It’s a writerly dream come
true: a cocktail based on your book,
prepared by a dedicated bookseller who has pored over your pages for references
to alcohol or even flavors and scents he can interpret to concoct the
drink. Nick Petrulakis of Booksmith in
Brookline, Massachussets is the literary bartender in this scenario. Petrulakis crafts drinks for parties thrown
by publishers for upcoming books and sometimes for launch events at his
store. “I make drinks if I love a book,”
he said. One example was the drink
Petrulakis made for Andrew Sean Greer’s Less,
which he called “almost perfect.” He
crafted a cocktail called “What is Love?” based on a question posed in the book
and adapted from the classic French 75. At
Petrulakis’s blog, Drinks with Nick, he
posts recipes and discusses his process.
Erika Mailman See two recipes
along with their literary inspirations at https://lithub.com/the-true-tales-of-a-literary-bartender/
The Pyramid of Kukulcan or
Kukulkan (also known as El Castillo, a name given by the Spanish Conquistadors)
is the centre of Chich’en
Itza, it was built over a preexisting temple between 800 and 900 CE. It is the biggest pyramid in Chich’en Itza;
at its base 53.3 meters wide on all four sides.
It towers above the other monuments at 24 meters tall with a 6-meter
temple on top of the highest platform.
According to legend, twice a year when the day and night are in balance,
this pyramid dedicated to Kukulcan (or Quetzalcoatl), the feathered serpent
god, is visited by its namesake. On the
equinox, Kukulcan returns to earth to commune with his worshipers, provide
blessing for a full harvest and good health before entering the sacred water,
bathing in it, and continuing through it on his way to the underworld. A handclap near the base of the pyramidal
results in an unusual chirping echo, which is said to replicate the call of the
sacred quetzal bird. All legends aside,
crafty and mathematically brilliant architecture combined with the natural
rotation of the Earth creates an amazing and somewhat eerie image of a giant
snake crawling down the temple. For five
hours an illusion of light and shadow creates seven triangles on the side of
the staircase starting at the top and inching its way down until it connects
the top platform with the giant stone head of the feathered serpent at the
bottom. For 45 minutes this
impressive shadow stays in its entirety before slowing descending the pyramid
and disappearing along with the crowd that gathered to see it. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pyramid-kukulcan-chichen-itza
Ben Mezrich is the New York Times bestselling
author of The Accidental Billionaires, Bringing Down the
House, and Sex on the Moon in addition to thirteen other
books. The film 21, starring
Kevin Spacey, was based on Bringing Down the House. The
Social Network, which won an Oscar for best adaptation, was based on The
Accidental Billionaires. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/37069/ben-mezrich
No one has been able to measure the accurate dimensions of the Taj Mahal
complex without discrepancies. Research
led by Ebba Koch and Richard André Barraud in 2006 came out with the figures used
here. The overall compound measures an
astounding 896 m (2,948 ft) by 301 m (990 ft) or 269,696 sq m (2,919,217 sq ft)--the
equivalent of over 50 American football fields. As for the impressive mausoleum itself, the
structure accounts for a square plan that measures around 57 m x 57 m (3,249 sq
m or 35,167 sq ft), while it rises to a height of 68 m (224 ft), and is built
upon a platform of around 6 m (20 ft)--which brings the total height to about
74 m (or 244 ft). The Taj Mahal still
manages to baffle contemporary architects and builders by virtue of its evolved
engineering credentials. The acoustic
system inside the mausoleum expresses the notion of paradise. Accordingly, the building was designed in such
a way so that the interior reverberation time is exactly 28 seconds. Posted by Dattatreya Mandal See pictures at https://www.realmofhistory.com/2018/11/07/facts-taj-mahal-mughal-indian/
For
most of their lives, the world's super-agers have nourished their bodies with
whole, plant-based foods, such as leafy vegetables, tubers, nuts, beans and
whole grains. And they ate meat fewer
than five times monthly. After the holidays, most of us will resolve to eat
healthier. But by January 17, most of us will be back to our old
habits--that's according to data from Strava, a social network for athletes,
based on more than 108 million usage entries.
That's because diets don't work for the vast majority of people for
more than about seven months. If you want
to live a long, healthy life, the key is to do the right things--and avoid the
wrong things--for decades, not just a few months. Because when it comes to longevity, there's
no short-term fix. People in blue zones
have been eating the "right" foods because the right foods--beans,
grains and garden vegetables--were cheapest and most accessible. Their kitchens were set up to cook them
quickly and they had time-honored recipes to make simple peasant food taste delicious. Finally, their communities gathered around
this food: They sat down at the table
with people who ate the same way. Dan Buettner, explorer, National Geographic Fellow
and author of "The
Blue Zones Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live
to 100." https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/health/blue-zones-diet-food-wellness/index.html
The Earth orbits the sun in an oval shape called an ellipse, with the
sun at one of the two focal points (foci).
The Earth's orbit slightly changes its eccentricity over the course of
100,000 years from nearly 0 to 0.07 and back again, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. When the Earth's orbit has a higher
eccentricity, the planet's surface receives 20 to 30 percent more solar
radiation when it's at perihelion (the shortest distance between the
Earth and sun each orbit) than when it is at aphelion (the largest distance between the Earth
and sun each orbit). When the Earth's
orbit has a low eccentricity, there is very little difference in the amount of
solar radiation that is received between perihelion and aphelion. At perihelion, which occurs on or around Jan.
3 each year, Earth's surface receives about 6 percent more solar radiation than
at aphelion, which occurs on or around July 4.
The tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of its orbit is the
reason that we experience seasons. Over
the course of about 41,000 years, the tilt of the Earth's axis, also known as
obliquity, varies between 21.5 and 24.5 degrees. Rachel Ross
Read more and see graphics at https://www.livescience.com/64813-milankovitch-cycles.html
See also Eight Motions of
the Earth at http://earthsci.org/space/space/earth8/earth8.html
Mujadara: Lentils and Rice with Crispy Onions by Mujadara
(mujaddara) is a signature Middle Eastern dish of lentils and rice garnished
with crispy onions. This simple dish
will surprise your taste buds in the best way possible. For a vegan dinner, serve it alongside a
bright and fresh Mediterranean salad like Fattoush, Balela, or this Lazy 3-Ingredient Mediterranean
Salad. https://www.themediterraneandish.com/mujadara-lentils-and-rice-with-crispy-onions/
John Barton Gruelle (December
24, 1880–January 9, 1938) was an American artist, political cartoonist,
children's book and comics authors, illustrator, and storyteller. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and
Raggedy Andy dolls and as the author/illustrator of dozens of books. He also created the Beloved
Belindy doll. Gruelle also contributed cartoons and
illustrations to at least ten newspapers, four major new syndicates, and more
than a dozen national magazines. He was
the son of Hoosier Group painter Richard
Gruelle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Gruelle
Aida (pronounced [aˈiːda]) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio
Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of
Egypt, it was
commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera
House and had its
première there on 24 December 1871, in a performance conducted by Giovanni
Bottesini. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aida
The Story Behind 'Have Yourself A Merry Little
Christmas'
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 2201
December 24, 2019
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