The Bolita bean is an heirloom variety of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) endemic to New Mexico and southern Colorado.  It is a small, round, and sweet bean that is traditional to New Mexican and southwestern cuisine.  The name Bolita bean comes from New Mexican Spanish where they are called frijol bolita, literally "little ball bean", due to their shape and size.   The origins of the common bean have long been a topic of scholarly debate, with Mesoamerica being proposed as a possible origin of domestication.  This notion is, however, clouded by a lack of consensus among experts, who remain divided over whether the common bean arose from single or multiple domestication events.  It has been noted that two distinct gene pools emerged over time, namely the Andean gene pool, which spanned Southern Peru to Northwest Argentina, and the Mesoamerican gene pool, which extended between Mexico and Colombia.  Thank you, reader.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolita_bean   

A randoseru (ランドセル) is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary schoolchildren.  Traditionally it is given to a child upon beginning their first year of school, whereupon the child uses the same bag until grade 6.  The term is borrowed from the Dutch ransel or German Ranzen meaning "backpack".  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randoseru   

broadbrow (BRAHD-brow)  noun  A person with a broad range of interests.  adjective:  Appealing to people with a broad range of interests.  [Coined by J.B. Priestley (1894-1984), from broad + brow, on the pattern  of highbrow and lowbrow.  Earliest documented use:  1924.  Also see middlebrow.  https://wordsmith.org/words/middlebrow.html    

A ketch is a two-masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post.  The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch from a yawl, which has its mizzen mast stepped aft of its rudder post.  In the 19th and 20th centuries, ketch rigs were often employed on larger yachts and working watercraft, but ketches are also used as smaller working watercraft as short as 15 feet, or as small cruising boats, such as Bill Hanna's Tahiti ketches or L. Francis Herreshoff's Rozinante and H-28.  The name ketch is derived from catch.  The ketch's main mast is usually stepped further forward than the position found on a sloop.  The sail plan of a ketch is similar to that of a yawl, on which the mizzen mast is smaller and set further back.  There are versions of the ketch rig that only have a mainsail and a mizzen, in which case they are referred to as cat ketch.  More commonly ketches have headsails (Jibs).  When a ketch is rigged so that it can fly multiple jibs at the same time, the rig is sometimes referred to as a multi-headsail ketch.  While sometimes seen in print, it is incorrect to refer to this rig by the modern malaprop of a cutter ketch.  In New England in the 1600s, the ketch was a small coastal working watercraft.  In the 1700s, it disappeared from contemporary records, apparently replaced by the schooner.  The ketch rig remained popular in America throughout the 19th and early 20th century working watercraft, with well-known examples being the Chesapeake Bay bugeyes, New Haven sharpies, and the Kingston Lobster boats.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketch    

Goof in the 1941 film Ball of Fire starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck:  A cop on the Washington Bridge checkpoint says that a professor's driving license was issued in 1903.  Driving licenses have existed in the USA only since 1910.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2854  September 12, 2024

 

Kinokuniya New York

The New York store located in the heart of midtown Manhattan, directly across the street from Bryant Park is the flagship store for Kinokuniya Bookstores of America.  The store opened in 1981 at the Rockefeller Center and then moved to the current location in 2007.  We expanded our collection after we moved to the Bryant park location to include a wide range and a finer selection of books in English to get a wider range of customers such as Locals, Tourists, Anime/Comic fans, people who are interested in Japanese culture, seekers of fine gifts etc.  We have a wide range of English books including literature, Art, Children's books, business books, etc.  Our New York store’s main floor is dedicated to books in English.  We also feature a large stationery section in basement that includes authentic Japanese products.  On the 2nd floor, we have a fine selection of manga in both English and the original Japanese, graphic novels, anime goods and toys as well as a cafe.  The store also periodically hosts signing events by writers, notable artists and creators.  https://usa.kinokuniya.com/stores-kinokuniya-new-york     

Micropolitan  Blend of micro- (prefix meaning ‘very small’) +‎ metropolitan.  

Adjective  micropolitan (not comparable)  (US)  Of or pertaining to a city or twin cities having at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 inhabitants; of a city:  less populated than a metropolitan area but more than a rural one.  coordinate terms 

Noun  micropolitan (plural micropolitans)  (US)  A city or twin cities having at least 10,000 but fewer than 50,000 inhabitants; a city which is less populated than a metropolitan area but more than a rural one.   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/micropolitan#English    

P. G. Wodehouse leaves his job at the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Company in London to become a full-time writer (September 9, 1902.)       

Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and amateur poet, writes a poem called ““The Defence of Fort M'Henry”—which you now know as “The Star-Spangled Banner” (September 14, 1814). 

You can’t think of James Earl Jones without hearing his voice.  That booming basso profundo, conveying instant dignity or menace, was Jones’ signature instrument.  It brought power to all his stage and movie roles, most indelibly as Darth Vader in “Star Wars,” Mufasa in “The Lion King and as the voice of CNN.  That remarkable voice is just one of many things the world will miss about the beloved actor, who died September 9, 2024.  He was 93.  Jones had a distinguished career that spanned some 60 years and took him from a small-town theater in northern Michigan to the highest reaches of Hollywood, where he appeared in dozens of movies and TV series.   In the mid-1970s “Star Wars” creator George Lucas cast towering British actor David Prowse as the guy inside Darth Vader’s black suit, but decided he wanted someone else to voice the character.  “George thought he wanted a – pardon the expression – darker voice,” Jones once told the American Film Institute.  “I lucked out.”  Back then nobody imagined “Star Wars” would become a blockbuster, let alone an enduring franchise and cultural phenomenon.  Jones recorded all his lines in a few hours and was not listed in the film’s credits.  He said he was paid just $7,000 for the movie, “and I thought that was good money.”  Darth Vader’s climactic duel with Luke Skywalker in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” became a dramatic high point in the “Star Wars” series – punctuated by Jones’ delivery of one of the most famous lines in movie history: “No, I am your father!”  Jones’ family moved from Mississippi to Michigan when he was 5, a traumatic upheaval that caused him to develop a stutter.  His fear of speaking rendered him almost mute until he got to high school, where a poetry teacher helped him overcome his disability by encouraging him to read his poems aloud.  Jones studied drama at the University of Michigan, served as an Army Ranger and then moved to New York, where he soon landed lead roles in Shakespearean stage productions.  He made his film debut in 1964 as a bombardier in Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove.”  Over his long and prolific career Jones won three Tonys, two Emmys, a Grammy, a Golden Globe and numerous other awards.  https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/09/entertainment/james-earl-jones-death/index.html   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2853  September 9, 2024

 Some favorite Muser films:   

Widely considered one of the best film noirs ever made, Double Indemnity is often cited as the film that set the standards for the genre, with director and co-writer Billy Wilder working around the Production Code to create one of the most cold-hearted onscreen crimes of the era.  Insurance salesman Walter Neff (MacMurray) is gradually seduced into a murder plot by his client’s wife, the conniving Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck), who only has to flash her ankle bracelet to turn him from decent guy into cold-blooded killer.  https://www.goldderby.com/gallery/fred-macmurray-movies-15-greatest-films-ranked-from-worst-to-best/fred-macmurray-movies-ranked-double-indemnity/   

Babette's Feast (Danish: Babettes Gæstebud) is a 1987 Danish drama film directed by Gabriel Axel.  The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the 1958 story of the same name by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen).  It was produced by Just Betzer, Bo Christensen and Benni Korzen, with funding from the Danish Film Institute.  It stars Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, and Bodil Kjer.  Babette's Feast was met with widespread critical acclaim and became the first Danish film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  It was also the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story.  The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette%27s_Feast#:~:text=Babette's%20Feast%20was%20met%20with,the%201987%20Cannes%20Film%20Festival.   

pan·​dow·​dy pan-ˈdau̇-dē plural pandowdies: a deep-dish spiced apple dessert sweetened with sugar, molasses, or maple syrup and covered with a rich crust.    

Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
Makes your eyes light up
Your tummy say “Howdy.”
Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
I never get enough of that wonderful stuff…

The song by Guy Wood, with lyrics by Sammy Gallop, is from the 1940s. Pandowdy, however, dates back to colonial times.  It is a sort of pie made with sliced fruit—usually apples—sweetened with sugar or molasses, then topped with a rolled biscuit dough, or according to some old recipes, a pastry dough.  There is also some confusion about why the dessert is called pandowdy.  The name may come from pandoulde, a now obsolete word for a Somerset custard.  But pandowdy itself seems to be an American dish.  Some say that “dowdy” refers to its plain appearance, others that the dessert is so-called because its top is “dowdied,” or cut up, during or after baking.  Find recipe for Apple Pandowdy
Adapted from Eleanor Early’s The New England Cookbook at https://revolutionarypie.com/2013/11/25/apple-pandowdy/   

"From the beginning, Birmingham's strategic location near the mouth of the Maumee River made it naturally attractive to settlers in Northwest Ohio.  Even before the first Europeans arrived, Native American tribes were drawn to the area by its easy access to Lake Erie, its abundant fresh fish, and its location under a major migratory bird route.  What would become the Birmingham neighborhood was settled early on by French, German, and Irish farmers impressed with the area's rich loamy soil.  Streets and park names such as Collins, Valentine, and Paine commemorate these early farming settlers.  Birmingham's economic shift from agriculture to industry happened suddenly, beginning with the establishment of a foundry by the National Malleable Castings Company.  In 1890, the company transferred approximately two hundred Hungarian workers from its home plant in Cleveland to its new East Toledo Site on Front Street.  Their arrival is documented in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church registers, where many of the first Hungarian settlers recorded their baptisms, marriages, and deaths until St. Stephen's church was built in 1899. https://tlcpleasttoledo.omeka.net/exhibits/show/east-toledo/birmingham   Thank you, reader.    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2852  September 6, 2024