DIANE'S CORNER ...

Celebrate Bookmobile Day

Bookmobile Day is an opportunity to celebrate one of the many services offered through public libraries. Originating in the nineteenth century, the earliest bookmobiles were horse-drawn wagons filled with boxes of books. In the 1920s, Sarah Byrd Askew, a New Jersey librarian, thought reading and literacy so important that she delivered books to rural readers in her own Ford Model T. And today, Kenya still uses camels to deliver materials to fans of reading in rural areas.

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How can you celebrate this special day? Imagine the excitement of a child, who has just learned to read, visiting a bookmobile for the first time with its shelves full of books or dvds and a computer for searching the internet. Write a letter to the funders of libraries in praise of the bookmobile, and thank the staff of the bookmobile, who provide a vital community service in all kinds of weather.

Hine Mizushma, born and raised in Japan, is a slow crafter, embroiderer, illustrator and stop action music video artist. He moved to Rome, then Paris, then NY. Eleven years ago he moved to Vancouver, Canada with his family.

Word of the Day

bonehead

MEANING:

noun: A stupid person.
adjective: Stupid; thoughtless.

ETYMOLOGY:

A bonehead is someone thick-skulled, a blockhead. The word is a combination of bone, from Old English ban (bone) + head, from Old English heafod (top of the body). Earliest documented use: 1903.

USAGE:

“Mr Bush is widely seen, abroad if not at home, as a bonehead with more brawn than brain.”
In Search of Monsters; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 20, 2003.

Idiom of the Day

Mean business -

Meaning - Being serious about what you announce.

Example - Now that all our policies about work are put up on intranet, we mean business.

This Day in History

1825 - The first hotel opened in Hawaii.

1849 - Walter Hunt patented the safety pin. He sold the rights for $100.

1866 - The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was incorporated.

1912 - The Titanic set sail from Southampton, England.

1925 - F. Scott Fitzgerald published "The Great Gatsby" for the first time.

1953 - Warner Bros. released "House of Wax." It was the first 3-D movie to be released by a major Hollywood studio.

1958 - Bobby Darin recorded "Splish Splash."

1961 - Gary Player of South Africa became the first foreign golfer to win the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

1967 - The song "Somethin' Stupid" became the first father-daughter song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. The song was performed by Nancy and Frank Sinatra.

1971 - The American table tennis team arrived in China. They were the first group of Americans officially allowed into China since the founding of the People Republic in 1949. The team had received the surprise invitation while in Japan for the 31st World Table Tennis Championship.

1972 - Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the Best Music, Original Song award for the song "Shaft".

1997 - Rod Steiger received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2000 - Ken Griffey Jr. became the youngest player in baseball history to reach 400 home runs. He was 30 years, 141 days old.

2001 - Jane Swift took office as the first female governor of Massachusetts. She succeeded Paul Cellucci, who had resigned to become the U.S. ambassador to Canada.

2001 - The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, April 10

You are strong-minded, playful, assertive, and charismatic. You readily take the lead and take on challenges. You are playfully competitive, and you remain youthful throughout life with a mischievous streak. It's not easy for you to be told what to do, and thus it's best that you are your own boss or that you set your own pace. Famous people born today:

1794 Matthew C. Perry, Commodore of the United States Navy who opened Japan to Western influence and trade, born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 1858)

1868 George Arliss, British actor (Devil, Green Goddess), born in London, England (d. 1946)

1915 Harry Morgan, American actor (December Bride, MAS*H, Dragnet), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2011)

1929 Max Von Sydow, Swedish actor (Hawaii, Exorcist, Dune, Dreamscape), born in Lund, Sweden

1936 John Madden, NFL coach (Oakland Raiders) and sports commentator (CBS, FOX), born in Austin, Minnesota

1951 Steven Seagal, American actor (Above the Law, Hard to Kill), born in Detroit, Michigan

READERS INFO

1.

1925 -

--On April 10: The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published. Fitzgerald believed that the novel would be a huge commercial success but was disappointed when it originally only sold around 20,000 copies. On Dec. 21, 1940, Fitzgerald died without seeing the success of his novel. The Great Gatsby was one of the over 1,300 titles chosen by the Council on Books in Wartime to be distributed to soldiers during World War II as a part of the Armed Services Editions, which helped in the novel's resurgence. Although The Great Gatsby's' sales were initially not impressive, it gained in popularity and has since sold over 25 million copies around the world. The novel has also been made into movies, radio adaptations, theater performances and even ballet performances.

2.

Tom Tom Founders Festival 2019

Apr 8 - 14, 2019 | Charlottesville, VA

Everything within arm’s reach had to be thought up and created. Tom Tom champions the people who create to make others’ lives worth living. Music acts, entrepreneurs, artists and other creative minds come to Charlottesville, Virginia, every April to celebrate the constant flow of new ideas. This festival is where ideas become reality.

further information: Tom Tom Summit & Festival

3.

Thin Line 2019

Apr 10-14, 2019 | Denton, TX

For five days in Denton, Texas hosts Thin Line, a film, music and photography festival. What started as a documentary film festival has grown into an engaging and multi-faceted event. The festival exhibits the diversity of the documentary genre with screenings of docudramas, mockumentaries, docu-comedies and more. Thin Line also tacks on a world-class lineup of musical acts across multiple stages as well as curated photography shows around town. There are also hands-on photography workshops for those looking to unleash their inner shutterbug.

further information: 2019 Thin Line Fest

Pictures of the day

Oath of the Horatii is a large painting by the French artist Jacques-Louis David painted in 1784. It depicts a scene from a Roman legend about a seventh-century BC dispute between two warring cities, Rome and Alba Longa. Instead of the two cities sending their armies to war, they agree to choose three men from each city; the victor in that fight will be the victorious city. From Rome, three brothers from a Roman family, the Horatii, agree to end the war by fighting three brothers from a family of Alba Longa, the Curiatii. The three brothers, all of whom appear willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of Rome, are shown saluting their father, who holds their swords out for them. The principal sources for the story behind David's Oath are the first book of Livy, as elaborated by Dionysius of Halicarnassus. However, the moment depicted in David's painting is his own invention. The painting led to the popularization of the Roman salute and also increased David's fame, allowing him to take on his own students. It is now in the Louvre in Paris.

LIGHT SOURCE 10-Merit---LightSource