[PW] Re: "Vesper's Curse" Project-Wombat-FM Digest, Vol 13, Issue 3

[Mt. Caesar Librarian]

I believe Vespers was one of the night-time services that monks were 
required to attend, thus perhaps being the source of back pain, and 
certainly the source of being awake in the middle of the night.  Just a 
thought.
Caddie Gregory
Mt. Caesar Union Library
Swanzey NH 03446
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <project-wombat-fm-request at lists.project-wombat.org>
To: <project-wombat-fm at lists.project-wombat.org>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 3:00 PM
Subject: Project-Wombat-FM Digest, Vol 13, Issue 3


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>
> Today's Topics:
>
>   1. Re: what is the origin of "Vesper's curse" (Peter Macinnis)
>   2.  White fairies snowflake song or poem (Beverly Choltco-Devlin My)
>   3.  Need British Wombats again (Donna Halper)
>   4.  Subscription disabled? Thank Spamhaus (John Franklin)
>   5. Re: Need British Wombats again (swguardian-stumpers at yahoo.com)
>   6.  U.S. flag never at half-mast (Michelle Hawk)
>   7. Re: U.S. flag never at half-mast (Susan)
>   8. Re: Obituaries from Lewiston, ID paper (Daphne Drewello)
>   9. Re: Obituaries from Lewiston, ID paper (Jeanne Schramm)
>  10.  Texas Geography Question [was: Texas Flag Question]
>      (Nichael Cramer)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 08:18:38 +1100
> From: Peter Macinnis <petermacinnis at ozemail.com.au>
> Subject: [PW] Re: what is the origin of "Vesper's curse"
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID: <459C1DAE.2060006 at ozemail.com.au>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> The usual source for information like this is http://www.whonamedit.com/
> but this returns a blank in this case.  If you are likely to get
> questions like this, the site is worth bookmarking.  There are gaps
> (like James Wimshurst, the almost-anonymous inventor of the Wimshurst
> machine, details upon application :-) but they claim as of this morning
> to list 7771 eponyms.
>
> Vesper, Vespers, Vesper's or Vespers'?  If English is not your first
> language, all four might seem worth trying, so the question of the
> apostrophe is a vexed one.  To many Anglocentric Australians, forms such
> as "Down syndrome" are dismissed sniffily as American, but while US
> writers are more likely to write that (rather than "Down's syndrome),
> there is more to it than a rude jostling of bristling linguistic
> nationalists.
>
> There is a (slowly) growing consensus that while the tradition has
> always been to call syndromes by the name of the discoverer in the
> apostrophe form (as in "Down's syndrome"), this causes confusion when
> people are not of an English-speaking background, and causes general
> confusion when somebody called Glass, Potts or Julius is involved. The
> simpler "Down syndrome" formation has been recommended since the 1970s,
> and if it goes against tradition, it makes searches easier, especially
> for those who do not have English as their first language.
>
> In 1974, a conference at the US National Institute of Health stated in a
> post-conference report: "The possessive form of an eponym should be
> discontinued, since the author neither had nor owned the disorder." The
> USA has largely followed this recommendation since then. This
> recommendation was supported by _The Lancet_ in Britain at the time, but
> has not always been followed.
>
> Take a case like Reyes or Reye's syndrome: it would under the
> no-apostrophe rule be referred to as Reye syndrome (after R. Douglas
> Reye, MD an Australian pathologist, who identified it in 1963).  Old
> names like wool-sorter's disease, used for anthrax, generally remain as
> is, because 'wool-sorter disease' sounds a little like being infected
> with wool-sorters. Legionnaire's disease, also seen as Legionnaires'
> disease and Legionnaires disease, will be easier to search for if it is
> uniformly called Legionnaire disease.
>
> peter macinnis
>
> (who had to decide an encyclopedia's policy on eponymic apostrophes,
> four years ago, and came out against them -- somebody else decided on
> how we would spell 'encyclopedia')
>
> Steele Sue (RW6) PAHNT wrote:
>> "Vesper's curse" is a medical condition which causes back pain and keeps
>> patients awake at night.  A doctor at my hospital is trying to find out
>> why is is so named - who was Vesper and what was the curse?
>>
>> So far I have found out that Vesper was the Roman God of the evening,
>> linked with the evening star (also known as Hesperos in Greek
>> mythology).  It appears that Vesper may have cursed Hypnos, the god of
>> sleep, but we are unclear as to what the curse was, and why he was
>> cursed.
>>
>> If anyone is able to help, I would be very grateful.
>
>
>
> -- 
>  _--|\   Peter Macinnis, feral word herder, & science gossip.
> /     \  Inexplicable events coordinator and former designer
> \.--._*  of medium & large-scale mistaken identity matrixes.
>      v   http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/index.htm
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed,  3 Jan 2007 21:13:11 -0500
> From: "Beverly Choltco-Devlin My" <BDevlin at midyork.org>
> Subject: [PW]  White fairies snowflake song or poem
> To: <list at project-wombat.org>
> Message-ID: <200701032113.AA3277062 at mail.midyork.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> Hi everyone, One of our patrons would like to know the title and all of 
> the lyrics/verse to the following remembered tune. The patron believes it 
> is from the early 20th century (as remembered by a relative who is in a 
> nursing home) but is not certain:
>
> "White fairies come down,
> Pretty snowflakes, pretty snowflakes,
> Every one wears a gown
> With a joyful 'Merry Christmas!'
> as they sail through the town.
> It's easy to see __________________
> ____________________________
> They come softly creeping
> while everyone's sleeping,
> as they fasten lovely presents
> on the green Christmas tree."
>
> I have done a Google search on various combinations of the phrase and 
> checked SheetMusicPlus.com  I don't have access to a poetry database.  It 
> is not "Pretty Snowflakes" by Patti Page. The relative in the nursing home 
> actually sings the words which is why it is believe to be a song.
>
> Any other ideas or resources to try would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!
> Beverly
>
> Beverly Choltco-Devlin
> Reference Specialist
> Mid-York Library System
> 1600 Lincoln Avenue
> Utica, NY 13502
> voice:  315-735-8328 ext. 240
> fax:    315-735-0943
>
> ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
> From: Roberta Cavano <rcavano at theprintedword.biz>
> Date:  Wed, 3 Jan 2007 20:05:34 -0500
>
> Jess and Dave,
>
> While I was visiting Aunt Marge today in the nursing home, among the
> few things she remembered was a song (or possibly a rhyme) that has
> these lyrics [below]. She sang it several times, completely, and then
> got tired when I asked her to repeat it so I could copy down the
> words. She was disappointed because we didn't know the words and
> couldn't sing along with her.
>
> It was a great little song. My guess is that it stems from when she
> was a little girl, so the ballpark guess about time would be early
> 1920s. I've tried to find it, but failed.
> I turn to you, among the best and brightest sleuths in our family, to
> find it.
> I've included Beverly because she is the super-sleuth of the library
> universe, and for this quest, can be part of the family!!!
> Whoever finds the words to the song gets a prize!!!
>
> Here is as much as I could write down (with obvious holes in the
> phrases, and punctuation and capitalization where I think it should go):
>
> "White fairies come down,
> Pretty snowflakes, pretty snowflakes,
> Every one wears a gown
> With a joyful 'Merry Christmas!'
> as they sail through the town.
> It's easy to see __________________
> ____________________________
> They come softly creeping
> while everyone's sleeping,
> as they fasten lovely presents
> on the green Christmas tree."
>
> The game's afoot!
>
> Thanks for whatever you can find.
>
> --
> Roberta Cavano
> The Printed Word PR & Advertising
> Phone/Fax (315) 339-4211
> rcavano at theprintedword.biz
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> Sent via the WebMail system at mail.midyork.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:46:46 -0500
> From: Donna Halper <dlh at donnahalper.com>
> Subject: [PW]  Need British Wombats again
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID: <20070104034647.A2CED44C002 at relay2.r2.iad.emailsrvr.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> I am seeking a reference book that is the equivalent of the City
> Directory,  for London England back in the early 1920s -- something
> with the names and addresses and phone numbers of businesspeople.  I
> need to find out where a certain radio engineer was working in 1923
> or 1924 or even 1925.  If I can't find his business address (radio
> back then would probably have still been listed under "wireless"), I
> can possibly derive enough information from his home address, but
> business would be ideal if anyone knows how I could find it.  His
> name was Alfred Edward Cecil RYALL (sometimes referred to as Alfred
> E.C. Ryall), who owned a company that manufactured radio receivers
> and radio parts.  I have seen his company referred to as R.M.C. or as
> Ryall Manufacturing Co.  One of the products it made for early
> wireless sets was low frequency transformers.  The reason I am asking
> is his son, also a radio engineer and now long since retired and
> living in Spain, recalls as a boy visiting his dad's London factory
> and watching him and his staff making the sets.  He even found a rare
> photo of his dad at work.  But he cannot recall where in London the
> company was located.  Any idea about how to find this information
> would be deeply appreciated and would make an 80 year old guy very happy.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 23:20:47 -0600
> From: John Franklin <jfranklin at project-wombat.org>
> Subject: [PW]  Subscription disabled? Thank Spamhaus
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID: <59C636EE-05D3-4471-8DA4-CACE2EC25A1A at project-wombat.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
> I wasn't going to mention this on the list, but then it occurred to
> me that some people may be wondering what's going on, and this may be
> the best way to make sure everyone knows about it.
>
> Project Wombat's mail server is hosted by a company which also hosts
> many other entities. A number (looks like 2, as far as I can tell
> from the interface) of these other entities have sent out spam. At
> least, they have allegedly done so.
>
> The Spamhaus spam-monitoring service decided, as a result, to mark
> every single IP address which is controlled by the hosting company
> (of which there are several hundred, each one possibly representing
> multiple domain names) as a source of spam. Subscribers whose mail
> servers use Spamhaus have been rejecting messages from Project
> Wombat, and as of yesterday, sufficient rejections have been made
> that subscriptions have been disabled. We are now up to ~90 such
> disabled subscriptions.
>
> This is obviously somewhat problematic. I will, over the course of
> the next few days, try to send a form letter to all the subscribers I
> can track down whose subscriptions have been disabled for this
> reason. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to solve the problem in
> the long term. I do not represent the hosting company, and do not
> even have direct contact with them, so I cannot try to reason with
> Spamhaus. Equally, I suspect that most subscribers are not eager to
> create a new mail account just for Project Wombat.
>
> Quite aside from the fact that Spamhaus has now turned somebody
> else's misbehavior into a massive quantity of work for me, I am not
> terribly thrilled with the whole notion of their service; I still
> remember how, on the basis of a single complaint from a confused
> person with a buggy mail server, Stumpers got shut down. (The person
> complained to Spamcop -- just once -- which threatened to blacklist
> the ISP, which threatened the host, which turned the server right
> off.) The triggering message may conceivably have been real spam,
> this time, but notice that we have nothing to do with it, yet are
> still having to suffer for it.
>
> -John Franklin
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 21:57:36 -0800 (PST)
> From: <swguardian-stumpers at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [PW] Re: Need British Wombats again
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID: <301595.56710.qm at web82102.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> There is no listing in the London phone directory for RYALL, Ryall 
> Manufacturing, or RMC for the years 1920-1925. There is a listing for a RM 
> Ltd., in the 1922 directory, page 743. It appears only in 1922, sandwiched 
> between a school of basketry and a meat transporter. .
>
>  Museum 387  R.M. Radio Ltd.,  Wireless Engineers  5 Regent sq W.C.1
>
>
> Donna Halper <dlh at donnahalper.com> wrote:
>  I am seeking a reference book that is the equivalent of the City
> Directory, for London England back in the early 1920s -- something
> with the names and addresses and phone numbers of businesspeople. I
> need to find out where a certain radio engineer was working in 1923
> or 1924 or even 1925. If I can't find his business address (radio
> back then would probably have still been listed under "wireless"), I
> can possibly derive enough information from his home address, but
> business would be ideal if anyone knows how I could find it. His
> name was Alfred Edward Cecil RYALL (sometimes referred to as Alfred
> E.C. Ryall), who owned a company that manufactured radio receivers
> and radio parts. I have seen his company referred to as R.M.C. or as
> Ryall Manufacturing Co. One of the products it made for early
> wireless sets was low frequency transformers. The reason I am asking
> is his son, also a radio engineer and now long since retired and
> living in Spain, recalls as a boy visiting his dad's London factory
> and watching him and his staff making the sets. He even found a rare
> photo of his dad at work. But he cannot recall where in London the
> company was located. Any idea about how to find this information
> would be deeply appreciated and would make an 80 year old guy very happy.
> _______________________________________________
> Project Wombat
> list at project-wombat.org
> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>
>
>
> .....................
> The library is the stronghold of collective wisdom that stands at the 
> forefront of the true strength of a nation and its people. By not properly 
> funding its libraries, a nation fails its people and fully fails itself.
>
> Sue Watkins
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 10:11:16 -0500
> From: "Michelle Hawk" <refdesk at lclibs.org>
> Subject: [PW]  U.S. flag never at half-mast
> To: "Stumpers List" <list at project-wombat.org>
> Message-ID:
> <498A739C2D6BE243B8C16BD91123711711D055 at LEBLIB01.leblib.lcl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> I've found some sources that say this is an urban legend, but I wanted
> to check with Stumpers just to make sure.
>
>
>
> My patron asked what locations never fly the flag at half-mast. She had
> heard of two: the USS Arizona memorial (Pearl Harbor) and the Tomb of
> the Unknown Soldier. She thinks there are two more.
>
>
>
> USHistory.org's FAQ says common answers are the Betsy Ross House (which
> they say is not true), The Alamo, USS Arizona, Tomb of the Unknown
> Soldier, and the moon (my favorite). Other websites say that all of
> these are untrue, except the moon.
>
>
>
> What I'm looking for is an authoritative source, such as a government
> website or publication, but I can't find one. Does anyone know the
> answer to this? One thing I'm curious about is: if the flag isn't on a
> flagpole/unable to be lowered (like on the moon), does it count?
>
>
>
> Thanks for your help!
>
> ~Michelle
>
>
>
>
>
> Michelle Hawk
>
> Head of Reference
>
> Lebanon Community Library
>
> 125 North 7th Street
>
> Lebanon, PA 17046
>
> 717-273-7624 x3
>
> refdesk at lclibs.org
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 7
> Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 09:46:28 -0600
> From: "Susan" <classact at lightpower.net>
> Subject: [PW] Re: U.S. flag never at half-mast
> To: <list at project-wombat.org>
> Message-ID: <01dc01c73017$7fb4b9c0$0200a8c0 at Office>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> Hmmm. According to
> http://pao.hood.army.mil/1cd_1-82fa/Final%20WebPage/9%20994%20Flags.htm,
> three places *always* fly the flag at half staff: the Tomb of the Unknown
> Soldier; Arlington Cemetery; and the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Susie Thurman
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Michelle Hawk" <refdesk at lclibs.org>
> To: "Stumpers List" <list at project-wombat.org>
> Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 9:11 AM
> Subject: [Spam] [PW] U.S. flag never at half-mast
>
>
>> I've found some sources that say this is an urban legend, but I wanted
>> to check with Stumpers just to make sure.
>>
>>
>>
>> My patron asked what locations never fly the flag at half-mast. She had
>> heard of two: the USS Arizona memorial (Pearl Harbor) and the Tomb of
>> the Unknown Soldier. She thinks there are two more.
>>
>>
>>
>> USHistory.org's FAQ says common answers are the Betsy Ross House (which
>> they say is not true), The Alamo, USS Arizona, Tomb of the Unknown
>> Soldier, and the moon (my favorite). Other websites say that all of
>> these are untrue, except the moon.
>>
>>
>>
>> What I'm looking for is an authoritative source, such as a government
>> website or publication, but I can't find one. Does anyone know the
>> answer to this? One thing I'm curious about is: if the flag isn't on a
>> flagpole/unable to be lowered (like on the moon), does it count?
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks for your help!
>>
>> ~Michelle
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Michelle Hawk
>>
>> Head of Reference
>>
>> Lebanon Community Library
>>
>> 125 North 7th Street
>>
>> Lebanon, PA 17046
>>
>> 717-273-7624 x3
>>
>> refdesk at lclibs.org
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Project Wombat
>> list at project-wombat.org
>> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 10:27:35 -0600
> From: "Daphne Drewello" <drewello at daktel.com>
> Subject: [PW] Re: Obituaries from Lewiston, ID paper
> To: <list at project-wombat.org>
> Message-ID: <004201c7301d$3e4c6f90$1d01a8c0 at adpl.local>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
>  Patron would like a copy of the obituaries for
> Glenn and Vala Bratsberg who died in Lewiston,
> Idaho.  Glenn died May 31, 1999, and Vala died
> October 2, 1991.   If anyone has access to the
> Lewiston paper for these dates, I would appreciate
> copies of the obituaries.
>
>  Thank-you!
>
> Daphne Drewello
> Alfred Dickey Library
> 105 3rd St. SE
> Jamestown, ND 58401
> (701) 252-2990
> (701) 252-6030 (FAX)
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 9
> Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2007 12:12:13 -0500
> From: "Jeanne Schramm" <jeanne.schramm at gmail.com>
> Subject: [PW] Re: Obituaries from Lewiston, ID paper
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID:
> <511347890701040912j43aea858h61b9f97b7a8205dc at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Copies of obituaries sent from Lewiston paper available on LexisNexis.
> Jeanne Schramm, WLSC, W. Liberty, WV  26074
>
> On 1/4/07, Daphne Drewello <drewello at daktel.com> wrote:
>>   Patron would like a copy of the obituaries for
>> Glenn and Vala Bratsberg who died in Lewiston,
>> Idaho.  Glenn died May 31, 1999, and Vala died
>> October 2, 1991.   If anyone has access to the
>> Lewiston paper for these dates, I would appreciate
>> copies of the obituaries.
>>
>>   Thank-you!
>>
>> Daphne Drewello
>> Alfred Dickey Library
>> 105 3rd St. SE
>> Jamestown, ND 58401
>> (701) 252-2990
>> (701) 252-6030 (FAX)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Project Wombat
>> list at project-wombat.org
>> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:51:37 -0500
> From: Nichael Cramer <nichael at sover.net>
> Subject: [PW]  Texas Geography Question [was: Texas Flag Question]
> To: list at project-wombat.org, list at project-wombat.org
> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.0.20070104122622.070e8c90 at sover.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> As a Yankee who spent several years in Texas, I hope someone can answer
> a question about a curious little feature of Texan geography that I've 
> always
> wondered about, but never been able to find a good answer to.
>
> Looking at a map of the US, if one proceeds north along the eastern edge
> of New Mexico one will travel along next to the Texas Panhandle, and then
> along beside a narrow strip of Oklahoma before bumping into Colorado.
>
> Now at first glance it appears this trip (along the Texas/Oklahoma border 
> of
> New Mexico) is on a single, straight line.
>
> However, if you look at a map of sufficient resolution, you will see that 
> the
> Oklahoma portion of that border is offset to the east by about a mile or 
> so,
> relative to the Texas portion of the border.  (That is, New Mexico appears
> to "intrude" into Oklahoma by about a mile along the northern stretch
> of the border.)
>
> Does anyone know why this is?  Does this "indentation" have a name?
>
> [Someone suggested perhaps this is related to famous "jogs" that 
> north-south
> roads in the American midwest take to compensate for the curvature of
> the earth.  However, most straight borders between states seem to pretty
> strictly follow lines of longitude without similar jogs (e.g the series of
> borders for NE, SD, ND).  Another friend suggested that a possibly more
> likely explanation was that this involved the border of the ranch of some
> politically powerful individual at the time the borders were layed out. 
> ;-) ]
>
> Anyway, I thought I would ask if anyone know anything about this.
>
> Thanks
> Nichael
>
> --
> Nichael Cramer
> Guilford VT
> nichael at sover.net
> http://www.sover.net/~nichael/
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Project Wombat
> list at project-wombat.org
> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>
> End of Project-Wombat-FM Digest, Vol 13, Issue 3
> ************************************************
>