Monday, September 25, 2017

Tom Conway (1904-1967) played "The Falcon" in ten of that series' entries.  He starred in three Val Lewton horror classics.  He appeared in comedies, musicals, two Tarzan films and even science fiction films.  He was early television's Detective Mark Saber, but Conway will probably be best remembered as George Sanders' brother.  His hobbies were boat and airplane design, swimming, skiing and tennis.  He invented a pipe cleaner and co-invented the "arcometer" for mechanical drawing with brother George.  Brother George persuaded him to come to Hollywood.  To prevent confusion on the part of the public, they tossed a coin to see who would have to change his name.  Tom lost, thereby becoming Tom Conway.  When an American-born comic actor first came to Hollywood in the early 1960s, he was forced to change his name because, although he was born as Tom Conway, he could not use his own name due to the already-established character actor Tom Conway.  So he changed his name and became known as Tim Conway.  Read more and see picture at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007218/bio

Kentuck Knob  In 1953, Bernardine and I.N. Hagan purchased eighty acres in the mountains above Uniontown in Western Pennsylvania where their families had lived for generations.  After falling in love with the home of their friends the Kaufmanns, Fallingwater, they telephoned Frank Lloyd Wright and asked if he would design a house for them.  His answer was:  “Of course.  Come on out.”  At eighty-six, and hard at work on the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Beth Shalom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, and about twelve residential homes, Wright said he could “shake it (Kentuck Knob) out of his sleeve at will” never even setting foot on the site, except for a short visit during the construction phase.  This would be one of the last homes completed by Wright.  See picture and link to more information at http://kentuckknob.com/about/

Simple Verses (Spanish:  Versos sencillos) is a poetry collection by Cuban writer and political activist José Martí.  Published in October 1891, it was the last of Martí's works to be printed before his death in 1895.  Originally written in Spanish, it has been translated into over ten languages.  Among the poems of the collection are Yo soy un hombre sincero (I), Si ves un monte de espumas (V), and Cultivo una rosa blanca (XXXIX).  Verses pruned from various poems were adapted into the folk song Guantanamera, which is the most popular patriotic song of Cuba and was popularized in the US in the 1960s during the American folk music revival.  The bulk of the book was written in 1890 while Martí was convalescing in a small town called Haines Falls in the Catskill Mountains.  The manuscript was first read in public in December of that year, at the home of Carmen Miyares in New York City; it was published ten months later, by Louis Weiss & Co. of New York.  The book comprises 46 poems, written in four-line stanzas (quatrains) of octosyllabic verse.  The diction is clean, sparse, and the verses display regular rhyme schemes and alliteration.  The work is rich in the symbolism of color; its verses known for their spontaneity and transparency.  Their style has been compared to that of Zen watercolor paintingshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Verses

venge  From Middle English vengen, from Old French venger, from Latin vindicare (to avenge, vindicate)Verb venge (third-person singular simple present vengespresent participle vengingsimple past and past participle venged(obsolete) To avenge; to punish; to revenge.  Related terms:  avenge,

Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.  Search various databases including Wayback Machine, American Libraries and Universal Library at https://archive.org/

The WABAC Machine or Wayback Machine refers to a fictional machine from the cartoon segment Peabody's Improbably History, a recurring feature of the 1960s cartoon series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.  The WABAC Machine is a plot device used to transport the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman back in time to visit important events in human history.  Either of the names WABAC or Wayback are in common usage, with the term "WAYBACK" explicitly indicated during the segment in which Mr. Peabody and Sherman visit the "Charge of the Light Brigade".  The precise meaning of the acronym WABAC is unknown, but the term is obviously a play on "way back", as in "way back in time", and the names of mid-century, large-sized computers that often ended in "AC" (generally for "Automatic Computer" or similar), such as ENIAC or UNIVAC.  Indeed, according to Gerard Baldwin, one of the show's directors, the name "WABAC" is a reference to the UNIVAC I.  The concept or term "Wayback Machine" has been adopted in popular culture as a convenient way to introduce issues or events of the past, often employing the original line "Sherman, set the Wayback machine to . . . ".  This introduction was used by the character Kevin Flynn in the film Tron, for example.  As in the original cartoon, the Wayback Machine is often invoked to suggest the audience follow the narrator back to the past.  Frequently such visits to the past are trips of nostalgia, remembering times, places, or things of the not-so-distant past.  One example of popular usage occurred in an episode of the TV show NewsRadio ("Goofy Ball", 1995), when station owner Jimmy James (Stephen Root) says:  "Dave, don't mess with a man with a Wayback Machine.  I can make it so you were never born."  The Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive was named after the WABAC.  http://rockyandbullwinkle.wikia.com/wiki/WABAC_machine

Freezing Sweet, Bell and Hot Peppers from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources  Peppers are one of those foods you can quickly freeze raw without blanching them first.  Thawed, raw peppers still retain some crispness and can be used in cooked dishes or raw in uncooked dishes.  It is generally recommended frozen vegetables be eaten within about 8 months for best quality.  Find easy instructions at http://food.unl.edu/freezing-sweet-bell-and-hot-peppers

The television rights to the upcoming Bill Clinton-James Patterson novel “The President Is Missing” have been acquired by Showtime with plans to adapt it into a series, the network announced September 22, 2017.   Set to be published in 2018, the book tells the story of a sitting U.S. president’s disappearance, with the level of detail that only someone who has held the office can know.  Clinton and Patterson’s collaboration on the novel marks the first time an American President has ever co-authored a thriller.  The rights were acquired by Showtime in a competitive situation, with many networks and streaming services trying to secure the rights.  http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/bill-clinton-james-patterson-president-is-missing-showtime-1202566222/

WEEKEND WORDS  David Meade, who claimed the world would  end September 23, 2017 said doomsday wouldn't happen then after all.  Self-published author Meade laid out his "astronomical, scientific, the Book of Revelation and geopolitics" ideology in his book Planet X—The 2017 Arrival.  He claimed that "Planet Nibiru" would collide with the Earth.  But now Meade is saying this event won't mark the apocalypse, but rather a series of dire events over the course of weeks.  Donald Trump modified his nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him "Little Rocket Man."  The president said NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the national anthem.  Stephen Curry, a Golden State Warriors guard and two-time NBA MVP, said he would vote against the team visiting Trump’s White House to celebrate the team’s 2017 championship.  Trump tweeted:  “Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team.  Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!”  According to NBCSports.com Steve Kerr, Warriors head coach, said that as of September 22 no such invitation had been extended by the White House.  On September 24, Trump called for a fan boycott of the NFL.

Here’s what Jackie Robinson had to say about the national anthem

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1774  September 25, 2017  On this date in 1690Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, the first newspaper to appear in the Americas, was published for the first and only time.  On this date in 1790Peking opera was born when the Four Great Anhui Troupes introduced Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.

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