New York Times, which placed a heavy emphasis on concision.  As Frank explained in his admonition number two:  “Never say more than is necessary.”  Christopher Orr   Link to video at http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/timothy-olyphant-reads-elmore-leonard/379248/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1185  September 1, 2014  On this date in 1902, A Trip to the Moon, considered one of the first science fiction films, was released in France.  On this date in 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan joined the Canadian confederation.