Ancient History, Number Twenty-Nine!

By “ancient history,” I will be referencing events from January 31st, that occurred pre-1492 (i.e., before “Columbus sailed the ocean blue”).  Note: most of these will be from the medieval world (476 AD – 1492 AD) as many earlier events don’t always have specific dates.

• The Frankish emperor, Charles II the Bald, is accepted as king of Italy at Pavia, following the death of Louis II without legitimate issue. Charles promotes Boso, Count of Vienne, to duke and leaves him in charge of Italy when he returns to his West Frankish kingdom (876 AD).
• King Edward I of England and King Philip IV of France make a truce at Tournai (1298 AD).
• Azzo VIII d’Este, Lord of the Italian city of Ferrara, dies. He bequeths the succession to his illegitimate son, Folco (1308 AD).
• King Richard II of England holds a parliament at Shrewsbury, England, which extends his powers by appointing a commission to continue its work and granting him the wool customs for life (1398 AD).

Source: Volume 1 of the Chronology of World History: Prehistory — AD 1491: The Ancient and Medieval World.

More Library Humor!

Here are some more jokes centered in and around libraries. Enjoy!

• The librarian gave the scientist a book about Helium and the scientist just couldn’t put it down.
• What do you get when you cross and librarian and a lawyer? All the information in the world, but you can’t understand a word of it.
• “One day I fell asleep in a library. I woke up and a blind man was reading my face.” (Rodney Dangerfield)
• Did you hear about the award winning librarian? Apparently she had a storied career.
• What did the librarian say to Chris Tucker? Sit down and zip it! This is Hush Hour.
• What section of the library can you get bitten by a snake? The hisssssssstory section.
• Have you seen the Bruce Willis movie where an entire library gets destroyed? It’s called “Die Hardcover.”

Source: http://www.jokes4us.com/peoplejokes/librarianjokes.html

Fun Fact Friday, Number 214!

Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are all about Japan.  Did you know that . . .

• if you put all the streets in New York City in a straight line, they would stretch to Japan?  (Real Fact #243)
• The Japanese word “judo” means “the gentle way?”  (Real Fact #314)
• there is a single mega-colony of ants that spans three continents, covering much of Europe, the west coast of the U.S., and the west coast of Japan?  (Real Fact #1355)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts

It’s Element-ary, Number Eighteen!

This month we move on to the next of the transition elements: chromium.  Chromium is all bling/flash — known as the shiny metal on bikes and fancy kitchen equipment.  The name comes from the Greek word chroma, which means “color” (can appear as a variety of funky colors, depending on the oxidation state, from red to green, orange, and yellow).  Chromium is responsible for the brilliant red color of rubies, and it puts the “stainless” into stainless steel.  Chromium is completely resistant to corrosion.

Chromium – discovered in 1797

Symbol: Cr
Atomic number: 24
Atomic weight: 51.996
Density: 7.140 g/cm³
Melting point: 1,907°C (3,465°F)
Boiling point: 2,671°C (4,840°F)
Color: super-shiny silver
Standard state: solid at 25°C (77°F)
Classification: metallic

Source: The Complete Periodic Table: Elements with Style, by Adrian Dingle and Dan Green.

Reflections!

Here is a painting (a seriolithograph print) that I acquired several years ago that I have never bothered to get framed (a situation I may have to rectify in the not too distant future).  Although, with my shrinking amount of wall space, I may have to reevaluate.  The artist: Alex Pauker, the title: “Reflections,” medium: seriolithograph (signed in the  plate).  This particular print is not overly large (8×10, or possibly smaller), so it might just fit in one of my smaller less utilized spaces (hallway, pillars/columns, sidewalls of door frames, etc.).

Unpredictable!

“When the temperature dropped to freezing conditions on a summer day, it was a vagary of the weather.”
(Source: https://wordsinasentence.com/vagary-in-a-sentence/)

vagary

\ vuh–gair-ee, vey–guh-ree \, noun;

1.  an unpredictable or erratic action, occurrence, course, or instance.

2.  a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action.

Source: The Highly Selective Dictionary for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich, and http://www.dictionary.com

College Basketball 2021, Week Nine!

The good news: the Spartans didn’t lose this week. The bad news: it is only because they didn’t play. Alas, victims of COVID cancelations/postponements.

The Big Ten continues to have six (6) teams in the AP top-25: Iowa (#4), Michigan (#7), Wisconsin (#10), Ohio State (#15), Minnesota (#17), and Illinois (#22). Gonzaga (#1) and Baylor (#2) are the only remaining undefeated teams in the top-25.

This week, among the top-25, there were thirteen (13) games postponed and () games canceled.

Next up for the Spartans, a couple of road games: Rutgers on Thursday and Ohio State on Sunday (maybe).  Go Green!

The upsets this week included:
Iowa (#4) losing to unranked Indiana.
Tennessee (#6) losing to unranked Florida.
Tennessee (#6) losing to Missouri (#19).
Kansas (#9) losing to unranked Oklahoma.
Wisconsin (#10) losing to Ohio State (#15).
Creighton (#11) losing to unranked Providence by four (4) points.
Ohio State (#15) losing to unranked Purdue by two (2) points.
Virginia Tech (#16) losing to unranked Syracuse.
Minnesota (#17) losing to unranked Maryland.
Clemson (#20) losing to unranked Georgia Tech.
Clemson (#20) losing to unranked Florida State.
Oregon (#21) losing to unranked Oregon State.
UConn (#23) losing to unranked St. Johns by four (4) points.
UCLA (#24) losing to unranked Stanford by one (1) point in overtime.

The close calls this week (won by six points or less [two scores] or in overtime) included:
Villanova (#3) defeating unranked Seton Hall by two (2) points.
Virginia (#13) defeating unranked Georgia Tech by two (2) points.
UCLA (#24) defeating unranked California by four (4) points.

Top-25 match-ups won by the higher-ranked team included:
Baylor (#2) defeating Kansas (#9).
Creighton (#11) defeating UConn (#23).

Kitchen Intel, Number Twenty-Three!

Today’s topic: bananas.

• you can force the ripening by baking in the oven (450 degrees, 10-15 minutes on baking sheet).
• prevent browning by dipping in a little white wine (the acid in wine prevents the oxidizing without affecting the flavor).
• use your ripe bananas for baking. 

Source: How to Break an Egg, by the editors, contributors, and readers of Fine Cooking magazine, p. 90, Suzan Grey, B. Bader, Jeanne Schimmel.

Winter Dawn!

Here we are, well into the winter season. So let’s reflect on a poem by D.H. Lawrence entitled “Winter Dawn.”

Green star Sirius
    Dribbling over the lake;
    The stars have gone so far on their road,
    Yet we’re awake!

    Without a sound
    The new young year comes in
    And is half-way over the lake.
    We must begin

    Again. This love so full
    Of hate has hurt us so,
    We lie side by side
    Moored – but no,

    Let me get up
    And wash quite clean
    Of this hate. –
    So green

    The great star goes!
    I am washed quite clean,
    Quite clean of it all.
    But e’en

    So cold, so cold and clean
    Now the hate is gone!
    It is all no good,
    I am chilled to the bone

    Now the hate is gone;
    There is nothing left;
    I am pure like bone,
    Of all feeling bereft.

Source: https://www.public-domain-poetry.com/d-h-lawrence/winter-dawn-22932

Fun Fact Friday, Number 213!

The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “world history”  Regarding the trenches on the Western Front of World War I, do you know at which English body of water they ended?

The trenches began in the frontier of Switzerland and stretched all the way to . . . the coast of the North Sea, NOT the English Channel.

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.