Monday 31 October 2011
flik und flak or endless summer
catagories: Europe, holidays and observances
Sunday 30 October 2011
pferd is the word
Friday 28 October 2011
primogenitor
marco, polo
catagories: ๐, ๐, ๐ง , economic policy, foreign policy, labour, lifestyle
Wednesday 26 October 2011
das telefon sagt du
cryptid
geldpolitik or punch & judy
catagories: ๐ฆ๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐ช๐บ, ๐ฌ๐ง, economic policy, labour, networking and blogging
Monday 24 October 2011
decoder ring or mnemonic spelunking
My brain is still a little addled and turning somersaults over some of the techniques and demonstrable, learnable talent of the imagination and memory described in Moonwalking with Einstein. One of the more intuitive and prรชt-a-porter tricks, hacks invoked the Phonetic Major System, developed by Basque sixteenth century polymath and educator Pierre Hรฉrgony, for making strings of numbers more memorable.
catagories: ๐, language, psychology
Sunday 23 October 2011
inked or plastisol billboards
catagories: graphic design, lifestyle
jolly roger or goonies r good enough
artistic license or don’t mess with the jesus
The tablet to the side reads "Death has no more power." A lot of variations on a theme are out there, displaying craftsmanship and commissions for public art in good faith but there is something a bit disconcerting in such a departure from the traditional, whose symbolism is inscrutable and yet no parody and only piety and memento mori is intended. The image and the wonder haunted me the whole way home.
catagories: graphic design, religion
Saturday 22 October 2011
retronautics institute
catagories: antiques, lifestyle, networking and blogging
Friday 21 October 2011
prioritรคt or listening-tax
catagories: ⚖️, ๐ถ, ๐ฅธ, networking and blogging
viennese waltz or ballroom blitz
catagories: economic policy, Europe, philosophy
Thursday 20 October 2011
true colours or womp rat
People are upset at the sight of their futures eroding without being afforded the same protections as the perpetrators, and that that this diverse group camped out at Wall Street would join in says a lot, considering all the exaggerated heights that public defendors claim that we have to fall.
catagories: labour, revolution, Star Wars
gedenkend or franklin mint
catagories: antiques, technology and innovation
Wednesday 19 October 2011
aesthete
Tuesday 18 October 2011
ms havisham, i presume
I hope that the idea of appealing to one nation’s vanities, beggaring one’s rivals and problem-children, does not catch on. Pinky and the Brain of Warner Brothers' Animaniacs tried those stunts already to try to raise capital for their plans of world domination, and it is strange to see reality reflect this appeal. I am afraid, once all the pretend hue and cry of the euro and EU settles and without Cablegate, the United States, place-holder for world-dominance, might try such things while ignoring the management of its downfall. In general, superlatives are not the most auspicious things, but just as the best that the EU hoped for from Greece was a orderly bankruptcy, the US ought to acknowledge its standing and make contingency plans, as no amount of pandering diplomacy could make up the difference.
catagories: foreign policy
Monday 17 October 2011
omicron, omega
Did you know that the Greek letters omicron and omega just mean little-o, big-o respectively? Euro notes and coins bear both Latin and Greek script, which I believe is a piquing reminder of the mutual glossing that may have been behind the monetary union. Since the Maastricht Treaty, no one wanted to exclude any established members of the old or new Europe, regardless of the maturity of their economies and markets, and I do not believe that Greece and other nations unilaterally covered-up their fiscal health and talked their way into membership.
I am sure that to a large extent, against warnings of economists and analysts that saw at the time weaknesses, hyperbole and litotes, that such obstacles were overlooked towards the formation of a more perfect union, and not a German or a French hegemony or a north, south schism. It parallels the lesson unlearned with the economic collapse fuelled by the housing bubble, which with exuberance oversold the properties market to all and sundry on the hopes that value would keep increasing. I have great hopes for the euro and the ideas behind it still--including the absolute solvency of each country’s financial systems without respect for outside shaming and subjective ratings, should it not lead to overarching micro-management of each country’s affairs or usher in conservative governments that undo the social and equitable fabric of its constituents, but I do think that one aspect that this vision elided over was that of competition and customers. Within a bloc of currency, it is hard for one country, maintaining its standard of living and government support, to compete with another, more advanced in manufacturing. It is that competitiveness that will lead to recovery and growth, and not an outsider's idea of discipline or scope of government responsibility. The average shopper, I do not think, would forgo price or quality (or his or her own sense of protectionism) to seek out Greek, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese goods to fan their solidarity. The money-changers (nummularium) did a brisk business across borders, as well, and within Europe, we are our own best trading-partners.
catagories: ๐ช๐บ, ๐ฌ๐ท, economic policy, language
hungry hill
Saturday 15 October 2011
mnemotechny or counting sheep
Revisiting those riveting techniques and then recalling passages from Plato about the hazards of the written (uncommitted) word, printed on a page but not imprinted elsewhere and making memory something external was a little bit revolutionary for me, in the retelling. The author’s coverage of participatory journalism that made him the architect and landlord of many memory palaces really highlighted the extent to which we have made our memories something outside of us, relying on the internet, digital photographs, and even surrendered to GPS when one of the things that humans are innately good at is navigation and spatial awareness, and thus in a time where memorization is frowned upon and seen as demeaning, punishment, how much practice really can perfect and lead to expertise. Our minds are really capable of incredible things and we may be too quick to fault them or resort to the latest crutch. After all, what innovation comes without a jolt and a hook from what came before. I fully intend to investigate this, but don't take my word for it... Speaking of the memorable and what creatures might people your own memory palaces, last time we were in Ireland, we noticed that neighbouring sheepfolds had begun tagging their flock with spray paint, usually a green, red or blue dot. This time, however, there was a splendid group that appeared nearly tie-dyed.
catagories: ๐ฎ๐ช, ๐ก, ๐, language, philosophy, psychology
Friday 7 October 2011
korkenzieher or exonymy
I remember when I was little, I had a light and fluffy block of cork wood that I thought was a very rare and exotic thing as part of a larger collection of stones, fossils and pieces of petrified wood. It was eaten with wormholes, and I think I only tried once floating it in the bathtub. Such an unusual grove must have its origins with the Irish second-city of the same name, I was convinced.
flory and fitchy or cross moline
The adult daughter of our neighbor has recently returned home to care for her mother and seeing to the considerable undertaking of getting her mother's household in order. The upper suite of rooms are beginning to look more livable and lived-in, and one afternoon, what I first thought was a Saint Stephan's or Patriarchal Cross, appeared in the window--almost like it was taped on. Another neighbour though it was the same thing, although he said it looked like a Saint Andrew's--which actually is the x-shaped one. Later, I was assured it was a bathroom shelf--but I wondered if it might be a sort of scarecrow--something to ward off the heathens whose terrace is just off their house.
Thursday 6 October 2011
ghost run
mainframe
catagories: lifestyle, technology and innovation
Wednesday 5 October 2011
whack fol de turalura ladie, whack fol de turalureley
You can see Dublin City and the fine groves of Blarney,
speakeasy or agent 99
catagories: labour, networking and blogging, revolution
Tuesday 4 October 2011
hashtags
While I do not believe that the American people are an apathetic lot, I do believe there has been an institutionalization of the mechanisms that rob people's appetite for protest and a general swath of demotivation.
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐บ๐ธ, economic policy, networking and blogging, revolution
Monday 3 October 2011
oneness
catagories: ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐, foreign policy, holidays and observances
revolution number nine
catagories: networking and blogging, revolution
Sunday 2 October 2011
transparez
catagories: economic policy, Europe
wallet inspector or nickel-and-dimed
Rarely I think new policies are introduced without calculated unpopularity, and I think that this is the case with the announcement of one of the biggest banks of America (recursively named) that it will begin charging its customers a nominal monthly convenience fee for using their point of sale debit cards.
catagories: America, economic policy, psychology