Bitonto is a commune in the Metropolitan City of Bari, in the Italian region of Apulia.  It lies to the west of Bari.  It is nicknamed the "City of Olives", due to the numerous olive groves surrounding the city.  The city was founded by the Peucetii, and its inhabitants referred to by the Greek settlers of the region as Butontinoi, an ethnonym of uncertain derivation.  According to one tradition, the city was named after Botone, an Illyrian king.  Its first city wall can be dated to the fifth to fourth centuries BC; traces remain coinage suggest that B in the foundations of the Norman walling.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitonto   

A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commune   

Lawrence E. Mintz, professor emeritus of the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland and an editorial board member of Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, surmises that the rubber chicken may have its origins in medieval times.  Chicken corpses were readily available; therefore jesters could employ them as props.  Hilarity ensues!  But Mintz says the birds came into common usage on the burlesque stage where “baggy pants” comedians would whack each other with them.  https://modernfarmer.com/2013/12/farm-pop-rubber-chicken/    

Bookworms, rejoice:  your quiet time is about to go public in the best way possible.  Reading Rhythms, the viral “reading party” series that has taken rooftops, bars and parks by storm, is setting up shop at Hudson Yards for a massive summer takeover.  Think of it as a silent disco for your brain with books instead of beats.   Kicking off, May 27 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.—with future dates already set for June 10 and July 8—this free outdoor gathering invites you to bring your favorite book, sprawl out near the Vessel and dive into a good read alongside a few hundred fellow New Yorkers.  The main event runs from 6 to 8 pm, featuring live ambient music, silent reading blocks and lightly guided discussions meant to spark connection over shared literary insights.  You’ll read.  You’ll talk.  Thank you, reader.   

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City.  By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas.  With 5.36 million visitors in 2023, it is the most-visited museum in the United States and the fifth-most visited art museum in the world.   In 2000, its permanent collection had over two million works.  The collection is divided into 17 curatorial departments.  The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums.  The first portion of the approximately 2-million-square-foot (190,000 m²) building was built in 1880.  A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains an extensive collection of art, architecture, and artifacts from medieval Europe.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870, the museum was established by a group of Americans, including philanthropists, artists, and businessmen, with the goal of creating a national institution that would inspire and educate the public.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art    

The Metropolitan Museum’s Arts of Africa, the Ancient Americas, and Oceania galleries return on May 31, 2025, in a reimagined Michael C. Rockefeller Wing.  Following a multiyear renovation, the three major collections—spanning five continents and hundreds of cultures—now stand as independent entities.  When the wing first opened in 1982, it brought a much broader perspective on global art history to The Met.  This new presentation, informed by the latest research and exchanges with a network of international experts, expands and deepens the stories of the objects.  Digital features, commissioned films, and new wall text provide more context, while favorite works beloved by longtime visitors are showcased in new ways.  There are also objects on view for the first time, including major acquisitions of historic and contemporary works in the Arts of Africa galleries, a gallery dedicated to light-sensitive ancient Andean textiles, and contemporary commissions and new acquisitions by Indigenous Pacific artists.  See photographs at https://www.metmuseum.org/hubs/the-michael-c-rockefeller-wing    

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2947  May 29, 2025