There are six places around the country that make up the U.S. Mint.  To learn about a facility, click on a city:  Denver, Colorado  Fort Knox, Kentucky  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  San Francisco, California  Washington, DC  West Point, New York   https://www.usmint.gov/learn/kids/about-the-mint/locations  

What Does Bone to Pick Mean?  Pick has several meanings.  One of these is to repeatedly pull at something.  This is the sense the word has in this idiom.  Most sources state that this expression comes from a dog trying to pick off the meat from a bone, and one connotation of this idiom is trying to solve a difficult time-consuming problem.  This is likely related to the fact that dogs often gnaw on a bone for very long periods of time, even when most of the meat is gone.  This type of usage dates back to the 1500s.  https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/bone-to-pick   

Pizzelle recipe  https://theaugurbit.com/2024/09/29/pizzelle-recipe/ 

Pizzelle are Italian waffle cookies made with flour, eggs, sugar, butter or vegetable oil, and flavoring (usually anise or anisette, less commonly vanilla or lemon zest).  Pizzelle can be molded into various shapes, including in the tubular shape of cannoli.  Pizzelle were originally made in the comune (municipality) of Ortona, in the Abruzzo region of Italy.  Many other cultures have developed a pizzelle-type cookie as part of their culture (for example, the Norwegian krumkake).  It is known to be one of the oldest cookies and is probably to have developed from the ancient Roman crustulum.  Pizzelle are popular during Christmas and Easter.  They are often found at Italian weddings, alongside other traditional pastries such as cannoli and traditional Italian cookies.  It is also common to sandwich two pizzelle with cannoli cream (ricotta blended with sugar) or hazelnut spread.  Pizzelle, while still warm, can also be rolled into a tubular shape using a wooden dowel to create cannoli shells.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzelle  

The phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again.  While it is part of Greek mythology, it has analogs in many cultures, such as Egyptian and Persian mythology.  Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor.  See graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)  

The phrase  “pigs might fly” is used to indicate incredulity or impossibility, or to mock credulity in others.  This notion is found in the obsolete proverb pigs fly with their tails forward, which redoubles the absurdity.  It is first attested in Against Ierome Osorius Byshopp of Siluane in Portingall and against his slaunderous inuectiues An aunswere apologeticall: for the necessary defence of the euangelicall doctrine and veritie.  First taken in hand by M. Walter Haddon, then undertaken and continued by M. Iohn Foxe, and now Englished by Iames Bell (1581), by Walter Haddon (1516-72), John Foxe (1516-87) and James Bell (floruit 1551-96).  https://wordhistories.net/2017/05/25/pigs-might-fly/  You can find “pigs might fly” designs in fabric and wallpaper.   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2871  October 30, 2024

The Cobb salad is an American garden salad typically made with chopped salad greens (authentically romaine lettuce), tomato, bacon, chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives, blue cheese (often Roquefort; some versions use other cheeses such as cheddar or Monterey Jack, or no cheese at all) and red wine vinaigrette.  The ingredients are laid out on a plate in neat rows.  It is served as a main course.  Various stories recount how the salad was invented.  One says that it came about in 1937 at the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, where it became a signature dish.  It is named after the restaurant's owner, Robert Howard Cobb.  Stories vary whether the salad was invented by Cobb or by his chef, Paul J. Posti.  The legend is that Cobb had not eaten until near midnight, and so he mixed together leftovers he found in the kitchen, along with some bacon cooked by the line cook, and tossed it with their French dressing.  Another version of the creation is that Robert Kreis, executive chef at the restaurant, created the salad in 1929 (the year the Brown Derby's Hollywood location opened) and named it in honor of Cobb.  The same source confirms that 1937 was the reported date of the version noted above, with Cobb making the salad.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobb_salad   

List of foods named after people  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foods_named_after_people 

At the start of the 16th century the Opera del Duomo—the committee of officials in charge of the decoration and maintenance of the Italy’s Florence cathedral—had a tricky unfinished project on its hands.  A document from 1501 refers to a massive barely begun statue, “a certain man of marble, named David, badly blocked out and laid on its back in the courtyard.”  The stone was a leftover from a long-running decorative project:  in 1408 the committee had decided to decorate the roofline around the dome of the cathedral with massive statues of biblical prophets and mythological figures.  The first two, put into place in the early 15th century, were a statue of Joshua sculpted in terra-cotta by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Donatello) and painted white to look like marble, and a statue of Hercules, sculpted by one of Donatello’s students, Agostino di Duccio.  A statue of David, the Biblical hero who slayed the giant Goliath, had been ordered in 1464.  This commission went to Agostino, and a huge slab of marble was extracted from the Carrara quarries in Tuscany, Italy, for the project.  For unknown reasons Agostino abandoned the project after doing only a little work, mostly roughing out around the legs.  Another sculptor, Antonio Rossellino, was hired to take over the project in 1476, but he backed out almost immediately, citing the poor quality of the marble.  (Modern scientific analyses of the marble have confirmed that it is indeed of mediocre quality.)  Left without a sculptor but too expensive to throw away, the massive slab sat out in the elements for a quarter century.  In the summer of 1501 a new effort was made to find a sculptor who could finish the statue.  The 26-year-old sculptor Michelangelo was chosen and given two years to complete it. Early in the morning on September 13, 1501, the young artist got to work on the slab, extracting the figure of David in a miraculous process that the artist and writer Giorgio Vasari would later describe as “the bringing back to life of one who was dead.”  In 1504, as Michelangelo finished his work, Florentine officials concluded that the statue was too heavy to place in its intended location on the roofline of the cathedral.  A committee of artists, including Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, met and decided that the statue should be placed at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.  In 1873 it was moved indoors to the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence and a replica was erected at the original site.  In the summer of 1501 a new effort was made to find a sculptor who could finish the statue.  The 26-year-old sculptor Michelangelo was chosen and given two years to complete it.  Early in the morning on September 13, 1501, the young artist got to work on the slab, extracting the figure of David in a miraculous process that the artist and writer Giorgio Vasari would later describe as “the bringing back to life of one who was dead.”  https://www.britannica.com/story/how-a-rejected-block-of-marble-became-the-worlds-most-famous-statue    

Vietnam is the world’s second-largest coffee exporter behind Brazil.  Most Vietnamese coffee beans are grown in the Central Highlands, more specifically the Da Lat region.  Here, the climate differs from much of the country, given that much of the area is at a higher altitude.  The combination of mountains, sunshine, rain, and good soil conditions make it good for both Robusta and Arabica beans.  Whilst Western-style lattes and cappuccinos are on the increase, the best Vietnamese coffee is served with a phin.  This is a French-style filter, used for making drip coffee.  Unless you specify, coffee here will be served with sugar, and a fair amount of it too.  This does result in a fabulous-tasting blend, but it can make a drinker hit the ceiling from a caffeine and sugar high, and not come down all day.  https://www.tourhero.com/en/magazine/gastronomy/coffee-in-vietnam-a-way-of-life/   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2870  October 28, 2024

Plymouth Rock can currently be found on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Mass.  According to the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, the visible portion of the rock weighs about 4 tons, while the bottom portion, hidden under the sand of the shore, weighs about 6 tons.  The rock is estimated to be only about one-third to one-half its original size, after portions were chipped away as souvenirs in the 18th and 19th centuries.  

The Blarney Stone is a chunk of bluestone in the battlements of Blarney Castle, which is about 5 miles (8 kilometers) east from Cork, Ireland.  Legend has it that kissing the stone will bring one the gift of eloquence.  The world "blarney" has come to mean "skillful flattery." 

The Rock of Gibraltar is a hulking limestone promontory that looks out over the Strait of Gibraltar, the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea.  The 1-397-foot-high (426 meters) rock is a major landmark of the British territory of Gibraltar, which is a peninsula that connects via an isthmus to Spain.  Gibraltar came into the United Kingdom's possession with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 after the War of the Spanish Succession, fought over two claimants to the leadership of Spain and the possible unification of Spain and France. 

Ayer's Rock is an arresting site, towering over the flat expanse of the Australian Outback.  Also known by its Aboriginal name, Uluru, the rock is what is called an inselberg, or isolated mountain.  Inselbergs are the remnants left after the erosion of an original mountain range. 

The Rosetta Stone is a fragment of an ancient Egyptian stone slab that bears a decree issued by a council of priests on the anniversary of the coronation King Ptolemy V (204181 B.C.) in three scripts: ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic script and ancient Greek.  Originally displayed in a temple, the Rosetta Stone was later used as a building material in a fort in the port town of el-Rashid (or Rosetta).  A French expedition to Egypt found the stone in 1799. 

The Kaaba is a cube-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam.  A mosque, the Masjid al-Haram, surrounds the building.  In the eastern corner of the Kaaba is the Black Stone, which according to Islamic lore dates back to the time of Adam and Eve, when it fell from heaven.  The stone is a dark rock that has been polished smooth by the hands of millions of Muslim pilgrims on the hajj to Mecca.  The rock is actually a set of fragments that sits in a silver frame.  https://www.livescience.com/29844-worlds-most-famous-rocks.html   

Cooks use flavorful stock or broth instead of water when making perloo, with the goal of the rice absorbing the liquid as it cooks so that the perloo doesn't turn out soggy or soupy.  To that end, perloo recipes call for some type of long-grain rice so that the cooked grains remain separate and fluffy, as opposed to creamy risotto or clumping sushi rice.  One-pot rice dishes are remarkably adaptable.  https://www.southernliving.com/food/grains/rice/what-is-perloo  

Father and Son:  LeBron and Bronny James Make NBA History as a Duo  A long-awaited pairing made its debut in the Lakers’s season opening win over Minnesota on October 24, 2024. 

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are set to take the field October 25, 2024 for Game 1 of the 2024 Major League Baseball World Series.  The former neighbors and rivals will face off in the World Series for the first time in 43 years.  The Dodgers are seeking their eighth World Series title and second in five years.  The Yankees are chasing their 28th title, but first since 2009.  The two teams have faced each other in 11 World Series, more than any other teams.  When the Dodgers were Brooklyn-based, the Yankees had a commanding 6-1 edge in World Series matchups.  Since the Dodgers moved to Hollywood in the late 50s, the teams are even at two a piece.  They last met in 1981.  New York is coming off its 41st American League championship, and Los Angeles off its 25th National League pennant.   Game 1 of the 2024 World Series is Friday night October 25 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.  The first pitch is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/2024-world-series-yankees-dodgers-full-schedule/ 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2869  October 25, 2024

Cyrus (Persian: کوروش) is a male given name and the name of several Persian kings, particularly Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BC), but also Cyrus I of Anshan (c. 650 BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, and Cyrus the Younger (died 401 BC), brother to the Persian king Artaxerxes II of Persia.  Find list of real and fictional characters named Cyrus at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus   

Gnocchi, pronounced ‘n(y)oh-kee’ (singular ‘gnocco’), are a type of pasta consisting of soft, fat and chewy dumplings, typically paired with ragú, tomato or butter sauce.  Traditionally, gnocchi dough is made of semolina or plain wheat flour, egg, and mashed potato.  That being said, gnocchi ingredients may vary, with the additional ingredients or substitutions including cheese, vegetables, and herbs.  Once the dumplings are formed, they are often pressed against a fork, or traditional gnocchi board, to form ridges that improve gnocchi’s ability to adhere to sauce, and create the signature gnocchi shape.  Alternatively, the gnocchi are left as smooth-edged lumps.  Did you know, ‘gnocchi’ in Italian translates to ‘lumps’?  While gnocchi are a traditional Italian pasta shape, what makes them distinct is that they use potatoes as the main ingredient.  Therefore, they're commonly considered to be a dumpling.  Like many dishes in Italian cuisine, gnocchi vary in both name, appearance, and recipe across the regions of lo Stivale.   For example, ‘malfatti’ (literally poorly made) from Tuscany are a version of gnocchi made from spinach, ricotta, and flour.  Also from Tuscany, ‘gnudi’ more closely resembles traditional gnocchi, though contains less flour, resulting in a looser, less chewy dumpling.  Link to recipes at https://pastaevangelists.com/blogs/blog/what-is-gnocchi#:~:text=Once%20the%20dumplings%20are%20formed,create%20the%20signature%20gnocchi%20shape  Thank you, reader!   

Reese Witherspoon has written her first novel, in collaboration with bestselling author Harlan Coben, publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced.  The Oscar-winning actor and the author of the Myron Bolitar series have joined forces to create a thriller, which is to be published in autumn 2025.  The novel, the title of which is still under wraps, is said to be based on an original idea from Witherspoon, and the co-writers “have been developing the concept, creating characters, and writing pages over many months,” according to PRH.  “To say I am a fan of Harlan’s body of work is a massive understatement,” Witherspoon, who founded Reese’s Book Club in 2017, said.  “Scheming with Harlan on how to thrill audiences with mysterious characters and complex narrative twists and turns has already been more fun than I can describe.”   https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/02/reese-witherspoon-announces-first-novel-co-written-with-harlan-coben   

overling (plural overlings)  noun  (rare) A superior. quotations ▼

From over +‎ -ling on analogy with underling, or as a revived or dialectal term from Middle English overling (“a superior”), equivalent to over +‎ -ling.

A superior. quotations ▼ (UK dialectal) A ruler; master.  Wiktionary  Thank you, reader. 

The earliest known use of the noun overling is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).  OED's earliest evidence for overling is from 1340, in Ayenbite of Inwyt.  https://www.oed.com/dictionary/overling_n?tl=true   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2868  October 23, 2024

 

George Bernard Shaw once quipped, "I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation."  https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_bernard_shaw_100030   

Shortened words are those that are in such widespread use that most dictionaries list them without the ending period that indicates they are an abbreviation.  Through frequent use, both in informal writing and speech, these shortened words have become acceptable words in their own right.  While they may not have inherited all the meanings of their long-form counterpart, in at least one sense of the word they carry the same meaning.   For example, rev can be used as substitute for revolution when it refers to the revolutions of an engine, but not when revolution refers to the overthrow of a government or system.  Bus for omnibus, wig for periwig, and blog for weblog, the original long word form is so rarely used today that it has become dated.  Find a list of shortened words at https://shortenedwords.com/   

With more than 70 million inhabitants, Guangzhou, China, is far and away the world’s largest city. But, what defines a city?  When you are comparing developments with tens of millions of people located in countries across the globe, a unified definition is tricky—one needs to consider a variety of population groupings, including urban populations, consolidated urban areas, agglomerations, and conglomerations.  However, all these groupings have one thing in common: they feature a central city surrounded by contiguous settlements of people.  Find a list representing the world’s 25 largest such groupings.  Two of the cities are in the United States.   https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-the-worlds-largest-cities-by-population    

Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia all share the distinction of being known as commonwealths.   Does this name come with any unique attributes that set these four states apart from the rest? In short, no, there is no difference between these commonwealths and the other 46 U.S. states.  By examining their state constitutional histories, however, we can learn why these states (or commonwealths) may have officially adopted this name.  During the English Civil War, England became a commonwealth after the office of the King and the House of Lords were abolished in 1649.   During the English Civil War, England became a commonwealth after the office of the King and the House of Lords were abolished in 1649.  According to the Hornbook of Virginia History, Virginia also adopted the commonwealth designation until it became a royal colony again in 1660 when the English monarchy was re-established.  The term was reintroduced when Virginia adopted its constitution on June 29, 1776.  Massachusetts was the next commonwealth to adopt its constitution, drafted by John Adams, in 1780.  According to the official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Adams may have chosen the word commonwealth, which was preferred by some political writers and may have carried “some anti-monarchial sentiment,” to emphasize that the state was a “representative democracy.”   

At first glance, Kentucky, the last state to call itself a commonwealth, appears to be an outlier among the four commonwealths.  Unlike Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, Kentucky was not one of the original thirteen colonies.  However, looking at Kentucky’s connections to the other commonwealth states helps to explain why it may have adopted the commonwealth moniker.  Kentucky was part of Virginia until 1792 when Virginia ceded the district of Kentucky to the United States. Kentucky’s first constitution was also based on Pennsylvania’s 1790 Constitution.  Curiously, even though Kentucky first adopted its constitution in 1792, it was the state’s fourth constitution, adopted in 1891, that formally declared in the preamble that the official name would be “The Commonwealth of Kentucky.”  Earlier constitutions used state and commonwealth interchangeably throughout the documents, but the preambles of the 1792, 1799, and 1850 constitutions referred to the “State of Kentucky.” https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2023/08/whats-in-a-name-the-four-u-s-states-that-are-technically-commonwealths/   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 2867 October 21, 2024

The roots of the decorated apparel industry go back to ancient China, where the technique of screen printing (a form of stenciling) was developed sometime during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD).  Originally, the process used silk screens, hence the other popular name silk screening.  Over the years, the technique expanded with new methods spread to other Asian countries like Japan and was furthered by creating newer methods.  It was Europe from Asia sometime in the late 1700s but it wasn’t popular until later.  An even older textile printing method, woodblock printing, had also been invented in China about 220 AD and was introduced to Europe in the 1100s.  They are also hugely popular for events, charity causes, and local businesses.  https://www.shopworx.com/the-history-of-printed-t-shirts/  Words appearing on a t-shirt:

WISH

YOU

WERE

BEER   

Stanley Travis Rice Jr. (1942–2002) was an American poet and artist.  He was the husband of author Anne Rice.  Rice was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1942.  He met his future wife Anne O'Brien in high school.  They briefly attended North Texas State University together, before marrying in 1961 and moving to San Francisco in 1962, to enroll at San Francisco State University, where they both earned their bachelor's and master's degrees.  Rice was a professor of English and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University.  It was the death of his and Anne's first child, daughter Michele (1966–1972), at age six of leukemia, which led to Stan Rice becoming a published author.  His first book of poems, based on his daughter's illness and death, was titled Some Lamb, and was published in 1975.  He encouraged his wife to quit her work as a waitress, cook and theater usher in order to devote herself full-time to her writing, and both eventually encouraged their son, novelist Christopher Rice, to become a published author as well.  Stan Rice's paintings are represented in the collections of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Rice    

Stan Rice is the author of eight collections of poetry, including Radiance of Pigs, Red to the Rind and False Prophet (published posthumously, 2003).  Read his pig poems here.  Rice has been the recipient of the Edgar Allen Poe Award of the Academy of American Poets, the Joseph Henry Jackson Award, and a writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.  See four pictures of his painting of pigs at https://www.porkopolis.org/pig_artist/stan-rice/   

Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; 1941–2021) was an American author of gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction.  She is best known for writing The Vampire Chronicles.  She later adapted the first volume in the series into a commercially successful eponymous film, Interview with the Vampire (1994).  Born in New Orleans, Rice spent much of her early life in the city before moving to Texas, and later to San Francisco.  She began her professional writing career with the publication of Interview with the Vampire (1976), while living in California, and began writing sequels to the novel in the 1980s.  Rice's books have sold over 100 million copies, making her one of the best-selling authors of modern times.   She was married to poet and painter Stan Rice for 41 years, from 1961 until his death from brain cancer in 2002 at age 60.  She and Stan had two children, Michele, who died of leukemia at age five, and Christopher, who is also an author.  Rice also wrote books such as The Feast of All Saints (adapted for television in 2001) and Servant of the Bones, which formed the basis of a 2011 comic book miniseries. Several books from The Vampire Chronicles have been adapted as comics and manga by various publishers.  Rice cited Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, John Milton, Ernest Hemingway, William Shakespeare, the Brontë sisters, Jean-Paul Sartre, Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, and Stephen King as influences on her work.  She repeatedly returned to King's Firestarter for inspiration:  "I study the novel Firestarter whenever I'm blocked.  Reading the first few pages of Firestarter helps to get me going."  In 1973, while still grieving the loss of her daughter (1966–1972), Rice took a previously written short story and turned it into her first novel, the bestselling Interview with the Vampire.  She based her vampires on Gloria Holden's character in Dracula's Daughter.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Rice    

·      Why did the zombie eat brains?  He wanted food for thought.

·      What day of the week do ghosts like best?  Moan-day.

Find more jokes at https://www.today.com/life/holidays/halloween-jokes-rcna37517    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2866  October 18, 2024