June 8, 2017  37 BOOKS WE’VE LOVED SO FAR IN 2017 by Book World Editors   As summer approaches, here are some of our favorite reads--from thrillers to literary fiction, memoir, history and politics:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/summer-reading-list-2017/

Alley Oop is a syndicated comic strip created in 1932 by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the popular and influential strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association.  Alley Oop, the strip's title character, was a sturdy citizen in the prehistoric kingdom of Moo.  He rode his pet dinosaur Dinny, carried a stone war hammer, and wore nothing but a fur loincloth.  He would rather fight dinosaurs in the jungle than deal with his fellow countrymen in Moo's capital and sole cave-town.  Despite these exotic settings, the stories were often satires of American suburban life.  The first stories took place in the Stone Age and centered on Alley Oop's dealings with his fellow cavemen in the kingdom of Moo.  Oop and his pals had occasional skirmishes with the rival kingdom of Lem, ruled by King Tunk.  The names Moo and Lem are references to the fabled lost continents of Mu and Lemuria.  On April 5, 1939, Hamlin introduced a new plot device which greatly expanded his choice of storylines:  A time machine, invented by 20th-century scientist Dr. Elbert Wonmug, who bore a rather suspicious resemblance to the Grand Wizer.  The name Wonmug was a bilingual pun on Albert Einstein; "ein" is German for "one", and a "stein" is a form of drinking mug.  Oscar Boom is derived from the words Nobel Prize, Oscar = Prize and Boom after Alfred Nobel (the inventor of dynamite).  Oop was transported to the 20th century by an early test of the machine (in the Sunday strip of April 9, 1939).  He was hardly upset by the incident and apparently did not find modern society to be any different from his own.  He then became Dr. Wonmug's man in the field, embarking on expeditions to various periods and places in history, such as Ancient Egypt, the England of Robin Hood, and the American frontier.  Oop met such historical or mythical figures as Cleopatra, King Arthur, and Ulysses in his adventures.  In addition to the time machine, other science fiction devices were introduced.  Oop once drove an experimental electric-powered race car and, in the 1940s, he traveled to the Moon.  The long-running success of the strip made the character a pop culture icon referred to in fiction, pop music, dance, and sports:  Jerom is a caveman in the Belgian comic strip series Suske en Wiske by Willy Vandersteen who was inspired by Alley Oop.  An educated Neanderthal known as "Alley Oop" is a character in Clifford D. Simak's science fiction novel The Goblin Reservation, published in 1968.  "O. Paley" (whose name was a loose anagram of "Alley Oop") was the central figure in Philip José Farmer's The Alley Man, a 1959 novella about the last Neanderthal who has survived into the 20th century.  The character was the subject of the 1960 No. 1 single "Alley Oop", which was the only hit for the short-lived studio band The Hollywood Argyles.  It  was written and composed in 1957 by Dallas Frazier, and musicians on the record included Kim Fowley and Sandy Nelson.  Lead vocalist Norm Davis was paid a one-time flat fee of $25, and he subsequently became a poet and poetry teacher in Rochester, New York.  The song was later covered, most famously by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but also by both Dante & the Evergreens and George Thorogood & the Destroyers, and it was included in choreographer Twyla Tharp's 1970s ballet Deuce Coupe.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alley_Oop  Alley Oop may also refer to:  Alley-oop (basketball), a play in basketball; Alley-oop (football), a play in American football; Alley Oop (professional wrestling), a professional wrestling move; Alley-oop (skateboarding), a skateboarding trick; Alley-oop (skating), an inline skating trick; and Alley-oop (snowboarding), a spin trick in snowboarding.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alley_Oop_(disambiguation)

surety  (guarantor) noun  attester, backer, certifier, confirmer, consignee, endorser, financer, indemnitor, promisor, ratifier, signatory, signer, sponsor, supporter, underwriter, voucher, warrantor   Associated concepts:  surety bond, surety company, surety insurance, surety of the peace

surety  (certainty)  noun absolute confidence, affirmance, affirmation, aplomb, ascertainment, assurance, assuredness, averment, avowal, avowance, certain knowledge, certification, certitude  Read more at http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/surety

New York, New York is the city so nice it got two of everything:  two baseball teams, two decrepit airports and now two riverside art galleries designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.  His Whitney Museum of American Art has packed in visitors since the spring of 2015, spellbound as much by its balconies and switchback staircases as by its light-filled, column-free galleries.  Now it has a fraternal twin a hundred blocks north:  the Lenfest Center for the Arts, which serves as a new hub for Columbia University’s art, film, theater and writing programs.  Both rise eight stories beside the Hudson River, though the Lenfest is a bit farther inland.  The Lenfest hosts a performance space, screening room and the relocated Wallach Art Gallery—which has presented exhibitions by the likes of Nancy Holt and Xu Bing, presentations of M.F.A. work, as well as shows organized by graduate students in art history.  Formerly ensconced in the university’s art history department, it now has 4,000 square feet in the new Piano building, which can be divided as needed with temporary walls.  Next door is Mr. Piano’s larger, quietly distinguished Jerome L. Greene Science Center, whose narrow windows and industrial detailing look almost like a test run for his giant, nearly complete Palais de Justice in Paris, Mr. Piano’s adopted hometown.  Jason Farago  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/arts/design/wallach-art-gallery-uptown-columbia-review.html?_r=0

The Knight Foundation and Columbia University on May 17, 2017 announced the creation of a new center that will use research, education, and litigation to advance First Amendment rights in the digital age.  An independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is backed by $60 million in funding—and it is launching at a time of growing concern about the First Amendment’s application to new technologies.  Knight and Columbia will contribute $5 million each in operating funds and $25 million each in endowment funds, according to a press release announcing the effort.  The institute will use the funds to work on court cases that present opportunities to define—or redefine—free-expression principles, with an emphasis on digitally oriented cases.  The plan also calls for research, publications, and events to educate the legal community on emerging First Amendment issues.  Jonathan Peters  https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/knight_columbia_first_amendment_institute.php  See also news from the Knight First Amendment Institute at https://knightcolumbia.org/news#/type/

The terms blackmail and extortion are often used interchangeably though in fact, there is a subtle difference between the two.  Blackmail is a crime wherein the blackmailer demands goods, services or money in exchange for not revealing information that would be detrimental to the person being blackmailed.  The information may be true or untrue.  The word blackmail is derived from the Scottish word mal, meaning agreement, bargaining, rent.  In the 1500s, rental payments were called silver mail as the payments were usually made with silver coins.  Scottish chieftains collected protection money, or blackmail, from farmers in exchange for not razing their farms.  Extortion is a crime wherein the extortionist demands goods, services or money through coercion.  Coercion may involve the threat of violence, use of force or criminal use of authority.  The word extortion is derived from the Latin word extortionem which means twisting out.  Remember, the word blackmail refers to a crime wherein the threat is a revelation of information, extortion refers to a crime wherein the threat is either physical, violent or an unfair use of power.  http://grammarist.com/usage/blackmail-vs-extortion/

Many people are familiar with bouillabaisse, the classic French fish stew.  The Provençal version of the dish is called bourride.  It is served along the coast from Saint-Raphaël to Nice, and though it may be less well known, it is just as delicious.  The key to a bourride is aioli, a garlicky mayonnaise that is added to the fish broth, lending it a creamy texture.  Find recipe at http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/food-drink/a5918/bourride-fish-stew-1/

The American Writers Museum strives to:  educate the public about American writers; engage visitors to explore the many exciting worlds created by the spoken and written word; enrich and deepen appreciation for good writing in all its forms; motivate visitors to discover, or rediscover, a love of reading and writing; and inspire the young writers of tomorrow.  The museum, located at 180 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, opened to the public  May 16, 2017.  http://americanwritersmuseum.org/history/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1731  June 27, 2017  On this date in 1869,  Mary Williams who wrote pseudonymously as Kate Carew, a caricaturist self-styled as "The Only Woman Caricaturist", was born.  On this date in 1922, the American Library Association awarded the first Newbery Medal for Children's Literature for The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem van Loon  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-newbery-medal-for-childrens-literature  Thought for Today  The highest result of education is tolerance. - Helen Keller, author and lecturer (27 Jun 1880-1968)