St. Paris is a village in Champaign County, Ohio.  The population was 2,089 at the 2010 census.  The area where St. Paris now stands was originally inhabited by Native Americans.  The first white settlers arrived in 1797 and the village was founded in 1831 by David Huffman, who originally named it New Paris, after the French capital city of Paris.  Upon learning that another town in Ohio already had that name, he changed the name to St. Paris.  St. Paris was incorporated as a village in 1858.  One of the houses in the village, known as the "Monitor House", has been declared a historic site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paris,_Ohio

The best known maker of pony vehicles was Walborn & Riker in St. Paris, Ohio.  St. Paris is famous as ‘Pony Wagon Town.’  Freeman Riker perfected the proportional sizing of pony vehicles.  A pony is not a small horse; it has different proportions.  Cutting down a full-size carriage with smaller wheels and shorter shafts doesn’t work, though that was customary at the time.  In the Walborn & Riker catalogs the vehicles are shown sized to the height of the pony measured at the withers in inches:  below 34” or 34–40.”  This was their pride and the catalog was adamant about it.  Riker took six of his pony carriages, including his first “Little Princess” model, to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 with a life-size, paper mache pony.  They were a success and henceforth the main business of Walborn & Riker.   http://www.drivingdigest.com/articles/148-collecting-carriages

How the Basque language has survived by Nina Porzucki   Spoken in a region that spans northern Spain and across the border into southern France, it is not part of the Indo-European language family.  It’s not related to Spanish or French or German or Greek or any known language. The origins of the language are a bit of mystery.  “The Basque language has words coming from all languages that have been in Europe since prehistory from Latin and Celtic languages, and probably from languages before these Celtic languages.  Who knows what was spoken in Europe at the time.”  Link to The Land of the Basques, a 41:03 documentary featuring Orson Welles as narrator with Basque subtitles at https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-05-16/how-has-basque-language-survived

Pasta Shapes Dictionary  Campanelle (“Bells”)  Cavatappi (“Corkscrew”)  Ditalini (“Little Thimbles”)  Farfalle ("Bow Ties" or "Butterflies")  Fusilli  (“Twisted Spaghetti”)  Gemelli  (“Twins”)  Gigli  (“Lilies”)  Linguine  (“Little Tongues”)  Manicotti  (“Small Muffs”)  Orecchiette  (“Little Ears”)  Orzo  (“Barley”)   Penne  (“Quills” or “Feathers”)  Radiatori  (“Radiators”)  Rocchetti  (“Spool”)  Rotelle  (“Little Wheels”)  Rotini  (“Spirals” or “Twists”)  Spaghetti  (“A length of cord”)   Vermicelli  (“Little Worms”)  Ziti  (“Bridegrooms”)  Link to recipes and pasta cooking tips at https://pastafits.org/pasta-dictionary/  Use leftover pasta in salads, soups, stews, vegetables or eggs.

A universal language is one that can be communicated without words--for instance:  music, mathematics, hand signals, emoji, gestures.

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

obverse  noun:  OB-vuhrs  The side of a coin, medal, etc. that has the main design.  The front or the principal side of anything.  A counterpart to something.  adjective:  ob-VUHRS  Facing the observer.  Serving  as a counterpart to something.  From Latin obvertere (to turn toward), from ob- (toward) + vertere (to turn).  Ultimately from the Indo-European root wer- (to turn or bend), which is also the source of words such as wring, weird, writhe, worth, revert, and universe.  Earliest documented use:  1656.  The front of a coin is called the obverse, the other side is the reverse.  The obverse is also termed as the head because the front typically portrays the head of someone famous.  The reverse side is known as the tail even though it doesn’t show the tail of that famous person.

June 28, 2018  Mayflies are back in Cleveland, sticking to the sides of cars, buildings, walls, (sometimes) people--basically whatever they can land on.  Don't worry or panic if one lands on you.  Mayflies don't bite and they're signs that lakes, rivers and streams are healthy.  The mass of mayflies is so large this year it's showing up on weather radar.  According to MayflyNews.net, which tracks appearances of mayflies, the insects started showing up around June 18 in Port Clinton.  Midges are classified as flies and have one set of wings.  They're also known as "muffleheads."  They appear a few weeks earlier than mayflies.  Though they emerge from water, number of midges doesn't indicate water quality.  Midges are tolerant of pollution.   Mayflies are more closely related to dragonflies.  There are thousands of species of mayflies, classified into a group with the name ephemeroptera.  This comes from the word "ephemeral," meaning lasting for a very short time.  The name mayfly actually doesn't describe the insect at all, because mayflies aren't bugs and they typically appear in Cleveland in June.  Mayflies have longer bodies than midges and two pairs of long, gossamery wings. Neither of them bite.  Emily Bamforth  https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/06/mayflies_are_back_in_full_forc.html

June 28, 2018  Archaeologist Eckart Frahm didn't have much time to determine where the 4,000-year-old clay tablets had come from.  Homeland Security officials had given him just 2 1/2 days in a dimly lit New York warehouse to pore over the cuneiform inscriptions etched into the fragile, ancient pieces and report back.  "They were not in great shape.  They had infestations of salt in them, so it's not that I could say I had been able to read everything," says the Yale University professor.  "My main goal was to provide a general assessment from when and where did these tablets actually originate."  Frahm determined the tablets at the center of a federal case against the Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby arts and crafts chain were from a place few had ever heard of—an ancient Sumerian city called Irisagrig.  "You could argue that this is a lost city because this place has never been properly excavated and you don't even know exactly where it is," Frahm tells NPR.  But looters know.  The roughly 250 tablets Frahm examined in 2016 were among 5,500 objects, including ancient cylinder seals and clay seal impressions known as bullae, smuggled into the U.S. starting in 2010.  Shipped from the United Arab Emirates and Israel without declaring their true Iraqi origin, some of them were marked "ceramic tiles" or "clay tiles (sample)."  They'd been purchased by Hobby Lobby for $1.6 million.  In a settlement last year with the Justice Department, Hobby Lobby agreed to forfeit the objects and paid a $3 million fine.  In May, about 3,800 objects were handed back to the Iraqi government at a ceremony at its Washington, D.C., embassy, and will be returned to Iraq later this year.  Jane Arraf  Read more and see pictures at https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/623537440/hobby-lobbys-illegal-antiquities-shed-light-on-a-lost-looted-ancient-city-in-ira

Speculative-fiction writer Harlan Ellison, who penned short stories, novellas and criticism, contributed to TV series including “The Outer Limits,” “Star Trek” and “Babylon 5” and won a notable copyright infringement suit against ABC and Paramount and a settlement in a similar suit over “The Terminator,” died June 28, 2018 at the age of 84.  The prolific but cantankerous author famously penned the “Star Trek” episode “City on the Edge of Forever,” in which Kirk and Spock must go back in time to Depression-era America to put Earth history back on its rightful course, a goal that for Kirk means sacrificing the woman he loves (played by Joan Collins).  The final script was rewritten by “Star Trek” staffers to avoid the anti-war lesson Ellison had intended to impart about the ongoing Vietnam War, leaving Ellison unhappy.  His 1995 book “The City on the Edge of Forever:  The Original Teleplay That Became the Classic Star Trek Episode” contained two drafts by Ellison.  The author was still steaming over his experience more than four decades after the episode originally aired:  In 2009 Ellison sued CBS Paramount Television seeking revenue from merchandising and other sources from the episode; a settlement was reached six months later.  In a separate case, Ellison won $337,000 (later reduced a bit in a settlement) from ABC and Paramount Studios in 1980 for copyright infringement on a short story the author had penned with Ben Bova, “Brillo.”  Ellison and Bova had been asked to develop it at ABC, but the option there had lapsed; Ellison then showed it to Par execs, who said they weren’t interested.  ABC aired a Par-produced telepic called “Future Cop” in May 1976 and later a brief series of the same name.  The premise, about the first android policeman, was identical to that in “Brillo.”  In the litigious writer’s third victory against Hollywood, Ellison sued James Cameron and others behind 1984’s “The Terminator,” claiming that the film drew from material in two episodes of the original “The Outer Limits” series, “Soldier” and “Demon With a Glass Hand,” that he had penned and had aired in 1964.  Production company Hemdale and distributor Orion Pictures settled out of court and were required under the terms of the settlement to acknowledge Ellison’s work in the film’s end credits.  Carmel Dagan  https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/harlan-ellison-dead-dies-star-trek-1202861048/

See the winners of National Geographic's Travel Photographer of the Year contest for 2018  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2018/06/28/national-geographic-travel-photographer-year/742906002/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1911  June 29, 2018  Word of the Day  abiogenesis  noun  The origination of living organisms from lifeless matter; such genesis as does not involve the action of living parents; spontaneous generation.  English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who coined the words biogenesis and abiogenesis, died on this day in 1895.  Wiktionary

The mysterious Cambridge library tower, supposedly full of banned books is opening to the public by Jessica Gardner   At 157 ft tall and 17 floors, Cambridge University Library’s tower can be seen for miles around but has largely kept its secrets to itself and its contents (approaching one million books) have given rise to much speculation.  But now in a new free exhibition, Tall Tales:  Secrets of the tower, we reveal some of the truth about what the great skyscraper really holds.  Just over a year ago, the first question at my interview for the job of Cambridge University librarian asked about the importance of a legal deposit–or copyright–library.  The factual answer is that, by law, it means we are entitled to receive a copy of every book that is published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.  But the answer that speaks to my passions as a librarian and archivist, is that it means we are home to a collection that tells the remarkable story of our national life through the printed word.  The exhibition lifts the lid on two centuries of popular publishing in the UK, received under the Copyright Act and held in the tower since the building opened in 1934.  Victorian toys and games jostle for a place with colourful children’s books, Edwardian fiction in pristine dust jackets and popular periodicals.  Once considered of “secondary” value to the main academic collections, the tower collection is a treasure trove for today’s readers and researchers.  At the time they were published, librarians would never have considered these books important.  Many were ephemeral, populist, mainstream scribblings not worthy of the notice of Cambridge scholars, and so banished to the tower.  It’s a marker of how little was thought of the books that no thought was given to future browsing by author or subject, and they appear to have been placed in the sequence simply in the order in which they arrived in any one year.   The space issue is a serious one.  In 2000/01, Cambridge University Library was receiving about 1,600 printed books a week (85,000 per year) and about 1,800 serial parts (newspapers and so on).  Even with 17 floors, a growth rate of two miles a year is far from sustainable.  To help meet our responsibility as part of the national collection, we have just opened a brand new book store in nearby Ely.  It doesn’t have a tower but it does have more than 100 kilometres of shelves reaching 11 metres high (imagine two giraffes).  Legal deposit also moved into the digital age on 6 April 2013, when new legislation for electronic deposit came into force.  Since then, we’ve received a little over 250,000 ebooks on deposit and 270,000 printed books.  The Cambridge University Library is the work of architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also gave us the much loved red telephone box (the design of which is mirrored in the library’s tall windows), Battersea Power Station, and the Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern).  Tall Tales:  Secrets of the Tower is open until 28 October 2018. Dr Jessica Gardner is Cambridge University’s librarian and director of library services@CamUniLibrarian  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/cambridge-university-library-tower-banned-books-opening-copyright-a8325196.html

December 28, 2017  It’s been 20 years since Hartzler Family Dairy launched a new product.  The company is known throughout the region largely for its milk sold in distinct glass bottles at select retailers.  Some 80 percent of the company’s business is wholesale products that had, until recently, consisted of milk, butter and ice cream, the latter of which is produced mostly for its ice cream shop in Wooster.  In 2017, the company launched a non-GMO Project-verified string cheese, which Hartzler President Paul Sommers says is the first of its kind in the U.S.  “We’re currently the only dairy in the state of Ohio that’s non-GMO Project verified.  Non-GMO Project, if you do some research on them, they are one of the most recognizable and trusted brands in the natural food world,” Sommers says.  He adds, however, “We do not have to change anything about any way that we do things to get that label on our products.”  Hartzler ties its name to the organic farming concept.  The home page of its website begins with the story, “In 1964, when Harold Hartzler made the decision to stop using chemical pesticides and herbicides on his farm, it was not a marketing decision.  He did it because he had witnessed the effect of chemical run-off on a neighboring farm after a storm.  It was then that Harold decided to farm only ‘as Nature Intended.’”  It’s an organic dairy that’s not certified organic, as Sommers puts it.  The non-GMO labeling it recently acquired is largely to satisfy retailers that would like to see third-party verification on products.   Launching a string cheese product made sense because Hartzler knows that many of its customers already purchase organic string cheese from other producers.  The opportunity became a reality when it found a manufacturing partner, Miceli Dairy Products Co. based in Cleveland, that can make that product.  That meant Hartzler wouldn’t need to ship milk across the country.  http://www.sbnonline.com/article/hartzler-family-dairy-gears-aggressive-market-approach/

June 26, 2018  The National Trust for Historic Preservation has unveiled its 2018 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, including historic properties in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and multiple sites along Route 66.  The National Trust has identified almost 300 threatened sites since 1988.  “For over 30 years, our 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list has called attention to threatened one-of-a-kind treasures throughout the nation and galvanized Americans to help local communities save them,” Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a written statement.  For the third time in the history of the list, the Trust identified a 12th site placed as on the “Watch Status.”  This year, that designation goes to the Four Towns of Vermont’s Upper Valley –  Royalton, Sharon, Strafford, and Tunbridge, Vt.  A proposal is being considered to create a new community around the village that could damage the surrounding farms and forests.  This year’s 31st annual list of endangered historic places includes:  Annapolis’ City Dock Area, Annapolis, Maryland.  Ashley River Historic District, Charleston County, South Carolina.  Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte Memorial Hospital, Walthill, Nebraska.  Historic Resources of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Isaiah T. Montgomery House – Mound Bayou, Mississippi.  Larimer Square, Denver, Colorado.  Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses.  Bridgeport, Connecticut.  Mount Vernon and Piscataway National Park, Mount Vernon, Virginia, and Accokeek, Maryland.  Route 66, multiple states.  Ship on the Desert, Salt Flat, Texas.  Walkout Schools of Los Angeles.  Nancy Trejos  Read more at https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2018/06/26/endangered-historic-places-usa/732718002/

June 26, 2018  The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian has announced the winning concept for the National Native American Veterans Memorial:  Multimedia artist Harvey Pratt's Warriors' Circle of Honor will incorporate a large, upright stainless steel circle set above a stone drum in the center of a circular walkway with intricate carvings of the five military seals.  The memorial will sit on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and Pratt envisions a clear view of the U.S. Capitol's dome from there. As Smithsonian.com has reported, Pratt's use of circles suggests "the cycle of life and death, and the continuity of all things."  The stone drum, it adds, symbolizes an invitation for people to "harmonize their experiences" with one another to the "silent rhythms" of the drumbeat.  Kat Chow  Read more and see pictures at https://www.npr.org/2018/06/26/623515229/smithsonian-reveals-winning-design-for-new-native-american-veterans-memorial

June 26, 2018  For 500 years, the painted wooden effigy of St George that adorns a chapel in the Spanish town of Estella has been locked in a silent struggle against his old foe, the dragon.  Today, however, the saint faces a different battle thanks to a feat of restoration that has prompted comparisons with the infamous “Ecce Homo Monkey Christ” and exasperated the mayor.  An attempt to freshen up the 16th-century polychrome statue has left St George with a rosy pink face and a bold, red-and-grey suit of armour.  The restoration is believed to have been carried out by a handicrafts teacher at the request of the parish authorities of the Church of St Michael.  The mayor of Estella, which lies south-west of Pamplona in the Navarre region, is demanding to know why the council was not consulted before the work went ahead.  Sam Jones  Read more and see before and after pictures at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/26/second-spanish-church-falls-prey-to-well-intentioned-restorer-st-george-ecce-homo-monkey-christ

In the annals of Elvis Presley history, there are more than a few days of the musician's exceptional life that could be considered significant.  Yet, the date of June 26th marks a number of important milestones in his life and in the lives of others close to the King of Rock & Roll, not the least of which was his last-ever live performance on that date in 1977.  That final performance took place just seven weeks before his death at age 42 sent shockwaves throughout the world and silenced one of the most popular entertainers of all time.  But 68 years before "Elvis has left the building" was uttered for the final time in Presley's lifetime, signaling his exit from Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, June 26th marked the entry into the world of the man who would grow up to guide the careers of Elvis, as well as country legends Hank Snow and Eddy Arnold.  On that day in 1909, Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk was born in the Netherlands.  He would, of course, later be known as Colonel Tom Parker, the former carnival barker who would become a music promoter then personal manager, signing the young singer from Tupelo, Mississippi, to an exclusive contract and seeing him through his meteoric rise to fame as a performer, movie star and Las Vegas entertainer.  Parker remained Presley's manager right through to the end of Elvis' life.  Stephen L. Betts  Link to 2:12 music video of Can't Help Falling in Love at https://www.rollingstone.com/country/news/elvis-presley-sings-cant-help-falling-in-love-at-final-concert-w522085

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1910  June 27, 2018 

Stonehenge, located in South West England, is a prehistoric monument with standing stones.  It is positioned to align perfectly with the sunrise on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.  There are also eight lines that appear between rectangle and triangles that align with seasonal dates.  In 2018, roughly 9,500 people visited Stonehenge on the summer solstice to see the sun above the heel stone, which is also called friar's heel.  A new book entitled "Megalith" asserts that the ancient humans who designed the Stonehenge followed Pythagoras' theorem.  This states that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the other two squares on the triangle.  It was developed by ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras, who was born in 570 B.C.  However, the Stonehenge was assembled 2,000 years before his birth, around 2500 B.C.  This theory suggests that these ancient humans were smarter than what people gave them credit for.  In order to use Pythagoras' theorem, they had to be really skilled at geometry.  The book was released June 21 2018 to coincide with the summer solstice.  "We think these people didn't have scientific minds but first and foremost they were astronomers and cosmologists," John Matineau, the editor of the book, told the Telegraph.  "They were studying long and difficult to understand cycles and they knew about these when they started planning sites like Stonehenge."  Robin Heath, a contributor to the book, believes that there must also be a great Pythagorean triangle somewhere else in the United Kingdom.  It is assumed that this will link to Stonehenge.  Heath also contends that the ancient humans who built Stonehenge likely used a rope or another object to represent a time period as it relates to the sun and the moon.  He says that this is where the phrase "a length of time" originates from.  https://www.techtimes.com/articles/230844/20180621/stonehenge-builders-used-pythagoras-theorem-2-000-years-before-he-was-born.htm

The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body.  The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946 when it was not held because of the Second World War.  The current champion is Germany, which won its fourth title at the 2014 tournament in Brazil. The world's first international football match was a challenge match played in Glasgow in 1872 between Scotland and England, which ended in a 0–0 draw.  The first international tournament, the inaugural edition of the British Home Championship, took place in 1884.  As football grew in popularity in other parts of the world at the turn of the 20th century, it was held as a demonstration sport with no medals awarded at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics (however, the IOC has retroactively upgraded their status to official events), and at the 1906 Intercalated Games.  After FIFA was founded in 1904, it tried to arrange an international football tournament between nations outside the Olympic framework in Switzerland in 1906.  These were very early days for international football, and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure.  At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition.  Planned by The Football Association (FA), England's football governing body, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition.  Great Britain (represented by the England national amateur football team) won the gold medals.  They repeated the feat at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.  With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy tournament in Turin in 1909.  The Lipton tournament was a championship between individual clubs (not national teams) from different nations, each one of which represented an entire nation.  The competition is sometimes described as The First World Cup, and featured the most prestigious professional club sides from Italy, Germany and Switzerland, but the FA of England refused to be associated with the competition and declined the offer to send a professional team.  Lipton invited West Auckland, an amateur side from County Durham, to represent England instead.  West Auckland won the tournament and returned in 1911 to successfully defend their title.  In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for managing the event.  This paved the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, contested by Egypt and 13 European teams, and won by Belgium.  Uruguay won the next two Olympic football tournaments in 1924 and 1928.  Those were also the first two open world championships, as 1924 was the start of FIFA's professional era.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup   The 2018 World Cup is held in Russia from June 14 through July 15.

FIFA Women's World Cup is an international football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body.  The competition has been held every four years since 1991, when the inaugural tournament, then called the FIFA Women's World Championship, was held in China.  Under the tournament's current format, national teams vie for 23 slots in a three-year qualification phase.  (The host nation's team is automatically entered as the 24th slot.)  The tournament proper, alternatively called the World Cup Finals, is contested at venues within the host nation(s) over a period of about one month.  The seven FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments have been won by four different national teams.  The current champion is the United States, after winning their third title in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.  In 1988--58 years after the first Men's FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930 and approximately 17 years after the FA ban on women's football was eliminated in 1971--FIFA hosted an invitational in China as a test to see if a global women's World Cup was feasible.  Twelve national teams took part in the competition – four from UEFA, three from AFC, two from CONCACAF and one from CONMEBOL, CAF and OFC.  The tournament saw European champion Norway defeat Sweden 1–0 in the final to win the tournament, while Brazil clinched third place by beating the hosts in a penalty shootout.  The competition was deemed a success and on 30 June FIFA approved the establishment of an official World Cup, which was to take place in 1991 again in China.  Again, twelve teams competed, this time culminating in the United States beating Norway in the final 2-1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Women%27s_World_Cup

Lyon Sprague de Camp (1907–2000), better known as L. Sprague de Camp, was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction.  In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, such as biographies of other fantasy authors.  He was a major figure in science fiction in the 1930s and 1940s.  An aeronautical engineer by profession, De Camp conducted his undergraduate studies at the California Institute of Technology (where his roommate was at one point noted rocket fuel scientist John Drury Clark), and earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Caltech in Aeronautical Engineering 1930.  He earned his Master of Science degree in Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1933.  De Camp was also a surveyor and an expert in patents.  His first job was with the Inventors Foundation, Inc. in Hoboken, N.J., which was taken over by The International Correspondence Schools.  De Camp transferred to the Scranton, PA division.  He was Principal of the School of Inventing and Patenting when he resigned in 1937.  "Extraterrestrial," a coinage from "extra" + "terrestrial," meaning from beyond earth, is attested as an adjective as early as 1868, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.  Its first use in connection with life beyond earth was likely by H. G. Wells, in his 1898 novel The War of the Worlds.  L. Sprague de Camp is credited with its first usage as a noun with the meaning of "alien life" and with coining the abbreviation "E.T." in the first part of his two-part article "Design for Life," published in the May 1939 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.  De Camp was best known for his light fantasy, particularly two series written in collaboration with Pratt, the Harold Shea stories and Gavagan's Bar .  De Camp also wrote historical fiction set in the era of classical antiquity from the height of the First Persian Empire to the waning of the Hellenistic period.  Five novels published by Doubleday from 1958 to 1969 form a loosely connected series based on their common setting and occasional cross references.  They were also linked by a common focus on the advancement of scientific knowledge, de Camp's chosen protagonists being explorers, artisans, engineers, innovators and practical philosophers rather than famous names from antiquity, who are relegated to secondary roles.  De Camp's first book was Inventions and Their Management, co-written with Alf K. Berle and published by International Textbook Company in 1937:  a 733-page book with three-page list of law cases cited.  He enjoyed debunking doubtful history and pseudoscientific claims about the supernatural.  He conducted extensive research for what was to be a book on magic, witchcraft and occultism, though only the first chapter, "The Unwritten Classics" (March, 1947), was published in the Saturday Review of Literature.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Sprague_de_Camp  The works of L. Sprague de Camp (full of magic, threats and nonsense) remind me of Lewis Carroll's writings.

Murray Fletcher Pratt (1897–1956) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history.  He is best known for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp.  Pratt was the inventor of a set of rules for naval wargaming, which he created before the Second World War.  This was known as the "Fletcher Pratt Naval War Game" and it involved dozens of tiny wooden ships, built on a scale of one inch to 50 feet.  These were spread over the floor of Pratt's apartment and their maneuvers were calculated via a complex mathematical formula.  Noted author and artist Jack Coggins was a frequent participant in Pratt's Navy Game, and de Camp met him through his wargaming group.  Pratt established the literary dining club known as the Trap Door Spiders in 1944.  The name is a reference to the exclusive habits of the trapdoor spider, which when it enters its burrow pulls the hatch shut behind it.  The club was later fictionalized as the Black Widowers in a series of mystery stories by Isaac Asimov.  Pratt himself was fictionalized in one story, "To the Barest", as the Widowers’ founder, Ralph Ottur.  He was also a charter member of The Civil War Round Table of New York, organized in 1951, and served as its president from 1953-1954.  In 1956, after his death, the Round Table's board of directors established the Fletcher Pratt Award in his honor, which is presented every May to the author or editor of the best non-fiction book on the Civil War published during the preceding calendar year.  Read more and see graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_Pratt  See also http://endlessbookshelf.net/fletcherpratt.html

Fletcher and I by L. Sprague de Camp, first published in The Compleat Enchanter, SF Book Club, 1975   My friend and collborator Fletcher Pratt had two careers:  that of librarian and the other of prizefighter in the fly-weight (112-pound) class.  He read Norse sagas in the original, learned Danish among other languages, and spoke French with a terrible accent.  He was fluent in Portuguese.  He wrote over fifty books, including science fiction, history and biography.  

Organic Red Kuri Squash:  You Can Even Eat the Skin! by Louisa Shafia   Being able to eat the skin gives you cooking options.  Usually, most of us roast squash in the oven and then scoop out the flesh.  With organic squash, you can cook it any way you would cook a potato.  To prepare the squash, simply slice it in half, scoop out the seeds, and then cut it up into chunks.  Now you’re ready to sauté, steam, braise, roast, or boil.  What I like about red kuri is the rich, buttery flesh, and savory flavor.  There are lots of ways to prepare it, but my go-to method is to braise red kuri with salt, olive oil, and garlic.  Find a basic recipe for cooking red kuri that takes about fifteen minutes at

https://www.rachaelray.com/2011/11/08/organic-red-kuri-squash-you-can-even-eat-the-skin/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1909  June 26, 2018 

Syllogism is a rhetorical device that starts an argument with a reference to something general, and from this it draws a conclusion about something more specific.  We start with a general argument “All men are mortal.”  We know that John is a man, so John is mortal.  It is a deductive approach to reason, and is based on deducing specific conclusions from general facts.  We notice in the example that syllogism is a three-part set of statements:  a major statement or premise; a minor statement or premise; a conclusion that is deduced.  Therefore, “All men are mortal” is a major statement or premise, which stands as a general fact.  “John is a man” is minor statement or premise that is specific, and “John is mortal” is the logical conclusion deduced from the two prior statements.  Syllogism takes the form of enthymeme when it is compressed.  Enthymeme combines the minor premise and the conclusion, omitting the major statement.  For instance, a syllogism “All dogs are canine.  Tommy is a dog.  Therefore, Tommy is a canine,” can be compressed in an enthymeme as “Tommy is a canine because it is a dog.”  The major premise remains implied or hidden.  Syllogism may also be used to form incorrect conclusions that are odd.  For instance, “All crows are black, and the bird in my cage is black.  So, the bird in my cage is a crow.”  This is a false argument, as it implies a conclusion that “all blackbirds are crows,” which is incorrect.  It is known as “syllogism fallacy.”  Another example of syllogism fallacy is “Some televisions are black and white, and all penguins are black and white.  Therefore, some televisions are penguins.”  You can easily see that the conclusion is practically impossible, and in fact has a comical outcome.  See examples of syllogisms in literature at https://literarydevices.net/syllogism/  See also https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/medieval-syllogism/ 

6/21/18   RAPID CITY, S.D. — Two lawsuits filed by South Dakota inmates allege the state Department of Corrections’ tablet computers are blocking access to the courts.  Rex Gard, an inmate at Mike Durfee State Prison, filed the second tablet-related lawsuit in federal court on June 19, 2018, the Rapid City Journal reported.  Gard alleges that the tablet software is prone to malfunctions and doesn’t provide access to legal databases as promised.  South Dakota opted for the tablets in lieu of paying legal aides and furnishing a law library last year.  The Corrections Department insisted that inmates could access the necessary legal documents to help in filing appeals and other civil documents through their tablets.  “The Lexis/Nexis application has been, despite frequent assurances that repairs were underway, only intermittently active since 2017, leaving many inmates with no access to the case law and statutes theoretically available on the tablets,” Gard’s lawsuit stated.  Another inmate at the same prison filed a similar federal lawsuit in May 2018.   Inmate Winston Brakeall claims the shuttering of the law library and the canceling of legal aid contracts left him unaware he had improperly filed a grievance.  Brakeall had filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act protesting prison conditions.  The state’s decision to deliver legal access through tablet computers will be contested Oct. 30 in the trial for Brakeall’s case.  States must guarantee inmates the right to “adequate, effective and meaningful” access to the courts under the 14th Amendment, but the definition of access varies by state.

http://www.therepublic.com/2018/06/21/sd-prison-aides-lawsuits/  Information from:  Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com  FILED June 19, 2018  United States District Court, District of South Dakota, Western Division  Rex Gard, Petitioner, V. Brent Fluke, Warden, Mike Durfee State, Prison, Marty Jackley, Attorney General, Respondents  Civ. 5:18-CV-5040  Subsequent Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus  Thank you, Muse reader!

Westminster Abbey filled with music, laughter and solemn reflection as 2,000 people gathered to celebrate the contribution of the Windrush generation and their descendants.  On June 22, 2018, 70 years after the MV Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in Essex in 1948, carrying about 500 hopeful migrants, a service was held to recognise the contribution of the Windrush generation to British society–and acknowledge the difficulties they had overcome.  Many Windrush settlers applied to job adverts with the hope of finding long-term employment in the UK, having gained a type of citizenship under the British Nationality Act of 1948, but faced racism, discrimination and distrust.  The congregation heard original testimonies.  Some made them laugh (“Why is it so cold? Why is everything in tins?”), others were met in solemn silence as they heard of people being told “Blackies should be seen and not heard” and of the hurt caused by signs saying:  “No dogs, no Irish, no blacks.”  Under her breath, a guest said:  “I remember that. It was awful.”  The government announced earlier this month that it would celebrate Windrush Day every 22 June.  This announcement came weeks after the Guardian reported that members of the Windrush generation and their children had been wrongly detained and deported and others denied access to healthcare, work, housing benefits and pensions.  “It is alright for those of us that are here today, but there are people who went home to a funeral and were not let back into the UK,” said Gloria Whyte, 73, who came unaccompanied from Trinidad when she was 16.  “It is an honour to be here, but they should be here with us.  There is a sadness, too.”  Alexandra Topping  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/22/windrush-service-celebrates-generations-contribution-to-britain

I am raising my daughter to speak three languages.  A stranger demanded I 'speak English' to her by Esmerelda Bermudez   Your newborn’s mind will be wide open.  She will tune herself to any language she’s exposed to by those who care for her.  She will know when to switch based on the sounds she picks up from each individual voice.  The key, I was told, was for each parent to stick to one language.  I committed to speaking only Spanish to our daughter.  My husband committed to Armenian.  The evening we brought our newborn home was one of the most awkward nights in our marriage.  We settled into our king-size bed to caress our baby and cuddle.  David spoke softly to her. I did, too.  But we couldn’t understand each other’s words.  It felt lonely.  And it would feel that way, off and on, for years.  Still, we knew if we held fast, our efforts would pay off for our child.  Her world would be infinitely bigger.  Read much more and see pictures at http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-speak-english-20180616-story.html

Geraldine McCaughrean has won the CILIP Carnegie Medal for the second time, 30 years after winning for Pack of Lies.  The British author's latest winner, Where the World Ends, follows men and boys stranded on a sea stack after their rescue boat fails to arrive.  The judging panel, comprised of librarians, described the novel as "hugely deserving" of the award.  The ceremony, hosted at the British Library in London, also saw Canadian illustrator Sydney Smith honoured with the Kate Greenaway Medal for his contribution to Town Is by the Sea.  Authored by Joanne Schwartz, the picture book depicts the daily routine of a young boy growing up in a coal mining town in the 1950s, contrasting a child's life of play with the adult world of work.  As winners, both McCaughrean and Smith will receive £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice, a specifically commissioned golden medal and a £5,000 cash prize from the Colin Mears Award.  The medals are awarded annually to books for young people by CILIP:  the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.  The Carnegie Medal honour went to Angie Thomas for her debut novel The Hate U Give, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.  Levi Penfold secured the Kate Greenway Medal equivalent for his black and white illustrations in The Song from Somewhere Else by AF Harrold.  https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44520819

June 23, 2018  The latest episode of Carpool Karaoke got emotional, as James Corden was joined by Paul McCartney for a tour of locations that inspired The Beatles' music.  The Late Late Show host was led around Liverpool by McCartney as they tore through some of his most famous songs, including “Blackbird,” and “Drive My Car.”  They even stopped off at McCartney's childhood home--now a National Trust tourist attraction--to the surprise of fans.  Inside, McCartney reeled off anecdotes about his fellow Beatles members John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr before performing a rendition of the Sgt. Pepper's track “When I'm Sixty-Four” on the piano.  Clarisse Loughrey  Link to 23:42 music video at https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/carpool-karaoke-paul-mccartney-james-corden-cry-late-show-a8413061.html

Donald Hall, a prolific and award-winning poet and man of letters who was widely admired for his sharp humor and painful candor about nature, mortality, baseball and the distant past, died  June 23, 2018.  He was 89.  Hall was US poet laureate in 2006 and 2007.  Starting in the 1950s, he published more than 50 books, from poetry and drama to biography and memoirs, and edited a pair of influential anthologies.  He was a baseball fan who wrote odes to his beloved Boston Red Sox, completed a book on pitcher Dock Ellis and contributed to Sports Illustrated.  He wrote a prize-winning children’s book, Ox-Cart Man, and attempted a biography of Charles Laughton, only to have the actor’s widow, Elsa Lancaster, kill the project.  The greatest acclaim came for his poetry, for which honors included a National Book Critics Circle prize, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a National Medal of Arts.  Although his style varied from haiku to blank verse, Hall returned repeatedly to a handful of themes:  his childhood, the death of his parents and grandparents and the loss of his second wife and fellow poet, Jane Kenyon.  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/24/donald-hall-us-poet-laureate-dies-aged-89

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1908  June 25, 2018