Friday, February 26, 2016

NARROW  The ring of canals in Amsterdam is dotted with several unusually narrow houses.  One of the most famous is the building at Singel 7, which is often labelled as the narrowest house in the world.  With a width of only one meter (about 3 ft., 3 in.), the house is barely wider than its own front door.  In all fairness, it should be said that this is actually the rear façade of a house; the front is a bit wider.  For even more “narrow” experiences, visit the narrowest house in Europe, located at Oude Hoogstraat 22.  This tiny house features a typical Amsterdam bell-gable.  The façade is a mere 2.02 meters (6 ft., 7.5 in.) wide, and the house itself is six meters (19 ft., 8 in.) deep.  Measuring only 100 centimeters in width (about 3 ft., 3 in.), the Trompettersteeg is the narrowest street in Amsterdam. 

NARROW   A new sliver-hotel is set to rise at 160 West 56th Street in Manhattan.  The tiny property, which formerly held a 4,000 square foot carriage house built in 1879, will soon give rise to a 19-story and 63-room tower, though the Department of Buildings shows a stop-work order in place.  http://newyorkyimby.com/2013/09/new-hotel-rising-160-west-56th-street.html  The former carriage house across from Carnegie Hall, was the Joseph Patelson Music House from 1947-2009.   http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/arts/music/13pate.html


The grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi) is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour to semi-sweet fruit.  Grapefruit is a hybrid originating in Barbados as an accidental cross between two introduced species, sweet orange (C. sinesis) and pomelo or shaddock (C. maxima), both of which were introduced from Asia in the seventeenth century.  When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit";  and it has also been misidentified with the pomelo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit  Find a list of citrus hybrids, including lemons and limes, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Citrus_hybrids

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a sovereign and unitary monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula plus Jan Mayen and Svalbard.  The name Norway comes from the Old Norse word norðrvegr, "northern way" or "way leading to the north.  In a Latin manuscript of 849, the name Northuagia is mentioned, while a French chronicle of c. 900 uses the names Northwegia and Norwegia.  When Ohthere of Hålogaland visited King Alfred the Great in England in the end of the 9th century, the land was called Norðwegr (lit. Northway) and norðmanna land (lit. Northmen's land).  Old Norse norðmaðr was Latinized as Nortmannus in the 9th century to mean "Norseman, Viking", giving rise to the name of the Normans.  The Old Norse name was borrowed into Old English, as Norðweg, Norweg, giving rise to modern Norway by regular development via Middle English Norwey, Norwei.  In the adjective Norwegian, the Old English spelling '-weg' has survived.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway


Joseph James Doherty, 82, of Salem, Massachusetts passed away on February 9, 2016.  He was born on September 18, 1933 in Stamford, Connecticut, to James and Catherine (McGurn) Doherty.  He grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Central Catholic High School.  Following high school he joined the US Army where he served in Honolulu, Hawaii. After leaving the Army, he attended Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in business.  Joe enjoyed a successful career that culminated in his position as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Owens Corning in Toledo, Ohio.  It was there that he developed the popular Pink Panther Campaign which became synonymous with Owens Corning.  He won an Emmy Award in 1983 for his work on the popular WGBH series This Old House.  http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=177807495

Owens-Corning Fiberglass Company was formed in 1935 through the merger of Owens-Illinois and Corning Glass Works.  It became a separate company in 1938 with its headquarters established in Toledo, Ohio.  The company has been on the Fortune 500 list every year since its creation.  In 1965, Owens-Corning Fiberglas Europe was formed.  In 1966, Owens-Corning established a partnership with Armstrong Rubber Co. to produce fiberglass-reinforced automobile tires.  In 1974, the company opened a temporary plant to produce insulation for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.  In 1977, Owens-Corning acquired Frye Roofing and began production of fiberglass mat to replace traditional paper mat used in roofing.  Owens-Corning began using the United Artists cartoon character Pink Panther in its PINK Fiberglas insulation marketing in 1979.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Corning

Many people are surprised to learn that all teas, white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh are made from the leaves of the same species.  While the varietal of the particular Camellia sinensis plant as well as the weather conditions and soil contribute to the final taste of the tea, the significant differences of tea type develop in the processing of the leaves.  The distinguishing factor that determines whether a tea plant will become white, green, oolong, or black tea is oxidation.  Oxidation begins after the leaf has been plucked from the plant, and begins a process of being dried, withered, rolled, and heat treated.  A black tea is fully oxidized, causing it to turn black, while a white tea is barely oxidized at all, thus retaining its soft, silvery down.  We tend to call many things that we infuse in hot water a tea.  But technically, it’s only tea if it’s made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen plant indigenous to China and India.  Today tea is grown in over one hundred countries to meet the worldwide demand.  Tea is the world’s second most popular beverage, after water.  http://theteaspot.com/about-tea.html

Steeping can make or break a cup of tea, and for those who love tea, steeping is an art form in itself.  Steeping begins when heated water is poured over the tea bag, infuser, tea strainer or in the teapot.  The goal of steeping is to infuse the water with the tea.  Over-steeping may cause bitterness, so it’s important to experiment with different types of teas, bags or loose leaf teas, and the appropriate steeping times for each.  Heartier teas, such as black, red, herb and oolong, can be steeped in water that has fully boiled without risk of over-processing.  White and green teas are more delicate, and should be steeped in water that is heated to just below the boiling point.  Black tea bags and black loose-leaf tea may steep up to five minutes.  Oolong tea bags may steep up to five minutes while the loose leaf variety may steep up to seven minutes.  Red and herb loose leaf teas and tea bags can both be steeped for up to seven minutes.  White tea bags may be steeped up to one minute and loose leaf teas up to three minutes.  Green tea bags may be steeped up to three minutes and loose leaf tea up to four minutes.  http://www.livestrong.com/article/480185-what-is-the-difference-between-brewing-tea-steeping-tea/

On February 24, 2016 President Obama announced Carla Hayden as his nominee for Librarian of Congress.   In a video, Dr. Hayden describes a library as "like heaven" and the "original treasure chest."  https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/02/24/meet-president-obamas-nominee-librarian-congress?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email569-image&utm_campaign=loc  Thank you, Muse reader!


http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1432  February 26, 2016  On this date in 1616, Galileo Galilei was formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.  On this date in 1917, the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York.  Quote of the Day  The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved--loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. - Victor Hugo, novelist and dramatist (26 Feb 1802-1885)  Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.  In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry and then from his novels and his dramatic achievements.  Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem.  Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and Notre-Dame de Paris, 1831 (known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).  He also produced more than 4,000 drawings, which have since been admired for their beauty, and earned widespread respect as a campaigner for social causes such as the abolition of capital punishment.  Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of republicanism; his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. His legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French franc banknotes.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo

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